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AlertNet Newsblogs

Burundi demining mission aims to defuse explosive tensions
01 Jul 2008 12:26:00 GMT
Author: Saeed Taji Farouky

My lungs feel like they�re about to burst. At an altitude of 2,000 metres (6,500 feet), and in the heat and humidity of Burundi�s remote Bubanza province, I�m trekking up a steep, loose dirt path, carrying all my camera equipment.

Ahead of me is a Burundian de-mining team, carrying more equipment and already exhausted after hours of work in the searing heat, wearing heavy helmets and blast-proof jackets.

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You can't avoid politics if you really want to fight AIDS
30 Jun 2008 16:23:00 GMT
Author: Tania Boler and David Archer

HIV exposes deep moral divisions between the people society deems to be "good" and those who are seen as "bad".

If the world's really going to prevent HIV gaining any more ground, a lot of countries will need to have the courage to admit that certain marginalised groups in society do exist, have the same rights as other citizens, and need support when it comes to HIV prevention. We're talking about sex workers, gay men and injecting drug users, who are already marginalised and also especially vulnerable to HIV infection.

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Damming for development: Lessons from Laos
27 Jun 2008 13:14:00 GMT
Author: Shannon Lawrence

A Lao man, his face and hands hardened by the sun and years of fishing, tends his water buffalo by the Theun River and wonders what his life will be like "after the flood".

That's how he refers to the water that has started rising behind the Nam Theun 2 dam, turning an area more than four times the size of Paris - including the land his family has tilled for generations - into a stagnant reservoir.

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Searching in Angola for the hidden enemy - landmines
27 Jun 2008 13:12:00 GMT
Author: Liesbeth Renders

The dusty, potholed road is scattered with the remains of ambushed vehicles, interspersed by the occasional tank, stark reminders of 27 years of conflict in Angola. In 2002 the government and UNITA rebels signed a peace agreement which ended the combat but left a hidden enemy - landmines.

Angola is one of the most densely mined countries in the world. Away from Luanda and the shiny office buildings of oil and diamond companies lie thousands of kilometres of uncleared land, despite international and government operators working alongside each other for several years.

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A journey into Central African Republic's bandit country
26 Jun 2008 15:08:00 GMT
Author: Justin Derbyshire

The car is packed tight with supplies: an assessment kit, medical kits, enough water and food for six days, plus emergency phone numbers and a satellite phone. Pete goes through the security briefing again and explains we're likely to come up against "coupeurs de routes" - bandits. They're a huge problem here. They're armed, well-organised gangs from Central African Republic (CAR) and Chad, they act with impunity, holding up cars and trucks, kidnapping and extorting money from organisations and families.

Before we set off, the team goes over the objectives of our health assessment mission. Maxence, our logistics co-ordinator, and Pete wish us well. To increase security, we will travel in convoy with Mercy Corps, an American NGO that has just started a project in Nana Mambere. Travelling out through Bangui we stop at the security check point. The area is surrounded by a sprawling market place where we stock up on bread. I discover later that bread-making stops at the edge of Bangui. Getting out of the car, I attract the normal fuss associated with a potential foreign customer. Having skipped my morning coffee, I feel ill-equipped to deal with the attention and make a hasty retreat to the car.

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