Three U.N. troops were killed early Sunday and three wounded when their convoy hit a roadside bomb, an official said, in the latest violence to hit the war-torn West African state. Chadian peacekeepers were on a routine patrol in Aguelhok commune in the north of the country, according to a U.N. official stationed in the area. “There are three dead and three seriously wounded,” said the official, who declined to be named.Olivier Salgado, the spokesman for the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, confirmed the account to AFP, adding that reinforcements had been sent into the area.Known as MINUSMA, the U.N. mission has some 13,000 troops drawn from several states deployed across the vast semi-arid country. Mali is struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency that erupted in 2012 and which has claimed thousands of military and civilian lives since.Despite the presence of thousands of French and U.N. troops, the conflict has engulfed the center of the country and spread to neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger.  Laying roadside bombs is a favored tactic of jihadists active in the Sahel.Also known as improvised explosive devices, they kill and maim scores of victims every year in Mali.
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A kidnapped Italian aid worker who had been held in an al-Shabab-controlled area of Somalia has been freed. Silvia Romano arrived in Rome on Sunday after being freed outside Mogadishu on Saturday. She spent overnight in a safe location in Mogadishu before being flown home. Security officials told VOA Somali that Romano was recovered from a forest near the town of Afgoye, 30 kilometers west of Mogadishu. The terms of her release are not known. 
 Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced the release in a tweet.Silvia Romano è stata liberata! Ringrazio le donne e gli uomini dei servizi di intelligence esterna. Silvia, ti aspettiamo in Italia!— Giuseppe Conte (@GiuseppeConteIT) May 9, 2020Romano, who was working for an Italian charity was abducted by gunmen in November 2018 in Kilifi County, Kenya. It’s not clear how the gunmen managed to transport her into Somalia. Somali security sources say they believe she was kidnapped by al-Shabab militants who previously abducted aid workers and demanded ransom. The abduction of two Spanish aid workers working for Doctors Without Borders in October 2011 was one of reasons Kenya government gave for its subsequent military intervention into Somalia that year. Al-Shabab also harbors bandits including pirates who abduct foreign sailors, and aid workers. Three Iranian sailors, two Cuban doctors, two Kenyans and a German nurse working for the ICRC are still being held in areas controlled by al-Shabab.     
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In the last two months, the U.N. Refugee Agency reports more than 200,000 people have been forced to flee surging violence between the Lendu and Hema groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ituri Province.The U.N. Refugee Agency says 5 million people have been uprooted in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including 1.2 million in Ituri province. It reports the number of interethnic attacks and counterattacks between Lendu farmers and Hema herders continues to multiply, adding to the already intolerable misery of what is Africa’s largest displacement crisis.U.N. monitors have recorded more than 3,000 serious human rights violations in Djugu territory, mainly occupied by the Hema, in the last 60 days. UNHCR spokesman, Charlie Yaxley says nearly 50 attacks are taking place on average every day against the local community.“Displaced people have reported acts of extreme violence with at least 274 civilians killed with weapons such as machetes.  More than 140 women were raped and almost 8,000 houses set on fire.  The vast majority of those displaced are women and children, many of whom are now living under crowded circumstances with host families from the community,” he said.Yaxley told VOA many others are forced to sleep in the open or in public buildings under very insecure conditions.“That, in turn, is also making the social distancing required to prevent the spread of COVID-19 extremely difficult as we see many people living inside shelters … and, this again places them vulnerable to possible further attacks, vulnerable to the elements and with little protection in terms of preventing the spread of COVID-19,” he said.The Lendu and Hema have been fighting sporadically for decades over valuable resources in their gold- and oil-rich province.  Tensions in the region have been rising since December, following a government-led military operation against various armed groups.U.N. and private agencies report access to Djugu and Mahagi territories is heavily restricted, making it difficult to reach those in dire need of assistance. The UNHCR reports it is working with other agencies to provide relief and to build more shelters for the displaced.The agency reports only 18% of its $154 million appeal for the DRC has been received to date. It says this lack of funding, as well as the prevailing insecurity, is affecting its ability to provide essential relief to the thousands of displaced. 
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The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees is appealing for strong International support to help millions of Somalis facing a growing number of catastrophic threats from conflict, natural disasters and the potential spread of COVID-19.
   
More than 220,000 Somalis have fled their homes this year because of drought, heavy flooding and increased violence and atrocities by al-Shabab militants. This brings the total number of those forced from their homes in the country to 2.6 million.
 
The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR says the conflict and natural and climate-related disasters are crippling the country’s economy and threatening the safety and welfare of the displaced Somalis.  It warns impending desert locust swarms, which have been creating havoc across parts of East Africa, could destroy much of the nation’s food crop.
 
UNHCR spokesman Charlie Yaxley told VOA the harm from these locust swarms could be compounded by COVID-19.  He said restrictions on movement and other preventative measures aimed at stopping spread of the virus are seriously affecting livelihoods.
    
“People are seeing job losses as businesses are forced to close and people losing their incomes as a result and, at the same time, we are seeing food prices rise.  So, all of these things together, and particularly with the other things we mentioned with regards to the floods, the ongoing violence, as well, could lead to a perfect storm with potentially devastating consequences for these internally displaced people in Somalia,” Yaxley said.   
    
The World Health Organization is reporting 928 cases of the coronavirus, including 44 deaths, in Somalia. So far, Yaxley said, only one confirmed case has been found among the displaced population.  However, he warned this could rapidly worsen.
 
He noted most of the 2.6 million displaced Somalis live in overcrowded settlements where social distancing is almost impossible. He said there is scarcely enough clean water for drinking, let alone handwashing.
 
The UNHCR reports the country’s fragile health system in unable to respond to a rapidly spreading pandemic. The agency recently appealed for $745 million to protect and assist displaced populations around the world from COVID-19.  Some of that money, it says, is desperately needed to prevent the disease from ravaging Somalia.
 
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Coinciding with Friday’s observance of the African Day for the Reduction of Maternal and Newborn Mortality, Cameroon disclosed that tens of thousands of newborn babies continue to die at birth and thousands of women continue to lose their lives while giving birth each year in the central African of 25 million. Health officials say the situation is worse on Cameroon’s northern border with Nigeria, where most mothers do not go to hospitals.
 
Martina Lukong Baye, Cameroonian Coordinator of the National Multisector Program to Combat Maternal, Newborn and Child Mortality, says it is unfortunate that the number of mothers and babies dying in Cameroon has remained high due to many women neglecting prenatal care and some delivering at home using untrained traditional birth attendants.
 
