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Mali: Communiqué of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU), at its 544th meeting on the situation in Mali and the Sahel region in general

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Source: African Union
Country: Mali

The Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU), at its 544th meeting held on 18 September 2015, adopted the following decision on the situation in Mali and the Sahel region in general:

Council,

  1. Takes note of the Report of the Chairperson of the Commission on the situation in Mali [PSC/PR/2.(DXLIV)] and the efforts made by the AU in the area of peace and security in the Sahelo-Saharan region. Council also takes note of the statements made by the Permanent Representative of Mali to the AU, as well as by the representatives of the European Union (EU), the United Nations (UN) Secretariat and the following permanent members of the UN Security Council: France, United Kingdom and United States of America;

  2. Reiterates its commitment to the respect of the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Mali, in conformity with the relevant provisions of the AU Constitutive Act;


Nigeria: Nigeria - Conflict (ECHO, Media) (ECHO Daily Flash of 22 September 2015)

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Source: Agence France-Presse
Country: Nigeria

  • According to the latest information available, 44 people are confirmed dead and 95 injured following the multiple explosions carried out by suspected suicide bombers the night of 20 September in the outskirts of Maiduguri in North-East Nigeria. This deadliest attack in Maiduguri so far has forced residents to flee into the city for safety.

  • In a separate incident, Boko Haram clashed with the Nigerian army along Maiduguri-Dikwa-Gamboru Ngala road on 19 September, stepping up their offensive and leaving heavy casualties on both sides.

  • Over 1.6 million IDPs are located in and around Maiduguri city and are in need of significant humanitarian assistance.

  • Despite advances by the security forces, Boko Haram remains fully operational, with hit-and-run attack against the civilian population, causing additional displacement and deterioration of the humanitarian situation.

Mali: Mali : deux groupes jihadistes à l'assaut du Centre et du Sud

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Source: Agence France-Presse
Country: Mali

Bamako, Mali | AFP | mercredi 23/09/2015 - 06:23 GMT

par Serge DANIEL

La poussée jihadiste dans le centre et le sud du Mali est le fait de quelques centaines de combattants encadrés par des vétérans du jihad dans le Nord, originaires de ces deux régions du pays, selon des sources de sécurité.

Deux policiers et deux civils ont été tués samedi dans une attaque à Bih (centre), près de la frontière avec le Burkina Faso, imputée au Front de libération du Macina (FLM), apparu début 2015, du nom d'un empire théocratique peul du XIXe siècle centré sur la région de Mopti.

Si le prédicateur radical Amadou Koufa est "la tête pensante" du FLM, Souleymane Keïta, originaire du Sud, est celle de la "katiba (unité combattante) Khaled Ibn al-Walid", selon les services de sécurité du Mali, qui sont à leurs trousses. Selon les mêmes sources, tous deux ont fait leurs classes lors de la conquête jihadiste du Nord en 2012.

Combattant alors aux côtés du Touareg Iyad Ag Ghaly, chef du groupe islamiste Ansar Dine, chacun est ensuite retourné dans sa région pour y recruter prioritairement dans sa communauté.

"Nous les recherchons activement. Ils sont en contact avec Iyad Ag Ghaly pour semer la terreur dans le centre et le sud du pays. Mais nous avons déjà démantelé une partie importante de ces groupes qui opèrent ensemble", affirme un commandant de gendarmerie.

Sept jihadistes maliens arrêtés en août en Côte d'Ivoire et extradés vers le Mali ont reconnu, selon une source proche du dossier, appartenir à la katiba Khaled ibn al-Walid et avoir participé à des attaques contre des localités du sud et du centre de leur pays.

Leurs révélations, au cours d'interrogatoires musclés, ont conduit à l'arrestation début septembre de trois hommes, présentés comme les "cerveaux" d'attentats récents contre un domicile d'employés de l'ONU, ainsi que contre des postes de sécurité à Bamako et dans sa périphérie.

Le profil de ces trois suspects confirme leurs liens avec les islamistes du Nord. L'un d'entre eux, âgé de 35 ans, serait "la deuxième personnalité" du FLM, et surtout un ancien de la police islamique de Tombouctou (nord-ouest) sous la loi jihadiste, tout comme Souleymane Keïta.

Au domicile d'un autre, 33 ans, considéré comme le logisticien de la cellule, a été saisi un important lot d'armes de guerre.

  • Fondus dans la population -

Le nord du Mali était tombé en mars-avril 2012 sous la coupe de groupes jihadistes liés à Al-Qaïda, après la déroute de l'armée face à la rébellion à dominante touareg.

Ces jihadistes ont été en grande partie chassés à la suite du lancement en janvier 2013, à l'initiative de la France, d'une intervention militaire internationale, qui se poursuit actuellement.

Mais des zones entières échappent encore au contrôle des forces maliennes et étrangères. Longtemps concentrées dans le Nord, les attaques jihadistes se sont étendues depuis le début de l'année vers le centre, puis à partir de juin, le sud du pays.

