Dismissed Senegal coach, Lamine Ndiaye, is claiming all unpaid wages from Senegal government after he was fired by the Fifa-appointed Normalisation Committee currently running Senegalese football on Monday evening.

The under-fire coach whose contract was due to expire at the end of the month, was dismissed by the Normalisation Committee following the team's failure to reach the final phase of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations.  The Teranga Lions could only finish third in Group 6 following their 1-1 draw at home to The Gambia Scorpions.

After being showing an exit door even before his contract ends, coach Ndiaye now wants the Senegalese government to pay him all his dues before he could say good bye. This amount, Wal Fadjri Sports revealed, represents the sum of 13 Millions of Cfa, on the basis of 500 000 frank Cfa a month.

Shortly after his expected sacking, some officials, such as Sports Minister Bacar Dia, wanted to keep Ndiaye in his post - simply to avoid any legal wrangling since his contract was due to expire at the end of October. But it seems the Normalisation Committee were in no mood of keeping the coach after their shock exit which prompted intense violence in the former French colony.

Ndiaye, a former international, took charge of Senegal during January's Nations Cup in Ghana following the shock resignation of Henri Kasperczak midway through the tournament.  His early months in the job were anything but easy as some 30 Senegalese football federation members resigned in the wake of Senegal's disastrous Nations Cup campaign.

Senegal's failure to qualify to the final stage of qualifying for the 2010 World and Africa Cup of Nations was met by a hail of missiles from their fans in Dakar.

A 1-1 draw with local rivals, Gambia, left the Teranga Lions in third place in their group and sparked serious trouble.

Shortly after the final whistle at the Leopord Sedat Senghore stadium on Saturday, angry Senegalese supporters took to the streets vandalising governing vehicles and houses.

The headquarters of the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) was also attacked by angry mobs who caused extensive damages before they were driven back by police using tear gas.  The tunnel leading to the changing rooms was badly damaged and many windows in the stadium were smashed.  Fires were lit both inside and outside the grounds after the final whistle.

The Gambian fans and players were kept back after the game as a precaution.

Several people were injured in the violence but the extent of their injuries is not known.

The fans were angry after a tepid display by the home team saw them concede an equaliser four minutes from full-time. It was an unconvincing performance from Senegal throughout but they took the lead on 62 minutes through a scuffed goal from Kader Mangane.  Gambia had been the better team throughout and secured a point with just minutes remaining in the game.

Condemnation

A member of the Normalisation Committee that is running Senegalese football has condemned the violence.

"I think that everything that happened was most regrettable - because the damage caused has been enormous, especially here at the federation," Nouha Cisse told reporters.

"But at the same time, it's understandable because the Senegalese have long been under the illusion since 2002 that one day we would win something. Unfortunately, that illusion has been truly shattered now," he said.

"Also, at the moment, there is an illness - economic, social, cultural, political illness here, and all those tensions came out when a sporting defeat was added to them. I think, without exaggerating, that Senegalese football is at ground zero. That's to say that we can go no lower. And we've hit rock bottom on almost all levels," he went on.

"The best expression of ground zero can be seen here in the federation, which they've totally vandalised and this is symbolic - that they've attacked the best symbol of football administration, which really shows how we've hit rock bottom," he concluded.

"If we can build up youths' capacity to resolve conflict today then we might not only affect the current conflict but also prevent violence from breaking out in the future," an aid official said.

Abdou Sarr, World Education's director of the programme, told IRIN, "No one is immune to the call of children. If they can now make a stand for peace here, then it might work."

USAID has teamed up with non-governmental organisation (NGO) World Education to teach conflict-resolution skills to 18,000 teenagers across schools and colleges in the Ziguinchor and Kolda regions of Casamance where the conflict continues to be played out.

The rebels of the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC) are fighting for an independent Casamance, and violent incidents continue to take place in violation of a December 2004 peace accord.

In mid-March, the MFDC abducted 16 villagers in Bissine, 60km from Ziguinchor, before releasing them five days later.

