Africa

• 15 July 2004
  AFRICA/MOZAMBIQUE - Former East German factory workers occupy German Embassy in Maputo for a few hours Maputo (Fides Service)- The occupation of the German embassy in Maputo by a group of forty people was “a demonstration out of exasperation over a situation of impasse which has dragged on for years ” according to loc ...
• 15 July 2004
  AFRICA/SIERRA LEONE - Spreading drug abuse is a concern but the major problem in Sierra Leone is unemployment” a missionary tells Fides Freetown (Fides Service)- “The main problem in Sierra Leone is that there is no work. Drug abuse is an issue but not the main one” Father Giuseppe Berton, Italian Xaverian mission in Freetown, capital of Sierra Leone ...
• 14 July 2004
  AFRICA/ETHIOPIA - Italian television programme speaks of food discrimination against women in Ethiopia Addis Abeba (Fides Service)- “Women suffer from discrimination even in tragic stiatuions of food shortage which periodically strike Ehtiopia”, Sr Elisa, an Italian Salesian missionary told Italian television. The nun ...
• 14 July 2004
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - Tertio Millennio International Missiology Congress: the future of missionary activity ad gentes prospects for the 21st century Kinshasa (Fides Service) - On the 40th anniversary of the Ad Gentes Decree issued by Vatican II and the 10th anniversary of the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for Africa, the Bishops’ Conference of Congo has ...
• 14 July 2004
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - “An attempt destined to failure” Congo MP Enoch Sebineza tells Fides, commententing self-dismissal of 8 Banyamulenge hard wing National Assembly members Kinshasa (Fides Service)- “They are isolated persons risking an all out attempt. Unless they are backed by some foreign power they will not achieve much or go very far. The majority of the Banyamulenge disapproves of t ...
• 14 July 2004
  AFRICA - From South Africa and Nigeria examples to re-launch collaboration among all the countries of Africa Rome (Fides Service)- One of the evils of Africa is lack of collaboration among the states of the continent. This is due partly to the heritage of colonial times. Territories administered by Europeans were connected with ...
• 14 July 2004
  AFRICA/BURKINA FASO - Girls of different ages tell their story of forced marriage and escape Ouagadougou (Fides Service)- “With the excuse of local customs women are forced into marriage without their consent. The story was told on Italian television by Esther Marie Judith of the Association of Women’s Right ...
• 13 July 2004
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - Persisting concern for humanitarian situation in east Congo and bordering countries. More than 3 million people in need of assistance Kinshasa (Fides Service)- Humanitarian agencies are alarmed at the situaion in Democratic Congo where recent fighting caused at least 85,000 people to seek shelter elsewhere and in many cases in in Rwanda and Burundi (se ...
• 13 July 2004
  AFRICA/IVORY COAST - “Decisive meeting on 29 July to settle Ivorian crisis”. International study voices concern for a possible war between Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Mali Abidjan (Fides Service)-“People are expecting great things from the meeting among Ivorian parties on 29 July in Ghana. There is hope but also concern”, a qualified Observer in Abidjan, economic capital of Ivory Coast ...
• 12 July 2004
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - The local Church among the first to welcome thousands of people fleeing fighting in north east Congo. “Situation ever more tense” say Fides sources Kinshasa (Fides Service)- “Fighting continues and the situation is ever more tense” say Fides sources in the north-eastern Ituri region of the Democratic Republic of Congo where two guerrilla groups FAPC (Armed Force ...
• 12 July 2004
  AFRICA/ETHIOPIA - War between Ethiopia and Eritrea still a possibility. Ethiopian Prime Minister says to Eritrea: “Let’s talk”. So far Asmara refuses invitation to dialogue Addis Ababa (Fides Service)- “The African Union Summit of heads of state and government last week in Addis Ababa, achieved some important results. Unfortunately no progress was made with regard the contention between E ...
• 9 July 2004
  AFRICA/KENYA - New Constitution demonstrations stem from fight between president and former political associate Nairobi (Fides Service)- In Kenya a political fight is fast becoming a contest between centre and periphery after recent clashes among police and demonstrators protesting the postponement of the approval of the new Const ...
• 9 July 2004
  AFRICA/ETHIOPIA - A decision to send 300 African troops to Darfur, first step towards a continental security system? Addis Ababa (Fides Service) - It is early days yet but could this be a first step towards and African system of security? The decision taken at the end of a conference of heads of states and government of the African Uni ...
• 9 July 2004
  AFRICA/GUINEA - Silent odyssey of forced repatriation to south east Guinea of Guinean emigrants and foreign refugees. Jesuit Refugee Service only NGO present in the area Conakry (Fides Service)- Southern Guinea is living a silent humanitarian emergency as it sees the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Guinean and foreign refugees forced to leave Ivory Coast shaken by a serious political ...
• 8 July 2004
  AFRICA/SUDAN - What lies behind the name Darfur, behind the people in flight? Why are these endless kilometres of sand provoking massacres, raping and famine? Rome (Fides Service)- It is unthinkable that a local dispute between farmers and shepherds, found in many parts of the world, can in a year turn into genocide of civilians. How can a government treat its own people so fe ...