Selon les enquêteurs, les combattants des deux groupes peuvent circuler discrètement à travers le pays. "Puisqu'ils ont la peau noire pour la plupart, ils descendent vers le Sud sans armes, pour ne pas être suspects. Arrivés sur place, ils se débrouillent pour trouver les armes et mener leurs opérations", explique-t-on.

Les leaders des deux groupes exercent une grande influence, selon un responsable du ministère de la Défense.

Amadou Koufa, qui se cacherait dans sa région natale de Mopti, près de la frontière burkinabè, attire de jeunes Peuls, séduits par ses prêches enflammés, qui étaient diffusés sur les radios locales.

Dans un enregistrement récent en peul dont l'AFP a pu consulter la traduction, il appelait à viser les intérêts français.

"Il a promis à tous ces jeunes qui s'entraînent dans des champs de la région de Mopti de rétablir l'empire peul du Macina, en créant un +califat peul+", selon une source sécuritaire.

Au moins une dizaine de personnes ont péri dans les attaques imputées au FLM, qui a frappé au cours des neuf derniers mois dans plusieurs villes du Centre comme Nampala, Ténenkou, Dioura, Boulkessi et Dogofry.

Par ailleurs, un fidèle d'Amadou Koufa a revendiqué auprès de l'AFP une participation à l'attaque, en août, de l'hôtel Byblos à Sévaré, près de Mopti, ayant fait au total 13 morts, dont quatre parmi le personnel d'une société sous-traitante de la mission de l'ONU (Minusma).

Les deux groupes ont projeté d'enlever en août des étrangers dans le Sud, mais les services de renseignement ont déjoué l'opération, selon une autre source sécuritaire malienne.

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© 1994-2015 Agence France-Presse

Cameroon: Local knowledge protects Cameroon harvest

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Source: UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
Country: Cameroon

By Monde Kingsley Nfor

AKUM, CAMEROON, 23 September 2015 - Farmers in northwestern Cameroon are deploying traditional knowledge to boost the survival of their crops, thereby curbing the risk of disasters posed by increasingly unpredictable weather patterns.

Ms. Lydia Manyi, a 67-year-old subsistence farmer in the village of Akum, explained some of the simple but effective methods that she uses.

“I soak my maize and bean seeds in water for several days before planting. It is just like using a nursery bed for my seeds. This helps the seeds to cope with dry weather conditions after planting before the rains come,” she said.

Ms. Manyi explained that prolonged dry weather means that early rains often fail to penetrate the soil deeply, hampering seed germination. Pre-soaked seeds have an edge, as they germinate and their shoots are thus able to absorb water from the atmosphere for growth.

“Droughts have rendered the soils dry and hot so when a grain is wet it can quickly germinate. It is also not easily dug up by birds,” said Ms. Manyi.

According to Ms. Collette Abogo, an expert from Cameroon’s Ministry of Agriculture, “This practice, which is used widely in this region, is helping farmers to minimize the impact of droughts and even flash rains that can wash off the topsoil.

“The plant quickly develops roots and cannot easily be washed off or be exposed,” she explained.

Ms. Manyi also sprinkles ash on her maize crop during the first two months of growth to reduce pest infestation. To ward off livestock, she applies a mixture of goat and sheep dung to her crop’s leaves. “This helps to keep away the livestock as they cannot eat their own waste,” she said.

Her story illustrates the role of traditional methods – often handed down by word of mouth for generations -- in the mitigation of climate and disaster risks at the community level.

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, a 15-year pact adopted earlier this year by the international community, places strong focus on harnessing the power of traditional knowledge.

“As the world continues to witness more adverse effects of climate change, indigenous knowledge is adapting to this change. Local knowledge of doing things becomes very important in avoiding famine and other disasters,” said Dr. Joseph Amougou, a lecturer at the University of Yaoundé, in Cameroon’s capital.

According to Dr. Amougou, there has been a distortion in rainfall patterns across Cameroon. “What is most interesting is the fact that rainfall variations have been recorded more in some years, for example 88 days of rainfall in 1998, as opposed to 178 days of rainfall in 1984 all over Cameroon,” he said.

“This trend is persisting and could go over long periods of time with worsening climate variations characterized by very short rainy seasons and prolonged dry seasons that are witnessed today.”

Lacking scientific information, the people of Akum anticipate weather changes by observing variations in the colour of the water in the streams and the behaviour of migratory birds and insects – this on its own is unreliable.

This year’s edition of International Day for Disaster Reduction, on 13 October, will focus on traditional, indigenous and local knowledge, which complements modern science and adds to an individual’s and societies’ resilience.

Mali: Mali Islamists exporting jihad beyond conflict-hit north

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Source: Agence France-Presse
Country: Mali

Bamako, Mali | AFP | 9/23/2015 - 03:44 GM

by Serge DANIEL

A new Islamist push into central and southern Mali is being led by two charismatic jihadist commanders who cut their teeth in the country's northern conflict, say security sources.

