United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

17 August 2010

USAFRICOM - related news stories

TOP NEWS RELATED TO U.S. AFRICA COMMAND AND AFRICA

Follow EAC path, US urges Africa (East African Business Week)

(Pan Africa) In remarks she delivered at the 2010 Africa Growth Opportunity Act
(AGOA) Forum on August 3, in Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton cited the
East African Community as an exemplary region which could promote development
and regional cooperation.

Americans to Educate MPs (New Vision)

(Uganda) University of Southern California (USC) will together with Uganda's
parliament early next month launch a $50,000 (sh102m) health promotion programme.

UK should not put trade with Sudan ahead of human rights (Guardian)
(Sudan) The new UK government has made it clear that an important priority of its
foreign policy will be to promote British trade and investment abroad. But recent
remarks in Sudan by the Africa minister, Henry Bellingham, raise concerns that, by
blindly pursuing commercial interests, the UK runs the risk of undermining
international efforts to protect human rights and promote justice for serious abuses.

Nigeria's 2011 presidential race tests North-South powersharing agreement (Christian

Science Monitor)
(Nigeria) With the entry of a former Nigerian president and a former vice president
into the presidential fray, the 2011 Nigerian elections are off to an early start, setting the
stage for a leadership change that could decide whether the oil-rich nation will finally
take up the international and regional role that its economic importance would seem to
give it.

World diamond trading group bans Zimbabwe stones (Associated Press)

(Zimbabwe) In what's being hailed as an unprecedented move that will boost buyer
awareness of blood diamonds, a global diamond trading network vowed Monday to
expel any member who knowingly trades gems from two Zimbabwe mines where
laborers have been killed and children enslaved.

Rwandan president meets Burundian counterpart over security issue (Xinhua)

(Rwanda/Burundi) Rwandan President Paul Kagame has held a rare meeting with his
Burundian counterpart Peter Nkurunziza at the border post of Akanyaru where the two
leaders discussed about a number of "common interest issues" seen as the "greatest
challenges" to regional security, official sources in Kigali reported.

Algerian president urges more investment in energy sector (AFP)

(Algeria) Algeria needs to step up investment and exploration in its energy sector, the
pillar of the north African country's economy, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika said
Monday.

At regional African summit, focus on Congo killing (Associated Press)

(Pan Africa) In an open letter released Monday on the sidelines of a Southern African
summit chaired by Congolese President Joseph Kabila, more than 70 civil rights groups
called for an independent inquiry into Floribert Chebeya Bahizire's killing.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
 Ban speaks out against recent attacks directed at UN staff in Darfur
 Assembly chief takes part in independence celebration in Republic of Congo
 Niger: UN fund allocates more resources to hunger-stricken population
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Wednesday, August 18, 12:30, Center for Global Development

WHAT: On the Duration of Political Power in Africa: The Role of Oil Rent
WHO: Luc Désiré Omgba, CERDI, Université d’Auvergne; Moderated by Mead Over,
Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development
Info: http://www.cgdev.org/content/calendar/detail/1424361/
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FULL ARTICLE TEXT

Follow EAC path, US urges Africa (East African Business Week)

KAMPALA, UGANDA - The United States sees integration as the way to a developed
Africa, the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said.

In remarks she delivered at the 2010 Africa Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum on
August 3, in Washington, Clinton cited the East African Community as an exemplary
region which could promote development and regional cooperation.

"We can see the benefits of greater regional integration in the progress of the EAC
which brings together the 127m people of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and
Burundi with combined gross domestic product (GDP) of $73b".
The US pledged more support in improving aviation security and infrastructure
development and ensuring that the benefits of EAC economic integration translated
into broad-based prosperity for the people.

The event focused on the linkages between private investment and economic growth in
Africa and how African countries can take advantage of trade opportunities under
AGOA.

She said in a statement issued on the US AFRICOM public Affairs website that one of
the ways African countries can fully benefit from the opportunities offered by AGOA is
by encouraging regional integration programmes. "The EAC customs union and
common market eliminated or reduced tariffs on goods traded within the community,
made it easier for workers and companies to do business in any of their countries, and
created institutions to implement policies uniformly across the region," Clinton
explained.

She added that, Results indicate that trade between East African Community nations
has increased by 50% since the customs union was established followed by investment
and foreign trade and between 2008 and 2009, trade between the region and America
rose by more than 13%."

