DAKAR, 20 April 2007 (IRIN) - DAKAR, 20 April 2007 (IRIN) - LIBERIA: Donor fatigue threatening DDR process

Thousands of disarmed former fighters from Liberia's 14 year civil war are still roaming the country without training or reintegration into society, threatening Liberia's chances of future stability, the head of the Liberian government's disarmament and reintegration commission warned on Thursday. "It is very important that the 23,000 ex-combatants based on the data available to the commission should be trained. If this is not done, it will pose a very high security risk to the peace of this country," Jarvis Witherspoon, head of the National Commission on Disarmament, Demobilization, Rehabilitation and Reintegration (NCDDRR) said at a press conference. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71730

NIGER: Waterborne disease blights millions of lives

Almost a quarter of Nigeriens suffer from bilharzia, an infection spread by swimming or bathing in water contaminated with urine and faeces, according to new research by Niger's Ministry of Health. Some three million of Niger's 13.4 million people have been diagnosed as suffering from the parasitic skin infection, also known as schistosomiasis. It causes rashes and flu-like symptoms, can create urinary problems and damage the bladder, liver, lungs, bowel and nervous system. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71729

CHAD: Urgent funding needed for water, shelter British aid agency Oxfam says urgent funding is needed to address water shortages being experienced by some 140,000 Chadian internally displaced persons. "We need more funding to enable us to adequately intervene in the provision of water and sanitation facilities in the IDP camps which are inadequate. The camps are in eastern Chad where it is normally dry and there is a need to drill more boreholes to increase water supply", Michel Anglade, campaign and policy advisor at Oxfam's West Africa regional office in Dakar told IRIN on Wednesday. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71690

NIGER: Teacher strikes and student protests "jeopardising" education More strikes among primary and secondary school teachers have been met with violent protests in Niamey by their disgruntled students, and as separate protests erupt on university campuses, some observers are warning that the whole academic year is in jeopardy. Basic education, which is only provided to 30 percent of Nigerien children, is widely viewed as one of the main pillars to reducing mortality in the desperately poor country. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71688 COTE D'IVOIRE: Rival groups start dismantling buffer In a major step forward in the implementation of a peace deal signed between the government of Côte d'Ivoire and rebels last month, work has started on dismantling the buffer zone which has divided the country's rebel-held north and government-controlled south for almost four years. The buffer zone was established after a brief civil war that erupted after a failed coup in September 2002. It was set up by the United Nations Security Council, which used French troops and UN Peacekeepers to keep government loyalists and rebels apart. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71654

SIERRA LEONE: Local fishermen struggle to survive amidst foreign trawlers Meriam Samu travels more than 30km every morning to buy the fresh catch of the day from local fishermen in the western part of the capital, Freetown. But these days there are fewer and fewer fish for her to choose from. "I have been doing this business for several years. Before we had stable prices for fish at Leones 3,000 [US$1.00] per 5kg carton, but now the retail prices are between Leones 5,000 [$1.75] to Leones 15,000 [$5.00]," said Samu, 43. http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71657

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