In the latest of a series of attacks outside the west African nation's traditional theatre of combat, two policemen and two civilians were killed on Saturday in the village of Bih, near the Burkina Faso border.

Investigators blamed the Macina Liberation Front (FLM), a new group that emerged earlier this year and has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks, some targeting security forces in central Mali.

The FLM, led by radical preacher Amadou Koufa, draws its support from the local Fulani people, and is linked to Ansar Dine, one of the Islamist groups that briefly took control of Mali's vast arid north in 2012.

Security agents hunting Koufa, from central Mali, and Souleymane Keita, a southerner who commands the "Khalid Ibn al-Walid" combat unit, say the fugitive commanders learned their trade waging jihad during the 2012 conflict.

Students in the art of guerilla warfare under the Tuareg warlord Iyad Ag Ghaly, Ansar Dine's leader, they returned to their respective homes, recruiting trainee jihadists from their own communities.

"We are actively looking for them. They are in contact with Iyad Ag Ghaly to sow terror in the centre and south of the country, but we have already dismantled a major part of these groups, which operate in tandem," a police commander told AFP.

  • Brutal repression -

Seven Malian jihadists arrested in August in neighbouring Ivory Coast and extradited admitted being members of Khalid Ibn al-Walid, according to a source close to the case, and to having taken part in jihadist attacks in southern and central Mali.

Their confessions led to the arrest of three men at the beginning of September, presented as the masterminds of recent attacks in the capital Bamako against a United Nations residence and several security posts.

The backgrounds of the three suspects points to their links with the Islamists of the north, say investigators.

One, aged 35, is said to be the "number two" in the FLM and, significantly, a former member of the "Islamic police" in the northern city of Timbuktu during the jihadist occupation, alongside Souleymane Keita.

A large consignment of weapons was found at the home of another, a 33-year-old, considered the attackers' logistics expert.

Mali's decades-old Tuareg-led rebellion teamed up with armed Islamist extremists in the north in 2012 and declared independence for Azawad, the name they give their homeland, but the alliance was short-lived.

More interested in sharia than independence, the Al-Qaeda-linked groups overpowered the Tuareg and planted their own black flags across the north, ruling with brutal repression until France sent in 4,000 troops in January 2013 to drive them out.

But swathes of land remain still outside the control of Malian and foreign forces.

Long concentrated in the north, jihadist attacks have spread since the beginning of the year to the centre, and then from June to the south.

  • Fiery sermons -

According to investigators, fighters from both groups are able to move discreetly and silently across the country.

"Since most have black skin, they travel unarmed down to the south, so as not to arouse suspicion. Once there, they manage to get hold of weapons and conduct operations," one told AFP.

Koufa and Keita exert a great influence among the disenfranchised, mainly impoverished youth of their regions, according to a defence ministry official.

Koufa, who is hiding out in the Mopti region, near the Burkina Faso border, attracts young Fulani seduced by his fiery sermons broadcast on local radio stations.

In a Fulani-language recording recently obtained by AFP, he called on his followers to target French interests.

"He has promised to all those young people in training in camps in the Mopti region that he would restore the Fulani empire of Macina, creating a Fulani caliphate," said a security source.

At least ten people have been killed in attacks attributed to the FLM in the last nine months in cities across Mali's central region.

A Koufa loyalist told AFP he had taken part in an attack on the Hotel Byblos in the central town of Sevare in August that left four UN subcontractors dead.

Both groups planned to kidnap foreign nationals in the south in August but were foiled by intelligence operatives, according to another security source in Mali.

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© 1994-2015 Agence France-Presse

Chad: Finding a new family in a refugee camp in Chad

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Source: UN Children's Fund
Country: Chad, Nigeria

By Badre Bahaji / 17 September 2015

Dar es Salam camp in Chad is home to more than 7,000 refugees from Nigeria. Each person here has fled horror and violence in their home country. Recently, I met two residents of the camp: 10-year-old Ibrahim and 38-year-old Adamu Yahaya, whose courage and resilience exemplifies that of so many of the people here.

In Nigeria, Ibrahim has been living with his grandmother, after his father died of illness and his mother drowned trying to flee when Boko Haram attacked a neighboring village last year. On the morning of January 3, 2015, tragedy once again entered Ibrahim’s life when his small town came under attack. He was forced to flee his home alone, leaving behind his grandmother who was unable to make the journey.

The same morning, not far away, Adamu woke up to the sound of gunshots, and together with his wife and three children, fled in a hurry. Ibrahim finally arrived in Chad, in the border town of Ngouboua. “A woman took me with her, but after a few days, she said she could not afford to feed me anymore. She took me to another man I knew from my village, but he also said that he could not look after me. Finally, I came to the camp, alone again. ”

Ibrahim eventually ended up at the Child Friendly Space set up by UNICEF in the refugee camp. Community workers and psychosocial counsellors deployed by UNICEF gathered the community leaders to see if they could recognize Ibrahim. A woman in the crowd recognized him and informed the counsellors that one the boy’s neighbors was also in the camp. That neighbor turned out to be Adamu.