“We are counting about 4,000 women dying every year from causes linked to pregnancy or delivery. It is pathetic. It is about 22,000 newborn babies that we lose every year. It is really, really unacceptable.” Baye said.
 
Cameroon’s Ministry of Public Health, however, reports that the number of pregnant women who die has dropped from 8,000 in 2015 to 4,000 in last year, and babies who are dying each year has decreased from 30,000 in 2015 to 22,000 last year.  
 
Baye says Cameroon could do more to reduce most of the deaths by paying more attention to reasons why the women and babies die.
   
“The first direct cause of women dying in Cameroon is bleeding. We do not have enough blood available in our health facilities to give these women. The other cause too, now, that is quite prominent now is hypertension in pregnancy. The other cause now would be infection after delivery and, of course, home deliveries,” Baye said.
 
According to a 2018 Cameroon government-sponsored demographic and health survey, 33% of Cameroonian deliveries are carried out at home or with African traditional birth attendants, without trained health staff members.  
 
The situation is critical on Cameroon’s northern border with Nigeria, where Boko Haram has chased medical staff away and torched hospitals, and the border with the Central African Republic that has been an epicenter of CAR rebel atrocities.  
 
Malachie Manaouda, Cameroon’s health minister, says the government has taken measures to improve health care delivery at hospitals as an urgent measure to reduce the deaths.  
He says the universal health coverage plan Cameroon is developing prioritizes mother and child care. He says President Paul Biya is personally supervising the plan as an indication of a strong political will to stop women from dying while giving birth, and babies from dying before, during or shortly after birth.
 
Manaouda said Cameroon has, within the past three years, equipped maternities and trained and recruited about a thousand midwives and pediatricians to attend to the needs of mothers and babies. He also said the government two years ago instructed all hospitals on Cameroon’s northern border with Nigeria and Cameroon’s border with CAR to offer free prenatal care.
 
The African Day for the Reduction of Maternal and Newborn Mortality, observed since 2009, offers an opportunity for African countries, members of the African Union, to intensify actions aimed at reducing maternal and infant mortality, examine challenges faced, and press for greater political commitment among African countries to stop mothers and babies from dying.
 
 
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Malawi’s Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by President Peter Mutharika and the Malawi Electoral Commission and upheld the order for a re-run of the presidential election held a year ago in which Mutharika won a second term.The court said Friday some of the 137 grounds in Mutharika’s appeal were fictitious and embarrassing. The ruling means the country must proceed with a presidential election re-run scheduled for July 2.
 
Results of last May’s voting had Mutharika at 38.7%, Lazarus Chakwera of the opposition Malawi Congress Party at 34.1% and Vice President Saulos Chilima, leader of the opposition United Transformation Movement, at 20.2%.  
 
In June, though, Chakwera and Chilima challenged the results in the Constitutional Court, accusing the Malawi Electoral Commission of helping Mutharika to rig the polls.  
 
In its verdict in February, the Constitutional Court nullified the poll results, citing massive irregularities, and ordered fresh elections with 150 days.  
 
Both the MEC and Mutharika appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court.  
 
Delivering the verdict Friday, Supreme Court Justice Frank Kapanda said the court found that the irregularities in the election “were not only serious but also troubling”.  “Widespread use of Tip-Ex [correction fluid], illegal alterations of large number of tally sheets, the use of numerous duplicate tally sheets where originals unspeakably went missing. Among other many irregularities established by the court below,” Kapanda said, addind that such irregularities seriously undermined the credibility, integrity and fairness of the elections.  
    
“We agree with the court below that the conduct of the second appellant [MEC] in the management of the 12 May, 2019, general elections, which resulted in gross violations and breached of the constitution and applicable  laws, demonstrated serious incompetence and a neglect of duty on the part of electoral commissioners  in multiple dimensions,” Kapanda said.
     
The Supreme Court also upheld the Constitutional Court’s order that the winner should get at least 50% plus one of the votes.
 
However, it ordered that no new voter registrations should be accepted for the new polls and that only presidential candidates who participated in the nullified May elections should be allowed to run in the rematch.
   
The Supreme Court ruling means that MEC should stop the ongoing new voter registration exercise which was expected to end June 7.  
 
MEC spokesperson Sangwani Mwafulirwa says the commission respects the court ruling and would announce its next move at an appropriate time.  
 
Presidential candidate Chakwera said the verdict has demonstrated impartiality on the part of the country’s judicial system.  
 
“I am so happy. I could dance if I had dancing legs and I think our Supreme Court justices have  just continued to uphold the bar that was raised by the Constitutional Court and we believe that Malawi will sent an example not in just the African continent and across the world that if you seek justice you can find it,” Chakwera said.  
 
