| In Brief: World hunger increases despite growth in food production |
DUSHANBE, 12 November 2009 (IRIN) - Even as world food production grows, hunger is on the rise in many poor countries, according to the Global Crop Prospects and Food Situation report for November, published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on 12 November. full report
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| In Brief: Cash does not always mean quality food aid |
JOHANNESBURG, 11 November 2009 (IRIN) - A move by donor countries to provide aid agencies with cash, allowing them the flexibility to source cheaper or more appropriate food in the region or beneficiary country and save on transport and warehousing costs, is not addressing nutritional needs, according to a new report. full report
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| SENEGAL: Youth who refuse to farm |
ZIGUINCHOR, 4 November 2009 (IRIN) - Landmines and armed attacks in Senegal’s Casamance region are preventing farmers from maximizing production from the region’s fertile soil, but there is another problem, too: not enough young people are taking up farming, residents and experts say. full report
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| Analysis: African IDP convention fills a void in humanitarian law |
KAMPALA, 27 October 2009 (IRIN) - The African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa is a comprehensive document that will, if ratified, fill a void in international humanitarian law, say experts. full report
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| WEST AFRICA: Humanitarian stockpile takes shape - on paper |
BAMAKO, 21 October 2009 (IRIN) - When a storm hits in Togo, disaster relief items must be flown in from Brindisi, Italy, but that is just too far, according to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which is formalizing the region’s first government-operated humanitarian stockpile in Mali’s capital Bamako. full report
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| SENEGAL: Confronting aid challenges in volatile Casamance |
DAKAR, 19 October 2009 (IRIN) - Aid agencies are evaluating the needs of families recently displaced by armed conflict in Casamance, southern Senegal. Some of the displaced persons have joined families who were themselves forced out of their villages a decade ago. full report
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| WEST AFRICA: Stopping cholera emergencies |
DAKAR, 15 October 2009 (IRIN) - Cholera outbreaks in West Africa generally trigger extra hand-washings in households and panic-buying of bleach for treating water. But beating the deadly – but easily preventable – illness requires that such hygiene practices become routine, health experts say. full report
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| In Brief: When health facilities become casualties |
DAKAR, 14 October 2009 (IRIN) - Designed to be safe havens in times of disaster, health facilities are vulnerable to upheaval when catastrophe strikes, according to the UN, which is focusing on hospital safety for International Day for Disaster Reduction. full report
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| SENEGAL: Over 60 Dakar schools still flooded |
DAKAR, 9 October 2009 (IRIN) - More than 60 Dakar schools are still flooded, and as the academic year begins in Senegal people displaced during July-September rains are still sheltering in at least another 18 schools. Post-flood clean-up operations are under way but some Dakar residents say they are frustrated by what they say is the government’s slow response. full report
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| In Brief: Voices of landmine survivors |
DAKAR, 8 October 2009 (IRIN) - A landmine survivor in Senegal’s Casamance region on 6 October used the recent report, ‘Voices from the Ground’, based on a survey of mine victims worldwide, to remind aid agencies, Senegal’s anti-mine agency and the media of victims’ needs and governments’ responsibilities. full report
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