Adamu, who is now Ibrahim’s guardian, told me about the day they met at the camp: “They came to pick me up, I remember, it was a sandy afternoon. I saw Ibrahim, his face lit up. The community workers asked me if I could take care of him and I said yes immediately. You know, we all went through the same experience, that’s why I feel responsible for him.”

In turn, Ibrahim smiled and added: “When I was in Doro, I was friend with Adamu’s children, we were neighbors. Now, when I feel safe, it’s like a new family to me.” UNICEF community workers pass by his tent regularly to monitor his health and well-being.

The last time I met up with them, Ibrahim was about to head to the Child Friendly Space where his friends were waiting for him – the day’s activity was drawing – his favorite. I joined Ibrahim at the drawing session and was greeted by around thirty children who could not wait to get started. Their drawings show the horror of the conflict but they also describe what they miss from home: their friends, their clothes, their toys or simple things, like eating pineapples. They are just children – but where are their childhoods?

Ibrahim told me that he had never been to school before because the one of his village was closed. More than 300 schools have been severely damaged or destroyed in northeast-Nigeria since 2012 as a result of the conflict. Over 1.4 million children like Ibrahim have been forced to flee the conflict in and around Nigeria. This figure is just growing every month and it made me wonder: How many children will continue to draw the horrors they have seen? How many children will not go back to school this year? Earlier this month, on 15 September, Ibrahim went to school for the first time and started the journey to discover letters and numbers.

“When I arrived, I did not want to go to school, I was scared. But this year I’ll go and I hope to learn to read and write” he said.

After speaking with Ibrahim and Adamu, I stayed for some time in the Child Friendly Space, chatting with the children and looking at their drawings. I realised how challenging it is to bring hope out of despair. Only education can offer them the skills they need when they grow up to build a better future for themselves and their communities.

Badre Bahaji is Communication Officer working for UNICEF in Chad.

The Child Friendly Space in Dar es Salam refugee camp provides recreational and psychosocial activities to more than 1100 children. 174 unaccompanied or separated children have been registered through the Child Friendly Space. According to OCHA, in Chad only, more than 77,000 people, most of them children and women, have been displaced by violence since the beginning of the conflict in northeast Nigeria. Despite insecurity, UNICEF works with its partners to provide life-saving support to the most vulnerable children and women. However, nearly 70 per cent funding gap prevents children from receiving emergency assistance.

Burkina Faso: West and Central Africa Region Weekly Humanitarian Snapshot 15 – 21 September 2015

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Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Country: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone

BURKINA FASO
COUP D’ETAT DERAILS TRANSITION
Burkina Faso’s army converged in the capital Ouagadougou on 22 September and demanded the surrender of coup leaders who toppled the country’s transitional government. The 17 September coup has triggered protests and driven up tensions. At least 10 people have been killed and more than 100 wounded in demonstrations. Mediators from the Economic Community of West African States are seeking ways to resolve the crisis. The country had been due to hold elections on 11 October to end the transitional government.

CAMEROON**
3 KILLED IN SUICIDE ATTACKS
At least three people were killed on 20 September in Mora area of the Far North Region, the latest in a series of suicide attacks that have claimed dozens of lives this month in the region that borders Nigeria’s north-east and the heartland of Boko Haram militants.

NIGERIA
45 KILLED IN MULTIPLE BLASTS
On 20 September, at least 45 people were killed and 96 injured in multiple bombings in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State and the birthplace of Boko Haram. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosions on the edge of the city centre, but the militant group has been blamed for past suicide and bomb attacks in north-eastern Nigeria.

SIERRA LEONE
9 PERISH IN FLASH FLOODS
Torrential rains and flooding on 16 September caused extensive damage to homes and property in parts of Freetown and led to the deaths of nine people. As of 18 September, 8,165 people were registered as displaced in two Freetown stadiums. Humanitarian partners are providing food rations, water and hygiene kits as well as malnutrition screening for children under the age of five.

EVD REGIONAL
1 NEW CASE REPORTED IN GUINEA
On 16 September, one new case was confirmed in Guinea. The patient was a 10 year-old girl who died at home in Kiterin area of Forécariah prefecture. Investigations to determine the source of the infection are underway in Forécariah, and Ratoma sub-prefecture where the girl hails from. No cases were reported in Liberia and Sierra Leone in the seven days prior to 20 September. In the week ending 13 September, there were five confirmed cases, all in Sierra Leone.

Burkina Faso: Région de l'Afrique de l'ouest et du centre - Aperçu humanitaire hebdomadaire (15 - 21 septembre 2015)

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Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Country: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone

BURKINA FASO
UN COUP D’ÉTAT COMPROMET LA TRANSITION
L'armée burkinabé a convergé vers la capitale Ouagadougou le 22 septembre et a exigé la reddition des leaders du coup d'état qui ont renversé le gouvernement transitoire du pays. Le 17 septembre, le coup a déclenché des protestations et attisé les tensions. Au moins 10 personnes ont été tuées et plus de 100 blessées lors des manifestations. Les médiateurs de la Communauté économique des états de l'Afrique de l'ouest s'efforcent de trouver les solutions pour résoudre la crise. Le pays devait tenir des élections le 11 octobre pour mettre fin au gouvernement de transition.