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An animated video from Nigeria is having a global impact as it teaches children about the coronavirus. VOA’s Salem Solomon recently spoke to Nigerian filmmaker Niyi Akinmolayan and has the story. 
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Burundi’s main opposition leader and presidential candidate Agathon Rwasa says supporters of his CNL party are being arrested, attacked and in some cases killed ahead of the country’s May 20 elections.”We are experiencing some behaviors which are meant to destabilize mainly the CNL where our people are attacked and there is no judiciary or police prosecution which could be conducted against the perpetrators,” Rwasa said this week in an exclusive interview with VOA News.According to the CNL, one party member was attacked and two others went missing in Ruyigi province on Thursday.The party says a local CNL leader in Mwaro province was kidnapped Monday and his body was found floating in a river.FILE – Party members attend the congress of the opposition Congres National pour la Liberte (National Freedom Council) party, in the capital, Bujumbura, Burundi, Feb. 16, 2020.Rwasa said his members are being targeted specifically because they are candidates or electoral observers for his party.”We can say all of this is meant to intimidate the opposition so as to guarantee the victory of the ruling party,” he added.Campaigning for the presidential and parliamentary elections officially kicked off on April 27 and is expected to last for 21 days as the seven presidential candidates compete for voters’ support.Confrontations between the opposition members and ruling party’s youth wing, the Imbonerakure, have been reported countrywide during the political rallies, specifically in the provinces of Ngozi, Kirundo, Kayanza, Bujumbura and Gitega.According to the Burundian government, at least two people were killed in the first week of the campaigns, and 26 were injured.”We call on all party members to stay away from hate speeches, inciting violence and words that create hatred, because when the political leaders tell these kind of words to their supporters, the next day they implement, as we have witnessed recently,” said Pierre Nkurikiye, spokesman for Burundi’s public security minister.Earlier this week, one of the CNL legislative candidates, Kathy Kezimana, was arrested by Burundian police and accused of spreading hate speech.Ruling CNND-FDD partyThe ruling CNND-FDD party, led by presidential nominee Evariste Ndayishimiye, is expected to win the elections.Ndayishimiye is the handpicked successor of President Pierre Nkurunziza, who is stepping aside after 15 years. The president’s controversial decision to seek a third term in 2015 sparked violent protests that killed hundreds of people and prompted hundreds of thousands to flee the country. A 2018 referendum scrapped the previous two-term limit in the constitution.FILE – Burundi Army Gen. Evariste Ndayishimiye, left, is accompanied by current president Pierre Nkurunziza after being chosen as the party’s presidential candidate at a conference for the ruling CNDD-FDD party in Gitega, Burundi, Jan. 26, 2020.For this year’s election, opposition members have raised concern about the Independent Electoral Commission because the members of the commission are allied to the ruling party.There will be no international observer mission for the vote. The East African Community expressed interest in deploying a mission, but plans never materialized because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Burundian officials have recorded 19 cases of coronavirus and one death.Most Bujumbura residents prefer not to comment on the current political situation for fear of their own security.”We pray that the campaigns are conducted well and whoever will lose or win should accept the outcome. For us citizens, the most important thing is peace. We need peace,” said one Bujumbura resident.
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Even though the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise in South Sudan, the government is lifting several restrictions that are intended to control the spread of the pandemic.A South Sudan COVID-19 task force member said Thursday that regional flights would resume, and that markets, shops and bars would be allowed to reopen.The South Sudan Doctors Union called the decision rushed.”The South Sudan Doctors Union does not see urgency in relaxing the rules and directives of the lockdown at a time when our nation is experiencing [an] exponential rise in COVID-19 cases and serious violations of control measures,” the union said in a statement Friday.Decision questionedDr. Akuay Cham, an associate professor of public health at the University of Juba, questioned whether the decision was based on sound reasoning.”It is contrary to what is going on, on the ground. Cases are increasing and we are moving in another direction, and this for me is very sad. I don’t know if the government is trying to prioritize the economic impact of this pandemic rather than lives,” Cham told VOA’s South Sudan in Focus.FILE – A doctor of International Medical Corps is disinfected at the isolation ward of Ministry of Health Infectious Disease Unit in Juba, South Sudan, April 24, 2020.Over the last 10 days, the number of confirmed cases in South Sudan shot up from six to 90. Sixteen new cases were reported Thursday.The decision to ease restrictions was made during Thursday’s cabinet meeting, chaired by President Salva Kiir.Dr. Richard Laku, a member of the task force, told reporters Thursday night that the country’s curfew would start three hours later at 10 p.m. and that other restrictions would be lifted.”Reopening internal travel by air, land and river, allowing regional flights back to South Sudan, reopening markets, shops, tea places, bars and restaurants. However, schools, churches, mosques, nightclubs will remain closed. Sports, funerals and other public gatherings will remain suspended,” Laku said.Although the lifting of restrictions was to take effect in 72 hours after Thursday’s announcement, some Juba restaurants and bars already reopened Friday.Laku urged people to continue to wear masks.”Wearing masks is mandatory in meetings, public places, buses, and bodabodas and rickshaws. People should also continue experiencing thorough washing of hands and using disinfectants,” Laku said.Laku did not take questions from reporters, and calls to his office for comment Friday went unanswered.Repeated calls to Dr. Magok Kuol Gordon, the incident manager for the COVID-19 task force, and Ateny Wek Ateny, Kiir’s press secretary, also went unanswered.Travel resumesSouth Sudan joins Uganda and Rwanda in lifting some COVID-19 protective measures, but while Uganda and Rwanda have shown progress in slowing the spread of the virus in their countries, South Sudan has not.Cham noted that South Sudan has one COVID-19 testing machine and a public health laboratory and only a few isolation centers.FILE – A member of a medical team wearing a protective suit cleans the airfield, to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the Juba International Airport in Juba, South Sudan, April 5, 2020.”I would expect the government to establish isolation centers, and the government to increase mass testing, so that we know where we are when the disease is spreading,” Cham told VOA. Right now, most people known or suspected to have COVID-19 in South Sudan self-isolate because of the lack of quarantine centers.The head of the U.N. Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), David Shearer, predicted the number of confirmed cases in South Sudan would increase because, he said, the virus has spread to a broader community.He said decisions about lifting restrictions should be based on good science and international protocols.”We don’t need to make them up; they’re all there and are being used all over the world. Once those measures are in place, all those critical activities that can be done safely should continue right across South Sudan. If we don’t do that, many more people will die – not from COVID-19, but from other problems, like intercommunal fighting, hunger and disease,” Shearer said in an online news conference.Shearer said the work of U.N. agencies across South Sudan must continue uninterrupted during the pandemic in order to save lives.”If it doesn’t, the ramifications of COVID-19 will be much worse,” he said. “We should learn the lessons from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Eleven thousand people died from Ebola, but many, many more died from preventable problems like hunger, cholera and malaria. That’s why the U.N.’s work must go on despite COVID-19. Food supplies, health services, reconciliation activities to bring peace between warring communities — all these actions make a huge difference in this country and must continue.”The U.N. has had to rotate staff at health centers and peace-building efforts during the pandemic, but Shearer said UNMISS had played a decisive role in setting up South Sudan’s COVID-19 protective measures.”U.N. agencies and UNMISS have already made a major contribution, including helping set up the National Public Health Laboratory and rehabilitation labs in Yambio, Nimule and Wau, providing technical and logistical support for national surveillance, laboratory testing, contact tracing and case management through WHO,” Shearer said.He noted the U.N. had also prepositioned a year’s worth of nutritional supplies for refugees and vulnerable families, set up community handwashing sites, and provided tents and solar lighting for hospitals.
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Police in Nairobi on Friday reportedly used water cannons, tear gas and live ammunition on demonstrators after they took to the streets to protest the demolition of houses and shops earlier this week that left thousands homeless.The protests erupted in the Korogocho slum and quickly spread to the ring road that connects it with the rest of the Nigerian capital. Demonstrators set fire to tires and built barricades in the streets, prompting the police response.City officials Monday began bulldozing homes and shops in the Kariobangi neighborhood that the city says was illegally built on government land. The demolition reportedly left as many 7,000 people homeless.Rights activists have criticized the government for the timing of the forced evictions, and they have criticized  Kenyan police for allegedly using excessive force while enforcing government measures aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus.The Kenyan government has ordered a nationwide curfew running from 7 p.m. until 5 a.m. because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The International Crisis Group said the coronavirus poses the threat of a political crisis to Somalia as the country heads toward its scheduled November election.The Brussels-based think tank calls on political leaders to discuss the electoral process to avoid violence. Somalia has recorded more than 900 COVID-19 cases so far. The Somali government is attempting to fight the coronavirus pandemic while preparing for the elections due to take place in six months.  In this file photo taken on March 19, 2020, students walk in a Mogadishu neighborhood wearing face masks as protective measure against the COVID-10 coronavirus.Senator Ilyas Ali Hassan, a member of the opposition, says the health crisis is no excuse for the government not to hold the election on time. “The issue of coronavirus can be a small factor when it comes to election preparation” Hassan said. “The government has not prepared the ground well. The election venue is not ready. That does not mean the election won’t take place, it will take place, and it’s a must. But my worry is that the election not to take place how it was planned, on the one-man-one-vote process.”   Dahir Amin Jesow is a member of the interior committee in the Somali parliament. He said the government will hold the election on time. “It’s possible to do election on time if we not affected so much by the coronavirus and doesn’t take a long time to get the situation under control,” Jesow said. “Gathering of people is discouraged this time due to the virus, but if it’s controlled, then the election can be held.” The November elections are for members of parliament. The elected legislators will then choose the president in February 2021. A worker marks a social distancing sign as a preventive measure against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the market centre in Hamarweyne district in Mogadishu, Somalia, April 16, 2020.Somalia has never held a one person-one vote election. Opposition leaders said doing it in Somalia will be difficult due to security reasons and the troubled relationship between the central government and some of the regions. 
 
