Author: Database of Press Releases related to Africa

ABUJA, Nigeria, February 28, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Good and inclusive governance is essential to ensuring minority rights, equality and peaceful coexistence for all of Nigeria’s citizens, the United Nations Independent Expert on minority issues, Rita Izsák, said* today at the end of her first official visit to the country.

“I found evidence that in States where inclusive governance prevails and communities placed trust in their leadership, there are fewer communal fractures and concerns about minority rights,” Ms. Izsák noted. “However, the exclusion of some groups, partisan politics, corruption, and the reality or the perception of bias and favouritism along ethnic or religious lines, fuel distrust, suspicion and anger.

“Political parties must play their role in reaching across ethnic or religious divides,” she stressed, while urging the Nigerian Government “to strengthen measures to fully implement the constitutional guarantees of equality, unity and belonging, in order to protect minority rights.”

With over 250 ethnic groups and even more languages spoken in the country, the UN expert acknowledged the complex ethnic, religious and linguistic make-up of Nigeria and that, for the most part, minority and majority communities coexist in harmony. Nigeria this week celebrates its Centenary and its rich ethnic, religious and linguistic diversity. However the Expert highlighted concerns that threaten unity in several States and require attention.

“In States that I have visited, including Plateau State and Kaduna State, today there are new divisions where once was relatively peaceful coexistence,” she noted. “I have been saddened to learn that violent attacks perpetrated against both Christian and Muslim communities have heightened suspicions and in some locations created a climate of fear.

“I have been deeply moved by meeting victims of violence from different communities,” Ms. Izsák said. “Those who incite or perpetrate violence, including extremist elements, must be held to account for their crimes and must not be allowed to succeed in creating divisions between communities.”

The Independent Expert urged the authorities to enhance the capacity, training and resources of the security forces in regions where violence has broken out, but stressed that “sustainable solutions to communal violence require more than a heightened security response alone.”

“Some of the tensions and conflicts that have erupted in Nigeria’s northern and ‘Middle-Belt’ States have been framed as religious or ethnic conflicts. However, it is clear to me that, while they have evolved to have obvious religious and ethnic dimensions, this is far too simplistic an understanding and their root causes lie in other factors – competition for resources or unequal allocation of resources, land issues, population movement and migration, and even the gradual but important impact of climate change,” she stated.

The rights expert welcomed local and grassroots initiatives to build bridges of understanding and trust between communities, through inter-faith and inter-communal dialogue, shared activities and education.

“I have met traditional Chiefs, Christian and Muslim religious leaders who are working to bring a message of peace and tolerance to their communities affected by recent violence,” she said. “I was particularly impressed by creative women and youth initiatives that address underlying root causes of potential conflicts and help to prevent them.”

Ms. Izsák visited the Niger Delta where she met Ogoni and Ikwerre communities who highlighted their efforts to overcome what they describe as abandonment and marginalization and the devastating effects of frequent oil spills. She also sought information on Nigeria’s linguistic diversity and urged the Government to consider formal and informal measures to protect and promote Nigeria’s rich linguistic heritage.

The Independent Expert welcomed the forthcoming National Conference that will bring together a wide spectrum of Nigerian society to hold a dialogue on many constitutional, legal, social, political and economic issues. She urged full attention to minority issues within the scope of the Conference.

Ms. Izsák cautioned, however, that the Conference must be truly inclusive and have clear objectives and outcomes that result in a real process of political, social and economic reform, in order to fulfil its promise to the Nigerian people.

During her twelve-day visit to Nigeria, the expert consulted a wide range of stakeholders including senior Federal Government officials, as well as State officials, civil society groups and community and religious leaders. Following her visit the UN Expert will produce a report and recommendations that will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council.

(*) Check the full end-of-mission statement by the Independent Expert: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=14293&LangID=E

TOKYO, Japan, February 28, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Japan-IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency) Joint Events: Training Program “Supporting Renewable Energy Deployment in Africa and Pacific Island Countries,” and International …

BISSAU, Guinea Bissau, February 28, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Magdalena Sepúlveda, today called on the political and military authorities of Guinea-Bissau “to address the critical needs of the poorest and most marginalized as a matter of priority.”

“The people of Guinea-Bissau cannot wait any longer for state policies to become effective,” Ms. Sepúlveda said* at the end of her visit to the country. “All State authorities must act with the vision to ensure that all women, children, young adults, and future generations to come, will have a better life in Guinea-Bissau.”

