http://www.irinnews.org/irin-fp.aspxUpdated everydayen-gbThu, 05 Nov 2009 15:13:59 GMTMAPUTO Thursday, November 05, 2009 (IRIN) - Helena Numaio was 12 years old in 1990 when she lost both her legs and a finger in a landmine explosion while collecting firewood in the Moamba district of Maputo Province, Mozambique. MAPUTO Thursday, November 05, 2009 (IRIN) - Helena Numaio was 12 years old in 1990 when she lost both her legs and a finger in a landmine explosion while collecting firewood in the Moamba district of Maputo Province, Mozambique.

The landmine put an end to her education. Nearly 20 years later Numaio has fled an abusive marriage and now is solely responsible for bringing up her three children aged five, eight and 10. She sells food and second-hand clothes on the streets of the capital, Maputo, to make a living.

Mozambique's only local NGO dedicated to assisting victims of landmines and unexploded ordnance, RAVIM, gave her a wheelchair in 2007 and she went back to school, but had to withdraw after two years. The fees were US$4 a year, but an extra levy of $2 a month to pay for the after-hours security guard at the local school meant she would have to choose between providing for her children and improving her education.

"Before getting the wheelchair I was dependent on others to take me anywhere," Numaio told IRIN. The wheelchair enabled her to set up a small business, but the city's broken roads and sidewalks were unforgiving, and the wheelchair that had given her a new lease on life now stands immobile.

Emmanuel Mounier, seconded to RAVIM from Handicap International (HI), which works with landmine victims, told IRIN the harsh environment shortened the lifespan of crutches, wheelchairs and other aids used by the disabled, but spare parts were hard to come by and there were few specialized workshops, so repairs were expensive.

No assistance for victims

Landmines are the third leading cause of amputations in Mozambique, after diabetes and road accidents, and the threat they still pose - more than 17 years after peace came to the country following four decades of independence and civil wars - is deemed big enough for HI to spend 40 percent of its annual country budget on mine clearance.

Both conflicts saw the extensive use of landmines and HI believes that the handful of recorded victims killed or maimed each year grossly underestimates the ongoing impact of these hidden weapons.

Yann Faivre, HI's programme director in Mozambique, told IRIN that "the number of mine accidents each year are given as a minimum by the authorities, but we just don't know the number of accidents."

There are no benefits for the survivors of landmine blasts, or those who died, or their next of kin, so there is no incentive to report incidents of landmine accidents to the authorities, Faivre said.

In one of the world's poorest nations, assistance for the disabled is often far down the list of priorities. There are government-run orthopaedic centres in the 10 provincial capitals, except Manica Province, where it is situated in Chimoio, but all share a common bond of "essential equipment not working or not being replaced," Faivre said.

"For example, in Inhambane [in central Mozambique, currently the most mined province] the [orthopaedic] centre is not open. In Beira [Mozambique's second city] the oven to make prosthetics is broken and has not been replaced," he said. "The situation [at orthopaedic centres in Mozambique] is not at the level of the minimum standard."

The majority of Mozambique's 20 million people live in rural areas, and the poor reputation of the orthopaedic centres means that "most people needing assistance don't bother to go [to the provincial capital] as they see it as a wasted and expensive journey," Faivre said.

The plight of landmine victims and the lack of assistance in many of the world's mine affected territories will be a major focus of the Cartagena Summit on a Mine-Free World, or the second five-year Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty, which begins on 29 November 2009 in the Colombian port city of Cartagena.

HI, which works with all disabilities, said it supported the Cartagena summit's aims of providing greater assistance to mine victims, as it might also lead to improved resources for all the disabled in impoverished countries. "No one is going to ask someone without a leg, who goes to an orthopaedic centre, how they lost it. Improved facilities will be made available for all the disabled," Faivre said.

Self help

Luis Silvestre Wamusse, national coordinator and a co-founder of RAVIM, which was established in 2005, told IRIN: "If you compare someone who was born disabled, they had no choice but to adjust to their situation. It is more difficult for someone who lived a first life as a normal person and then, from one day to another, suddenly sees their dreams broken. They have to first accept their new condition and then start their second life."

In 1984 Wamusse was a 22-year-old student in Tete Province in northwestern Mozambique, when he lost a leg and two fingers to a landmine while looking for firewood. His family brought him back to Maputo for rehabilitation. Manuel Amisse, co-founder and programme director of RAVIM, was a 26-year-old government soldier when he stepped on a mine on 11 August 1982 while on patrol in Tete.

After being evacuated by donkey cart, Amisse was eventually treated by a "not very skilled intern" in Songo, a town east of the Cahora Bassa dam, and underwent two more amputation procedures to produce a "proper stump".

"The main priorities for victims are psychological rehabilitation, the healing of the wound, and getting a prosthesis - but that first need is already not covered," Wamusse said.

In March 2007 an armoury exploded in the city of Maputo, spewing rockets, ammunition and other ordnance into the surrounding suburbs, killing more than 100 people and injuring hundreds more. RAVIM provided counselling to people who had lost limbs or sustained other injuries.

"People did not believe that we [Wamusse and Amisse] were also victims and had had limbs amputated, so we had to take off our prosthetics in the hospital and show them that we have adapted to live a normal life ... I told them, 'You lost your leg, you did not lose your life, so please do not lose your will to live'," Wamusse said.

Tales of a child soldier

Paulino Alfredo Sambo was a 15-year-old rebel soldier when he was caught in an ambush by government soldiers near Vilanculos in Inhambane Province in 1991, a year before the civil war ended. The impact of a rocket propelled grenade severed one leg below the knee and left his remaining foot in tatters. It was amputated by a nurse in a primary health care facility soon after.

After a stint in rehabilitation and attending a government re-skilling programme for former soldiers, where he trained as a metal worker, seven years after the ambush, HI provided him with prosthetics.

"After the incident I excluded myself from society - I was ashamed of my condition - but I have accepted that I will not have legs for the rest of my life," Sambo told IRIN.

He lives with his wife, Nilsa, and three children aged two, three and four in Matola City, about 20km from Maputo. He has a lathe in the front garden and from the proceeds of his work is gradually building a family home.

The stigma associated with landmine victims and the disabled in general nearly thwarted their marriage. "Neighbours [of his prospective wife's parents] spoke against me. They told Nilsa and her parents that I would not be able to support her. I told Nilsa, 'You have the choice - I will never change."

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86892JUBA Thursday, November 05, 2009 (IRIN) - Sudan has started registering voters for presidential, legislative and regional elections, but officials in the south and international observers say the process has begun on a flawed note.JUBA Thursday, November 05, 2009 (IRIN) - Sudan has started registering voters for presidential, legislative and regional elections, but officials in the south and international observers say the process has begun on a flawed note.

"This process could easily be referred to as ‘dead on arrival’," Anne Itto, secretary-general for the south of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), said on 3 November.

The National Election Commission (NEC) deputy head Abdalla Ahmed, however, told the Sudan Tribune on 2 November that the NEC had mobilized concerned authorities to ensure the success of the exercise.

The month-long process began on 1 November. It is a key step towards the April 2010 polls that are seen as a landmark of the 2005 peace agreement that ended two decades of civil war between north and south.

An estimated two million people died in that war, which ended with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

"In the context of Southern Sudan, where you don’t have [telephone] networks, where you don’t have roads, where you don’t have public transport, it is very unrealistic to expect registration to be completed by 30 November," Itto told reporters in the Southern capital, Juba.

Should the NEC fail to take immediate and drastic action, warned the SPLM, fewer than 10 percent of eligible voters in the south would be able to register and vote.

"If things go the way they are going now, I believe less than 10 percent of the total population will be registered," Itto said.

The NEC has set up some 15,000 registration centres to cater for an estimated 20 million Sudanese voters.

Concerns

Observers, however, said the centres had been slow to open even in state capitals, and reports indicated that access for rural populations was poor.

Awareness that registration had begun or even knowledge of the need to register was low, while state election committees had complained of delays in operational funding.

Those concerns were echoed by the US-based Carter Center, whose international observers are monitoring the electoral process, which said more must be done countrywide to ensure registration.

On 2 November, the centre "expressed concerns about the obstacles facing election observers, including delays in finalizing their accreditation procedures and delays in election preparations, as well as continued reports of harassment of political party and civil society activity".

Citing Darfur, it warned of the difficulty of running election activities in the troubled region: "The continuing state of emergency means that a free and open electoral process remains difficult to contemplate."

Insecurity worries

Separately, the Washington-based Enough Project warned that poor preparations would impact on future key events, including the referendum on the south’s potential full independence slated for January 2011.

"The deck is stacked against a free and fair election in five months," wrote Sudan-based researcher Maggie Fick in a 5 November report. "There are worrying signs that it could be a trigger for further insecurity."

The process, she added, could, however, provide key lessons for the actual elections. The voter registration process “could also serve as a trial run in which some of the issues that could negatively impact [on] the polling period could be resolved", she added. "Alternately, the registration process could expose a reality that... has been felt on the ground for some time: these elections could destabilize already insecure areas as the all-important 2011 referendum draws nearer."

Awareness problems

In capitals like Juba, awareness is poor, despite efforts by the authorities to advertise the process through street marches, poster campaigns and radio broadcasts.

"I registered on the first day, but I know many people who are not aware," Opio Moses Korduk, a local resident, told IRIN.

Others however, said that as southerners, their concern was the 2011 referendum and not the election.

"The north cheated us when they ran the census results," said James Deng, a student at Juba University, referring to the contested national census results released earlier this year.

"So why should we think the election will be any different? I am waiting for the referendum because independence is the only future for the south," he added.

Rising tensions

Meanwhile, talks continued between north and south following meetings with the US Special Envoy Scott Gration to tackle sticking points of the CPA.

"It is a difficult and lengthy process, but failure is not an option," Gration warned in Khartoum on 2 November.

Tensions have risen between north and south, especially following comments by Southern President Salva Kiir that voting for unity in 2011 would make southerners "second-class" citizens in Sudan.

The two sides are still divided by ideological, religious and ethnic differences over which the civil war was fought.

"It is why it is critical that we ensure that the process is fair and credible and that the will of the people, as expressed through the national elections and the referendum, is respected peacefully," added Gration.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86894KINSHASA Thursday, November 05, 2009 (IRIN) - At least 16,000 civilians have fled deadly clashes in western Democratic Republic of Congo and are now languishing, many without food or shelter, in neighbouring Republic of Congo, according to the UN and local officials.KINSHASA Thursday, November 05, 2009 (IRIN) - At least 16,000 civilians have fled deadly clashes in western Democratic Republic of Congo and are now languishing, many without food or shelter, in neighbouring Republic of Congo, according to the UN and local officials.

“These villagers fled interethnic fighting [in Dungu, Equateur Province] which has already claimed 47 lives and caused many injuries,” said Francesca Fontanini, a spokeswoman for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

Equateur’s police chief, Col Joly Limengo, told IRIN that clashes had broken out last week between members of the Lobala and Boba communities over access to fishing ponds.

Those who fled are having problems with nutrition, medical supplies and shelter, according to Fontanini, citing the findings of an inter-agency mission made up of officials from UNHCR, other UN agencies, the Interior Ministry and local NGOs.

“Villagers are still crossing [the Ubangi river] to Republic of Congo. By yesterday [4 November], more than 16,000 had done so. Most did not take any provisions at all, or only very few. They are housed in municipal buildings or in the open. There is either no health centre, or insufficient medical supplies where they are,” she said.

Officials in Equateur Province said they had initiated dialogue between the warring inhabitants of the villages of Iyele and Muzala.

Government spokesman Lambert Mende said there was more to the unrest than an old dispute about fish.

“It’s an insurrection. A certain Edo Bokoto, who has been suspended from his post of sector chief, has mobilized about 10 men from his community to wanted to take control of these fish ponds which belong to people from these villages. They started to attack people from outside their community,” he said, adding that seven policemen who intervened in the fighting had been killed.

Equateur is the home province of erstwhile rebel leader and former vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba, now awaiting trial for alleged war crimes at the International Criminal Court.


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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86898GOMA Wednesday, November 04, 2009 (IRIN) - While medical and psychological care are being provided to survivors of sexual violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where 7,000 women and girls have been raped this year alone, UN and aid workers on the ground say the funding response has been too narrow, leaving key issues inadequately addressed.GOMA Wednesday, November 04, 2009 (IRIN) - While medical and psychological care are being provided to survivors of sexual violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where 7,000 women and girls have been raped this year alone, UN and aid workers on the ground say the funding response has been too narrow, leaving key issues inadequately addressed.

