| NEPAL: Activists urge more government action on de-mining |
 KATHMANDU, 13 August 2007 (IRIN Asia) - Anti-landmine activists are concerned at the slowness in clearing landmines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the country. Many civilians, including children, continue to be at risk, said Ban Landmines Campaign Nepal (NCBL) on 13 August.
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CONGO: Opposition protest as government wins polls by massive majority |  BRAZZAVILLE, 13 August 2007 (IRIN Africa) - Opposition parties in Congo have protested against the outcome of general elections held on 24 June and 5 August after the government was returned to power by a landslide victory.
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NIGER: Despite security assurances, mines keep aid agencies out of north |  DAKAR, 13 August 2007 (IRIN Africa) - The mayor of a remote city in lawless northern Niger last week appealed for help with severe hunger and flood-related damage, but humanitarians are struggling to respond because mines recently laid by anti-government fighters have made the city unreachable.
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SOUTH AFRICA: Deputy health minister 'sacked for doing her job' |  JOHANNESBURG , 10 August 2007 (IRIN Africa) - South African deputy health minister, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, told a media briefing in Cape Town on Friday that President Thabo Mbeki sacked her for "just doing my job."
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SIERRA LEONE: Who will lead new phase in country stepping away from war past? |  DAKAR, 10 August 2007 (IRIN Africa) - Elections in Sierra Leone will have an impact on the future role the UN will play in the country, according to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Until recently the country had the largest UN peacekeeping force in the world and still hosts a substantial UN support office. The elections will "help define an exit strategy" for the UN the Secretary General said in a May report.
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SIERRA LEONE: The election issue -- basic services |  FREETOWN, 10 August 2007 (IRIN Africa) - 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 Sierra Leonean has a life span of just 40 years.
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SIERRA LEONE: As vote nears less violence than expected |  DAKAR, 9 August 2007 (IRIN Africa) - Almost five years after the civil war ended the majority of Sierra Leoneans still live in grinding poverty, yet even as tensions mount ahead of general elections renewed violence appears unlikely.
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SIERRA LEONE: Election campaign focuses on youth |  FREETOWN, 8 August 2007 (IRIN Africa) - During Sierra Leone’s war many youth could feed themselves by taking up arms and pillaging. Now, in peace time, with democracy flourishing and a general election set for 11 August, that grim option is less available to them, but few other options have taken its place.
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NEPAL: Flood victims complain of lack of aid, slow delivery |  NEPALGUNJ, 7 August 2007 (IRIN Asia) - Thousands of families displaced by floods in southwestern Nepal are gradually returning to their homes in remote villages but government aid is still negligible, flood victims told IRIN on 7 August.
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LIBERIA: Some fake orphans reunify with their parents |  MONROVIA, 7 August 2007 (IRIN Africa) - The Liberian government says it has started reunifying hundreds of parents with their children who were placed in orphanages under false pretenses.
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