Africa

• 11 October 2004
  AFRICA/CHAD - First day of school for 18,000 Sudanese children in refugee camps in eastern Chad thanks to UNHCR Rome (Fides Service) - In eight of the ten refugee camps in Chad run by the UN High Commission for Refugees this week school starts for some 18,000 children aged 5 to 17. In some camps adult refugees themselves had alrea ...
• 9 October 2004
  AFRICA/SOMALIA - Tomorrow Parliament will elect new President Mogadishu (Fides Service)- Tomorrow, Sunday 10 October the Somali Parliament will elect a new Prime Minister/President of parliament. Some 275 members of parliament will meet in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, under the aegis ...
• 9 October 2004
  AFRICA/BURUNDI - Democratic Congo’s Vice minister of internal affairs says one thousand refugees from Burundi may return today. UNHCR concerned for their safety Bujumbura (Fides Service)- More than one thousand Congolese refugees in Burundi are on the border waiting for permission to return to Democratic Congo but the UNHCR says the situation is still too insecure. A first grou ...
• 8 October 2004
  AFRICA/GUINEA BISSAU - A mystery mutiny announced by the Premier. Could next year’s election bring hope to a country on the brink of collapse, a people left to fend for itself? Bissau (Fides Service)- “The revolt seems to be over but doubts and concern remain” local sources in Bissau, capital of Guinea Bissau, after the recent army revolt (see Fides 7 October 2004). “Since yesterday eveni ...
• 7 October 2004
  AFRICA - Peace in Africa focus of African Nobel Prize Winners in Dakar Dakar (Fides Service)- A loud call for peace in Africa came yesterday 6 October from African Nobel Prize winners meeting of Dakar, capital of Senegal. Guests invited included premier Nobel for peace 1993, South Africans ...
• 7 October 2004
  AFRICA/GUINEA BISSAU - Apparent calm in Bissau after a military revolt in which the staff officer and army spokesman were killed. Latest episode of violence in the country of hunger Rome (Fides Service)- “There is apparent calm in teh city no soldiers to be seen, but not many children have gone to school, most families felt it was safer to keep them at home” local sources in Bissau who ask not ...
• 6 October 2004
  AFRICA/SUDAN - More diplomatic efforts to solve crisis in Darfur: British Premier in Khartoum, Libyan leader Gheddafi calls regional min-summit Khartoum (Fides Service)- British Prime Minster Tony Blair starts a five-day visit to Sudan today, 6 October. He will meet the Sudanese President Omar al-Bechir and Vice president Ali Osmane Mohamed Taha and one central ...
• 6 October 2004
  AFRICA/BURUNDI - Tension in northern Burundi: at least 1000 Tutsi flee to Rwanda to escape violence Bujumbura (Fides Service) - Although more than one thousand Burundi Tutsi have taken refuge in Rwanda to escape violence, neither the national press nor by the Burundian government have made any reference to the events, ...
• 6 October 2004
  AFRICA/IVORY COAST - Health care alarm in northern Ivory Coast with rapidly spreading HIV/AIDS. Local Catholic Church supplies medical personnel and supplies to isolated areas Abidjan (Fides Service)- “The healthcare situaiton is critical” local church sources in northern Ivory Coast area in the hands of New Forces rebels for two years now. “The public health system has collapsed. Hospi ...
• 5 October 2004
  AFRICA - In Uganda 39 African countries discuss how to stop spread of light arms in Africa. Kampala (Fides Service)- To find ways to stop the spread of light arms in Sub-Saharan Africa defence Ministers and chiefs of security from 39 different countries of Africa are meeting in the Ugandan capital Kampala. The ...
• 5 October 2004
  AFRICA/SOMALIA - “A year after Annalena Tonelli’s death, her life’s work is more than ever alive”: Bishop Bertin of Djibouti recalls the Italian doctor dedicated to caring for TB sufferers in northern Somalia Rome (Fides Service)- “Annalena Tonelli’s work continues beyond all expectations” Bishop Giorgio Bertin, Bishop of Djibouti and Administrator Apostolic Mogadishu told Fides, referring to the Italian doctor killed a ...
• 5 October 2004
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - “Street children are hunted” Salesian fathers give details of massacres in southern Congo Kinshasa (Fides Service)- “Street children are hunted here and probably between 20 and 30 of them have already been killed” a Salesian missionary in the south eastern Congo region of Kasai where a group of street chi ...
• 5 October 2004
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - Eucharist, Jesus source of Life and Peace in the heart of Africa. Sacramentini Fathers open Eucharistic Spirituality Centre in Kinshasa Kinshasa (Fides Service)- To ensure that the Eucharist, source of Life and Peace, is at the heart of Africa and to help Christian communities focus on the Eucharist the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament has opened a ...
• 1 October 2004
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - 10 million dollar programme to disarm rebels fails, only 32 men hand weapons to UN troops. UN mission in eastern Congo expires today. Towards an agreement to extend its mandate and boost its numbers Kinshasa (Fides Service) - A French proposal to send another 5,900 UN peacekeepers to Congo and extend its mandate has met with approval. The UN mission in Congo MONUC, consisting of 10,500 men deployed in the east of th ...
• 1 October 2004
  AFRICA/BURUNDI - “Referendum on new Constitution postponed for technical reasons” according to Fides sources Bujumbura (Fides Service) -“The referendum on the new Constitution was postponed for reasons which were purely technical and have nothing to do with politics” local sources in Bujumbura, capital Burundi, told Fides w ...