Africa

Carole, a 32-year-old former combatant, sits in her home in Bouar, Central African Republic, March 7, 2024. Nearly 5,000 fighters have put down their arms in Central African Republic since a disarmament program launched nearly a decade ago. Yet former rebels, communities and conflict experts say it‘s hard to halt fighting in a country still in conflict and where little other paid work exists. AP PHOTO / SAM MEDNICK

Children practise fencing game, on the outskirts of Kigali, Rwanda, Tuesday, April 4, 2024. The country will commemorate on April 7, 2024 the 30th anniversary of the genocide when ethnic Hutu extremists killed neighbours, friends and family during a three-month rampage of violence aimed at ethnic Tutsis and some moderate Hutus, leaving a death toll that Rwanda puts at 1,000,050. AP PHOTO / BRIAN INGANGA

A mural is seen in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on March 1, 2023. Burkina Faso's government has opened investigations into allegations of human rights abuses by its security forces after a video surfaced that appeared to show the extrajudicial killing of seven children in the country’s north. AP PHOTO

A women prays for the kidnapped LEA Primary and Secondary School students in Kuriga, Kaduna state Nigeria, Saturday, March 9, 2024. AP PHOTO / SUNDAY ALAMBA