Weekly Round-Up - IRINWA-397: 12-Oct-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 West Africa
Tel: +225 22-40-4440
Fax: +225 22-41-9339
e-mail: irin-wa@irin.ci
WEST AFRICA
IRIN-WA Weekly Round-Up 397
6 - 12 October 2007
CONTENTS:
GHANA: Safe abortion services virtually non-existent despite 1985 law
AFRICA: First global Arms Trade Treaty would particularly benefit
Africa, experts say
COTE D'IVOIRE: UN "deeply concerned" about failing peace effort
NIGER: Uranium - blessing or curse?
BURKINA FASO: Soldiers in the streets
NIGERIA: Violence, corruption institutionalised - HRW report
AFRICA: WHO predicts worst meningitis epidemic for decade
TOGO: Postive signs abound but caution reigns in run-up to pivotal
election
GHANA: Safe abortion services virtually non-existent despite 1985 law
Ghana has one of Africa's most liberal abortion laws but because of
lingering stigma, fear and misunderstanding, safe, affordable abortion
services remain virtually non-existent and unsafe abortion is a major
cause of death, observers say. While some activists are pushing for
lifting restrictions altogether, health experts say the focus should be
on ensuring the health sector effectively provides what the current law
allows. Under a law passed in 1985, abortion is allowed in cases of rape
or incest, defilement of the mentally handicapped, foetal impairment and
to save the life or physical or mental health of the woman. But stigma
attached to abortion and ignorance about the law are such that even
women who are within their legal rights are afraid to seek an abortion,
and many health facilities do not offer such services, experts say.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74774
AFRICA: First global Arms Trade Treaty would particularly benefit
Africa, experts say
The creation of a global Arms Trade Treaty currently being debated by
the United Nations' first committee would particularly benefit Africa
according to various arms control experts. "Arms don't necessarily cause
conflicts in Africa but they do fuel them and make them bloodier and
more costly," Oxfam's Debbie Hillier, a policy advisor on small arms who
spoke to IRIN. She is the lead author of a study released on 11 October
titled 'Africa's Missing Billions' which claims to be the first report
to estimate the overall effects of conflict on the Gross Domestic
Product of economies across the continent. It found the cost of the
armed conflicts across Africa between 1990 and 2005 was around $300
billion, which is roughly equal to the amount of money all African
countries received in international aid. "On average a war, civil war or
insurgency shrinks an African economy by 15 percent," the report said.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74745
COTE D'IVOIRE: UN "deeply concerned" about failing peace effort
The UN Secretary-General is "deeply concerned" by the failure of the
government and former rebels in Cote d'Ivoire to achieve steps toward
peace. In his latest report on Cote d'Ivoire, released 10 October,
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said lagging progress is undermining the
Ouagadougou peace accord, which observers have called the last, best
hope for the country after several previous agreements crumbled under
political wrangling. "I am deeply concerned that the failure to adhere
to the timelines set out in the Agreement has led to a slackening of
momentum which, if it continues, could undermine successful
implementation." The peace accord, signed in March 2007, laid out
several deadlines for disarmament and demobilisation, preparations for
long-overdue presidential elections and security reforms. Most of the
deadlines have slipped and some of the actions have yet to get off the
ground, according to the report.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74748
NIGER: Uranium - blessing or curse?
As the global demand for nuclear energy rises, analysts say the large
amount of uranium in Niger is not a benefit to the country's people but
adds to the serious problems facing the region. Niger, an impoverished
country on the southern fringe of the Sahara desert, has one of the
world's largest reserves of uranium, the main source of nuclear fuel -
but virtually nothing to show for it. Instead, say local and
international organisations, uranium mining by foreign-dominated
companies has caused environmental damage and health problems in the far
north of the country. The mining operations are also causing domestic
political tensions: one of the main demands of an armed militia that has
been fighting Niger's army since February, the Niger Movement for
Justice (MNJ), is a more equitable distribution of the revenues from
uranium mining.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74738
BURKINA FASO: Soldiers in the streets
Soldiers in Burkina Faso took to the streets and threatened to use force
this week after talks over working conditions broke down. Around 100
soldiers, some dressed in military fatigues, chanted and shouted in
central Ouagadougou on 7 October, after they were denied entrance to the
officers mess. Some of the soldiers briefly occupied the streets again
on 9 October. Gendarmes surrounded the army headquarters after a mob of
soldiers attempted to march to the officers' building. In the talks,
which collapsed at the end of September, the soldiers demanded a
five-year increase in the time they are allowed to serve in the army.
(The country has extremely high unemployment). The soldiers also
demanded an increase in pensions to reflect the current cost of living.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74739
NIGERIA: Violence, corruption institutionalised - HRW report
Nigerian leaders are so violent and corrupt that their conduct "more
resembles criminal activity than democratic governance", according to a
scathing report issued by Human Rights Watch on 9 October. "Violence,
corruption and impunity are not just problems that government has failed
to tackle; they are systemic abuses that flow from the heart of the very
same government institutions that should be working to combat them," the
report, titled Criminal Politics: Violence, "Godfathers" and Corruption
in Nigeria, said. In some Nigerian states, powerful political
"godfathers" control politicians, the report said. "In return, the
`godfathers' have captured government institutions to serve their own
interests."
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74712
AFRICA: WHO predicts worst meningitis epidemic for decade
The end of the rainy season in Africa could trigger the worst meningitis
epidemic to hit the continent in a decade, which the international
community is poorly prepared to handle, the World Health Organization
warned on 9 October. At least 80 million people living in 21 countries
from Ethiopia in East Africa to Mauritania in West Africa that make up a
region often called Africa's 'meningitis belt' might need to be injected
with preventative vaccines this year, WHO said at an emergency meeting
held in the Burkina Faso capital Ouagadougou.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74722
TOGO: Postive signs abound but caution reigns in run-up to pivotal
election
If Togo's parliamentary election set for 14 October is peaceful and
credible, the country could begin to shed the burden of its tumultuous
and undemocratic past and regain favour with the international
community, politicians and analysts say. In the run up to the election,
as electoral lists were being drawn up and political campaigns got
underway, observers say they were encouraged by the seriousness of the
process, in which nearly 2,200 candidates will vie for 81 seats. Civil
society and many citizens also appeared to recognise the importance of
pulling off an orderly and fair poll, observers say.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74724
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