africom related news clips june 24, 2010

8/9/2019 AFRICOM Related News Clips June 24, 2010

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JEM Rebel Group Says No Darfur Peace Without It (AFP)(Sudan) The head of Darfur's largest rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement,said peace talks that began on Wednesday between the Sudanese government andanother rebel group will be fruitless without his movement.

Zimbabwe PM Fires 4 Ministers After Reviews (AP)(Zimbabwe) Zimbabwe's prime minister fired four top Cabinet ministers and shifted afifth to a new post Wednesday, saying they failed a performance review after 16 monthsof troubled power sharing.

Congo-Brazzaville: Deforestation Threatens South With Famine (Inter Press Service -South Africa)(Congo) The trees are falling in Pool, and there are plenty of people to hear the sound.In a painful irony, the end of armed conflict in 2003, has signaled the wholesaledevastation of forests in this southern region of the Republic of Congo.

Somaliland Set for President Vote (Al Jazeera.Net)(Somalia) The self-declared Republic of Somaliland will soon hold its secondpresidential election in 8 years.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Websitey Niger: UN relief chief urges donors to respond quickly to food crisis

-------------------------------------------------------------------------UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Friday, June 25, 2:00 p.m.; Washington, D.C.WHAT: USIP ² From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe: Ethnic Conflicts since 1945 and theImpossibility of their Future PreventionWHO: Andreas Wimmer, Jennings Randolph Senior Fellow, USIP; Jack Goldstone,Virginia E. and John T. Hazel Jr. Professor and Director of the Center for Global Policy,George Mason University; Philip Keefer, Lead Economist, Development ResearchGroup, The World Bank; Chantal de Jonge Oudraat, Associate Vice President, USIP.Info: http://www.usip.org/events/afghanistan-zimbabwe-ethnic-conflicts-1945-and-the-impossiblity-their-future-prevention WHEN/WHERE: Friday, June 25, 2:00 p.m.; Washington, D.C.WHAT: CSIS ² South Africa After the World CupWHO: Ebrahim I. Ebrahim, Deputy Minister of International Relations andCooperation, Republic of South Africa; Jennifer Cooke, Director, CSIS Africa ProgramInfo: http://csis.org/event/south-africa-after-world-cup

WHEN/WHERE: Thursday, July 1, 10:15 a.m.; Webcast



WHAT: Preventing Violent Conflict: Principles, Policies, and PracticeWHO: Panel Chairs - AMB Marc Grossman, Vice Chairman, Cohen Group; AMB NancySoderberg, President, U.S. Connect Fund; Tara Sonenshine, Executive Vice President,USIP; Conclusions ² Dr. Abiodun Williams, Vice President, Center for Conflict Analysisand Prevention, USIP.

Info: http://www.usip.org/events/preventing-violent-conflict-principles-policies-and-practice ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------FULL ARTICLE TEXT

Voice of America Journalist Expelled (allAfrica)

Addis Ababa ³ The US-backed regime in Ethiopia expelled an American journalist on17 June.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Heather Murdock had beenreporting with the US international broadcaster Voice of America (VOA) in the easternregion of Harer, near an area where there was reported skirmishes between the armyand rebels of the separatist Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF).

The Ethiopian government has denied journalists independent access to the restiveOgaden Province, which neighbours the Harer region and attempted to censor anexclusive report on the rebels last year, according to CPJ research.

Under Ethiopia's draconian anti-terrorism law, journalists risk as many as 20 years in

prison if authorities deem their reporting favourable to armed rebels and bannedopposition groups.

VOA confirmed to CPJ that Murdock had left the country. The Ethiopian governmentannounced plans to officially jam VOA in March, after reports that there had beenelectronic jamming of the station's Amharic-language shortwave broadcasts and that itsWebsite had been blocked in the country.

"We condemn the expulsion of Heather Murdock," said CPJ Africa AdvocacyCoordinator Mohamed Keita.

