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 220
27 March - 2 April 2004


CONTENTS:

COTE D IVOIRE: 'Let us protest before we talk', says opposition
GUINEA-BISSAU: PAIGC claims victory in parliamentary elections
NIGERIA: Obasanjo's party widens lead in council polls dogged by 
  malpractices
SIERRA LEONE: UN extends mandate of peacekeepers until June 2005
CHAD: MSF launches new malaria project in most affected region
NIGER: Young population booms as family size increases

COTE D IVOIRE: 'Let us protest before we talk', says opposition

Cote d'Ivoire's rebel movement and the country's main opposition parties 
have said they will only resume a dialogue with President Laurent Gbagbo, 
if he restores their right to stage street protests.

The "G7" group, which comprises rebels that occupy the north of Cote
d'Ivoire, the country's two main opposition parties and two smaller
opposition groups, withdrew from a government of national reconciliation
after the security forces killed at least 37 people last week as they
crushed attempts to stage a protest march in Abidjan.

A week before the planned march, Gbagbo banned all demonstrations until 30
April.

They also called for "guaranteed security for politicians and civilians,
the release of detainees and the disbanding of pro-Gbagbo militia-style
youth groups known as 'Young Patriots'."

On Wednesday, the UN special representative to Cote d'Ivoire, Albert
Tevoedjre, informed Gbagbo that the United Nations was setting up an
inquiry into last week's violence.

The United Nations is continuing with plans to deploy 6,240 peacekeepers
in Cote d'Ivoire. Their mandate officially begins on Sunday. They will
work with 4,000 French troops already on the ground to enforce peace,
supervise disarmament and oversee elections due next year.

Meanwhile, last week's violent clashes in Abidjan, did not disrupt UN
relief activities in the rest of the country, Abdoulaye Mar Dieye, the UN
Humanitarian Relief Coordinator said on Thursday.

Mar Dieye said the skirmishes had, however, led to the interruption of a
polio vaccination campaign in the city.

Mar Dieye called on donors to support the UN Consolidated Appeal for US
$59 million to enable humanitarian and development agencies to address the
needs of vulnerable people throughout the divided country this year.

For IRIN coverage of Cote d'Ivoire see:
http://www.irinnews.org/frontpage.asp?SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=Cote_d_Ivoire


GUINEA-BISSAU: PAIGC claims victory in parliamentary elections

The PAIGC, the armed liberation movement which led Guinea-Bissau to
independence in 1973 and ruled the country until five years ago, has
claimed victory in last Sunday's parliamentary elections.

Official results from Sunday's poll have yet to be published, following
complaints about irregularities in the vote by the Social Renovation Party
(PRS) of former president Kumba Yala, who was deposed in a bloodless coup
last September.

However, Francisco Fadul, the leader of the United Social Democratic Party
(PUSD), another major contender in the election, has publicly conceded
defeat to the PAIGC (African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau
and Cape Verde), which now appears set to form the next government.

PAIGC leader Carlos Gomes Junior claimed victory for his party at a press
conference on Thursday and promised that as Guinea-Bissau's future prime
minister he would form a broad-based government of national unity. This
would embrace competent individuals from all political parties in this
small West African country, he said.

The results of Sunday's election for a new 12-seat parliament were
initially delayed because many of the polling stations in the capital
Bissau failed to receive ballot boxes and voting slips. As a result 89 of
the city's 520 polling stations were only able to open on Tuesday.

A source in the National Electoral Commission told IRIN on Friday that the
results were now complete, but Seabra Correia had demanded a further delay
in their announcement until Saturday.

More than 100 international observers of election said in a joint
statement that despite some instances of poor organisation in the capital
Bissau, polling generally took place in "acceptable conditions."

For IRIN coverage of Guinea-Bissau see:
http://www.irinnews.org/frontpage.asp?SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=Guinea-Bissau


NIGERIA: Obasanjo's party widens lead in council polls dogged by
malpractices

In Nigeria, the ruling People's Democratic Party widened its lead in
Nigeria's local elections as more results were published on Tuesday as
allegations of rigging and malpractice abounded.

