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: 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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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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WEST AFRICA: Voices from exile
DAKAR, 13 October 2008 (IRIN) - The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, has appealed to international donors not to cut back on aid to humanitarian programmes amid a global financial crisis that has shuttered financial institutions in rich countries. At the conclusion of UNHCR’s annual meeting in Geneva from 6-10 October, Guterres said refugees remain the most vulnerable victims of the global economic fallout.
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SIERRA LEONE: Government tightens control of NGOs
DAKAR, 10 October 2008 (IRIN) - Officials in Sierra Leone are drafting a new law that will tighten controls on non-profit organisations working in the country, joining other governments demanding more accountability from their donors.
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WEST AFRICA: Mixed report card in 2008 corruption index
DAKAR, 23 September 2008 (IRIN) - Nine West African countries shot up while nine others sank lower in the 2008 Transparency International (TI) ranking of perceptions of corruption in 180 countries.
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SIERRA LEONE: Dwellers refuse to leave flood-prone slums
FREETOWN, 16 September 2008 (IRIN) - More than 10,000 slum dwellers have been affected by an 11 September storm that tore down dozens of makeshift homes in Kroo Bay, one of the city’s largest slums, according to a government evaluation completed on 15 September.
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WEST AFRICA: Coastline to be submerged by 2099
ACCRA, 25 August 2008 (IRIN) - Swathes of West Africa’s coastline extending from the orange dunes in Mauritania to the dense tropical forests in Cameroon will be underwater by the end of the century as a direct consequence of climate change, environmental experts warn.
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WEST AFRICA: Flood relief efforts continue
DAKAR, 15 August 2008 (IRIN) - Disaster relief teams have fanned out across West Africa to assess how badly the region was hit during the past month of heavy rains. Tens of thousands were affected in Togo, Burkina Faso, Niger, Liberia and Mauritania according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA).
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SIERRA LEONE: John and Mustapha, Sierra Leone, “We have no hope of a better future”
KOINDU, 30 July 2008 (IRIN) - John (12) and Mustapha (14) were orphaned during the war when their parents were killed in front of them. Like many children in Sierra Leone, they struggle not only with the horrific memories of what happened to their parents, but also with the abuse they are currently suffering at the hands of those supposedly caring for them now.
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