IRIN News (Economy)
GLOBAL: Hunger knows no borders
JOHANNESBURG Thursday, March 18, 2010 (IRIN) - West Africa can meet its food needs through regional trade, most agricultural experts say, if countries keep their borders open for the free flow of staple grains, especially in times of heightened stress, whether climatic, economic, or brought on by conflict.
MYANMAR: Damaged embankments threaten Nargis recovery
YANGON Thursday, March 18, 2010 (IRIN) - A failure to repair crucial flood embankments damaged by Cyclone Nargis could undo recovery efforts and lead to more loss of life if another major storm hits, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization warns.
KENYA: ARV woes push universal access off-track
NAIROBI Thursday, March 18, 2010 (IRIN) - Nicodemus Manyala knows he is HIV-positive and needs life-prolonging antiretroviral therapy (ART) to remain healthy, but fear of treatment interruptions has made him reluctant to start on the drugs.
KENYA: The downside of door-to-door testing
TESO Wednesday, March 17, 2010 (IRIN) - While the public response to Kenya's national HIV testing drive has been enormous, many women are not keen to be tested, knowing that a positive result could mean the breakdown of their marriages, loss of home and more.
SOMALIA: Galgadud villages abandoned as water shortage bites
NAIROBI Wednesday, March 17, 2010 (IRIN) - An acute water shortage after a prolonged drought in central Galgadud region of Somalia has forced thousands of people to abandon their villages, say officials. "A prolonged drought, coupled with a drying-up of wells and barkads [water pans], is forcing many people to leave their homes," said Abdirahman Mohamed Adawe, the district commissioner of Adado, one of the areas hardest hit.
MYANMAR: Bid at new political era faces capacity challenge
YANGON Wednesday, March 17, 2010 (IRIN) - A lack of capacity on several levels is likely to hamper Myanmar’s bid to change its political structure, diplomats and analysts say.
Analysis: Madagascar's year of crisis
ANTANANARIVO Tuesday, March 16, 2010 (IRIN) - Madagascar's political deadlock masks an increasingly fragile humanitarian situation that will keep deteriorating if no solution to the ongoing crisis is found.
AFRICA: Mapping truckers' route to the health centre
NAIROBI/DAR ES SALAAM Tuesday, March 16, 2010 (IRIN) - New maps pin-pointing the exact location of "wellness centres" in sub-Saharan Africa are improving truck drivers' access to treatment and care for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
GLOBAL: Straight talk with Global Fund director Michel Kazatchkine
JOHANNESBURG Friday, March 12, 2010 (IRIN) - The executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Michel Kazatchkine, sat down with IRIN/PlusNews at the launch of the organization's 2010 report, where he answered some hard questions on what may be a turning point in HIV/AIDS funding.
HAITI: US remittances keep the homeland afloat
NEW YORK Thursday, March 11, 2010 (IRIN) - Haiti's economy depends on the estimated US$1.5 billion a year in remittances sent home by its million-strong diaspora. Dilip Ratha, lead economist at the World Bank, said the figure could be even higher, accounting for perhaps half the national income.
Categories: Action Center Development, Breaking News
INDONESIA: Farming for alternative livelihoods
CIANJUR Thursday, March 11, 2010 (IRIN) - Young unemployed men are finding opportunities in a project that also aims to introduce sustainable farming methods to Indonesia's agricultural sector.
Categories: Breaking News
KENYA: Hungry and HIV-positive in Nairobi's slums
NAIROBI Wednesday, March 10, 2010 (IRIN) - Violet Tinah, 40, a resident of Korogocho slum in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, is living with HIV and was recently diagnosed with tuberculosis, but her biggest problem today is not disease - but hunger.
SOMALIA: Poverty pushes Bosasso children on to streets
BOSASSO Monday, March 08, 2010 (IRIN) - A long civil war, frequent droughts, unemployment and high food prices have led to an increase in the number of street children in Bosasso, the commercial capital of Somalia’s self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, with NGOs and government officials calling for urgent steps to resolve the problem.
SWAZILAND: Tackling one crisis at a time does not solve all
MBABANE Monday, March 08, 2010 (IRIN) - The myriad crises afflicting Swaziland can only be solved with a holistic approach, not a piecemeal one, the World Food Programme (WFP) deputy executive director, Sheila Sisulu, said during a recent tour of the country.
GLOBAL: Are we heading for another food crisis?
JOHANNESBURG Tuesday, March 02, 2010 (IRIN) - Long dry spells in parts of Africa and erratic rainfall in Asia have cast uncertain clouds over crop yields for 2010 in the world's poorest countries. Food prices in most developing countries are down from their 2008 crisis levels, but still higher than they were in 2007.
LAOS: Thousands risk losing livelihoods in wetlands development
VIENTIANE Tuesday, March 02, 2010 (IRIN) - Thousands of people living in a fertile wetland on the edge of Vientiane may lose their livelihoods and be relocated as part of the capital's urbanization plans, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says.
PHOTO GALLERY: Mud brick houses in Gaza
GAZA CITY Tuesday, March 02, 2010 (IRIN) - More than 4,036 houses in the Gaza Strip were totally destroyed or beyond repair in the aftermath of Israel’s 23-day conflict with Hamas from 27 December 2008 to 17 January 2009, according to an April 2009 UNRWA and UN Development Programme assessment.
SOMALIA: Hujale Jama, "I never thought I would depend on anyone but look at me now"
BOSASSO Tuesday, March 02, 2010 (IRIN) - Prolonged and persistent droughts have drastically changed the fortunes of Hujale Jama, 80. Originally from the village of Has Wanaje, 480km east of Bosasso, commercial capital of the self-declared autonomous state of Puntland, Jama was once considered fairly well-off. Then the drought slowly decimated his livestock. Today, he lives with relatives in Bosasso, without any livestock to his name.
PAKISTAN: A dangerous mixture in Balochistan
QUETTA Monday, March 01, 2010 (IRIN) - Significant development and poverty challenges in Balochistan Province, southwestern Pakistan, are being exacerbated by growing security concerns, according to aid workers. Decades of nationalist unrest, underdevelopment and the scaling down of UN and NGO activity have left residents feeling neglected and fearful for their safety, they say.
THAILAND: Migrant registration plan raises mass deportation fears
BANGKOK Friday, February 26, 2010 (IRIN) - Thousands of migrant workers from Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar face possible deportation from Thailand unless they register their nationality this weekend.
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