The people of Tanzania will be able to live better lives because of two new U.S. programs announced August 28 during the Washington visit of Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete and his delegation -- just one day before Kikwete met with President Bush at the White House.

Egypt yesterday officially donated rice and cooking oil to the Namibian Government for distribution to thousands of people who were affected by floods and face hunger.

South Africans' food security - particularly the urban and rural poor, is under threat as they grapple with the highest food inflation rate in five years, according to the government's advisory body on agricultural marketing.

Hundreds of Red Cross Red Crescent volunteers have been called up in Guinea Bissau, Congo and Benin to help people affected by cholera epidemics.

CARE International in Zimbabwe was pleased today to receive notice the Government of Zimbabwe will permit registered humanitarian organisations to resume full operations, effective immediately. The announcement was made in a press statement from Mr. L.C. Museka, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare of the Government of Zimbabwe.

Since the signing of the peace accords with União Nacional para Independência Total de Angola (UNITA) in April 2002, political stability has been established throughout the country, the Government is recognized by all parties and has remained cohesive and functioning.

The Directorate General for Development Cooperation, which is the department within the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs responsible for the coordination and implementation of the Government's aid programmes, has contributed 4 million Euros in response to the humanitarian crisis in Somalia.

The US said yesterday in Abuja that it would provide $25 million (about N2.9 billion) as agricultural development assistance to Nigeria.

The UAE Red Crescent Authority has delivered food assistance to about 3, 000 families affected by natural disasters in Somalia.

The number of people needing humanitarian aid in Somalia has leapt 77 percent this year to more than 3.2 million, more than a third of the country's population, an authoritative new study has shown.

The government is planning to have 36,021 houses built for vulnerable people by the end of this year. According to a document obtained from the Ministry of Local Government, out of the 36,021 houses that have to be ready by December, 1907 (5.3 per cent) have been completed while 17,807 (49 percent) are still under construction.

At least 2,627 new classrooms have been built and equipped since 2002 by the Government of central Huambo province, to the benefit of about 3.5 million students attending lessons in two shifts.

The governor of the Jonglei state, Lt. Gen. Kuol Manyang Juuk has received the visiting Indian ambassador to Sudan Mr. Deepak Vohra in the state capital Bor.

Djelika Mariko, 6, woke up in a hospital bed after having been in coma for two days. Her parents had taken her to the hospital after she fell sick, only to discover that their daughter had contracted malaria. When Djelika opened her eyes, her parents were overjoyed.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is contributing more than 500 bicycles to women in northern Uganda as part of its campaign to curb sexual and gender-based violence and to enhance female participation in the local peace process.

A jewellery making project has been launched in a bid to improve the social welfare of women living with HIV-Aids by helping them generate income.

The water supply for two million residents of the Ugandan capital Kampala is being threatened by a combination of ill-planned urbanisation and changing rainfall patterns.

A micro-dam has been constructed in the Halib Mentel administrative area, Elabered sub-zone, at a cost of over 1.6 million Nakfa through the collaboration of the Anseba regional administration, the public and partners.

The struggle with the rule of law and competition over natural resources threatens Liberia's fragile stability despite its economy showing significant improvement, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a report to the Security Council today.

UNICEF is supporting the Ministry of Health of Guinea Bissau in fighting a cholera epidemic that has quickly spread across the country, and is particularly affecting the capital Bissau and the regions of Quinara, in the south, and Biombo, in the west.

Head of the UAE's Red Crescent Authority (RCA) to Sudan Bakhit Slaim Al-Muhairi and Secretary General of Sudan's Al-Zubair Charity Dr. Ibrahim Abdul Haleem Al-Ameen yesterday viewed progress on RCA's projects in Sudan.

Sudan and Japan will sign a grant agreement of $5.8 million to ward off communicable diseases in the country at the Federal Ministry of Health on Tuesday.

Children should not be collecting water from muddy holes! During the coming few months, Mercy-USA for Aid and Development is planning to dig seven new wells in two districts of southern Somalia and to repair and rehab 11 existing wells.

About 40% of the estimated 20.7 Ghanaians live below the poverty line. 70% of the classified poor live in rural areas where there is limited access to basic social services, less developed infrastructure and few opportunities for employment.

According to a recent report by the nongovernmental organisation ActionAid, West African seas are being devastated by legal and illegal overfishing, while local fishing industries decline.

A potable water supply project is being implemented in Mahmime semi-urban center, Karura sub-zone, in a bid to alleviate a drinking water problem in the area.

Over 60 thousand vulnerable adolescents, orphans and women living with HIV/AIDS in six cities of the country improved their nutritional status and increased their income level through an urban gardens project.

After aid supplies were burned and looted during fighting in eastern Chad in mid-June, a United Nations emergency fund has stepped in to replace the supplies with a grant of $1.2 million.

Visiting former US President Bill Clinton has officially launched the construction of a modern hospital in Butaro-Burera district.