Omar Mahmood is a senior analyst on Somalia at the International Crisis Group. He believes Somali leaders can reach agreement on how to hold the election. “One way or another, there needs to be some sort of consensus process that happens internally in the country,” Mahmood said. “If all the parties agree that yes, this is unprecedented time and we do need more time to run the elections, its not necessarily an issue.  But the issue is getting everyone on the same page and get everyone to agree, especially given that the process was already complicated, but corona adds a very much complicated layer to it.”  In an encouraging sign, Somali government forces have regained ground from militant group al-Shabab in recent months, and the government has normalized relations with some regions, although not with Puntland and Jubaland. 
 
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Experts warn there could be an increase in child labor in cocoa-growing African nations as incomes and enforcement suffer due to the coronavirus pandemic. Ghana and Ivory Coast produce about 60 percent of the world’s cocoa, but both have long-standing issues with child labor in cocoa farms. Last month, Fairtrade Africa told Reuters News Agency it had received reports of possible child labor use in Ivory Coast, leading to warnings there might be a spike in cases in both Ivory Coast and neighboring Ghana.Prince Gyamfi, Ghana’s deputy country director for The International Cocoa Initiative (ICI), which is focused on child protection in cocoa-farming communities, says poverty is a major driver for child labor in cocoa farms.If the pandemic continues, he said, there will be increased economic pressures on farming families, and ongoing school closures in Ghana mean children are more likely to accompany their parents to their farms and be exposed to hazardous activities.FILE – Farmers break cocoa pods in Ghana’s eastern cocoa town of Akim Akooko, Sept. 6, 2012.He said ICI found that when farmers’ incomes are negativity impacted, child labor tends to increase. A study in Ivory Coast found a 10 percent fall in income due to a drop in cocoa prices led to a five percentage point increase in child labor. ICI also found increases in child labor when children are on term breaks from school.Estimates for 2013-’14 indicate that 1.2 million child laborers were working in cocoa production in Ivory Coast, and 900,000 in Ghana.The ICI is researching the impact of cash transfer programs on child labor — where giving money to vulnerable families could be a solution. The study’s findings are being used to inform the design of a cash transfer program for vulnerable cocoa-growing households in Ghana.”We think that cash transfer programs, if designed well, could lead to a decrease in child labor by helping parents pay for school costs or education costs, allowing children to go to school, reducing pressure on the household incomes, therefore, reducing the need for child labor to help out on the family farm,” Gyamfi said.Fiifi Boafo, a spokesperson for the Ghana Cocoa Board, Ghana’s cocoa industry regulator, said Ghana’s government had employed an additional 1,300 extension officers in the last six months whose duties included educating cocoa farmers on ethical farming guidelines, such as not using children. However, he characterized the report from Fairtrade Africa as speculation that had only mentioned Ivory Coast.”We do not anticipate that this period where children are not going to school, they are automatically be going into cocoa farms,” Boafo said. “I think the basis for the reason they are not supposed to go to the farms has been established, and it will be respected, and for our part, we shall continue to engage farmers to make sure that their children stay away from the farms.”Daniel Sarpong, dean of the School of Agriculture at the University of Ghana, said Ghana is taking issues of child labor in cocoa farms seriously. He pointed to work done to mechanize the sector, where farmers were encouraged and assisted to use modern farming practices.”The idea here is to be able to phase out those labor-intensive activities that are in cocoa where they are tedious and that cocoa farmers would need children to help in those activities, so yes it is a big problem, but I think that governments are trying to find solutions to some of these things,” he said.Sarpong agreed that cash transfers could help combat child labor in Ghana.So far, Ghana has seen more than 3,000 cases of COVID-19, and Ivory Coast more than 1,500. 
 
