Sudão do Sul: Burocracia mata crianças

NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Many children living in South Sudanese refugee camps have died needlessly because of bureaucratic delays rolling out new vaccines, the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Thursday. MSF said it had taken 11 months to procure affordable drugs to vaccinate children against pneumonia in Yida refugee camp in South Sudan due to bureaucratic and legal red tape. It said it had obtained the vaccine from pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline to start vaccinating children in Yida camp and this should lead to a substantial cut in the number of deaths. Sudanese refugees began streaming across the border into South Sudan in June 2011, fleeing conflict between the Khartoum government and rebels in South Kordofan. Large numbers of children died in MSF’s hospital in the camp last year. Respiratory tract infections, such as pneumonia, were one of the main causes of death. “The situation in Yida last year was excruciating, with children dying of diseases that vaccines could have protected them against,” Audrey Landmann, MSF project coordinator in Yida at the time, said in a statement. Children in refugee camps are highly vulnerable to disease as they are often malnourished and living in overcrowded conditions with inadequate shelter, clean water or sanitation facilities. The pneumococcal vaccine is a new vaccine, first introduced by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI Alliance) to Kenya in 2011. Pneumococcal disease, which can cause pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis, kills more than half a million people a year, half of them children under five. BLIND SPOT GAVI, set up in 2000, uses private and government donor backing to negotiate down vaccine prices for the developing world and then bulk-buy and deliver them to some of the world’s poorest countries. It has made major strides in rolling out new vaccines in poor countries at affordable prices - but it does not cover vaccination in refugee and crisis-affected populations. Pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer and GSK sell their new vaccines to GAVI at a discount but do not offer the same prices to medical charities like MSF. MSF paid GSK $7 per dose for the vaccine, compared with the $3.40 a dose GAVI pays as a result of signing a 10-year deal with Pfizer and GSK to buy millions of doses of their patented pneumonia vaccine. Three doses are needed per child. “Why do we keep hearing the players in the global vaccination community tell us these kids aren’t their problem?” said Kate Elder, Vaccines Policy Advisor at MSF’s Access Campaign. “We should be making every effort for refugee children to benefit from the newest vaccines, instead of letting them languish in the global community’s blind spot.” FRUSTRATED At the heart of the dispute is a difference in philosophy between GAVI’s development-oriented approach and MSF’s humanitarian creed. GAVI is focused on building up governmental vaccination programmes. It funds and supports governments to develop the health systems, staff and expertise needed to immunise their children over the long term. The governments also pay a percentage of the price of the vaccines with a view to taking on the cost themselves in future. “The whole idea is to build up their immunisation system so that they can eventually do it themselves,” said a GAVI spokesman. “We don’t just parachute in when we feel like it and start immunising kids.” In contrast, MSF works in some of the world’s toughest humanitarian disaster zones where there is often no government presence at all. In South Sudan, the fledgling two-year-old government is not yet providing the pneumococcal vaccine to its own children.

RCA: Bozizé quer voltar ao poder

PARIS, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Deposed former Central African Republic (CAR) President Francois Bozize still nurtures ambitions of returning to power, he told French media, ending months of silence since he was ousted by rebel forces in March. Bozize, who ruled the mineral-rich former French colony for a decade, fled to Cameroon after rebels overthrew his government and captured the riverside capital Bangui. In an interview with Radio France International broadcast on Saturday, Bozize said he had formed, along with some compatriots, a political organisation called the Front for the Return of Constitutional Order in CAR, or Frocca. He said its objective was to "follow and denounce everything that is happening in the country and inform the international community which does not yet seem to have realised the grave crisis, the drama, unfolding in Central African Republic." The rebellion in landlocked CAR - one of the poorest places on earth - triggered a humanitarian crisis after many aid groups and U.N. agencies pulled out, leaving its 4.5 million inhabitants to fend for themselves. The new government, headed by interim President Michel Djotodia, the head of the Seleka rebels, has issued an arrest warrant against Bozize, accusing him of "crimes against humanity and incitement to genocide." Asked if the formation of a new political entity meant he aimed to return to power, Bozize said: "Yes, return to power. If the occasion arises, I will do it." Bozize said he was in Paris to visit relatives, and aimed to organise meetings with French officials, although they were on holiday for now. France was, he said: "the best placed to help solve the problem, with a contribution from the African Union." A spokeswoman for the French foreign ministry said there had not been any contact with Bozize and none was planned. Central African Republic has rich, under-exploited deposits of gold, diamonds and uranium but has been plagued by political instability and coups since independence from France in 1960. Bozize seized power in a 2003 coup backed by neighbouring Chad and succumbed in March to an offensive by Seleka rebels after failing to make good on a promise to share power. (Reporting by Astrid Wendlandt; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

