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[DW] The UN humanitarian chief has said that sexual violence and starvation were being used as weapons of war in Ethiopia's Tigray. He urged Eritrea to make good on its pledge and recall its troops.
In May, Burundi held a presidential election which was won by Evariste Ndayishimiye, candidate of the ruling National Council for the Defense of Democracy - Forces for the Defense of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) party.
Ndayishimiye was hurriedly sworn in after the untimely death of president Pierre Nkurunziza in June.
Rights violations continue
The Council encouraged donor countries which had suspended aid to Burundi to continue dialogue towards resumption of development assistance.
A report by a UN watchdog in September said human rights violations were still being committed in Burundi, including sexual violence and murder.
The country was plunged into a crisis in April 2015 when Ndayishimiye’s predecessor Pierre Nkurunziza decided to run for a controversial third term, which he ultimately won in July 2015.
His candidature, which was opposed by the opposition and civil society groups, resulted in a wave of protests, violence and even a failed coup in May 2015.
Hundreds of people were killed and over 300,000 fled to neighboring countries.
[The Conversation Africa] Girls experience gender and sexual violence in schools around the world, and South Africa is no exception. Research has shown how learners, and girls in particular, are vulnerable to violence.
Sierra Leone Telegraph: 15 December 2020: The Gambia has announced plans to launch a national ‘NO MORE’ campaign against domestic and sexual violence. Fatou Kinteh, Gambian Minister for Women’s Affairs, Children and Social Welfare, joined the Commonwealth Secretary-General in Banjul when she made her commitment on Human Rights Day. When [Read More]
Three top Somalia leaders--Prime Minister Hassan Ali Kheyre, Somalia's ambassador to the UN Abubakar Dahir Osman and the Speaker of the Senate, Abdi Hashi Abdullahi--have promised that the country will hold its first universal suffrage elections since 1969, despite current challenges suggesting the contrary.
Parliament was set to meet on June 6 to review the election timetable.
The seventh session of parliament was scheduled to open in April, to hear the report of the National Independent Electoral Commission on the mode of election.
Mr Osman, on May 30 while addressing a UN Security Council in a discussion of the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom), said the country is determined to conduct a one-man one-vote election.
Mr Abdullahi said that both the presidential and parliamentary elections will be held on time despite the country facing several challenges.
The United Nations' Security Council has endorsed Guinea's Bintou Keita and South Africa's Nicholas Hayshom as new emissaries.
U.S. Department of State Background Note
Although Haiti averages about 302 people per square kilometer, its population is concentrated most heavily in urban areas, coastal plains, and valleys. About 95% of Haitians are of African descent. The rest of the population is mostly of mixed Caucasian-African ancestry. A few are of European or Levantine heritage. Sixty percent of the population lives in rural areas.
French is one of two official languages, but it is spoken by only about 10% of the people. All Haitians speak Creole, the countrys other official language. English is increasingly used as a second language among the young and in the business sector.
The dominant religion is Roman Catholicism. Increasing numbers of Haitians have converted to Protestantism through the work of missionaries active throughout the country. Much of the population also practices voudou (voodoo), recognized by the government as a religion in April 2003. Haitians tend to see no conflict in these African-rooted beliefs coexisting with Christian faith.
Although public education is free, the cost is still quite high for Haitian families who must pay for uniforms, textbooks, supplies, and other inputs. Due to weak state provision of education services, private and parochial schools account for approximately 90% of primary schools, and only 65% of primary school-aged children are actually enrolled. At the secondary level, the figure drops to around 20%. Less than 35% of those who enter will complete primary school. Though Haitians place a high value on education, few can afford to send their children to secondary school and primary school enrollment is dropping due to economic factors. Remittances sent by Haitians living abroad are important in paying educational costs.
Large-scale emigration, principally to the U.S.--but also to Canada, the Dominican Republic, The Bahamas and other Caribbean neighbors, and France--has created what Haitians refer to as the Tenth Department or the Diaspora. About one of every eight Haitians lives
The third-degree murder charge against Derek Chauvin, one of four former Minneapolis police officers charged in the death of George Floyd, has been dropped. Judge Peter Cahill however ruled on Thursday that Chauvin’s second-degree murder and manslaughter charges will remain. Chauvin, who was released from custody recently after posting a $1 million bond, was filmed...
The post Judge drops third-degree murder charge against ex-officer who kneeled on George Floyd's neck appeared first on Face2Face Africa.
THE insurgency in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province by the Islamist extremists has caused untold suffering on the people as it has turned the area into a killing field, and if not stopped, can unsettle the region’s peace and stability. The situation has gone out of hand such that calls for regional intervention got louder in recent weeks. In response, the Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) held a Double Troika summit in Maputo to counter the insurgency with “proportionate force”. This is a welcome move because it is better late than never. Tens of thousands of people are fleeing the escalating crisis in the province which, since 2017, has played home to the Islamist insurgency linked to the Islamic State. The province has become the byword for a humanitarian crisis, a cocktail of the Islamist conflict, cyclones, COVID-19 and disease. It is agreeable that intervention, including military response, is necessary to avert the crisis from escalating out of control. Mozambique cannot manage this crisis alone because its army is poorly equipped to combat the Islamist insurgency. The situation has gone dire as the Islamist insurgency has forced more than 350 000 to flee their homes and now threaten some of the largest natural gas projects in the region. The intervention from Sadc was long overdue as the situation had gone out of hand. However, due diligent should be excised by the bloc in responding to this situation because walking in blindly will likely to cause more calamities. The reginal bloc should first study the unheralded causes of the conflict and complexities around the insurgency in Mozambique and proffer informed solution to the crisis. Without taking anything away from what Sadc called “proportionate force”, it is worth mentioning that military responses elsewhere by themselves have failed to combat terrorism. The Mozambican crisis is the best platform for the regional bloc to lay the foundation to probe what drives insurgency and terrorism as they address future political, economic, social and religious tensions in the region. As Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi noted: “We all agree that the deteriorating security situation in the northern province of Cabo Delgado in Mozambique is indeed a serious threat to peace and security not only our sister country but also to the whole region and humanity at large. In particular, the recent attacks in the town of Palma have recently demonstrated the magnitude of the problem at our doorsteps.” It is commendable that Sadc is finally acting, but why did it take so long to make a move?
The post Walking blindly into Mozambique would be suicidal for Sadc appeared first on NewsDay Zimbabwe.
Malaysian immigration authorities raided apartment buildings in Petaling Jaya Old Town on Wednesday morning, arresting about 200 people who had emigrated to the southeast Asian country.
All 200 arrestees were tested for COVID-19, according to Immigration Department director-general Datuk Khairul Dzaimee Daud.
Some Malaysians particularly oppose the presence of Rohingya refugees in their country, fearing they might bring COVID-19 when they emigrate.
Petaling Jaya Old Town’s quarantine, ordered when 26 COVID-19 cases were confirmed there, will be lifted Thursday morning.
The post VIDEO: Malaysian Immigration Police Raid Apartments during COVID-19, arrest 200 appeared first on Zenger News.
On Thursday morning, Michigan Chronicle and co-moderators Dennis Archer Jr. and Vickie Thomas hosted the Digital Edition of Pancakes and Politics Forum V. The theme of Forum V was, “All Roads Lead to Detroit: Detroit as the next Entrepreneurial Hotspot for Black Business. The keynote speaker was John Hope Bryant – founder, chairman, and CEO … Continued
The post Pancakes and Politics Forum V Explored Detroit Business Expansion Appeal appeared first on The Michigan Chronicle.
In the spring of 2012, the former rebels who were integrated into the army in 2009 mutinied, saying the government—rife with corruption—had reneged on terms of the cease-fire that was signed on March 23, 2009. The rebels, called the M23 movement, are led by Gen. Bosco Ntaganda, a Tutsi who is wanted by the International Criminal Court. M23 fought government troops throughout the year, taking over city after city. The violence peaked in November, when the rebels took Goma in eastern Congo. Rwanda, which is led by Tutsi Paul Kagame, is widely suspected of not only supplying arms to the rebels but also fighting alongside them.
The UN and leaders from 11 central African nations, including the presidents of Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, and Congo, signed a framework agreement in February 2013, pledging to work together to end the conflict with the rebels. In March, the UN Security Council authorized an intervention brigade of 3,000 troops to disarm the rebels. The brigade supplemented the 15,000 UN peacekeeping troops already in Congo. After heavy fighting in August, the UN brigade forced the rebels out of Goma. However, the signers of the framework agreement had made little progress in the peace process.
Ntaganda turned himself in to the U.S. embassy in Kigali, Rwanda, in March 2013. He was transferred to the Hague, where he will face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. It was not clear why he chose to surrender.
The M23 rebels surrendered in November 2013. The UNs more aggressive approach, an improved Congolese Army, and a reduction in aid to Rwanda contributed to the defeat of the rebels.
See also Encyclopedia: Congo (Kinshasa)
U.S. State Dept. Country Notes: Congo (Kinshasa)
“The COVID 19 pandemic has aggravated the existing conditions for women, who are discriminated against in all sectors,” said Dr. Beatrice Duncan, Policy Advisor, Rule of Law, UN Women, at a May 22 briefing organized by Ethnic Media Services.
Dr. Nicole Mason, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research said women disproportionately account for the nearly 39 million people who have filed for unemployment in the last nine weeks because of their over-representation in service sector jobs which require employees to be on-site, rather than working remotely.
Dr. Estela Rivero, a Research Associate with Notre Dame’s Pulte Institute for Global Development, stated that the COVID 19 pandemic has exacerbated the already limited opportunities for women to gain financial independence.
In the U.S., her studies show that amid the pandemic women ages 30-40 spend an average of 60 hours per week in paid and unpaid labor.
