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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

SAHEL: Malnourished to remain above one million in 2013

 DAKAR, 20 December 2012 (IRIN) - Despite good rains across much of the Sahel this year, 1.4 million children are expected to be malnourished - up from one million in 2012, according to the 2013 Sahel regional strategy. 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

HEALTH: Breaking out of the cold chain

 DAKAR, 20 November 2012 (IRIN) - Health workers currently immunizing thousands of children and young adults against Meningitis A in Benin are currently doing so without having to spend days preparing ice packs and sourcing generators and fridges to load on trucks because the vaccine has now won approval for being kept at up to 40 degrees Celsius for as long as four days. full report

NIGER: Agencies scramble to repair schools after floods

 NIAMEY, 26 September 2012 (IRIN) - The government of Niger and aid agencies are scrambling to clean and repair thousands of schools that were damaged in the flooding from rains in July and August, which displaced over 500,000 people and killed over 80, in an effort to return children to school as soon as possible. full report

GAMBIA: Stepping up pressure on human rights

 DAKAR, 20 September 2012 (IRIN) - Public, forceful international pressure on Gambian President Yahya Jammeh to halt ongoing executions of death row prisoners was successful - at least temporarily - leading activists to call for governments, multinationals and human rights groups to exert more sustained pressure on the government to clean up its human rights act. full report

SENEGAL: Demining faces slow-down

 ZIGUINCHOR, 12 July 2012 (IRIN) - Removing the landmines from villages, farms and plantations of Casamance in southern Senegal has taken several years to get up to speed, but now demining teams may be forced to step down, hampering the country’s ability to reach its Ottawa Treaty goal of eliminating anti-personnel mines by 2016. 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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