"Increased international attention to sexual violence in DRC has led to a substantial increase of funding, accompanied by a disproportionate lack of evaluations of the real needs on the ground and lack of understanding of the complexity of the issues," notes the Comprehensive Strategy on Combating Sexual Violence in the DRC,
[http://www.stoprapenow.org/pdf/SVStratExecSummaryFinal18March09.pdf] released in 2009 by the Office of the Senior Adviser and Coordinator for Sexual Violence in the DRC.

"Efforts are unevenly distributed [...] The programmatic focus is essentially on two sectors: medical and judicial support to sexual violence survivors, while the remaining sectors show very few interventions," according to the strategy.

The sectors receiving proportionally less funding and attention include prevention and reintegration.

"Just treating the results of sexual violence is a catastrophe. No one is really treating the root or the entirety of the situation. If you just care for the raped women, you will be caring for them up until infinity," said Butros Kalere of Women for Women. [http://www.womenforwomen.org]

Among those feeling the funding pinch is Heal Africa [http://www.healafrica.org/cms/], a Goma-based NGO that provides medical and social care in the region.

"Sexual violence is not just a physical problem, but we often don't have enough funding and thus, we are limited to real work only for the immediate victims," the organization's community health coordinator, Jean Robert Likofata Esanga, told IRIN, adding that its programmes that focus on prevention, rehabilitation and re-integration continually suffer under-funding.

Effective prevention programming, according to Tasha Gill, child protection officer with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in the DRC, "employs advocacy and awareness to mobilize the communities through community leaders, identifying the issues and working towards longer-term changes within local social norms, while alternately working towards protecting those who are most vulnerable".

Gill also noted that the UN planned over the next few years to better direct funding so that "funding for this sort of prevention programming no longer falls through the cracks".

Even organizations that specialize in protection are feeling the pinch. "We usually try to reduce vulnerability and protect 1,000 women in the communities on the outskirts of Goma by providing them with skills training, literacy and financing a portion of their activities," explained an employee of one such NGO. "Now that our donor wants us to work more in an 'emergency' setting and we are confined to working in the IDP camps, it is very difficult as the population is always in flux. It's hard to keep track of them and be consistent with the training."

Reintegration

The UN's goals for re-integration include "ensuring victims' satisfaction and guaranteeing non-recurrence of sexual violence" as well as ongoing psycho-social care. However, the services are fragmented due to minimal funding, complicated coordination and the distances to be covered for transportation and service provision. Even in Goma's Kibati I IDP camp in July, women were returning without access to further counselling, education or skills-building.

As Constance, a Heal Africa counsellor, said: "We would like to help each victim reintegrate smoothly and carry on with counselling sessions, but we are limited to having a clinic or a skill centre nearby. We do not have the funds to help every woman through her return."

The UN's ideal plan for re-integration also includes a "survivor-centred skill approach". While some NGOs have funding to provide women with the opportunity to learn skills during their hospital stays, their use of those skills upon their return can be restricted by location and availability of material. For example, women are restricted in practising their sewing skills by lack of access to a sewing machine, while literacy skills are restricted by the lack of schools.

"Medical, protection, and legal/justice services and psycho-social care are part of treating sexual violence, but these services also need to include enabling women to be able to provide for their families... for them to feel like they can move on and take care of their children," Mendy Marsh, an independent expert on sexual violence, told IRIN.

Until funding for programmes addressing sexual violence in the DRC makes this a priority, prevention and rehabilitation funding and programming will continue to have to make do with a small percentage of current funding.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86865BUJUMBURA Wednesday, November 04, 2009 (IRIN) - Civilians across Burundi have handed in thousands of guns, grenades and rounds of ammunition during a 10-day voluntary disarmament campaign.BUJUMBURA Wednesday, November 04, 2009 (IRIN) - Civilians across Burundi have handed in thousands of guns, grenades and rounds of ammunition during a 10-day voluntary disarmament campaign.

The deputy head of the national disarmament commission, Leopold Banzubaze, said the campaign had netted 2,482 rifles, 10,429 grenades, 218 bombs, 28 mines and 788,908 bullets. In return, the state handed out goods such as construction materials, furniture, bicycles, farming tools, mobile phones and soap.

Speaking shortly before the campaign’s conclusion, the commission’s head, Gen. Zénon Ndabaneze, said: “If we add the arms collected in the previous disarmament campaigns and the police house-to-house searches, we can say we have so far collected 80,000 arms. Nearly 80 percent of weapons in circulation have been collected.”

Under a decree issued by President Pierre Nkurunziza in August 2009, an amnesty was granted to anyone who surrendered their weapons before the end of October. From now on, possession of arms can lead to hefty fines and jail terms of up to 10 years.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86868NANYUKI Wednesday, November 04, 2009 (IRIN) - Two years after violence forced Samuel Mwangi off his farm in the Kiambogo location of Nakuru District in Rift Valley Province, the father of seven is still struggling to rebuild his life and educate his children. Rift Valley, one of Kenya's grain baskets, was the worst-affected by the violence and food security has yet to recover.NANYUKI Wednesday, November 04, 2009 (IRIN) - Two years after violence forced Samuel Mwangi off his farm in the Kiambogo location of Nakuru District in Rift Valley Province, the father of seven is still struggling to rebuild his life and educate his children. Rift Valley, one of Kenya's grain baskets, was the worst-affected by the violence and food security has yet to recover.

Mwangi, who is now living in the central region of Laikipia as an internally displaced person (IDP), spoke to IRIN:

"Before the violence, I had a five-acre farm in Kiambogo where I used to grow maize and beans. I would say that by local standards I was a 'kabudaa' [slang for a rich man]. I also used to buy cereals from neighbouring farms, which I would then re-sell to the National Cereals Board.

"After the violence started [in early 2008], we fled Kiambogo and had to walk many kilometres to Nakuru town [Rift Valley's capital]. I left one of my injured parents behind when we fled as I could do nothing to help.

"Once in Nakuru, we got a lift to Kiganjo [in central Kenya] where we found ourselves stranded for three days. We then found our way to Naromoru [also in central] where we stayed in a makeshift tent by the sewerage area for six months relying on help from well-wishers.

"Then one day, one of the local chiefs asked me to work as a farm caretaker in the neighbouring area of Murero. This is the job I now have. I also work as a casual labourer digging people's farms and helping clean cowsheds to earn some money.

"I have enrolled my children in the local schools although paying school fees is difficult. I go to the schools and explain my situation to the headmaster so that he keeps allowing my children to stay in school even without any money.

"We are still waiting for the promised government compensation money [about US$465] to buy a cow and some goats as the money cannot buy land. In the meantime, we are also relying on relief food.

"I have heard that people have gone back to their former homes but even if I am told to return, I do not think I will. There is nothing left [there] for me; no property, no land and maybe I will be attacked again.

"We have been hearing on the radio that people are getting new land to resettle. If I get new land I will willingly go even if it is not fertile and full of stones. I will go there and develop it the best way I can as I believe in hard work. The most important thing is security.

"Even on the farm where I am a caretaker, I am planting some trees and vegetables to express my gratitude to the [farm] owner for letting my family have a place to live.

"We are facing many challenges two years after we left home but it is often not easy speaking directly to those who should be assisting us. Being an IDP is like being in jail."

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86871DAKAR Wednesday, November 04, 2009 (IRIN) - International pressure is mounting on the junta in Guinea following the deadly 28 September military crackdown on demonstrators, with West African leaders imposing an arms embargo and the UN and the International Criminal Court launching probes into the attack that witnesses call "indescribably brutal". The latest violence stunned even a nation with a long history of military repression of civilians – an era Guineans had hoped would pass with the death of 24-year leader Lansana Conté and arrival of Moussa Dadis Camara in December 2008. Here is a timeline of some events since independence from France in 1958.DAKAR Wednesday, November 04, 2009 (IRIN) - Recently a commercial billboard near Guinea’s presidential palace featured three towering question marks on a white background. That image matches the way many Guineans describe their country’s current condition, eight months after Moussa Dadis Camara came to power in a bloodless coup: utter uncertainty.

When Camara took power citizens poured into the streets cheering; Guineans say they were celebrating a rupture with the 24-year regime of Lansana Conté.

“We hate that the military has taken power again,” a Guinean told IRIN the day of the coup. “But we hate it less than we hated the Conté regime.”

Now many Guineans are wondering where the Camara government – which calls itself the National Council for Democracy and Development – is taking the country. Here is a timeline of some events since independence from France in 1958.

23 August 2009 – Coalition of civil society organizations, unions, political parties, religious groups call on Guineans not to allow junta “to confiscate power”

19 August 2009 – Junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara tells journalists whether he runs for president is “in the hands of God”

17 August 2009 – Ruling National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD) accepts recommendation by civil society organizations, political parties, unions and religious groups to hold presidential election in January 2010, legislative election in March 2010

13 August 2009 – Junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara announces the formation of a national transitional council, called for by national and international groups in March

June 2009 – Following debate over the feasibility of holding elections in 2009, civil society organizations, political parties, religious groups and unions form a committee to evaluate election timetable

March 2009 – International community calls on CNDD to work with political parties, civil society organizations, unions to form a transitional council

March 2009 – Ruling CNDD says it will hold presidential election by end of 2009

February 2009 – Junta arrests son of deceased president Lansana Conté, Ousmane Conté, as part of a crackdown on suspected drug traffickers

January 2009 – The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) rejects a military-led transition in Guinea and bars junta members from attending meetings of any decision-making bodies

January 2009 – An international contact group on Guinea is formed, including representatives of ECOWAS, the African Union Commission, the European Union, the Mano River Union, the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the UN Security Council

25 December 2008 – Prime Minister Ahmed Tidiane Souaré and other government officials turn themselves in at Alpha Yaya Diallo army barracks, CNDD headquarters

25 December 2008 – Moussa Dadis Camara announces presidential elections would be held after a two-year transition and he would not be a candidate

24 December 2008 – Moussa Dadis Camara proclaims himself president and head of the new National Council for Democracy and Development

23 December 2008 – In the early morning hours government officials announce that President Lansana Conté died the previous evening; confusion reigns as soldiers announce on state media they have dissolved government and taken over, while Prime Minister Ahmed Tidiane Souaré insists the government is intact

June 2008 – Police launch protests over salary arrears, provoking deadly clashes with military

May 2008 – Soldiers mutiny over pay, with several soldiers and civilians killed or injured in the unrest; Lansana Conté eventually dismisses defence minister

May 2008 – Lansana Conté sacks Prime Minister Lansana Kouyaté and names political ally Ahmed Tidiane Souaré , in a move Human Rights Watch said dealt “a serious blow to hopes that mass protest and ‘people power’ could bring reform”

May 2007 – Soldiers stage protests over salary arrears and living conditions

February 2007 – Following strike and unrest Lansana Conté names Lansana Kouyaté as “consensus” prime minister

January 2007 – In January Guineans massively heed another union call for a national strike; hundreds are killed in crackdown by military

2006 – Union-led national strikes paralyse country; several students are killed by security forces in protests over cancelled exams

2005 – Presidential motorcade of Lansana Conté fired upon in the capital Conakry

2003 – Lansana Conté re-elected in an opposition-boycotted poll

2001 – A referendum changes the constitution to allow president to run for a third term and increase the term from five to seven years; opposition rejects the vote as rigged, calls for boycott

2000-01 – Guinean army fights off incursions by rebels at borders with Liberia and Sierra Leone

1998 – Lansana Conté wins presidential election, which opposition denounces as rigged

1996 – Army mutiny. Loyalist troops eventually repulse attacks on the presidential palace

1993 – Lansana Conté wins Guinea’s first multi-party election, which is boycotted by opposition groups and marred by demonstrations

1990 – Guineans vote for new constitution, with a call to end one-party military rule

1989 – Conflict in neighbouring Liberia forces thousands to flee into Guinea; between 1989 and 2002 Guinea would receive some 750,000 refugees from the wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone, thousands more from Côte d’Ivoire after that country’s 2002 rebellion

1984 – President Ahmed Sékou Touré dies in March; Lansana Conté takes power in a coup in April

1970 – Dissidents attack Guinea in an unsuccessful attempt to bring down President Ahmed Sékou Touré; the incident is seen as intensifying Touré’s repression of opponents

1965 – President Ahmed Sékou Touré cuts relations with colonial power France, until 1975

1958 – Independence, with Ahmed Sékou Touré as president

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=85835PESHAWAR Tuesday, November 03, 2009 (IRIN) - Around 240,000 people have fled South Waziristan since early October, according to UN agencies, and those that have escaped say little is being done for the civilians trapped there.PESHAWAR Tuesday, November 03, 2009 (IRIN) - Around 240,000 people have fled South Waziristan since early October, according to UN agencies, and those that have escaped say little is being done for the civilians trapped there.