Clinton noted that more work needs to be done, “But the US believes in the potential of
regional integration, like the EAC, and we are committed to supporting it," she
emphasized.

The US signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) with the
Community in 2008. "US is the first nation to accredit an ambassador to the community
and later this year we will launch a new technical assistance programme," she added.

She revealed that Sub-Saharan Africa has some 14 regional trade or cooperation
agreements, many of them overlapping and not all as successful as the EAC.

She said the trip across Africa last year offered her an opportunity to meet with leaders
and citizens from all walks of life including Kenya where she met researchers
developing seeds and agricultural techniques that could feed millions of hungry people.

She, however, noted that in small villages and sprawling cities across the continent,
poverty, conflict, and corruption are giving a way to opportunity, stability, and
democracy.

Clinton said even after the global financial crisis, Africa's economy is expected to grow
at a rate of 4.5% next year, faster than Latin America's, Central Asia's, Europe's, or the
United States.
"All of these tell the story of a continent on the rise. Africa is open for business and
ready to grow," she told the delegates.

She said that two-thirds of sub-Saharan African nations last year implemented reforms
to improve their business climates, fiscal policies, political stability and rising
productivity that have spurred both growth and attracted investment.

She however noted that the AGOA partnership has not lived up to the highest hopes of
a decade ago.

"Although we are working to increase trade with Africa in non petroleum goods, but
there is a long way to go," she noted.

Noting that it was important to fight corruption, Clinton said investors seek a clear and
consistent regulatory environment, a transparent and even-handed judicial system.

"Corruption costs Africa an estimated $150b a year, it scares away investment, stifles
innovation, and slows trade and the exploitation of Africa's mineral and energy wealth
continues to be a persistent source of corruption, which is why the US is supporting the
World Bank's Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and why the US is taking a
strong stand on conflict minerals.

"The lack of regional economic integration compounds the weaknesses of individual

African markets instead of consolidating their strengths and it prevents African
businesses from building the foundations they need to effectively participate in global
trade," she noted.
--------------------
Americans to Educate MPs (New Vision)

KAMPALA, Uganda — UNIVERSITY of Southern California (USC) will together with

Uganda's parliament early next month launch a $50,000 (sh102m) health promotion
programme.

USC through its institute of Global Health will have specialists educating Ugandan
policy makers about the risks of unhealthy lifestyles.

The programme also stresses the need for investment in health promotion and chronic
disease prevention programs.

According to a USC release, focus will be on the growing epidemic of chronic non
communicable diseases including cancer, diabetes and obesity.

The programme is the initiative of Robert Ssebugwawo, a Ugandan personal trainer and
fitness professional.
--------------------
UK should not put trade with Sudan ahead of human rights (Guardian)

The new UK government has made it clear that an important priority of its foreign
policy will be to promote British trade and investment abroad. But recent remarks in
Sudan by the Africa minister, Henry Bellingham, raise concerns that, by blindly
pursuing commercial interests, the UK runs the risk of undermining international
efforts to protect human rights and promote justice for serious abuses.

Trade is not only generally good for Britain. It can also benefit the UK's trading
partners, because in the right circumstances trade stimulates wealth and economic
development, which in turn can support another objective of UK foreign policy –
poverty reduction. But trade with countries that are run by abusive and corrupt
governments does not necessarily benefit the people of those countries. By
consolidating the wealth and centralising the power of repressive leaders, trade can
perpetuate and entrench the abuse and impunity that impede democratisation and
development.

Sudan is a good example. Over the past 15 years, research by Human Rights Watch and
others has shown how exploitation of Sudan's oil resources has fomented armed
conflict and serious human rights abuses. In the late 1990s, an international outcry
against abuses tied to the development of oil resources led to the withdrawal of
Talisman Energy from a lucrative oil project in Sudan, and to the United States further
extending a broad range of sanctions on Sudan.

Since then the ruling National Congress party has consolidated its domination of most
industrial and commercial interests. Some of its development and industrial projects,
such as the dam construction projects that led to forced displacements in northern
Sudan, have clear human rights implications. There is little to indicate that Sudan's oil
bonanza has been used for the benefit of Sudan's people.