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Cameroon’s government this week called on hundreds of traditional rulers who have fled separatist conflict areas to return, assuring them that the palaces, markets, schools and roads destroyed by separatists would be reconstructed. But the traditional rulers have refused, saying they are still threatened by fighting between government troops and anglophone rebels.Deben Tchoffo, governor of Cameroon’s English-speaking northwest region, said by messaging application from the regional capital Bamenda that the government will ensure the rulers’ protection from separatist fighters from the moment they return. “They should not be afraid. Instead of running, they should come back to face the realities,” Tchoffo said. “The population are there, eagerly waiting, longing to see them. Some of them have gone [been out of their palaces] for many years. They are awaited on the spot. We are there, and we are there to secure them. Whatever will happen, we are there to stand by them, to support them and accompany them.”FILE – Cameroon Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute speaks during a meeting on the country’s reconstruction, in Yaounde, Dec. 5, 2019. (Moki Edwin Kindzeka/VOA)This week, Cameroonian Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute said the government had raised $14 million of the $150 million it needs for the reconstruction of 350 schools, 115 hospitals, 40 bridges, 400 wells and water taps, 600 kilometers of rural roads, 45 markets and 17,000 private homes he said were destroyed by separatists fighting to create an English-speaking state in the majority French-speaking country. Ngute called on traditional rulers who had fled for safety to French-speaking towns to return to their villages.Fon Lekunze, traditional ruler of the Mundani tribe of the English-speaking southwestern Lebialem district, who has been in Yaoundé for two years, said by telephone that peace has yet to return to the English-speaking regions. He said several of his peers were attacked when they returned home in July to preach peace, and are still threatened by fighters via social media and by telephone.”We have implored traditional diplomacy to sensitize populations to shun away from violence and embrace development, and we have used the dialoguing method by pleading with our children [rebels], and we are very hopeful that calm is going to return as soon as possible,” he said.It is only when that calm returns that they will be assured that their lives will be spared by separatist fighters, he added.Accusations against chiefsTraditional rulers started fleeing English-speaking regions when they were accused by separatists of supporting the military and disclosing their hideouts to troops. At least nine were killed and dozens abducted and freed only after ransom was paid. Two dozen palaces were partially or totally torched. Some chiefs were accused by the military and arrested for supporting the separatists.Jonathan Baye, a historian at the University of Yaoundé, said the chiefs need to assure their populations, separatist fighters, and the military of their neutrality before they can be safe in their villages.”The chiefs should give confidence about their neutrality because it is usually on those things that they are attacked or they are accused,” Baye said. “They should begin by making their people to know that they [the people] can count on them [the chiefs]. They should begin by creating this confidence.”‘Bumpy road’ aheadJean Luc Stalon, Cameroon representative of the United Nations Development Program, who was invited to the ceremony to launch reconstruction of the English-speaking regions, said the initiative is a good one, but that it will be difficult to carry out with bloody clashes still rampant between the military and rebels.”We know it is going to be a bumpy road rebuilding social cohesion, rebuilding the local economy that has been damaged by the crisis, to facilitate access of the population to basic services, education, health, water and so forth,” Stalon said. “It is not going to be easy to implement this program in those two regions.”Separatists on social media have insisted that the reconstruction will not take place unless the central government in Yaoundé withdraws its troops from the English-speaking regions and organizes what they describe as sincere dialogue.The separatists have been fighting since 2017 to create an independent, English-speaking state in Cameroon’s western regions. The conflict has cost Cameroon more than 3,000 lives and displaced more than half a million people to French-speaking regions or neighboring Nigeria, according to the U.N.  
 
