Sub-Saharan Africa

94 percent of countries (94 out of 100 countries) with current World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) loans have cut vital investments in public education, health and social protection over the past two years, according to a new report published today by Oxfam and Development Finance International (DFI).

More than 7,000 people trying to reach Italy have died in the central Mediterranean since 2014. Much less is known however about those who have died trying to reach the sea, crossing the endless desert zone in northeastern Niger. In the city of Agadez, young migrants live basically locked in a clandestine ghetto, waiting to take the next truck to the Libyan border.

Smallholder farmers, and particularly women, are on the frontline in the fight against hunger and climate change in southern Africa.