News About Congo

Yellow fever vaccine push amid shortages, resurgence

One of the requirements to enter the Congo, beyond having a visa, and blind courage or a sense of adventure, is proof of a Yellow Fever vaccination.  I always thought it was a joke since western countries do not ask for it or require.  But I guess it's not a problem in Congo for that reason.  Congo is not among the 13 most at-risk countries in Africa

Yellow fever vaccine push amid shortages, resurgence.

DAKAR, 23 November 2009 (IRIN) - The world’s first multi-country yellow fever vaccination campaign began on 23 November, with 12 million people targeted across Benin, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The push comes as the killer mosquito-borne disease is resurging in some sub-Saharan African countries and vaccine stocks are running low.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says 160 million Africans are at risk if further funding is not secured, as the current vaccine stockpile is expected to run out in 2010.

The three countries are the latest of the 13 most at-risk– Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo – to carry out preventive campaigns. Global health partnership GAVI Alliance has committed funding for campaigns in the 13 countries.

Congolese Airplane Overshoots Runway

Congo Airlines have been modernizing their fleet with newer (but) used from the United States and other western countries.  Have these newer planes have outgrown the older runaway?  Or is it just plain-old poor maintenance issues? 

AFP: Injuries as DR.Congo plane overshoots runway.

Injuries as DR.Congo plane overshoots runway (AFP) – 1 day ago

KINSHASA — Ten passengers aboard a Congolese airliner were slightly injured Thursday when the plane overshot the runway as it landed at a regional airport, witnesses and the airline said.

More than 120 passengers and crew were on board the MD-80 airliner which landed at Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after a flight from the capital Kinshasa.

The pilot failed to break in time to make a turn at the end of the runway, said David Blattner, head of the Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation (CAA) which operates the plane, adding that he did not know the accident's precise cause.

"The passengers were evacuated on the emergency chutes and in the rainy conditions, there were a number who were slightly injured," Blattner said.

The nose of the plane crashed into blocks of lava which have marked the end of the runway at Goma since a nearby volcano erupted in 2002.

Congo fishing rights clashes ‘force thousands to flee’

When western countries fight over fishing rights, it's a territorial dispute.  The parties go before an international group or the two governments mediate the dispute. 

But when African countries or intra-country groups fight over fishing rights.  And there is no stable or transparent government to mediate the dispute, it becomes violent.

Similar situations happen through out Congo and other African countries.  But it is really an ethnic or tribal conflict?

BBC News - Congo fishing rights clashes ‘force thousands to flee’.

More than 50,000 people have fled clashes between two ethnic groups in north-western Democratic Republic of Congo in recent weeks, the UN says.

Many of those fleeing are reported to be unaccompanied children, and some people have drowned trying cross a river into Republic of Congo.

The UN says at least 100 people have been killed in clashes between Lobala and Boba people in Equateur province.

The violence started last month after a dispute over fishing rights.