U N I T E D N A T I O N S Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Integrated Regional Information Network
WEST AFRICA: IRIN-WA Weekly Round-up 33 covering 15 July 21 July 2006 Contents: MAURITANIA: Waiting for the rains, poorest struggle to survive COTE D IVOIRE: Youths dismantle barricades; working group to meet COTE D IVOIRE: Youths block streets, halt citizenship hearings SENEGAL: Free treatment for obstetric fistula WEST AFRICA: Funding gap for regional humanitarian appeal CHAD: Agreement with World Bank over oil revenues MAURITANIA: Waiting for the rains, poorest struggle to survive Water is as precious as gold in Mauritanias baking hot villages, and probably seems just as heavy for the women and children who trek 15 kilometres or more every day to pump barrels of it out of the ground, hauling it home on their heads and on donkeys. The annual three month rainy season from July to October promises a brief respite from that gruelling job, and a short window to grow food for the year ahead. But as rainfall throughout the Sahel region has plummeted in recent years, a reliable growing season has become more mirage than certainty. http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54724&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=MAURITANIA COTE D IVOIRE: Youths dismantle barricades; working group to meet Pro-government youths dismantled street barricades at President Laurent Gbagbos urging ahead of a meeting of international mediators to be held in Abidjan on Thursday on Cote dIvoires fraught peace process. The youths, known as Young Patriots, had blocked the streets of Abidjan and other cities in the government-held south of the country on Tuesday and Wednesday to protest public hearings to grant citizenship to some 3.5 million undocumented Ivorians. Shops reopened, taxis and buses circulated and people went back to work on Thursday, although the public hearings only resumed in the rebel-held north of the country. http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54714&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=COTE_D_IVOIRE COTE D IVOIRE: Youths block streets, halt citizenship hearings Pro-government youths erected barricades in Cote dIvoires main city and other parts of the government-held south on Wednesday as President Laurent Gbagbo ruled out key hearings on citizenship unless northern rebels disarm. The youths, known as Young Patriots, burned tyres and held rocks and sticks as they turned away vehicles downtown and in the crowded suburbs of Abidjan. Stores and businesses were shuttered and few people ventured onto the streets. Police fired teargas to disperse the youths but they quickly reassembled. The Young Patriots declared Wednesday the day of all dangers. http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54694&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=COTE_D_IVOIRE SENEGAL: Free treatment for obstetric fistula President Abdoulaye Wade has ordered his government to allow free treatment for women suffering from obstetric fistula - often a result of early childbirth that leaves young women incontinent and sometimes shunned by their communities. In a meeting with women in the northern region of Saint-Louis earlier this month, Wade likened early marriage to rape. It is unacceptable to marry 13-year-old girls and I will apply the constitution to formally ban these types of marriages, Wade said after watching a film on obstetric fistula. The legal age of marriage in Senegal is 18. In impoverished communities across Africa, Asia and Latin America, parents will consent to early marriage for their daughters in exchange for a dowry. http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54685&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=SENEGAL WEST AFRICA: Funding gap for regional humanitarian appeal Nearly half of a UN appeal to cover the humanitarian needs of West African countries in 2006 has yet to be received, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Fifty-one percent of the appeal has been funded but there is a gap of nearly US $119 million, OCHA said on Tuesday. West Africa is one of the poorest regions of the globe and the countries of the Sahel are about to relive a very worrying period in terms of nutrition, said Herve Ludovic de Lys, director of OCHAs regional bureau for West Africa. http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54684&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=WEST_AFRICA CHAD: Agreement with World Bank over oil revenues Chad and the World Bank have reached a new agreement about how the country will use its oil revenues, ending a six-month row that jeopardised a ground-breaking scheme that aimed to set aside petrodollars for the poor. Under the agreement, Chad said it would devote 70 percent of its budget to poverty reduction programs in the areas of health, education, agriculture, infrastructure, environment, rural development, de-mining and good governance. Chad has also committed to work out a new poverty-reduction strategy, which would be written into law, and to create a stabilisation fund for future generations. http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54659&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=CHAD cs [ENDS] This is non-reply e-mail. Please do not hesitate to contact us at [EMAIL PROTECTED] IRIN-WA Tel:+221 867.27.30 Fax: +221 867.25.85 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Principal donors: IRIN is generously supported by Australia, Canada, Denmark, ECHO, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. For more information, go to: http://www.IRINnews.org/donors [This item comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian news and information service, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. All IRIN material may be reposted or reprinted free-of-charge; refer to the copyright page (Http://www.irinnews.org/copyright ) for conditions of use. IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.] To make changes to or cancel your subscription visit: http://www.irinnews.org/subscriptions/subslogin.asp Subscriber: [email protected] Keyword: West Africa --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Mauritanie-Net" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Mauritanie-Net -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
_______________________________________________ M-net mailing list [email protected] http://mauritanie-net.com/mailman/listinfo/m-net_mauritanie-net.com