"Ethiopian authorities have for years used the threat of expulsion to induce self-censorship among foreign journalists working in the country." Murdock arrived inEthiopia last month after she was expelled from Yemen in April following a reportingtrip to strongholds of Yemen's armed separatist Southern Movement, according to newsreports.



While in Ethiopia, she covered the country's general election and its aftermath, amongother topics.

Kenya prisoners win right to vote in landmark ruling (BBC)

A court in Kenya has ruled that prisoners will be allowed to vote in a referendum on anew constitution. It is the first time that prisoners in the East Africa nation have beengiven the right to vote.

The ruling applies only to voting in August's referendum, but correspondents say itmay lead to further concessions for future elections.

There will now be a rush to register an estimated 50,000 inmates in time for thereferendum. It is a credible decision KNCHR's Hassan Omar Hassan The ruling was

made after a petition was filed by convicts at Shimo La Tewa Prison in the coastal townof Mombasa. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) welcomedthe decision.

"It is a credible decision," said the commission's Hassan Omar Hassan.

"The punishment is supposed to be reformative and when people are incarcerated theylose their freedom but other rights should stay."

Human rights charter However, the BBC's Will Ross in Nairobi says if the inmates hadbeen hoping to get a day out in order to vote they will be disappointed.

The same ruling stipulated that every prison would become a polling station.

When Kenyan politicians agreed to share power after disputed elections in December2007, writing a new constitution was part of the deal to end the violence.

The draft constitution provides for greater checks on presidential powers and moreregional devolution.

It also recognises the UN human rights charter and creates a second parliamentary

chamber - the Senate.



Building African Partnerships to Defeat Piracy (Council on Foreign Relations)

For nearly two years, international navies have policed the waters off Somalia to try tostamp out piracy. More than thirty vessels are deployed across the Indian Ocean andthe Gulf of Aden under a wide range of banners, including NATO, U.S., European

Union, and Chinese. Yet despite the size and sophistication of these international taskforces, Somali pirates continue to expand operations.

According to the International Maritime Bureau, in the first half of 2010, Somali pirateshave attacked ninety-one ships and taken control of twenty, and are getting closer toIndia's coastline. So while the number of attacks appear to be lower than last year (217attacks and 47 successful hijackings for the whole of 2009), Somali piracy continues torepresent a substantial threat to commercial shipping. The international communityneeds a new, more strategic approach to countering piracy based on buildingpartnerships and trust with Africans both at sea and onshore.

The Somali Problem and African Sentiment

Many commentators have noted that piracy is part of a greater problem--namely, thelack of a Somali state--and can only be solved by improving both governance and livingconditions for Somalia's public. To achieve that the international community needscredible partners within Somalia. Yet the United States is reluctant to work with manySomali groups and has focused its efforts on bolstering Somalia's Transitional FederalGovernment (TFG). This endeavor has borne little fruit to date and is not likely to beuseful when it comes to countering piracy, since the TFG has virtually no ability to

change conditions in the northern autonomous region of Puntland.

Some Somalis in Puntland still stand to gain from the trickle-down effects of piratewealth. It is also not unusual to hear Somalis talk about the negative effects of illegalforeign fishing or the dumping of waste off their coastline, causing them to view piratesas a champion of sorts. So long as these attitudes persist among average Somalis, it willbe extremely difficult to stop piracy.

If the international community is going to be successful in its fight against piracy, it willtherefore have to change the opinion of Somalis in Puntland by taking measures tobuild trust with the public and incorporate them as viable stakeholders in maritimegovernance and security to counter illegal fishing, dumping, and piracy.

The situation calls for a long-term, multifaceted approach at sea and onshore thatestablishes trust, protects and builds markets, and enforces laws (both national andinternational).



