Topic: Burkina Faso

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Five key reasons Ivory Coast's election led to civil war

Ivory Coast’s long-anticipated Nov. 28 presidential election was meant to help the country move beyond its deep divisions. Instead, the vote fueled a political stalemate that sucked the country back into civil war.More than four months after voters elected President Alassane Ouattara, renegade incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo still refuses to step down even though rebel forces have now confined him to a bunker beneath the presidential residence. Hundreds of Ivorians have died in increasingly heavy fighting that included attacks this week by the United Nations and France. How did a simple vote turn into this? There are a number of reasons that go back years, even decades.
04/06/2011 03:46 pm

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Will 'historic' ceasefire help put Mali back together again?

A new deal brokered between Mali's government and ethnic Tuaregs by the EU and UN diplomats along with regional players may be a key first step.
Change Agent Cereal banks empower women and fight famine in Africa's Sahel region

Groups such as the World Food Program and Care are joining forces to create all-women-managed cereal banks in villages throughout the drought-prone Sahel region of Africa. They help protect against famine, but also empower women.
Can a 4,000-mile wall of trees stop Sahara Desert's drift?

The pan-African Great Green Wall project aims to build a literal wall of trees to stop the Sahara Desert's southward creep. But is the idea too good to be true?
Africa Monitor Can Africa keep its economic boom from going bust?

Several African economies are among the fastest growing in the world, but to transform cash into social prosperity will require more attentive involvement from the state, writes Lee-Roy Chetty.
Difference Maker Paul Giniès turned a failing African university into a world-class problem-solver

Today 2iE is recognized as a 'center of excellence' producing top-notch home-grown African engineers ready to address the continent's problems.
Focus In Mali, a war ends but instability lingers

The French drove out Islamist rebels in northern Mali. But can France and its African allies translate those victories into regional stability and peace?
Change Agent Push for biogas in Kenya asks women to get their hands dirty

Women are among those being trained as masons to install biogas digesters in Kenya, providing households with cheap, clean energy and helping to slow climate change by replacing wood, gas, or kerosene.
Backchannels The French are winning handily in Mali

Enough with the facile Vietnam and Afghanistan analogies.
Terrorism & Security Mali: French bring the troops, world now bringing the funds (+video)

International donors have pledged $455.53 million for an international campaign tackling Islamist militants in Mali.
Change Agent The man who stopped the desert

For decades Yacouba Sawadogo has been using a traditional method to replant trees and help stop the Sahara Desert from overtaking Burkina Faso.
French and Malian forces push toward key Islamic rebel stronghold: witnesses

Two-week-old Malian war against rebel groups holding the north of the country benefits from French military lead, as troops from surrounding African countries now pitch in. Malian army accused of executions and human rights violations.
Terrorism & Security Mali rebel fighters better prepared than first thought: French officials

Initial French estimates of a brief conflict may be revised as militants are not breaking quickly, French airstrikes continue, and more French troops are on the way.
With French airstrikes, has the war to retake northern Mali begun? (+video)

Today's expansion of the French air campaign beyond central Mali has left many wondering if the war has started – without much international coordination.
Focus Will Mali be Africa's Afghanistan?

Mali was hit by two successive shocks to its system this year – with the north seized by rebels and a coup in the capital – leaving its government fragile and the international community mulling intervention.
Change Agent Beyond big dams: turning to grass-roots solutions on water

Mega-dams and massive government-run irrigation projects are not the key to meeting world’s water needs, a growing number of experts say. For developing nations, the answer may lie in small-scale measures such as inexpensive water pumps.
Africa Monitor Mali, Shari'a, and the Media

Reporting tends to portray Islamic Sharia law as barbaric. Guest blogger Alex Thurston writes that this tendency hinders a chance to understand countries like Mali in their complexity.
Briefing Turmoil in Mali: Is it another Somalia?

Islamists hijacked a long-running Tuareg rebellion in Mali and have turned the north into a strict Islamist state. Here are four key questions about where things might go from here.
Change Agent Sharing local knowledge helps farmers succeed

Five groups highlight how farmers can share their problems and solutions with each other and policymakers around the world.
Once a stopover, Mali town becomes frontline destination for displaced people

The town of Sévaré sits along Mali's de facto border with a region now controlled by Tuareg separatists. At a camp there, displaced people speak cautiously about why they fled.
Keep Calm At Rio+20 environmental summit, is 'catastrophe' inevitable?

Wealthy Western nations are financially exhausted and unwilling to commit to help fund greener development for poorer nations. Will this week's conference in Rio find any solutions?
Rebel alliances strengthen in Mali's north, rattling neighboring countries

The northern two-thirds of Mali is now under control of Tuareg and Islamist rebels who want to redraw national boundaries and export revolution. Displaced minorities tell of brutality.
The Monitor's View At G8 summit, US taps into Africa's 'cheetah generation'

For the G8 summit, Obama unveils a promise by private firms to invest $3 billion in raising Africa's farm productivity. Many young Africans, dubbed 'cheetahs,' are posed for effective private investment.
Mali's Tuareg rebels claim independence in north

Separatist Tuareg rebels have captured large areas of mail's vast Saraha region and declared the independent state of Azawad.
Keep Calm Mali coup leaders pledge to hand over power as Tuareg rebels take Timbuktu

Disarray following a March 21 coup has allowed Tuareg rebels to take over much of Mali's north. West African neighbors worry about spillover.
African presidents forced to turn back from occupied Mali runway

The presidents of Ivory Coast, Benin, Liberia, Niger and Burkina Faso were due to arrive in Mali on Thursday to press for the departure of the junior officers that grabbed power in a coup last week.