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The timetable for Lesotho Prime Minister Thomas Thabane’s departure from office is in the hands of the government and his political party, despite his intentions to retire by the end of July.Under a Lesotho law, if a vote of no confidence against 80-year-old Thabane passes, he would essentially have no choice but to leave office.Thabane says his age and energy level were factors in deferring to the law to decide the process for him stepping down as leader of the small South African country.Thabane’s remaining time in office may also depend on whether he is prosecuted for his alleged involvement in the murder of his estranged wife in 2017.The prime minister and his former wife, Lipolelo Thabane, were in the midst of a divorce when she was shot dead in front of her house in the capital, Maseru.Thabane’s current wife, Maesaiah Thabane, whom he married a few months after Lipolelo’s death, is charged with her murder.Thabane’s request for immunity from prosecution after leaving office was rejected last week by the governing party.  
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The United Nations is boosting its global appeal, asking for close to $7 billion to avoid a devastating fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.N.’s emergency relief chief tells VOA the updated plan to fight the coronavirus would target nine more countries: Benin, Djibouti, Liberia, Mozambique, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, Togo and Zimbabwe. VOA’s Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.
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When Madagascar’s president touted an herbal potion that he said could cure COVID-19, he touched off a swell of pride in a product steeped in African traditional medicine – and a wave of concern that it hadn’t been sufficiently tested.“This herbal tea gives results in seven days,” President Andry Rajoelina said at an April 20 news conference, claiming it had cured two people. The event took place at the country’s Malagasy Institute of Applied Research, which developed the tonic branded as Covid-Organics, or CVO.In recent weeks, CVO – made with Artemisia annua, a plant whose artemisinin extract is used in antimalarial drugs – has been dispensed to Madagascar high school students and by soldiers going door to door, according to news reports.Elsewhere in Africa, the Republic of Congo received a donation of the herbal remedy on Tuesday. Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea and Liberia have imported CVO or said they plan to do so. Tanzanian President John Magufuli said last weekend that he would order a planeload.‘Made-in-Africa’ prideMagufuli’s news generated many positive social media comments that invoked “a sort of patriotism,” Neville Meena, secretary of the Tanzania Editors Forum, said on VOA’s “Daybreak Africa” radio program.“Now when the Madagascars claim that they have the medicine for coronavirus,” he said, “now, the debate is: ‘Why should [we] not just support this innovation from our own continent?’ ”Dr. Erick Gbodossou, president of Senegal-based Prometra International, an organization committed to preserving African traditional medicine and science,  praised Madagascar’s Rajoelina for having “the courage to test artemisia” and for trying to help his people via Covid-Organics.“This courage is to be saluted,” he told VOA’s French to Africa service via Skype, “because we Africans must try to make humanity understand that Africa is not just dances and songs, that Africa can bring real, effective, serious solutions to the various health concerns of humanity.”Earlier this week, the World Health Organization issued a statement voicing respect for traditional medicines while insisting on rigorous testing.“Africans deserve to use medicines tested to the same standards as people in the rest of the world,” it said.The African Union said in a news release that it was “in discussion” with Madagascar diplomats “to obtain technical data regarding the safety and efficiency of a herbal remedy.” It said its Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would review the data.The herbal drink CVO was tested on fewer than 20 people for just three weeks before its release, a top aide to the president of Malagasy told the BBC.Political gain or liability?Madagascar’s Rajoelina is not alone among political leaders endorsing products or protocols of uncertain value in the COVID-19 response.Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has promoted the anti-influenza drug Avignan, saying his country would “expand to the greatest possible extent its administration to patients wishing to take it,” The Japan Times reported in late April. The news organization said a Chinese study found the drug to be effective, especially among patients with mild symptoms, so Beijing is including it in treatment guidelines. But the drug – also known as favipiravir – may cause birth defects.U.S. President Donald Trump has encouraged using chloroquine to treat COVID-19. He also suggested at a briefing – in jest, he later said – that injecting disinfectant might help patients. Medical experts and the makers of cleaning products quickly responded with warnings.Political leaders take risks when backing a product or protocol that hasn’t been fully vetted, said Bronwyn Bruton, an expert on governance in Africa.“The president of Madagascar might benefit from looking at the situation that we recently had in the United States, where there was a lot of enthusiasm in the White House for a drug that had historically been used to treat malaria” and that had “some promising indications” for treating COVID-19, said Bruton, director of studies for the Atlantic Council’s Africa Program.If chloroquine had proved effective against COVID-19, the White House “would have looked very prescient,” she said. “The problem is it didn’t turn out that way.”The National Institutes of Health website notes “insufficient clinical data to recommend either for or against using chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine” in treating COVID-19.If the Madagascar potion proves ineffective or even harmful, Bruton said, Rajoelina “will be less credible … particularly if a large number of people have failed to social distance and the disease has spread more rapidly in Madagascar than it would have otherwise because of his conduct.”Madagascar had 193 confirmed COVID-19 cases but no deaths as of Thursday, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers.Prometra’s Gbodossou remains convinced that a COVID-19 medicine lies within reach in Africa – and within the bounds of traditional medicine.“We haven’t had yet, in many African countries, the courage to say the North does not have the solution,” he said. “If our politicians, the political leaders, do not yet understand it, it will be a pity.”Mohamadou Houmfa of VOA’s French to Africa service reported from Dakar, Senegal. Carol Guensburg, along with VOA English to Africa’s James Butty and Jason Patinkin, reported from Washington.
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Kenya has closed two neighborhoods — one in the capital, Nairobi, and the other in the coastal city of Mombasa — after a surge in confirmed cases of coronavirus.  Kenyan authorities have confirmed 607 infections and 29 deaths, with dozens of the infections found in Nairobi’s Eastleigh area and Mombasa’s Old Town.  Many of the neighborhood residents fled as lockdowns were announced.From Burhan Iman’s hotel window, he saw a journalist setting up his equipment for interviews on Thursday morning. Shortly afterward, he says a crowd gathered.  Everyone wanted to be interviewed. They wanted to ask why the government has stopped movement in and out Eastleigh, a neighborhood in the east of Nairobi’s central district.   Some of those engaging the journalist, just like Iman, were stranded overnight in Eastleigh after the government announced that it was sealing off the neighborhood for 15 days after dozens of coronavirus cases were recorded in the area.   “We did not get prior notice, we were ambushed. I wish they could have given notice, tell them prior that they were going to put a lockdown in place so that people who are not from Eastleigh could get time to get out of Eastleigh,” he said.    Iman, who works in Eastleigh but lives in Nairobi’s South C estate, was shopping for his wedding with his fiancé, when the area was cordoned off.    