Africa

• 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 ...
• 8 July 2004
  AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC CONGO - “The peoples of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi want peace” say Catholic Bishops of the Great Lakes region Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides)- “Why do we keep on hurting each other?” asks Archbishop Simon Ntamwana, Archbishop of Gitega in Burundi and this question sums what was said by the Catholic Bishops of Democratic Congo, Rwan ...
• 8 July 2004
  AFRICA/ZIMBABWE - New food shortage alarm in Zimbabwe. Warning from UN Food and Agriculture Organisation Harare (Fides Service)- The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation FAO has issued a warning of possible severe food shortage in Zimbabwe. FAO said that this year the southern African country faces a deficit of ...
• 7 July 2004
  AFRICA/BURKINA FASO - Ordination of six new priests: four diocesan, one Camillian and one Missionary of Africa who at the end of the Mass was sent on mission to Uganda. Ouagadougou (Fides Service) - On Saturday 3 July the Archbishop of Ouagadougou, Archbishop Jean-Marie Compaoré, ordained six new priests in Ouagadougou cathedral. The Archbishop was assisted in the Ordination by Bishop ...
• 7 July 2004
  AFRICA/ZIMBABWE - “With its lies the government is pushing half of the population towards poverty!” says Archbishop Pius Ncube Bulawayo, second largest town in Zimbabwe Harare (Fides Service)- “People have nothing to eat. People are dying because the government is lying ” Archbishop Pius Ncube, Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second largest town said in his discourse f ...
• 7 July 2004
  AFRICA/SUDAN - “Desperation, violence against exhausted people fleeing from a war without end. Latest report by UN High Commission for Refugees Khartoum (Fides Service)- Despite a cease fire signed in April by the Sudanese government and two rebel groups fighting in the western Sudan region of Darfur continues to cause thousands of civilians to flee their homes, ...
• 7 July 2004
  AFRICA/LIBERIA - “We risk epidemics because the streets are lined with tons of refuse. What are the NGOs and UN in the city doing?” an Italian missionary in Monrovia asks Monrovia (Fides Service)- “We have peace but the country still lacks essential services. It is enough to take a look at the streets in the capital filled with refuse which no one collects” Father Mauro Armanino, Ital ...
• 6 July 2004
  AFRICA/CONGO RD - “We will do everything in our power and within the limits of the Church’s mission to save the process of transition”: message from Catholic Bishops of Congo Kinshasa (Fides Service) - A strong position in favour of the country’s transition process has been taken by the Catholic Bishops of Congo. The process began in June 2003 with the formation of an interim national unity ...