In order to reach the nearest hospital and access prenatal care, Fernanda Ngueve would have had to walk 7 km to Andulo while carrying both her babies. So, like many women in her village, the 38-year-old expectant mother decided to forego her routine health consultations rather than make the arduous hike.

French soldiers have been dispatched to Togo to help the tiny West African nation tackle floods that have killed nine people this week, destroyed bridges and raised some food prices due to disrupted transport.

The 82nd Agriculture and Commercial Show, which opened its doors to the public yesterday, is in many ways very significant.

The Nigerian Federal Government has reiterated its commitment towards the development of the Niger Delta in an atmosphere of peace.

United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, John Holmes, today announced the allocation of $30 million to support agencies carrying out life-saving aid programmes in seven crisis countries in need of an injection of aid funding - Afghanistan, Burundi, Chad, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iraq, Sri Lanka and Syria.

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is teaching women's groups how to increase food production through a one-year drip irrigation project in the town of Gao, located deep in the semi-arid Sahel Belt in eastern Mali.

The project of construction of economic houses for the youth will soon be expanded to all provinces of Angola.

Dubai Cares, a charitable organization that aims to provide primary education to one million children in developing countries, today provided UNICEF with nearly $1.2 million dollars to fund educational programmes in Niger.

The United States has announced a $481 million aid package aimed at reducing poverty in Burkina Faso.

UMEME has signed a $8 million (about sh12.8b) contract with Spanish software company, Soluziona Consultoria Technologia, to install a new customer care and billing system.

A regional sheltering and social reinsertion centre for children will be built his month, at Catumbela district, in the Central Benguela province, Angop has learnt.

Working in collaboration with two Kenyan engineering firms, UN-HABITAT has developed an innovative tractor trailer system and a small pick up vehicle to meet the solid waste collection needs of small towns.

The Senegalese government has said it attaches great importance to the realization of "food security" in the country, especially in the wake of the ongoing global food crunch, Daouda Fall, a senior agriculture ministry official, said.

The Department for International Development (DFID) today committed £20 million to the humanitarian crisis in drought-stricken Ethiopia, doubling the £10 million already pledged by the International Development Secretary, Douglas Alexander, in June.

The Kiyindi landing site in the Mukono district of Uganda is being revamped.

In Bafwasende territory, in the north-eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo around 260 kilometres from Kisangani, the National Red Cross Society is today distributing emergency supplies to some 2,500 people displaced by armed violence.

A containerload of toys donated by hundreds of French schoolchildren left Paris bound for Liberia, where the playthings will be given to children forced to flee their homes during the West African nation's civil war. The toys were taken to Brussels and loaded onto a flight for Africa.

Councillors and project managers from two development projects based in Kenema and Kambia Districts respectively met in a first-of-a-kind experience sharing workshop in Kambia town.

United Nations relief agencies have sounded the alarm today about the humanitarian situation in six countries across the Horn of Africa, where a combination of drought conditions and soaring food prices has left more than 14 million people in urgent need of food aid.

Ivory Coast urgently needs nearly $100 million from donors to finance preparations for elections in November and pay disgruntled rebels who staged a brief revolt at the weekend, officials said.

At least 142.5 million kwanzas were released this year for the construction of two integrated community centres in the central Bié Province, with a view to encouraging socio-professional training of the local residents.

The World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved a US$35 million financing grant for the Rwanda Second Rural Sector Support Project (RSSP2). The grant will support the intensification of agricultural production systems and commercialisation of agricultural products.

One by one, the children are placed on a scale hanging from a makeshift wooden stand.

Kaduna State government has received a $60 million grant from the World Bank, toward assisting in the management and improvement of access of rural roads.

The people of Somalia are currently facing a massive humanitarian crisis with unmet critical needs.

The World Bank Board of Executive Directors today approved US$37.80 million to the Malawi Government to support investments aimed at improving food security and sustainable agricultural growth.

Virtually every working day, before going to work at the primary education inspectorate in Kinkala, 75km south of the capital, Brazzaville, Alphonse Dianzinga, 52, fetches water from a source half-an-hour's walk away.

Save the Children is making an urgent global appeal to help an estimated 900,000 people, including 325,000 children in Ethiopia, and others around the world who are bearing the brunt of a severe food price crisis.

As part of the ongoing integrated reforms of the Abia State Public Service, the Nigerian state government has set aside N24 million annually for the training of public servants with a quarterly release of N6 million already approved by Governor Theodore Orji.

Due to its difficult natural conditions, Mauritania has for years been a country with a structural food deficit. It is a net importer of food products, the most important of which are rice (which accounts for about two-thirds of its consumption) and wheat (totaling about 300,000 metric tons).

The dry months of April, May, and June were once equated with hunger for Agre Ranyondo and his neighbors in this community of 55,000 people.

UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Hilde Johnson has arrived in Addis Ababa for a four day visit to Ethiopia where she will review the emergency situation in drought affected areas.

