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.ci


WEST AFRICA
IRIN-WA Weekly Roundup 99
17 - 23 November 2001


CONTENTS:

NIGERIA: Anti-terrorist demonstration, Pakistanis deported
NIGERIA: Ondo bans open-air preaching
NIGERIA: Boost to education and health sectors
NIGERIA: Bayelsa State condemns river dredging
LIBERIA: RSF calls for reopening of papers
LIBERIA: Government probes suspected violation on UN diamond ban
SIERRA LEONE: Disarmament falters in east
SIERRA LEONE: UN helicopter wreckage found
SIERRA LEONE: UNHCR to relocate IDPs, opens health centres
WEST AFRICA: UNHCR and ECOWAS sign MOU
MAURITANIA: Slavery alive and 'legal'
WEST AFRICA: Good grain harvests expected for Sahel
COTE D'IVOIRE: IMF, EU aid to resume soon
MALI: ADF loan for health and social development
CHAD: ADF loan to improve health care

NIGERIA: Anti-terrorist demonstration, Pakistanis deported

Members of the Movement for National Reformation (MNR), a political
pressure group, staged a peaceful anti-terrorism protest in the capital of
the southern state of Enugu on Wednesday, the Lagos-based Guardian
newspaper reported.

The protesters, drawn from seven predominantly Ibo states in eastern
Nigeria, presented a statement to the Catholic and Anglican dioceses of
Enugu and the British Council. They carried banners and chanted slogans
including: "Down, down, Taliban," and, "Down with Osama bin Laden," the
daily said. Bin Laden and his Al Qaeda network are blamed for the 11
September terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. The protesters,
who were also demonstrating against recent killings of Christians in
northern Nigerian states, came from Abia, Anambra, Delta, Ebonyi, Enugu,
Imo and Rivers states.

Meanwhile Nigerian immigration authorities deported six Pakistani
nationals on Sunday following reports that they had made inciting
statements during weekly prayers in mosques in the southwestern town of
Sagamu.

Following terrorist attacks against the US and protests last month in the
northern city of Kano against the bombardment of Afghanistan, President
Olusegun Obasanjo's government declared a security alert, placing
nationals from 12 countries currently living in Nigeria under
surveillance. The countries are Afghanistan, Algeria, Chad, Egypt, India,
Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Pakistan and Sudan.

NIGERIA: Ondo bans open-air preaching

Meanwhile the government of the southwestern Nigerian state of Ondo has
banned open-air preaching by any religious body in a bid to reduce tension
between Christians and Muslims, Nigerian state television reported on
Sunday. Over the past two years at least a dozen states in Nigeria's
predominantly Muslim north have adopted Sharia - Islamic law - sparking
religious clashes in a number of northern towns, and reprisals in the
mainly Christian south.

NIGERIA: Boost to education and health sectors

Girls' education and primary health care in Nigeria are to receive a boost
of funds from federal government and UN coffers.

The government is in the process of establishing 200 health centres, one
in each electoral ward, with up to 8000 planned, ThisDay newspaper
reported Minister of Information, Jerry Gana as saying on Thursday. The
federal health care project was established following recent
recommendations by the national primary health care authority, the Lagos
newspaper reported.

On the education front, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has drawn up a
five-year programme to boost girls' education in six Nigerian states
starting next year, Maman Sidikou, head of UNICEF's education unit in the
country told IRIN on Tuesday.

The northern states of Jigawa, Kebbi, Sokoto, Yobe, and Bayelsa and Ebonyi
in the south, were singled out because gender disparities in education are
predominant, Sidikou said. The programme, to be managed in collaboration
with the Federal Ministry of Education, state authorities and local
communities, aims to improve access to education, retention of girls in
schools and quality of curriculum delivery.

Only 47 percent of females in Nigeria are literate as opposed to 67
percent of males, UNICEF said. Among persistent negative factors
contributing to this situation are the retention of girls at home to carry
out chores, early marriages, predominance of schools that are not child or
girl-friendly and poverty.

