Classes in Nairobi aim to teach boys and young men what constitutes harassment – and how to intervene if they spot it happening on public transport.

The people behind the Kenyan scheme say it’s been successful but does it have an effect outside of the classroom?

Note: This story is auto-generated from ‘BBC News’ syndicated feed and has not been edited by Africa Prime News staff.

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Somalia is appealing for blood to treat those wounded in Saturday’s huge truck bombing in the capital, Mogadishu, which killed at least 281 people.

Information Minister Abdirahman Osman told the BBC the death toll was likely to rise, and more help was needed.

He said more than 300 people had been injured in Somalia’s deadliest terror attack in 10 years, and more bodies were trapped under rubble.

Two planes of medial aid – from the US and Qatar – have landed in the capital.

Turkey and Djibouti sent humanitarian assistance on Monday – and a Turkish military plane has taken 40 of the injured to Turkey for medical treatment.

Neighbouring Kenya also plans to airlift some of the victims for further treatment, and in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, hundreds of people been donating blood.

Queuing to give blood

By Bashkas Jugsodaay, BBC Africa, Nairobi

Young and old residents alike have been queuing here in Eastleigh, known as Nairobi’s “Little Mogadishu, to give blood since the early in the morning.

This tragedy feels personal for the thousands of Somalis who have settled in the neighbourhood since fleeing the conflict in their home country.

Konsar Mohamed, 20, told me she lost a friend in the attack. “It hurts a lot. We used to laugh a lot… I want to tell him ‘rest in peace my brother.'”

She says has donated blood because “this is the biggest gift I can give to my people”.

Mr Osman blamed the Islamist al-Shabab group, which is allied to al-Qaeda, for the attack.

The minister thanked the hundreds of Mogadishu residents who had already donated blood.

Somalia does not have a blood bank, which was hampering some of the aid efforts, he told the Reuters news agency.

On Monday, 165 unidentified bodies were buried by the authorities.

There were burnt beyond recognition and there was no means of identifying them.

A youth group, with the help of the government, has started a social media campaign to raise money for the families of the victims and organise blood donations for the injured.

More about al-Shabab:

• Why does al-Shabab target hotels?

• Who are Somalia’s al-Shabab?

Of those who were identified, one of the victims was a medical student due to graduate the next day.

Maryam Abdullahi’s father had flown to Mogadishu to attend her graduation but instead witnessed her burial.

The truck exploded at a busy junction, destroying hotels, government offices and restaurants.

A 22,000-strong African Union force is in the country trying to help the government recapture territory from al-Shabab, whose fighters are active in much of rural southern Somalia.

Mr Osman said the UN-backed government had been calling for an easing of an arms embargo on Somalia for years.

“Our security forces are not enabled to carry out sophisticated security operations that will stop such attacks,” he told the BBC’s Newsday programme.

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Note: This story is auto-generated from ‘BBC News’ syndicated feed and has not been edited by Africa Prime News staff.

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A senior member of Kenya’s electoral commission (IEBC) has resigned, saying the country is unable to hold credible elections next week.

Roselyn Akombe said the IEBC was under political “siege”, unable to reach consensus or take any decisions.

Now in the US, she told the BBC she had feared for her safety while in Kenya after receiving numerous threats.

Last week, opposition leader Raila Odinga pulled out of the 26 October presidential re-run.

The Supreme Court annulled the result of the original 8 August poll, which saw current President Uhuru Kenyatta declared winner, after finding irregularities and illegalities.

In a BBC Newsday interview from New York, Ms Akombe said the election commission’s IT head, Chris Msando, was “brutally murdered” before the August poll, and “you’ll be suicidal to think that nothing will happen to you”.

“I have never felt the kind of fear that I felt in my own country,” Ms Akombe told the BBC.

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‘Repeating mistakes’

In a statement, Ms Akombe said she had “agonised over the decision to leave the IEBC.

“I have tried the best I could do given the circumstances. Sometimes, you walk away, especially when potentially lives are at stake. The commission has become a party to the current crisis. The commission is under siege.

“The commission in its current state can surely not guarantee a credible election on 26 October 2017.”

And in the BBC interview, she said: “Would it be a credible election? Absolutely not.

“There is a very high likelihood that the mistakes that some of the presiding officers made during the last election will be repeated.”

She said IEBC members had been voting along partisan lines, without discussing different issues on merit.

Commissioners and other IEBC personnel were facing intimidation by political actors and protesters, Ms Akombe said.

She added that the death threats were anonymous threats, and she had been put under pressure to resign.

She said she did not “feel safe enough to be able to go home” in the foreseeable future.

The IEBC said it regretted her decision to quit. It did not comment further.

Mr Odinga, who leads the opposition National Super Alliance (Nasa), said last week: “We have come to the conclusion that there is no intention on the part of the IEBC to undertake any changes to its operations and personnel.

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“All indications are that the election scheduled for 26 October will be worse than the previous one.”

Mr Odinga has organised a series of protests against the IEBC in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, Mr Kenyatta says he is ready to proceed with the new vote as planned.

“We have no problem going back to elections. We are sure we will get more votes than the last time.”

“We are also telling him [Mr Odinga] it is the people’s right to choose their leader. It is their sovereign right to choose their leader of choice,” Mr Kenyatta said.

The country’s electoral commission said Mr Kenyatta had won the August vote by a margin of 1.4 million votes – or 54% of the total, compared to Mr Odinga’s 45%.

Note: This story is auto-generated from ‘BBC News’ syndicated feed and has not been edited by Africa Prime News staff.