The Board of Directors of the World Bank has approved three grants amounting to a total of US$127 million for funding urban infrastructure, HIV/AIDS, and economic governance projects with a view to accelerating crisis recovery and post-conflict reconstruction efforts of Côte d'Ivoire.

Sweden is contributing SEK3 million to support the continuing peace efforts in Somalia under UN leadership. After mediation by the UN, Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the opposition Alliance for the Re-Liberalisation of Somalia (ARS) were able to agree on a ceasefire on 9 June.

In Togo, the malnutrition rates for children under five years old is an alarming 14.3 per cent, well above the emergency malnutrition levels of 10 per cent. In three of the five Togolese regions (Maritime, Kara, and Savanes), more than 77,000 children suffer from malnutrition, with 18,800 suffering from acute malnutrition.

The Kenyan government presented its budget proposals for the 2008-2009 financial year on Thursday and announced measures to cushion their populations against soaring food prices.

RABO Bank, a Netherlands-based bank through its subsidiary RABO Financial Investment Development (RFID), has invested Frw5.5 billion in Banques Populaire Du Rwanda (BPR).

United Nations relief agencies and the Ethiopian Government have drastically increased their appeal for funding to help people caught up in the country's drought and the resulting widespread crop failures as the number of Ethiopians affected by the crisis continues to soar.

"The flood victims in Namibia must be helped. Austria is therefore providing one hundred thousand euros in aid for the affected population," announced Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik today.

In an effort to bring down the rising global food prices, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) has broken ground for a massive agricultural project it is implementing in Sudan.

The Executive Board of the World Bank today approved an International Development Association additional credit of US$15 million for the Basic Education Sector project in the Republic of Burkina Faso.

At an official signing ceremony in Luanda last week, the Government of Japan made a major contribution to help UNICEF continue its work with the Government of Angola on preventing infectious diseases among children.

Cellular operator Zain is planning to raise $5 billion through listing on a European stock market to help fund its entry into three more African countries within a year.

The government has received donor funding to the amount of 8 billion Kenyan shillings to alleviate the food shortage currently being experienced in several parts of the country.

Britain has pledged $20 million for Ethiopia after the east African nation said 4.5 million people were in need of emergency food aid.

The Grand Coalition is promising to create 800,000 jobs a year and spread presidential powers to other institutions under a new joint manifesto.

The Executive Board of the World Bank today approved one grant and one credit amounting $20 million for health and education projects in the Republic of Burkina Faso.

The overwhelming view coming out of the FAO Food Security Conference in Rome this week is the need for international coordination and cooperation in the long term approach to food security.

New harvests have started flowing into Kampala's major markets, keeping prices stable, a weekly mini-survey has shown. Fresh beans, peas, maize, matooke, onions and tomatoes are being off-loaded at Nakasero, St. Balikuddembe, Kalerwe, Nakawa and Nateete markets.

UNHCR is releasing 2,000 tents to the South African government to help provide much-needed shelter to thousands of people made homeless in the recent xenophobic attacks against foreigners, including refugees and asylum seekers, according to sources.

The World Bank Board of Directors today approved an International Development Association (IDA) credit of $30 million to increase and sustain access of urban residents to basic infrastructure and services, particularly those living in deprived settlements.

The World Bank yesterday approved an International Development Association loan of $190 million (Sh200 billion) for the Second Central Transport Corridor Project.

Heavy rains that hit Ouagadougou on 25 May left 542 people homeless, over half of them children, Gabriel Semdé, the provincial director of the Burkina Faso government ministry for social welfare and national solidarity, has said.

The Nigerian Federal Government yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the South Korean government on the establishment of a comprehensive rice-processing complex in Bida, Niger State. The mill, estimated to cost $1.8 million, would be executed next year.

Genetu Dekebo's children were on the verge of starvation at the time she decided to seek treatment at Rophi therapeutic feeding centre in southern Ethiopia's Oromiya regional state.

The Japanese government plans to provide African countries, over the next five years, with grants and soft loans amounting to over $6 billion US dollars. This pledge is to be formally announced by Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda during the fourth Japan-Africa summit (TICAD) which begins in Yokohama on Wednesday.

In a race against the start of the rainy season in mid-June, UNHCR on Friday began the transfer of 9,526 newly arrived refugees from the Central African Republic (CAR) to a new camp in Moula, southern Chad. The CAR refugees are being moved from a transit centre about 25 km from the Chad-CAR border to the new Moula camp, which is some 150 km inland. Since Friday, 1,662 refugees have already been moved in two convoys.

United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and partner organizations, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), and Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) have completed a pilot project to study the feasibility of using cash vouchers to deliver humanitarian assistance in eastern DRC.

Fourteen years after getting the first invitation, the British Council has finally officially launched its activities in Rwanda.

The ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) has agreed to provide $1 billion annually to ministers meeting on soaring cost of foodstuff, the EBID have agreed to provide $1 billion annually to support agricultural productivity in West Africa as part of the region's contribution towards resolving the ranging food crisis.