• Drought weakens communities in Senegal as hunger sets in

    Rebecca Blackwell / AP

    Women crowd a well in the village of Kiral, near Goudoude Diobe in the Matam region of northeastern Senegal. Wells in the area are often 75-meters deep, and aren't always able to produce enough water for residents' daily needs.

    Since late 2011, aid groups have been sounding the alarm, warning that devastating drought has again weakened communities where children already live perilously close to the edge of malnutrition.The situation is most severe in Niger, Chad and in Mali, but this time it has also pervaded northern Senegal, the most prosperous and stable country in the Sahel.

    Rebecca Blackwell / AP

    Mariam Orgho, 3, looks at her mother, Coumba Seck, as she cooks the one small meal of the day for her extended family.

    Many sub-Saharan economies are growing fast but the growth rates have not translated into significant hunger reduction, said UNDP Administrator Helen Clark.

    Sub-Saharan Africa's growth, now around 4 percent, is accelerating faster than the rest of the world excluding China and India, according to UNDP statistics.

    According to the agency's African Development Report, nearly 218 million people on the continent are undernourished and 55 million children are malnourished, a figure that is projected to rise.

    -- Reported by the Associated Press

    Read more

    Rebecca Blackwell / AP

    Two-year-old Aliou Seyni Diallo collapses in tears after not eating since the day before, inside his family's yard in the village of Goudoude Diobe, in the Matam region of northeastern Senegal. A neighbor stepped in to help Aliou's struggling mother, giving the boy a bowl of dry couscous to stop his tears.

    Rebecca Blackwell / AP

    Men share a meager breakfast of thin porridge and instant coffee, during a break in building a mud-brick house for a neighbor, in the village of Goudoude Diobe, in the Matam region of northeastern Senegal. With little paid work available, a group of village men, including professional masons, have banded together to build houses for free for several residents.

    Rebecca Blackwell / AP

    A girl follows a village path through a landscape dotted with thorny scrub brush, in the Matam region of northeastern Senegal.

    Rebecca Blackwell / AP

    A herder stands on an empty water trough as he surveys his animals, in the village of Mbelone in the Matam region of northeastern Senegal. Some residents spend hours each day pulling up water bucket by bucket from the village's 75-meter deep well, but the well isn't always able to produce enough water for the daily needs of the residents and their herds of cattle and other livestock.

    Rebecca Blackwell / AP

    Herder Oumar Ba walks away after indicating where one of his cows died, he says, of hunger, outside Dikka village, in the Matam region of northeastern Senegal.

     

  • Nic Bothma / EPA

    A man carries prayer beads, a cellphone, goggles and a mask to protect against tear gas during protests in Dakar, Senegal on Feb. 22, 2012.

    Political protest in Senegal: The essentials

    Senegal, once a beacon of democracy in the troubled West African region, has been plagued by violent demonstrations against incumbent president Abdoulaye Wade in the lead up to Sunday's presidential election, the European Pressphoto Agency reports.

    The country's top judges have ruled in favour of Wade's bid to seek a third term in office and have barred the hugely popular music star Youssou Ndour from standing in the election.

    See more images of the protests on PhotoBlog and read more about the country's political malaise.

  • Rappers arrested at Senegal opposition protest

    Joseph Penney / Reuters

    Police arrest rapper Kilifeu of anti-government youth movement Y'en a Marre in Dakar, Senegal on Feb. 16, 2012. Riot police used teargas, truncheons and a water cannon to disperse hundreds of people protesting at President Abdoulaye Wade's decision to seek a third term in office.

    Joseph Penney / Reuters

    Members of Y'en a Marre chant slogans in Dakar on Feb. 16, 2012.

    The Associated Press reports from DAKAR, Senegal — Police arrested two prominent rappers and opened fire with tear gas on protesters who had gone ahead with a banned demonstration Thursday.

    The sleep-in protest was organized by a group of rappers known as Y'en a Marre, French for "We've had enough," which is allied with the opposition but is not fielding a candidate in the election. Riot police began pelting the group with tear gas, after protesters tried to light tires on fire.

    Security forces moved in and arrested Simon and Kilifeu, two of the founders of the Y'en a Marre, who were led away to a police truck.

    The country's opposition is calling for the departure of 85-year-old President Abdoulaye Wade, who is insisting on running for a third term in the Feb. 26 election despite growing resistance from the population as well as criticism from the international community. Read the full story.

     

  • Senegal protests turn violent

    Seyllou Diallo / AFP - Getty Images

    Riot police move a burning barricade during a rally against President Abdoulaye Wade in Dakar, Senegal on Jan. 31.ce.

    Aliou Mbaye / EPA

    Senegalese men carry an injured woman during a riot following a protest to demand that octogenarian President Abdoulaye Wade scrap plans to seek a third term in office in Dakar, Senegal on Jan. 31.

    Senegalese riot police fired tear gas to break up a tense, thousands-strong rally Tuesday in Dakar demanding that President Abdoulaye Wade drop plans to seek a third term in office.

    Wade is seeking a third term, even though the constitution  was changed soon after he took office in order to impose a two-term maximum. Wade — and the court — argued that the new law is not retroactive. Since it took effect after Wade was first elected in 2000, the court said it did not apply to him.

    Opposition groups united under the June 23 Movement (M23) called for mass resistance after the decision.

    Related Links:

    -- The Associated Press contributed to this post.

    Joe Penney / Reuters

    An anti-government demonstrator throws rocks at the police during a protest against Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade in the capital Dakar.

  • Poll ruling sparks street clashes in Senegal

    Reuters

    Anti-government protestors march past burning tires in Dakar on Friday, Jan. 27, 2012.

    Toure Behan / AFP - Getty Images

    Tires burn in a street on Friday, Jan. 27, 2012, in Senegal's capital Dakar, where clash broke out between police and young protesters.

    AP

    Protesters set fires in a street on Friday.

    Reuters reports from DAKAR — Protesters hurled rocks at police who retaliated with tear gas in Senegal's capital Dakar on Friday after a top legal body said President Abdoulaye Wade had the right to run for a third term in elections next month.

    Local television said one policeman died from head injuries after clashes in the capital Dakar. Reuters reporters saw youths set fire to tires in the street and overturn cars after a late-night ruling of the West African country's Constitutional Council.

  • Protests erupt over constitution changes in Senegal

    Finbarr O'Reilly / Reuters

    Protestors confront riot police outside the National Assembly during a demonstration in Senegal's capital on Thursday. Senegalese riot police fired rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons in running clashes with stone-throwing anti-government demonstrators in the heart of the capital on Thursday. Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade has withdrawn a proposed change to the country's electoral law, the government said, after the bill sparked clashes between riot police and protesters in the heart of the capital.

    Rebecca Blackwell / AP

    Protestors demonstrating against proposed constitutional changes hurl rocks at police as they are pushed back from the National Assembly in central Dakar, Senegal on Thursday.

    Finbarr O'Reilly / Reuters

    Riot police shield themselves from a barrage of stones thrown by protestors outside the National Assembly during a demonstration in Senegal's capital Dakar June 23.

    Finbarr O'Reilly / Reuters

    Riot police beat a demonstrator during a demonstration in Senegal's capital, Dakar, on June 23.

    Rebecca Blackwell / AP

    An injured man is carried past the National Assembly building as thousands demonstrated against proposed constitutional changes.

    By Jonathan Woods, msnbc.com

    Thousands of violent protesters hurled rocks at riot police as they expressed frustrations toward a change in constitutional law that many felt benefited the president and his family. Read more on the protest here.