Media News

Angola
Nearly 30,000 Angolans recently expelled from the Congo (DRC), who are now seeking refuge in overcrowded camps in northern Angola, are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, the UNHCR said. According to an inter-agency assessment over the weekend, in which the UNHCR took part, the Angolans are sheltering in three congested reception centers in Cuimba and Mama Rosa, near Angolas border with the DRC. Shelter, food, medicine and sanitation facilitation are among the most pressing needs, according to UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic. The supply of clean water is insufficient, he said. Some of the expelled drink from the nearby contaminated rivers. Diarrhea and vomiting have been reported among those living in camps, where many are sleeping in the open air. (UN News Service)

Botswana
President Ian Khama secured a new five-year term on Sunday, extending his rule over the world’s largest diamond producer, after his governing BDP party swept to victory in a parliamentary election. Chief Justice Julian Nganunu said Khama, son of the country’s first president, would remain at the helm of the southern African nation, which is battling a recession and hit by internal party squabbling. Botswana has been hit hard as a global economic slowdown cuts demand for diamonds, which account for close to 40 percent of the economy. The landlocked country has sunk into debt and gross domestic product is forecast to shrink 10 percent. (Reuters)

Central African Republic (CAR)
Children in the Central African Republic (CAR) are paying a heavy price for the troubles faced by the country, and their plight could worsen without urgent international support, said a senior official with UNICEF. Children in CAR are in the eye of a storm, the agencys Deputy Executive Director, Hilde Johnson, said during a visit to the country last week. CAR is one of the most impoverished countries in the world and, according to UN humanitarian officials, the number of people affected directly or indirectly by conflict is estimated to be more than 1 million out of a population of 4 million. It also has some of the worst child welfare indicators in the world, according to UNICEF, which says that about one in six children dies before reaching the age of five. (UN News Service)

Congo (DRC)
A sharp rise in attacks on humanitarian workers in the eastern North Kivu province of the Congo (DRC) has impeded efforts to provide life-saving assistance to hundreds of thousands of people in need. Since early 2009, a total of 108 attacks against humanitarian workers including murders, abductions and theft of vehicles and other assets were recorded in the province, compared to 105 during the whole of 2008. The attacks have increased in recent weeks, with seven incidents reported during last week alone in the territories of Lubero, Masisi, Rutshuru, and Walikale. North Kivu hosts an estimated 980,000 IDPs more than any other province in the strife-torn nation. UN agencies and over 70 NGOs are operating in the province. (UN News Service)

Ethiopia
The Ethiopian government is expected to confirm later that it needs emergency food aid for 6.2 million people. This is because of the effects of prolonged drought and erratic rains on crops and grazing for livestock. The UN’s World Food Program (WFP) is already facing a shortfall of more than USD 85 million worth of food for Ethiopia to the end of this year. Aid agency Oxfam has called for a new approach to tackling the risk of disaster in the country. In a report marking 25 years since the famine that killed around one million Ethiopians, Oxfam said that imported food aid saves lives in the short term but does little to help communities withstand the next shock. (BBC)

Guinea
The UN Security Council has given its support for an inquiry into the alleged killing of more than 150 demonstrators in Guinea’s capital of Conakry last month, a French diplomat said Oct. 21. The council also supports a prominent role for the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to try to settle the conflict in Guinea, said French Ambassador Gerard Araud, a permanent member with veto power in the 15-nation council. Araud said negotiations have begun in the council to draft a statement spelling out the council’s support for the independent commission of inquiry into the crackdown on September 28 demonstrations in Conakry, in which relief organizations said an estimated 157 demonstrators were killed. (DPA)

Kenya
Up to 20 people were feared dead in Kenya on Oct. 20 after a five-storey building under construction collapsed, trapping workers under piles of rubble. Local media said six bodies had been recovered so far and that 14 people remained missing after the incident Monday in Kiambu town, 20 km (12 miles) northeast of the capital Nairobi. “There are reports that those trapped ... have made phone calls to colleagues and relatives,” the Kenya Red Cross said in a statement, quoting a security guard at the site. It also quoted a foreman as saying there had been at least 50 people in the building at the time. Kenya’s government has often promised to crackdown on building code violations, which are widespread in a country where bribery of officials and shoddy construction are rampant. (Reuters)