The African Union and several of its member states have publicly spurned piracy andhave signed a code of conduct to repress piracy, commonly referred to as the "DjiboutiCode of Conduct" (PDF). But only Kenya and the Seychelles have taken any notableaction--by agreeing to receive and try captured pirates--and Africans are conspicuouslyabsent from the joint patrols. Meanwhile, behind closed doors, some African

bureaucrats and leaders decry piracy as an outside problem plaguing the rest of theworld but not Africa. They claim that the international community expects Africa tosolve piracy while those same actors turn a blind eye toward illegal fishing anddumping.

Global actors should respond to such sentiment by expanding their activities in areaswhere Africans have high interests and work on long-term approaches to improveAfrican participation in the maritime domain writ large. They should use a robustpartnership with Africans at sea to improve partnerships ashore and get at the coreproblem of the failed Somali state. And they should ensure that their African

counterparts understand the real impact that piracy has on African citizens.

Piracy's Impact on Africa

For starters, Africans who believe that piracy is primarily a problem for Westerners aremisguided. The costs of piracy are passed on to consumers (including the poorestconsumers: Africans) as shipping companies recoup the majority of their losses throughtheir protection and indemnity clauses, and insurance companies recoup their lossesthrough increased rates and policies. Recent reporting also indicates that pirates areattacking ships carrying food items to Somalia, causing shortages and increased prices

for staple items like rice and flour. World leaders should be sure that their Africaninterlocutors clearly grasp these realities.

The situation calls for a long-term, multifaceted approach at sea and onshore thatestablishes trust, protects and builds markets, and enforces laws (both national andinternational). The international task forces in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Oceancan play a strategic role in each of those three areas to change conditions on the groundin Somalia, but they have to change the nature of their partnerships and expand theirmandates. Fortunately, there are good examples in West and South Africa.

The Promise of Maritime Partnerships

In March 2009, in the inaugural Southern Africa Joint Patrols, Kenya, Mozambique,South Africa, and Tanzania conducted combined patrols in the Indian Ocean on boardthe Sarah Baartman, a South African environmental protection ship. During the one-month operation, the team inspected forty-one vessels, levying ten fines and arrestingsix ships for violations of national maritime laws. The highlight of the operation was theseizure of one vessel in Tanzania waters with over 300 tons of illegal tuna on board.



In June 2008, the United States Africa Command and Cape Verde's governmentinitiated the African Maritime Law Enforcement Partnership (AMLEP). This operationputs African maritime boarding teams and police on board U.S. Coast Guard or U.S.Navy vessels to enforce African maritime law. AMLEP offers an operational platform

for small African maritime forces, enabling them to extend their reach throughout theirterritorial seas and Exclusive Economic Zones. To date, AMLEP operations havefocused on combating illegal fishing and countering illegal trafficking in West Africa.The last two operations resulted in five seizures of vessels illegally fishing in SierraLeone's waters.

Operations like the Southern Africa Joint Patrols--so far a one-time action--and AMLEPbuild trust through combining maritime law enforcement personnel from differentcountries on one vessel and operating at sea for extended periods of time. Byconducting routine inspections of commercial and private ships, they achieve three

distinct but interrelated goals: 1) build or enhance the capacity of African maritime lawenforcement or security forces; 2) enforce regulations that support free and fairmaritime markets; 3) seek and address the full range of maritime crime (drug-trafficking, smuggling, illegal fishing, illegal migration, and piracy).

A More Strategic Approach

The various task forces in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean should put Africanseamen and boarding teams on their vessels to build partnerships, trust, and Africancapacity; and they should address the full range of illegal maritime activity in those

waters.

Rather than simply reacting to Somali piracy, states should work to address theproblems of governance both at sea and ashore through partnerships with Africans. Thevarious naval task forces should put African seamen and boarding teams on theirvessels to build partnerships, trust, and African capacity; and they should address thefull range of illegal maritime activity in those waters. Existing models in South andWest Africa prove that it is not difficult to take these steps. Such actions will deflateSomali claims that foreign powers only care about their own shipping interests whiletacitly condoning the theft of Somali fish. Simultaneously, this approach will buildAfrican capacity to conduct similar missions in the future.

