Category: APO-OPA

KHARTOUM, Sudan, May 1, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Mr. Ali Al-Za’tari, expressed concern over an increasing number of people from South Sudan seeking refuge in the Abyei area. Over the past few days, at least 3,000 people have arrived in a number of locations in Abyei after fleeing violence in Unity State, South Sudan. These newly arrived people from South Sudan join an estimated 3,000 people who sought shelter in the area earlier this year.

“This is a sizeable influx of people representing a critical increase in the humanitarian needs in the Abyei area given the size of its population,” said Mr. Al-Za’tari.

While the total of 6,000 people from South Sudan seeking shelter in the Abyei area may be small compared to the number of people displaced by the conflict in South Sudan, this most recent influx combined with earlier arrivals is increasing pressure on existing resources, including access to water. It is feared that the host communities will not be able to accommodate the new arrivals.

Prior to the influx of people from South Sudan, at least 35,000 people in the Abyei area were estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance.

WASHINGTON, May 1, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Today, National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy to discuss Egypt’s political transition and regional security issues. Ambassador Rice reaffirme…

WASHINGTON, May 1, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Remarks

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

May 1, 2014

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you, folks. We just had a very positive meeting, laid out a strong agenda which we all agreed on which we’ll talk about later in the day when we have a little more time. But I think it’s clear that everybody is in agreement the killing must stop; that humanitarian access needs to be delivered; most importantly, a legitimate force that has an ability to help make peace needs to get on the ground as rapidly as possible. And we agreed on both the terms and timing and manner and size, and we need to go to work to make sure that happens. I think that’s a quick summary.

FOREIGN MINISTER TEDROS: Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Anybody else?

FOREIGN MINISTER TEDROS: Thank you. I think I agree with him. One thing that we have stressed is the deployment – as Secretary Kerry said, the deployment of the force as soon as possible. And I think with that, many of the other interests can be addressed. And I would like to use this opportunity, actually, on behalf of my colleagues and myself to thank Secretary Kerry, who is here today with us. But since the crisis started, he has been in contact regularly, frequent phone calls and good support, and we hope that support will continue, especially from him and the U.S. Government, and we really appreciate the support.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you.

FOREIGN MINISTER TEDROS: But there is an agreement now that we have to really be as aggressive as possible in order to have an impact on the ground in South Sudan, in order to (inaudible). Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you, Tedros.

FOREIGN MINISTER TEDROS: Merci.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you.

FOREIGN MINISTER TEDROS: Thank you. Thank you.

SECRETARY KERRY: Sam, thank you.

WASHINGTON, May 1, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Department of State
Public Notice
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Request for Proposals: Democracy, Human Rights, and Religious Freedom in Nigeria
SUMMARY
The Bureau of Democracy…

GENEVA, Switzerland, May 1, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — A high-level ecumenical delegation representing church organizations will arrive in Juba, South Sudan on Friday, 2 May, amidst continuing conflict in the country with an imminent threat of widespread hunger and malnutrition among its people. The delegation will meet with church leaders and government officials, urging immediate actions for peace and reconciliation.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, the ACT Alliance general secretary John Nduna, the WCC Central Committee moderator Dr Agnes Abuom, general secretary of the World YWCA Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, the WCC’s former general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, general secretary of the All Africa Conference of Churches Rev. Dr Andre Karamaga and WCC programme executive for advocacy for Africa Dr Nigussu Legesse will be among the delegates.

The delegates, while in Juba, will accompany churches in advocating for a cease-fire, asking parties in conflict to come back to peace negotiations, allowing humanitarian access in fighting areas and encouraging governments to pledge more aid.

“The crisis in South Sudan has unfortunately not been solved,” said WCC general secretary Tveit. “The current crisis has a potential for escalation with a risk of famine and hunger involving a large number of refugees and people displaced by the conflict,” he said.

“At this time it is important to have progress in the political process to re-establish cooperation among parties, so that the safety of people caught in fighting can be ensured.”