Iraque: O reacender da guerra

More than 1,000 Iraqis were killed in sectarian violence in July, the highest monthly death toll since 2008, the United Nations said on Thursday, as Sunni Islamist groups stepped up their insurgency against Iraq's Shi'ite-led government. Most of the 1,057 victims were civilians, killed in a relentless campaign of bombings and shootings that some Iraqis fear could drag the country into another war. "We haven't seen such numbers in more than five years, when the blind rage of sectarian strife that inflicted such deep wounds upon this country was finally abating," Gyorgy Busztin, acting UN envoy to Iraq, said in a statement. He called on Iraqi leaders to take immediate and decisive action to stop the "senseless bloodshed" and prevent a return to the "dark days" of 2006-07, when the number of people killed per month sometimes exceeded 3,000. In recent years violence has fallen and a steady rise in oil production has made the country richer, but the conflict in neighbouring Syria has inflamed sectarian tensions across the region and invigorated Sunni insurgents in Iraq, including al Qaeda. July's toll brought the number of people killed in militant attacks since the start of the year to 4,137. The worst affected governorate was Baghdad, where 238 people were killed in July, followed by Salahuddin, Nineveh, Diyala, Kirkuk and Anbar. Many of these provinces are dominated by the country's Sunni minority, which deeply resents Shi'ite ascendancy since the U.S.-led invasion that vanquished Saddam Hussein in 2003. Sunnis there have been holding anti-government protests for months. Iraq's deteriorating security was highlighted last week when hundreds of convicts ran free after simultaneous attacks on two high-security prisons, raising questions about the ability of the security services to combat al Qaeda. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which was formed earlier this year in a merger between al Qaeda's affiliates in Iraq and Syria, claimed responsibility for the jail breaks. (Reporting by Raheem Salman; Writing by Isabel Coles; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