“My sister is there, in Wana [the principal town in South Waziristan] and there are people who are sick or injured but they have received no help,” Shaheena Bibi, 40, who left the tribal territory a month ago with her family, told IRIN. “No one is doing anything about the people who have lost everything in South Waziristan,” she said, comparing their treatment unfavourably with those displaced from Swat Valley earlier in the year.

“We can’t understand why more of these Western agencies and NGOs are not helping the people of Waziristan,” she said.

Despite the readiness of aid agencies to help internally displaced persons (IDPs) - and even people in their homes in South Waziristan - access has been consistently denied by the military.

“We want to go to aid people and have even tried to do so, but the military guards the entry points and turns us back,” Ronnie Palomar, deputy head of mission of the Paris-based Médecins Sans Frontières told IRIN, adding: “South Waziristan is a very highly militarized zone. People coming out of it are going into other areas guarded by the military.”

MSF, like other international organizations has been denied access to either IDPs or people in South Waziristan. “The only people offering humanitarian aid are the military,” said Palomar.

While some local NGOs have been allowed to work with IDPs based in Dera Ismail Khan and Tank, the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) districts that border South Waziristan, staff say military control is tight.

“Sometimes it is very hard to talk freely to people about their situation, because of the heavy police and military presence,” said a female NGO worker who asked not to be named. She said security personnel often “tried to help” but “their uniforms intimidate people.”

“The government is not encouraging foreign NGOs to directly assist IDPs from South Waziristan due to security concerns,” Lt-Gen Nadeem Ahmed of the military’s Special Support Group told a press conference in Islamabad on 1 November. He also said it was “possible” militants were mingling with IDPs.

Bombings

A spate of recent bombings across Pakistan has prompted the UN Secretary-General to announce heightened security measures in NWFP and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas for its staff.

According to a UN press release, [http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=124b38f1368f4f0c&mt=application%2Fpdf&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmail.google.com%2Fmail%2F%3Fui%3D2%26ik%3Dbcb2e461d2%26view%3Datt%26th%3D124b38f1368f4f0c%26attid%3D0.1%26disp%3Dattd%26zw&sig=AHBy-haphFf_YvCx9i5V8AAPqMzikusOWA] the new security measures will mean: “reduced international UN staff members in NWFP and FATA, with [the] presence of only those vital for emergency, humanitarian relief, security operations or any other essential operations as advised by the Secretary-General.”

“They seem to fear we may be kidnapped or something,” Sebastien Brack, spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told IRIN.

He said access was being denied and security cited as the reason for this, despite the fact that the ICRC “has received guarantees of safety from all groups involved in South Waziristan and has conveyed to [the] authorities [that] we are in a unique position to help.”

New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called for help for civilians trapped in the zone of fighting. [http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/10/28/pakistan-get-aid-civilians-caught-fighting] “If aid agencies can’t reach these people, it could be a catastrophe,” Ali Dayan Hasan, senior South Asia researcher for HRW, said.

Those who have fled the conflict-hit areas are worried about those left behind. “People are getting hurt in the aerial bombardment. They have no medicines. Children are sick and frightened and things will only get worse once winter sets in,” said Dilawar Khan, who lives in Peshawar but has family in South Waziristan.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86856SONGO Tuesday, November 03, 2009 (IRIN) - The conversations of deminers are often illustrated with sketches on the reverse side of old reports or the toe of a boot drawing lines in the sand to show how a single mine can close 35km of road, make a bridge redundant or deny a community a swathe of farming land. They are a meticulous fraternity that knows the devil is very much in the detail.SONGO Tuesday, November 03, 2009 (IRIN) - The conversations of deminers are often illustrated with sketches on the reverse side of old reports or the toe of a boot drawing lines in the sand to show how a single mine can close 35km of road, make a bridge redundant or deny a community a swathe of farming land. They are a meticulous fraternity that knows the devil is very much in the detail.

In one of the world's longest running search-and-destroy operations they have hunted landmines for 17 years across all the terrains of Mozambique, destroying hundreds of thousands of mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) left over from independence and civil wars spanning four decades.

Soil movements have brought some landmines into view, but most remain hidden a few centimetres below the surface, waiting for the 6kg or more of pressure
required to set them off; others are planted on spikes, the trip wire entangled and camouflaged by vegetation - a country's weeping wound decades after the fighting has ceased.

Thick catalogues carried by deminers detail hundreds of different types of landmines: cheap, simple weapons produced in their millions by most of the
world's industrialized countries, designed with only two purposes - to kill or to maim.

Mines that maim fall into two categories: those designed to tear off arms and legs, and the euphemistically named "toe-popper", which mangles a foot in a heavy boot to a pulp.

Every minefield has its story. In the absence of records, maps or data, distinct patterns show the extensive use of landmines during the war of independence against Portugal's colonial administration, and the subsequent civil war by Frelimo, Mozambique's first post-colonial government, against
the rebel Renamo movement.

Maputo Province in the south, where the capital, Maputo, is located; the Beira Corridor in central Mozambique, which gave land-locked Zimbabwe - a staunch Frelimo supporter - access to the port city of Beira; the approaches to the Cahora Bassa hydroelectric scheme in the northwestern province of Tete, and the northern provinces bordering Tanzania, where Frelimo launched its anti-colonial struggle, provide the broad brush strokes of where intensive landmine activity occurred.

Small villages and hamlets were not spared as remote communities acquired strategic military importance. Basic infrastructure and boreholes provided bases for government soldiers, who laid minefields as barriers against rebel attacks. When peace came in 1992, these poor and vulnerable communities sank
back into irrelevance, but the landmine legacy turned subsistence farming or a game of soccer into deadly pursuits.

Mine clearance is like a combination of gardening and archaeology; with the exception of the metal detector, the tools - such as clippers and trowels - can be bought at gardening shops, but that is where the similarities end. The rule of thumb among mine disposal experts is that for every 5,000 mines cleared, one deminer is killed and two others injured.

Helen Tirebuck, a location manager at HALO Trust, Mozambique's biggest humanitarian deminer, told IRIN in a rudimentary shelter serving as an office during a mine clearance operation, that deminers always leave a gift, because the area "becomes part of Mozambique again".

The investigators

Locating a field begins like any other investigation into finding a killer: by interviewing the witnesses.

Geraldo Pedro, a survey officer at HALO Trust, has criss-crossed most of the country's 128 districts in search of leads to identify the killing fields that made Mozambique one of the world's nine most mined countries.

The reliability of clues provided by "informants" is gauged on four levels: first prize is information by people who laid the mines, or witnesses; next by people living in the vicinity since the minefield was laid; then incidents of people or livestock killed or injured by landmines; lastly, areas merely suspected of being mined.

"You have to get into the heart of the informants," Pedro told IRIN, "and you need two informants to corroborate the information ... one informant does not know everything." Exposing a hustler hoping for a reward by inventing the existence of a minefield, or awakening the memory of a genuine witness to one, can take hours.

Occasionally there are exceptions. Pedro once met a cellphone company employee who was working in the area where he had served as a government soldier during the 16-year civil war. "He was quite confident about where the mines were laid - he pointed out where four mines were laid, and we found four mines - but if that happens, we're lucky," he told IRIN.

"I have found that in [previously] Renamo[-held] zones, people do not supply information easily and I have to make them understand that we are not dealing with political parties here, we are clearing mines for everyone," he said.

The Baseline Assessment in 2007 determined that just over 12 million square metres of the country was still mine-contaminated, a sharp drop from the
more than 500 million square metres identified by the 2001 Landmine Impact Survey. Mozambique could become the first of the world's most mined countries to be declared mine-free if donor support does not continue to wane.

In October 2009 the HALO Trust began clearing an 11km mine belt bracketing the Cahora Bassa dam, which provides hydroelectricity to a number of
southern African states, including the continent's economic power house, South Africa.

The area was heavily mined by the Portuguese; now desperately poor communities practice subsistence agriculture close to and sometimes within the minefields, their home-made hoes cutting into the soil at the optimum depth for burying anti-personnel mines.

During Pedro's survey of the Cahora Bassa mine belt, near the village of Nhamchene on the western side, he was informed of another mine belt near the town of Songo on the eastern side, where the community had hung pieces of red plastic on trees to mark the location of mines that had killed or maimed people, or livestock that had been tempted to graze in the more lush vegetation of the minefield.

The work day

The Songo site is being cleared first. The deminers live in a tented camp and their day begins at dawn. They work a seven hour day on six and half days per week, and take a break in the fourth week; then the monthly cycle starts again. Alcohol is banned.

Before the deminers arrived, Pedro provided a final survey map of the minefield, known as a polygon, with GPS coordinates of its extent, landmarks for a safe approach, type of vegetation and soil, a record of mine accidents, and where they occurred.

Tirebuck visited the site many times in preparation for demining. Permission to demine had been sought and given by national, provincial and local authorities, the Songo police were informed, and the necessary permits to transport explosives to destroy mines had been obtained. A report detailing the position of a destroyed mine or UXO, as well as the ground cleared is sent to the Mozambique national demining institute every month.

A radio check with HALO's country headquarters in Maputo is made daily and a satellite phone is on hand as back-up. If communications are not working, neither do the deminers; if an accident occurs, all HALO's demining operations throughout Mozambique stop to keep the airwaves clear.

The standard operating procedures do not vary, but each minefield has its idiosyncrasies - this site is on rocky slopes covered by light vegetation and the deminers require protection, "so their knees are not destroyed," Tirebuck told IRIN.

Her main concern is the evacuation of personnel in case of an accident, and adequate supplies of water for drinking and ablutions. The area can only be accessed by an old, very broken road and young men from the local community have been enlisted to repair the worst of it, providing a cash injection to a community largely devoid of it. "They are helping us as much as we are helping them," Tirebuck said.

Each demining section has 9 personnel, including six deminers, two of which are trained paramedics, a section commander, a supervisor - responsible for destroying the mines - and a driver, who also doubles up as radio operator.

When a mine or UXO is detected, the deminer begins excavating the mine from about 50cm back, and when a portion of it is exposed and it is identified as a mine, a supervisor will place the explosives while other deminers act as sentries to prevent anyone entering the area.

The deminer's world is the square metre that he or she kneels before, which is swept with mine-detectors about 46 times on average, only pausing between each sweep to run a piece of metal across the detector's head to ensure it is working. Tirebuck expects the terrain will allow for each deminer to clear about 40m of a corridor 1m wide each day.

"This is one of the hottest minefields I have ever been in, but it is just the way it is," said Tirebuck, whose first assignment with HALO Trust was in
Cambodia. Temperatures are above 40 degrees Celsius, but deminers have to wear blast-proof face visors and heavy protective gear. They only stop work for rain because it impairs vision through the visor.

Training

The deminers have been trucked in from Chimoio, a cooler part of the country, and Tirebuck decides whether they should start work earlier, take a
noon break and begin again once the heat fades.

Joao Madamol, a HALO Trust demining trainer, went to the church on the first Sunday he was there and recruited more potential deminers than he had vacancies. In a battered marquee tent, with large rocks for chairs, he hauls out FFE (free from explosives) mines to teach them about the types of mines
expected to be found in the area, their fuses and killing radius.

The new recruits will complete a three-week course and are expected to be better acclimatized to the scorching temperatures. Those that perform best will undergo a paramedic course, and the best of these will then receive training as a section leader.

Many of the recruits recognize the mines from their area, and talk about "finally feeling free" when the explosives are gone. A new recruit told IRIN: "I feel anger for everyone who has planted a mine anywhere."

The final act of mine clearance is the most important, and brings closure, Tirebuck said. It is the "walk-through" by the community and deminers across the former minefield that has killed, maimed and haunted generations of Mozambicans.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86860DAKAR Friday, October 30, 2009 (IRIN) - Local civil society activists say Guinea's latest political crisis has taken on an ethnic dimension in N’zérékoré - junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara’s home region - which has an ethnically mixed population and has experienced communal clashes before.DAKAR Friday, October 30, 2009 (IRIN) - N’zérékoré – Guinea junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara’s home region – has an ethnically mixed population and has experienced communal clashes before. Guinea’s latest political crisis has taken on an ethnic dimension there, according to local civil society activists.

The 28 September killing of over 150 civilians by security forces in the capital Conakry triggered tension in the southeastern Forest Region.

NGOs and local authorities are trying to rein in ethnic dissension and establish dialogue among the various communities in the region.

This week the regional capital, the city of N’zérékoré, remained relatively calm but with underlying tensions, residents told IRIN. They said the days ahead would be crucial for maintaining peace.

