Author: Database of Press Releases related to Africa

EL FASHER (DARFUR), Sudan, March 3, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The African Union – United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) is deeply concerned over reports of an escalation in violence in South Darfur over the course of the past sever…

NAIROBI, Kenya, March 3, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — African leaders, civil society and youth groups today mark Africa Environment Day, which seeks to accelerate action on the numerous pressing environmental challenges facing the continent.

Maseru, in the Kingdom of Lesotho, is the regional host of the 12th annual celebration, which is focused on the theme Combating Desertification in Africa: Enhancing Agricultural Productivity and Food Security.

In the Kenyan capital Nairobi, over 200 young people and high-level experts will convene to review key environmental issues impacting Africa, including illegal wildlife crime, forest conservation and food security.

The event—which dovetails with Wangari Maathai Day, a celebration of the life and work of the Green Belt Movement founder—is organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Government of Kenya and the Green Belt Movement.

Professor Maathai was Africa’s first female Nobel laureate, a champion of grassroots environmental activism and a fervent defender of biodiversity. She was also the inspiration for the Billion Tree Campaign, which UNEP began in 2006. Eight years later, 13.8 billion trees have been planted under the campaign, which is now run by the Plant for the Planet Foundation.

“The Green Economy transition is already well underway in Africa,” said UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner. “From plugging into solar power in Algeria and Tunisia to investing in green funds in South Africa, diverse pathways to greener and more-inclusive economies are being pursued across the continent.”

“This transition must be accelerated to stay ahead of the many challenges, from climate change to land degradation, that the continent is increasingly facing,” he added. “Professor Maathai showed the kind of visionary leadership that will be required to win this crucial race. I hope that, on this day commemorating her work, other leaders will be inspired to pick up the baton and ensure that Africa’s rich natural resources can be conserved, and thus serve as the foundation for a sustainable future and food security for all on the continent.”

The focus of Africa Environment Day echoes the theme of the January 2014 African Union Summit, and demonstrates a coordinated effort on the part of African leaders to emphasize the detrimental effects of land degradation to Africa’s food security aspirations. 2014 is the Year of Agriculture and Food Security in Africa.

Africa is currently undergoing strong economic growth. The World Bank’s Africa Pulse projects that economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is likely to reach more than 5 per cent on average in 2013-2015 as a result of high commodity prices worldwide and strong consumer spending.

However, the continent still must overcome challenges related to climate change, desertification and land degradation, loss of biodiversity to the illegal trade in wildlife and timber, management of waste and chemicals, and marine pollution.

One of the most pressing challenges is ensuring food security. The UN Population Division estimates that Africa’s population will reach 2.4 billion by 2050, and to feed this population the ecosystems the prop up agriculture will have to be kept healthy.

Yet statistics from the International Fund for Agricultural Development show that Africa has lost 65 per cent of its agricultural land since 1950 due to land degradation. According to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), 4 to 12 per cent of agricultural Gross Domestic Product in Africa is lost due to deteriorating environmental condition and 135 million people are at risk of having to move from their land due to desertification by 2020.

There have been some improvements in food security. The FAO State of Food Insecurity in the World Report notes that while sub-Saharan Africa has the highest level of undernourishment, there has been some improvement over the last two decades, with the prevalence of undernourishment declining from 32.7 per cent to 24.8 per cent. However, climate change can undermine these gains without firm and rapid action.

While pan-African programmes such as the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and the Sahel Green Wall Initiative are examples of concerted efforts to stem the tide of land degradation, Africa Environment Day aims to prompt a move to a more sustainable pathway, taking into consideration the post-2015 sustainable development agenda and Africa’s transformational Agenda 2063.

In this respect, African leaders are recommending that land degradation, desertification and drought be placed at the centre of the debate on the post-2015 development agenda and be recognized as one the sustainable development goals.

UNEP is already working with the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to enhance cooperation in controlling land degradation and the resultant desertification in Africa.

Ecosystem-based approaches as part of a wider transition to a Green Economy can also assist in providing food security, and late last year the first African Food Security and Adaptation conference backed these tools.

The conference—including representatives from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, regional economic communities, non-governmental organizations, the private sector and others—adopted a declaration calling for ecosystem-based approaches to be funded and scaled up by governments and development partners in order to build resilient food systems and adaptation to climate change in Africa.

Wealth accounting and the valuation of ecosystem services are expected to be critical to Africa’s future growth: in low-income countries, natural capital makes up around 36 per cent of total wealth, according to recent World Bank estimates.

The Mau Forest complex in Kenya, for example, provides goods and services worth US$1.5 billion (UNEP Mau Report) a year through water for hydroelectricity, agriculture, tourism and urban and industrial use, as well as erosion control and carbon sequestration. Alternative accounting has helped spur the government of Kenya to invest in rehabilitating the area and its vital ecological services.

Taking the value of ecosystem services into account in national planning is a vital part of the Green Economy transition, which will slow down degradation, assist nations and communities to adapt to those changes that are inevitable, and ensure a healthy, wealthy and sustainable continent.

Notes to Editors

The 19th AU Assembly, on July 2012 in Addis Ababa, after recognizing the importance of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development (CAADP), proclaimed 2014 the year of “Agriculture and Food security” to mark the 10th anniversary of CAADP. The AU will use this opportunity to launch the consultation on ownership of agricultural transformation through CAADP in the next decade. The last decade of CAADP has shaped and clarified Africa’s direction in agricultural transformation. Analyses of actions undertaken by CAADP in the last decade indicate phenomenal progress in redefining the critical path to attaining sustainable agriculture goals in the continent.

