Africa

Hundreds of tons of fresh and edible vegetables which are typically dumped because they do not meet the aesthetic requirements for export are ending up on the plates of hungry Kenyan students thanks to the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP).

The COVID-19 disease has added to longstanding challenges in Mozambique which have threatened the southern African country’s most vulnerable people. In this blog, the UN Resident Coordinator Myrta Kaulard, with IOM Chief of Mission, Laura Tomm-Bonde, and Samuel Chakwera, UNHCR Resident Representative, explain how the United Nations is supporting national efforts to protect the people of Mozambique from multiple threats

Some Italians are re-evaluating their colonial past in East Africa, writes Ismail Einashe.

SafeBoda is a ride-hailing app which ensures access to contraceptives during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The battle with Egypt over who has rights to the waters of the River Nile is played out by musicians.

An estimated 3.3 million people in Burkina Faso are facing acute food insecurity, two United Nations agencies warned on Friday.  

Test your knowledge of Focus on Africa's radio presenters with our interactive quiz.

Five factors that made the coup against former Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta more likely.

With elections slated for November delayed due to COVID-19, Somalia is at a critical juncture, the top United Nations official in the country told the Security Council on Thursday, pressing federal and state leaders to agree on voting modalities, and bolster the capacity of forces which are meant to assume full control of national security, next year.

School closures implemented to protect students from COVID-19, are hurting them in other ways, while the long-term impact of this disruption to education could create a “lost generation” in Africa, two UN agencies said on Thursday. 

The UN on Thursday called for the “constitutional and democratic order” to be restored as soon as possible across Mali, following the military coup, and reiterated a call to respect the rule of law, and refrain from violence.

The devastating oil spill off the east coast of Mauritius has highlighted the need for global adoption of international legislation that govern the seas and protect small island states and their vulnerable marine ecosystems against ship pollution, UN trade body UNCTAD has stated. 

An 11-year-old Nigerian boy, whose ballet dancing in the rain went viral, is offered a scholarship in the US.

UN agencies have called for search and rescue to be stepped up in the central Mediterranean, in the wake of a tragic shipwreck that claimed the lives of 45 migrants and refugees, including five children. 

August 19, 2020 (KHARTOUM) - The South Sudanese chief mediator announced, on Wednesday, the resumption of talks on the security arrangements between the Sudanese government and Darfur armed groups.

"The session of talks that took place this morning between the government delegations and the armed movements discussed many items in the security arrangements, and that there are no major differences between the two parties," said Tut Gatluak.

The meeting discussed the development of the armed forces and how to integrate the forces in addition to the formation of joint forces tasked with maintaining security in Darfur upon the withdrawal of the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur "UNAMID".

The government delegation presented its vision on these issues as the armed groups are expected to reply on Thursday or Friday.

Gatluak expressed hopes that the current round will be decisive, and that a full agreement will be reached on the security arrangements, leading to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

The Sudanese Defence Minister Yassin Ibrahim, who leads the government negotiating team for the security agreement, said that the negotiations are proceeding well,

He affirmed the determination of the two parties to overcome all obstacles and disagreement and praised the cooperation of the rebel negotiating delegation.

"The agreement on security arrangements is the basis for the peace process," he further said.

"The meeting discussed mechanisms for reforming, modernizing and developing the armed forces and other security agencies," he added.

"We made clear to the brothers in the delegation of armed struggle movements that the body responsible for modernizing and developing the armed forces is the Security and Defence Council. Also, we said that the armed movements will participate, through the power-sharing process, in the process of reforming, modernizing and developing the military and security institutions."

The minister stated that the meeting also discussed how to integrate forces, which takes place through mechanisms of verification, classification and arrangement, and training and gathering centres.

He expressed optimism that the negotiation in this file would proceed to its goals and desired results.

For his part, the rapporteur of the rebel negotiating team in the file of security arrangements, Mutassim Ahmed Mohamed expected that the differences will be overcome within the next two days and an agreement on security arrangements will be reached.

Once the security arrangements deal is struck, the parties will review the various parts ahead of the initial signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement on 28 August.

It worth mentioning that the current round of talks is dedicated to the sticky point in the security arrangements, as the government and the armed groups had already discussed the issue.

On 17 August, the government and the SPLM-N of Sudanese Revolutionary Front led by Malik Agar initialled an agreement on the security arrangements.

(ST)

The United Nations continues to monitor the ongoing situation in Mali, where soldiers arrested the President and several members of his cabinet in a military coup on Tuesday. 

