Weekly Round-Up - IRINWA-400: 02-Nov-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 400
27 October - 2 November 2007
CONTENTS:
BENIN: Agricultural techniques adapted to the constraints of HIV/AIDS
BURKINA FASO: UN needs $6 million for urgent post-flood recovery
CHAD-SUDAN: Legal framework a hindrance in 'child-trafficking' case
CHAD-SUDAN: NGOs work to clear their name after child 'trafficking'
GHANA: Four dead as chieftaincy dispute erupts in violence
GUINEA: Country awaits new date for legislative poll
LIBERIA: Trial by ordeal makes the guilty burn but "undermines justice"
NIGERIA: Plan to demolish waterfront villages suspended
SENEGAL: Smooth transition for Taxi Sisters
TOGO: Court confirms ruling party victory in legislative poll
BENIN: Agricultural techniques adapted to the constraints of HIV/AIDS
Experiments in new agricultural techniques by a Benin research centre
could give a considerable boost to farmers living with HIV/AIDS. Comlan
Houessou, head of the network of people living with HIV/AIDS in Benin,
was fascinated to learn about projects by the Songhai Centre in the
capital, Porto Novo, to develop inexpensive agricultural production
systems based on agrobiology. "We are realising that it's not necessary
to have a large area of land to be able to farm," said Houessou, a
42-year-old farmer. He visited the centre as part of a conference on
mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS on agriculture and food security in
West Africa, held in early October in Cotonou. Songhai, a
non-governmental organisation (NGO) set up in 1985, is a centre for
training on sustainable farming production, research and development.
Its goal is to allow rural African communities to improve their living
conditions by using traditional and modern methods of farming and animal
breeding, by making the most of local resources and by creating viable
agricultural businesses.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75040
BURKINA FASO: UN needs $6 million for urgent post-flood recovery
Two and a half months after nationwide flooding in Burkina Faso,
humanitarian needs requiring an "urgent response" remain, according to
the UN, which is appealing for nearly US$6 million for those affected.
In its funding appeal launched on 26 October the UN says that while
food-related needs have been met in Burkina Faso - one of the world's
poorest countries - more action is needed to "reduce the growing
potential for a large-scale humanitarian crisis resulting from the
continued and rapid degradation of living conditions of affected
populations". As of 10 October, the government estimated that floods had
affected close to 93,000 people, of whom 28,000 are displaced. The
strong and persistent rains killed at least 51 people, wounded 76
others, and destroyed nearly 9,000 homes and 2,344 granaries, according
to the government. The numbers have risen in recent weeks, as access to
areas once cut off has allowed the government to do a more thorough
damage assessment.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75043
CHAD-SUDAN: Legal framework a hindrance in 'child-trafficking' case
Chadian and UN officials say the absence of a child trafficking law in
Chad will hamper efforts to prosecute members of a French association
who were arrested in the country while trying to take 103 children to
host families in France. The association, L'Arche de Zoe (Zoe's Ark),
says it was trying to rescue Sudanese orphans from "certain death" in
the Darfur region, on the border with Chad. Six members of the group -
arrested on 25 October - have been charged with abducting minors for the
purpose of changing their civil status (giving them new parents), a
crime that carries a penalty of five to 20 years of forced labour.
"There are no other penalties in the abduction chapter [of the criminal
code] stronger than the one we chose," said Ahmad Daoud Chari, state
prosecutor in Abeche, the eastern Chadian town where the members of the
association were arrested.
"Our penal code is limited. It doesn't cover [many] infractions. There
is a gap," Chari told IRIN.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75096
CHAD-SUDAN: NGOs work to clear their name after child 'trafficking'
Aid agencies and authorities in eastern Chad are urging local people not
to lose confidence in the international humanitarian community, after
members of a French association claiming to rescue Sudanese orphans from
the war in Darfur were charged with fraud and abduction of minors. Six
members of the Paris-based group L'Arche de Zoe (Zoe's Ark) were
arrested on 25 October at the Abeche airport in eastern Chad, as they
were preparing to take 103 children to host families in France. The
Chadian government has accused them of child trafficking. Under Chad's
legal system they could face up to 20 years of forced labour. "Many
[non-governmental organisations (NGOs)] working with children were a
little bit afraid that the practices that Zoe's Ark had used would
appear as the norm, which is absolutely not the case," said Aurelie
Lamaziere, of Save the Children UK's emergencies department. A committee
of 21 NGOs working in eastern Chad, including Save the Children, Oxfam,
and Action against Hunger, has signed a joint statement expressing
"profound concern" over the incident, calling it a "serious violation"
of the children's rights.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75064
GHANA: Four dead as chieftaincy dispute erupts in violence
Four people were killed on 1 November in Ghana's Volta Region when
violence erupted in a longstanding chieftaincy dispute. The government
has sent in security forces and ordered a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the
area. One of the dead was a police officer, reportedly kidnapped by one
of the rival factions after the clash. His lacerated body was found the
following morning after an all-night search, a police official told
IRIN. The government has sent soldiers and at least 160 police officers
to the area, which is in eastern Ghana. Security officials said one
royal family in the district of Anloga was preparing a ceremony to
install a new chief, when at least 100 people from a rival family -
armed with AK-47s and clubs - raided the site.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75136
GUINEA: Country awaits new date for legislative poll
As the latest target date for Guinea's overdue legislative election
appears likely to slip, Guineans are waiting for the government to
declare a new schedule. Observers say a poll is unlikely before March
2008. The election - most recently set for December 2007 - is just one
part of a political transition underway since unprecedented civilian
uprisings early this year brought in a new government and gave citizens
a sense that they can play a role in how the country goes forward.