Furthermore, naval partnerships with African states would play an important role inreviving and improving the Somali fishing industry, a vital source of jobs and wealth.Such an approach would provide the international community an important strategicmessage that could eventually open doors with new partners ashore capable ofreturning law and order to Somalia as a whole and more likely to end Somali piracy inthe long run.



--------------------Report Optimistic on Africa Economies (New York Times)

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa ³ Africa is often depicted as a place of war, diseaseand poverty, with a begging bowl extended to the world. But a new report paints a

much more optimistic portrait of a continent with growing national economies and anexpanding consumer class that offers foreign investors the highest rates of return in thedeveloping world.

In a report released Thursday, McKinsey & Company, the consulting firm, presented abullish message to companies, arguing that ´global businesses cannot afford to ignorethe potential.µ

´The growth we·ve seen in Africa recently is much more widespread than is generallyrecognized,µ said Arend van Wamelen, an author of the report based in Johannesburg

for McKinsey, which advises domestic and international companies investing in Africa.´There are a lot of underlying good things going on in the economies.µ

The report, titled ´Lions on the Move,µ includes an array of arresting facts from thefirm·s business and economics research arm, the McKinsey Global Institute. Since 2000,316 million people on the continent have signed up for cellphone service, more than theentire population of the United States; Africa·s billion people spent $860 billion in 2008,more than India·s population of 1.2 billion.

From 2000 to 2008, African economies grew at twice the pace that they did in the 1980s

and 1990s. Moreover, Africa was one of only two regions ³ Asia was the other ³where the collective economy rose through the global recession of 2009, by 1.4 percent.

In a clear sign of the reorientation of the economic landscape in Africa, China hasprovided more financing for roads, power, railways and other infrastructure in recentyears than the World Bank.

And in a sign of increasing security, the number of serious conflicts in which more than1,000 people died annually declined to an average of 2.6 a year in the 2000s from 4.8 inthe 1990s, the report said.

Many advocates for democracy, the poor and people with AIDS would probably offer aless rosy take on Africa·s persistent struggles, but the authors of the McKinsey reportcontend that the continent as a whole has made solid progress on economicfundamentals.

Often, Africa·s economic growth is seen as a result of the boom in prices for its wealthof natural resources ³ oil, gold, platinum and diamonds, among others. As an example



of that, the continent·s three largest oil producers ³ Algeria, Angola and Nigeria ³earned $1 trillion in oil exports from 2000 to 2008, compared with $300 billion in the1990s, the report found.

But the McKinsey researchers also concluded that rising commodity prices directly

accounted for only about a quarter of the increase in economic growth in the 2000s.

Economic growth accelerated in 27 of the continent·s 30 largest economies, resource-richand resource-poor alike, they found. Those with great natural wealth grew at about 5.4percent a year in the same period, while those not so well endowed grew at 4.6 percent.

McKinsey attributed Africa·s economic expansion to rising commodity prices, greaterpolitical stability aided by a reduction in violent conflicts, improved macroeconomicperformance and market-friendly economic reforms.

Africa·s collective inflation rate fell to 8 percent after 2000, from 22 percent in the 1990s.Budget deficits declined to 1.8 percent of gross domestic product from 4.6 percent. Aprivate sector emerged. Foreign direct investment surged to $62 billion in 2008 from $9billion in 2000.

´Obviously, there are places in terrible shape,µ Mr. van Wamelen said. ´We·re notinsensitive to that. But on the whole, if you look at the number of people who aredestitute, those numbers are falling pretty drastically. The economic trickle down isthere.µ

Some of the demographic trends praised in the report could turn out to be double-edged swords. By 2040, McKinsey projects, Africa will have 1.1 billion working-agepeople, more than in China or India. But even now, South Africa, one of the continent·smost dynamic economies, is not growing fast enough to absorb all the young peopleentering the job market ³ or providing them with educations that would equip themfor the workplace.

