An insufficient rain since the start of the season has resulted in abnormal dryness across parts of northern Nigeria.

1) Despite an increase in rainfall since mid-April, the delayed onset or seasonal rainfall has led to unfavorable ground conditions for the northeastern Belg-producing areas of Ethiopia. The erratic nature of the seasonal rains has negatively impacted cropping activities, likely resulting in below-average crop yields.

This report has the distinction of being the first ever Global Communities Annual Report and also the 60th anniversary report of the organization that began in 1952 as the Foundation for Cooperative Housing. It therefore explores both our new direction and our heritage, with the focus being the 60 years of partnership that has been and remains at the core of our work.

The just-published 2012 Annual Report on Switzerland's International Cooperation sets out a unified strategy that encompasses – for the first time – humanitarian aid, technical and financial cooperation, economic and trade policy measures, and cooperation with the countries of Eastern Europe. SDC Director-General Martin Dahinden and State Secretary and Director of SECO Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch stress that this important milestone has been welcomed both by Parliament and by public opinion.

The Open Data Platform is a user-friendly tool for extracting data, creating and sharing own customized reports, and visualizing data across themes, sectors and countries in tables, charts and maps. Through the Open Data Platform, users can access a wide range of development data on African countries from multiple international and national official sources. The platform also facilitates the collection, analysis and sharing of data among countries and with international development partners.

The National Diet of Japan has approved the country's supplementary budget fiscal year 2012, which includes USD 43.5 million to support IOM humanitarian operations for vulnerable migrants, internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees, and host communities worldwide.

The funding is designed to address unmet or unplanned needs during the fiscal year and is the largest amount that IOM has received to date from this Japanese funding mechanism.

Messages clés :

• En Afrique de l’Ouest, les prix des produits alimentaires étaient stables ou ont diminué en novembre tandis que leurs disponibilités continuaient à s’améliorer avec la campagne de commercialisation en cours. Des hausses de prix ont eu lieu plus tôt que prévu dans des centres urbains de la région et dans les zones structurellement déficitaires en raison des flux limités de produits en provenance des régions de production excédentaire.

Emilie Filou reports on the challenges of eliminating river blindness from Africa by 2025

1) With seasonal rains ending and as vegetation dries out, locust swarms have formed in Chad and are expected to form shortly in Niger and Mali. Swarms are then expected to migrate towards the north as well as potentially into cropping areas in western/central Mali.

Responding to the Crisis in Syria

Instability and conflict in Syria continue to affect hundreds of thousands of people. An estimated one million Syrians have been internally displaced, while the overall total affected population is estimated at up to 2.5 million.