CAMEROUN
3 MORTS DANS DES ATTENTATS SUICIDES
Au moins trois personnes ont été tuées le 20 septembre dans la commune de Mora située dans l’Extrême-Nord. C’est le dernier dans une série d’attentats suicides ayant couté la vie à une douzaine de personnes ce mois dans la région bordant le nord-est du Nigéria et cœur des militants de Boko Haram.

NIGERIA
45 MORTS DANS DES EXPLOSIONS MULTIPLES Le 20 septembre, au moins 45 personnes ont été tuées et 96 blessées dans des attentats multiples à la bombe à Maiduguri, capitale de l’Etat de Borno et berceau de Boko Haram. Aucune revendication sur les explosions à la périphérie du centre-ville n’a été faite. Cependant, dans le passé, des attentats suicides et à la bombe dans le nord-est du Nigeria ont été attribués au groupe militant.

SIERRA LEONE
9 PERSONNES PERISSENT DANS LES INONDATIONS
Les pluies torrentielles et les inondations du 16 septembre ont causé des dégâts considérables aux habitations et propriétés dans certaines parties de Freetown et ont entrainé la mort de neuf personnes. À la date du 18 septembre, 8 165 personnes ont été enregistrées comme déplacés dans deux stades de Freetown. Des partenaires humanitaires distribuent des rations alimentaires, de l'eau et des kits d'hygiène et effectuent des dépistages de la malnutrition chez les enfants de moins de cinq ans.

MALADIE A VIRUS EBOLA (MVE)/ REGIONAL
1 NOUVEAU CAS EN GUINEE
Le 16 septembre, un nouveau cas MVE a été confirmé en Guinée. Le patient était une fille de 10 ans qui est décédée à son domicile, dans la commune de Kiterin, située dans la préfecture de Forécariah. Des enquêtes pour déterminer la source de l'infection sont en cours à Forécariah et dans la sous-préfecture, Ratoma, d'où la fille est originaire. Aucun cas n'a été rapporté au Libéria et en Sierra Leone dans les sept jours précédant le 20 septembre. Lors de la semaine se terminant le13 septembre, il y avait cinq cas confirmés en Sierra Leone


Nigeria: No aftercare for Boko Haram bomb victims

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Source: IRIN
Country: Nigeria

By Muhammad Ibrahim

KADUNA STATE, 23 September 2015 (IRIN) - Hope Musa was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. On 25 June 2014, a suicide bomber believed to have ties to Boko Haram blew himself up at the busy Emab shopping plaza in the heart of the Nigerian capital, Abuja. Dozens were killed, many more injured.

Musa, a 35-year-old businessman who loved the art of trade, sustained severe head injuries. He spent eight months in hospital before finally being sent home, still suffering from seizures and brain damage. Unable to afford further treatment or a neurological operation abroad, he died from complications due to his injuries earlier this month, more than a year after the blast.

There have been hundreds of bombings throughout northern Nigeria since the Boko Haram insurgency started in 2009.

The frequency of such attacks has diminished slightly since July, following the election of President Muhammadu Buhari, but they still occur with alarmingly regularity.

On 7 July, a teenage girl blew herself up in the ancient city of Zaria in northwestern Kaduna State. Twenty-six people were killed. The majority of the dead and wounded were civil servants and primary school teachers. Most recently, last Sunday, in the deadliest wave of attacks since Buhari took office, a series of four Boko Haram bombs ripped through crowded spots near the airport in northeastern Borno State’s capital Maiduguri, killing more than 100 people.

The majority of the dead and wounded during the Zaria bombing were civil servants and primary school teachers, who had assembled at the Sabon-Gari local government secretariat for a biometric verification exercise regarding salary payment.

Despite the raising of more than $400 million by a government-formed committee to support the victims of Boko Haram, many say they still face financial hardship due to prohibitively expensive treatment costs. “Victims are dying needlessly with deaths that could be avoidable if urgent and continuous medical attention was provided,” said Kayode Oladele Olatunji, chairman of the Bomb Victims Association of Nigeria. “We have cases of first-degree burns, cornea opacity, compound fractures, orthopaedic cases, limb amputees, [ear] damage, intensive nerve and tissue injuries, and so on, all of which are in need of urgent medical attention.”

Here is what some of the survivors had to say:

Sadik Ibrahim, age 18

Injured during a 2012 blast in Kaduna State

“I was training in my brother’s shop on the day the suspected suicide bomber was arrested trying to bomb the Thisday Newspaper office along my street. We rushed to the scene to have a look, but unfortunately the suspect threw a bag at the crowd and it exploded.”

Ibrahim spent four months in a coma at the 44 Army Reference Hospital before being transferred to the Zaria Teaching hospital in Shika.

