Category: APO-OPA

EL FASHER (DARFUR), Sudan, January 10, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — On 8 January, in the Central Darfur capital of Zalingei, hundreds of men, women and children took part in a ceremony to inaugurate three quick-impact projects (QIPs) implemented by UNAMID’s Rwandese peacekeepers. The projects, designed to improve the facilities at El Salaam Basic School and El Zahra Secondary School for girls, represent the most recent effort in UNAMID’s ongoing work to support local educational systems across Darfur to create an environment conducive for learning.

UANMID Acting Joint Special Representative and Joint Chief Mediator a.i. Aichatou Mindaoudou officially launched the QIPs, which included the construction of four classrooms and latrines, the provision of school furniture and stationery at El Salam Basic School, and the construction of a security wall around the El Zahra Secondary School.

During a speech delivered at the ceremony, held at El Zahra School, Ms. Mindaoudou explained that QIPs are small-scale projects designed to benefit local communities. “These schools, and the QIPs which brought them into being, are not the total of what UNAMID does in Darfur, but they do reflect the best of what UNAMID is intended to achieve,” said the Acting JSR.

The three QIPs were a result of consultations with communities and local authorities, particularly the Commissioner of Zalingei and the State Ministry of Education. During the discussions, the parties committed to supporting both schools and ensuring that the communities have the resources to maintain the facilities.

”Communities throughout Darfur are coming together, just as you have done, to make decisions about what would best help their communities develop,” said Ms. Mindaoudou. “With the wide variety of QIPs proposals, we are seeing it is clear that Darfuris are invested in laying their own foundation for a peaceful and prosperous future.”

Since 2007, UNAMID has worked closely with communities and with non-governmental organizations to address the basic issues that have led to the conflict in Darfur and to provide ways to improve the living conditions of the people in the region.

As a result, in Central Darfur alone, 66 QIPs have been implemented in the areas of education, health, water, women’s development and rule of law. A full 40 of these projects were set up to support education in the area. Currently, there are an additional 20 similar projects in the State being undertaken by the Mission.

EL FASHER (DARFUR), Sudan, January 9, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Acting Joint Special Representative of the African Union – United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) Aichatou Mindaoudou visited Zalingei, the capital of Central Darfur State, on 8 January. During this visit, she held talks with the Wali (Governor) of Central Darfur, Dr. Yousif Tibin, and expressed serious concerns over the ongoing fighting in west Jebel Marra.

Wali Tibin informed UNAMID acting chief that armed groups had taken control of the towns of Golo and Rockero in west Jebel Marra. He also stated that approximately 850 families had been displaced and fled to Nertiti village as a result of the fighting, while others are believed to be wandering in the mountains seeking safety.

UNAMID acting chief deplored the ongoing fighting which endangers the safety of the civilian population in the area, and assured the Wali of UNAMID’s continued assistance in facilitating humanitarian assistance to all those in need.

Mindaoudou also stressed that all parties involved in the conflict should respect their obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law.

During this visit, UNAMID acting chief also inaugurated three quick impact projects, also known as QIPs. The three completed projects involved the construction of four furnished classrooms with latrines at El Salam basic school, the provision of school furniture and stationary, and the construction of a perimeter wall for the El-Zahra girls’ secondary school.

The projects were funded by UNAMID, implemented by the Rwandese military contingent of the Mission, and handed over to local communities in Zalingei. They are part of the Mission’s effort to underpin the peace process in Darfur and bring about socio-economic recovery and development.

Since 2007, UNAMID has implemented in all Darfur states over 500 QIPs, worth over US 15 million dollars, in the areas of water sanitation, education, health, rule of law, and livelihood.

ROME, Italy, January 9, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — “Our three seamen are free and will soon be back in Italy”. The news that the families had been awaiting since Christmas Eve was announced early this morning by Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi. The nightmare is over for Emiliano Astarita, Salvatore Mastellone e Giuseppe D’Alessio (respectively, the captain, first officer and engineer of the Asso21, a cargo-boat owned by Augusta Offshore).The three were kidnapped on 23 December off the coast of Nigeria.

The seamen are expected home this afternoon, announced Terzi, who will meet the three in person “to convey to them and their families our satisfaction and relief at the positive outcome of this affair”. At Piano di Sorrento, Sant’Agnello and Pompei, relatives were overjoyed at the news. “We’re well, and they treated us well”. These were Emiliano Astarita’s first words on the phone to his father, Franco. “We’ve lost weight but everything’s fine”, he added.

The kidnapping

A group of 7 armed men attacked the cargo boat on 23 December as it headed for Port Harcourt. Unusually, the attackers did not seize the ship itself but kidnapped four crew members (the three Italians and a Ukrainian). Search operations began immediately, with the help of the Nigerian navy and the diplomatic efforts of the Italian Foreign Ministry.