Furthermore, the government has committed horrendous abuses against civilians in the
course of its military operations against rebels in Darfur. In 2005 the United Nations
security council – of which the UK is a permanent member – referred Sudan to the
international criminal court (ICC) with the aim of achieving justice for the crimes
committed in Darfur. But five years later the Sudanese government continues to thumb
its nose at the court, which has issued an arrest warrant against the Sudanese president,
a current governor in Sudan and a militia leader for atrocities committed in Darfur.

In 2007, the Bush administration broadened its sanctions against Sudan, and those
sanctions remain in place. In contrast, during his visit to Sudan in July, Bellingham
suggested that the UK was now looking to balance human rights concerns with a desire
to increase business with Sudan.
"We feel the government of Sudan should co-operate with the court on the existing
arrest warrants," Bellingham said. "But on the other hand we don't have an argument
with the Sudanese people and it would quite perverse and wrong for us to not
encourage trade because trade equals wealth."

Of course the UK should not seek to punish the Sudanese people simply because
President Omar al-Bashir and others are wanted by the ICC. But is it right or sensible,
even in the current straitened economic circumstances, for the UK to make a deliberate
push to advance business ties with a country whose head of state is wanted for war
crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide? Given the economic and political
realities in Sudan, such an effort is more likely to line the pockets of leaders implicated
in rights violations than to benefit ordinary people in Sudan.

The UK government needs to think carefully about the message it is sending to the
Sudanese government. Bashir and his cronies will take a lot of comfort from the fact
that the UK, hitherto one of the staunchest supporters of the ICC, is now calling for
increased commercial ties with Sudan. Khartoum will be especially gratified because
the UN security council has also failed to respond to a decision by ICC judges last May
that Sudan is in clear violation of its obligation to co-operate with the court.

Britain should explain what kind of business it wants to pursue in Sudan and what kind
of guarantees it has in place to ensure that increased trade there will not benefit war
criminals. The UK should also spell out its plans to increase pressure on Sudan to co-
operate with the ICC. Unless the UK can be clear on these points, it will be hard to
avoid the conclusion that by pushing for greater trading ties with Sudan, the UK is
tolerating, perhaps even rewarding, those who are evading justice for heinous crimes.

If the UK is seeking to boost its trading ties with Sudan, which country is next on its
list? Zimbabwe? Burma? North Korea? Iran? They are looking for trade and investment,
too.
--------------------
Nigeria's 2011 presidential race tests North-South powersharing agreement (Christian
Science Monitor)

With the entry of a former Nigerian president and a former vice president into the
presidential fray, the 2011 Nigerian elections are off to an early start, setting the stage
for a leadership change that could decide whether the oil-rich nation will finally take up
the international and regional role that its economic importance would seem to give it.

The sudden emergence of former military president Ibrahim Babangida and former
vice-president Atiku Abubakar as presidential candidates was not unexpected. Both are
Muslims from Nigeria's north. But their emergence poses some interesting questions.
What, for instance, happens to the incumbent, Goodluck Jonathan, whose rise to the
number one slot was made possible by the sudden death of President Umaru
Yar’Adua?

And what will happen to the gentleman’s agreement of power rotation, between the
Muslim North and the mainly Christian south, which the long-ruling People’s
Democratic Party (PDP) has used to help keep the peace between North and South?

“I think Nigeria is strong enough, and has absorbed enough shocks over the last three
years that it is ready to handle this question,” says Charles Dokubo, director of the
Nigerian Institute for International Affairs in Abuja. “I believe Nigeria has matured to
the point that where you come from does not matter anymore.”

If Nigeria were not the largest democracy in Africa and also one of the largest
economies, with oil reserves that make it the US’s fifth largest source of imported oil,
then all this talk of presidential politics might seem inconsequential. But Nigeria’s size
and economic heft make it impossible to ignore. Corruption in the halls of government,
ethno-religious conflicts, and insurrection in the oil-rich Niger Delta have a nasty habit
of affecting prices at the local fuel pump, and political stability is Nigeria’s best chance
of getting a handle on these two major problems.

Given the ethnic and religious complexities of Nigeria – and the recurring cycles of
violence between communities of the north and south since independence – the ruling
PDP adopted “zoning” or power rotation in the interests of what it called equity.
According to this idea, power should be rotated between the largely Christian south
and the largely Muslim north. The south had its own turn under former President
Olusegun Obasanjo from 1999 to 2007. Yar’Adua then took over but, alas, died half-way
through what was supposed to be the first of two consecutive terms in January 2010.