A police water cannon truck blocks a street to prevent residents from leaving the Eastleigh area of Nairobi, May 7, 2020.He says many people have been trying to flee Eastleigh, either on foot or by car.  But Kenyan Ministry of Health official Dr. Rashid Arman warned that those leaving the area are making the coronavrius problem worse.    “We have observed that arising from the directives, some people have decided to sneak out of these areas and to relocate to the neighboring estates,” he said. “Let me caution that this move is counterproductive and dangerous. This is because if you happen to be infected unknowingly then you have just transferred the problem to another area.” FILE – Ferry commuters walk through an automated disinfecting machine installed this week that sprays disinfectant onto all passengers boarding or disembarking ferries that cross the harbor of Mombasa, on the south coast of Kenya, April 8, 2020.In Old Town Mombasa, 59-year-old Mahmud Garwan woke up Thursday morning to get some breakfast at a local supermarket. It was closed. He was told most employees were not able to report to work as most live outside the area.   Garwan, who runs an insurance firm in Mombasa’s city center, says that he could also not go to work because of travel restrictions.   “If we had been given about three days’ notice, then at least we could have stocked up but then on the other hand its ok, since we are allowed to move around the area.  It’s a containment measure, but it came as a surprise,” he said. Earlier this month, the Ministry of Health announced that it had identified certain areas, including Old Town and Eastleigh, as potential hot spots for the coronavirus.   Last week, the ministry began mass testing in high-risk areas, and the tests have increased the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Kenya.    In an effort to encourage more volunteer testing, the government on Wednesday announced that it would pay quarantine costs for those in government isolation facilities.     
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Computer specialist Michael Kundun left for work early Monday, as Nigeria’s coronavirus lockdown eased at 6 a.m.Kundun had not been to his shop in Abuja’s Nyanya Market since late March, when authorities announced the lockdown. When he opened, he had to clean and dust to get ready for business.”It is going to be gradual,” he said. “It’s not going to be as it was from the beginning, but by the grace of God it will pick up. Business will pick up with time.”Nigeria relaxed its 35-day lockdown in Abuja, Lagos and Ogun states following President Muhammadu Buhari’s order, given last week during his national address.Harm to economyBuhari concedes the lockdown has hurt the Nigerian economy,  especially in non-essential sectors that depend on daily income for survival.Much like Kundun’s business.”The lockdown affected my business drastically,” he said. “In fact, I found it difficult to work. I found it difficult to meet my customers.”FILE – Thousands swarm Utako market, which opened for just four hours to allow citizens to buy supplies before Ramadan, in Abuja, Nigeria, April 22, 2020. (Timothy Obiezu/VOA)But the decision to relax the lockdown came as Nigeria’s number of coronavirus cases has been increasing.Daily figures publicly reported by Nigeria’s Center for Disease Control doubled in the last week, reaching more than 2,500 on Monday. By Thursday, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University in the U.S., the total had climbed past 3,100.This is why critics like Abuja resident Abubakar Ahutu have challenged the president’s position.”I’m not happy about the planned relaxation of the lockdown,” Ahutu said. “If the federal government or the president in particular is having good advisers, I think it is very bad for them at this point in time to start thinking about reopening the lockdown.”Before easing lockdowns for certain areas, authorities issued new regulations, including an overnight curfew, the mandatory use of face masks in public and strict social distancing restrictions.But thousands across Abuja city on Monday flooded marketplaces and banks, thereby violating the physical distancing orders.Look at GhanaEconomic analyst Audu Siyaka had this warning:“Ghana tried to ease their lockdowns, and what happened was not palatable.” They had to reverse their initial decision. I’m not saying that may happen to Nigeria, but it’s a likelihood, because of our population.”Only 17,000 people have so far been tested for the coronavirus in Nigeria — an exceptionally small number when compared with figures in other African nations. But Buhari has promised aggressive testing and contact tracing in the coming weeks.Critics will hold him by his words.
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Botswana will begin a gradual lifting of a five-week lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus on Friday.Vice President Slumber Tsogwane said that based on the government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak and the current trajectory of the disease, the administration decided to open the economy albeit incrementally, while observing the disease patterns.Tsogwane made the announcement Wednesday during a meeting of lawmakers reviewing proposals from President Mokgweetsi Masisi on reopening schools and the economy.Masisi favors a gradual process that meets guidelines from health officials on staying vigilant in slowing the spread of the coronavirus.Masisi and lawmakers wore face masks during the discussions.Botswana has confirmed 28 cases of coronavirus and one death. 
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KHARTOUM/WASHINGTON — Sudanese women’s rights activists and religious freedom organizations are embracing Sudan’s move to criminalize female genital mutilation (FGM).Late last week, Sudan’s transitional government approved a draft law that criminalizes the act of carrying out FGM on any woman or girl, making it punishable by up to three years in prison and a fine.According to the United Nations, nine out of 10 females in Sudan between the ages of 15 and 49 have undergone some form of FGM, which can lead to a number of physical and psychological problems.The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom welcomed the move.“Female genital mutilation is a dehumanizing form of sexual violence that is deeply rooted in religion, tradition and culture. Outlawing FGM is an important step to protect the health and dignity of Sudanese women and girls,” said USCIRF Commissioner Anurima Bhargava.The commission also urged Sudan’s government to raise public awareness of the law and to educate people about the negative impacts of FGM. The law is expected to be passed next week.Other forms of violenceWafa Adam Mahmood, who works at an NGO in Khartoum called Siha, a women’s rights group, also welcomed the move, but said Sudanese females continue to face other forms of violence at home and in their communities.”It is important to think about forced marriage, which is more serious and also a protection issue for women and girls in Sudan,” Mahmood told South Sudan in Focus.Sudanese activist Mahasin Dahab said the transitional government needs to change 30 years of oppressive laws that do not protect women.“It is extremely sad to know that there is no law on domestic violence, there is only the criminal law. And that is not just,” Dahab told South Sudan in Focus. “For a random stranger to actually stab you and beat you … that is the one I can go and sue with that law, but what about my family that actually abuses me?”Dahab added that many Sudanese women do not know their rights.“We only have the law and we don’t have a conversation going on. We don’t see anything about it on TV, on local news, we don’t [hear] it on radios. It is extremely sad,” Dahab told VOA.The U.N. children’s fund, UNICEF, issued a statement embracing the criminalization of FGM but said passing a law will not solve the problem.Abdullah Fadil, the UNICEF country representative for Sudan, said in the statement, “We need to work very hard with the communities to help enforce this law.”Manal Al Jazuli, who heads a coalition of women’s groups called the Sudanese National Women’s Union, called the draft legislation historic.“This came out as a result of a long-standing struggle by feminist movements, initiatives, by women activists and by women inside their political parties,” Jazuli told South Sudan in Focus.
 