“This was a success for the men and women of the Farnesina and all the officials of the state structures involved. Their tenacity and professionalism made the positive outcome of this difficult affair possible”, commented Terzi, who also thanked the Nigerian authorities “who have collaborated fully with us in the last few weeks”. Most notably the Nigerian Foreign Minister, with whom Terzi has liaised constantly on the case. The situation was “extremely worrying”, added Terzi, “but thanks to the techniques we have honed over time, this long operation ended successfully [at about 1am] with the return of our fellow nationals”.

Thirty Italian nationals have been brought home

Thirty Italian nationals kidnapped abroad have been brought home in recent months.

Two are still in the hands of their kidnappers. Mario Belluomo, a 63-year-old engineer from Catania, was kidnapped in Syria on 17 December, somewhere between Homs and Tartus. And aid worker Giovanni Lo Porto (38, from Palermo) has been in the hands of a Pakistani Taliban group for nearly a year. “The next few days could bring positive developments on Belluomo, but it’s too soon to say”, explained Terzi this morning. As for Lo Porto, the Minister described the case as “complicated”. Terzi gave an assurance that “we are following both cases hour by hour, just as closely as we followed events in Nigeria”.

WASHINGTON, January 9, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Through regional trade, Africa’s farmers have the potential to meet much of the rising demand of food staples. This has yet to be exploited because African farmers face more barriers in getting their food across borders to consumers in African cities, than suppliers elsewhere. Removing these roadblocks to regional trade is essential if Africa is to attain its potential in food trade.

How can Africa remove these barriers to regional trade in Africa? Join us for “Africa Can Help Feed Africa: Removing Regional Barriers to Trade in Food Staples,” a discussion which brings together experts to explore the latest evidence on achieving open regional trade in Africa and to look at what governments can do to support a more effective approach to food security in Africa.

DATE: Wednesday, January 9, 2013

TIME: 2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

PLACE: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

6th Floor, Woodrow Wilson Center

1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20004

PARTICIPANTS: Mr. Makhtar Diop, World Bank Vice President, Africa Region

Mr. Steve McDonald, Director, Africa Program and Project on Leadership and Building State Capacity

Mr. Daniel Karanja, Vice President, Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa

Hon. Amélia Matos Sumbana, Ambassador of the Republic of Mozambique to the United States

Mr. Earl W. Gast, Assistant Administrator for Africa, USAID

Please RSVP to the link here: Woodrow Wilson Center Events

The event will be Webcast Live here:

http://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/africa-can-help-feed-africa-removing-regional-barriers-to-trade-food-staples

LONDON, United-Kingdom, January 9, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The acquittal of two Cameroonian men jailed for “looking gay” because they wore women’s clothes exposes the systematic discrimination against perceived homosexuals in the country, Amnesty International said today as the pair’s convictions were overturned by an appeals court.

Jonas Kimie and Franky Ndome have spent more than a year in prison following their arrest outside a nightclub in the capital Yaoundé in July 2011. They are among numerous people in Cameroon who have faced persecution for their perceived homosexuality.

The two men are awaiting release from jail after Yaoundé’s Court of Appeal yesterday declared them innocent of homosexuality.

“Jonas Kimie and Franky Ndome must now be released without delay,” said Godfrey Byaruhanga.,central Africa researcher at Amnesty International.

“The appeal court’s ruling is a positive step, but the Cameroon authorities must do more to end discrimination of people accused of same-sex relations.”

Jonas Kimie and Franky Ndome were wearing women’s clothing at the time of their arrest. They deny the police’s claim that they were having oral sex in a taxi they were travelling in.

“We have been imprisoned for dressing differently,” Franky Ndome told Amnesty International last month.

Ndome and Kimie said they been subjected to violence and prejudice from prison authorities and other inmates while in jail.

Ndome told Amnesty International that in June 2012 he was beaten by prison guards for refusing to plait a female guard’s hair.

Violence, arbitrary arrests and other human rights violations targeting individuals because of their real or perceived sexual orientation are commonplace in Cameroon, and have been on the increase since the mid-2000s.

Jean-Claude Roger Mbede was arrested in March 2011 after sending a text to a man saying that he was in love with him.

He suffered from malnutrition and regular beatings in jail, and his three-year prison sentence was upheld in December.

Victims of abuse are often too scared to seek protection from the police, who often participate in the abuse with complete impunity.

Amnesty International’s upcoming report on human rights concerns in Cameroon, due to be published later this month, documents cases of harassment of perceived Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersexual (LGBTI) people in the country.

“The Cameroon authorities routinely ignore violence and discrimination against LGBTI people and this must be addressed,” said Byaruhanga.

LONDON, United-Kingdom, January 9, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Exset B.V. (http://www.exset.com), pioneers of TV ecosystems for emerging markets, has announced two key international appointments. This reflects a highly successful 2012 and continued expansion into 2013, particularly for its Digital Monetisation System (DMS) and its vital ability to counteract the digital divide in emerging markets and empower populations via the TV screen.

