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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs


BURKINA FASO: Measles infections declining

lead photoOUAGADOUGOU, 30 June 2009 (IRIN) - Reported measles infections and deaths are falling in Burkina Faso following nationwide vaccinations earlier this month, according to the Ministry of Health.
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AFRICA: River blindness drug trial launched

lead photoDAKAR, 1 July 2009 (IRIN) - Researchers are launching a clinical trial with 1,500 people infected with onchocerciasis (river blindness) in Liberia, Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo to test a remedy that could help stop transmission, according to drug manufacturer Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and the World Health Organization (WHO).
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AFRICA: Helping small farmers feed a continent

lead photoDAKAR, 1 July 2009 (IRIN) - As an African Union summit on agricultural investments opens in Libya, donors and non-profits are calling participants' attention to the role smallholder farmers – mostly women – can have in feeding their communities.
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NIGER: Constitution standoff prompts donor warnings

lead photoNIAMEY, 1 July 2009 (IRIN) - Amid mounting international opposition to a proposed referendum for President Mamadou Tandja to stay in power, the European Commission – one of Niger's largest donors – has warned of aid cuts if leaders do not respect constitutional order.
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NIGER: Mixed views on constitution controversy

lead photoNIAMEY, 1 July 2009 (IRIN) - Responses were mixed in Niger to union leaders’ call for a 24-hour work stoppage on 1 July to protest a planned constitutional referendum to allow President Mamadou Tandja to remain in power.
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AFRICA: Funding boost for local think tanks

lead photoDAKAR, 2 July 2009 (IRIN) - Under a new initiative international donors are backing Africa-based policy research to improve local decision-making on complex global issues with potentially enormous humanitarian consequences like food security and climate change.
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WEST AFRICA: Another stab at the "resource curse"

lead photoDAKAR, 2 July 2009 (IRIN) - In Africa billions of dollars from oil, gas and mining revenues go missing, leaving populations dependent on international assistance, according to a new report on natural resource use on the continent.
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GLOBAL: Rice production high but imports steady

lead photoDAKAR, 3 July 2009 (IRIN) - Paddy rice production in Africa is forecast to be 25.6 million tons this year, virtually unchanged from the record harvest of 2008 (link). But despite the projections most countries are also expected to increase rice imports, says the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
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GLOBAL: “Hunger season” neglected

lead photoDAKAR, 3 July 2009 (IRIN) - Most of the world’s 600 million hungry and under-nourished people suffer seasonal hunger rather than effects of conflict or natural disasters, but donors and governments often treat recurring nutritional problems as one-off emergencies and this weakens their response actions.
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SENEGAL: Casamance residents warn of attacks’ impact

lead photoZIGUINCHOR, 3 July 2009 (IRIN) - In Senegal’s Casamance region one youth remains missing five days after armed men attacked a group of people collecting cashews, one of the region’s main cash crops.
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[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
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