“I was seriously injured… My left hand and leg are now partially paralyzed. I also can’t see clearly with my left eye.”

He said the government helped pay for some of his initial treatment, but most of the costs, including prescription drugs, fell onto his parents, who have exhausted their savings trying to help him recover.

“We really need assistance because my left hand and left eye are still not functioning well,” he told IRIN.

Musa Hassan

Injured during the 7 July attack in Zaria

“The suicide bomber, a woman, came into the verification centre screaming ‘move, move!’ But before we realised what was happening, the bomb [she was carrying] on her exploded.”

Hassan lost consciousness and didn’t wake up for many days. He spent the next few weeks in the hospital.

“I was lucky… Many of my colleagues died on the spot because of the magnitude of the blast. It is a day I will never forget in my life as we are still traumatised and confused. We are just civil servants.

We saw no reason why somebody would want to kill us.”

Ibrahim Aliyu, age 25

Injured during 2012 suicide bombing while selling newspapers

“I was [working]… when it exploded,” Aliyu told IRIN. “I woke up in the hospital bed in cold blood. I was seriously injured. I lost my left eye and seven teeth. Now I use dentures given to me at the hospital. We are hoping the government will come to our aid, because I don’t have enough money to treat myself. I am just a newspaper vendor.”

Malam Hamisu

Father of a bomb victim injured during an attack in Kaduna in 2013

“I almost lost my daughter… on the day Boko Haram hit the city,” Hamisu said. “As a father, I was very terrified because I thought I was going to lose her because of the number of people killed. We were lucky though. She only sustained a fracture on her right leg.”

His daughter, Lubabatu, spent more than a month in the hospital recovering from her injuries before going home to see a traditional healer.

“I had to take her out of the hospital because I couldn’t continue footing her drug bills. As you can see, I am financially broke and we were left with no compensation.”

mi/jl/ag

World: Letter dated 28 Aug 2015 from the Chargé d’affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission of Germany to the UN addressed to the SG - Report of the workshop, Children and Armed Conflict: Implementing Security Council resolution 1998 (2011) (A/69/1020–S/2015/681)

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Source: UN Security Council, UN General Assembly
Country: Afghanistan, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Nigeria, occupied Palestinian territory, Pakistan, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, World

I have the honour to submit to you the report of the workshop, “Children and Armed Conflict: Implementing Security Council resolution 1998 (2011)” (see annex), convened by the Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Institute for International and Security Affairs on 22 and 23 January 2015 in Berlin. The report reflects the views of the workshop participants.

I should be grateful if you would circulate the present letter and its annex as a document of the General Assembly, under agenda item 64 (a), and of the Security Council.

(Signed) Heiko Thoms
Chargé d’affaires a.i.

Mali: Avis sur les perspectives agricoles et alimentaires 2015-2016 au Sahel et en Afrique de l'Ouest, Septembre 2015

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Source: Famine Early Warning System Network, World Food Programme, Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel, Food and Agriculture Organization
Country: Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Togo

Des perspectives de productions agropastorales globalement satisfaisantes malgré l’installation tardive de la saison des pluies

Du 14 au 16 septembre 2015, s’est tenue à Ouagadougou au Burkina Faso, la concertation technique du Dispositif Régional de Prévention et de Gestion des Crises Alimentaires (PREGEC) au Sahel et en Afrique de l’Ouest, sur l’évaluation à mi-parcours de la campagne agropastorale et les perspectives agricoles et alimentaires 2015-2016. Au sortir de cette rencontre, les participants ont relevé les constats suivants :

Dans le cadre des préparatifs de la campagne agro-pastorale, les Etats et leurs partenaires ont soutenu les producteurs en vue d’accroitre la production, par des appuis en intrants (semences, engrais, pesticides) et de matériels agricoles, même si ces derniers sont loin de couvrir les besoins exprimés.

La pluviométrie a été caractérisée par un démarrage normal en avril dans la zone bimodale du Golfe de Guinée et tardif dans les zones soudaniennes et sahéliennes. L’installation effective des pluies a été observée à partir de la mi-juillet avec une intensification au cours du mois d’août, occasionnant des inondations par endroits notamment au Bénin, au Burkina Faso, en Côte d’Ivoire, au Mali, au Niger et au Togo. Les cumuls saisonniers du 1er mai au 31 août 2015 sont supérieurs à la moyenne sur la majeure partie de la région hormis la zone bimodale du Golfe de Guinée et localement dans la zone Sahélienne.

Sur le plan hydrologique, les écoulements des principaux bassins fluviaux de la région ont atteint des niveaux supérieurs à la moyenne des dix dernières années et largement au-dessus de la normale hydrologique (1981-2010) sauf au Tchad. Les débits sont restés supérieurs à ceux de 2014 à la même période. Aussi, un bon niveau de remplissage des barrages et autres points d’eau de surface est observé en août.