“Guinea-Bissau has an opportunity to progress, but it must agree on a common vision which moves the country’s politics away from short-term power struggles and towards working for the well-being of all members of society, especially those living in abject poverty,” the human rights expert stressed.

The Special Rapporteur noted that steps adopted to improve the country’s legal framework have had limited success in improving the situation of the poorest Guinea-Bissauns. “Development depends on giving priority to investment in social services such as health and education and the strengthening of the agricultural sector to ensure food security,” she stressed.

Ms. Sepúlveda was struck by the extent to which the social and financial wellbeing of the community and households rely entirely on women. “Women and girls are Guinea-Bissau’s foundational pillar, yet their reward is a neglect of their rights and needs,” she said.

“They have limited access to services such as education, health and justice and are victims of sexual violence, exploitation, forced marriage and adolescent pregnancies, despite their tireless effort to secure the wellbeing of their families and communities,” the expert underscored.

Compared with men, women suffer from less access to health services, higher incidence of HIV/AIDS, lower levels of school enrolment, lower literacy rates, reduced incomes, higher rates of unemployment and greater difficulties in overcoming poverty. “The incidence of women living with HIV/AIDS and rates for maternal mortality in Guinea-Bissau are among the worst in the world,” she warned.

“I am leaving the country with a profound sense of admiration for the resilience and courage of Guinea-Bissaun women,” the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights said.

The human rights expert visited the Biombo, Quinhamel, Mansoa, Bissorã, Mansaba and Nhacra regions, where she met with Government officials, civil society organizations and communities living in poverty.

In her preliminary findings at the conclusion of her visit, Ms. Sepúlveda called for systematic structural changes to tackle impunity, ensure access to justice, address education and agricultural reforms, and address gender inequality. She also provided specific recommendations in the areas of health, education, employment, social protection, and access to land, and gender equality.

The Special Rapporteur will present a full report on Guinea-Bissau to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2014.

(*) Read the full end-of-mission press statement by Ms. Sepúlveda: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=14290&LangID=E

PARIS, France, February 28, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Thousands of people who fled violence in the Central African Republic have now arrived in Sido, southern Chad and eastern Cameroon. These civilians have had no choice but to escape the violence in their country. Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) calls all other humanitarian actors to mobilise quickly and provide assistance to refugees in these neighbouring countries.

The thousands of refugees who fled CAR and have arrived in neighbouring Cameroon and Chad, now lack clean water, decent shelter and food, warn MSF.

CHAD:

Refugees who reached Sido in southern Chad, have endured an exhausting trip on convoys, many of which came under attack in the CAR. They are now experiencing extremely precarious sanitary and living conditions. In the last five weeks the refugees have received only one food distribution from the World Food Programme (WFP), which took place on January 20. “More than 8,000 refugees have arrived since that time,” says Augustin Ngoyi, MSF programme coordinator in Sido. “They have not gotten anything to eat, apart from the few protein biscuits that some of them received.”

In Sido, people are living in makeshift shelters, with the newest arrivals camped out under the trees, protected only by their clothes. There are just 20 latrines and four water points for the 13,200 refugees there now. Malaria represents nearly 30% of the diseases treated at the MSF health center. MSF treated 56 children with acute severe malnutrition over a 16-day period.

In Sido, local authorities on site are struggling to deal with this crisis, but face a desperate lack of resources and support. MSF is the only international organization working in the area.

“The refugees need emergency food aid, as well as mosquito nets, shelters and latrines,” Augustin Ngoyi says. “The U.N. agencies, including the WFP, and the Chadian authorities must act right away.”

In mid-February, MSF opened a health center in Sido, Chad and will set up a hospitalization unit with a therapeutic feeding center. In Bitoye, MSF teams see approximately 100 patients per week and have vaccinated nearly 7,000 people, refugees and residents, against measles, meningitis and polio. In N’Djamena, where several thousand refugees are still gathered, MSF mobile teams provide medical care at several transit sites. In addition to responding to these emergency needs, MSF operates regular projects in Abéché, Am Timan, Massakory, Moissala and Tissi.

