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Southern Africa cracks down on TB in mines
25 March 2013
(IRIN
),
South Africa's gold mines are estimated to have the highest number of new tuberculosis (TB) cases in the world, making the disease a leading export to neighbouring countries. IRIN takes a look at the declaration meant to change this situation.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97719/Southern-Africa-cracks-down-on-TB-in-mines
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In Africa, corruption dirties the water
14 March 2013
(IRIN
),
Collusion among government officials, unscrupulous water vendors and large farm owners results in diverted water supply lines, misappropriated funds, and failure to implement laws on protecting water sources from encroachment and pollution. These are just some of the ways corruption is denying millions of poor people in Africa access to safe and clean drinking water, experts say.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97642/In-Africa-corruption-dirties-the-water
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Maize smuggling creates hunger in Malawi
1 March 2013
(IRIN
),
Every morning, Bernadette Kilembe, from the northern Malawian town of Karonga, is confronted with two related problems: She has to keep her restaurant running, and she has to feed herself and her three children.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97571/Maize-smuggling-creates-hunger-in-Malawi
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African migrants pay high prices to send money home
27 February 2013
(IRIN
),
New data from the World Bank has revealed that African migrants pay more to send money home to their families than any other migrant group in the world.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97557/African-migrants-pay-high-prices-to-send-money-home
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Malawi’s never-ending drug shortage problem
19 February 2013
(IRIN
),
Malawi is again experiencing a crisis in the delivery of essential medicines, with understaffed clinics and erratic drug supplies preventing many dangerously ill patients from accessing treatment.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97503/Malawi-s-never-ending-drug-shortage-problem
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Growing demand for family planning in Malawi
31 January 2013
(IRIN
),
The waiting area of a clinic in northern Malawi’s Nkhata Bay resembles a kindergarten, with dozens of children running around or tugging on their mothers’ skirts. On average, each woman at the clinic has four small children with her.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97377/Growing-demand-for-family-planning-in-Malawi
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Solving statelessness in Southern Africa
30 January 2013
(IRIN
),
Frederik Ngubane was born in South Africa to South African parents 22 years ago but, lacking any proof of his origins or nationality, he lives a shadowy, marginal existence. He cannot travel, study or secure formal employment and has lost count of how many times he has been arrested for being undocumented.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97372/Solving-statelessness-in-Southern-Africa
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More ethanol could lighten Malawi's fuel bill
25 January 2013
(IRIN
),
As fuel prices climb in Malawi, amid fuel shortages and a soaring inflation rate - prompted by a 50 percent devaluation of the currency - a new paper suggests a way to decrease the country's reliance on imported fuel: biofuels.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97337/More-ethanol-could-lighten-Malawi-s-fuel-bill
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Horn migrants use new, more dangerous, routes through Malawi
21 January 2013
(IRIN
),
On 20 June 2012, a group of undocumented Ethiopian migrants boarded a boat on the shores of Lake Malawi and headed southwards. A few minutes after departing, the overloaded boat sank, drowning 49 of its passengers.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97289/Horn-migrants-use-new-more-dangerous-routes-through-Malawi
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In Brief: Staples, not export crops, key to tackling Africa’s poverty – report
18 January 2013
(IRIN
),
Africa could reduce its poverty levels faster by focusing more on the production of staples rather than export crops, according to a study by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97278/In-Brief-Staples-not-export-crops-key-to-tackling-Africa-s-poverty-report
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Flooding compounds hunger fears in Malawi
17 January 2013
(IRIN
),
Several months of heavy rains in Malawi are threatening to undo any gains that farmers in the south may have made following a prolonged dry spell.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97264/Flooding-compounds-hunger-fears-in-Malawi
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Malawi faces “long and hard road”
9 January 2013
(IRIN
),
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde urged Malawians to stick with tough economic reforms during a recent three-day visit to the country, but measures recommended by the Fund and implemented by President Joyce Banda have been deeply unpopular with many citizens who can no longer afford basic goods and services.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97208/Malawi-faces-long-and-hard-road
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Urban water woes
2 January 2013
(IRIN
),
In Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare (population 3,000,000), a man relieves himself in the dirt next to his tin shack, holding his nose to ward off the stench of a nearby overflowing latrine. In Ramallah (population 300,000) in the occupied Palestinian territory a 14-year-old girl wakes with menstrual cramps - and skips class because her school lacks a washroom where she can clean herself in private. In Bangladesh’s mega-capital (population 12 million), a monsoon-season flash flood leaves thousands with cholera.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97161/Urban-water-woes
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MALAWI-ANGOLA: Food crises and response
17 December 2012
(IRIN
),
Prolonged dry spells have driven almost four million people to food insecurity in Malawi and oil-rich Angola, in Southern Africa. Humanitarian aid agencies have been trying to shine a spotlight on crises in the region, even as the situations in Syria and the Sahel continue to dominate headlines.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97064/MALAWI-ANGOLA-Food-crises-and-response
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IDPs: African IDP Convention comes into force
6 December 2012
(IRIN
),
The African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) 2009, also known as the Kampala Convention, came into force on 6 December; it is the world’s first legally binding instrument to cater specifically to people displaced within their own countries.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96984/IDPs-African-IDP-Convention-comes-into-force
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HIV/AIDS: Despite progress, HIV efforts fall short
20 November 2012
(IRIN
),
Record progress in reducing the number of new HIV infections and lowering the numbers of people dying from AIDS-related causes indicate that the end of AIDS is "entirely feasible". But the epidemic is not over in any part of the world, and is gaining pace in some.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96830/HIV-AIDS-Despite-progress-HIV-efforts-fall-short
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SOUTHERN AFRICA: Governments failing to address cervical cancer
31 October 2012
(IRIN
),
Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among women in southern Africa, but new research reveals that governments’ attempts to address the disease have been inadequate. Access to cervical cancer screening services is minimal, few countries in the region have policies on the disease, and treatment remains a major challenge.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96676/SOUTHERN-AFRICA-Governments-failing-to-address-cervical-cancer
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FOOD: No more fertilizers but trees
16 October 2012
(IRIN
),
To keep its mostly maize-growing small farms productive through cycles of drought, Malawi spends 60 percent of its agricultural budget subsidizing fertilizers. But the findings of a 12-year study, released today, suggest farmers in Malawi and elsewhere could increase yields consistently without applying fertilizers, using instead 'fertilizer trees'.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96565/FOOD-No-more-fertilizers-but-trees
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CLIMATE CHANGE: New urgency to rethink dam projects
26 September 2012
(IRIN
),
The massive hydropower dams built on the Zambezi River, the largest river system in Southern Africa, not only supply power to major economies in the region but also help mitigate annual floods. But as electricity demands grow and rising global temperatures affect rainfall patterns, the dams will be unable to meet energy needs or control floods, warns a new study.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96393/CLIMATE-CHANGE-New-urgency-to-rethink-dam-projects
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FOOD: Poor importing countries need help
18 September 2012
(IRIN
),
High cereal prices have bloated countries' food import bills in the past decade, partly because of export restrictions imposed by some governments that have squeezed supply. As cereal prices begin to again climb, a new study has called on the World Trade Organization (WTO) to take action to exempt poor countries from other nations’ export restrictions.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96333/FOOD-Poor-importing-countries-need-help
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