The peace education programme aims to teach teenagers how to analyse the roots of conflicts and develop negotiation skills, as well as advocacy and campaigning skills, to help them spread their messages to their communities.

According to Sarr, children are encouraged to put their learning to the test by organising peace rallies, running peace campaigns, or simply setting up football matches and cultural events involving different communities to try to strengthen inter-community ties.

Why children?

"Usually it is the parents who educate their children in the need for peace, but here we are turning it around," Mamadou Goudiaby a teacher in the programme at Ziguinchor Academy, said.

Experts admit that not all adults will listen to children, but Ed Garcia, a long-time peace education and specialist currently with the NGO International Alert, told IRIN children's influencing role increasingly features in political rhetoric.

"Just look at the United States 2008 primary elections. Caroline Kennedy, Senator Casey and countless others have said it is their children who have shaped their political views and activities."

Tendeng Moussa, a student in the programme, has lost relatives to the Casamance conflict and wants to break what he sees as the prevalent cycle of revenge.

"We will try to educate our parents so they can forget the painful damage they've been through", he said. But he wants to go further: "We must also try to make the MFDC rebels themselves understand that the youth of Casamance are now out to preach peace and non-violence."

Garcia thinks children can make a real difference in shaping the politics of conflict. "Children can broaden the peace constituency by lobbying people to vote for the right leaders, and this can make a real political impact." He continued: "I've seen the results of this in Colombia and the Philippines."

Political problems, political solutions

However, some education specialists worry that such programmes, while positive, risk overplaying the power of children and masking the need for concerted political solutions.

"This programme is a good idea… [but] children are not the only driving force for peace - only when they age can they play a strong role in resolving it," said Oumar Diatta, an education specialist who teaches children affected by conflict at a centre in Ziguinchor.

He continued: "The programme can affect the resolution of the Casamance conflict… [but] the basis of the problem is political and requires a political response.

In the end, rather than just children, the state must also get involved."

Peace talks between the MFDC and Senegalese government have been on hold since 2005.

Violence against women, human trafficking and migration are expected to lead the agenda of a new West Africa office of the UN human rights commission, a top UN official says.

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) signed an agreement with the Senegalese government on 3 December to set up a regional office in the capital, Dakar. The office – the fourth regional office in Africa – is expected to open in early 2008.

Kyung-wha Kang, UN deputy commissioner for human rights who was in Dakar for the signing, told IRIN on 3 December that one priority is to help make people aware that violence against women constitutes a breach of fundamental rights. “People tend to think of violence against women not as a human rights issue,” she said. “But it is a serious, serious human rights violation.”

She noted that in many post-conflict situations – such as in Sierra Leone and Liberia – violence against women escalates. “In many cases, the end of the conflict hasn’t meant at all the end of the violence against women. In some cases it has gotten worse….It’s a huge challenge.”

Kang noted that while these human rights issues prominent in West Africa are likely to top the new office’s agenda, priorities could shift according to consultations and needs on the ground once the office is installed.

The new OHCHR office comes to a region where thousands of young people risk their lives each year trying to get to Europe to escape poverty. Kang said the office will focus on the rights of migrants. OHCHR continues to urge countries to ratify the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, which lays out fundamental rights including protection from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and from forced labour.

Kang said it is important “to make people aware that human rights is not just about freedom of expression and political rights but a whole range of economic, social and cultural rights as well....It's a package that's indivisible."

In the fight against impunity, which Kang said is a global priority for OHCHR, it is vital that human rights advocates work from the ground up, she said. “You have to work with the traditional systems of justice present and try to bring in international standards. You cannot go from the international standards and try to bring the ground up to that standard overnight.”

Many human rights advocates say combating impunity in West Africa requires bringing former Chadian leader Hissene Habre to justice. Habre – accused of crimes against humanity during his reign – has lived in Senegal for 17 years. Kang said OHCHR “follows the [Habre] case very closely”, adding, “We see the government here is taking positive steps to prosecute the case.”