CAMEROON:

An estimated 22,000 Central Africans have fled to Cameroon since the beginning of 2014. In Garoua-Boulaï, a small town in eastern Cameroon, thousands of people are living under trees and are only able to rely on the solidarity of the local community there to feed and clothe themselves. “People who are in Garoua-Boulaï and other locations we visited are living in unacceptable conditions,” says Jon Irwin, Head of Mission for MSF in Cameroon.

In Mborguéné transit camp, some 45 km from Garoua-Boulaï in eastern Cameroon, a health centre has been set up which will be able to cover the medical needs of 10,000 refugees.

South of Garoua-Boulaï, new groups of people are still crossing the border from CAR. The remote area where they have settled will be unreachable during the rainy season. The transfer of refugees from this zone to camps which would ensure their security and the delivery of assistance should be considered an urgent next step.

“When our teams were informed of groups of refugees scattered along the border with CAR, we immediately set up a mobile clinic in Mboy. Until that point, they had not received any support and had been left to fend for themselves, ” said Jon Irwin.

MSF has been present in Cameroon since 1984. Since February 2014, we have deployed emergency teams in the east, to provide primary medical care to refugees through collaboration with the Ministry of Health.

ROME, Italy, February 28, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Governments from the Near East and North Africa today wrapped up a five day meeting on regional food security challenges pledging enhanced cooperation to tackle the critical issues of water management, food waste and building more resilient rural communities.

In a final report, the 32nd FAO regional conference for the Near East and North Africa endorsed three key proposals tabled during the talks.

The first is a regional strategy framework to bring countries together to improve food security and nutrition.

At present, the number of undernourished people in the 19 countries of the Near East and North Africa remains high at nearly 43.7 million, or 10 percent of the population.

Reducing those numbers while coping with a ongoing population growth, increasing scarcity of natural resources and climate change will require much closer inter-governmental cooperation.

The framework endorsed today calls on governments to work together to address lagging productivity growth through increased investment in research and development; improvements to supply chain efficiencies that will reduce exposure to market volatility and other shocks; and strengthened safety nets and nutrition education programs.

The creation of strategic regional cereal reserves to help offset spikes in commodity prices is another tool considered by the framework.

“In today’s globalized world, we cannot have food security in one country alone. We need to work together. That commitment, from all of us, is there. And that is the foundation we need to build a food-secure world,” said FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva in remarks at the close of the conference.

Enhanced cooperation on water, food waste

In addition to the strategy framework, the group also green-lighted the expansion of FAO’s regional Initiative on Water Scarcity beyond six pilot countries to the entire region. Under the initiative, countries will both concentrate on improving their water management practices at the national level as well as work closely together across borders to develop a collaborative approach to managing the vital natural resource.

Per capita fresh water availability in the region has decreased by two-thirds over the past 40 years and is projected to decrease by 50 percent in the next 35 years if current trends in population growth and consumption patterns continue. Agriculture currently uses 85 percent of the region’s available freshwater supplies.

And the conference endorsed a regional initiative aimed at reducing food losses and waste.

The Near East and North Africa region relies on imports to meet over 50 percent of its food needs, yet it loses up to a third of the food it produces and imports.

FAO priorities

The conference asked FAO to focus its efforts on helping countries address three priority issues: water scarcity, building resilience for enhanced food security and nutrition, and supporting small-scale agriculture.

The Organization’s budget allocation for activities in the Near East and North Africa for the 2014-2015 period amounts to $45.8 million, with estimated additional requirements of voluntary contributions totaling $95.5 million.

Countries participating in the regional conference acknowledged the need to mobilize additional resources in support of food and nutrition security work, including through South-South Cooperation and partnerships, as well via a new FAO Regional Solidarity Trust Fund being established with an initial $2 million contribution by the government of Iraq.

This week’s Conference was attended by over 160 delegates, including 11 ministers, from 21 FAO members from the Near East Regional Group, as well as representatives of civil society, the private sector, other UN organizations and observer countries.

The highest FAO governing body at the regional level, regional conferences are essential for ensuring the effectiveness of the Organization’s work in the field and play a critical role in defining its work priorities.

