Africa

UN agency helps Côte d’Ivoire resuscitate war-hit agricultural sector

31 December 2009
The United Nations agency responsible for financing agricultural development in poor countries has given $10 million to Côte d’Ivoire to help some 86,000 families revive a farming sector affected by the civil war that in 2002 split the West African nation into a rebel-held north and Government-controlled south.

UN receives pledge to respect refugee rights from Central African rebel leader

31 December 2009
The force commander of United Nations peacekeepers in the Central African Republic (CAR) has been assured by the leader of a major armed group that it will respect the rights of refugees amid heightening tensions in the country’s northeast, it was announced today.

UNICEF speaks out against child deaths in northern Nigerian clashes

31 December 2009
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today lamented the deaths of a number of Nigerian children in clashes in the north of the country, with most of those taking part in the violence being young people.

DR Congo: UN rushes food to thousands displaced by ethnic fighting

31 December 2009
The United Nations is rushing food to thousands of displaced Congolese in northwest Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where tribal clashes have driven 130,000 people from their homes.

Refugees continue to pour into eastern Sudan in little known crisis, UN reports

30 December 2009
On the opposite side of Sudan from the better-known crisis of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the conflict-plagued Darfur region, refugees are flocking into the eastern part of the vast African country at the rate of 1,800 each month, according to latest United Nations estimates.

Growing use of contraception saves lives in Guinea-Bissau – UN agency

30 December 2009
A growing understanding of the role of family planning and the spread of contraception use resulting from greater access to reproductive healthcare is helping to save lives in Guinea-Bissau, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

DR Congo: UN condemns death threats to its staff, human rights groups

30 December 2009
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) today voiced its deep concerned over recent death threats against its human rights staff and local human rights organizations in Kalemie, in the African nation’s far east, urging the Government to take all necessary measures to ensure their safety.

Burundi: UN helps distribute free identity cards for next May’s polls

29 December 2009
One million Burundians old enough to vote next May will receive a free national identity card, thanks to a campaign supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other agencies.

UN brings Sudanese tribes together for historic peace talks

29 December 2009
The United Nations has paved the way for historic talks between clashing tribes to bolster the fragile peace in the disputed oil-rich area of Abyei, close to the border between Sudan’s north and south and where a referendum on its future is scheduled to be held in 2011.

Darfur: joint UN-African Union force, Sudan agree to boost blue helmets’ security

29 December 2009
The joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission in the war-torn Darfur region and the Sudanese Government have taken the first steps to bolstering the safety of peacekeepers due to a surge in attacks against blue helmets in recent months.