Ahead of the World Bank's Spring Meetings here this week, government ministers from almost 40 developing countries are meeting with UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake, UK International Development Secretary of State Andrew Mitchell, Chair of the United Nations Secretary General's Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation HRH the Prince of Orange, and major donors and water and sanitation sector organizations, to discuss speeding up global access to water and sanitation.

An experimental malaria vaccine tested on children in Burkina Faso has shown "a high level of efficacy" in protecting against the disease, a study published in the United States said Wednesday.

The study was initially planned to study the safety and immune response of the vaccine, known by the name MSP3.

In the study, 45 children aged 12-24 months were randomized into three groups receiving doses of either 15 or 30 micrograms of the experimental malaria vaccine, or the control vaccine against Hepatitis B.

The heaviest rainfall in 90 years in the African state of Burkina Faso has triggered heavy flooding and forced thousands of people to flee their homes, the government said Wednesday.

"We have been able to find shelter for about 110,000 people but there are others who have taken refuge with their neighbors," Prime Minister Tertius Zongo told reporters after an emergency cabinet meeting.