"There may be more interest [in the upcoming elections] because of the
events of this year, as people feel like they do have some influence on
their future," a Western diplomat told IRIN. While the government has
not officially postponed the election, some members have talked of a
delay and Prime Minister Lansana Kouyate recently acknowledged that
given the work remaining to organise the poll, holding it in December
would be "difficult". International observers in Guinea agree that much
remains to be done to prepare, including getting the independent
electoral commission up and running. Current members of parliament came
to power in a disputed election in 2002 and their mandate was officially
up in June. President Lansana Conte's Party of Unity and Progress holds
85 of the 114 seats.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75093
LIBERIA: Trial by ordeal makes the guilty burn but "undermines justice"
About 50 people in the village of Klay, northwestern Liberia, recently
gathered to watch a man apply red-hot metal to the limbs of four youths
accused of robbery. The man dipped a machete in a concoction of water,
palm oil and kola nuts, held it in fire for several minutes, and then
placed it on the right legs of the four suspects. None of the youths -
ages 16 to 26 - appeared to flinch. They were deemed not guilty. This
practice known as 'sassywood' is banned under national law, but is still
regarded as a legitimate form of justice by many Liberians. A suspect is
subjected to intense pain and judged on his or her reaction - if the hot
metal burns the person's leg, he or she is found guilty. The UN has
repeatedly warned that the practice is undermining efforts to improve
human rights in Liberia as the country attempts to recover from 14 years
of war.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75111
NIGERIA: Plan to demolish waterfront villages suspended
Residents of waterfront villages around Nigeria's oil capital Port
Harcourt are relieved as a plan to demolish their homes has been shelved
following the removal of the state governor on 26 October. "The former
governor did not have the interest of poor people at heart," said Peters
Ibinabo, a resident of Bundu, one of 25 waterside villages slated for
demolition. "The [new] governor has started well," he told IRIN by
telephone. In his first address to the people of Rivers State, the
largest oil-producing state in the Niger Delta, the newly installed
governor Rotimi Amaechi said, "The planned demolition of all waterfront
villages has been suspended with immediate effect." Amaechi was
installed on 26 October following a ruling by the Nigerian Supreme Court
which disqualified the former governor, Celestine Omehia, who had held
office since elections in May.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75042
SENEGAL: Smooth transition for Taxi Sisters
"It's not heavy," Sanou Top insists, as she takes a suitcase out of her
client's hands and hoists it into the trunk of her cab. "I hope you
drive like a man," the customer says. The small-framed, head-scarfed
25-year-old laughs. Top is one of 10 women chosen for a pilot project by
the Senegalese government to get female taxi drivers on the road. And
after more than a month behind the wheel in one of the world's most
chaotic capitals for driving, Top says it's been a smooth ride. "At
first, it was difficult," Top says. But now? "Complete satisfaction."
Her cell phone rings. She tucks it under her head scarf and begins a
conversation, all while shifting gears and keeping an eye out for
customers. It's a system she seems to have mastered.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75137
TOGO: Court confirms ruling party victory in legislative poll
Togo's Constitutional Court has confirmed that the ruling party won a
majority in the 14 October election, after the main opposition party had
contested the results, charging fraud. On 30 October the Court said the
ruling Rally of the Togolese People party took 50 of 81 seats in the
poll, seen as pivotal to the country's regaining favour with the
international community after years of isolation. All was calm in the
capital Lome when the Court announced its decision, with diplomats,
political party representatives and journalists present. The main
opposition Union of Forces for Change (UFC) party - which took 27 seats
- had challenged the results of the poll, charging in part that ballot
boxes had been tampered with and fake election cards distributed. But
election observers - including the Economic Community of West African
States - had declared the poll fair and transparent, and other
opposition parties did not contest the results.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75065
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