Iraque: Dezenas de mortos em atentados

BAGHDAD, Aug 10 (Reuters) - A series of car bombs in mainly Shi'ite areas of Baghdad killed 57 people and wounded more than 150 on Saturday, in what appeared to be coordinated attacks on people celebrating the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. The 12 separate blasts targeting markets, busy shopping streets and parks where families like to mark Eid were part of a surge in sectarian violence in Iraq since the start of the year. This has been one of the deadliest Ramadan months in years, with regular bomb attacks killing scores of people, especially in the capital. The latest bombings were similar to attacks in Baghdad on Tuesday in which 50 died. More than 1,000 Iraqis have been killed in July, the highest monthly death toll since 2008, according to the United Nations. The Interior Ministry has said the country faced an "open war" fuelled by Iraq's sectarian divisions and has ramped up security in Baghdad, closing roads and sending out frequent helicopter patrols. Eighteen months since the last U.S. troops withdrew from Iraq, Sunni Islamist militants have been regaining momentum in their insurgency against the Shi'ite-led government, and have been emboldened by the civil war in neighbouring Syria. On Saturday, the president of Iraqi Kurdistan said his region was prepared to defend Kurds living in neighbouring Syria, in what appeared to be the first warning of a possible intervention and a further sign that the conflict is spilling over Syria's borders. Outside Baghdad, a suicide bomber detonated a bomb in a car on a busy street in the town of Tuz Khurmato, 170 km (105 miles) north of the capital, killing at least 10 people and wounding 45, medical and police sources said. Tuz Khurmato is located in a particularly violent region over which both the central government and autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan claim jurisdiction. Police believe the bomber was trying to reach the local headquarters of a Kurdish political party, but was unable to reach the building because of increased security in the area, a police source said. In the town of Nassiriya, 300 km (185 miles) southeast of Baghdad, twin car bombs near a park killed six people and wounded 25, police and medical sources said. Pictures showed metal shop fronts contorted by one of the blasts, with blackened scraps of debris littering the ground. Two tyres on an axle were all that was left of one of the cars used in the attack. Car bombs also hit the Shi'ite city of Kerbala, killing four and wounding 11, and targeted a Shi'ite mosque in the northern city of Kirkuk, killing one worshipper and wounding five. Tensions between Shi'ite, Kurdish and Sunni factions in Iraq's power-sharing government have been rising, and the renewed violence has sparked fears of a return to the sectarian slaughter of 2006-2007. Iraqis have endured extreme violence for years, but since the since the start of 2013 the intensity of attacks on civilians has dramatically increased, reversing a trend that had seen the country grow more peaceful. In recent months insurgents have moved beyond attacking shopping districts to targeting youths playing football and people watching matches on television at the Baghdad cafes which have dared to stay open. (Additional reporting by Mustafa Mahmoud in Kirkuk, Gassan Hassan in Tikrit, Ali al-Rubaie in Hilla and Aref Mohammed in Basra; Writing by Sylvia Westall; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Sonya Hepinstall)

Darfur: Uma centena de mortos

De nouveaux combats entre deux tribus au Darfour, région de l'ouest du Soudan plongée dans la violence depuis dix ans, ont fait une centaine de morts samedi 10 août près d'Adila. "Nous avons affronté les Ma'alia (...) et nous avons détruit l'une de leurs bases et tué 70 d'entre eux. Nous avons perdu 30 hommes", a déclaré un membre de la tribu Rezeigat. "La tension est toujours vive, et des deux côtés, les hommes sont rassemblés", a-t-il ajouté. "Nous nous attendons à de nouveaux combats aujourd'hui", a assuré un membre de la tribu Ma'alia, accusant les Rezeigat d'avoir "attaqué" et incendié des villages. Il n'a pas donné de bilan des victimes Ma'alia mais a affirmé que les membres de sa tribu avaient tué 40 adversaires. Fin juillet, des affrontements entre d'autres tribus dans l'ouest du Darfour avaient déjà fait des dizaines de morts. Selon la mission commune ONU-Union africaine au Darfour (Minuad), les rivalités tribales sont la principale source du regain de tension qui a fait près de 300 000 nouveaux déplacés dans les cinq premiers mois de 2013, soit deux fois plus que pendant le total des deux années précédentes. Le Monde

