Author: WHES

Somalia: Alarming malnutrition rates as food crisis hits Shabelle region

Early warning agencies have reported a rapidly worsening food security situation in southern Somalia after the poorest harvest in a decade and escalating insecurity that has disrupted economic activities, caused high inflation and left people displaced.

West Africa: Region making headway on food fortification

Basic nutrients people need to survive have been added to food around the world for almost a century, but West Africa is only now leading the way for the same life-saving technique to be rolled out in Africa, although experts warn it is just one small component in combating under-nutrition.

Kenya: the fight for water, a valuable slum commodity

When residents of Mathare slum in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi staged a recent protest over a five-day water shortage, the police moved to break the demonstration, firing teargas and arresting some of the protestors.

The 31 July police action in Bondeni area, however, did not address the cause of the problem – increasing difficulties in obtaining water due to cuts by official suppliers as well as the actions of cartels, gangs and illegal vendors.

Vote counting is under way in Sierra Leone following a high turnout in presidential and parliamentary polls.

The ballots are being counted in public – in full view of the party agents – in the country’s 6,000 polling stations.

Seven presidential candidates are vying to replace Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, who is stepping down after serving two terms.

The election issue–basic services

Sierra Leoneans go to the polls on 11 August having the second lowest standard of living in the world, according to UN Human Development Report. Of the country’s some six million people, nearly 2.5 million have no access to clean water and even fewer have access to electricity. An estimated 1.5 million live in extreme poverty and at least 4.8 million are jobless. Basic health care remains unavailable to most people. The average life expectancy is just 40 years.

Afghanistan-Pakistan: cross border polio campaign targets 40 million children

The governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan – in collaboration with their partners at the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) – have launched parallel campaigns aimed at vaccinating over 40 million children in both countries against polio.