Heavy rains continued for a second week across previously dry areas in western Ethiopia and South Sudan.

1) Poorly distributed and significantly below average seasonal rainfall has resulted in deteriorating ground conditions since January. This has negatively impacted crops and livestock throughout many parts of southern Angola and northern Namibia.

The latest IMF World Economic Outlook highlights a surge in economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa. While such a trend is welcome, it should not be a cause for complacency, argues Connell Foley, Director of Strategy with Concern Worldwide

Given the generally negative perceptions of Africa amongst the general public, it is heartening to read the latest IMF World Economic Outlook report suggesting that growth south of the Sahara will hit 6.1% next year.

KEY MESSAGES

As the magnitude and scope of the AIDS epidemic grew during the 1990s, it transformed the international development landscape: HIV/AIDS became a global development issue with socioeconomic implications for livelihoods, rather than an isolated health issue. In response to this crisis, the Regional Network on AIDS, Livelihoods, and Food Security (RENEWAL) was officially launched in 2001 as a joint project of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR).

IMPROVING MATERNAL, NEWBORN AND CHILD HEALTH CARE IN AFRICA

In the next five minutes....
3 women will lose their lives to complications of pregnancy or childbirth, 60 others will suffer debilitating injuries and infection due to the same causes, and 70 children will die, nearly 30 of them newborn babies. Countless other babies will be stillborn or suffer potentially long-term consequences of being born prematurely. The vast majority of these deaths and disabilities are preventable.
- Countdown to 2015, Maternal, Newborn & Child Survival (2012)

This is a summary of what was said by the UNHCR spokesperson at today’s Palais des Nations press briefing in Geneva.

African countries hosting large numbers of Rwandan refugees and Rwanda itself have reiterated their commitment to resolving the protracted Rwandan refugee situation in line with a Comprehensive Strategy that was announced by UNHCR in October 2009.

KEY MESSAGES

9 April 2013 – The international community is losing vast amounts of agricultural production due to the effects of continuing land degradation such as desertification, a new United Nations study has warned, adding that without sustainable land management, development initiatives the world over will be stymied.

NAIROBI, 14 March 2013 (IRIN) - Collusion among government officials, unscrupulous water vendors and large farm owners results in diverted water supply lines, misappropriated funds, and failure to implement laws on protecting water sources from encroachment and pollution. These are just some of the ways corruption is denying millions of poor people in Africa access to safe and clean drinking water, experts say.