Armadillo at Large

Armadillo returns to WBG in March 2010 to continue our support work with GANSO. Started in July 2009 Armadillo delivered training and consultancy services in support of GANSO, and is very happy to be asked back to further develop and continue this work.

We have several client partners in Pakistan, and an ongoing mentoring relationship as well as an in the field presence. Steve Ritchie has just completed a period in Pakistan to complement his remote mentoring and support work. This client partner relationship is the kind of work we value and want to increasingly develop – it [...]

Patrick Fox is leading our review and assessment work in South Sudan, with Steve Ritchie and Kjell Bjork following in shortly to lead the training phase. Thanks to other existing clients in the region we are probably going to run an open training course in March or April as well as this extensive client support [...]

Armadillo is at work supporting our client partner as they carry out important environmental work in this region.
One of our field experts is part of the team, working to support their safety and security in a challenging context, and as ever supporting programme delivery, not programme prevention!

Lebanon Daily Star:
BEIRUT: Local leaders, members of the security forces and residents of the Tawaara neighborhood in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp met Sunday to discuss the fragile security situation in the camp after a series of explosions and heavy fighting erupted last week.
Read the original article here.

This from the BBC:

Mexican police have found six charred bodies on a street in the northern border city of Tijuana, bringing the number killed in three days to 14.
The six men had their hands bound and heads covered with plastic bags and had been shot or beaten, officials said.
The execution-style killings followed a period of [...]

This in from the BBC:

Pirates in northern Somalia have freed a Ukrainian ship and its 14-member crew for a ransom of $800,000 (£400,000), officials in the region say.
As the vessel’s release was secured, another ship was taken in Puntland off the most northerly tip of the country.
Read the original story here.

Worldwide weather forecasts can be found at the World Meteorological Organisation. Check what the weather is likely to do before you go and pack accordingly. If extreme weather is forecast, you wish to re-evaluate your travel plans.

On Sunday gunmen killed the head of the UN Development Programme in the Somali capital, a UN official said, the latest fatality in a string of attacks on aid workers in the lawless country.
Osman Ali Ahmed was shot at close-range as he left a mosque in southern Mogadishu’s Bulohube district, and later died while undergoing [...]

In addition to our recommended BBC country profiles, The Economist also do some good stats for most countries of the world. So if you’re going abroad and want to know what you’re heading into, check out The Economist Country Profiles.