Indeed, the report notes that Africa has been getting many more children into schoolbut that it needs to do far better at giving them a quality education.

The report also noted that Africa was urbanizing at a rapid rate. It now has 52 citieswith more than a million residents, more than double the number in 1990 and the samenumber as in Western Europe. The report acknowledged that cities could producemiserable slums, but it also maintained that they increased worker productivity,demand and investment.



´If Africa can provide its young people with the education and skills they need, thislarge work force could account for a significant share of both global consumption andproduction,µ the report states.--------------------New UN Somalia Envoy to Focus on Reconciliation (Xinhua)

NAIROBI, Kenya - The newly appointed UN top envoy for Somalia said he would focuson political reconciliation and basic security as he prepares to begin his mission in theHorn of Africa nation.

Augustine Mahiga, the Secretary General's Special Representative and the head of theUN Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS) said encouraging reconciliation betweenwarring political groups and boosting basic public security are critical to stabilizingSomalia. "But this is predicated upon the existence of a modicum of security in Somaliato enable this Transitional government or a government that brings in other political

groupings to survive," he told UN Radio late Tuesday.

He said promoting reconciliation and a more inclusive political process must be apriority in a country that has not had a functioning national government in nearly twodecades.

"So I would say the two go together -- political stability as a result of a process ofreconciliation and inclusiveness, but also a security adequate to permit the governmentto reach out to the population and perform the functions of a government such asproviding humanitarian aid and implementing some basic reconstruction activities and,

at some point, to engage in economic and social development projects."

The lawless Horn of Africa has been without a functioning government since 1991 whenPresident Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown by warring factions.--------------------Unidentified Men Abduct Two German Aid Workers in Darfur (Xinhua)

KHARTOUM, Sudan - Unidentified men abducted two German aid workers onTuesday evening in Sudan's Darfur region, a local official in South Darfur State saidWednesday.

"Unidentified men on Tuesday evening abducted two German aid workers working forGerman organization THW, from their residence in Nyala, capital of South DarfurState," Jamal Yousif, humanitarian aid commissioner in South Darfur State, told Xinhua.

"Until now, the identity of the abductors has not been identified nor their motives," hesaid.



"We have initiated contacts among intensive coordination with many authorities, but itis still premature to give further details about the nature of what happened," he added.

The incident comes within a series of abduction incidents of humanitarian aid workersin Darfur, where last month four South African policemen working for the United

Nations- African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) were abducted and then releasedafter two weeks in custody.-------------------- JEM Rebel Group Says No Darfur Peace Without It (AFP)

DOHA, Qatar ² The head of Darfur's largest rebel group, the Justice and EqualityMovement, said peace talks that began on Wednesday between the Sudanesegovernment and another rebel group will be fruitless without his movement.

"Peace is impossible without the JEM," Khalil Ibrahim told Al-Jazeera television when

asked about the negotiations in the Qatari capital Doha between Khartoum and theLiberty and Justice Movement.

"What is going on in Doha is a falsification of what our people want" and "what comesout of it will not be peace," Ibrahim added. "The Doha process has gone off course, andrepresents nothing more than what the Sudanese government wants."

Without naming names, he said "they fabricate movements to negotiate with, and thesemovements obey everything from the Sudanese intelligence services."

The Liberty and Justice Movement began talks in Qatar with the Sudanese governmenton Wednesday aimed at reaching a peace deal by mid-July.

The two sides, which signed a framework accord in March establishing a ceasefire, willhold direct negotiations through five committees, said a statement from Qatari ForeignMinister Ahmed Abdullah al-Mahmud and Jibril Bassole, a mediator for the UnitedNations and the African Union.

They began indirect talks on June 7, but without JEM participation.

