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 West Africa Tel: +225 22-40-4440 Fax: +225 22-41-9339 e-mail: irin-wa@irin.ciWEST AFRICA IRIN-WA Weekly Roundup 52 23-29 December 2000
GUINEA: New camps for 60,000 IDPs GUINEA: Thousands of refugees need food urgently WEST AFRICA: ECOWAS to deploy troops to Guinea border WEST AFRICA: Mauritania pulls out of ECOWAS WEST AFRICA: USAID boosts power pool project NIGERIA: US supplies the military SIERRA LEONE: Port Loko Hospital provides primary health care LIBERIA: Rice production below pre-war levels NIGER: Government focuses on education, health MAURITANIA: Human rights groups call for justice MALI: AIDS awareness campaign in Sikasso SENEGAL: Five die in land mine explosion GUINEA-BISSAU: President promises reconciliation, peace GHANA: Voting for a new president CAPE VERDE: Legislative election campaign begins GUINEA: UNHCR prepares new camps for 60,000 IDPs The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has started preparing new camps in southern Guinea for some 60,000 internally displaced people who fled insecurity in the troubled Guekedou area, the agency said on Thursday. A new camp being built at Sangardo, 30 km north-west of Kissidougou, will initially host about 10,000 refugees found on roads between the towns of Kissidougou and Faranah. But the UNHCR said the fate of tens of thousands of refugees that fled border camps in Guekedou, following a string of cross-border raids by armed groups early in December, remained unknown. The agency evacuated its offices and personnel following guerrilla attacks in the area. The agency quoted fleeing refugees as saying many camps were emptied while Guinean authorities had set up roadblocks to push back refugees moving to safe areas in the north. The refugees say the Guineans have taken this action because they fear infiltration by insurgents of the rebel Revolutionary United front of Sierra Leone. GUINEA: Thousands of refugees need food urgently Some 23,000 refugees at the Nyaedou camp in Guinea urgently need food despite their "fairly good physical condition", the UNHCR said in Geneva on Wednesday. It said relief supplies sent to Kissidougou last week would be transferred to Nyaedou, a facility that previously sheltered 15,000 refugees. The site is 15 km north of the Guinean town of Guekedou, hugging Liberia's northwestern border. Emergency teams from UNHCR offices worldwide began arriving last weekend for deployment to Guinea and Sierra Leone, the agency said on Wednesday. It said the teams would join the UNHCR's current staff in the region in providing protection and aid to tens of thousands of refugees. Meanwhile, more refugees have been leaving the Guinean capital, Conakry, for Sierra Leone. WEST AFRICA: ECOWAS to deploy 1,676 troops to Guinea border Military chiefs of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have decided to deploy 1,676 regional peacekeeping troops to Guinea's troubled borders with Liberia and Sierra Leone, an official statement said. It said the troops from Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal will be deployed within one month after a meeting of the contributing countries scheduled for 12 January to work out final details. Deployment will be for an initial six-months, the ECOWAS Defence and Security Council, comprising army chiefs and defence ministers, decided. WEST AFRICA: Mauritania pulls out of ECOWAS Mauritania has formally withdrawn from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), bringing membership down to 15 countries, officials said on Thursday. "They (Mauritanians) gave a one-year notice of their decision to quit in December last year, and it officially lapsed on Tuesday," an official of the regional economic grouping told IRIN. Mauritania is a member of the north African Maghreb Union. ECOWAS was founded in 1975 to boost regional economic integration among 16 members comprising former French, British and Portuguese colonies. Community citizens are allowed free entry and exit without the requirement of visas for up to 90 days. They are also have the right to establishment. WEST AFRICA: USAID boosts power pool project The US Agency for International Development (USAID) is to provide US $2 million to support the West African power pool project, a regional initiative aimed at ensuring more efficient use of the energy resources of the subregion. The funding will provide for on-the-job training and technical aid. In addition, USAID is to provide a power pool manager who will act as a technical advisor for the project. The agreement was signed on 13 December between the US ambassador to Mali and the executive secretary of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Lansana Kouyate. NIGERIA: US supplies the military Nigeria has received supplies of uniforms, weapons and equipment from the United States as part of a US $12.5-million aid package for training five army battalions for peacekeeping operations in Sierra Leone, a local newspaper reported on Wednesday. In a similar development, Britain and the United States are together helping to modernise and reform Nigeria's police force to check the rising wave of violent crime in the country, 'The Guardian' also reported, citing several meetings by British and US officials with representatives of the Presidency and Ministry of Police Affairs. SIERRA LEONE: Port Loko Hospital provides primary health care The International Medical Corps, a US-based NGO, has declared that the Port Loko District Hospital can now provide comprehensive primary health care services as the facility undergoes rehabilitation, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a report spanning 7-22 December. It said the prevalent illnesses include malaria, respiratory tract infections, malnutrition, skin infections and anaemia. The hospital, the only referral service in the district, some 60 km northeast of Freetown, is being re-equipped with beds, laboratory and surgical equipment. Other facilities will include a surgery unit, maternity and children wards, a kitchen, dental surgery and a morgue. LIBERIA: Rice production below pre-war levels Rice production in Liberia is slightly more than half of what it was before civil war broke out in December 1989, according to a crop and food supply assessment conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP). The rural population in the country has increased since refugees and internally displaced persons began returning to their communities after the war