“The ecumenical movement has long supported initiatives for peace in South Sudan as well as the establishment of the state of South Sudan,” Tveit said.

He went on to say that churches and political leaders must amplify the voices of people longing for justice and peace. “We express our support to them when they seek a way towards reconciliation, and a focus on rebuilding their nation and feeding their people,” he added.

“We want the churches in South Sudan to know that they are not alone,” said Abuom, the WCC Central Committee moderator.

“Through this pastoral visit on behalf of the global Christian community, we want to express our solidarity with the churches in South Sudan. While we pray with them for peace in their country, we also want to hear from them how we can support them in disseminating the message of stopping hostilities and seeking solutions for peace,” said Abuom.

The urgency for peace in South Sudan has been expressed by the WCC on several occasions, including in a recent Minute adopted by the WCC Central Committee. The Minute calls for “immediate cessation of hostilities”, asking “all warring parties to respect, honour and implement in good faith the cease-fire agreement”.

The WCC general secretary expressed his concerns over violence in the country in a letter to South Sudanese president Salva Kiir Mayardit, whom he met in April 2013.

The ACT Alliance members in South Sudan are supporting life-saving relief operations. Since December, work has focused on distributing water, sanitation and hygiene kits, drilling boreholes, distributing relief goods, supporting mobile health clinics, offering psychosocial care and carrying out peace-building work in some camps.

However, the prospect of heavy rains will soon hamper operations, the ACT general secretary John Nduna warned. “In a month or so, some areas will be water-logged and muddy, preventing relief vehicles getting access to remote areas. We now have a small window of opportunity to get more relief goods in before the weather turns.”

“With over a million people forced from their homes and heavy fighting continuing, this dire situation will only worsen. This is an extremely serious situation. You wouldn’t have thought it could have taken a turn for the worse, but it has. We urgently need funds to carry out our life-saving work.”

The ACT general secretary has called on its members and the international community to keep up the pressure on the parties to the conflict in order to bring an immediate stop to killings and violence in South Sudan.

The United Nations humanitarian coordination agency, UNOCHA, said in a situation report on 25 April that as many as 4.9 million people need humanitarian assistance.

NEW YORK, May 1, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Abdoulaye Bathily of Senegal as his Special Representative for Central Africa and Head of the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA) in Libreville, Gabon.

Mr. Bathily succeeds Abou Moussa of Chad, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his leadership and important accomplishments of the Regional Office during his tenure at UNOCA.

Mr. Bathily brings to this position many years of political, diplomatic and academic experience with his national Government, academic institutions and more recently with the United Nations system. Mr. Bathily has been serving as Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) since July 2013.

Previously, Mr. Bathily held various ministerial positions in the Senegalese Government, notably as Senior Minister in charge of African Affairs (2012-2013), Minister for Energy and Hydraulics (2000-2001) and Minister for the Environment and the Protection of Nature (1993-1998). Elected to the National Assembly in 1998, he served as Deputy Speaker from 2001 to 2006.

Having taught history for more than 30 years at the Université Cheikh Anta Diop in Senegal, Mr. Bathily also lectured in several universities around the world. Mr. Bathily holds a Doctor of Philosophy in history from the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, as well as a doctorate from the Université Cheikh Anta Diop.

Born in Senegal in 1947, he has four children.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, May 1, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — This week marks the 10th anniversary of the adoption of resolution 1540 (2004) by the United Nations (UN) Security Council. The resolution aims to prevent non-State actors and ter…

DAKAR, Senegal, May 1, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Hervé Joly visited Senegal from April 16 to 30, 2014 to conduct the seventh review under the three-year Policy Support Instrument (PSI) approved in December 2010. The members of the mission met with the President of the Republic, the ministers of economy and finance, energy, oversight of the Plan Sénégal Emergent (PSE), representatives of the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), other senior government officials, and representatives of the private sector, civil society, and the development partners.