Immediately after the Conakry killings rumours emerged in N’zérékoré that local members of the Peulh ethnic group would demonstrate against Camara and that the Guerzé, the junta leader’s ethnic group, would react violently against anyone participating.

On 10 October civil society organizations and religious and traditional leaders held a “day of dialogue”, amid what a report from the meeting called “a national crisis that compromises stability”.

“At the meeting people from the Peulh and Guerzé communities said there was no truth to the rumours,” said Béatrice Kolié, facilitator in conflict resolution with the NGO Réseau de Femmes du Mano pour la Paix (REFMAP). REFMAP and a local traditional communicators’ NGO initiated the meeting, with the support of the NGOs Faisons Ensemble and World Education.

Kolié said after the talks tensions had eased considerably. “But we don’t yet know where these rumours originated.”

The meeting report said: “It is important to note that even though the rumours were groundless they were about to set ablaze the region, and beyond that the country.”

After the events of 28 September political conflict took on an ethnic tone in N’zérékoré, Kolié said. Another observer, who requested anonymity, said there is palpable tension between Guerzé and Peulh youths. One day in mid-October some N’zérékoré neighbourhoods were strewn with flyers that read in part: “If Dadis leaves power, the Peulhs leave N’zérékoré”.

N’zérékoré is no stranger to ethnic tensions: In the past there have been clashes between Malinké and Guerzé.

Ethnic dimension

Guinea is home to four main ethnic groups – Peulh (a majority at about 40 percent), Malinké, Soussou, and several smaller groups from the Forest Region. From independence in 1958 to the 2008 coup bringing Camara to power, the country has had two presidents – one Malinké and one Soussou. Observers say many Peulh think it is “their turn”. Meanwhile Camara supporters are seen as playing on the exclusion of Forest Region ethnic groups, according to International Crisis Group (ICG).

“No matter how you look at it, in Guinea the ethnic dimension constitutes a very prominent element in every socio-political aspect,” Mohamed Jalloh, Guinea expert with ICG, told IRIN.

One man who said he was beaten by soldiers on 28 September in Conakry told IRIN every soldier he came in contact with asked him his ethnicity. Youths in Conakry said in the following days soldiers harassed and threatened Peulh people. The current defence minister, Sekouba Konaté, has links with rebel and militia groups from Guinea’s and neighbouring Liberia’s recent past, according to ICG, who says in its latest report that the junta is training militias in the southeast.

Kola nuts and caravans

In opening the 10 October meeting in N’zérékoré – after a moment of silence for the 28 September victims – a sage presented 10 kola nuts each to community representatives as a sign of welcome and brotherhood.

Members of several ethnic groups discussed the situation, with traditional and religious leaders reminding participants that they are all part of one Guinea and if the nation suffers, all suffer.

A Peulh Islamic leader at the meeting, who has lived in the region for more than 40 years – “in perfect harmony with my Guerzé hosts” – urged participants to work for national unity.

One of the recommendations from the meeting was that citizens and authorities go after rumour-mongers. “Identify, denounce and interrogate those propagating rumours,” the report recommends, adding: “This assumes the effective involvement of the authorities, defence and security forces and the judiciary.”

The participants also recommend using local radio to defuse rumours, reviving local structures aimed at preventing conflict, holding more dialogue days, organizing youth prayer days, and forming interethnic and religious committees.

In another initiative local civil society groups conducted a “peace caravan” in which people gathered and visited representatives of various ethnic communities, to shake hands and talk.

“This was to reinforce national unity,” said Auguste Impérial Théa of a N’zérékoré peace and development coalition; he helped organize the caravan. “There was a serious tear in the social fabric and that is dangerous.”

He added: “We plan to expand the caravan to the rest of the region. This is giving people a chance to talk about the fear that is in their hearts.”

Intra-ethnic threats

One Guerzé man who requested anonymity said ongoing peace-building efforts must immediately be concentrated on the youth, claiming that young Guerzé reject – often violently – the slightest criticism of junta leader Camara. He said he knows a woman market vendor who was recently beaten by some youth for selling goods to Peulh.

One day he heard a group of Guerzé youths alleging that the international media were paid by the Peulh to spread bad information about Guinea. “When I spoke up and simply asked them if they could say that Dadis’s actions up to now have really been noble, they roughed me up and threatened me with a knife, calling me a traitor and a bastard – saying that I must not be a true Guerzé. I was completely taken aback.”

When the man went to a lawyer about the confrontation the lawyer said that given the current conditions in Guinea it was best to keep quiet. “The lawyer told me, ‘Otherwise you’ll give up your life for nothing.’”

ICG in its report expresses concern over inter-communal violence in the region, noting that a top junta official recently on a visit to N’zerekore declared, “Dadis or death”.

The Guerzé man told IRIN on another occasion he was threatened again when he tried to ease hate talk against the Peulh.

“I heard a group of Guerzé youth saying they would have to eliminate some Peulhs to diminish their number in Guinea. After the initial incident I had vowed I would keep quiet, but this disturbed me so much; I just had to say something.” He said he told the youths that hurting or killing Peulh would solve nothing.

“Later that night the group – with a few additional people – came to my home... two people in the group who have known me for a long time urged the others not to harm me.”

He added: “But I live in fear. Every day I fear they could come to my home and attack me.”

Conflict resolution worker Kolié said communities must continue to meet and talk. “In conflict prevention we cannot say `we’ve done this and that and now we’re finished’. It must be ongoing.”

np/cb/bphttp://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86819DATU PIANG Thursday, October 29, 2009 (IRIN) - Security is the principal concern for thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Mindanao when considering whether to return home.DATU PIANG Thursday, October 29, 2009 (IRIN) - Security is the principal concern for thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Mindanao when considering whether to return home.

"I can't return now," Ampino Lapinig said outside her one-room hut at the Notre Dame Dulawan evacuation centre in Datu Piang, where some 300 families or 1,500 people are sheltering. "It's just not safe."

A resident of the camp for more than a year, she and her family have no plans to return, despite the otherwise dire living conditions inside the camp.

According to aid agencies, water and sanitation conditions are poor [http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=86451], levels of malnutrition are high, and shelters are pitifully inadequate.

"Although my home is close, it's just too dangerous," said Musib Parashan, whose home in Lintukan District is just 2km from the camp.

"If the government can prove to me there is no danger I will go back. Otherwise, we will stay here," the 32-year-old said. "What guarantee is there that the fighting won't start up again?" A question heard time and again from the IDPs.

More than 250,000 displaced

In the past 16 months, some 750,000 residents have fled their homes on the southern Philippine island following an upsurge in fighting between government forces and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), who have been fighting for an independent Islamic state since 1978.

And while most have returned, more than 250,000 remain in evacuation shelters or are staying with relatives, even though military operations were suspended in July, and both parties agreed to talks, hosted by Malaysia.

"At this point, it's just talk. Until I see something more concrete, I'm staying," Ampino Lapinig, 45, said, recalling how her family fled indiscriminate fighting in her village.

Further challenges

"Even if I returned, what would I be returning to?" asked Musib, who once earned US$80 per month as a day labourer. "We lost everything. We are now totally dependent on outside assistance."

Decades of conflict in Mindanao, particularly in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, have undermined the basic economic, social and human rights of most of the population.

Nearly half the people are food-insecure, and levels of malnutrition are significantly higher than in other regions of the country, the UN World Food Programme says.

Access to clean water and sanitation facilities, as well as social services such as education and healthcare, are generally limited; particularly so in remote areas, aid agencies report.

Moreover, most humanitarian indicators show that the conditions of those displaced have further deteriorated as fighting and military restrictions have reduced humanitarian access and the delivery of aid.

New accord

Joe Patrick Amara, field coordinator for the Nonviolent Peaceforce [http://www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org/] NGO, which is working closely with those affected, says people are willing to return, but will not be able to without security and assistance.

"Many of their homes were burnt and many lost their livestock and other means of livelihood," he said. "People understand the difference between a suspension of operations and a ceasefire. If there were a ceasefire, people would be more comfortable, but we're not there yet," he said. "With a suspension, people fear things could flare up again."

Meanwhile, a new accord signed on 27 October between the 11,000 strong MILF and Manila aimed at protecting civilians gives ground for hope.

According to the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue [http://www.hdcentre.org/], the Agreement on the Civilian Protection Component of the International Monitoring Team commits both parties to "take all necessary precautions to avoid incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians and danger to civilian objects and to take all necessary actions to facilitate the provision of relief supplies".

The parties also agreed to expand the mandate of the international monitoring team to include civilian protection, allowing them to now monitor, verify and report on compliance by both parties.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86794DERA ISMAIL KHAN Thursday, October 29, 2009 (IRIN) - Fear and a growing wariness on the part of potential IDP hosts means some South Waziristan internally displaced persons (IDPs) are finding it hard to get accommodation in the neighbouring districts of Dera Ismail Khan and Tank.DERA ISMAIL KHAN Thursday, October 29, 2009 (IRIN) - Fear and a growing wariness on the part of potential IDP hosts means some South Waziristan internally displaced persons (IDPs) are finding it hard to get accommodation in the neighbouring districts of Dera Ismail Khan and Tank.

"No one is ready to take us, because they think we are sympathetic to the militants battling government forces," said Wazirullah Mehsud, 60.

He also believes that because those fleeing the battle zone are Mehsuds - from the same tribe as the leaders of the Taliban based in South Waziristan - hosts are sometimes reluctant to take them in.

"The thing is that some of the people coming from South Waziristan could be militants. Dera Ismail Khan has seen many bomb attacks and other violent incidents in recent years. We are scared to keep people from South Waziristan in our homes, especially when many of them are men, because they could have links to the militants," said Salim Khan, a local shopkeeper.

Maj-Gen Athar Abbas, a spokesman for the Pakistan military, told the media: "Militants are shaving their beards and mingling with ordinary people to try and flee."

Continuing attacks are adding to people's apprehensions. A car bomb in a crowded market area in Peshawar, the capital of the North West Frontier Province, killed at least 100 people on 28 October.

Fear

"Such news makes us afraid, even though we want to help people in trouble," said Aleem Ahmed, an electrician based in Dera Ismail Khan. He said he was "thinking about" a request from a friend to host an IDP family.

The Mehsud and Wazir tribes make up most of the 500,000 population of South Waziristan, one of seven tribal territories adjacent to Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. The current leader of the Taliban, Hakeemullah Mehsud, like his predecessor, the late Baitullah Mehsud, belongs to the larger Mehsud tribe.

"I have had many problems even finding a room to rent. Because I am on my own, with my two sons, people think we may be militants," said Asad Mehsud, 60. His wife and daughters-in-law have moved to Peshawar, where the family has relatives.

Other IDPs, particularly those who have close relatives in Dera Ismail Khan, face fewer problems. "We have been well looked after by my cousin and his family. Even though they have five children themselves, and it has been hard to add seven more to their household, they have been kind and have taken us in," said Saifullah Mehsud.

"As far as we know the IDPs are still staying with host families," Billi Bierling, public information officer for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Islamabad, told IRIN. She said the overall registration figure of IDP families from South Waziristan had reached 33,371. In Dera Ismail Khan and Tank 1,689 IDP families were registered on 28 October, as the influx from conflict-hit areas continues. No formal IDP camps have been set up as yet.

Culture shock

For some IDPs, especially women who have in many cases never left their villages, the experience is a bewildering one. "I had never seen water flow from taps inside homes, or used a toilet that flushes," said Waseefa Bibi, 25, a mother of two. She is also delighted with the nappies donated to her for her three-month-old baby, saying, "now I know how to put one on."

However, Waseefa and other displaced women, have problems too: "We live in a house belonging to our hosts, with 13 people in four rooms. Our hosts are not close relatives, and it is hard for me and my sister-in-law to maintain 'purdah' [seclusion from men who are not blood relatives observed by some women on the basis of religious belief]. We also feel very shy going to the toilet when the men are around," Waseefa told IRIN.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86799DAKAR Wednesday, October 28, 2009 (IRIN) - Youths in the Guinea capital Conakry went on hunger strike on 28 October - one month after the deadly military attack on civilians - to call for political dialogue, an end to violence and the arrest of those who attacked demonstrators.DAKAR Wednesday, October 28, 2009 (IRIN) - Youths in the Guinea capital Conakry went on hunger strike on 28 October – one month after the deadly military attack on civilians – to call for political dialogue, an end to violence and the arrest of those who attacked demonstrators.

“No to violence, no to impunity, yes to national unity, yes to peace and social tranquillity” is written on a banner hanging outside the Dixinn Port youth centre, where some 30 people gathered for the five-day hunger strike.