That group signed a framework accord in February in Doha, but JEM-Khartoum talkslater ran into problems, and a deadline set under the accord for completing the peacedeal passed on March 15 without agreement.

Darfur, an arid desert region the size of France, has been gripped by a civil war since2003 that has killed 300,000 people and displaced another 2.7 million, according to UNfigures. Khartoum says 10,000 people have died.--------------------



Zimbabwe PM Fires 4 Ministers After Reviews (AP)

HARARE, Zimbabwe ² Zimbabwe's prime minister fired four top Cabinet ministers andshifted a fifth to a new post Wednesday, saying they failed a performance review after16 months of troubled power sharing.

All those involved were from Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement forDemocratic Change party. Tsvangirai has no power over ministers from PresidentRobert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party in a unity government forged last year as acompromise after disputed national elections in 2008.

The Tsvangirai politician who shared the police ministry with a ZANU-PF official wasshuffled to the housing ministry and the previous housing minister was dismissed. Theministers of energy, women and youth also were dismissed.

Tsvangirai told reporters the slow pace of restoring law and order, rehabilitating powerinfrastructure and achieving democratic reforms in general led to "a loss of confidencein the new administration among the electorate."

"As a result, I have decided on a number of changes needed to strengthen theperformance of the MDC in government and outside government," he said of the firstshuffle since he took office in February last year.

Mugabe rarely fires his ministers, most of them longtime ZANU-PF loyalists. SeveralZANU-PF politicians have survived corruption allegations over the three decades

Mugabe has been in power in Zimbabwe.

Tsvangirai said that despite continuing disputes between MDC and ZANU-PF thathave paralyzed much of the government, Zimbabwe has seen improvements in theeconomy, health and education. He said the coalition was "the most practical means ofmoving forward and halting the needless suffering of the people."

Mugabe was scheduled to swear in Tsvangirai's new appointments Thursday. TheresaMakone, a powerful Tsvangirai aide, takes over the police ministry post.

Tsvangirai said Roy Bennett, a top aide recently cleared of treason charges, was still hischoice for deputy agriculture ministry. Mugabe has refused to swear in Bennett.--------------------Congo-Brazzaville: Deforestation Threatens South With Famine (Inter Press Service -South Africa)



The trees are falling in Pool, and there are plenty of people to hear the sound. In apainful irony, the end of armed conflict in 2003, has signaled the wholesale devastationof forests in this southern region of the Republic of Congo.

All along the 75 kilometre road between the capital Brazzaville, and Kinkala, the

southern region's principal city, there are bundles of wood and sacks of charcoalstacked ready to be trucked to feed the household energy demands of the capital.

Since the end of the civil wars which lasted from 1998 to 2003, production of charcoaland firewood has become profitable for the people in the Pool department, one of 12administrative areas in the country.

There are farmers who produce nearly 300 sacks of charcoal every three months. A 15-kilo bag of sells for the equivalent of $10 in Brazzaville.

"Once they've acquired land, farmers prefer to cut trees down to make charcoal and gosell it in Brazzaville, rather than wait two years to harvest a field of cassava. With themoney they earn, they buy their supplies of manioc and fufu in Brazzaville," VirgilSafoula told IPS. Safoula is director of a non-governmental organisation calledEnvironment and Development of Community Initiatives (known by its Frenchacronym, EDIC)

Most of the food sold in Kinkala now comes from the cities.

"Non-wood products such as mushrooms, caterpillars and asparagus have disappeared

from Pool forests," Prosper Mayembo, director of environment for the Pool Department,told IPS.

According to the Pool Departmental Council, before the war, the region's 44,000hectares of arable land accounted for fully 30 percent of national agriculturalproduction.

"The practice of charcoal production and bush fires have stripped and depleted soils, tothe point that famine is overtaking Pool," says Safoula.

According to government statistics, more than 6,000 hectares of forest were lost in thisdepartment between 2007 and 2008. And during the first quarter of 2009 alone, over62,000 sacks of charcoal were produced in the district of Kinkala, more than 78 percentof them from Pool.

In the same period, 200,000 bundles of firewood from Kinkala were transported to thecapital. "As long as energy needs ... remain important in Brazzaville, the forests will beseen as a solution," Mayembo told IPS.



Not even fruit trees are spared, says Emmanuel Sengomona, a landowner in Kinkala."As you can see, almost everything has been razed. Mango, avocado and safou endedup in the charcoal ovens." (Safou is a dark, oily fruit widely eaten in Central Africa.)

"When we were growing up, our parents hunted in large forests here. But today, thereis no more game," said 60-year-old Matthias Youlou.

"My fear is to see Pool become a desert because they cut the trees without respite. Therewill be no agriculture and we will die of hunger," says Mayembo.

A farmer from Mabaya, who wouldn't give her name, shrugged off the criticism. "If wedo not do this, how will we live?" The sale of firewood can bring in the equivalent of3,000 dollars every three months, she says.

Congo has laws to prevent the wholesale destruction of forest, but the trucks bearingthis eviscerating cargo stream into Brazzaville undistrubed.

"These trucks pass through because they're paying money to the government. It's ashame because we do not respect the ratified conventions. The government can not stopthe traffic," says EDIC's Safoula.

"When shipments of wood and coal are seized, how many people pay fines as the lawrequires? None. They negotiate to pay less," says Mayembo.

But the situation is not simply one of easily-corrupted inspectors. "Most peopleinvolved are former militiamen," says Mayembo. "We must avoid reigniting the fire (ofcivil war) by stopping them abruptly. We must therefore proceed with tact."

NGOs are severely critical of this attitude. "At Missafou and Madzia (areas in Pool), wesee how the trains transport the wood to Brazzaville, but the government does nothing.Authorities levy some fees just to camouflage their irresponsibility," said Roger Youngafrom the Brazzaville-based NGO Congo Vert (Green Congo).

While trying to educate rural communities about the dangers of deforestation, NGOspropose alternatives. "Since 2009, we have maintained a nursery of flame trees, palmtrees and jatropha to provide the people of Pool with reforestation alternatives. We'venegotiated with Pool land managers and secured a site where the nursery will beinstalled," says Safoula.Relevant Links

Despite its immense agricultural potential, official statistics state that as a consequenceof the 1998-2003 civil war, Pool's inhabitants suffer the highest rates of malnutrition in



the country - two in five went hungry at some point in 2009. In a report covering thesame year, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) stressed that one in fivechildren in the region suffered chronic malnutrition.

"And if people turn away from agriculture, the impact would be catastrophic," Younga

told IPS.

In response to the threat, the World Bank is urging the government to accelerate theprocess of setting up a national plan to fight deforestation.

"We will allocate 200,000 dollars to the government for the adoption of this plan," saidAndre Aquino, head of the World Bank's Reducing the Effects of Deforestation andDegradation programme in the two Congos told IPS.

"Once that is done, NGOs and communities can access our funds because we have up to

3.4 million dollars available,"--------------------Somaliland Set for President Vote (Al Jazeera.Net)

The self-declared Republic of Somaliland will soon hold its second presidential electionin 8 years.

Campaigning for the vote is underway in the breakaway state, which declaredindependence from Somalia in 1991.

However, the area is only recognised internationally as an autonomous region withinSomalia.

Now many people are celebrating the election that was delayed for almost two years.

Al Jazeera's Mohammed Adow reports from Hargeysa, the capital of Somaliland.--------------------UN News Service Africa Briefs Full Articles on UN Website

Niger: UN relief chief urges donors to respond quickly to food crisis

23 June ² The United Nations humanitarian chief has urged donors to urgently respondto the appeal for funds to assist millions of people in Niger who are suffering fromacute food shortages caused by prolonged drought and crop failure in West Africa·sarid Sahel region.

africom related news clips june 24, 2010

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