NAIROBI, Kenya, February 28, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Africa Environment Day/Wangari Maathai Day 2014

What: Activities marking Africa Environment Day/Wangari Maathai Day

When: Monday 3 March, 9.00am – 1.00pm

Where: Conference Room 1, UNEP Headquarters, Gigiri, Nairobi

Who: Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director

Wanjira Maathai, Greenbelt Belt Movement/Wangari Maathai Institute

Judy Wakhungu, Cabinet Secretary for Env. Water and Natural Resources, Kenya

Augusta Abate, Food and Agriculture Organization

Ayub Macharia, National Environment Management Authority

Laura Darby, Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP)

Suzanna Owiyo, UNEP Goodwill Ambassador

Paula Kahumbu, Wildlife Direct

Paul Mbugua, Kenya Wildlife Service

Africa Environment Day (AED), the biggest Environment event on the continent will as is customary be celebrated on Monday March 3 year under the theme: Combating Desertification in Africa: Enhancing Agriculture and Food Security. UNEP seeks to raise public awareness on environmental challenges in Africa such as climate change, desertification, deforestation, land degradation, endangered biodiversity etc. which are mainly responsible for problems related to food security, health and development. The theme is in line with the African Union Year of Agriculture and Food security.

Africa Environment Day will be celebrated in conjunction with Wangari Maathai Day, a day dedicated to the celebration of the work and vision of Africa’s first female Nobel laureate, champion of grassroots environmental activism, and fervent defender of biodiversity, late Prof Wangari Maathai. The theme for this year’s celebration, Youth – Healing the Earth: Education Environment Empowerment, is a forward-thinking theme that captures the promise of Prof Wangari Maathai’s vision of preserving the environment for today and generations unborn towards sustainable development in Kenya and the continent of Africa. Planned activities for this day include tree planting, exhibitions and a youth dialogue forum coordinated by representatives from the Green Belt Movement and Tunza youth programs.

GENEVA, Switzerland, February 28, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — IOM Tanzania, in close collaboration with the Tanzanian Regional Immigration Training Academy and IOM African Capacity Building Centre (ACBC), is this week organizing a six-day workshop on “Return Management: Lessons Learned from Mtabila Camp Closure, Operation Kimbunga and the Way Forward in Western Tanzania”.

The workshop, which targets senior immigration officials from Burundi and Tanzania, is taking place at the ACBC in Moshi and will run through 4th March 2014.

The programme focuses on international norms and principles of protection and best practices in managing voluntary returns, with specific reference to the closure of the Mtabila refugee camp in Tanzania and “Operation Kimbunga” in North-Western Tanzania.

Over the past four months, some 50,000 migrants have been expelled from Tanzania, resulting in a migration crisis for its neighbours, including Burundi.

The expected outcome of the meeting will be a consolidated work plan for the rollout of a new project based on the lessons learned.

The event will also include a two-day working meeting on cross-border cooperation between the Burundian and the Tanzanian delegations.

The workshop is one of the key activities of a new IOM project: “Migration Crisis Support to Address Migrant Expulsions in Western Tanzania,” funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID).

The project will help the Government of Tanzania in pursuing a comprehensive and protection-sensitive migration management approach that aims to reduce the number of stranded and vulnerable irregular migrants along Tanzania’s border with Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda.

Its main activities consist of registering migrants with a view to support their voluntary return or the regularization of their immigration status in Tanzania, and building the capacity of border agencies to manage migration in a way that protects national borders and respects migrants’ human rights.

GENEVA, Switzerland, February 28, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Ethiopian diaspora in the United States, Canada and Europe is continuing to support IOM efforts to help fellow Ethiopians returning home from Saudi Arabia.

The latest show of support came this week from the Ethiopian diaspora community in Dallas, Texas, with a donation of USD31,000.

Mac Mekonnen, Executive Director of the Mutual Assistance Association for the Ethiopian Community in Dallas/Ft. Worth Texas visited the US Association for International Migration (USAIM), IOM’s non-profit partner in the US at the IOM Washington office to hand-deliver the donation.

“The Dallas Ethiopian Community is pleased to have been part of alleviating the problems of the Saudi returnees in their moment of crisis,” said Mekonnen.

Other contributions from the Ethiopian diaspora include: USD62,000 from The Global Alliance for the Rights of Ethiopians in Saudi Arabia;USD23,000 from The Ethiopian Community Association of Greater Philadelphia; USD 3,050 from the Ethiopian Community in Minnesota; andUSD8,736 from the Vancouver Committee to Assist Abused Ethiopian Migrant Workers in Saudi Arabia.

