Poor rains again this season?*

ETHIOPIA: Drought, floods hit education

ADDIS ABABA, 18 January 2012 (IRIN) - Parts of Ethiopia are still reeling from the effects of recent drought, flooding, conflict or a combination of the three, resulting in increased numbers of children dropping out of school, say officials. full report

AFRICA: AU wants peace, security and bigger global role in 2012

WASHINGTON, 12 January 2012 (IRIN) - The African Union (AU) has unveiled an ambitious wish-list of priorities for Africa that would give the continent a stronger global voice, boost democracy and encourage peace and security. full report

HORN & EASTERN AFRICA: Drought highlights in 2011

NAIROBI, 30 December 2011 (IRIN) - Severe drought, exacerbated by poverty and conflict, hit at least four countries in 2011 - Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia - displacing hundreds of thousands of people. full report

ETHIOPIA: Cautionary migration tales are no deterrent

JIJIGA, 22 November 2011 (IRIN) - Ethiopians are on the move. Not only are more rural people relocating to towns and cities, but the number of Ethiopians leaving the country has also ballooned in the last few years. full report

ETHIOPIA: Abdirizak Mohamed Mohamoud, "Even if I got a visa for Europe…I wouldn’t go"

JIJIGA, 22 November 2011 (IRIN) - Abdirizak Mohamed Mohamoud, 30, returned to his home village of Lafaisa, in the Jijiga zone of eastern Ethiopia, six months ago, after his attempt to reach Europe and a better life turned into an ordeal. He talked to IRIN, as well as a roomful of curious neighbours and friends, about his experiences as a migrant in Libya. full report

AFRICA: Sub-Saharan sanitation targets “two centuries away”

LONDON, 18 November 2011 (IRIN) - It will take two centuries for sub-Saharan Africa to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation, according to NGO WaterAid, which calls on national leaders to commit 3.5 percent of their annual budget to the sector. full report

AFRICA: Urgent drive to act on road safety

ADDIS ABABA, 18 November 2011 (IRIN) - Increasing traffic accident deaths are a likely consequence of economic and population growth in Africa unless leaders on the continent, already beset by the world's worst road-safety record, implement a wide-ranging plan to address the second leading cause of deaths of young people, specialists at a major conference told IRIN. full report

DJIBOUTI: Migrants risk all for "better life"

OBOCK, 15 November 2011 (IRIN) - Thousands of migrants traverse the road between Djibouti’s capital, Djiboutiville, and the coastal town of Obock carrying little more than a bottle of water and the hope that they are heading towards a better life. They pass through an arid landscape strewn with volcanic rock that sustains little life besides the occasional pastoralist and his goats. Temperatures average around 34 degrees Celsius in winter and in summer can reach 52 degrees. full report

SOMALIA: Migrants targeted in Somaliland

HARGEISA, 10 November 2011 (IRIN) - Migrants in Somaliland, especially those from Ethiopia, have increasingly come under attack since the government in the self-declared independent state in September ordered employers to fire all "illegal foreigners" as part of its commitment to expelling them from the territory, according to rights organizations. full report