| LIBERIA: Disease rife as more people squeeze into fewer toilets |
MONROVIA, 19 November 2009 (IRIN Africa) - Water and sanitation services in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, are getting worse as a growing urban population tries to squeeze more out of already skeletal services. On 19 November, World Toilet Day, NGOs are calling on the government to up its allocation, and on international donors to reprioritize funding to stamp out cholera and cut child mortality. full report
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KYRGYZSTAN: Fewer glaciers = more deserts | BISHKEK, 16 November 2009 (IRIN Asia) - Rapidly melting glaciers in mountainous regions of Kyrgyzstan over the next few decades could lead to increased desertification and land degradation, according to experts. full report
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SUDAN: Increasing hunger could fuel conflict in south | POCHALLA, 16 November 2009 (IRIN Africa) - An increasing number of people in Southern Sudan cannot find enough to eat or adequate pasture and water for their livestock, raising fears of conflict between communities over grazing lands, local leaders warned. full report
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SUDAN: Kala azar "epidemic" in south | JUBA, 13 November 2009 (IRIN Africa) - Reported cases of kala azar infection, a deadly disease also known as visceral leishmaniasis, have continued to rise in Southern Sudan, according to medical workers. full report
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In Brief: Suspected AWD kills eight on Kenyan district of Lamu | LAMU, 12 November 2009 (IRIN Global) - Eight people have died on the Kenyan district of Lamu and others have been hospitalized following a suspected outbreak of acute watery diarrhoea (AWD), an official said. full report
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SOMALIA: Saudi livestock move boosts Somaliland economy | HARGEISA, 10 November 2009 (IRIN Africa) - Days after Saudi Arabia lifted a nine-year ban on livestock imports from Somalia, the market in Hargeisa, Somaliland, has seen a 10-fold increase in sales, according to local traders. full report
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EGYPT: Black cloud with a silver lining | CAIRO, 9 November 2009 (IRIN Middle East) - The conversion of excess rice straw into fertilizer, rather than simply burning it off could be the solution to a problem that has plagued Cairo residents for the last 10 years: the “black cloud” that decends on the city every October and November. full report
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KENYA: Replacing the bucket latrine | WAJIR EAST, 5 November 2009 (IRIN Africa) - The sound of the evening bell at a local boarding high-school in Wajir, in the northeast of Kenya, did not always signal the end of the day's classes. Instead it marked the end of the evening bathroom break as “bucket toilets” were emptied for the day. full report
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AFGHANISTAN: Drier weather forcing southern farmers to adapt | KANDAHAR, 4 November 2009 (IRIN Asia) - Afghanistan appears to be getting drier: Since the 1996 drought many traditional irrigation sources such as springs, streams, rivers and man-made subterranean aqueducts have been drying up in the southern provinces, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL). full report
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YEMEN: Clambering up mountains to find water | SANAA, 3 November 2009 (IRIN Middle East) - Tens of thousands of people in Milhan District, Mahwit Governorate, around 100km northwest of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, are facing acute water shortages due to lack of rainfall, according to local officials. full report
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