- Some 2 million Togolese school children return to classroom on Monday after classes have been delayed by floods that caused misery and destruction in most parts of the West Africa region.
Floods in the region had wrecked infrastructure, homes and crops and spreading diseases, prompting the United Nations Humanitarian Agency (OCHA) to call on West African governments to meet to coordinate humanitarian efforts and draw up longer-term solutions to the seasonal flooding threat.
In September, heavy rains and floods across most West Africa had killed more than 30 people and made over 130,000 others homeless, OCHA said. Togo, Ghana, Niger, Benin, Mali, Burkina Faso and Senegal among the hardest hit countries.
Last year, serious rainy season floods killed hundreds of people across Africa.
As a sign of its commitment to make basic education accessible, the Togolese government announced the introduction of free school for children between six and nine. This is significant in a country where school attendance and quality of education had seriously dropped since 1990.
The package will be available to parents who present their children's birth certificates to public schools.
Already, parents in regions where children's births are not registered expressed worry. But the government said there is no cause for alarm, as efforts will soon be underway to ascertain the age of these children as well as issue them new birth certificates.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
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