Belgium Railway

A railway connects Burkina with the port of Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, 1,150 kilometers (712 mi.) away. Due to the closure of the border with Cote d'Ivoire, this railway was not operational between September 2002 and September 2003, but cargo and limited passenger service are now offered. Primary roads between main towns in Burkina Faso are paved. Domestic air service and flights within Africa are limited. Phones and Internet service providers are relatively reliable, but the cost of utilities is very high. ... [Read More]

US State Department Road Safety Overseas

U.S. Department of State [Read More]

Rwanda (01/05)

Many challenges remain for Rwanda. Rwanda is dependent on significant foreign aid. Exports continue to lag far behind imports and will continue to affect the current account. Inflation may become a problem should the government resort to over-printing currency for short-term gains. The persistent lack of economic diversification beyond the production of tea, coffee, and coltan keeps the country vulnerable to market fluctuations. Rwanda’s landlocked situation necessitates strong highway infrastructure maintenance, and good transport linkages to neighboring countries, especially Uganda and Tanzania, are critical. Transportation costs remain high and, therefore, burden import and export costs. Rwanda has no railway system for port access in Tanzania, although the nearest railhead from Kigali is 380 kilometers away at Isaka, Tanzania. The development of small manufacturing and service industries is needed, and the tourism industry, now at 8,000 visitors per year, has far greater potential ... [Read More]

Department of State Washington File: Text: Immunization Efforts Could End Polio in South Asia in 2005

Administrative officials from beyond the health services are being pressed into duty: in key areas, teachers, district administrators, railway workers, and other government employees are mobilizing for vaccination campaigns. Officials also acknowledged the complementary need to ramp up routine immunization of children to prevent the virus coming back. ... [Read More]

Europe and Central Asia

Intensified controls on cannabis cultivation.The 2003 National Drug Monitor, published in March 2004, showed the number of recent (last-month) cannabis users in the Dutch population over the period 1997-2001 rose from some 326,000 to 408,000, or 3 percent of the Dutch population of 12 years and older (of a total population of 16 million). Life-time prevalence (ever-use) of cannabis among the population of 12 years and older rose from 15.6 percent in 1997 to 17 percent in 2001. The average age of recent cannabis users is 28 years. According to the Trimbos Addiction Institute, cannabis use among young people ages 12-18 dropped in 2003: recent (last-month) use for boys dropped to 10 percent, which was almost one-third less than in 1966. Last-month cannabis use by girls stabilized at 7 percent. [Read More]

Europe and Central Asia

Corruption. Corruption has been the most significant problem within Georgia's law enforcement agencies. Georgia's anti- corruption efforts continue to be hampered by the widespread tolerance of corruption within Georgian society. During 2001 the Government of Georgia formed a commission to reform the law enforcement agencies (so-called "power ministries"). The commission developed a strategy for reorganization that was forwarded to the Georgian National Security Council; however, no significant changes were made. In any case, none of these proposed measures can truly ameliorate the situation given the low wages of officials and poor standard of behavior from those in charge that nourish wide-scale, low level corruption. The new hope of eradicating corruption within the system emerged with the appointment of a new Minister of Internal Affairs, who has publicly and repeatedly announced his commitment to combating corruption and the trafficking ... [Read More]

Latvia (05/05)

Privatization in Latvia is almost complete. Virtually all of the previously state-owned small and medium companies have been privatized, leaving in state hands the electric utility, the Latvian railway company, and the Latvian postal system, as well as state shares in several politically sensitive enterprises. Despite the lack of transparency of the early stages of the privatization process, and certain difficulties in privatization of some of the largest companies, Latvian privatization efforts have led to the development of a dynamic and prosperous private sector, which accounted for 70% of GDP in 2002. ... [Read More]

J) Europe and Central Asia

Law Enforcement Efforts. Heroin seizures in the first half of 2002 increased dramatically from the same period in 2001; seizures rose from 270 grams (ca. one-half pound) to 4.75 kilos (10.7 lbs.). Two major cases accounting for 83.4 percent of total heroin seizures in 2002 involved railway cargo and individual cross-border drug trafficking. Seizures of amphetamine and Ecstasy tablets also increased dramatically from 2001 to 2002. Of total Ecstasy seizures in 2002, 87 percent involved trafficking across international borders. ... [Read More]