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Since the April 2012 military coup d’état that ended civilian rule in Guinea-Bissau, the international community has largely overlooked this small, Portuguese-speaking country in West Africa. In fact, Guinea-Bissau has quietly become what some experts have termed Africa’s first “narco-state,” as cocaine trafficking is now a widely accepted route to power and influence in Bissau-Guinean politics.

It may be time for policymakers, especially in the United States, to hit the stop clock on the War on Drugs (WoD) for a moment and look closely not only at how “success” is measured, but at the implications of those measurements.

The top United Nations envoy in Somalia today stressed that collective and coordinated efforts from the Government as well as regional and international organizations are needed to achieve progress in the east African country.

Some 1,100 Congolese asylum seekers arrived in north west Burundi since 16 August, fleeing fighting between the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) and rebel groups of Mayi-Mayi and the M23, in South-Kivu, sources close the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) office here said.