Nairobi, 25 March 2011 - With the escalation of fighting across Somalia since January, armed groups have reportedly recruited more child soldiers to their ranks, some even forcing teachers to enlist pupils.In a recent offensive against rebel groups in Bulo Hawo town on the border with Kenya, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) stated on 17 March, "...children were involved as fighters and a significant number of them were killed. According to reports, intense fighting in the area between Dhusamareb and Ceel bur in Galgadud has also resulted in many child casualties.”"The TFG [Transitional Federal Government] forces, their allies, the Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama, and Al-Shabab are all engaged in the ...

20th March, 2011 - The African Commission of the African Movement of Working Children (MAEJT) held its annual meeting from 14th to 26th February in the Senegalese city of Thiès. The meeting gathered national delegates from Bénin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroun, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinée Bissau, Guinée, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, DRC, Rwanda, Senegal, Tchad, Togo and Zimbabwe. At the meeting attendants evaluated last year’s national activities according to the Movement’s seven action areas to assess the results achieved and the progress made. Additionally, they agreed to update the follow-up surveys, evaluated the coordination follow-up system and appr...

DAKAR, 15 March 2011 (IRIN) - For aid agencies and local authorities in the village of Dirkou (population about 4,000), northern Niger, the priority is to have migrants fleeing Libya move through as quickly as possible. The UN estimates that some 60,000 people could come into Niger from Libya in the coming weeks. As of 10 March, 2,205 had arrived - 1,865 of them Nigeriens and the rest from other West African countries - according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The number in Dirkou varies day to day, with new arrivals and truckloads of people moving on to the regional capital Agadez, 650km to the south - many to return to their hometowns or home co...

Luanda, 12 March 2011 — A project dubbed "School Parliament", under the aegis of Search for Common Ground in Angola (SFCG) in partnership with the Angolan Executive will be implemented in the provinces of Luanda and Cabinda, with a view to enable interaction among youths in deciding about democratic future, said Friday the official in charge of the project, João Domingos.The official was speaking on the sidelines of training action designed to the young students from various schools of the country's capital, on the "Rights, fundamental duties and citizenship".According to him, the first group will comprise 50 young students of High Education in Luanda and 25 in Cabinda, aged between 15 an...