At the conclusion of the visit, the mission issued the following statement:

“Early estimates by the authorities suggest that GDP growth was weaker than forecast in 2013 (about 3.5 percent compared to the expected 4 percent). This is indicative of low levels of production in the agricultural sector as well as difficulties in the industrial sector and in the extractive industries. In contrast, activity was particularly buoyant in the telecommunications and construction sectors. Inflation stood at 0.7 percent on average in 2013 amid softer agricultural commodity prices in the international market. The external current account deficit deteriorated (about 10 percent of GDP) largely as a result of a significant decline in gold prices. Credits to the economy increased sharply while the money supply grew by 8 percent.

“A more favorable international environment, improvement in the socio-political situation in the subregion, a strong rebound in agricultural production and in the mining and industrial sectors in 2014 as well as stepped up public investment efforts (including related to implementation of the PSE) are expected to boost GDP growth to 4.9 percent. Inflation is expected to remain very subdued.

“All quantitative assessment criteria and indicative targets for the program at end-2013 were met, including the budget deficit target, despite significant revenue shortfalls. Several factors account for these shortfalls, notably, lower-than-expected economic activity and inflation levels, SENELEC’s (Société National d’Éléctricité du Sénégal) financial situation which resulted in the accumulation of significant tax arrears, and VAT revenue shortfalls following the abolition of VAT withholding by public agencies in the context of the 2013 reform of the General Tax Code. The implementation of reforms has lagged behind in recent months, and some structural measures have either not been met or are pending implementation.

“Discussions between the authorities and the mission focused, first of all, on the PSE. The mission noted that the PSE provides a good diagnostic assessment of Senegal’s strengths and weaknesses. It is also a very ambitious strategy, aimed at doubling the country’s growth potential through a substantial investment and reform effort. The mission commends Senegal’s highest authorities on having taking ownership of the program, which augurs well for its implementation. The mission underscored the need for increased efficiency of investment spending. In that regard, the success of the PSE will require strong reforms to improve the business environment and a deep reform of the state. The latter will also be needed to finance higher public investment.

“Discussions also explored the fiscal outlook for 2014 and stepping up of the pace of reform. The fiscal outlook has deteriorated since the last review, owing to revenue mobilization problems (see above). Further, implementation of the PSE calls for additional investment spending. The authorities, who have reaffirmed their objective of continued reduction of the budget deficit in 2014, identified with the mission a number of measures aimed at reducing the tax revenue shortfall and making savings on less productive spending. The outstanding structural measures are expected to be implemented in the weeks ahead.

“Discussions on the seventh review of the PSI are quite far advanced and are expected to be concluded in the upcoming weeks.”

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, April 30, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — INVITATION TO REPRESENTATIVES OF THE MEDIA

When: 10 May 2014

Time: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

Where: New African Union Conference Center, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Who: The African Ambassadors’ Spouses Group (AASG) in Addis Ababa

Why: Fund raising in support of the needy people and humanitarian activities in Addis Ababa.

Objectives: Visit to some Orphanages to provide assistance to the needy children

Participation:

Adult fee: 30 Birr ( 12 years and above)

Children fee: 10 Birr ( 6 – 11 years)

Free: (children below 6 years old)

JOURNALISTS ARE INVITED TO COVER THE EVENT

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, April 30, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Within the frame work of the AU Joint Conference of Ministers of Agriculture, Rural Development, Fisheries and Aquaculture the African Union Commission will on Thursday 01 May 2014 at 10:30 hold a press conference.

The panelists on the press conference include:

• H.E Ato Wondirad Mandefro, State Minister of Agriculture, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia;

• H.E Mrs. Tumusiime Rhoda Peace, Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, AU Commission;

• H.E Dr. Ibrahim Mayaki, CEO of NEPAD Agency

The press conference will be held in Briefing Room 1, at the new AU Conference Center, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Journalists are invited to take part on the press conference at 10:30 am as well as the opening of the Ministerial session at 9:00am on Thursday 01 May 2014.