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

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e-mail: irin-wa@irin.ci


WEST AFRICA
IRIN-WA Weekly Round-Up 391
25 - 31 August 2007


CONTENTS:

MALI: Indignation dominates reaction as attacks in north escalate
NIGERIA: Flooding, rainstorms force people from homes in the north
NIGERIA: College slammed for HIV testing
MALI: Child marriage a neglected problem
GUINEA: 'Open house' at army base aims to ease military, civilian
   relations
NIGER: NGOs in north calling for peace
BURKINA FASO: School and books necessities not luxuries
COTE D'IVOIRE: Rural areas neglected by AIDS response
SIERRA LEONE: Election tensions could help or hinder democratic process
NIGERIA: Demolition plans bring new ethnic twist to Port Harcourt
   conflict
GUINEA: Cholera cases still rising
LIBERIA: HIV rates lower than feared
CHAD: Govt to provide US$600,000 of aid as flood damage spreads
LIBERIA: Floods displace hundreds in Monrovia



MALI: Indignation dominates reaction as attacks in north escalate

In a spate of attacks by armed militias in north-eastern Mali over the
last week at least 35 soldiers have been kidnapped and 11 people killed
by newly laid landmines, raising fears that escalating violence in
neighbouring Niger is spreading to Mali. Between 26 and 30 August, a
convoy of officials from the Ministry of Agriculture was attacked, a
Malian army convoy was attacked, and in separate incidents 10 civilians
and one soldier were killed when the vehicles they were traveling in hit
landmines, army spokesman Abdoulaye Coulibaly told reporters in Bamako.
The incidents have all taken place in the north of Sahel state, a
desolate mountain region close to the border with Libya and Niger
controlled by one of several former warlords in the region responsible
for an uprising by the Touareg ethnic group in the 1990s, Ibrahima
Bahanga. The Malian authorities have accused Bahanga of drug smuggling
and banditry. Mohamed Toure, a former government official who has served
in the north of Mali, told IRIN that Bahanga does not represent a
reincarnation of the Touareg rebel movement. "People there don't want
anything but peace now," he said.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74058


NIGERIA: Flooding, rainstorms force people from homes in the north

Flooding and rainstorms in two northern Nigerian states have left
thousands more people displaced and killed many livestock, local
officials said. Heavy rains lasting more than 12 hours in northeastern
Kebbi State on 28 August submerged at least 300 houses in Dakingari
village, leaving more than 3,000 people homeless, Bala Yusuf, an
official of the Suru local council in charge of the area said. "Nobody
died in the flood but survivors lost their farms and animals," said
Yusuf. "And they have nothing to eat." Many of the survivors are now
sheltering in the local primary school, getting by on donations of food
they have received from neighbours and friends. Rainstorms in northern
Gombe State on the same day tore the roofs off many buildings and
granaries in the village of Lakenturum in the Shongom district. The
violent wind uprooted trees, knocked down walls and took away roofs,
Danladi Garba, Shongom council chairman, said. The village health centre
and two primary schools were also damaged in the storm.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74037


NIGERIA: College slammed for HIV testing

A private Christian university in Nigeria has come under fire from
activists and health officials over its policy of compelling students to
undergo HIV and pregnancy tests. Earlier this year, Covenant University,
in Otta, a town near the port city of Lagos, in Ogun State, introduced
mandatory testing for new students and those about to graduate, as part
of its 'Total Man' concept. The university says this ensures that its
graduates are not only academically sound but of high moral standard.
Pregnant students who cannot prove they are legally married risk
suspension or expulsion. Covenant University - rated as the best private
tertiary institution in Nigeria last year - implements a strict code of
behaviour: all students have to live on the campus and, among other
restrictions, are not allowed to use mobile phones. "With the level of
moral decadence in our society, the Covenant University is determined to
ensure the purity of our graduates before they are released into the
society. They must be found worthy both academically and morally," said
Chancellor Bishop David Oyedepo, of Living Faith Church, which owns the
university.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74030


MALI: Child marriage a neglected problem

Two years ago, in the western Malian village of Korera-Kore, a
13-year-old girl was forced into marriage during her school summer
holiday. She died after complications during sex on her wedding night.
This young Malian, whose case was documented by a local organisation
called the Coordination of Women's Associations and Non-governmental
organisations (CAFO), is one of more than 60 million women globally who
were married or in union before the age of 18, according to estimates by
the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). Campaigners say forced early marriage,
or child marriage, is a problem that has been largely untouched by the
international community. In Mali it is considered by the research
organisation Population Council as "one of the most severe crises of
child marriage in the world today"; the few workers in this field say
progress is too slow. "There hasn't been a really concerted effort to
address the issue [at the international level]," said Naana
Otoo-Oyortey, a founding member of the Forum on Marriage and the Rights
of Women and Girls, a network of mostly UK-based organisations who
campaign against early marriage and violence against women. "It's been a
neglected issue."