August 19, 2020 (JUBA) - The international medical aid group Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Wednesday said they treated over 100 civilians wounded during the continued tribal violence in the Greater Pibor Administrative Area.

Patient brought from Gumuruk town of Pibor county during clashes between the Lou Nuer and Murle earlier this year (File photo / ST)

Hundreds have been killed and thousands were displaced as a result of the intercommunal fighting between the Murle and the Dinka Bor or the against the Lou Nuer which had begun in December 2019.

"After months of bitter inter-communal clashes, fighting has continued to sweep across Jonglei and the Greater Pibor Administrative Area. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams have treated over 100 war-wounded civilians and evacuated dozens for urgent surgery," said MSF in a statement released on Wednesday.

The latest wave in violence, which started in early June and ended mid-August, has left tens of thousands of people displaced in the bush in need of healthcare, as well as food, clean water and sanitation and basic shelter., further said the group.

"Over the course of just one week, between 29 July to the beginning of August, the MSF medical team in Pieri received an influx of 102 war-wounded patients, the youngest just 15-years-old".

Further, 11 patients were treated for gunshot wounds at the outpatient emergency response in Pibor relaunched on 11 August. Of the 11, six patients, including two women, two men and two children one aged only 3-years-old, were evacuated for specialised treatment.

Furthermore, 36 patients from Pieri were transferred for emergency surgery to the MSF hospitals in Bentiu and to Juba.

on 23 July, UNMISS head and UN Secretary-General Special Representative, David Shearer said concerned by the continued attacks in Jonglei and called to stop the fighting.

"Parties must immediately stop fighting, pull back and return to their home areas. Buffer zones need to be established to protect people and enable reconciliation to safely take place," he said.

"This conflict is not simply intercommunal between ethnic groups. Other political figures are at work. External actors need to stop deliberately stoking the conflict for the sake of local communities," he further stressed.

On17 August, the holdout People's Democratic Movement (PDM) of Hakim Dario denounced the non-intervention of the government forces to stop "recent invasion of the Murle in GPAA by the combined heavily armed tribal armies of Lou Nuer and Dinka Bor".

(ST)

August 19, 2020 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan proposed amending the expected agreement on the filling and operation of the Great Ethiopian the Renaissance Dam (GERD) within 10 years after its implementation.

South African Presiden Cyril Ramaphosa who is the Chairman of the African Union mediation on the GRED requested from Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia to submit their draft-agreements with the aim of writing one draft agreement with the participation of the technical teams of the three countries.

The three countries filled their draft agreements on Tuesday.

The Sudanese draft, seen by Sudan Tribune, says the agreement on the GRED can be amended with the approval of the three parties after 10 years of its entry into force.

This amendment should include updating the data and tables, attached to the draft, based on the updated hydrological data of the Blue Nile in the site of the GERD, further said the Sudanese paper.

Sudan further recalled its position that the filling of the Dam lake should be done in stages agreed by the three countries, provided that the filling process occurs during the wet season and to reduce the quantities of water retained for the filling of the dam in the event of drought and continuous drought.

Ethiopia during the talks expressed their fear that an agreement on the filling of the GERD will allow the downstream countries to obstruct its future projects on the Blue Nile saying they would need the approval of Egypt and Sudan for every project, a matter that they refuse.

For Egypt, Ethiopia should not be enabled to control the flow of the GERD at will to implement its projects on the Blue Nile, because that means giving the upstream country the right to amend the would-be signed agreement.

Sudan initially backed the Egyptian position but later it proposed a compromise reaffirming that the agreement should not prejudice Ethiopia's future development projects on the Blue Nile.

The development projects should be implemented under the international law, and to observe the principles of equitable and reasonable utilisation of transboundary watercourses, the obligation not to cause significant harm and cooperation, according to the Sudanese negotiating team.

The Sudanese draft agreement further called to complete studies of assessing the GRED environmental and social impacts and to implement recommendations of these studies after its approval by a ministerial committee.

With regard to the safety of the dam and emergency situations, Sudan proposed a number of procedures and requirements that oblige the parties to exchange information and documents necessary for the safety of communities and infrastructures in the downstream countries.

Also, the Sudanese draft agreement calls for immediate notification and prompt handling of all emergencies, including any water quality problem, as it will directly affect the daily flow of water in the Roseires dam.

(ST)

UN-led efforts to address serious rights violations in Libya, received a boost on Wednesday with the appointment of three independent investigators to document abuses in the war-torn country.    

A small-scale Tanzanian mining company finds three of the rare gemstones in as many months.