Goodluck Jonathan – who as a southern Christian was chosen as Yar’Adua’s running

mate under the same equity principle – took over as president after months of confusion
and debate. Was he acting president or would he enjoy substantive powers? For their
part, Jonathan’s constituency, the minorities of the restive Niger Delta, insist that
Jonathan should now contest the next election, saying the north’s term in office – while
brief – is now over.

Underlying all this, of course, is the assumption that the PDP will remain unchallenged
at the polls. Up until the elections of 2007, which by common consent of election
observers was the worst election ever held in Nigeria, this could be guaranteed. But
things have changed. President Jonathan recently appointed a respected academic,
Attahiru Jega, to head the Independent National Election Commission, and gave the
INEC 87 billion naira ($580 million) to keep the next elections free and fair. Yet, since
political office still means access to oil revenues, the influence of corruption is difficult
to eradicate.
The PDP itself is remaining silent on which of the contending candidates will emerge as
its choice. But the fact that both IBB – as Babangida is known – and Atiku have
managed to get themselves this far says much about the power of money. As one senior
PDP figure put it: ‘If you check or do a poll on the population of the North you will find
that there are those who have money and the power to do whatever they want.’

True enough: IBB has himself been accused of looting $12.4 billion from the oil windfall
during the first Gulf War when he was head of state.

“I know that a day will come when Nigerians will forgive our regime because we are a
godly nation that embraces the culture of forgiveness,” Babangida said: “Severally and
with great remorse too, I have taken responsibility as a true leader for the actions and
decisions of the military administration that I led.”

Babangida has also said that he would rule very differently than he did during his time
as military ruler: “I have also spent many years to understudy democratic leadership in
several countries and have mastered the art of democracy and learnt how to apply it
better under our Nigerian conditions.”

Atiku, a former custom’s chief before he became vice-president to Obasanjo, is widely

perceived as one of the richest men in the country. They have doubtless used that
muscle to bulldoze their way thus far. In the process, however, they have undermined
what used to be the north’s greatest political strength: the ability to temper personal
ambition to the collective interest. Gone are the days when any lackluster candidate
would do.

“I am not seeking the presidency because I want to be rich and famous,” Mr. Atiku said
in announcing his candidacy. “Life is also about those with the capacity and talent to
help others and the society as a whole to roll up their sleeves and do so. I have had the
privilege of travelling quite a bit outside this country and I always come close to
shedding tears when I see what countries that were less endowed than Nigeria have
been able to do in the effort to provide infrastructure, investment support and social
services for their people. I know that we can do the same in Nigeria.”

At the same time, any objective reading of their respective chances would seem to
indicate that neither of them will stand much of a chance if the elections really are free
and fair.

Corruption charges aside, IBB earned the undying hatred of the southwestern part of
the country by annulling an election which one of their sons, the business mogul
Moshood Abiola, was presumed to have won in 1993, thus paving the way for the five-
year terror of his deputy, General Sani Abacha, who earned international opprobrium
in November 1995 when he caused Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight of his fellow activists to
be judicially murdered by a military tribunal which established their guilt even before it
began sitting. There is also the tricky matter of the 1987 parcel bomb murder of Dele
Giwa, a respected journalist who had allegedly obtained information about drug-
dealing within the ruling military itself. But at least IBB, who has earned the nicknames
‘the evil genius’ and ‘the Maradona of Nigerian politics,’ has a certain charisma,
complete with his trademark gap-tooth smile. This can hardly be said of Atiku, a
lackluster fellow who resembles a party apparatchik better suited to behind-the-scenes
politicking.

At stake now is whether the INEC can do the seemingly impossible. This will be the
true test of whether we emerge into proper democracy or continue with what we are
pleased to call our ‘nascent’ democracy. And behind this is the ultimate question of
whether this large, rambling, fractured entity called Nigeria – an artificial creation to
begin with – can remain as one. The stresses inherent in what one former politician
accurately called ‘a mere geographical expression’ resulted in one civil war (1967-1970)
and may now be facing a second, more serious one.
--------------------
World diamond trading group bans Zimbabwe stones (Associated Press)

HARARE, Zimbabwe — In what's being hailed as an unprecedented move that will

boost buyer awareness of blood diamonds, a global diamond trading network vowed
Monday to expel any member who knowingly trades gems from two Zimbabwe mines
where laborers have been killed and children enslaved.