According to official returns, the ruling PDP gained control of most of
the councils in 25 of the 30 states to have published results.

The main opposition All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) remained a distant
second having won a majority of councils in only four states.

It was followed in third place by the Alliance for Democracy (AD), which
swept all the councils in Lagos State in Saturday’s vote.

All the results released show a pattern of parties sweeping the board in
states they already govern and where they were also responsible for
appointing the electoral officials.

The Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), a coalition of civil rights
organisations, which deployed 5,000 monitors nationwide during the poll,
alleged massive fraud.

Among the 30 smaller Nigerian registered parties that do not control any
of the state governments, only the United Nigeria People’s Party managed
to win control of a single local government council. That was in Abia
State in the southeast of the country.

At least 17 people were killed on election day violence across Africa’s
most populous country of more than 120 million people, despite the
large-scale deployment of police and troops to maintain order.

For IRIN coverage of Nigeria see:
http://www.irinnews.org/frontpage.asp?SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=Nigeria


SIERRA LEONE: UN extends mandate of peacekeepers until June 2005

The UN Security Council has voted to extend the presence of the UN
peacekeeping force in Sierra Leone by six months until June 2005 amid
concerns that security in the country remains "fragile."

Following concerns that Sierra Leone could be destabilised by idle gunmen
drifting in from neighbouring Liberia or a deterioration of the security
situation in Guinea, the council voted on Tuesday to maintain a small
force of 3,250 peacekeepers in the country during the first six months of
next year.

The mandate of the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) was originally due
to expire on December 31 2004.

The Security Council said the scaled-down peacekeeping force would be
assisted by 141 military observers and 80 UN civilian police during the
first half of 2005.

For full story see:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40358&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=SIERRA_LEONE


CHAD: MSF launches new malaria project in most affected region

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has launched a three-year pilot project to
control malaria in southern Chad, where the mosquito-borne disease is the
principal cause of death.

MSF said it was introducing a new cocktail of drugs based on artesunate
and amodiaquine in order to overcome local resistance to traditional
malarial treatments such as chloroquine and fansidar.

The medical relief agency was also distributing mosquito nets, mainly to
children and pregnant women, and conducting a public education campaign.

The project began in mid-March in Mayo-Kebbi East, a district of 250,000
people around the town of Bongor, near the Cameroon border, 200 km south
of the capital N'djamena. MSF described the prevalence of malaria in
Bongor as "overwhelming."

For full story see:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40385&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=CHAD


NIGER: Young population booms as family size increases

The average woman in Niger now gives birth to eight children during her
lifetime, more than her counterparts anywhere else in the world, according
to a joint demographic study conducted by the government and the World
Bank.

The study, published on Monday, shows that family sizes are increasing in
this desperately poor West African country, while the use of modern birth
control methods has decreased in recent years.

The 1998 census showed that on average women in Niger had seven children,
but the new study reckons that over the past five years the number has
risen to eight.

The population of this mainly desert country is rising by 3.1 percent a
year and is now estimated at 11.5 million, the study said.

But it warned that unless this trend of increasing fertility is reversed,
the government's over-stretched education and healthcare systems could
collapse.

For IRIN coverage of Niger see:
http://www.irinnews.org/frontpage.asp?SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=Niger


SENEGAL: Japan helps to reduce dependency on rice imports

Japan has agreed to grant Senegal US $5 million to help the government
improve food security and reduce the country's dependence on imported
rice.

Rice is Senegal's favourite food and Japanese ambassador Akira Nakajima
said half the grant would be used to finance imports.

However, the rest of the money would be used to supply fertilisers to help
Senegalese farmers increase the yields of other crops, Nakajima told
reporters as he announced the aid package earlier this week.

For full story see:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40353&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=SENEGAL


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

[This Item is Delivered to 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.irinnews.org . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this
item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Reposting by commercial
sites requires written IRIN permission.]

Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2004


distributed by
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Center for International                  web: www.cidi.org
    Disaster Information             listserv: www.cidi.org/listsub.htm
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
West Africa                      www.cidi.org/humanitarian/irin/wafrica