GENEVA, Switzerland, March 2, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Mary Robinson, Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for the Great Lakes region will visit the DRC from 2 to 3 March to participate in an important event — the Forum Mondial …

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, March 2, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Yesterday, the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel on Sudan and South Sudan adjourned negotiations between the Government of Sudan (GoS) and the Sudan People’s Liberat…

GENEVA, Switzerland, March 2, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Canada will play Ghana on 5 August 2014 in the opening match of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2014 in Toronto, while Finland will face Korea DPR on the same day. The Official Draw took place today, 1 March, at the Le Windsor in Montreal. The tournament will be played in four venues in Edmonton, Moncton, Montreal and Toronto from 5 to 24 August 2014.

The results of the draw and general background information on the event including the match schedule, team profiles and reports, can be found here (English version) and here (French version) on the competition’s official website www.FIFA.com/canada2014 and on our social media platforms twitter @fifawwc and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/fifawomensworldcup

In addition, media representatives will find statements from the team representatives and photos in the dedicated section on the FIFA Media Channel: http://media.FIFA.com. The photos, the source of which (“Canada Soccer”) must be clearly acknowledged, can be used for editorial purposes only in relation to the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.

NEW YORK, March 1, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The new Permanent Representative of Cabo Verde to the United Nations, Fernando Jorge Wahnon Ferreira, today presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Until his latest a…

BUJUMBURA, Burundi, March 1, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has completed the fourth review of Burundi’s economic performance under the program supported by the Extended Credit Facility (ECF). The Executive Board’s decision, which was taken without a meeting,1will allow for the disbursement of an amount equivalent to SDR 5 million (about US$7.7 million), bringing disbursements under the arrangement to an amount equivalent to SDR 20 million (about US$30.9 million). Burundi’s three-year ECF arrangement was approved on January 27, 2012 (See Press Release No.12/35).

Burundi’s economic recovery continues to gain momentum in the aftermath of the food and fuel shocks. Growth improved at an estimated 4.5 percent in 2013 and is projected at 4.7 percent in 2014, underpinned by the agriculture and construction sectors as well as the implementation of major infrastructure projects, including fiber optics, hydropower, and roads. There are also signs of uptick in tourist arrivals. Headline inflation declined from its peak of 25 percent in March 2012 to about 9 percent at end-2013, in the context of stable monetary and exchange rate conditions, and notable improvements in commercial banks’ liquidity. International reserves fell to about 3.5 months of imports following a 38.2 percent cumulative deterioration in the terms of trade during 2012–13.

The implementation of swift corrective measures in July 2013 in response to revenue slippages was instrumental in putting the program back on track. Revenue collections, which also benefitted from the pickup in economic activity, increased by about 6 percent (year-on-year) at end-2013, outperforming program targets, and placing the 2014 budget on a sounder footing. Expenditures were broadly contained.

Program performance was satisfactory. All end-September 2013 performance criteria and indicative targets were observed, including the indicative target on pro-poor expenditure. Satisfactory progress was made in the implementation of structural reforms. The streamlining of customs procedures at three recently established border posts with Rwanda and Tanzania is expected to ease transportation bottlenecks and lower costs of doing business. Progress was made in enhancing treasury and financial safeguards.

The macroeconomic outlook remains difficult, and external vulnerabilities persist in the context of lower international coffee prices and the narrow export base. Economic activity is projected to improve further in 2014, while the inflation outlook, absent poor harvests, remains favorable, owing to lower projected international food and fuel prices. Policy reversals of recently adopted measures, expenditure pressures in the run-up to the 2015 elections, and slippages in the implementation of structural reforms could jeopardize the macroeconomic outlook.

1 The Executive Board takes decisions without a meeting when it is agreed by the Board that a proposal can be considered without convening formal decisions.

WASHINGTON, March 1, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — NOTICE
CONTINUATION OF THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO ZIMBABWE

On March 6, 2003, by Executive Order 13288, the President

declared a national emergency and blocked the property of…

BISSAU, Guinea Bissau, March 1, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — On 26 February 2014, in Bissau, Ambassador Joaquín González-Ducay, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, and Mr. Ussama Osman, Country Director and Representative of the World Food Programme (WFP), signed a contribution agreement for the amount of 5 million Euro (about 3 billion and 280 million CFA francs) in the framework of the implementation of the programme “Integrated Actions in Nutrition and Agricultural Development” (UE-AINDA).

“The contribution of the European Union comes in timely, given that almost all Guinean families depend on the income of cashew nuts for their livelihood,” said WFP Representative, Ussama Osman. “Even in 2014 the campaign cashew might be endangered by internal and external factors, leading to decreased revenues, which will have an impact on the purchasing power of small producers.”

The contribution from the European Union will be used by WFP to provide food during three years to about 56,000 beneficiaries, mainly malnourished children, pregnant and nursing women, Tuberculosis patients and their families countrywide.

In addition to providing food to the poor and defenceless, the European Union will fund an effective monitoring system and an early warning mechanism for food crises. Activities will be conducted in partnership with Non-Governmental Organizations, Community-Based Organizations and partners of the Food Security and Nutrition Group (GSAN) of Guinea-Bissau.

In conclusion, Ambassador Gonzalez-Ducay highlighted that “the eradication of hunger is an essential element in the fight against poverty, which lies at the foundation of the strategy of the European Union for development.

The decision to establish the UE-AINDA programme, which will address both hunger and poverty, and to entrust the execution of a key component to WFP is another example of the continuing commitment of the European Union towards the people of Guinea-Bissau.”

GENEVA, Switzerland, March 1, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) (http://www.unitar.org) has just launched the 2014 edition of the online training courses in financial management, …