Africa

• 21 February 2005
  AFRICA/TOGO - Togolese parliament holds special session: are we nearing a turning point in the crisis? Lome (Fides Service)- There is expectancy in Togo for the outcome of a special session of the National Assembly convoked today 21 February by deputy speaker Abbas Banfo. On the agenda changes to articles in the Constitut ...
• 21 February 2005
  AFRICA/SUDAN - Heritage of war in southern Sudan: 4 million displaced persons and more than 500,000 refugees neighbouring countries Rome (Fides Service)- The week long mission of deputy High Commissioner of the United Nations for Refugees Mrs Wendy Chamberlin to southern Sudan, Uganda and Kenya to assess the enormous needs in southern Sudan for the r ...
• 18 February 2005
  AFRICA/SUDAN - “We have inherited 20 years of war and 2 million dead” Pastoral Letter from Catholic Bishops of Sudan Khartoum (Fides Service) - “True peace is much more than the absence of war - the Catholic Bishops of Sudan wrote in a Pastoral Letter issued on the occasion of the recent Peace Agreement which ended civil strife in so ...
• 18 February 2005
  AFRICA/GHANA - “Unemployment, illiteracy, clashes among 22 different ethnic groups are main obstacles for evangelisation” says Bishop Naameh of Damongo diocese in northern Ghana Accra (Fides Service)- “The presence of 22 different ethnic groups in our diocese is a problem but it is also a reason for hope for the future” Bishop Philip Naameh of Damongo diocese in northern Ghana told Fides. ...
• 17 February 2005
  AFRICA/ANGOLA - Italian Capuchins in Venice celebrate 100 birthday of most senior confrere in the world. Testimonial of a life given for Africa Rome (Fides Service) - On February 12 the Capuchin community in Conegliano nel Veneto celebrated the 100 birthday of Father Alberto Bertoldo, the most senior Capuchin in the world. “Father Alberto wins hearts with his ...
• 17 February 2005
  AFRICA/UGANDA - Ever more isolated LRA rebels threaten to kill negotiator in favour of surrender: the army comes to his rescue. A comment for Fides Gulu (Fides Service). “This is a highly positive fact which could mark a turning point in the conflict” a local Church source in Gulu (Northern Uganda) told Fides with regard to the surrender of Sam Kolo, chief negot ...
• 16 February 2005
  AFRICA/TOGO - “We are waiting to hear a government statement that the crisis is over” says Fides source in Togo Lome (Fides Service)- “We are waiting to hear a government statement that a positive solution has been found” said a local Church source in Lomé, capital of Togo, a country in crisis over the successor of its Presid ...
• 16 February 2005
  AFRICA/GHANA - Exploited child workers on Lake Volta rescued and rehabilitated by international programme Accra (Fides Service)- Another 114 children have been rescued from forced labour in Central Ghana thanks to a programme of the International Organisation for Migration IOM. The children were victims of traffickers withou ...
• 16 February 2005
  AFRICA/GUINEA BISSAU - School meals, health and education in Sahel: Italian initiative in support World Food Programme. 1.250 tonnes of rice for about 200,000 people Rome (Fides Service) - According to a Report on Millennium Development Goals in Guinea Bissau 124 in every 1000 children die before the age of 1 and 203 before the age of five. Infant mortality affects 822 out of every ...
• 16 February 2005
  AFRICA/UGANDA - Missionaries in northern Uganda build home to protect for high-school girls from violence Gulu (Fides Service)- “I am here with the workmen, we are building a home for high-school girl pupils”. Loud and clear the voice of a missionary working in northern Uganda reaches Fides from the most forgotten region ...
• 15 February 2005
  AFRICA/ZAMBIA - “Political tension must stop, or we risk a civil war” warn Catholic Bishops of Zambia Lusaka (Fides Service)- In a statement dated 15 February on ‘Concerns of Governance’ the Catholic Bishops of Zambia voiced concern for the future of the country. “As Church leaders, we are concerned by the endemic ...
• 15 February 2005
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - Local Church’s intervention to help process of disarmament, demobilisation and reinsertion of militia: Meeting in Kinshasa Kinshasa (Fides Service) - A meeting to discuss how the local Church in Democratic Congo can help in the programme for disarmament, demobilisation and social reinsertion of troops involved in civil war started yesterday, ...
• 14 February 2005
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - Lendu and Hema clash in north eastern Ituri region of Congo: pastures and farmlands on top and gold, coltan uranium and oil underground! - Who aims for these resources? Bunia (Fides Service)- “This is a humanitarian catastrophe, a war on civilians” said a local Church source in Bunia main town in the north western Ituri region of Democratic Congo, where at least 80,000 people have a ...
• 14 February 2005
  AFRICA/TOGO - Pray to God who is Lord of difficult even impossible situations” : appeal from Christian religious authorities Togo in a situation of political crisis since the death of President Eyadema Lome (Fides Service)- " In this political situation following the tragic events in our country Togo, the country’s religious communities cannot fail to voice concern" Christian leaders in Togo said in a message to the ...
• 10 February 2005
  AFRICA/CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC - Archbishop of Bangui among guarantors for presidential elections in Central African Republic. Missionary comments for Fides Bangui (Fides Service)- “The reaction has been positive. The local press welcomed the agreement reached by political groups in Central Africa” a missionary working in Central African Republic told Fides with regard ...