HORN OF AFRICA: IRIN weekly humanitarian round-up 721 14 February 2014

	humanitarian news and analysis a service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Table of contents 1. Breaking the cycle of youth unemployment, poverty 2. HIV interventions also needed behind bars 3. Yonathan Habte, trafficking survivor: "At least if I died, it wouldn't go on" 4. Sudan and Egypt implicated in human trafficking 5. Five challenges for Somalia's economic reconstruction Breaking the cycle of youth unemployment, poverty DAKAR, 10 February 2014 (IRIN) - Youth unemployment and underemployment are among the main barriers to development in West Africa, say experts. Not only does the exclusion of young people from the labour force perpetuate generational cycles of poverty, it also breaks down social cohesion and can be associated with higher levels of crime and violence among idle youth. Read report online HIV interventions also needed behind bars MANILA, 12 February 2014 (IRIN) - Providing access to HIV prevention and treatment services in closed settings, such as prisons, is crucial to curbing the transmission of HIV, particularly among women, say public health experts. Read report online Yonathan Habte, trafficking survivor: "At least if I died, it wouldn't go on" JOHANNESBURG, 12 February 2014 (IRIN) - In March 2012, Yonathan Habte*, then 26, decided to flee Eritrea where he had evaded military service and was facing jail. With a background in computer engineering, he was confident he could make a life in another African country. Instead, he was kidnapped near the Sudanese border and trafficked to Egypt, where he barely survived three months in two different camps in the lawless Sinai region, near the Israeli border. He talked to IRIN over the phone from Sweden. Read report online Sudan and Egypt implicated in human trafficking JOHANNESBURG, 12 February 2014 (IRIN) - Since 2009, hundreds and possibly thousands of refugees, most of them Eritrean, have been kidnapped in eastern Sudan and sold to traffickers in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, where they are held and tortured until their relatives can raise tens of thousands of dollars in ransom money. According to a report released on 11 February by Human Rights Watch (HRW), security forces in Sudan and Egypt have either turned a blind eye to this violent trade in men, women and children or, in some cases, colluded with the traffickers. Read report online Five challenges for Somalia's economic reconstruction NAIROBI, 14 February 2014 (IRIN) - Somalia's economy has managed to survive state collapse, maintaining reasonable levels of output throughout the country's two-decade-long civil war. Now, with political recovery and transition slowly underway, the country's economy faces new hurdles. Read report online