“These contributions from the Ethiopian diaspora are critical for IOM programmes which are providing assistance to Ethiopian returnees. But their actions also send an important message – diasporas can contribute to development in their countries of origin and can provide vital financial support in times of crisis,” said Luca Dall’Oglio, IOM’s Chief of Mission in Washington,DC.

“We are committed to a long-term solution and intend to support IOM through the next steps to hopefully provide reintegration assistance for our compatriots once they return home,” said AddisuHabte, a member of the Task Force of the Ethiopian Community of Greater Philadelphia.

Mekonnen added: “We will continue supporting the Ethiopian migrants financially and emotionally into the future until they are able to support themselves.”

Following the introduction of legislation in Saudi Arabia designed to crack down on irregular migration, a total of over 158,000 Ethiopian migrants have returned to their country. IOM has provided post-arrival assistance to 93per cent of the returnees including food and non-food relief items, temporary accommodation, transport, travel allowances, family tracing and reunification for unaccompanied minors, medical attention and psycho-social support.

GENEVA, Switzerland, February 28, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — At least nine Ethiopian migrants drowned after a boat ferrying them capsized in the Gulf of Aden, north of Obock City in Djibouti, the night of 26th February.

It is believed that 17 people were in the boat when the tragedy occurred. Preliminary investigations have shown that eight other passengers are missing. Rescue efforts have been launched to retrieve their bodies.

The boat capsized as a result of strong winds, when the engine stalled at sea between the islands called ‘‘Seven Brothers” and the locality of Guen. They were en route to Yemen.

Seven people, including three minors, who were travelling in a second boat, were found at the shore at Kor-angar, 45 kilometres from the Port of Obock. They were exhausted and traumatized. Eleven other migrants, who had been travelling with them, had left the site and have not been traced.

The tragedy adds to the global number of migrants who die while attempting to cross a border and find a new life. IOM has appealed for international efforts to save lives of migrants who end up in the hands of smugglers and take extraordinary risks while trying to improve their situation.

The seven survivors have been admitted at the IOM Migrant Response Centre in Obock. There they will receive medical assistance, psycho-social support, transport and, where necessary referral to Obock Hospital or Djibouti Hospital. An assessment will also be made to assess their longer term needs.

Efforts have started to trace relatives of the survivors and the deceased. IOM is also working with the Djibouti coast guard to trace the eight missing people, in coordination with the Djibouti government, the Ethiopian embassy in Djibouti and IOM Ethiopia. Voluntary returns will be organized for migrants who want to return home after they are fully recovered.

All the migrants are Ethiopian and mainly come from the Oromia region. The last major fatal accident recorded in the Gulf of Aden was on 26 December 2012, when 55 migrants perished.

Background: IOM Campaign Against Migrants Death at Seas

GENEVA, Switzerland, February 28, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Following a malaria outbreak in a cyclone-affected area of Puntland, Somalia, IOM, in coordination with the Puntland health authorities and UN agencies, has distributed a total of 3,050 mosquito nets to 15,250 people in nine internally displaced persons (IDP) settlements in Bossaso.

In November 2013, a devastating cyclone hit the north-eastern region of Puntland. The cyclone brought heavy rain and flash floods, which left over 100,000 people in need of assistance. As the hygiene situation has worsened, for the first time since November 2012, a malaria outbreak was declared in the port city of Bossaso.

Out of 27,404 people in Bossaso tested for malaria between November 1, 2013 and February 9, 2014, a total of 2,163 people (7.9per cent) were diagnosed positive. Of those, 63 were severe cases, 11 of them children under five.

“Regular use of a mosquito net can decrease malaria mortality by about 20 per cent and malaria incidence by 50 per cent in children under the age of five. It is easy to fight malaria. You can do that with a simple mosquito net treated with an insecticide,” said Regional Medical Director of Puntland’s Ministry of Health Mohamed Warabe.

IOM Somalia Head of Bossaso Sub-Office Isaac Munyae also says that more needs to be done. “We need an additional 1.5 million treated nets and $1 million to be able to achieve universal coverage for all people at risk of malaria,” he notes.

As part of the distribution campaign, IOM visited each household to explain the benefits of sleeping under a mosquito net and demonstrating how to properly hang the net.

The initiative, under IOM’s migration health, livelihood and mixed migration programme, was funded by the Government of Japan and the US State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM).