In the Republic of Congo the ministry of health has been successful in vaccinating 400,000 children under the age of five against polio. The campaign, is to help in preventing the spread of polio from neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),and vaccinations took place in the administrative departments of Brazzaville, Pool in the south, Plateaux and Cuvette in the central region and Likouala in the north. (IRIN)
A partnership between UNICEF, the EU and the Government of Djibouti is working towards providing around 25,000 poor and most vulnerable residents of the country to access clean drinking water in near proximity of their homes for the first time. “The water supply program will help to improve the living conditions of many children and women and to the achievement of priority indicators in line with the Millennium Development Goal related to water and sanitation”, said Aloys Kamuragiye, UNICEF Representative in Djibouti. (UN News)
The Ethiopian government has been accused of forcing thousands of civilians from their homes in a campaign against separatist rebels in the south-east. US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) says troops had burned homes, seized livestock and carried out arbitrary arrests. HRW also accused the rebels of targeting officials and clan leaders who failed to support its insurgency. (BBC) Forced starvation is often used in the country, often including the burning of crops and food stocks.
In the last month UNICEF and the Franch government have donated almost $400,000 worth of anti-malaria drugs to Liberia, a country who's children are heavily stricken with the disease. “This is truly a remarkable gesture for the people of Liberia, especially the children and pregnant women who suffer the most,” said Minister of Health Dr. Walter Gwenigale. He underscored the seriousness of malaria in Liberia. “We are dealing with a situation where when 50 patients enter a clinic, 25 of them are malaria-infected.” (UN News) Malaria kills over a million people each year in Africa, most of which are children.
In Sierra Leone new laws where put into place on June 14th to make wife-beating a criminal offense, the laws will also allow women to inherit property, and protect girls against forced marriage. A local human rights group said, the laws will “help to radically improve the legal position of women in Sierra Leone.” The Task force on Gender Bills said, “Until now the issue of redress for injustices committed against women especially in the domestic realm has been an uphill task because of the inadequacies of the law.” (IRIN)