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74027


GUINEA: 'Open house' at army base aims to ease military, civilian relations

In Guinea a civil-military dialogue group is organising an 'open house'
at the country's main military base, inviting citizens to meet with
military officials to help "ease relations" between the two sectors
which in recent months have met in the streets in deadly clashes. "Our
country sorely needs this kind of exchange," said Mohamed Kouyate,
programme coordinator with Guinea's Centre for International Trade and
Development (CECIDE), which is helping organise the 6 September open
house at the Alpha Yaya Diallo military base in the capital, Conakry.
"The main aim is to ease relations between [defence and security forces
and civilians], because a country's development cannot happen without a
solid understanding among the country's various actors." Guinea - where
citizens' patience is running thin over promised political and
socioeconomic reforms - is still reeling from demonstrations in June
2006 and early this year when security and defence forces killed nearly
150 unarmed protesters and injured hundreds more. "That was a bad thing
for our country. But we have to come back to an understanding," said
Colonel Bissi Michel, who has taken part in ongoing meetings aimed at
improving relations between the military and civilians. "Without
understanding between us, the military cannot carry out its work."

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74010


NIGER: NGOs in north calling for peace

A mayor in northern Niger has warned that civilians are increasingly
being caught up in insecurity caused by fighting between the Nigerien
army and armed militias, and has called for an end to hostilities. "The
goal is to limit the humanitarian crisis which is emerging, and to
appeal to the warring parties for a halt in hostilities in the interest
of everyone," Issouf Ag Maha, the mayor of Tchirozerine and the head of
a local association of non-government organisations (NGOs), told IRIN.
Despite Maha's call, analysts warn that insecurity in the region may be
escalating, and possibly spilling into neighbouring countries. In two
separate incidents in the last week the army in Mali has been attacked
by armed fighters, although both the Malian authorities and the main
militia group operating in Niger - the Nigerien Movement for Justice
(MNJ) - have denied the attacks were related to the situation in Niger.
Nigerien President Mamadou Tanja has imposed a three-month state of
emergency on the Agadez region of northern Niger. "The state of
emergency gives powers to the police, and defence and security forces to
assure the defence and the security of citizens on the territory. The
measure is made necessary by the insecurity which is increasing in the
north. It is necessary to control the movements of people and goods in
this region," Communications Minister Mohamed Ben Omar told IRIN.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74009


BURKINA FASO: School and books necessities not luxuries

The Burkina Faso government will distribute millions of free books to
primary school students and launch a pilot project to give no-fee
schooling in a push to curb the number of people in the country growing
up without even basic education. "This is the end of the time when
reading and maths textbooks are seen as luxury items for parents,"
pledged Odile Bonkoungou, minister of basic education and literacy, on
27 August, launching the free books project. Some 10.5 million books for
primary school children in reading and maths classes have already been
ordered, according to Bonkoungou. Of those, 3.5 million will be
distributed this academic year. The programme will cost the government
1.5 billion CFA francs (US$3.1 million) in 2007, and 1.2 billion CFA
francs (US$2.4 million) every subsequent year. Burkina Faso's education
ministry is also experimenting with no-fee schooling in 45 departments
around the country this academic year. The initiative will be extended
to the rest of the country in 2011. The project is in line with a push
from the World Bank and the UN to encourage free education in developing
countries worldwide.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74001


COTE D'IVOIRE: Rural areas neglected by AIDS response

Rural areas in Cote d'Ivoire seem to have fallen off the map in HIV/AIDS
prevention efforts, and although the HIV prevalence rates are still
lower than those found in cities, experts fear they could climb. "We
have observed an imbalance in terms of the approach to the fight against
AIDS in rural and urban areas," Professor Bassirou Bonfoh of the Swiss
Centre for Scientific Research (CSRS) told IRIN/PlusNews. "Attention is
focused a bit too much on urban areas, while rural areas remain a
reservoir for the disease," said Bonfoh, who will speak at an
international conference on health in poor urban areas, to be held in
Abidjan, the commercial capital, next month. He warned that if nothing
was done to address these inequities, this could cause greater
complications for the country's HIV/AIDS epidemic. "Despite the strong
fight against AIDS in urban areas, we cannot reach the results we seek
if [this] disease eventually comes from the rural zones into urban
areas." A failed coup in September 2002 sparked months of civil war in
Cote d'Ivoire, eventually splitting the country into a rebel-held north
and government-run south. The country's political and military crisis
has led to huge population movements, disrupted social and health
services, including health services in the war zones, and the slowdown
of prevention and control programmes.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73997


