Senegal looking more vulnerable to extremism, instability

DAKAR, 30 May 2013 (IRIN Africa) - 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

Guinea-Bissau still way behind on education

BISSAU, 30 May 2013 (IRIN Africa) - Guinea-Bissau’s chronic political turmoil is depriving children of quality education. Access to education remains low, learning is often disrupted by teachers’ strikes and the country spends the lowest portion of its budget on education in West Africa. full report

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

JOHANNESBURG/NAIROBI, 28 May 2013 (IRIN Africa) - 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

Guinea-Bissau officials urge step-change on talibés

GABU, 28 May 2013 (IRIN Africa) - Local leaders in Guinea-Bissau’s northeastern Gabu Region have called for better protection of Koranic schoolchildren to curb exploitation at home and halt their transfer to neighbouring Senegal where they usually end up leading miserable lives. full report

Containing cholera in Niger

NIAMEY, 22 May 2013 (IRIN Africa) - Cholera has struck 248 people in Ayorou in the Tillabéry Region of northwestern Niger, killing six, two of them Malian refugees. full report

Boko Haram attacks hit school attendance in Borno State

KANO, NIGERIA, 14 May 2013 (IRIN Africa) - Around 15,000 children in Borno State, northeastern Nigeria, have stopped attending classes since February 2013, according to a Borno State Ministry of Education official who preferred anonymity, as Boko Haram extremists continue a wave of attacks on state schools. full report

Iraq 10 years on: Women yet to regain their place

DUBAI, 6 May 2013 (IRIN Middle East) - In the 1980s, Iraqi women enjoyed more basic rights than their counterparts in the region; today, despite steps taken after decades of conflict and sanctions, Iraqi women do not have equal educational or employment opportunities, and many are subjected to gender-based violence. full report

Iraq 10 years on: Schools try to play catch-up

BAGHDAD/DUBAI, 26 April 2013 (IRIN Middle East) - Iraq’s education system was once the jewel of the Middle East. Today, it is struggling to catch up, with five million children out of school, according to a 2007 survey. full report

Children bear brunt of CAR crisis

BANGUI, 25 April 2013 (IRIN Africa) - Sporadic armed clashes, looting of orphanages, recruitment into armed groups, and widespread school closures have made life perilous for children in the Central African Republic (CAR) in the wake of a 24 March rebel coup by the Séléka alliance. full report