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Educating children about something as complicated and frightening as the coronavirus is not easy. Nigerian filmmaker Niyi Akinmolayan decided to use the universal symbol of a big, green cartoon monster with sharp teeth. “There was a struggle to try and explain to my five-year-old what it meant for everyone to be on the lockdown,” Akinmolayan told VOA. “But beyond that was also to explain to them what the coronavirus was and how to get them washing their hands.” In a 93-second animated video, a young boy named Habeeb desperately wants to go out to play football. His older sister, Funke, warns him that because of the virus, playing with his friends is unsafe. “Mummy will be sick, no more jollof rice. Daddy will be sick, no more going out to see movies,” Funke says. An uncertain Habeeb peeks out through the door to see a giant, green coronavirus-shaped monster roaring. He slams the door screaming “it’s real, it’s real.” Akinmolayan said he wanted to make the impact the virus is having come alive for children, but also empower them to prevent it. “I kept failing at every logical attempt I made until I came up with the idea of the monster that was outside. And the monster would prevent you from going out to have fun,” Akinmolayan said. “And I was like, ‘the only way we’re all going to beat this monster is by washing our hands.’ So, I think when I had that exchange with him, that was the light bulb moment.” Akinmolayan is a popular director whose film “The Wedding Party 2” is the highest-grossing movie in the history of Nigeria’s film industry, nicknamed “Nollywood.” He is the founder and creative director of Ant Hill studios and his latest film, “The Set Up,” is streaming on Netflix. He said during the lockdown he reached out to his friends and co-workers in the film industry and they collaborated on the animated project. “They were already working from home,” he said. “And I said, ‘hey guys, you know what’s going to happen? I’m going to write a script. I’m going to do the voicing and all that. We’re going to voice it in all the four key languages in Nigeria and then we’re going to do the animation.’ And that’s what we did.” He has been blown away by the response. He uploaded it to Google Drive and made it free to download and reuse on all social media platforms.  We transfer link has expired. Here’s google drive https://t.co/KnCzKdx8QC— Niyi Akinmolayan (@niyiakinmolayan) April 23, 2020In addition to the original four languages — English, Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo — it has been translated into French, Swahili and Portuguese. It airs regularly on various Nigerian television channels, a pan-African cable network, and has been aired as far away as Brazil.“I don’t even know how far it has gone. Every night they send me bits and pieces and clips,” said Akinmolayan via Skype.But he says he is most excited about the positive effect the video is having on children. “I actually get parents sending me screenshots or videos and they tell me that I have made their kids make them run out of soap,” he said. “So parents are running out of soap because the kids, once they watch the film, even if they have just come out of the shower, they go and pour more soap on their hands.” 
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From the marbled halls of Italy to the wheat fields of Kansas, health authorities are increasingly warning that the question isn’t whether a second wave of coronavirus infections and deaths will hit, but when — and how badly.  
As more countries and U.S. states chaotically reopen for business — including some where infection rates are still rising — managing future cases is as important as preventing them.
In India, which partly eased its virus lockdown this week, health authorities scrambled Wednesday to contain an outbreak at a massive market. Experts in hard-hit Italy, which just began easing some restrictions, warned lawmakers that a new wave of virus infections and deaths is coming. They urged intensified efforts to identify possible new victims, monitor their symptoms and trace their contacts.
Germany warned of a second and even a third wave, and threatened to re-impose virus restrictions if new cases can’t be contained. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was meeting Wednesday with the country’s 16 governors to discuss further loosening restrictions that have crippled Europe’s largest economy.
“There will be a second wave, but the problem is to which extent. Is it a small wave or a big wave? It’s too early to say,” said Olivier Schwartz, head of the virus and immunity unit at France’s Pasteur Institute.
Many areas are still struggling with the first wave of this pandemic. Brazil for the first time locked down a large city, the capital of Maranhão state. Across the ocean, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Africa has shot up 42% in the past week and infections are expected to surpass 50,000 on Wednesday.
An Associated Press analysis, meanwhile, found that U.S. infection rates outside the New York City area are in fact rising, notably in rural areas. It found New York’s progress against the virus was overshadowing increasing infections elsewhere.  
“Make no mistakes: This virus is still circulating in our community, perhaps even more now than in previous weeks,” said Linda Ochs, director of the Health Department in Shawnee County, Kansas.
The virus is known to have infected more than 3.6 million and killed more than 251,000 people, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins that all experts agree is an undercount due to limited testing, uneven victim criteria and deliberate concealment by some governments.
The U.S. has seen over 71,000 deaths amid its 1.2 million infections, and Europe has endured over 144,000 reported coronavirus deaths. Behind each of those vast numbers is a family in pain.
“Burying both parents at the same time? It’s hard,” said Desmond Tolbert, who lost his mother and father in rural southwest Georgia. Because they had the virus, he couldn’t be with them when they died.
U.S. President Donald Trump, with his eye on being reelected in November, is pushing hard to ease state stay-at-home orders and resuscitate the U.S. economy, which has seen over 30 million workers lose their jobs in less than two months. Trump is expected to wind down the country’s coronavirus task force, possibly within weeks, despite concerns that states aren’t being careful enough as they reopen.
A century ago, the Spanish flu epidemic’s second wave was far deadlier than its first, in part because authorities allowed mass gatherings from Philadelphia to San Francisco.
As Italy’s lockdown eased this week, Dr. Silvio Brusaferro, president of the Superior Institute of Health, urged “a huge investment” of resources to train medical personnel to monitor possible new cases. He said tracing apps — which are being built by dozens of countries and companies and touted as a possible technological solution — aren’t enough to manage future waves of infection.
“We are not out of the epidemic. We are still in it. I don’t want people to think there’s no more risk and we go back to normal,” said Dr. Giovanni Rezza, the head of the institute’s infectious disease department.
In Germany, authorities may reimpose restrictions on any county that reports 50 new cases for every 100,000 inhabitants within the past week.
Lothar Wieler, head of Germany’s national disease control center, said scientists “know with great certainty that there will be a second wave” of infections but said Germany is well-prepared to deal with it. The country has been hailed for testing widely and has suffered four times fewer deaths than Italy or Britain, which both have smaller populations.
Britain has begun recruiting 18,000 people to trace contacts of people infected. British officials acknowledge that they should have done more testing and tracing earlier and could learn from South Korea,  which brought its outbreak under control by rigorously testing, tracing and isolating infected people.
South Africa, which has years of experience tracking HIV and other infections, is already testing and tracing widely. Turkey has an army of 5,800 teams of contact tracers who have tracked down and tested nearly half a million people linked to infected cases. Israel plans to conduct 100,000 antibody tests to determine how widespread the coronavirus outbreak has been and prevent a second wave.
India was concentrated on the immediate drama around the market in the southern city of Chennai, which is now tied to at least 1,000 virus cases. Another 7,000 people connected to the now-shuttered Koyambedu market are being traced and quarantined. Experts are worried about a health catastrophe in a country of 1.3 billion people with an already stressed medical system.
New confirmed daily infections in the U.S. exceed 20,000, and deaths per day are well over 1,000, according to the Johns Hopkins tally. And public health officials warn that the failure to lower the infection rate could lead to many more deaths — perhaps tens of thousands — as people venture out and businesses reopen.
“The faster we reopen, the lower the economic cost — but the higher the human cost, because the more lives lost,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. “That, my friends, is the decision we are really making.”
Trump acknowledged the toll but argued that keeping the U.S. economy closed carries deadly costs of its own, such as drug abuse and suicides.
“I’m not saying anything is perfect, and yes, will some people be affected? Yes. Will some people be affected badly? Yes. But we have to get our country open and we have to get it open soon,” he said during a visit to Arizona in which he did not don a face mask.
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South African engineers and doctors are designing makeshift, inexpensive devices to address a major challenge posed by the coronavirus – the lack of ventilators for patients.  South Africa is scrambling for thousands more ventilators as confirmed COVID-19 cases have increased to more than 7,200, with at least 138 deaths. Franco Puglisi reports from Johannesburg.
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A recent U.N. assessment estimates more than 21 million people across West Africa will be short of food during the coming lean season between June and August when food stocks are at their lowest.  U.N. officials report they will need urgent assistance from the international community to survive. 
Armed conflict, widespread displacement and climate change are pushing millions of people across West Africa, including the volatile Sahel region into hunger. Added to this toxic mix is COVID-19.   The World Food Program warns the pandemic is likely to more than double the number of people facing hunger by the end of the year to 43 million.  It says the urban poor, who live hand-to-mouth, are most at risk.  It explains people in cities depend on markets for food, and they have little ability to store and save food or money.   WFP spokeswoman, Elizabeth Byrs says $74 million is urgently needed to provide crucial aid for the next six months in West Africa.  She says the needs are likely to increase as the impact of COVID-19 becomes clearer.   “If the response is inadequate, it would put the future well-being of millions of people in the region at stake, particularly women and young children, and could spell civil unrest in parts of a region already challenged by insecurity and violent extremism,”  she said.  Byrs says the WFP fears an estimated 12 million children could be acutely malnourished during the June to August lean season, up from 8.2 million in the same period last year.     She says WFP is planning to pre-position a six-month supply of food stocks in the region.  She says this will ensure enough life-saving assistance is available in case COVID-19 travel restrictions lead to possible disruptions to supply chains.    
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