NAIROBI, 2 June 2007 (IRIN) - CONTENTS:

BURUNDI: Government pledges transparency DRC: Massacred villagers found dead in their beds CAR: Kidnapped health workers released but NGOs stay away AFRICA: UN report exposes widespread abuse of children KENYA: Schools closed as cattle raids force thousands to flee UGANDA: WFP suspends operations in northeast after ambush UGANDA: Poverty funds cut over management concerns

Also see: BURUNDI: Moise Barekezabe, "Home is home, despite the hardships" http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72448

DRC: Demobilisation of ex-militias slowly taking root in northeast http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72406

GLOBAL: Making relief aid count http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72396

BURUNDI: Government pledges transparency

The Burundian government has pledged to strengthen good governance to ensure that funds earmarked for poverty reduction programmes are used properly.

"Barundi people thank you for your contributions and expect that the funds will be disbursed as soon as possible," President Pierre Nkurunziza said at a donor meeting in the capital of Bujumbura on 25 May. "I express my firm commitment to strengthen good governance and ensure that the funds go into the right hands."

The donors, who pledged US$665.6 million to fund the poverty reduction action plan for 2007-2010, called for better coordination of funded activities, prompting the government to promise to set up a coordination committee within two weeks. [Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72399]

DRC: Massacred villagers found dead in their beds

Seventeen villagers who died in a brutal attack by suspected Rwandan rebels in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo were killed in their beds, the United Nations Mission in Congo (MONUC) said.

The attackers had escaped by the time a UN military patrol arrived in Walungu sector on the morning of 27 May, said Maj Gabriel de Brosses, a MONUC spokesman. Another 12 bodies were found in surrounding forests, said Samuel Zungrana, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Bukavu.

"A group of 12 armed men suspected to be Rwandan fighters entered three small villages where they attacked and killed 17 villagers," the spokesman said on 28 May. "Almost all the victims were found in their beds. The fighters used sticks, machetes and other light weapons and the wounded are villagers who managed to flee." [Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72402]

CAR: Kidnapped health workers released but NGOs stay away

The Italian charity, Cooperazione Internazionale (COOPI), will not resume activities in northwestern Central African Republic, despite the release of two kidnapped health workers, an official said.

"We closed our bureau in Bozoum because of insecurity," Marco Cordero of the Italian NGO, COOPI, said on 29 May. "The whole zone is in danger."

"The abduction of the two nurses has had serious consequences for the activities of the Italian NGO in the region," Cordero told IRIN. [Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72420]

AFRICA: UN report exposes widespread abuse of children

Efforts to eradicate abuse of children in Africa should concentrate on fighting gender-based violence, including rape, which exposes youngsters to HIV/AIDS, mistreatment at school and harmful traditional practices, a senior United Nations official said.

"Within the region, two out of three new HIV/AIDS infections in the 15 to 24 age group are in girls or women," said Per Engeback, the UN Children's Fund regional director for Eastern and Southern Africa, on 28 May. "The face of HIV is a woman's face, a girl's face."

Engeback was speaking during the launch in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, of the UN World Report on Violence Against Children. It was prepared by an independent expert, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, for the UN Secretary-General. [Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72407]

KENYA: Schools closed as cattle raids force thousands to flee

Violence related to cattle rustling in the central Kenyan districts of Laikipia and Samburu has forced thousands of people to flee and led to the closure of 12 schools, leaving about 2,500 pupils without classes, local community leaders and teachers in the area said.

"It is the second year now that thousands of children are missing education because of insecurity. It must be addressed," said Mureithi Kamanja, the executive secretary of the Kenya Union of Teachers in Laikipia district.

Incidents of cattle rustling and a subsequent operation by security forces against suspected raiders last week are believed to have left 50 people dead, most allegedly at the hands of the police. The violence is reported to have been triggered by an attack by suspected ethnic Pokot raiders from Samburu district on villages inhabited by ethnic Samburus in the neighbouring Laikipia district on 21 May. [Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72430]

UGANDA: WFP suspends operations in northeast after ambush

Gunmen ambushed a convoy of United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) trucks in northeastern Uganda's Karamoja region, killing a driver and forcing the agency to temporarily suspend operations in the drought-hit area, the agency and the Ugandan military said.

Richard Achuka, 41, was shot in the neck and shoulder and died after the attack on four WFP trucks in Kotido District. The convoy had delivered food to schools and other sites in neighbouring Kaabong District. The attackers fled the scene.

"WFP condemns this vicious attack on a clearly marked WFP humanitarian convoy in the strongest terms and demands that the killers be pursued and brought to justice," said WFP Country Director Tesema Negash. "WFP has no choice but to temporarily suspend our activities in Karamoja until security is improved." [Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72440]

UGANDA: Poverty funds cut over management concerns

The World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) has reduced support for poverty alleviation programmes in Uganda over concerns about the allocation of funds and financial management, the Bank said.

The IDA is a section of the Bank that makes interest-free loans to the world's poorest countries.

"The reduction in IDA support from US$150 million to $125 million for PRSC [Sixth Poverty Reduction Support Credit] underlines the need for the government to consider ways of improving performance in budget execution, decentralisation and anti-corruption," Uganda's World Bank Country Manager Grace Yabrudy said. [Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=72454]

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