Preparing for floods in West Africa

DAKAR/NIAMEY, 14 June 2013 (IRIN) - West African and Sahel countries are setting up measures to minimize flood damage as the annual rainy season approaches. The African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD) in a seasonal weather outlook says near-average or above-average rainfall is likely over the western Sahel, which stretches across Mauritania, Senegal and western and central Niger. full report

Senegalese gear up for likely flooding

DAKAR/PIKINE, 7 June 2013 (IRIN) - Senegalese authorities and aid organizations say they have begun preparing for what will likely be another round of heavy flooding during this year's upcoming rainy season, but observers and local residents say not enough has been done to reduce the risk of annual floods ruining their homes. full report

Senegal looking more vulnerable to extremism, instability

DAKAR, 30 May 2013 (IRIN) - As violence rages in northern Nigeria, and international peacekeepers gear up to keep the peace in northern Mali, fears abound that Islamist movements will spread across borders, stoking instability elsewhere in the region, including Senegal which is not immune to the spread of extremist rhetoric, argues a just-published report by the Institute of Security Studies (ISS). full report

Digital jobs offer skills, promise to Africa's unemployed youth

JOHANNESBURG/NAIROBI, 28 May 2013 (IRIN) - Although Africa’s economy has expanded rapidly in recent years, it has not kept pace with the growth of its youth population or their need for jobs. full report

Demining on hold in Senegal’s Casamance Region

ZIGUINCHOR, 24 May 2013 (IRIN) - Demining has been halted in southern Senegal’s Casamance Region after 12 deminers were taken hostage by fighters with the separatist Movement of Democratic Forces in Casamance (MFDC) on 3 May. full report

Demining speeds up in Senegal’s Casamance region

ZIGUINCHOR, 24 April 2013 (IRIN) - Over half of the mined land in Senegal’s southern Casamance region has been cleared, according to the government’s anti-mines action centre, CNAMS, which says it is on track to reach the 2015 goal of the Ottawa treaty to eliminate such weapons. full report

Drive for quality in global education post-2015

DAKAR, 21 March 2013 (IRIN) - Education experts gathered in the Senegalese capital Dakar this week to discuss what priorities should look like once the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) expire in 2015. The conclusion: more focus on quality and how to measure it; on equity and access for hard-to-reach children; and on what should happen during the first three years of secondary school. full report

Analysis: The R-word - Rhetoric versus reality in the Sahel

DAKAR, 4 March 2013 (IRIN) - The annual gearing-up of humanitarian programmes to treat the chronic problems of vulnerable Sahelians is a clear sign that development there is not working. As a result, the Sahel is at the centre of the debate on the need to boost vulnerable people's resilience to shocks. full report

African migrants pay high prices to send money home

JOHANNESBURG, 27 February 2013 (IRIN) - New data from the World Bank has revealed that African migrants pay more to send money home to their families than any other migrant group in the world. full report