H1N1 Influenza ("Swine Flu")

Israel is the only country to have reported an incidence of H1N1 Influenza in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia region, with 4 confirmed cases and no deaths as of 5 May 2009. The

Mohamed Ahmed Ugas, a local government regional coordinator, said Puntland authorities had been sending many migrants back to their homes "but they keep coming back; for now we are not sending them back.

"Our estimate is that there are between 2,000 and 4,000 migrants currently in and around Bosasso,"

Today the European Commission adopted a € 394 million package of projects to support agriculture and improve the food security situation in developing countries. This is the second financing decision in the framework of the € 1 billion Food Facility which was adopted at the end of last year as a response to the growing food security problems in many developing countries.

Louis Michel, Commissioner responsible for Development and Humanitarian Aid, said: "This package shows how

Participants pledged to undertake field surveys to monitor Ug99 and other wheat rust races and share the results, which will be used to establish a global early warning system at the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome.

Representatives from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, Sudan, Syria, Turkey and Yemen took part in this

"This is one of the worst incidents to occur in the Gulf of Aden in recent months," said Leila Nassif, head of the UNHCR office in Aden. "Unfortunately, more and more people are so desperate in their countries of origin that they are ready to put their lives in jeopardy to change their situation."

The doomed boat set out on Monday from

- Since last May, the facility has approved $916 million worth of projects in 31 countries; with nearly half of the funds supporting projects in Africa

- The number of undernourished is now thought to exceed 1 billion

When word got out earlier this year that cash could be earned to clear garbage, hoe fields or hack brush near Banga in Bong County, Liberia, the desperate stampeded.

"People came rushing on us and we

In southern Yemen, there were a dozen reports of small immature swarms that migrated into the interior of Shabwah (Ataq, Nisab, Bayhan) during the second week of April, reaching Marib and Al Abr. Thereafter, some immature and mature swarms were seen moving from west to east to villages in Wadi Hadhramaut (Shebam, Sayun). All of these swarms are thought to have originated from breeding that occurred on the

This joint working paper lays out a rationale and strategic framework for improving food security and managing food-price shocks in the Arab countries. The paper does not provide country specific policy and project recommendations. Such recommendations will follow from the country by country application of the framework, taking into account each country's political and cultural preferences, resource endowments, and risk tolerance.

In 2007 and the first half of 2008, a sharp rise in agricultural commodity and food prices triggered grave concerns

Göttingen, April 17, 2009 - The Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV) drew attention on Friday to a refugee tragedy which has gone practically unnoticed: More than 97,000 people from North-east Africa have fled since January 2007 through the Gulf of Aden in boats, most of which are un-seaworthy. The High Commissioner for Refugees of the United Nations (UNHCR) reports that at least 2,460 of these boat-people have drowned or have died in another way. The human rights organisation