News

IRIN a service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

AID POLICY: Cash catches up

NAIROBI, 6 December 2011 (IRIN) - Cash and voucher transfers are becoming increasingly integrated into humanitarian relief efforts across the Horn of Africa, particularly in areas of protracted conflict and insecurity.

Restrictions on access in Somalia and in areas of northeast Kenya have led the humanitarian community to rethink traditional ways of delivering aid.

Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten

Klima der Zerstörung

von Wolfgang Drechsler, Durban

IRIN
humanitarian news and analysis
a service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

LIBYA: The funding dilemma

The UN says it needs more money to support sites for displaced people

TRIPOLI, 5 December 2011 (IRIN) - Residual humanitarian needs in Libya have not been fully funded because of confusion over whether unfrozen Libyan assets are available, donors, aid workers and government officials said.

Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) /German Development Institute

Two-Speed Aid Effectiveness

New Democrat, Monrovia/Liberia

Necessary Evil

by Tom Kamara

Voting in Liberia

Elections held in sub-Saharan African countries, are now easily predictable in one basic respect, and that this is the end in chaos, with results rejected, as the pillars of democracy remain fragile.

Now that military coups and armed rebellions have become anathema for regime change, elections along the western model have become the one respectable and acceptable formula for political change and therefore stability.

Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten

ANC sperrt die Öffentlichkeit aus

von Wolfgang Drechsler, Kapstadt

Pressegesetz in Südafrika macht Recherchen zu Korruption nahezu unmöglich. Journalisten drohen Gefängnisstrafen bis zu 25 Jahren

New York Times

Uganda's Oil Could Be Gift That Becomes a Curse

By JOSH KRON

KAMPALA, Uganda — When billions of barrels of oil reserves were found in Uganda five years ago, the discovery seemed like a gift from heaven to many in this poor, landlocked country.

OTS

Anti-Korruptions-Preis für Kardinal Tumi aus Kamerun
"Transparency International" würdigt Einsatz des prominenten Gegners
von Kameruns Präsident Paul Biya - Preisverleihung am
Donnerstagabend in Laxenburg bei Wien =

The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com

South Africa's assembly passes 'secrecy bill,' stirring journalists' fears

Journalists and civic groups warn that the Protection of Information or 'secrecy bill,' will criminalize investigative journalism. The government says it will bolster South Africa's national security.

By Scott Baldauf, Staff writer

Christian Science Monitor

Kenya finds cleaner government is just a keystroke away

Kenya is promoting cleaner government by computerizing many of the tasks that used to be handled by bureaucrats - who might seek bribes to expedite requests.

By Scott Baldauf

BBC News
AFRICA

Angola's Eduardo Dos Santos offers help to Portugal

Angola is prepared to help its former colonial power Portugal cope with its financial crisis, the oil-rich nation's President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos said.

After meeting visiting Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho, he said solutions needed to be found.

They should be "advantageous for both countries" and "in a spirit of solidarity and mutual help", he said.

IRIN, humanitarian news and analysis
a service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

SOMALIA: Looters sabotage aid efforts in Mogadishu

NAIROBI, 17 November 2011 (IRIN) - The frequent looting of relief aid at distribution centres in Mogadishu by local or state security agents seriously undermines efforts to help hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom have fled areas of Somalia in a state of famine, according to officials and aid workers.

TAZ

Gut fürs eigene Ego, aber sonst?
von Sebastian Erb

FREIWILLIGE Oft werden Einsatzstellen nicht sorgfältig ausgesucht, die "weltwärts"-Teilnehmer ersetzen teilweise lokale Arbeitskräfte. Beim staatlich geförderten Freiwilligendienst gibt es erhebliche Mängel

Bundespräsidialamt

Aus der Rede von Bundespräsident Wulff beim Festakt "50 Jahre Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung" am 14.11.11 in Berlin:

"Junge Afrikaner beispielsweise haben heute ihre eigenen Ideen, wie sie ihre Zukunft gestalten wollen. Ihnen geht es weniger darum, welche Ressourcen wir zur Verfügung stellen, sondern wie sie ihre eigenen Ressourcen mobilisieren können."

TAZ

Streit der Woche

Neudeck mischt Helfer-Szene auf

Abschied vom Kalten Krieg, Konzentration auf zwei Länder: Im Jubiläumsjahr des Entwicklungsministeriums ist Cap Anamur-Gründer Neudeck für einen Umbau. von Daniel Kummetz

Al Jazeera

Africa Investigates

Fool's Gold

Lifting the lid on Ghana's illusory pot of gold and exposing those duping gold speculators out of millions of dollars.

The Nation, Kenya

How foreign donors can deliver aid differently and effectively in Kenya

By WOLFGANG FENGLER

The World Bank and IMF have received much media attention in recent weeks in Kenya.

The Kazi Kwa Vijana (work for the youth) initiative, which the Bank has been supporting through its Youth Empowerment Project, and government's decision to request substantial IMF funding to support macroeconomic stability have been the source of heated debate in Parliament.

Ubuntu, SOS Kinderdorf

Müssen Hungersnöte sein?
von Volker Seitz

Warum gibt es Armut in Afrika?

Allgemeine Zeitung, Windhoek

Afrika verliert Milliarden

Politische Amtsträger schleusen jährlich 20 - 40 Mrd. US-Dollar in Überseekonten

Von Eberhard Hofmann

Entscheidungsträger an politischen Schalthebeln in Afrika verstauen jährlich 20 bis 40 Milliarden US-Dollar an Korruptionsgeldern in Übersee-Konten. Laut Weltbank sind in dem gigantischen Betrag noch keine lokal zirkulierenden Betrugs- und Schmiergelder inbegriffen.

FRANKFURTER RUNDSCHAU

KORRUPTION
Kein Bugatti für Afrika

Von Johannes Dieterich

Die Herrscherfamilie in Äquatorialguinea steckt sich einen Großteil der Öl-Einnahmen des Landes in die eigene Tasche. Jetzt muss Herrschersohn Obiang Mangue sich von einigen Millionen trennen. Der Besitz in den USA wird eingezogen.