The announcement by the U.S.-based Rapaport Diamond Trading Network, an industry

diamond price and information provider, comes after international regulators declared
the stones from the Zimbabwe mines conflict-free, backing off a ban they imposed in
November and allowing 900,000 carats of diamonds to be auctioned last week.

"This is the first time that we've heard of a large group like the Rapaport group actually
taking such a strong stand," said Tiseke Kasambala, a Zimbabwe specialist with Human
Rights Watch.

"Consumers will certainly ask questions" about the stones they are buying, she added.

The international regulators, whose group is known as the Kimberley Process, said the
two mines are operating at "minimum" international standards. The Rapaport group,
though, said that does not guarantee the stones "free of human rights violations" and
vowed to publish the names of members knowingly trading in diamonds from the
diamond fields near the eastern city of Mutare.

Kimberley Process officials did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment
on the move by Rapaport, which has 10,000 members. Stephane Chardon, chairman of
the group, noted that the Kimberley rules apply only to blood diamonds mined and
sold by rebel movements or their allies to finance armed conflicts aimed at toppling
legitimate governments. It has no provision for punishing governments.

Rapaport said respected human rights groups have documented severe abuses at
Mutare diamond fields since their discovery in 2006 — one of the biggest diamond
finds in southern Africa in a century. Those allegations include the killing of at least 214
allegedly illegal miners by the military and "rampant abuses of forced labor, child labor,
beatings, smuggling and corruption."

Chardon said last week the Kimberly Process deserves credit for the original ban on
Marange diamonds and for ensuring that the two fenced-off mines are being properly
run.

The Zimbabwe Ministry of Mines accuses human rights groups of "peddling

falsehoods." The auctioned diamonds are expected to provide millions of dollars in
badly needed revenue for the southern African country, which is struggling to recover
from years of economic ruin.

Robert Mhlanga, head of diamond mining holding company working alongside the
government, told The Associated Press on Monday that offers were made at the first
auction Aug. 11 for all 900,000 carats cleared for sale by the Kimberley Process.

Deals with some of the international buyers were completed and buyers left Harare in
possession of batches of diamonds. Other deals are still being processed, he said.

A second auction is scheduled in September. Mhlanga said values of the diamonds are
still being tallied.

The mines ministry first said it has about 4.4 million carats in storage and that they're
worth $1.9 billion — about one-third of the national debt or almost the government's
entire spending in the national budget.

The party of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's former opposition leader
now in a shaky coalition with longtime President Robert Mugabe, has cautioned against
raising hopes of a rapid economic boom.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti, a close Tsvangirai aide, said estimates that last week's first
bids raked in $72 million were too optimistic. He told the state broadcaster the real
amount appears closer to about $45 million, out of which just $15 million could end up
in state coffers.

Mining experts also have cautioned that only 40 percent of the diamonds are gem
quality, with the rest being industrial-quality stones. In any case, Zimbabwe would not
be allowed to flood the world market and bring down global prices, they said.
Pearson Mungofa, a mining official in Tsvangirai's party, said Zimbabwe lacks
experience to identify the value of its diamonds and largely relies on "guesses and
estimates," leading to confusion surrounding the economic potential of the diamond
reserves.
--------------------
Rwandan president meets Burundian counterpart over security issue (Xinhua)

KIGALI, Rwanda - Rwandan President Paul Kagame has held a rare meeting with his
Burundian counterpart Peter Nkurunziza at the border post of Akanyaru where the two
leaders discussed about a number of "common interest issues" seen as the "greatest
challenges" to regional security, official sources in Kigali reported.

Apart from the "strengthen" of the existing cooperation between the two neighboring
Central African nations by especially tackling the issue of security, no concrete
measures were announced in an official press release issued in Kigali on late Sunday.

However, analysts believed the meeting between the two leaders came in the wake of
acts of instability related to the grenade attacks that struck the Rwandan capital of
Kigali over the last months where 15 people died and several other dozens were
wounded.