SIERRA LEONE: Election tensions could help or hinder democratic process

The risk that Sierra Leone could again descend into the chaos and civil
war of the 1990s remains unlikely ahead of the second round of
presidential elections on 8 September, according to international
officials - even after outgoing president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah threatened
to impose a state of emergency following election-related riots in the
main diamond town of Kono on 27 August and the stabbing of at least six
people in Freetown. "We are keeping a close eye on the situation but we
do not anticipate things deteriorating significantly," head of the UN's
Integrated Office in Sierra Leone Victor Angelo told IRIN on 28 August.
His spokesman Christain Stohmann said the violence was a sign that
tensions are high as the second round is going to be close. "But the
party leaders are doing their best to rein in their followers and we
think the security forces now have the training and capacity to keep the
situation under control." In fact, many observers believe the tensions
are good news for democracy.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73994


NIGERIA: Demolition plans bring new ethnic twist to Port Harcourt conflict

State government plans to demolish several slums in the unstable
southern Nigerian city of Port Harcourt could spark ethnic tensions,
fuel violence, and leave up to 100,000 homeless. Rivers State Governor
Celestine Omehia announced on 21 August his government would demolish 25
slum districts in the ramshackle waterfront area of the city that
currently houses between 50,000 and 100,000 people, according to local
estimates. Omehia's announcement followed several weeks of violence
which culminated in running street battles in Port Harcourt between
armed fighters on motorbikes and the army, which strafed several parts
of the city with attack helicopters, and finally ended the violence by
imposing a curfew.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73978


GUINEA: Cholera cases still rising

At least 800 more people have been infected with cholera over the last
week, bringing the total number of reported cases to 2,500 since January
out of which 90 people have died, according to the Guinean Ministry of
Health. "The number of people infected by the disease in Conakry has
considerably increased since July," said Sergio Martin Esteso, programme
head for Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Guinea, in a statement. "Of
the 1,260 patients treated in the three centres where MSF works, more
than 1,000 have been in the past three weeks." "Once again, health
facilities weren't well enough prepared to cope with this emergency,"
Esteso said. The disease has spread rapidly despite sensitization
efforts including a national radio campaign organised by the government,
the Guinean Red Cross and UNICEF, emphasizing the importance of clean
water and proper hygiene.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73989


LIBERIA: HIV rates lower than feared

Reliable statistics on HIV/AIDS have been hard to come by in Liberia,
slowly recovering from years of conflict, but two recently released
surveys indicate a much lower HIV/AIDS prevalence rate than was
previously thought. "This is a reliable survey, involving 7,000
households across the country, where individual blood samples were
collected and tested for HIV, and this exercise is the first in 25
years," said Edward Liberty, head of the Liberia Institute of Statistics
and Geo-Information Services (LISGIS). Respondents sampled were in the
age range of 15 to 49. The first post-war demographic and health survey,
conducted by the LISGIS from December 2006 to July 2007 in nine of the
country's 15 counties, indicated an HIV prevalence rate of 1.5 percent
of the country's 3.2 million people. The civil war made most rural areas
inaccessible, but when it ended in 2003, UNAIDS put HIV infection at 5.9
percent, while a 2002 Liberian government study estimated 8.2 percent.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73962


CHAD: Govt to provide US$600,000 of aid as flood damage spreads

As officials in remote regions throughout Chad report worsening flood
damage, Chad's government has pledged to provide US$600,000 to cover
initial shelter, food and medicine needs. "A first evaluation of urgent
needs has already been made, and a crisis committee has been put in
place," said government spokesperson Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor in a
statement on 26 August. "It is necessary to assist the victims of the
floods, and to plan ahead the medications that will be needed for
epidemics," the statement said. The government has unblocked 300 million
CFA francs (US$623,000) to cover the initial needs of Chadians displaced
in a first wave of floods in the south west region of Mayo Kebbi on 9
August. Chad has also appealed to the international community to provide
assistance. Since the early August floods, destroyed houses and flooded
fields have also been reported in the Tandjile region in the south,
Salamat in the east, Lac in the west, and Hadjer Lamis in the north
central region. Chad has 18 regions. Secretary General of the Salamat
region, Ngarsadoum Sjimia, told IRIN on 26 August that at least 12
people have drowned in the Bahr Azoum river there, and three others were
killed in Abou Deia, a town in the region.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73972


LIBERIA: Floods displace hundreds in Monrovia

Flooding has cut off piped water to a quarter million people in the
capital, Monrovia, displacing hundreds of people and destroying or
severely damaging homes. "Our treatment plant is now in the flood
[waters], which has affected the pumping of safe drinking water. into
Monrovia," Hun Bu Tulay, managing director of the state-owned Liberia
Water and Sewage Corporation, told IRIN. "About 250,000 people would be
without piped water considering the estimated population on Bushrod
Island [western Monrovia] and central Monrovia who benefit from our
services," Tulay said. He said he expected the plant to be up and
running again by the afternoon of 28 August. Heavy rains over the
weekend caused flooding in Red Hill, Caldwell, Doe, St. Paul Bridge, and
Gardnersville communities near the St. Paul River in Greater Monrovia
and in the western part of the capital, according to the humanitarian
office of the UN mission in Liberia, UNMIL.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73973


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