WEST AFRICA: Remittances set to fall in 2009
DAKAR, 11 November 2008 (IRIN) - For the first time in over a decade remittances to sub-Saharan Africa are set to fall in 2009, increasing people’s vulnerability to poverty, officials at the World Bank say. Remittance income in developing countries is expected to decline by about 1 percent from 2008 to 2009.
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WEST AFRICA : End of rainy season won’t bring an end to cholera
DAKAR, 31 October 2008 (IRIN) - West Africa’s rainy season is coming to a close, but the yearly cholera outbreak continues to claim lives throughout the region.
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BENIN: Screening out morally unfit crime fighters
COTONOU, 29 October 2008 (IRIN) - One year after the country’s top anti-drug officials were sacked for alleged corruption, Benin’s new drug control boss has promised to revive the government’s fight against traffickers.
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WEST AFRICA: Drug seizures tip of “cocaine iceberg” – UN
PRAIA, 29 October 2008 (IRIN) - The head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime has warned West African government ministers of the corruptive power of drug trafficking, saying it “pervert weak economies” and compromises political elites.
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WEST AFRICA: Taking on climate change as a region
COTONOU, 23 October 2008 (IRIN) - Climate experts and ministers in West Africa have committed to coordinating national efforts to fight climate change, at the conclusion of an Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) meeting in Benin’s economic capital, Cotonou, on 22 October.
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BENIN: Widespread smuggled gasoline costs economy, lives
COTONOU, 17 October 2008 (IRIN) - Up to 1,000 people die or are wounded every year in accidents caused by low-quality, high-lead smuggled gasoline that consumes victims in fiery accidents, according to Benin’s Ministry of Commerce.
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WEST AFRICA: Train the soldiers, protect the children
DAKAR, 17 October 2008 (IRIN) - An international NGO is using cartoons to spell out to African soldiers the rights and wrongs of how to treat a child.
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WEST AFRICA: Weighing free health care for all
DAKAR, 17 October 2008 (IRIN) - West African governments considering lifting health care fees for all will soon have a guide to manage the financial impact of the move. The guide, which the NGO Save the Children expects to launch in November, will show policymakers in developing countries how to estimate resource needs that may arise from abolishing fees.
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WEST AFRICA: Region among the world’s hungriest
DAKAR, 14 October 2008 (IRIN) - The 2008 Global Hunger Index (GHI) says sub-Saharan African countries have the highest level of hunger in the world, with Niger, Sierra Leone and Liberia experiencing “extremely alarming levels of hunger,” however, this is still an improvement over 1990 levels.
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BENIN: Blood shortage proves deadly
COTONOU, 8 October 2008 (IRIN) - Fear, a lack of blood donation supplies and ill-trained health staff have led to a dangerous blood shortage in Benin, said the head of the country’s blood donor association.
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