Logo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/exset.jpg

Hema Suri joins the company as Director of Business Development for Strategic Markets, concentrating on Africa and the CIS countries. Suri’s most recent role has been with BBC Worldwide Channels as Regional Manager for North India, including Pakistan and Nepal. Based in Dubai, Suri has a Masters in Mass Communication from the University of Leicester (UK) and a Specialisation in International Business from IMM Calcutta.

Rahul Agarwal has joined Exset as a Product Manager for set-top boxes (STB) and is focusing on both Asian and African markets. He brings with him vast experience of working with some of the major broadcast giants including BSkyB and Channel 4 in the UK. He has headed major STB projects and is working to deliver the best technical solution cost-effectively for emerging markets. Agarwal is based in the UK office.

Alex Borland, CEO, Exset, said, “We are pleased to welcome both of these key talents to Exset as the company continues to expand its business in emerging markets. Their experience is invaluable, helping Exset’s customers to take advantage of digitisation and to be able to monetise pay-TV networks where previously impossible.

Gary Ellis, Exset CTO, added, “The skillsets that these two possess will assist Exset in driving our cutting edge technologies into the pay-TV domain, allowing operators to secure and monetise their networks and also to make them future proof.”

DMS – an award-winning solution – bridges the gap between technology and value-added services. It allows digital television platforms to be created that can then be monetised where previously impossible. The result allows populations to benefit from new information and entertainment services, while partnering with governments to achieve digital switchover and bringing social transformation.

Exset is also a leading global supplier of conditional access technologies.

Distributed by the African Press Organization on behalf of Exset.

About Exset:

Exset (http://www.exset.com) is a broadcast technology and solutions company founded in 2011. It is based in The Netherlands with offices in the UK, Estonia and India. Exset provides complete solutions to the television industry focusing on emerging markets where localisation, social and economic factors require a fresh approach to traditional technology supply. Exset works collaboratively to provide a unique service, understanding developing markets and working with TV operators in to monetise platform deployments.

Exset contact:

Andrew Pons

Director of Marketing

+44 (0) 7595 002 542

Email: andrew.pons@exset.com

PR Contact:

Joss Armitage

Jump PR

Email: joss@jumppr.tv

Tel: +44 (0)207 737 4238

Mob: +44 (0)7979 908547

NEW YORK, January 9, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — An appeals court in Burundi today dropped terrorism charges against jailed journalist Hassan Ruvakuki and reduced his sentence from life to three years in prison, according to local journa…

ABIDJAN, Côte d’Ivoire, January 9, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Ms. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), issued the following statement in Abidjan today at the conclusion of her visit to Côte d’Ivoire:

“It has been a pleasure to be in Côte d’Ivoire on my first visit to this warm and hospitable country as IMF Managing Director. I wish to thank President Alassane Ouattara, Prime Minister and Finance Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan, as well as Ms. Nialé Kaba, Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office in charge of Economy and Finance, for their hospitality and for the fruitful discussions. I also had the honor to address National Assembly, during an extraordinary session, chaired by Speaker Guillaume Soro. I also met with civil society, business, and women. I also visited the Filtisac textile plant and the School of Statistics and Applied Economics (ENSEA). It was with great pleasure and deep emotion that I visited the Villages d’Enfants SOS with First Lady Dominique Ouattara.

“I complimented the authorities on the country’s strong economic recovery, which the IMF is supporting through a three-year US$615.9-million Extended Credit Facility (about CFA 300 billion) at zero interest rate. I welcomed their ambitious National Development Plan for 2012–15, which should stimulate public investment, boost growth performance, and create job opportunities. Private investment will also be key, which will require a significant improvement in the business climate. Progress in the implementation of structural reforms is also encouraging, and, in this regard, the completion of the cocoa sector reform is a key achievement that should help reduce rural poverty.

“Achieving sustained and inclusive growth will be crucial to return the country to a path of sustained peace and poverty reduction. During our discussions, we agreed that the steadfast implementation of strong macroeconomic policies and a deepening of structural reforms will be essential to maintaining progress toward the second Ivoirian economic miracle.

“My visits to Côte d’Ivoire and Malawi this week have been a unique opportunity to discuss broader issues. Despite the global headwinds, Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the fastest growing regions of the world. Still, growth needs to be more inclusive to respond to the needs of the people, especially women and youth.

“The IMF is playing its part. We have stepped up our assistance to the region. We now have four regional technical assistance centers (AFRITACs), including the one reopened here in

Abidjan yesterday; a fifth will open in 2013 in Ghana. The IMF Executive Board recently decided to keep at zero interest rate all concessional for two years. Earlier this year, the Board decided to allocate the remaining windfall profits from gold sales to the IMF resources earmarked for low-income countries. We are committed to support our poorest members and will continue to work with our partners to achieve this goal.”

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, January 9, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — As a follow-up to the recommendations of the consultative meeting on the operationalization of the security arrangements agreed to in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC…

ACCRA, Ghana, January 8, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The European Union has congratulated His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, on the occasion of his swearing-in as President of the Republic of Ghana on January 7, 2013. Dr. Nicholas West…