United States Africa Command

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18 October 2010

USAFRICOM - related news stories

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

Sudan VP criticises Obama warning of bloodshed (AFP)

(Sudan) Sudan's vice president on Saturday criticised US President Barack Obama for
warning of possible bloodshed if a referendum on independence for south Sudan does
not take place as planned in January.

Somali Militias Clash, Undermining New Strategy (New York Times)

(Somalia) Fighting broke out in central Somalia on Friday between two moderate
Islamist militias that the United States and others had been counting on, as part of a
new strategy, to stave off the Shabab, the nation’s most powerful insurgents.

U.S. Investors 'Concerned Over Calls to Nationalise' (Business Day)

(South Africa) A senior US government official yesterday warned against attempts to
nationalise SA's mines. William Fitzgerald, deputy assistant secretary of state for
African affairs, spoke in Sandton where he met US economic and commercial officers
posted in Africa.

American Doctor Aims to Improve Nation's Healthcare (The Citizen - Dar es Salaam)
(Tanzania) An American doctor believes he can bring great medical care to help
Tanzanians as they, like the people in America would also want to get better health
care.

United Nations Security Council extends mandate of panel on Darfur sanctions

(Afrique en Ligne)
(Sudan) The UN Security Council has extended, by one year, the mandate of the panel
of experts monitoring sanctions imposed on the strife-torn Sudanese region of Darfur.

Europe must reinforce African armies or 'move': Niger (AFP)

(North Africa) European countries must reinforce north African armies battling
Islamist militants or the security situation will deteriorate and they will be forced to
move, a senior Niger official said Friday.

LRA rebels to be given 'terrorist' status: African Union (AFP)

(Central Africa) Central African countries plagued by the brutal rebellion of the Lord's
Resistance Army are working to reclassify the group as terrorists, the African Union
said on Saturday.

UN envoy for W.Sahara 'on new mission to region' (AFP)

(Algeria) The UN secretary general's special envoy for Western Sahara arrived in
Algiers on Sunday on a new mission ahead of another round of informal talks expected
in November, the Algerian APS news agency reported.

Pirates Seize South Korean Fishing Boat (QMI Agency)

(Somalia) A South Korean crab fishing vessel with 43 people on board has been taken
over by pirates off the coast of Kenya.

Parties divided over Guinea electoral commission (Associated Press)

(Guinea) Growing discord over the makeup of Guinea's electoral commission is
dividing the country and threatening to cause yet another delay of the presidential
runoff that could choose the country's first democratically elected leader.

Zambians Riot After Miners Are Shot (Wall Street Journal)

(Zambia) Zambian locals rioted and blocked a road leading to Chinese-owned Collum
Coal Mine Ltd. on Saturday to protest the shooting of at least 11 miners, allegedly by
Chinese supervisors during a protest over low wages, police officials said Sunday.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
 Root causes must be addressed to end Sahel's recurring food crises – UN official
 Enhanced effort needed to address long-term effects of Niger food crisis – UN
 DR Congo: UN mission chief stresses reform of security and law to end violence
 African leaders at UN-backed forum urge funding for climate change adaptation
 Africa launches Women’s Decade with keynote address from deputy UN chief
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, October 19, 5:00 p.m.; Mortara Center for International
Studies, Georgetown University
WHAT: The Future of Sudan
WHO: Andrew Natsios
Info: http://events.georgetown.edu/events/index.cfm?
Action=View&CalendarID=242&EventID=80455

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, October 19, 12:00 p.m.; Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign
Service, Georgetown University
WHAT: The Somalia Syndrome and the Path to 9/11
WHO: Robert G. Patman, Department of Politics, University of Otago
Info: http://events.georgetown.edu/events/index.cfm?
Action=View&CalendarID=86&EventID=79000

WHEN/WHERE: Wednesday, October 20, 3:30 p.m.; Center for Strategic and
International Studies
WHAT: State Department: A Dual-Track Approach to Somalia
WHO: Ambassador Johnnie Carson, Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of African
Affairs, U.S. Department of State
Info: http://csis.org/event/state-department-dual-track-approach-somalia
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FULL ARTICLE TEXT

Sudan VP criticises Obama warning of bloodshed (AFP)

DOHA – Sudan's vice president on Saturday criticised US President Barack Obama for
warning of possible bloodshed if a referendum on independence for south Sudan does
not take place as planned in January.

"Obama receives reports from entities who do not know what is happening in Sudan,"
Ali Osman Taha told a news conference in Doha.