ended with elections in 1997. Although more families are engaged in rice production than before the war, smaller plots are being cultivated. Rice production in 1988 was about 259,000 mt, compared to an estimated 144,000 mt for this year. Liberia requires about 200,000 mt of cereal imports in 2001. WFP is seeking 21,000 mt of cereals and pulses and 3,800 mt of other commodities to meet the food aid needs of about 145,000 refugees and other war-affected people, as well as 140,000 children attending primary schools next year. NIGER: Government focuses on education and health The president of Niger, Mamadou Tandja, has announced that 1,000 villages would each receive a school, a well and a health centre as part of his government's effort in 2001 to improve living conditions, PANA reported on Monday. Tandja, who announced these measures on 22 December, also said 100 small dams would be built nationwide. Villages housing a minimum of 1,000 habitants would be the recipients of the new social infrastructures, which should increase full-time school enrollment and provide medical care to a greater proportion of the rural population. The health centres would be equipped to fight malaria, meningitis and AIDS, PANA reported. Tandja also plans labour intensive projects to provide jobs for thousands of the unemployed, the agency added. MAURITANIA: Human rights groups call for justice Mauritania's 13 human rights organizations, grouped under the Forum national des droits humains en Mauritanie (FONADH), have appealed for a more independent and transparent judicial system in the country. The call comes ahead of the trial of three people arrested in early December on charges of threatening national security, instigating an anti-government graffiti campaign and arson. A member of the forum told IRIN on Thursday that a fourth detainee, Ould Babana, was also being held in violation of proper judicial procedures. The detainees have refused bail and insist that the trial, whose date has not be set, go ahead, the source said. FONADH has appealed to national and international human rights groups to pressure the government to respect basic human rights and the rule of law, the organization said in a statement on Monday. MALI: AIDS awareness campaign in Sikasso Mali has launched an STDs/AIDS information leaflet in the southern town of Sikasso, PANA reported on Wednesday. The aim is to inform the public - notably youths and women - of the risks of unprotected sex, the impact of AIDS on their health and methods of protection against the virus. The document also includes national statistics on HIV/AIDS transmission and raises awareness on the impact of AIDS on the socio-economic development of Mali. Sikasso, 340 km south of the capital, Bamako, hosted the launching ceremony as it is the area most affected by the AIDS virus in Mali. The prevalence rate in Sikasso is 5 percent, as against national average of 3 percent, PANA added. SENEGAL: Five die in land mine explosion Five villagers died in a land mine explosion in Mame Palago, about 560 km from the southern Senegalese city of Ziguinchor, the BBC reported on Wednesday. The mine was detonated when a cart carrying villagers ran over the device. In a separate incident, a soldier died of his wounds following an exchange of gunfire with robbers trying to steal from vehicles on the road near Ziguinchor. They are the first major incidents since the government of President Abdoulaye Wade and the pro-independence Mouvement des forces democratique de Casamance (MFDC) resumed preliminary discussions on 16 December on holding peace talks. Hundreds of people have been killed since the MFDC began its independence war in December 1982. GUINEA-BISSAU: President promises reconciliation, peace President Kumba Yala has promised reconciliation among his country folk and good relations with neighbours Senegal and Guinea, PANA reported on Wednesday. He told the agency that although he regretted the death on 30 November of his opponent, the late General Ansumane Mane, the army would now "return to its constitutional role" and no longer interfere in government. With the military seemingly tamed, Yala told PANA he would now be able to establish democracy in peace. He vowed, also, to "reject all scenarios of violence" and concern the government with development. In addition, he pledged that Guinea-Bissau would not serve as a rear base for anti-government forces in Senegal which, for nearly two decades, have been waging a war for the independence of Casamance, in the south of Senegal. GHANA: Voting for a new president Ghanaians went to the polls on Thursday in run-off presidential elections after the first round three weeks ago failed to produce a clear winner from contestants of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), media reports said. None of the candidates got the required 50-percent of the ballots and one vote to clinch the first round. NPP leader John Kufuor won the first round with 48.17 percent and runner up Vice President John Atta Mills got 44.54 votes. The winner of the second round will be decided by a simple majority and will succeed President Jerry Rawlings, who is completing his second four-year term in office as an elected leader. Reports said early voting on Thursday was marred by allegations of intimidation made by the opposition NPP after one of its parliamentarians was allegedly stabbed. CAPE VERDE: Legislative election campaign begins Campaigning for legislative elections in Cape Verde began on Thursday, the Portuguese news agency, Lusa, reported. The polls, which are to be held on 14 January, are the third for the legislature since the island nation adopted a multiparty system a decade ago. The ruling Movimento para a Democracia (MPD) is defending its majority in parliament - it holds 50 of the 72 seats - against the main opposition party, the Partido Africano da Independencia de Cabo Verde, two other parties and one coalition, Lusa said. The MPD suffered key losses in local elections 11 months ago. Abidjan, 29 December 2000; 17:50 GMT [IRIN-WA: Tel: +225 22-40-4440; Fax (Admin): +225 22-40-4435; Fax (Editorial Desk): +225-22-41-9339; e-mail: irin-wa@irin.ci] [This item is delivered in the "africa-english" service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or to change your keywords, contact e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org or Web: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. 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