Since the last two months, some Rwandan nationals suspected to be involved in these
grenade attacks have been arrested in Burundi before being extradited to face trials in
Rwanda.

Among those arrested included Deo Mushayidi, a politician and a member of a not yet
registered opposition party, who has been arrested in Burundi and used fake identities
and travel documents.

In a statement released on Sunday, a spokesman of the Rwandan's army warned the

instigators of the recent series of grenade attacks in Kigali, said "tough action" would be
taken against these "terror groups" even if they are backed and supported by some
"foreign countries".

"The Rwanda Defense Forces (RDF) has new and stronger evidence that instigators of
these terrorist acts are highly trained men who have established their base in some
neighboring countries (of Rwanda)," Lt. Col Rutaremara said in a statement, though he
did not mention names.
--------------------
Algerian president urges more investment in energy sector (AFP)
ALGIERS, Algeria – Algeria needs to step up investment and exploration in its energy
sector, the pillar of the north African country's economy, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika
said Monday.

Algeria needs to "invest more ... in the development of its hydrocarbon potential,
intensifying research efforts and exploration," he said in a statement quoted by the APS
news agency.

Bouteflika called for a "re-evaluation of petrochemical industry projects" in order to

"create a downstream industry", at a government meeting dedicated to energy and
mining sectors.

"We must ... mobilise domestic financing and encourage the entry of high level foreign
partners to explore our large reserves of iron and phosphate, for example," he added.

The president also called for the government to draft a "real action plan" on the
development of renewable energy sources.

Energy and Mines Minister Youcef Yousfi forecast growth in output of hydorocarbons
thanks to an "effort to optimise the exploitation of deposits".

Algeria intends to invest 286 billion dollars in its energy sector according to its 2010-
2014 energy sector plan.
--------------------
At regional African summit, focus on Congo killing (Associated Press)

WINDHOEK, Namibia – Civil rights activists said Monday that Congo's official
investigation into the death of a human rights campaigner looks like a cover-up.

In an open letter released Monday on the sidelines of a Southern African summit

chaired by Congolese President Joseph Kabila, more than 70 civil rights groups called
for an independent inquiry into Floribert Chebeya Bahizire's killing.

The body of Bahizire, head of Voix des Sans Voix, or Voice of the Voiceless, was found
in his car June 2 in a suburb on the outskirts of Congo's capital, Kinshasa. Voix des Sans
Voix, one of the largest rights groups in Congo, said he appeared to have been
strangled.

Several police were arrested in connection to the death.

"The official investigation has achieved almost nothing and bears all the hallmarks of a
cover-up rather than any real attempt to uncover the truth," said Hubert Tshiswaka,
whose Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa was among the groups that signed
the letter.
"Only an independent inquiry has any chance of bringing those responsible for these
appalling crimes to court — something President Kabila has promised to do,"
Tshiswaka said in Windhoek, Namibia on the sidelines of the Southern African
Development Community summit.

Congolese government officials in Windhoek for the summit were unavailable for
comment.

Some observers have said Bahizire's death was part of an official strategy in Congo to
silence opposition voices, while others have said it highlights chaos amid a struggle for
power in the sprawling, troubled central African country.

For the past two decades, Bahizire's Voix des Sans Voix has documented human rights
abuses across Congo, focusing on corruption in the military and foreign support for
militias, according to the U.N.

The Southern African Development Community summit will run for two days, during
which the rotating chairmanship will pass to Namibia.
-------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

Ban speaks out against recent attacks directed at UN staff in Darfur

16 August – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today expressed concern over a string of
recent incidents that have contributed to a worsening of the situation in Sudan’s strife-
torn Darfur region, where tensions continue at a camp for displaced persons and two
United Nations-African Union peacekeepers were seized on Saturday.

Assembly chief takes part in independence celebration in Republic of Congo

16 August – The President of the United Nations General Assembly has just wrapped
up a three-day official visit to the Republic of Congo that included the celebration of the
50th anniversary of the country’s independence.

Niger: UN fund allocates more resources to hunger-stricken population

16 August – In an effort to alleviate alarming food shortages that have caused high
malnutrition rates among children in Niger, the United Nations Central Emergency
Response Fund (CERF) has allocated an additional $15 million to enable the UN food
agency to provide relief to an estimated 1.7 million people.