Floods leave Angolan returnees stranded

ANGOLA: AU considers looking at Cabinda claims

JOHANNESBURG, 30 December 2011 (IRIN) - More than five years after the Front for the Liberation of Cabinda (FLEC) filed a complaint with the African Union (AU) against the Angolan government for alleged human rights abuses, the AU says it is willing to hear the “merits” of appointing a special rapporteur to investigate the claims. full report

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Pick of the year 2011

JOHANNESBURG, 29 December 2011 (IRIN) - In 2011 the global economic crisis combined with poor governance, financial mismanagement and unpredictable rainfall to push several southern African countries to the point of crisis. Others responded to rising unemployment and increased pressure on national budgets by hardening their attitude towards immigrants and closing their borders to asylum-seekers. IRIN covered developments from all over the region, but the following stories consistently grabbed headlines: full report

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Counter-trafficking measures trail commitments

JOHANNESBURG, 12 December 2011 (IRIN) - At any given time, an estimated 130,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa are engaged in forced labour as a result of trafficking. It is a fraction of the global figure, which the International Labour Organization (ILO) puts at 2.5 million, but this highly lucrative and concealed crime is on the rise in Africa and traffickers usually operate with impunity. full report

CLIMATE CHANGE: Durban or bust - the Trans-African Caravan of Hope

KAMPALA, 2 December 2011 (IRIN) - Brandishing a plea for developed countries to make good their promises to reduce carbon emissions, 300 farmers, youths and activists took the scenic route to the COP17 conference in Durban, travelling more than 7,000km from Burundi in 17 days, through 10 eastern and southern African countries, aboard a convoy of buses draped in various national flags. full report

AFRICA: Urgent drive to act on road safety

ADDIS ABABA, 18 November 2011 (IRIN) - Increasing traffic accident deaths are a likely consequence of economic and population growth in Africa unless leaders on the continent, already beset by the world's worst road-safety record, implement a wide-ranging plan to address the second leading cause of deaths of young people, specialists at a major conference told IRIN. full report

FOOD: Rumpus over GM food aid

JOHANNESBURG, 18 October 2011 (IRIN) - Genetically modified (GM) food aid bound for Africa has long been a bone of contention among governments, scientists, activists, consumers and aid workers. full report

HEALTH: Keeping a measure on malaria

NEW YORK, 22 September 2011 (IRIN) - The African Leaders Malaria Alliance has launched a scorecard to improve the fight against malaria on the African continent. “This,” said Agnes Bingwaho, Rwanda’s Health Minister, holding up the laminated scorecard, “is something that will help Africa make progress.” full report

In Brief: Southern Africa floods cause highest death toll in recent years

JOHANNESBURG, 21 July 2011 (IRIN) - The death toll in southern Africa during the 2010-2011 rainy season (December-May) was “markedly higher” than in recent years, with 477 people killed, compared to seven during the same period in 2009-2010, and 212 in 2008-2009, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). full report

AFRICA: Sleeping sickness in cattle put to bed?

JOHANNESBURG, 20 May 2011 (IRIN) - New research on sleeping sickness in African cattle is holding out the possibility that in the not too distant future Africa could start seeing the introduction of cattle resistant to sleeping sickness - a disease which kills billions of dollars worth of livestock every year. full report