"This is not the first time he speaks as such of Sudan, and it will not be the last. He
makes those remarks based on what he hears from pressure groups."

On September 24, Obama and UN chief Ban Ki-moon led international warnings that
the planned January 9 votes must be held on time and peacefully.

"At this moment, the fate of millions of people hangs in the balance," Obama told a
special UN meeting.

"What happens in Sudan in the days ahead may decide whether people who have
endured too much war, move towards peace or slip backwards to bloodshed."

Taha also criticised Washington's stance on Sudanese unity.

"The United States was initially saying it wants Sudan to remain united, then it moved a
little to say that what it wants whatever the southerners accept, and today it raises its
voice saying that separation will be inevitable," he said.

"This shows that there are US pressure lobbies linked to Israel talking and pushing
things in this direction."
South Sudan is scheduled to vote on January 9 on whether to become independent or
remain part of a united Sudan, with many believing it will opt to split Africa's largest
nation in two.

Taha ruled out using force to defend Sudanese unity.

"The Sudanese army has been withdrawn completely from the south. We do not allow
any thought implying that we intend to use military force," he said.

But he warned of possible conflict in oil-rich Abyei, a flashpoint region straddling both
sides that is also scheduled to vote on January 9 to decide whether to remain in the
north or join the south.

"This matter is dangerous because it is based on a dialogue between two major tribes
and societies -- Misseriya and Ngok Dinka -- and any agreement or concession without
the consent of both sides will lead to a war," he said.

Misseriya Arabs are thought to favour remaining in a united Sudan and Ngok Dinka
are seen as supporting joining an independent south.
--------------------
Somali Militias Clash, Undermining New Strategy (New York Times)

NAIROBI, Kenya — Fighting broke out in central Somalia on Friday between two
moderate Islamist militias that the United States and others had been counting on, as
part of a new strategy, to stave off the Shabab, the nation’s most powerful insurgents.
Shortly before the clashes started, a Western aid worker was kidnapped from the same
area.

Somali officials said that fighters from Ahlu Sunna Wal Jamaa, a moderate Islamist
militia, abruptly invaded the town of Adado, setting off an intense street battle between
them and the town’s forces in which at least half a dozen people were killed.

The violence seemed to have been fueled by a mix of clan rivalries and a power struggle
with the authorities who run Adado, one of the few places in central Somalia that had
been considered safe. Somali officials said the fighting there was a setback to the efforts
to unite various clans and local administrations to push back the Shabab, who rule
much of Somalia, chopping off hands and banning music, cigarettes and even bras in
some of the zones they control.

“What happened in Adado is very serious, especially to attack a town which is

relatively peaceful,” President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, the leader of Somalia’s
beleaguered transitional government, said after Friday Prayer. “It could cause serious
consequences.”
Already, more militiamen are streaming into the area, from several directions. There
were reports on Friday night that the Shabab had seized Dhusamareb, a town near
Adado that had been controlled by Ahlu Sunna Wal Jamaa, the moderate militia. The
Shabab may have chosen to attack on Friday because the Ahlu Sunna forces were
stretched thin by their strike on Adado.

Before this, Adado had been widely considered one of the most peaceful niches of south
central Somalia, run by Mohamed Aden, a young Somali-American who returned two
years ago from Minnesota to set up a small, clan-based government. His success in
building schools, digging wells and delivering a modicum of stability in an area of
Somalia that is home to terrorists and pirates had attracted the notice of the United
Nations — and possibly envious rivals.

The kidnapped aid worker, a British citizen, is a consultant for Save the Children, which
was exploring several aid projects in the area. It is not clear who is holding him or if the
kidnapping was connected to the fighting.

Ahlu Sunna officials said they took over Adado because residents there were being
abused. Several Somali analysts said the real motivation might have been to extend
Ahlu Sunna’s power in the hope of becoming a rival to the transitional government.

The leader of the Ahlu Sunna forces that attacked Adado comes from a clan that has
recently been at odds with the authorities in Adado, who are from a different clan and
have regrouped outside the town, vowing to launch a counterattack.

The two sides had been loosely allied with each other — and with the nation’s
transitional government — and had been somewhat successful in keeping the Shabab
out of their areas. But the Adado authorities had declined to be folded into the Ahlu
Sunna group, a possible source of the tension.

Central Somalia may now be on the verge of another turbulent period. On Thursday, in
Xarardheere, a notorious pirate den, militant Islamist fighters fired into an angry crowd
and killed civilians, including a pregnant woman, witnesses said. Apparently, the local
population was getting fed up living under strict Islamic law and began stoning the
fighters during a public lashing.
--------------------
U.S. Investors 'Concerned Over Calls to Nationalise' (Business Day)

Johannesburg — A senior US government official yesterday warned against attempts to

nationalise SA's mines.

William Fitzgerald, deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs, spoke in
Sandton where he met US economic and commercial officers posted in Africa.
"I certainly think that American investors are very concerned when there's talk about
nationalisation," Mr Fitzgerald said.

"Over the past 30 years what we have seen around the world, when a country
nationalises its industries, is that those industries tend to become in efficient," he said.
"You only need to look at other African countries in the southern hemisphere to see that
nationalisation has largely led to greater unemployment and lack of competitiveness."

The African National Congress (ANC) Youth League is on a quest to make

nationalisation official government policy. The league has even threatened to unseat
leaders of the party at its elective conference in 2012 if they did not support its call.

President Jacob Zuma and senior members of the Cabinet have maintained that
nationalisation is not government policy. However, the ANC has instructed its national
executive committee to investigate and draw up a report on the practicality of state
intervention in the economy, including nationalisation.

Mr Fitzgerald said more American companies were interested in investing in SA. A

recent case was retailer Wal-Mart's offer of 4,6bn to buy SA's Massmart Holdings.

About 500 US enterprises are operating in SA, he said.

SA is one of 38 African countries that export products quota and duty-free under the
US-initiated Africa Growth and Opportunity Act.

Mr Fitzgerald said the US would be willing to assist African governments to formulate

measures for reducing trade barriers.
--------------------
American Doctor Aims to Improve Nation's Healthcare (The Citizen - Dar es Salaam)

An American doctor believes he can bring great medical care to help Tanzanians as
they, like the people in America would also want to get better health care.

Dr John Davis of Pocatello in Bannock, Idaho, is a doctor of osteopathic medicine, who

is one of four rural health clinic medical directors for Bingham Memorial Hospital
(BMH). He has worked with BMH for about ten years.

One of his passions was to be certified in disaster medicine.

He and a family nurse practitioner, Ms Brenda Wilmore, will be joining a team from the
American Board of Disaster Medicine to train a physician and stock a clinic in Dar es
Salaam.
Among the reasons for making the trip will be to build a relationship with the Ministry
of Health and Social Welfare and look for sites where future clinics will be located.

"Tanzania has one of the poorest economies. It is in the lowest ten per cent of all
countries in the world. It is a country of very little means," Dr Davis said recently.

He said Ms Wilmore -- who hails from Ethiopia -- was very interested in joining an 11-
day medical mission to help Tanzanians.

The public relations director at Bingham Memorial Hospital, Mr Paul Kotter, said the
hospital donated funds to help equip the clinic in Dar es Salaam with antibiotics, anti-
fungal and cardiovascular medications.

Other equipment included a stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, ace bandages, syringes,
needles and urine dipstick equipment.

"There are so many people in Africa that are HIV positive and their immune systems
are very suppressed.

"Things that wouldn't normally affect us can do so because their immune systems are
very weak," he said.

Dr Davis explained that, as it is illegal to hand out HIV medication in Tanzania, the
team will work with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to provide the necessary
care on its terms.

Tanzania declared HIV/Aids a national disaster at the end of 1999. The country faces a
severe Aids epidemic, with around 1.4 million people believed to be living with HIV.

Mr Kotter said in the past the hospital assisted some of its own health care providers in
medical mission operations in South America.

"I think it is wonderful that we have physicians and employees at our hospital that
want to help in this way," Mr Kotter said and continued:

"It says a lot about the character of people that represent those at the Bingham
Memorial Hospital. We're happy that we can help support this cause," he remarked.

Dr Davis said he and Ms Wilmore will join Dr Martin Thornton, of the American board
of disaster medicine and his team in Amsterdam before coming to Tanzania.

"There is a nurse that will be facilitating in Tanzania and there is a physician who has
been assigned to be in charge of this clinic, but is currently out for his training program.
"We will be spending time with him to discuss how we manage when we diagnose and
treat (patients)," Dr Davis said.

He is glad that he is able to take time off to give back and make a difference in the lives
of Tanzanians. He hopes to return and see progress after this medical trip.
--------------------
United Nations Security Council extends mandate of panel on Darfur sanctions
(Afrique en Ligne)

New York, US - The UN Security Council has extended, by one year, the mandate of the
panel of experts monitoring sanctions imposed on the strife-torn Sudanese region of
Darfur. The Pan African News Agency (PANA), however, reports that China, a
permanent member of the council, abstained from voting over concerns about the
panel's work.

The panel, which was established in March 2005, is tasked with monitoring an arms
embargo, travel ban and assets freeze in the Darfur region.

It is also to inform the council's sanctions committee about individuals who impede the
peace process, violate international law or are responsible for offensive military
overflights.

In the resolution, the council urged all member states to cooperate with the panel and
the related sanctions committee, as it extended the expert body's mandate until 19
October, 2011.

It also requested that the panel coordinates its activities with the joint UN' African
Union peacekeeping force (UNAMID), which was established nearly three years ago to
help protect civilians in Darfur.

Abstaining on the vote on the resolution, which was supported by the council's other 14
members, China's representative expressed concerns about the latest report of the panel,
as well as the group's objectivity in carrying out its work.

The UN had estimated that more than 300,000 people have been killed and 2.7 million
others displaced since 2003 following fighting between rebels and Sudanese
government forces and their allied Janjaweed militiamen in Darfur region.
--------------------
Europe must reinforce African armies or 'move': Niger (AFP)

ROME — European countries must reinforce north African armies battling Islamist
militants or the security situation will deteriorate and they will be forced to move, a
senior Niger official said Friday.
"When speaking of security, Europe thinks of closing up, securing the interior and the
borders, but the principal security of Europe is the security and development of Africa,"
said Amadou Marou, president of the National Consultative Council that is managing
the country's political transition following a military coup in February.

His comments follow the kidnapping last month of five French nationals, a Madagascan
and a Togolese from an uranium mining town in Niger by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic
Maghreb (AQIM).

AQIM, which has exploited the vast spaces of the Sahara desert and Sahel scrubland to
stage attacks in a number of countries in the region, is believed to be holding the
prisoners in a mountainous desert region in northeastern Mali.

"Somalia got away from us and northern Mali is in the process of getting away from us,"
said Marou, speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of a meeting organised by
the lay Catholic community Sant'Egidio.

"If the Europeans don't reinforce security in this area, they'll have to move," he added.

North African counter-terrorism experts held two days of meetings this past week with
their G8 counterparts on how to step up regional cooperation and battle Islamic
militants linked to Al-Qaeda.

"The Sahel is very fragile, fertile ground for all sorts of terror and trafficking," said
Marou.
--------------------
LRA rebels to be given 'terrorist' status: African Union (AFP)

LIBREVILLE – Central African countries plagued by the brutal rebellion of the Lord's
Resistance Army are working to reclassify the group as terrorists, the African Union
said on Saturday.

At a meeting this week in the Central African Republic aimed at promoting a joint
approach to the LRA, participants agreed to take steps to have the LRA classified as
terrorists, rather than rebels, by the AU.

This would give affected countries greater access to international funds and require
increased levels of judicial cooperation.

The group has killed about 2,000 people in the last two years, and displaced more than
400,000, according to the UN.
Representatives from Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan met in
Bangui on Wednesday and Thursday, along with Kenya, where they also agreed to step
up joint military action.

"Participants agreed to the following concrete measures: the creation of a joint centre of
operations, the creation of a joint taskforce to lead actions against the LRA, and the
deployment of joint border patrols," the AU said in a statement.

The LRA emerged in 1998 in northern Uganda as a rebel movement dedicated to

overthrowing the east African country's government and establishing a regime to
uphold the Biblical Ten Commandments, but it was largely put down in its own
country.

Today it is infamous for regional atrocities against civilians, including massacres, and
its leaders are wanted for war crimes. Uganda launched a joint raid with DR Congo
troops against it in December 2008, but failed to crush it or capture its chief, Joseph
Kony.
--------------------
UN envoy for W.Sahara 'on new mission to region' (AFP)

ALGIERS – The UN secretary general's special envoy for Western Sahara arrived in
Algiers on Sunday on a new mission ahead of another round of informal talks expected
in November, the Algerian APS news agency reported.

Christopher Ross is expected to visit Tindouf, the town in southwest Algeria near the
border of Western Sahara where there are camps of refugees who fled the former
Spanish colony, a Spanish diplomatic source told AFP in Rabat on Saturday.

Ross will hold talks with the two sides in the conflict in Western Sahara, the Polisario
Front independence movement and Morocco, which annexed the territory in 1975.

He will also talk to officials in Algeria and Mauritania, which border Western Sahara.

It is the fourth visit to the region Ross has made since becoming special envoy in
January 2009. He is seeking to restart direct negotiations under UN auspices between
Morocco and the Polisario on the future of Western Sahara.

The two sides were able to bridge their differences during a round of informal talks
outside New York in February.

Morocco's 1975 annexation of the territory sparked a war between its forces and the
Polisario guerrillas.
The two sides agreed to a ceasefire in 1991 but the UN-sponsored talks on Western
Sahara's future have since made no headway.

Rabat has pledged to grant Western Sahara widespread autonomy but rules out
independence.

The Polisario Front, with the support of Algiers, wants a referendum on self-
determination, with independence as one of the options.
--------------------
Pirates Seize South Korean Fishing Boat (QMI Agency)

A South Korean crab fishing vessel with 43 people on board has been taken over by
pirates off the coast of Kenya.

The BBC reports that the South Korean foreign industry has set up an emergency task
force at its embassy in Kenya since the boat was captured off Lamu Island on Oct. 9.
That area, about 400 kilometres from the headquarters of Somali pirates, is considered
to be a relatively safe area to sail because it's regularly patrolled by Kenyan coast
guards. The Korean Times reports that the ship's crew consists of 39 Kenyans, two
Chinese and two South Koreans.

The boat is believed to be somewhere in northern Somalia.

--------------------
Parties divided over Guinea electoral commission (Associated Press)

CONAKRY, Guinea – Growing discord over the makeup of Guinea's electoral

commission is dividing the country and threatening to cause yet another delay of the
presidential runoff that could choose the country's first democratically elected leader.

On Friday, the electoral commission announced it was adding a second interim

president, Foumba Kouroumah, in an effort to address concerns about the neutrality of
the commission's current president. One of the candidates has accused him of being a
militant supporter of the opponent.

The disagreements over the commission have become the last sticking point ahead of
the Oct. 24 presidential runoff that already has been postponed multiple times,
plunging the country into crisis.

Experts fear that if the election is delayed again, the process could be hijacked by a coup
in the West African nation, whose last two leaders came to power through force.

The National Council of the Organizations of Civil Society had released a statement late
Thursday asking that the troubled commission be dissolved and replaced with new
members.
While the election's first round in June was viewed as largely fair, problems started
when the field of 24 candidates was narrowed down to the top two, who happen to be
from the country's two largest ethnic groups.

The contest has since taken on ethnic tones with the Peul, the nation's largest ethnic
group, supporting Peul candidate Cellou Dalein Diallo while Malinke voters are
backing Malinke candidate Alpha Conde.

The disagreement over the composition of the election commission is largely ethnic. In
September, the president of the commission died after being evacuated to Paris for
treatment. The man chosen to replace him is Toma, a minority ethnic group with close
ties to the Malinke.

Diallo's party has accused the commission president, Lounceny Camara, of being biased
toward Conde. He has asked for the new chief to be removed saying that if he isn't, his
party will boycott the election. Meanwhile Alpha Conde's party, the Rally of the
Guinean People, or RPG, says that if the head of the commission is replaced, the RPG
will boycott the vote.

"The ethnic question has infiltrated every fiber of the election commission. And that has
cost the commission a lot," said Mohamed Soumah, an NGO worker and political
commentator. "If we don't watch out, it could compromise the entire election."

Meanwhile, the commission's workers showed up at the office to demand their unpaid
salaries, saying they refuse to staff the Oct. 24 vote if their back wages are not paid.

The multiple delays in Guinea's election have cast a pall over the country of 10 million
which seemed to have turned a corner earlier this year when the military junta ruling
the nation agreed to step aside and allow a transition to civilian rule.

The poll could still be the country's first free and fair vote since winning independence
from France 52 years ago.
--------------------
Zambians Riot After Miners Are Shot (Wall Street Journal)

Zambian locals rioted and blocked a road leading to Chinese-owned Collum Coal Mine
Ltd. on Saturday to protest the shooting of at least 11 miners, allegedly by Chinese
supervisors during a protest over low wages, police officials said Sunday.

On Friday, miners at Collum Coal Mine, in the Sinazongwe District of southern Zambia,
demonstrated against low pay and poor working conditions. Gunshots followed,
allegedly fired by two Chinese supervisors, wounding 11 miners, two of them critically,
according to Zambian police and government officials. They were taken to a hospital.
Zambian police arrested the two Chinese supervisors allegedly involved. No charges
have been filed. They are expected to appear in court the coming week.

Oliver Pelete, the district commissioner, said he met with officials from the Chinese
embassy on Sunday to discuss the incident and conditions at the mine. He said the
officials had apologized for the incident.

An embassy representative couldn't be reached on Sunday to confirm the apology or

offer any details of the shooting.

"We will sit down to look at the conditions for the miners [together]…to ensure that all
conditions are according to the laws of the country so we won't have any more
conflicts," Mr. Pelete said.

Reached by phone Sunday, Danny Law, a marketing manager at the mine, called the
incident "an accident," and said only that two Chinese supervisors were attacked.

"The miners attacked the employees," he said. "They had no other choice but to shoot in
the air. Several people were wounded, but it's not serious." He said the company would
pay for their hospital bills.

Mr. Law said he didn't know why the miners had attacked their supervisors, but said
that some of the miners were "misguided," though he didn't elaborate. "The truth will
come out very soon," he said.

Local police said they recorded statements from the two Chinese supervisors allegedly
involved.

The incident once again has heightened tensions between Chinese managers and local
miners in this copper-rich southern African nation. China, hungry for resources to feed
its booming economy, has invested across the continent in oil and mineral extraction. In
Zambia, China's primary interest is copper.

Like other impoverished governments in sub-Saharan Africa, Zambian officials have

welcomed Chinese companies and their foreign currency. But local miners have for
years protested what they say are insufficient wages and unsafe working conditions at
Chinese-run mines. That has led to clashes between miners and their supervisors.
Zambia's lead opposition party, the Patriotic Front, has charged the government with
allowing Chinese investors to operate above the law.

Rayford Mbulu, the president of the Miners Union of Zambia, said that the managers
flouted Zambian law by carrying firearms to the mine. "We don't care what investments
the Chinese are bringing into the country," he said. "We cannot allow them to shoot
miners like that."

According to union officials, workers at Collum Coal Mine are among the lowest-paid
miners in Zambia, with some getting as little as $70 a month. Since last year, the
workers have been pressing management for a pay raise and for improved working
conditions.

In 2008, Zambia's safety department closed the underground section of the Collum
mine following a spate of fatal accidents, blamed on lack of proper safety measures.

The shooting at Collum is the second incident involving Chinese-owned mines in

Zambia. In 2005, an explosion at a plant on the grounds of the Chambishi Copper
Mines, owned by China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group Co., killed 46 Zambian miners
in one of the deadliest blasts in the nation's history. A government investigation blamed
management for disregarding safety measures at the plant, although the company was
later cleared to rebuild the facility.

The following year, Chinese managers at Chambishi shot at least six miners during a
wage protest. An investigation into the shooting wasn't made public.

China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group took over Luanshya Copper Mines last year,
and has pledged to invest at least $350 million to develop the Mulyanshi Copper Mine.
--------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

Root causes must be addressed to end Sahel's recurring food crises – UN official
17 October – The top United Nations humanitarian official has called for solutions to
tackle the root causes of cyclical food crises in Africa's Sahel region, as she wrapped up
a three-day visit to Niger, where half the population is in need of assistance.

Enhanced effort needed to address long-term effects of Niger food crisis – UN

16 October – Although global aid has helped to stem Niger's food crisis which has
affected nearly half of the country's population, more help is needed to ally its longer-
term effects, the top United Nations humanitarian official has said while on a visit to the
impoverished Sahelian nation.

DR Congo: UN mission chief stresses reform of security and law to end violence
15 October – The head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC) cautioned today that military operations alone in the
restive eastern region cannot ensure long-term security in the area, stressing the need to
build the capacity of the country’s military, justice system and the police force.
African leaders at UN-backed forum urge funding for climate change adaptation
15 October – African leaders gathered in a United Nations-backed meeting today urged
the international community to support a fund intended to help poor countries adapt to
the consequences of climate change and mitigate its effects of their economies and the
environment.

Africa launches Women’s Decade with keynote address from deputy UN chief
15 October – The African Union (AU) today launched the African Women’s Decade,
with a top United Nations official calling on the continent’s leaders to seize the
opportunity to eliminate a raft of ills, from exclusion from land tenure, credit and
inheritance to violence and genital mutilation.