NIGERIA: Bayelsa State condemns river dredging

The House of Assembly of Bayelsa State, southeastern Nigeria, has
condemned the proposed dredging of the River Niger by the federal
government. In a resolution, members said the dredging would cause
negative environmental and ecological effects to riverine communities,
Vanguard newspaper reported on Monday.

In 1998, the federal government decided to dredge the rivers Niger and
Benue to improve river transport in the country. However several
environmental organisations and riverine communities have opposed the
proposed plan, citing environmental concerns such as erosion of river
banks and possible floods.

For more information see 'NIGERIA: IRIN Focus on plans to dredge major
rivers'
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=12895&SelectRegion=West_Africa

LIBERIA: RSF calls for reopening of papers

The media watchdog, Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) has called for the
release of Wilson Tarpeh, chairman of the board of directors of the
Liberian private daily, The News, as well as the reopening of the paper
and of another daily, the Monrovia Guardian. According to RSF, policemen
entered the premises of The News on Tuesday without a warrant. They
ordered the employees to leave saying that their action was linked to the
paper's non payment of taxes, RSF said. Tarpeh was arrested by police on
the same day. The Monrovia Guardian was also closed for alleged
non-payment of taxes.

LIBERIA: Government probes suspected violation on UN diamond ban

The Liberian government is investigating a suspected violation of the
United Nations ban on export of rough diamonds from the country. Two
government officials, and a Japanese national who was intercepted at
Monrovia international airport carrying US $135,000, have been linked to
the probe, a diplomatic source told IRIN this week. An information
ministry statement on Tuesday announced that President Charles Taylor had
suspended deputy lands minister Mulbah Willie and assistant minister for
mines, James Konuwa, so that they could be investigated.

The UN Security Council imposed a ban on the export of Liberia's rough
diamonds in May this year, after a panel of experts discovered that the
country was trading guns for diamonds with Sierra Leonean rebels.

The Liberian government has been accused by the international community of
supporting the Revolutionary United Front in its recently ended 10-year
civil war against the Sierra Leonean government.

SIERRA LEONE: Disarmament falters in east

Discussions were continuing on Friday between the United Nations Mission
in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) to get
disarmament in the eastern district of Kailahun back on track, UNAMSIL
spokesperson Margaret Novicki told IRIN.

Disarmament was due to start in the Tongo Fields area on Friday and in
Kailahun town this week. "It hasn't started as expected, we expect to sort
out the obstacles and perhaps we will start the disarmament next week,"
Novicki said. Former combatants have been disarming in Daru town but
numbers were not available on Friday, an UNAMSIL official said.

The eastern districts of Kailahun and Kenema are the last two districts
left to disarm. The head of the National Committee for Disarmament,
Demobilisation and Reintegration, Francis Kai-Kai, said earlier this week
that logistical problems, including roads that have been washed away, were
hampering disarmament in some areas of Kailahun and Kenema.

Disarmament was slated to end throughout the country at the end of
November but is now expected to continue into December. As of Monday a
total of 35,457 combatants including 3,834 children, had disarmed, the UN
said.

Meanwhile the recent arrival of the last contingent of Nepali peacekeepers
in Sierra Leone has brought UNAMSIL up to its full capacity of 17,500
troops.

SIERRA LEONE: UN helicopter wreckage found

The wreckage of a helicopter belonging to the United Nations Mission in
Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the
capital Freetown some two weeks ago has been found, UNAMSIL reported on
Thursday. Seven UNAMSIL personnel were killed after the helicopter, en
route to Lungi airport north of Freetown, plunged into the sea shortly
after take-off on 7 November. Three bodies have been recovered.

SIERRA LEONE: UNHCR to relocate IDPs, opens health centres

The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in
Sierra Leone plans to relocate over 7,000 internally displaced Sierra
Leoneans from Port Loko District to their place of origin in the first
week of December, the agency said in its latest information bulletin.

The 7,533 IDPs are slated to leave the temporary camps where they have
been living in the town of Lokomasama to return home to Kambia District,
north of Port Loko. One of the main concerns of the refugees, UNHCR said,
was the education of their children.

