Weekly Round-Up - IRINSA-346: 17-Aug-07
U N I T E D N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Integrated Regional Information Network for Southern Africa
Tel: +27 11 880 4633
Fax: +27 11 880 1421
e-mail: irin-sa@irin.org.za
SOUTHERN AFRICA
IRIN-SA Weekly Round-Up 346
11 - 17 August 2007
CONTENTS:
COMOROS: An uninvited wedding guest
ANGOLA: More than 400 people die from cholera this year
SWAZILAND: Hoping to reverse the skills flight
SOUTHERN AFRICA: SADC meeting to put Zimbabwe high on its agenda
SWAZILAND: New health policy gets mixed response
SOUTH AFRICA: A cold reception for Zimbabwean migrants
ZIMBABWE: Malnutrition among children on the rise
COMOROS: Humanitarian country profile
COMOROS: An uninvited wedding guest
Until the traditional wedding season kicked off in July on Grand Comore,
largest of the three islands that make up the Comoros archipelago,
cholera was almost under control.
But with the start of the traditional wedding festivities, a new
outbreak that started in February this year spiked dramatically in July
and August. There have been over 800 cases, and 14 people have died.
See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73706
ANGOLA: More than 400 people die from cholera this year
Cholera has killed 419 people in Angola so far this year, according to a
new health ministry bulletin, but this is a sharp reduction from 2006,
when 2,772 people succumbed to the waterborne disease.
Despite the perceived improvement over last year, new cases are reported
every month and health officials say that great challenges remain before
the disease is brought under control.
SWAZILAND: Hoping to reverse the skills flight
The haemorrhage of skilled and educated people from both the public and
private sectors in Swaziland, which is already facing a chronic shortage
of capacity, will continue unabated unless lucrative jobs start keeping
people at home, a government survey has found.
According to the report there is an unmet demand for high levels of
education, but people with higher levels of education and bankable
skills have been lured away by better wages in neighbouring countries
like South Africa.
See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73730
SOUTHERN AFRICA: SADC meeting to put Zimbabwe high on its agenda
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) heads of state meeting
this week in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, is to put the Zimbabwean
crisis "high on the agenda", according to the regional body's deputy
executive secretary, Joao Caholo.
Caholo said the meeting would move beyond rhetoric towards "practical
steps" to resolve the country's problems. At a previous SADC meeting, in
March, executive secretary Tomaz Salomao was mandated to furnish a
report on the Zimbabwean economy, while South African President Thabo
Mbeki was requested to mediate between the ruling ZANU-PF government and
opposition parties.
See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73731
SWAZILAND: New health policy gets mixed response
Swaziland's healthcare system is in critical condition, but the hopeful
reaction to government's new National Health Policy is tempered by
concern over whether the promised improvements will actually be
implemented.
Health officials are emphasising the importance of a finalised National
Health Policy, unveiled last week, but other observers have been less
enthusiastic. Despite being pleased to have contributed to the policy,
health non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and grassroots healthcare
workers, like nurses and home-based care providers, are doubtful that
their contributions will see a practical result.
SOUTH AFRICA: A cold reception for Zimbabwean migrants
Hundreds of undocumented migrants are queuing for weeks and even months
outside the Home Affairs department's office in Marabastad, Pretoria, in
the hope of obtaining some form of legal status in South Africa.
The conditions the migrants endure appear worse than those in squatter
camps: the pavements have become their makeshift homes, cardboard boxes
are used for beds, their meagre possessions are hung on the security
fencing and there are no sanitation facilities.
See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73770
Zimbabwe: Malnutrition among children on the rise
Malnutrition is accelerating among Zimbabwe's children, their access to
healthcare is declining, and one in 10 in the capital, Harare, is
suffering from kwashiorkor, a condition caused by an acute lack of
protein, according to new reports released by the government.
The 2005/06 Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey (ZDHS), compiled with
the assistance of the Central Statistical Office (CSO), found that 29
percent of children under five were stunted, a condition in which a
child is shorter than the average for his or her age because of the
cumulative effects of chronic malnourishment. The previous ZDHS survey,
in 1999, found that 27 percent of children under five years old were
stunted.
See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73789
COMOROS: Humanitarian country profile
The Union of the Comoros, in the Indian Ocean between the east African
coast and northwest Madagascar, comprises three of the four islands in
the Comoros archipelago: Grande Comore, Anjouan and Moheli. The fourth,
Mayotte, despite claims by Comoros, is a French territory.
The archipelago's location made it a convenient stepping stone between
Africa and Madagascar, a southern outpost for Arab traders operating
along the East African coast, and a port of call along trade routes
between European countries and their colonies in the East, shaping its
history. The years since independence from France in 1975 have been
characterised by political turmoil and coups.
See profile:
http://www.irinnews.org/country.aspx?CountryCode=CO&RegionCode=SAF
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