Concernant la situation des cultures, les semis sont intervenus à temps, en avril en zone bimodale, Par contre, dans le centre nord du Nigeria, le nord du Benin, le nord-ouest du Ghana et dans les pays du Sahel, les semis ont été tardifs. L’état des cultures est jugé satisfaisant en fin août sauf au Nord Sénégal, au Sud-ouest Mauritanie et dans la limite Nord de la zone agricole des autres pays sahéliens (Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger et Tchad) et à l’ouest de la zone soudanienne du Tchad. D’ores et déjà, les récoltes des tubercules, des légumineuses et de maïs ont démarré dans certaines zones soudaniennes du Golfe de Guinée depuis le mois de juillet.

Au plan phytosanitaire, la situation reste relativement calme et sous contrôle pour tous les ravageurs. S’agissant du criquet pèlerin, la situation demeure tout aussi calme dans tous les pays de la ligne de front (Mauritanie, Mali, Niger et Tchad) malgré l’existence de conditions écologiques favorables dans les zones de reproduction estivale. Par conséquent, la veille doit être maintenue.

En conséquence de tout ce qui précède, les productions agricoles (céréales et légumineuses) attendues pourraient être moyennes à bonnes dans la région avec toutefois des baisses localisées. Ainsi, la production céréalière 2015/2016 attendue au Sahel et en Afrique de l’Ouest se situerait entre 54 et 62 millions de tonnes, soit respectivement une baisse de 3% et une hausse de11% par rapport à la moyenne des cinq dernières années. Quant aux racines et tubercules, leur production serait moyenne à bonne dans la région.

La situation pastorale est globalement satisfaisante suite à l'amélioration des conditions d’abreuvement et à l’augmentation des disponibilités fourragères. Toutefois, des poches de faible production fourragère méritent d’être suivies de près notamment au nord du Sénégal, au sudouest de la Mauritanie et au centre-est du Tchad.

Nigeria: Nigeria: Protection Sector Working Group 5W Dashboard (Completed and On-going Activities) as of July 2015

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Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees
Country: Nigeria

Nigeria: Nigeria: Protection monitoring summary, as of August 2015

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Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Government of Nigeria
Country: Nigeria

SUMMARY FINDINGS AND PROTECTION TRENDS

  • Reported protection incidents include forced displacement, killings, security incidents, destruction of property, arbitrary detention.

  • Vulnerable groups include elderly heads of households, single elderly, child heads of household, pregnant/nursing mothers and female heads of household.

  • Pressing needs of the most vulnerable IDPs involve food, health, education, livelihood and financial assistance, as well as psychosocial support.

  • Top protection issues facing IDPs include denial of access to assistance and separation of family members, with issues including discrimination, injuries due to armed violence, restricted freedom of movement and harassment/sexual violence thereafter.

Nigeria: Stakeholders to further strengthen supports to Internally Displaced Persons

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Source: Government of Nigeria
Country: Nigeria

To further strengthen supports to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), especially in the areas of healthcare for women and children as well as Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has rallied the critical stakeholders for immediate deployment of necessary services and materials including more drugs to the IDPs camps in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States.

At the NEMA headquarters in Abuja today, the DG Muhammad Sani Sidi met with the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency Dr Ado Muhammad, Prof Abdulsalami Nasidi and Prof Tekena Harry of the National Centre for Disease Control, Country Representatives of World Health Organization (WHO) Dr Rui Gama Vaz and UNICEF Country Rep Jean Gough in strategizing towards addressing emerging challenges in the camps. Some of the identified challenges are how to accelerate the recovery of freed IDPs who were under the captives of terrorists for a long time and seriously malnourished, malaria, prevention of communicable diseases, protection from snakes, etc

Greece: Europe’s Refugee Emergency - Update #1 on the Situation in Greece, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia, 30 June - 1 September 2015

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Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees
Country: Afghanistan, Eritrea, Greece, Iraq, Italy, Malta, Nigeria, Serbia, Somalia, Spain, Syrian Arab Republic, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, World

HIGHLIGHTS

  • In Greece, the reception infrastructure, services and registration procedures are falling dramatically short of needs. At all main entry points, there is a lack of adequate reception conditions resulting in serious hygiene, health and protection risks. The limited capacity to respond creates a tense and dramatic situation.

  • The Ministry of the Interior of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is enhancing its registration system in order to manage this increasingly challenging situation. The electronic procedure is more efficient and protection sensitive. The reception conditions have also been improving. However, with the ever growing number of people arriving from Greece, these improvements remain insufficient and additional measures are needed.

  • The Government of Serbia has worked to improve the reception facilities and has established three new refugee information and first-aid points at the green border with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on the way to the One-Stop Centre in Preševo; near Kanjiža at the border with Hungary; and in the centre of Belgrade, together with UNHCR and partners, to provide information and assistance to refugees. However, in light of the increasing number of arrivals, further efforts are needed.


Syrian Arab Republic: Refugee and Migrant Crisis in Europe: Children on the move, September 2015 – December 2016

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Source: UN Children's Fund
Country: Afghanistan, Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Eritrea, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Nigeria, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Syrian Arab Republic, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, World

UNICEF is appealing for US$14 million to respond to the refugee and migrant crisis in Europe, with US$6.5 urgently needed for the immediate response in the next 6 months.

