COMOROS  

Southern Africa cracks down on TB in mines

JOHANNESBURG, 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. full report

African migrants pay high prices to send money home

 JOHANNESBURG, 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. full report

In Brief: Staples, not export crops, key to tackling Africa’s poverty – report

 NAIROBI, 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). full report

IDPs: African IDP Convention comes into force

 NAIROBI, 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. full report

SECURITY: Is Africa's maritime strategy all at sea?

 JOHANNESBURG, 22 October 2012 (IRIN) - The African Union’s (AU) deadline for securing the continent’s territorial waters - the world’s last major geographical region without a maritime strategy - has been set at 2050, a target that may prove untenable. full report

COMOROS: Helping people recover from floods

 PRETORIA, 10 September 2012 (IRIN) - In April, the archipelago nation of Comoros was lashed by its heaviest rains in decades, uprooting families and destroying the crops and incomes of its poorest people. At a donor conference last week, the country, backed by the UN and the South African government, made an appeal for just over US$19 million to help the country get back on its feet. full report

AFRICA: Domestic investment in HIV up but uneven

 NAIROBI, 19 July 2012 (IRIN) - Many sub-Saharan African nations - traditionally the beneficiaries of international HIV funding - are gradually increasing their financial contributions to the fight against the virus, boosting the number of people on treatment to record highs according to a new UNAIDS report, Together We Will End AIDS, released on 18 July. full report

In Brief: Rain in Comoros brings flooding, crop damage, disease

 JOHANNESBURG, 20 June 2012 (IRIN) - Some 65,000 people on the Comoros islands, or 8 percent of the population, were affected by flooding, power outages and an increased incidence of disease following heavy rains during the wet season that runs from November through to May. full report

AFRICA: Donor fatigue forces WFP to cut refugee rations

 JOHANNESBURG, 19 June 2012 (IRIN) - The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has halved food rations to refugees living in camps in at least four African countries citing a funding shortfall. full report

REFUGEES: Moving out of the shadows

 JOHANNESBURG, 31 May 2012 (IRIN) - When night falls in the Dadaab refugee complex in eastern Kenya, nearly half a million refugees are plunged into darkness. The lack of light robs schoolchildren of the possibility of studying and provides perfect cover for thieves and rapists. full report

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