Niger
West Africa’s regional bloc suspended Niger on Oct. 20 in protest against what it said were flawed parliamentary elections being held there. The Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, said it would not recognize the results of the vote, which is expected to allow President Mamadou Tandja to tighten his grip on power and deepen the uranium-mining country’s constitutional crisis. “The holding of the elections is a clear move by the authorities in Niger to further entrench the constitutional illegality currently prevailing in the country,” said a spokesman for Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua, who is ECOWAS chairman. Turnout for the election was patchy after the opposition called for a boycott of the vote. (Reuters)

Nigeria
Nigerian officials are reportedly planning to give 10 percent of the country’s oil revenues to people in the Niger Delta, an area plagued by insurgencies. Presidential adviser Emmanuel Egbogah told the Financial Times that the money would go directly to communities, bypassing powerful state governors. Analysts say the government fears local officials would embezzle the money. The plan is part of the government’s effort to stop militants from attacking oil installations in the delta. Such attacks have been going on for years, but the government recently held an amnesty and claims to have persuaded a number of leading militants to hand in their arms. Rebels say they are fighting for a fairer share of oil wealth for delta residents, but frequently resort to killing and kidnapping, and fund their activities by stealing oil. (BBC)

Somalia
Pirates from Somalia who hijacked a Chinese bulk carrier in the Indian Ocean threatened on Oct. 20 to execute its 25 Chinese crew members if any rescue operation was attempted. The De Xin Hai was carrying about 76,000 tons of coal from South Africa to India when it was seized by gunmen some 700 nautical miles east of Somalia. “We tell China not to endanger the lives of their people with any rescue operation,” Hassan, an associate of the gang, told Reuters by phone from the pirate stronghold Haradheere. Indian coal traders feared that this first reported hijacking of a coal vessel by Somali pirates could mean the gunmen would start targeting others, as these dry bulk vessels are smaller and have a relatively small crew. (Reuters)

South Africa
The Republic of Congo has signed an agreement to lease 200,000 hectares of land to South African farmers. Congo’s agriculture minister said it would bring expertise to the country and reduce its dependence on imports. South African farmers’ union Agri SA, which signed the deal, said the ANC government’s land policy was forcing white farmers to seek land abroad. The ANC is seeking to transfer some farms, overwhelmingly white-owned, to the black majority population. Under the terms of the agreement, South African farmers will lease the land in Congo for 30 years to produce food and fiber mainly for the domestic market. (BBC)

Sudan
US President Barack Obama has offered “incentives” to Sudan, if it acts to improve the situation in Darfur. However, as he unveiled a new policy on Khartoum, Obama threatened “increased pressure” if Sudan failed to make progress towards achieving peace. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US was still focused on addressing the effects of “genocide” in Darfur - a term Sudan said was “unfortunate.” The UN estimates that 300,000 people have died in Darfur since 2003. In his statement, Obama said he would renew tough measures against Khartoum later this week. (BBC)

Uganda
The top UN humanitarian official left Oct. 19 for Uganda on a five-day visit during which he will attend an African Union (AU) summit on refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) and tour areas of the country where nearly 2 million people have been driven from their homes by decades of fighting with rebels. One of the top international organization officials participating in the summit, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes is expected to take part in a panel discussion on Natural Disasters, Climate Change and Food Security, led by the Republic of Congos President Denis Sassou-Nguesso. (UN News Service)

Zimbabwe
A Zimbabwe minister said on Oct. 21 he was hopeful President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai would meet this week to resolve disputes that forced the MDC to boycott the unity government. Welshman Ncube, Industry and Commerce Minister and secretary general of a splinter Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), told industrialists that Tsvangirai’s decision to disengage from Mugabe ZANU-PF had shaken renewed investor confidence in the country. The MDC boycott has sparked the country’s biggest political crisis since the formation of a new administration (Reuters)

Compiled by developmentex.com