WEST AFRICA: UNHCR and ECOWAS sign MOU

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Monday signed
a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS) on refugee issues, a statement from UNHCR said on
Tuesday. Both parties pledged to tackle refugee-related issues more
"vigorously" by undertaking joint activities.

ECOWAS was represented by its Executive Secretary, Lansana Kouyate, and
UNHCR by the High Commissioner, Ruud Lubbers.

The MOU, signed in New York, aims to consolidate refugee protection and
address the needs of vulnerable groups such as women and children in West
African countries, the statement said. The agreement also covers issues
such as mitigating the negative impact of large refugee populations on the
environment of hosting countries and promoting refugee law among
governments and civil society.

The signing of the MOU has come at a time when international efforts are
focusing on solving the instability in some countries in West Africa,
particularly member-states in the Mano River Union which comprises Guinea,
Liberia and Sierra Leone, UNHCR noted.

MAURITANIA: Slavery alive and 'legal'

Anti-slavery activists in Mauritania say slavery is rampant mainly because
it is not considered a crime by the court systems. The courts refuse to
hear cases of slavery because it does not officially exist, having been
"outlawed" 20 years ago, they told a meeting held last week at Georgetown
University, Washington D.C., the Washington Times reported on Wednesday.

While government officials say slavery does not exist in the country, an
activist representing the NGO SOS Slaves Mauritania, told the meeting
"owning slaves is just like owning flocks, a symbol of prestige", the
newspaper reported. An official of the Mauritania government denied this
saying that no-one [in Mauritania] is allowed to own a human being, the
Washington Times reported.

WEST AFRICA: Good grain harvests expected for Sahel

Good harvests are expected in most Sahelian countries including Burkina
Faso, Chad, Mali and Niger, the USAID Famine Early Warning System Network
said in its latest report. Continued well-spaced rainfall has helped bring
crops to maturity and provide pasture for animals in the region, it said.
A notable exception, however, is Mauritania, where rain-fed crop
production is likely to be 14 percent less than in 2000-2001 due to an
increase in short dry spells. Irrigated crop production is also down, the
report said.

COTE D'IVOIRE: IMF, EU aid to resume soon

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has agreed to discuss with the
Ivorian government a three-year programme to reduce poverty and spur
economic growth in Cote d'Ivoire. The decision was based on a recent
assessment by an IMF team of a preliminary six-month economic programme
implemented by the West African nation. The poverty reduction and economic
recovery programme would run from 2002 to 2004. The IMF is willing to
contribute about 50 percent of the 600 billion to 700 billion CFA (between
US $848 million and US $988 million) needed, the statement said.

Meanwhile full economic and financial cooperation between the European
Union and Cote d'Ivoire is likely to resume in January 2002, state
television reported a visiting EU delegation as saying on Friday. The EU
partially resumed aid in June 2001.

Both the IMF and the EU supended aid following a December 1999 coup
d'etat.

MALI: ADF loan for health and social development

The African Development Fund (ADF) has approved a loan of some US $19
million to finance a health and social development programme in the
Sikasso region of southern Mali, it said in a news release on Wednesday.
The project aims to improve accessibility, especially for women and
children under five years, to quality health care services. It will also
support reproductive health programmes, expanded immunisation programmes
and training of health and social development staff in priority areas, ADF
reported.

ADF, which focuses mainly on poverty reduction, is the small-loans branch
of the African Development Bank.

CHAD: ADF loan to improve health care

The ADF has also approved funds of some US $7 million to strengthen the
health system and to support the control of HIV/AIDS and epidemic diseases
in Chad, a news release said on Wednesday.

The project aims to improve the health status of the population in general
and targets in particular the central administrative regions of Batha and
Biltine and the southern region of Salamat. It will help in the
construction and equipping of health clinics and in the prevention of the
spread of HIV/AIDS by providing safe blood transfusions and contributing
to the prevention of mother-child transmission. It will also provide
training for health employees in the management of patients and epidemics,
ADF said.


IRIN-WA
Tel: +225 22-40-4440
Fax: +225 22-41-9339
Email: IRIN-WA@irin.ci

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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2001


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