Humanitarian Situation

Refugee and migrant flows in Europe are at an unprecedented high. In 2015, over 80 per cent of people arriving in Europe across the Mediterranean and on route through Greece and the West Balkans, are escaping the conflict in Syria. As of September 2015, UNHCR estimates that over 440,000 refugees and migrants have arrived in Europe and an additional 450,000 are estimated for 2016. One in every four asylum seekers is a child. A total of 133,000 children sought asylum in the European Union between January and July 2015 with an average of 19,000 children every month, according to the latest available Eurostat data.

Many Syrian refugees arrive in neighboring countries and Europe having gone months without access to basic services and traumatized by the violence they have experienced or witnessed. Over the course of their journey to Europe, refugees and migrants endure tremendous hardship. Many face ill-treatment and abuse by smugglers and local gangs. Furthermore, the approaching winter is likely to affect routes used for onward movement to and within Europe.

UNICEF’s immediate appeal focuses on countries with the greatest number of children on the move, with scaled up interventions in Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and identifying entry points for support in Greece, Italy, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia and Austria. The appeal also includes UNICEF’s support in countries of eventual destination such as Germany, where there may be significant relocation and resettlement of refugees, and countries where new refugee and migrant movements could appear. UNICEF will also continue to support programme interventions in Syria and in neighboring countries, addressing the immediate needs of children there, thus enabling an integrated and coherent approach to families on the move seeking protection in Europe. With the fast moving and fluid situation, this appeal will be revised in the coming 3-6 months to more accurately reflect the evolving humanitarian situation.

Cameroon: UNICEF Cameroon Humanitarian Situation Report - August 2015

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Source: UN Children's Fund
Country: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Nigeria

Humanitarian context

  • Following the Islamic State in West Africa ISWA (ex Boko Haram) attacks in the Far North region, Cameroonian authorities have expelled thousands of Nigerian citizens living outside of the Minawao refugee camp.

  • Humanitarian access to people in need remain highly difficult due to the security situation

  • Thousands of new displaced persons have been reported close to Nigerian and Chadian borders in the Far North Region; in collaboration with Cameroonian authorities, UNICEF and other humanitarian agencies have launched rapid needs assessment

In figures

  • Result and analysis of the nutritional screening organized in 13 health districts of the Far North region during the last SASNIM (3 to 5 July 2015) show that out of 517,076 children 6-59 months, 28,198 (5.5%) present moderate acute malnutrition and 8,094 (1.6%) present severe acute malnutrition

  • 3,096 children with severe acute malnutrition in four operational inpatient facilities and 10 outpatient therapeutic programs dedicated to Nigerian refugees living in the refugee camp received treatment. In addition, in East and Adamaoua regions, Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) program has admitted 4,554 children from host communities and refugee children

  • 16,074 pregnant women in East and Adamawa refugee regions and 5,687 pregnant women in Far North region attended the first antenatal care (ANC1)

  • 15,213 Central African children (6,552 girls and 8,661 boys) in three refugees’ sites of Gado, Lolo and Borghop, received psycho-social support

  • In North and Adamawa regions, 7,713 children attended the two months accelerated school readiness curricula for entry into the primary cycle and school re-entry programme

  • 33 Koranic teachers including two imam’s (one from the refugees’ site and one from Borgop village) participated in a three day workshop on the protection of children and women

Central African Republic: Central African Republic: Humanitarian Snapshot (as of 31 August 2015)

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Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Country: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Since 2013, CAR has been suffering a devastating humanitarian crisis forcing more than 1 million people to flee their homes. More than half of the population – 2,7 million people – are in need of aid. 20% are displaced within or outside the country. About 378,000 people are still internally displaced (IDPs) including over 27,000 in Bangui still living in 30 makeshift camps and other sites. The crisis has forced around 220,000 people to flee to Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo since December 2013, bringing the number of Central African refugees in neighboring countries to about 464,000 people.

Niger: Migrant Routes: Niger 2015

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Source: International Organization for Migration
Country: Libya, Niger, Nigeria

Missing Migrants Project tracks deaths of migrants along migratory routes across the globe. This map shows the different paths with a focus on Niger. #MissingMigrants.

World: El Niño: Implications and Scenarios for 2015 (September 2015)

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Source: World Food Programme
Country: Afghanistan, Cameroon, Chad, China, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, United Republic of Tanzania, World, Zimbabwe

The on-going El Niño event, officially declared in March, will remain active throughout 2015 and is very likely to extend into the first quarter of 2016.

The event is now strengthening towards its peak intensity which should be reached in late 2015. There is a significant chance that this event could be close or even exceed the strongest levels on record.

The event is influencing all growing seasons of the northern hemisphere, as well as those of equatorial regions (Horn of Africa, Indonesia) of late 2015, and will be influencing those of southern Africa and South America from late 2015 to early 2016.

The impacts are wide ranging and generally negative in countries facing food insecurity.

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