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/ 28 February 2005
In the wooden shanty town of Elmina on the outskirts of Mauritania’s capital, Nouakchott, Aids educators do not let religious or cultural conservatism get in their way. A wooden dummy of a penis fitted with a condom is used to instruct people about the dangers of unprotected sex — a somewhat unexpected sight in a country that is almost entirely Muslim, and where discussions about sex have tended to be taboo.
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/ 18 February 2005
The Herculean nature of the task facing Somalia’s new government has been brought to the fore again in recent days, as efforts proceed to have the administration installed in the capital, Mogadishu. Reports on Thursday said three people had died while seven were injured in what appeared to have been a bomb blast outside the building that used to house the foreign affairs ministry.
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/ 15 February 2005
If Kenya is to reach the Millennium Development Goal of reducing maternal mortality by three-quarters in the next decade, officials may have to call a halt to the work of traditional birth attendants. The risks of allowing them to ply their trade unhindered, says Kenya’s Department of Health, are simply too great.
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/ 14 February 2005
Leah Njoki’s face was bathed in perspiration as she made her way, limping, in front of the United Nations premises last week. Sleeping outdoors had also brought on an attack of flu. Njoki was one of about 300 disabled hawkers who had been demonstrating at the offices for several days, in the hope of forcing the UN to intervene in a local government decision to bar informal traders from doing business in the city centre.
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/ 9 February 2005
”If the Transitional Federal Government does not make human rights a base for … its political structures, I do not think the project of reconciliation will succeed,” Ghanim Alnajjar told journalists in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, Monday, after returning from a two-week visit to Somalia.
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/ 27 January 2005
In a promising development, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army, the rebel movement that took up arms against Khartoum in 1983, appears to be giving priority to education. Schooling for girls will receive particular attention. The emphasis on educating girls reflects a larger strategy within the movement to address cultural factors that undermine the status of women.
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/ 19 January 2005
While a decade may seem a substantial amount of time to some, it is all too short for those who are pushing to have the Millennium Development Goals realised. The prospects for achieving the goals appear especially bleak for sub-Saharan Africa, especially Kenya, unless drastic measures are implemented.
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/ 17 January 2005
A recent statement by the Kenyan government that many students who graduated from primary school last year will not find places in the country’s secondary schools has generated widespread concern. While some children will be able to attend private secondary schools, many children may be forced to abandon formal schooling.
As Kenya goes into the new year, the country’s political landscape remains unchanged in at least one key respect: a new Constitution is as elusive as ever. While President Mwai Kibaki came to power in December 2002 promising that a new Constitution would be in place within 100 days, nothing of the sort happened.
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/ 21 December 2004
With Christmas just a few days away, and news of an extended ceasefire between the government and rebels, the inhabitants of northern Uganda might be expected to be getting into the swing of the festive season. Instead, there is concern that starving fighters from the Lord’s Resistance Army will emerge from the bush in a combative mood.