“This is to draw our leaders’ attention to the need to engage in dialogue, preserve national unity, prevent further violence and arrest the authors of [the 28 September] massacre,” said Thierno Baldé, president of the Federation of Youth Associations of Guinea, which has organized the protest.

“The situation in Guinea today is extremely difficult, and no one knows how things will evolve,” he said. “This is why we want now to urge everyone to avoid more violence.”

Another participant, who requested anonymity, told IRIN: “One of the major problems has been a lack of dialogue between the CNDD [National Council for Democracy and Development, which the junta calls itself] on the one hand and civil society and political leaders on the other. They must go to dialogue. We say, no more killings in Guinea.”

He added: “It is the youths who are the real victims of the crisis in Guinea. We must remind our political leaders of that.”

Burkina President Blaise Compaoré, mediator in the Guinea crisis, has called for talks between the junta and a national coalition of political parties and civil society groups.

On 28 October large markets and stores in Conakry were closed, as were schools and banks and most people stayed home, heeding a call by Guinea’s political and civil society coalition to observe “a day of protest, prayer and meditation for the victims of 28 September”.

“This day is dedicated particularly to the women and girls who were savagely attacked,” a coalition communiqué says.

Interior Minister Frédéric Kolié on the eve of the one-month commemoration called for people to go about their activities as normal, saying the country has already observed several days for the victims.

The union representing the banking sector announced on 27 October that banks will remain closed until Monday because of harassment of bank employees by soldiers.

The youths going on hunger strike told IRIN this is the first time they have used this form of protest.

“Given the context [and the current tension], instead of going to the streets, we thought this would be a peaceful and effective way to protest,” the unnamed youth told IRIN. “We will just be in a room at the youth centre, protesting quietly.”

As of midday on 28 October all was calm at the Dixinn Port youth centre. One youth told IRIN from another area of Conakry he was trying to join his colleagues for the strike but his neighbourhood was at a standstill and he was awaiting public transportation.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86783SANAA Tuesday, October 27, 2009 (IRIN) - Poor security, lack of basic infrastructure, the increasing numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and how to accommodate livestock are among the challenges facing the government and aid agencies trying to run IDP camps in northern Yemen, according to Nasim Ur-Rehman, a spokesman for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).SANAA Tuesday, October 27, 2009 (IRIN) - Poor security, lack of basic infrastructure, the increasing numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and how to accommodate livestock are among the challenges facing the government and aid agencies trying to run IDP camps in northern Yemen, according to Nasim Ur-Rehman, a spokesman for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).

"We face increasing numbers of people arriving… From the end of Ramadan [20 September] until now, the al-Mazraq camp [in Harad District, Hajjah Governorate] population has doubled," Andrew Knight, an external relations officer at the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Yemen, told IRIN.

On average, 10-15 new families arrive at al-Mazraq camp every day, UNHCR spokesperson in Geneva Andrej Mahecic said on 20 October, adding that they estimated the camp hosted some 8,000 IDPs. [http://www.unhcr.org/4ae199809.html]

Knight said another challenge was how to deal with livestock being brought to the camp. "Following a meeting… UNHCR set about redesigning the layout and organization of the camp to accommodate these needs.”

“We are working with UNICEF, FAO [UN Food and Agriculture Organization], the local authorities and other partners to assess the extent to which the livestock may present a health issue,” Knight said.

According to Knight, the livestock graze locally, and IDPs themselves buy some fodder in; UNICEF helps with watering the animals, which do not cause any damage to IDP tents.

Access

"Obtaining access to IDP camps, particularly those in Saada Governorate, remains a tough challenge," said Rabab al-Rifai, a spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

"Even worse, thousands of civilians remain unable to flee and are stranded in areas where fighting continues."

ICRC and the Yemeni Red Crescent are running all three camps in Saada Governorate, which are hosting more than 6,500 IDPs, according to al-Rifai. "We have regular bilateral and confidential contacts with the parties to the conflict and have reminded them on several occasions of the need to take every possible measure to ensure that safe access of humanitarian aid is facilitated,” she said.

Identification of IDPs

Laure Chedrawi, a spokeswoman for UNHCR, said another challenge was distinguishing the genuinely displaced from local people seeking help: "Some IDPs arrive in al-Mazraq camp without documentation and people from the surrounding areas who haven't been displaced by the fighting also come to the camp to try to seek food and other essential relief supplies."

A new procedure has now been introduced at the camp whereby two non-related witnesses must testify that the person seeking assistance has indeed been displaced by the fighting; aid agencies were also cooperating with the Saada local authorities to establish identities, Chedrawi said.

“We also coordinate with NGOs and other aid agencies on the ground to avoid duplication of humanitarian assistance," she told IRIN, adding that training courses on camp coordination and management had been held.

UNHCR field staff have registered 36,216 IDPs in three governorates (Saada, Hajjah and Amran), while the total number of uprooted civilians since June 2004 is estimated at 150,000, including those living with host families or those still inaccessible.

New camps

The increasing number of IDPs has forced the government to think about establishing new camps, especially as some families holed up in schools in Amran and Hajjah governorates may be forced to leave them as the new school year begins.

However, the development of a second site close to al-Mazraq camp has been suspended at the request of the government, according to UNHCR’s Mahecic.

“Despite completion of the mapping and the site planning for the second camp, local authorities have now indicated that they want al-Mazrak II to be situated in a different location, closer to the first camp. We are worried that the delay in reaching a final decision on the second camp is having an impact on the improvement of the first camp which is becoming increasingly overcrowded with needs for health, water and sanitation increasing,” Mahecic said.

According to the most recent situation report [http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWFiles2009.nsf/FilesByRWDocUnidFilename/AZHU-7X42PL-full_report.pdf/$File/full_report.pdf] from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), four camps - al-Mazraq, Sam, al-Ihsa and al-Talh camps - host 13,700 IDPs. UN agencies have registered 42,740 IDPs in all, most of whom are not in camps.

The current IDP crisis has been prompted by fierce clashes between Houthi-led rebels and government forces over the past two months.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86755DONDO Tuesday, October 27, 2009 (IRIN) - Mozambique's effort to become the first of the world's major mine-contaminated countries to be declared mine-free is faltering on the home straight.DONDO Tuesday, October 27, 2009 (IRIN) - Mozambique's effort to become the first of the world's major mine-contaminated countries to be declared mine-free is faltering on the home straight.

There are a variety of reasons: Mozambique's donor-dependent government no longer sees demining operations as a priority; the withdrawal of humanitarian demining operations, sending the wrong signals to donors that the job was done, and that the focus of global demining activities has largely shifted to Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We can finish this. We can get rid of them [landmines] ... This is not a never-ending story," Aderito Ismael, Mozambique's Mine Action Coordinator for Handicap International (HI), a non-governmental organization, told IRIN. "I want to be out of a job by 2013, or maybe by 2012."

Handicap International, one of three humanitarian demining operations still working in the mine-infested territory, is only continuing operations through the support of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), while the HALO Trust - Mozambique's largest humanitarian deminer - is working below capacity because of funding shortfalls. APOPO is the third and smallest of the operations in the country.

When demining activities began in 1992, predictions were that clearing anti-personnel landmines and unexploded ordnance left by four decades of independence and civil wars could take about 50 years.

"Mozambique could set an example of a country significantly affected by mines ... ticked off as cleared ... we are talking about a marginal timeframe," Hanoch Barlevi, UNDP's chief technical advisor seconded to Mozambique's Institute of National De-mining, told IRIN.

If donor funding had not subsided, Mozambique may have already lost its sobriquet as one of world's most heavily mined countries, leaving such countries as Angola, Afghanistan and Cambodia as reluctant holders of the title.

Mozambique, a signatory to the 1999 Mine Ban Treaty (MBT), was granted a five-year extension of the 1 March 2009 deadline to remove all known anti-personnel mines and unexploded ordnance on its territory, saying that "Through a relatively modest investment [about US$39 million] on the part of both the Republic of Mozambique and the international community, Mozambique can indeed fulfill its obligations in a relatively short time."

The government attributed its failure to meet the deadline to the size of the job - 123 of the country's 128 districts were identified as mine contaminated - the competing needs of demining and poverty alleviation in one of the world's poorest nations, and "some donor fatigue, which in turn resulted in a slow-down of efforts to implement Article 5 [of the MBT]."

Article 5 of the treaty states that "Each State Party undertakes to destroy or ensure the destruction of all anti-personnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible but not later than ten years after the entry into force of this Convention [MBT] for that State Party."

A country that became a minefield

Exactly how many mines were planted during the conflicts is unknown - estimates vary from millions to about 500,000 - but whatever the numbers, there were enough to place the southern African country in the premier league of mine contaminated countries.

Mozambique began to address the daunting challenge 17 years ago. There were no records or maps of where landmines were laid, memories had dimmed, witnesses to the laying of minefields had died, and some communities still feared retribution for informing the authorities about where mines had been planted.

Landmines were widely used. The Portuguese colonial administration and Mozambique's first post-colonial government, ruled by the Frelimo party, used them for "defensive purposes" to protect infrastructure.

In the civil war that followed independence Frelimo often commandeered schools to use as army barracks and surrounded them with landmines to deter attacks by Renamo, the anti-government rebel movement.

Mine belts turned villages and towns into fortresses, as much for government soldiers to defend their positions "as to ensure control of population movement," a former Frelimo soldier told IRIN.

Renamo would sometimes create phantom minefields, planting landmines by day in view of communities and then removing them clandestinely at night, but the effect of denying land to communities was the same.

Better information

Mozambique's extraordinary progress towards becoming a mine-free state has been achieved by meticulously digging out the weapons - which have no expiry date - and more accurate assessments by deminers.

The first survey in 1992 estimated there were about two million mines, but the Landmine Impact Survey (LIS) in 2001 - the first comprehensive survey, later recognized as flawed - said that about 1.5 million Mozambicans, or 9 percent of the population, lived in 1,374 mine-affected areas covering an area of about 561,689,063 square metres.

Most information on the location of minefields was provided by local communities, but flooding in 2000 displaced thousands of people and the LIS was undertaken after the water subsided. HI's Ismael told IRIN that the "large number of suspected sites [identified by the LIS] did not represent reality", and the survey was undertaken by people who often did not have the technical skills to gauge the extent of a minefield.

In 2007 the HALO Trust, which removes war debris, produced the Baseline Assessment after eradicating duplicate sites, conducting thousands of site visits, and collating data from HI and Norwegian People's Aid (NPA), and concluded that 12,166,401 square metres of Mozambique at a total of 541 sites were known to be contaminated.

Having a mine-free state suddenly became possible, as the task of clearing more than 500 million square metres was reduced to a more manageable area of just over 12 million square metres within six years.

However, after 13 years in Mozambique, Norwegian People's Aid (NPA) closed its operations in 2006, following the exit of other international operators, such as the German deminer Menschen Gegen Minen (People against Landmines) in 2003, and the Washington DC-based humanitarian and commercial mine action and ordnance disposal organization, Ronco, in 2006, creating the perception that mines were no longer a major problem.

Per Nergaard, the NPA director of mine action, told IRIN the organization was comforted that HALO Trust and HI remained in the country when the decision was made "to take our limited resources [elsewhere]."

UNDP's Barlevi said the Baseline Assessment and NPA's decision to withdraw led to two different responses by donors between 2006 and 2007. Some donors used NPA's exit to close the chapter on their funding, while the findings of the Baseline assessment encouraged other donors to return because the task had been defined.

"The paradox is that the number of mine victims has dropped to a few a year, and if there was 50 mine accidents each year people would jump up, that is the irony. The human impact is going down, but it is not going away," Barlevi said. "There is less money around, and even less in Mozambique."

An ever present danger

According to Mozambique's 2008-2014 National Mine Action Plan, between 1993 and 2006, 269 million square metres were demined, 173,091 landmines were cleared and 133,143 items of unexploded ordnance were destroyed.

The four northern provinces of Niassa, Cabo Delgado, Nampula and Zambezia are currently undergoing a verification process following the end of demining operations; the remaining provinces of Tete, Manica, Sofala, Inhambane - seen as the worst affected province - Gaza and Maputo had yet to be cleared.

Landmines had also been found along 200km of the border with Zimbabwe, as well as in a belt around the Cahora Bassa dam, and beneath about 200 electricity pylons stretching 80km between the South African border town of Komatiepoort and into the high density suburbs of the Mozambican capital, Maputo. Further surveys were required in areas bordering South Africa, Zambia, Malawi and Swaziland.

