25 February 2013 - While transnational organized crime markets and the vast profits they generate clearly continue to fuel instability and hinder development in West Africa, solid information about these markets is hard to come by. A new UNODC report, Transnational Organized Crime in West Africa: a Threat Assessment, sheds some light on some of the key crime issues that affect the region and provides recommendations for the international community to tackle these problems.

Affordable, safe, effective vaccine protecting young people from devastating disease

GENEVA, 3 December 2012 – A revolutionary meningitis vaccine will reach the 100 millionth person this week in a region of Africa that has been plagued by deadly epidemics for more than a century. The milestone will take place in northern Nigeria, part of Africa’s “meningitis belt,” where the country is conducting its second seasonal immunisation campaign against the disease.

ECOWAS Commission and the Africa Unite Campaign are rallying ECOWAS Member States to help end violence against women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa.
To this end, the 5th Regional Committee Meeting of Africa Unite held at the ECOWAS Commission’s Abuja headquarters on 2nd and 3rd August 2012 agreed on the joint implementation of Africa Unite’s communication strategy by the two organizations.

From the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The current ECOWAS Chairman and President of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has called on ECOWAS Member States to ratify and domesticate the African Union (AU) Convention on Humanitarian Assistance and Internal Displacement so as to strengthen their collective capacity to address the challenges of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in West Africa.

Gros plan cette semaine sur la méningite, une maladie qui provoque une inflammation de l'enveloppe du cerveau et de la moelle épinière, qui touche principalement les enfants et les jeunes adultes âgés de 1 a 30 ans.

L'Afrique de l'Ouest est en alerte face à une épidémie de méningite. Celle-ci affecte quatre pays d'Afrique de l'Ouest. Le Nigeria est le pays le plus touché.

La souche A de l'épidémie a été identifiée

- World cereal production in 2008 is forecast to increase 2.6 percent to a record 2 164 million tonnes. The bulk of the increase is expected to be in wheat following significant expansion in plantings in major producing countries. Coarse grains output is tentatively forecast to remain around the bumper level of last year. Rice production is foreseen to increase slightly reflecting production incentives in several Asian countries. However, much will depend on climatic conditions in the coming months.

- Should the expected growth in 2008

1. Situation pluviométrique et agricole au Sahel et en Afrique de l'Ouest

Les prévisions saisonnières telles qu'annoncées par le Centre Africain pour les Applications de la Météorologie au Développement (African Center of Meteorological Applications for Development - ACMAD) semblent se confirmer en Afrique de l'Ouest. Après un démarrage tardif de la saison agricole jusqu'en mi-juillet et