MARSABIT, 18 December 2009 (IRIN) – Cattle raids, inter-communal resource conflicts and banditry are common across much of the arid lands of northern Kenya, where firearms are increasingly common among pastoralist communities. In 2009 alone, such violence claimed more than 354 lives, according to the UN Office for the Coordination... [view entry]

Eight years after Dandora, the site of Nairobi’s only rubbish dump, was declared full and a health hazard, tons of fuming waste from more than four million city dwellers continue to be added daily, exposing local residents to illness but also profiting a few. More than 100,000 people live around... [view entry]

Copenhagen (Denmark), 7 December 2009 – The United Nations Climate Change Conference kicked off today in Copenhagen with a strong sense of confidence that countries can seal a comprehensive, ambitious and effective international climate change deal in Demark and with an unprecedented sense of urgency to act on climate change... [view entry]

I have just spent three weeks in Northern Kenya among the Borana people, followed by three weeks in Mindanao, southern Philippines, partly with the Higaonan tribe. Vastly different countries yet I was immediately struck by the similarities in the challenges the communities faced, including drought, conflict, floods and general environmental... [view entry]

Africa will neither accept replacement of the Kyoto Protocol, nor its merger with any new agreement, say African climate change negotiators meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at the last African major preparatory gathering, before the UN Climate Change negotiations in Copenhagen in December. Negotiators say actions for Africa should be... [view entry]

Photo: Jane Some/IRIN Over the past two decades, the Mau complex has lost at least 107,000ha of forest cover due to irregular and unplanned settlements, logging and charcoal burning, as well as increased agriculture (file photo) The continued degradation of the Mau complex – Kenya’s largest water catchment area –... [view entry]

Rapid urbanization is changing the face of poverty in Kenya “If the government does not acknowledge this crisis, it will get even worse. Failure to address this now will leave Kenya paying for generations to come.” Philippa Crosland Taylor Head of Oxfam GB, Kenya Kenya is facing a new urban... [view entry]

Photo: Jane Some/IRIN Pius Okello points at the entrance of his new home At least 1,300 slum dwellers from Kibera – Nairobi’s largest informal urban settlement – have been moved to new blocks of flats under a slum-upgrading programme. “I can’t believe I have left Kibera for good! My new... [view entry]

Photo: Laura Lopez Gonzalez/PlusNews An electronic test found holes in the condoms Kenyan AIDS authorities are struggling to restore public confidence in condoms after an alarming news report recently showed locally stocked brands to be defective. KTN, a local TV station, showed the condoms, purchased from vendors in the... [view entry]

Over 25% of Forest Cover Lost to Ecosystem Encroachments Threatening Natural Capital, Wildlife and Livelihoods in Kenya and the Region UNEP Pledges Continued Support and Calls for Urgent Action at Strategic Partners Forum Nairobi, 9 September 2009 – A multimillion dollar appeal to save the Mau Forests Complex has been... [view entry]