Helen Gray, HALO Trust's Mozambique's programme officer, like others in the demining community, is optimistic that the 2014 deadline can be met with "an increase in funding ... soon". They expect to have 208 deminers in the field by November 2009, but ideally require 364 deminers, excluding support staff and management, to meet the revised deadline.

Gray said they needed about $4.2 million annually for the Mozambique operation, but were getting by with about $2.5 million. "Achieving a milestone like [demining the] Maputo [pylons] will help things," she said.

Peri-urban communities scratch a living on the vacant land along the corridor created by the pylons from Komatiepoort to Maputo, growing the staple maize and other crops, often within a few metres from the estimated 20,000 landmines planted along the pylon route.

Up to 200 mines have been found at each pylon, planted by Frelimo to protect the electrical infrastructure from saboteurs during the civil war; it takes two or three deminers about a month to clear a pylon. "We are behind the curve ... but we still might meet the ... deadline by 2014," Gray said.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86758BISSAU Tuesday, October 27, 2009 (IRIN) - In Guinea-Bissau security sector reform remains stalled but observers say the necessary laws are being written and it is now up to the government to get them through parliament.BISSAU Tuesday, October 27, 2009 (IRIN) - In Guinea-Bissau security sector reform remains stalled but donors say the necessary laws are being written and it is now up to the government to get them through parliament.

International donors have been pushing the government and security forces to reform in order to boost stability in Guinea-Bissau, a country prone to coups and attractive to drug-traffickers.

Since beginning its work on security sector reform (SSR) in 2006 the European Union delegation – which is leading the process – has worked with three governments and Prime Ministers, as well as three Presidents, while witnessing two elections and two political assassinations.

The EU has drafted laws to restructure the army, navy, air force and nine police divisions, as well as drawn up codes of conduct, good practices and discipline in the security forces, EU spokesperson in Guinea-Bissau Miguel Sousa told IRIN.

But while the National Assembly has approved four reform laws, it has yet to pass 10 others, according to EU documents.

“We can’t do anything without the basis of the law,” Sousa told IRIN. “People think: Brilliant – send us people, send us money, give us new barracks. But we need to follow a legal process…We [EU] can draft laws but we cannot approve them.”

High expectations

Expectations for the reforms are high, said Vincent Foucher, a Bissau-based researcher with the Centre d’Étude d’Afrique noire in Bordeaux. “When the EU announced its security sector reform programme, people expected big things….The army asked, where is the cash? The police wanted to see changes,” he said.

“We’ve seen money come in to pay for some salaries and to improve some barracks,” Foucher said. “But the money to retire soldiers is still not there, so people can’t see the immediate change they want.”

Restructuring the army includes retiring some 1,500 members, but just a handful have been retired thus far as no donor funding has come through, and the government has not yet decided how much each retiree should receive as a pension.

But Sousa said progress has been made. “I have a list of laws, along with codes and guidelines, we have produced; a team from the defence forces, police and prosecution services meets every day to coordinate the changes; and trust [among ministries] has been built – this is progress.”

Army spokesperson Maj. Mama Jaquite told IRIN while the military is committed to reform, it is time to see some concrete results such as the much-talked-about improvements to military barracks – a first step in the reform process. He is preparing documents for a 2010 donor roundtable where SSR funds will be discussed.

Justice Minister Mamadou Saliu Djalo Pires meanwhile has been advocating the reform in his ministry and is working closely with Portuguese and Brazilian donors to train judiciary police. And President Malam Bacai Sanha – sworn into office in September – recently called on his advisers to get him up to speed on the SSR process.

But many in the lower ranks of the security forces are still unaware of what reform entails, observers said. And while government and security spokespersons are saying the right things, this is not translating into action, according to Foucher.

Another hitch is that the government has expressed concerns about handing over too much say to international actors. “The government can stall the process under the guise of its sovereignty being stifled,” he said.

There have been questions, for example, over whether international donors or a government-donor committee would manage SSR funds.

Next steps

For now there are no funds to wrangle over. Donors are expected to meet in early 2010 to commit funds to the reform process.

The EU looks likely to be the principal financial contributor and to continue taking a lead role in the process, working closely with the government, the Economic Community of West African States and the UN, according to Sousa.

However the EU mission is still awaiting approval from its member states to extend its presence until May 2010.

The UN is scheduled in 2010 to set up an integrated mission in Guinea-Bissau, one of the priorities of which will be to help the country build the foundations for long-term peace and stability.

aj/nphttp://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86760BISSAU Tuesday, October 27, 2009 (IRIN) - Below is a timeline of key political events to take place since the formation of the PAIGC political party in 1956. BISSAU Tuesday, October 27, 2009 (IRIN) - Below is a timeline of major political events since the formation of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) in 1956.

July 2009
Malam Bacai Sanha elected president

June 2009
Three senior politicians are killed by military police in what authorities call a foiled coup attempt

March 2009
President João Bernardo Vieira is shot dead by soldiers several hours after a bomb attack kills army chief-of-staff General Tagme Na Waie

July 2008
The PAIGC political party leaves the 'Pact of Stability' coalition government

April 2008
The mandate of the legislature ended on 21 April but President Vieira passes a temporary constitutional amendment to allow the continuation of Parliament until elections take place later in the year. The President also grants amnesty to individuals in the military and civilians who allegedly committed crimes from 1980 to 2004

March 2008
Legislative elections are postponed

July 2007
A tribunal declares the resolution making former Guinea-Bissau president, Koumba Yala, the head of Social Renovation Party (PRS) "null and void"

February 2008
The PAIGC withdraws backing from Prime Minister Martinho Ndafa Cabi, ostensibly to avoid acts of indiscipline threatening cohesion and unity in the party

March 2007
Parliamentarians form a majority coalition and the three major parties, the PAIGC, Party for Social Reform (PRS) and the United Social Democrat Party (PUSD) sign a pact of stability meant to create political stability. The pact gives them the right to force the departure of Prime Minister Aristides Gomes who was nominated by Vieira after the sacking of Carlos Junior, and to vote in a new prime minister, Marthinho Ndafa Cabi. Donors welcome the pact and start to re-engage in the country after a period of relative isolation

January 2007
Admiral Mohamed Lamine Sanha, chief-of -staff of the navy, is killed. Sanha, an ally of Ansumane Mané who led a military rebellion against President Vieira in the 1998 civil war, was implicated in several coups against the government

November 2006
Koumba Yala is elected head of the PRS

November 2005
President Vieira appoints Aristides Gomes, former PAIGC deputy chairman as Prime Minister


Photo: IRIN
Kumba Yala (file photo)
October 2005
President Vieira sacks PAIGC Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior who was nominated by the assembly, citing “personal reasons”. After announcing on the radio that the President ordered the assassination of old members of the military junta that deposed him in 1999 Junior flees to the offices of the UN Peacebuilding Office until President Vieira can guarantee him his security

2005
Joao Bernardo Vieira returns from exile in Portugal to participate in Presidential elections, with financial backing from Guinea-Conakry and Senegal and support from the military. In the June elections Malam Bacai Sanha of the PAIGC presents himself opposite Koumba Yala and for the first time against Joao Vieira who participates as an independent candidate. Bacai receives the largest number of votes but not enough to avoid a second round. Yala, who came third in the first round, goes on to support Vieira and Vieira becomes President for the second time. International observers deem the elections fair and transparent

The military, under chief-of-staff Tagme Na Wai, ensures President Vieira understands they are a powerful political force and that Vieira requires their support to retain his hold

October 2004
A group of soldiers led by Baoute Yanta Na Man attempt a failed coup. General Seabra, now chief of staff of the army, is killed by a group of military rebels who are protesting against salary arrears and the corruption of the military hierarchy, and General Tagme Na Wai, an ethnic Balante, is appointed in his place

March 2004
Legislative elections are held as planned and the PAIGC retakes the majority of the parliamentary seats. A new government is formed under the leadership of Carlos Gomes Junior as prime minister

September 2003
A military coup led by General Verissimo Correia Seabra ousts President Yala, a move that is welcomed by the population. A transition government is put on place to prepare for elections and in the interim, President Henrique Rosa is appointed President and Artur Sanha, once secretary-general of the PRS is nominated Prime Minister

2002
President Koumba Yala dissolves Parliament and calls for legislative elections but these do not take place and the country remains without a government for several months. Supreme Court judges are also sacked from their positions

2001
President Yala's rule is characterised by chronic political instability as he constantly sacks ministers and reshuffles his government. Between 2001 and 2003 four Prime Ministers are nominated and sacked. Political crisis sets in. The International Monetary Fund and World Bank suspend aid due to poor financial accounting by government

2000
General Anusmane Mane, a well-supported figure in the army, does not take up posts offered to him under President Yala's government, including adviser to the head-of-state preferring to stay independent. In November he is killed by Koumba Yala's men

January 2000
Presidential elections are held between Koumba Yala of the PRS and Malam Bacai Sanha of the PAIGC, a fierce opponent of Vieira. Yala wins with 72 percent of the votes and his victory is seen as progress for the Balante ethnic group as he is the first Balante to lead the country. Yala goes on to appoint many Balante in positions of power. Under his rule many members of the armed forces are promoted to become generals

November 1999
The transitional government organises elections in which the PAIGC loses its control over the national assembly for the first time. The PRS party under Koumba Yala receives 38 seats and becomes the dominant party in the assembly

1999
A military junta takes control of Bissau, the capital, and President Vieira seeks asylum in Portugal. Malai Bacam Sanha of the PAIGC party becomes President in May 1999

1998
Vieira sacks army chief of staff, General Ansumane Mané, leading to an army mutiny. A military junta led by Mané starts a civil war

1994
The first free elections are held electing João Bernardo Vieira as President. From this point on the PAIGC dominates politics until the present day

1992
Koumba Yala founds the PRS

1980
Luis Cabral is ousted in military coup orchestrated by Joao Bernardo Vieira

Below is a timeline of key political events to take place since the formation of the PAIGC political party in 1956

1974
Portugal grants Guinea-Bissau independence with Luis Cabral, brother of Amilcar, as President

1973
PAIGC declares Guinea-Bissau independent of Portugal. Amilcar Cabral assassinated

1963-74
PAIGC launches war of independence

1956
Amilcar Cabral establishes the PAIGC

aj/http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86761KAMPALA Tuesday, October 27, 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. KAMPALA Tuesday, October 27, 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.

Whereas the rights of people who flee across national boundaries are protected under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and a similar instrument introduced 18 years later by the Organization of African Unity (now the African Union), there has been no international legislation catering specifically for people displaced within their own country (IDPs).

IDPs vastly outnumber refugees in Africa. In just 10 of the 18 countries in east and central Africa, there are more than 10 million IDPs, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), with Sudan (four million), the Democratic Republic of Congo (2.12 million) and Somalia (1.55 million) heading the list.

In the same region, there are refugees in 16 countries, totalling just less than two million, according to OCHA.

This latest instrument, also known as the Kampala Convention because it was signed in the Ugandan capital, "obliges governments to recognize that IDPs have specific vulnerabilities and must be supported", said Walter Kälin, Representative of the UN Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons.

"It covers all causes of displacement, is forceful in terms of responsibility and goes beyond addressing the roles of states to those of others like the AU and non-state actors."

Signed by 17 African states at the end of summit on 23 October, the convention defines IDPs broadly, irrespective of who is displacing them.

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the convention provides a solid framework for enhancing the protection and assistance of IDPs in Africa. The ICRC is the custodian of international humanitarian law.

"The crucial challenge now is the same one facing international humanitarian law in general – ensuring that once the convention is signed and ratified by as many states as possible, it is actually implemented and respected," ICRC president Jakob Kellenberger said.

"States must now take concrete steps to implement the convention into their own national legislation and regulation systems, and develop plans of action to address issues of displacement.

"The convention goes further than international humanitarian law treaties in some aspects, for example, in the rules it contains on safe and voluntary return, and on access to compensation or other forms of reparation," Kellenberger added.

Next steps

To become a binding document, the convention has to be ratified by 15 of the AU's 53 member states.

"No international treaty is perfect, and the AU IDP Convention does have a few weaknesses. Concerns over the lack of effective enforcement mechanisms and insufficient guarantees for equality and non-discrimination have been raised," the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement noted in a statement.

"There is some question regarding the extent to which non-state actors and armed groups called upon by the convention to protect IDPs can be bound by its provisions. Nevertheless, the convention, which has benefited from the input of international experts, is considered to be generally consistent with international standards such as the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement."

AU officials in Kampala were cautiously upbeat, urging member states to remain engaged. "It is the responsibility of member states that the convention becomes a binding instrument," Jean Ping, AU Commission President, said. "At this point, it is an achievement, but not an end in itself."

