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GLOBAL: Children’s rights not yet a reality '); document.write('
DAKAR, 20 November 2009 (IRIN) - Children\'s rights advocates are taking 20 November, the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), to highlight legal advances, but say when it comes to education, healthcare and protection in conflicts and natural disasters, children are often the first to be deprived of their rights.'); document.write('
DRC-CONGO: New wave of refugees flees fresh fighting'); document.write('
BRAZZAVILLE, 20 November 2009 (IRIN) - Renewed clashes in northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have led to a further wave of refugees, leaving corpse-littered villages in the affected area deserted, say humanitarian officials.'); document.write('
BANGLADESH: Two years after Cyclone Sidr, survivors still seeking shelter'); document.write('
BARGUNA, 20 November 2009 (IRIN) - Two years after Cyclone Sidr hit the southern coastal districts of Bangladesh, many of the survivors are still homeless and at severe risk from further disasters, officials say.'); document.write('
UGANDA: HIV-positive women need family planning services, study shows'); document.write('
NAIROBI, 20 November 2009 (IRIN) - HIV-positive women in western Uganda want fewer children than women not living with the virus, but often do not have access to family planning services, a new study reveals. '); document.write('
GUINEA: Timeline since independence'); document.write('
DAKAR, 20 November 2009 (IRIN) - Guineans and the international community are watching mediation efforts of Blaise Compaoré, as international investigators begin to probe the 28 September deadly military attack on civilians in the capital Conakry. The latest violence stunned even a nation with a long history of military repression of civilians – an era Guineans had hoped would pass with the death of 24-year leader Lansana Conté and arrival of Moussa Dadis Camara in December 2008. Here is a timeline of some events since independence from France in 1958.'); document.write('
LIBERIA: “The new war is rape” '); document.write('
MONROVIA, 19 November 2009 (IRIN) - In Liberia rape survivors are increasingly speaking up and seeking help as awareness of rights increases, but social taboos persist and seeking justice does not always mean that justice is served.'); document.write('
ZIMBABWE: Weapons theft stokes fears of instability '); document.write('
HARARE, 19 November 2009 (IRIN) - The recent \"suicide\" of a senior army officer in the wake of a break-in at a military armoury in Zimbabwe\'s capital, Harare, is sowing fears that the missing guns may be used to fuel instability. '); document.write('
Analysis: Upcoming polls to test Burundi\'s fragile peace '); document.write('
BUJUMBURA, 19 November 2009 (IRIN) - Next year\'s elections in Burundi, billed as a milestone on the country\'s long road to sustainable peace, could trigger more conflict because of a combination of widespread illegal weapons and well-organized youth wings of political parties, according to analysts.'); document.write('
SOMALIA: Aden Muhumed Hassan, \"I am better at collecting charcoal than my friends who have hands\"'); document.write('
HARGEISA, 19 November 2009 (IRIN) - Aden Muhumed Hassan, 46, a divorced father of one, lost his hands 11 years ago after he accidentally picked up unexploded ordnance [UXO] planted during fighting between the Somali National Movement (SNM) and former President Siad Barre\'s army in Somaliland\'s liberation struggle between 1981 and 1991, and during the Ogaden war between Somalia and Ethiopia in the late 1970s.'); document.write('
SOMALIA: Residents and sandbank stymie pirates\' plan '); document.write('
NAIROBI, 19 November 2009 (IRIN) - Residents of a coastal town in Somalia\'s self-declared autonomous region of Puntland saved the crew of a fishing boat when they foiled an attempt by pirates, who had captured the boat, to sail away.'); document.write('
YEMEN: Too many kids out of school in Hodeidah Governorate - report'); document.write('
HODEIDAH, 19 November 2009 (IRIN) - Nearly half of children in rural areas of the western Yemeni governorate of Hodeidah, have no access to basic education, according to a new report by the Seyaj Organization for Childhood Protection (SOCP) and the Yemen News Agency.'); document.write('
INDONESIA: Buildings on shaky ground in event of another quake, says survey'); document.write('
BANGKOK, 19 November 2009 (IRIN) - Indonesia\'s West Sumatra province, recently hit by a deadly 7.9 magnitude earthquake, is likely to experience an even bigger quake, and buildings need to be constructed to withstand this, experts say.'); document.write('
LIBERIA: Disease rife as more people squeeze into fewer toilets'); document.write('
MONROVIA, 19 November 2009 (IRIN) - Water and sanitation services in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, are getting worse as a growing urban population tries to squeeze more out of already skeletal services. On 19 November, World Toilet Day, NGOs are calling on the government to up its allocation, and on international donors to reprioritize funding to stamp out cholera and cut child mortality.'); document.write('
SOUTH AFRICA: World Cup to help create HIV awareness'); document.write('
JOHANNESBURG, 19 November 2009 (IRIN) - In less than seven months South Africa will host the world\'s biggest single sporting event - the FIFA World Cup. The chance to reach millions of local and visiting football fans presents a golden opportunity, not only for the country\'s business and tourism sectors, but also for its efforts to combat HIV/AIDS.'); document.write('
KENYA: Stigma holding back the fight against TB'); document.write('
SIAYA, 19 November 2009 (IRIN) - When Dorothy*, a single mother of five, told her neighbours in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, she had tuberculosis (TB), she expected sympathy and maybe even offers of help. Instead, she found herself so severely ostracized, she felt she had to move out.'); document.write('
SOUTH AFRICA: Funds needed for displaced Zimbabweans'); document.write('
JOHANNESBURG, 18 November 2009 (IRIN) - The number of Zimbabweans displaced after some of their shacks in an informal settlement outside De Doorns, a farming town about 140km from Cape Town, South Africa, were attacked and demolished by local South African residents, has risen to about 3,000, said the South African Red Cross Society.'); document.write('
GLOBAL: Food aid that gets you two for the price of one'); document.write('
JOHANNESBURG, 18 November 2009 (IRIN) - Good quality food aid can save billions of dollars that would otherwise be spent on saving lives, says a major report from the World Bank, one of two new studies that uncover some unsettling facts about food aid and malnutrition.'); document.write('
SOMALIA: Galkayo threatened by rising insecurity'); document.write('
NAIROBI, 18 November 2009 (IRIN) - Escalating violence in the Somali town of Galkayo, Mudug region, is creating a climate of fear, which in turn has adversely affected livelihoods, residents say.'); document.write('
INDONESIA: Tough laws needed to curb people-smuggling'); document.write('
JAKARTA, 18 November 2009 (IRIN) - Indonesia has become a key transit point for illegal migrants in the region, but efforts to curb people-smuggling are being hampered by a dearth of stringent laws to punish offenders, officials say.'); document.write('
AFGHANISTAN: New report highlights people’s thirst for peace '); document.write('
KABUL, 18 November 2009 (IRIN) - Over two million Afghans have been killed or wounded in armed conflicts and violence over the past three decades but the desire for peace and stability has always been strong, nine NGOs say in a report published today.'); document.write('