Síria: já mais de 100.000 mortos

Au moins vingt personnes ont péri dans des raids aériens menés dans la nuit de vendredi à samedi 10 août par l'armée officielle dans la province de Lattaquié, dans l'ouest de la Syrie, selon l'Observatoire syrien des droits de l'homme (OSDH). Selon le directeur de cette ONG, Rami Abdel Rahmane, dix d'entre elles seraient des civils, six des combattants rebelles syriens et quatre des insurgés étrangers. "Le bilan des morts pourrait augmenter en raison du nombre de blessés, dont certains sont dans un état très critique", a ajouté M. Abdel Rahmane. La région côtière de Lattaquié est le fief de la minorité alaouite, une branche du chiisme à laquelle appartient le président Bachar Al-Assad. Ces derniers jours, les rebelles ont gagné du terrain dans cette province. Mais le régime a réagi par la force, et des dizaines de rebelles et de soldats ont péri dans de violents combats, selon l'OSDH, qui s'appuie sur un vaste réseau de militants et de médecins sur le terrain. A l'exception de quelques poches rebelles, la majorité de la province de Lattaquié demeure sous le contrôle de l'armée. DOUZE PERSONNES TUÉES PRÈS D'ALEP Dans la province d'Alep, dans le Nord, douze personnes ont aussi été tuées par les forces du régime lors d'un raid sur un village, selon l'OSDH. Le mois du ramadan a été meurtrier en Syrie, avec 4 420 personnes tuées, dont 1 386 civils, selon le bilan établi par l'Observatoire syrien des droits de l'homme (OSDH). Depuis le début du conflit en 2011, l'ONU estime qu'il y a eu plus de 100 000 morts. Le chef de la diplomatie russe Sergueï Lavrov a annoncé vendredi que la Russie, qui soutient Bachar Al-Assad, et les Etats-Unis, qui veulent son départ, étaient d'accord sur la nécessité d'organiser "dès que possible" une conférence de paix sur la Syrie – sans cesse reportée depuis mai – à l'issue d'une rencontre avec son homologue américain John Kerry. Le Monde

Conakry: mais uma Guiné vítima do tráfico

Guinea: Will Guinea Be Africa's Next Narco State? Lebanese Business, Hezbollah and Al Qaeda Also Involved By Michael J.M. Keating, 6 August 2013 analysis This is one of the questions posed by David E. Brown, a career American diplomat, in his report "The Challenge of Drug Trafficking To Democratic Governance and Human Security in West Africa," published in May of this year. The report is a chilling indictment of political and military elites throughout West Africa who are making common cause with drug traffickers and money launderers in order to advance or protect their power and influence. In regard to Guinea-Conakry - as opposed to Guinea-Bissau which already holds the dubious title of the world's first 'narco-state' - Brown writes that since "the coup in 2008 there have been reports of Latin American cocaine traders moving in significant numbers to Conakry, where some relatives of the late President Lansana Conté have an established interest in the cocaine trade. In 2010 the U.S. government designated Ousmane Conte, the son of Guinea's late President, as a Tier 1 kingpin." This may appear a shocking development to some, but close observers of the situation, like Brown, are convinced that drugs and politics in West Africa have become intertwined to such an extent that the emergence of three or four more narco-states in the region, some with ties to international terrorist organizations, is not out of the question. While most of the profits from this business never touch down in Africa, a fair amount is laundered in construction and legitimate businesses in such numbers that some observers cynically reflect that drug money is a net plus for the treasuries of these most impoverished nations. This kind of thinking fails to take into account the long term effects of corruption and the social costs when drug dealing and drug using become endemic to the transit countries themselves. Already in relatively well off Nigeria and Ghana, drug kingpins have become cultural icons with the result that young people see the drug trade as a legitimate career path out of poverty. It will probably only be a matter of time that a Nollywood version of Jimmy Cliff's 1972 classic Jamaican spliff film "The Harder They Come" emerges from the neighborhoods of Lagos and onto the international festival circuit. In the last few years dozens of Nigerian nationals have been arrested for dealing drugs in such far-flung locales as Malaysia, Thailand and India. For all its countercultural panache, the romanticizing of the drug trade obscures the deleterious effects of civic corruption and fails to address the underlying socio-economic rot which invades poor neighborhoods when drug kingpins and corrupt politicians get together. It also fails to address the threat faced by otherwise peaceful communities when drug gangs join forces with international terrorist organizations seeking to target Western or Israeli interests in their countries. The Hezbollah Connection These days drugs produced in South America and South Asia are being transshipped to Europe or sold into West African neighborhoods through a wide variety of sources, some with connections to non-state political actors such as Hezbollah who use profits from drug sales to finance operations throughout the world. AQIM, Ansar Dine and the various Taureg elements involved in the civil conflict in Mali have also been accused of using drug profits to buy weapons and political allies. Copyright © 2013 African Arguments