Zambian president Rupiah Banda also chose his words carefully. "We have given legal force to the task ahead and Zambia is ready to sign," he said. "Those who are displaced should not be forgotten."

An observer who requested anonymity said progress would require member states to demonstrate greater political will to implement the convention and address concerns about sovereignty and enforcement.

"It is a question of a progressive [AU] Commission versus [conservative] member states," he told IRIN in Kampala. "For example, the inclusion of armed groups in the draft was interpreted by some member states as lending legitimacy to such groups."

The convention emphasizes the sovereignty of member states but spells out the obligations and responsibilities of armed groups. Among others, it prohibits armed groups from carrying our arbitrary displacement, recruiting children and impeding humanitarian assistance.

"Overall, though, the convention has a good chance of getting the necessary signatures rather quickly," the observer added. "In April, SADC’s [Southern African Development Community] 11 members committed to speedy signature."

Political will

Civil society leaders, attending a parallel event, insisted political will and demonstrated commitment were key to progress. The fact that only five presidents came to Kampala, they said, called for an urgent strategy to bring on board more states.

Present were Banda, Ugandan President and host, Yoweri Museveni, Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, Somalia's Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Mohamed Abdelaziz of Saharawi, along with high-level UN, INGO and AU delegations.

"It is one thing to have a good convention and another to implement it," Dismas Nkunda of the New York-based International Refugee Rights Initiative told IRIN.

In 2007, the AU adopted the African Charter on democracy, elections and governance, but it has so far been ratified by only two member states.

The basic question of impunity also needed to be addressed. Until African countries learn to respect the law, participants said, the continent would "remain at rock bottom" in its attempts to address the problems of the displaced.

AU officials seemed conscious of these sentiments. "We have come a long way, but a plan of action is now envisaged," Jolly Joiner, AU commissioner for political affairs, told IRIN. "Once member states are on board, we will take this convention forward."

Antonio Guterres, head of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and representative of the UN Secretary-General at the summit, said solving the question of displacement in Africa required political solutions.

"There is no humanitarian solution to conflict," he explained. "The solution is always political."

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86762NAIROBI Tuesday, October 27, 2009 (IRIN) - Before 15 January 2008, Erick Kioko was a typical ghetto youth - juggling several petty jobs to survive, but mostly, he liked working as a part-time disc-jockey for local entertainment outfits operating from Mathare slums in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.NAIROBI Tuesday, October 27, 2009 (IRIN) - Before 15 January 2008, Erick Kioko was a typical ghetto youth - juggling several petty jobs to survive, but mostly, he liked working as a part-time disc-jockey for local entertainment outfits operating from Mathare slums in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. Other times he served as a tout on city minibus routes, earning KSh50 (US66 cents) per trip. Sometimes he was a porter at a taxi rank. He did all these jobs to support his wife and child, mother and three siblings. Then the country went to the polls in December 2007 and the ensuing violence changed Kioko's life for ever.

Kioko found himself trapped in Kisumu, in the west, where he had gone for a DJ gig. Somehow he made it to Nairobi after two days to find Mathare engulfed in chaos. Kioko, now aged 26, spoke to IRIN about how he lost his arm:

"When I realized that the violence was getting worse, all I wanted to do was check that my family was safe; I arrived in Mathare on 15 January 2008 to find that youths had formed groups to guard their homes from being burnt by rival groups. I found my mother at the gate of the [Moi] Air Force Base where many people had sought refuge.

"In the evening we heard that one of the groups had ordered everyone to remain indoors. I decided to make my way home but I found a group of men - I think they were more than 15 - raping a woman. They were armed with many weapons, including machetes. The woman's screams were so painful, I decided to pick up a few stones and start stoning the mob in the hope that they would leave her alone.

"I continued throwing stones at the group without realizing that three of them had detached themselves and surrounded me. I realized too late that they wanted to cut me up. One of them was so close to me, he aimed his machete at my head. Instinctively, I put my left hand up to shield myself. The next thing I knew my hand was on the ground, he had cut it off! I was in shock.

"I saw the others move closer to me and somehow an inner voice told me to run. I took off with all my strength, heading for the air force base; I just wanted to be near my mother. There I was quickly helped into an ambulance and rushed to Kenyatta National Hospital.

"I stayed in hospital for a month, sleeping on the floor and sometimes going without food as the place was very congested. All they did was dress the wound, I was promised surgery but I was only operated on towards the end of February. Later, Blue House [a charity operating in Mathare] helped me with two other operations in another hospital where the stump was further reduced.

"Now I have healed and I am trying to get on with life, but how can I be a DJ with only one arm? I can no longer be a tout because you need both hands; I can't be a porter either. I dropped out of school in Class Three due to lack of fees so I can't get less-tiring jobs easily. My wife and I live with my mother because I can no longer afford to rent our own place. I spend the nights with friends because I cannot sleep in the same room as my mother.

"All I have right now are questions. Why me? Why has the government forgotten those like me yet it is compensating IDPs [internally displaced persons] who lost property? What of us who lost limbs? I have not even paid the debt I owe Kenyatta National Hospital. I have written to the district commissioner … telling him about my plight but I have not had a response. I plan to go back to his office soon.

"I just need to find a way of supporting myself again. Most of all, I wish I could leave this slum; it is a constant reminder of my lost arm. Friends have even shown me where they found the hand. I wish I had a prosthetic hand so I could resume being a DJ, I wish I could start a small business and be able to rent a house but all these remain just that - wishes - for now.”

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86763HARARE Tuesday, October 27, 2009 (IRIN) - Violence and intimidation against members of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) increased sharply within days of the party "disengaging" from Zimbabwe's unity government, MDC spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka told IRIN. HARARE Tuesday, October 27, 2009 (IRIN) - Violence and intimidation against members of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) increased sharply within days of the party "disengaging" from Zimbabwe's unity government, MDC spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka told IRIN.

In one incident three armed men accosted MDC security official Edith Mashaire, 32, and tried to force her into a waiting vehicle as she walked towards her office in the capital, Harare, during working hours.

"Two other men, one brandishing an AK-47 rifle and another holding a pistol, approached me and threatened to shoot me. They started assaulting me with their weapons while telling me to get into the truck," Mashaire told IRIN. She screamed to other pedestrians that she was an MDC official and frightened the men off.

"We have received reports of our supporters being beaten up and having their homes set on fire, allegedly by ZANU-PF supporters led by war veterans and members of the army," Tamborinyoka said. President Robert Mugabe is the leader of ZANU-PF, the other wing of the unity government formed in February 2009.

Teachers targeted

Morgan Tsvangirai, MDC leader and Prime Minister, "disengaged" from the unity government on 16 October in protest over the re-arrest of the party's treasurer and deputy agricultural minister designate, Roy Bennett, which had "brought home the fiction of the credibility and integrity of the transitional government".

Violence has erupted in Mashonaland Central Province, once a ZANU-PF stronghold in the north of the country. "The violence has intensified in rural areas ... Also affected are close to 100 teachers who have fled from the province," Tamborinyoka said.

"Some of the biggest victims in this ongoing cycle of violence are children, because they have nobody to teach them," he told IRIN. ZANU-PF supporters have accused the teaching profession of being allied to the MDC, and teachers have been told that since their party, the MDC, had pulled out of the government, they were now considered enemies of ZANU-PF.

"The violence is spreading to many parts of the country like Mashonaland West and East [provinces], Manicaland [province in the east] and Masvingo [province in the south] - all former ZANU-PF strongholds - and even in central Harare. We believe that ZANU-PF is retaliating after our party disengaged from the government two weeks ago," Tamborinyoka said.

At the weekend, heavily armed police and soldiers raided a house used by MDC officials and accused the group of stealing weapons from army barracks in Harare. Tamborinyoka said recent events showed all the hallmarks of a crackdown on the MDC and its supporters. "Recently, a brigadier-general pointed a gun at one of our members of parliament and threatened to shoot him."

ZANU-PF youth militia deployed in rural areas

A special audit report on ministerial accounts has also revealed that the youth development ministry employed 10,277 ZANU-PF youth militia since May 2008, who were subsequently deployed to rural areas.

The period of recruitment, which began after ZANU-PF lost its majority in parliament for the first time since independence from Britain in 1980, coincided with escalating violence against MDC supporters, including incidents of murder, rape, torture and displacement, during the second round of the presidential ballot in 2008.

Tsvangirai got the majority of votes in the first round of the presidential poll but narrowly missed securing the 50-plus-one votes required for an outright win. He withdrew from the run-off presidential vote in protest against alleged state-sponsored violence. Mugabe thus won unopposed, but international observers dismissed the poll as invalid.

"The appointees [youth militia] were not subjected to a medical examination, as required by the public service regulations, declarations of official secrets were not completed, and there were no staff files opened at either the ministry headquarters or provincial centres," Tamborinyoka said.

Raymond Majongwe, secretary-general of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, said ZANU-PF youth militia, working as "youth or ward officers", were harassing teachers in schools.

"Sometimes they talk about the need to 'teach children the correct history of the country', and are going as far as appointing school prefects," Majongwe told IRIN.

In the past two months "war collaborators" - people who assisted guerrilla fighters during the war of independence in the 1970s and remain staunch ZANU-PF supporters - have been holding meetings across the country, raising fears of an increase in violence. Zimbabwe's defence minister, Emmerson Mnangagwa, recently addressed one of the meetings.

dd/go/he http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86773CONAKRY Tuesday, October 27, 2009 (IRIN) - Prices of rice, sugar, oil and other basic foods have risen sharply in the Guinea capital Conakry in the tense weeks following a deadly military crackdown on civilians.CONAKRY Tuesday, October 27, 2009 (IRIN) - Prices of rice, sugar, oil and other basic foods have risen sharply in the Guinea capital Conakry in the tense weeks following a deadly military crackdown on civilians.

“I nearly cried the other day when I got to the market and saw that I could buy almost nothing with my 20,000 Guinean francs (US$4),” said a woman in the Ratoma neighbourhood of Conakry who wished to remain anonymous. She said in the past that amount could buy ingredients like fish and condiments to prepare the daily rice meal.

In the past three to four weeks the price of a 50-kilogram sack of rice has risen by more than 25 percent, 1 kilogram of sugar about 40 percent and 20L of cooking oil 15 percent, according to a merchant in Conakry, who pointed to a drop in value of the local currency.

Residents of Conakry were already struggling with high food prices that swept the region in 2008.

The value of the Guinean franc has fallen since the 28 September violence, a money-changer in Conakry told IRIN. Prior to the 28 September violence 100 Euros exchanged for about 650,000 Guinean francs; today about 870,000Gf, he said.

In normal times some 6.4 percent of Conakry’s estimated 1.6 million people lack access to adequate food to meet their daily needs, according to a July survey of food security in Conakry by the World Food Programme and Guinea government.

Ratoma – along with Matam and Dixinn – are the hardest-hit areas of the capital, the survey found.

The survey says the three most probable determinants of food insecurity in Conakry are poverty, education level and health status.

“In Conakry the causes are structural, but the political crisis is exacerbating the situation,” said a UN official who requested anonymity.

Merchants told IRIN fear of insecurity since the 28 September crackdown has limited the movements of those who travel to the interior of the country to buy merchandise.

Commerce and other activities have also been interrupted by unrest, national days of mourning and general strikes called by civil society organizations.

Despite vast natural resource wealth in the country, Guineans are among the world’s poorest people and most do not have the means to buy food for more than one day at a time. Guinea ranks 170th of 182 countries in the UN Human Development Index; it is 129th of 135 in the poverty index, which measures the proportion of people able to live a healthy life and access education.

“My husband works but now with these price rises the little that he earns will not in the long run cover our food needs and our [seven-year-old] daughter’s school fees,” the woman in Ratoma said. She said she knows many families who have yet to put their children back in school since the beginning of the academic year on 19 October for lack of means.

She said in better times she is able occasionally to give her daughter fruit juice to take to school. “She keeps asking us for juice, but for now I am able to send her off with just a piece of bread with a little butter.”

np/ic/ajhttp://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86775DERA ISMAIL KHAN Monday, October 26, 2009 (IRIN) - Thousands of displaced children from South Waziristan have received measles vaccinations for the first time.DERA ISMAIL KHAN Monday, October 26, 2009 (IRIN) - Thousands of displaced children from South Waziristan have received measles vaccinations for the first time.

So far, 180,000 children, from both internally displaced persons’ (IDP) and host families in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), have been vaccinated against measles, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and further vaccination campaigns are planned.

“These people have often never had any kind of contact with healthcare workers. Access to them has been impossible due to the fighting in Waziristan and the resistance of militants to vaccinators,” said Taufiq Khan, a volunteer doctor who is helping care for the IDPs.

Some 139,000 people have so far fled fierce fighting in South Waziristan and arrived in the neighbouring districts of Tank and Dera Ismail Khan in NWFP, according to OCHA.

“Over 57,600 have been registered in those two districts in the past 10 days. IDPs from South Waziristan are living in host communities, with friends and families, or in rented homes, as has been the pattern with other recent conflict displacement in Pakistan,” OCHA said in a statement on 24 October. [http://wwww.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/MYAI-7X62YH?OpenDocument]

Low literacy rate

According to government statistics, [http://www.fata.gov.pk/subpages/socioeconomic.php] the literacy rate for Pakistan’s Federally Administered Areas is 17.42 percent, compared with 35 percent for the NWFP. South Waziristan is one of seven tribal agencies located on the Pakistani-Afghan border. Only 3 percent of women are literate and there is only one doctor for every 7,670 people.

“I have never been to a doctor or even seen one. There is no doctor in our village, though I had heard about vaccinations for children,” said Nazeer Mehsud, 70, an IDP. He said his grandchildren had been sick with coughs when the family arrived in Dera Ismail Khan two weeks ago.

“But a doctor has now given us medicine and their fever is down. We have also received all kinds of other items, like biscuits and dried milk, and we are grateful for all this assistance because we had no idea what things would be like for us.”

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said most of those displaced are women and children.

“Especially vulnerable”

Luc Chauvin, deputy head of UNICEF in Pakistan, said in a statement [http://www.unicef.org/media/media_51520.html?q=printme] the IDPs “have already lived through years of insecurity in one of the remotest and poorest parts of Pakistan which has left them especially vulnerable. Now, we must ensure they are protected from the effects of poor nutrition, sanitation and disease, not to mention the terrible upheaval of displacement and violence.”

He added that less than 60 percent of children in South Waziristan received routine immunizations.

Host families who have opened their doors to the displaced, as their tribal code of hospitality demands, are also benefiting from the assistance being given to the IDPs. “My children were also given warm blankets and some shots they needed by a health team,” said Jahanzeb Khan, who is hosting a family of 10 in his three-room house.

“We do not know these people, but they were in need and despite some security concerns because they could be militants escaping the army, I am happy to do what I can to help,” he said.

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86751DAKAR Friday, October 23, 2009 (IRIN) - UN aid agencies are expanding assistance to Ivoirian refugees in Guinea, for whom aid plans have been thrown off repeatedly by gridlock over elections and general uncertainty in Côte d’Ivoire.DAKAR Friday, October 23, 2009 (IRIN) - UN aid agencies are expanding assistance to Ivoirian refugees in Guinea, for whom aid plans have been thrown off repeatedly by gridlock over elections and general uncertainty in Côte d’Ivoire.

Following an appeal to donors, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Guinea recently doubled its funds – to $US390,000 – for health, education and vocational assistance to the some 3,300 Ivoirians at Kouankan II camp in the southeastern N’zérékoré region. Prior to the new funding UNHCR had said its resources for Kouankan II would not last past mid-2009.

The World Food Programme, which had planned to stop food aid at Kouankan II at the end of 2009, has extended its assistance to December 2010, according to WFP-Guinea. Ivoirians at Kouankan receive monthly rations of cereals, oil, beans and sugar.

Aid programming for Ivoirian refugees in Guinea has been based largely on planned presidential elections in Côte d’Ivoire and the ensuing return of most of the refugees, according to Pierre Njouyep, head of UNHCR in N’zérékoré. But elections have been cancelled twice and it is uncertain whether they will take place on the new date of 29 November.

Elections had previously been set for November 2008; in a 2008 update UNHCR estimated that 2,000 Ivoirian refugees would voluntarily return home in the following months. The agency now projects that repatriation of those wishing to return will take place between February and June 2010, said Njouyep. “This depends heavily on the holding of elections on 29 November as planned.”

The additional funding for Kouankan II is to be used for agriculture and income-generating projects, medicines, academic scholarships, rehabilitation of school buildings in the camp, and to expand skills training at a vocational centre.

Ivoirians at Kouankan II have long called for training activities to be maintained at the centre, after NGO Jesuit Refugee Services – which funded and ran it – left in December 2007.

Not ready

B. Toualy Apolinaire, an Ivoirian living at Kouankan II, said many at the camp are far from ready to return to Côte d’Ivoire.

“We did not choose to become refugees,” he told IRIN from N’zérékoré. “But I and many of us saw unbelievable violence and we cannot simply pick up and return, especially given the continued uncertainty.”

Uncertainty has now crept into the refugee camp, Toualy told IRIN. Tensions in Guinea following the 28 September deadly military crackdown have Ivoirians concerned about potential further unrest and how it could affect them.

As yet unaware of plans to continue food aid, he said: “Were food aid to stop at end of 2009 you would find a lot of people in a critical condition here.”

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86726ACCRA Friday, October 23, 2009 (IRIN) - Blacksmith Sarpong, 35, operates a small shop in Ghana’s second largest city, Kumasi. He is trained to produce cooking utensils, but prefers to make guns as he can earn more money that way. ACCRA Friday, October 23, 2009 (IRIN) - Blacksmith Sarpong, 35, operates a small shop in Ghana’s second largest city, Kumasi. He is trained to produce cooking utensils, but prefers to make guns as he can earn more money that way.

When sales are good his shop brings in US$1,000 a week, he said. Foreigners paying better than Ghanaians. “Most of my buyers are from Nigeria or Sierra Leone.”

“I can make an AK for you if you have the money,” he told IRIN.

Sarpong sells to clients using a gun-runner – most of them are ex-peacekeepers or mercenaries according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime – in a growing clandestine small arms industry, according Ghana’s Deputy Interior Minister, Kwasi Apea-Kubi and confirmed by police officials.

Small arms proliferation destabilizes West African countries and has increased the intensity and human impact of conflicts in the region, according to regional arms experts.

Apea-Kubi recently toured the country to ascertain the state of Ghana’s small arms industry and along the way met with hundreds of gunsmiths who “openly admitted to producing guns”, despite that local small arms manufacturing is illegal.

“We know now that many of the armed robbery cases we are witnessing are being fueled by these small arms,” Apea-Kubi told IRIN.

Eighty percent of firearms Ghanaian police confiscate are homemade, according to Accra-based NGO Africa Security Dialogue and Research.

Police records indicate armed robberies are on the increase across Ghana, currently at hundreds per month. According to UNODC, homemade guns are used in one-quarter to one-third of Ghana’s violent crimes. kofi

In a widely publicized mid-September police raid of a gun-manufacturing base in Central Region, the police seized 30 weapons which they later ascertained blacksmiths had sold to the robbers.

Gun production estimates vary. The National Commission on Small Arms, set up in 2007 to check the manufacture and cross-border movement of small arms, estimates 40,000 Ghana-made guns are in circulation; UNODC estimates 75,000, while Kwesi Aning, head of the conflict resolution department of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in the capital Accra, puts the figure at 200,000.

“Local production has recently gone through the roof,” Aning told IRIN.

Blacksmiths have the knowledge and skills to manufacture single-shot pistols, multi-shot revolvers and shotguns, according to UNODC. When IRIN investigated a locally-made pistol sale in Tudu neighbourhood – Accra’s small arms hub – a dealer known only as Musah would not go lower than $130 for a single-barrel shot gun.

“This is the cheapest price you can get on the market,” Musah told IRIN. “Ask around. My guns are from the best blacksmiths.”

Regional unrest

Aning, who researched the clandestine small arms industry for the Economic Community of West African States several years ago, established a link between the growing Ghanaian small arms industry and conflicts across the sub-region.

UNODC’s July 2009 West Africa threat assessments report establishes a direct link between trafficked arms and instability in the region, with the chief clients of clandestine arms groups seeking to overthrow or challenge state authority.

“Instability in Togo, Nigeria, and Côte d’Ivoire has resulted in higher prices of Ghanaian manufactured arms,” Aning said.

Ghanaian gunsmiths have been invited to teach their gun-manufacturing skills to local blacksmiths in the Niger delta, Aning said.

However buyers of Ghanaian guns tend to be individuals while established insurgent groups purchase heavier weapons from outside the region, according to UNODC.

Alternatives

The government is seeking creative solutions to the problem, the Interior Ministry’s Apea-Kubi told IRIN, as past arrests and detention of guilty blacksmiths have only pushed the trade further underground.

“We know we have to do something but we don’t want to use force,” he said.

Interior Ministry officials are consulting gunsmiths across the country to explore how to attract them to alternative – legal – ways of making a living, as well as to examine how to prevent cross-border trafficking.

Apea-Kubi also hopes gunsmiths will allow their names and locations to be logged on a national database so their activities can be monitored. At least that way the industry will be less secretive, he said.

But Sarpong is not convinced. “No alternative can give me enough money like what I get selling the guns. They should not waste their time.”

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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=86728GOMA Friday, October 23, 2009 (IRIN) - Looking at herself in the mirror, nine-year-old Helena squealed with delight at her reflection, standing upright with just the slightest support of her therapist. A year before, Helena was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and identified for therapy in Mugunga II IDP camp in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Helena, able only to crawl, had been confined to very specific spaces due to the lava in the IDP camp.GOMA Friday, October 23, 2009 (IRIN) - Looking at herself in the mirror, nine-year-old Helena squealed with delight at her reflection, standing upright with just the slightest support of her therapist. A year before, Helena was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and identified for therapy in Mugunga II IDP camp in Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Helena, able only to crawl, had been confined to very specific spaces due to the lava in the IDP camp.

Helena was one of the lucky few to have received regular treatment. Robert Golden, a doctor, states in the 2008 UN Children’s Agency (UNICEF) report, Monitoring Child Disability in Developing Countries, that it is an “important but largely unaddressed issue”. This is especially true in DRC where child disability receives little attention among the myriad crises befalling the country.

According to the UN Organization for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), two million people are displaced in the eastern DRC. Combine this figure with World Health Organization (WHO) data that 10 percent of the world’s population suffer some form of disability, and that would mean 200,000 disabled people among the displaced, many of them children.

“Attention and funding for programmes addressing disability are largely under-funded worldwide, and particularly in Congo,” says Heal Africa’s Laura Keyser.

“The international community might not see disability as an emergency worth focusing on now, but it will become a full emergency if nothing is done,” said Loran Hollander of Heal Africa’s hospital in Goma.

Increasing Risk Factors

While funding for treatment remains minimal for agencies specializing in treating disabilities, the number of disabled children and those at risk continues to grow due to the increased risk factors brought on by the breakdown of the health infrastructure, ongoing violence and displacement in the eastern DRC.

Minimal access to healthcare, clean water, and overall poor nutrition during pregnancy lead to common congenital disabilities in children such as spina-bifida and limb deformities, and young children predisposed to early childhood diseases such as meningitis and polio, explained Keyser.

Access routes to health centres are often blocked for patients and medical teams. This lack of access leads frequently to birthing complications, child developmental delays and maternal mortality.

Furthermore, the prevalence of rape in the DRC is also linked to a probable increase in child disability. “Frequently women pregnant from rape do not seek pre- or peri-natal care, which can lead to the problems aforementioned, as well as birth trauma - either to the baby (ie lack of oxygen leading to cerebral palsy or some type of developmental delay) or to the woman (ie a fistula, which may or may not leave them incontinent),” said Keyser.

Vulnerability

“Unfortunately, disabled children are more vulnerable to abuse, exploitation, neglect and discrimination. They face reduced social participation and have less access to education and other social services than children without disabilities,” states Golden.

In addition, according to Handicap International and Heal Africa, inside the camps as well as outside, children with a disability struggle daily with social stigma and discrimination.

Proper treatment, according to UNICEF, Handicap International and Heal Africa, provides the children with the physical ability to function more fully in society while also educating the community to break down stigma and social restrictions.

UNICEF notes that “early detection and intervention might confer benefits to children at risk for disability and prevent long-term functional limitations”.

Jusbeen, 4, came to the Heal Africa’s clinic with a serious infection, a noma, which had “scarred down” his mouth, making it difficult to eat or drink. Therapists discovered that Jusbeen also suffered from developmental delays. However, since his disability was caught early, he has undergone a significant transformation. With ongoing therapy and constant encouragement from his mother, Keyser notes, “he is now able to walk with hand-held assistance, smiles, laughs and engages in play activities which were impossible before”.

Due to minimal international attention to child disability amid the numerous crises afflicting the DRC, children like Jusbeen and Helena, who received treatment, remain among the minority. “These children need all the help they can get,” says UNICEF. At present, that help is limited.

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