Women isolated at home with an abusive partner cannot call a hotline for help because of fears that the violent domestic partner or adolescent child might overhear, resulting in increased violence.
The UN Security Council is planning to discuss Western Sahara diplomats have said, after US President Donald Trump recognised Morocco's sovereignty over the disputed region.
In January, Microsoft pledged to be carbon negative (removing more carbon from the atmosphere than it emits) by 2030 and to spend US$1-billion on a climate investment fund, much of it aimed at bolstering carbon-removal tech, a nascent field with lots of big ideas but only a handful of companies that are trying it.
They’re joined by executives and climate scientists with Carbon Direct, a consulting company that will help Microsoft develop a 10-year plan for getting to carbon negative.
When the company’s sustainability work became a part of Microsoft’s legal department and Joppa moved with it, his nature-themed tattoos peeking out of a T-shirt stood out among a sea of khaki and button-downs.
In the past couple of years, more than 40 tech companies have set targets for limiting emissions, but Microsoft’s are the most aggressive
In the past couple of years, more than 40 tech companies have set targets for limiting emissions, but Microsoft’s plans to be carbon negative by 2030 and wipe out historical emissions are the most aggressive.
Microsoft’s investment fund is also unusual, but its goals are similar to those of a fund led by co-founder Bill Gates, who remains an adviser to the company and has met with Joppa and other Microsoft executives to share ideas.
Detectives in Mombasa County have launched investigations into the death of a university student, whose mutilated body was found dumped in a thicket.
The body of Gabriel Musyoki, a 24-year-old third-year student at Kisii University main campus, was found a few Kilometres from their home in Ujamaa area in Likoni.
His body was later found by residents who stumbled upon it on Thursday morning in a thicket in Maweche, Kibundani area in Likoni and alerted the police.
Confirming the incident Likoni Sub-county police commander, Jane Munywoki said the deceased was a Kisii university student and was only home since all learning institutions in the country are closed because of the coronavirus outbreak.
He was a university student, and his throat was slit,\" Munywoki said.
… vaccine supplies become more plentiful, African-Americans are being inoculated at half … mistrust of medical institutions among African-Americans. Many Baton Rouge residents can … the disease.
“The distrust among Black Americans comes from a real place …
Kofi Atta Annan, born on 8 April 1938 in Kumasi, Ghana, served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) between 1997 and 2007. As a young man, Annan finished his undergraduate studies in economics at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1961. He then completed his graduate level work, also in economics, at the Institut universitaire des hautes études internationales in Geneva, Switzerland from 1961 to 1962. Annan returned to the United States, and earned a Master of Science degree in management in 1972 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Annan fluently speaks French, English, and a number of African languages.
Kofi Annan joined the United Nations in 1962 when he went to work for the World Health Organization. Since then he has been involved with the United Nations in a number of different branches, including the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the UN Emergency Force in Ismailia. Annan was assigned to UN Headquarters in New York where he worked with issues ranging from human resources management to peacekeeping.
On January 1, 1997, Kofi Annan became the Secretary-General of the United Nations. He served a second five year term beginning in 2002. Annan is the first Secretary-General to have been appointed from a UN staff position. In 2005, he helped establish two new bodies within the UN; the Peacebuilding Commission and the Human Rights Council. His involvement with peacekeeping is vast, as he has played key roles in a number of international negotiations. In 1996, he facilitated negotiations with Baghdad, Iraq in regards to their oil sales as funding humanitarian relief. In 1999, he played an important role in helping ease tensions between Libya and the UN Security Council, During the same period he also persuaded the international community to focus on the violence that was occurring in East Timor. Two years later, in 2000, he helped facilitate Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon.
Annans years at the UN have focused on creating relationships
Nairobi — Outgoing Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza succumbed to a heart attack in Bujumbura while his wife, Denise Bucumi Nkurunziza, is still receiving treatment at the Aga Khan University Hospital, in Kenya's capital Nairobi.
She received a message on Tuesday from President Uhuru Kenyatta, who sent a message of condolence and comfort to the people of the Republic of Burundi following the demise of President Nkurunziza.
In his message, President Kenyatta termed the outgoing Burundi leader as an outstanding regional counterpart who served his country with distinction as Head of State and Government, and worked tirelessly for the peace and stability of his country and the Great Lakes Region.
The President said death had robbed East Africa of a prominent leader whose contribution to the integration and progress of the region will be sorely missed, and prayed for God's calming comfort as the family, people of Burundi and East Africans mourn their departed leader.
Mr Nkurunziza died at a hospital in Karuzi, eastern Burundi.
The U.S. Department of Justice sent an email to federal prosecutors this week asserting that armed federal officers are legally... View Article
The post DOJ says armed federal agents allowed in ballot counting centers appeared first on TheGrio.
All 36 of Nigeria’s governors resolved to declare a state of emergency over rape and other gender-based violence against women and children in the country.
As a part of their initiative, the governors aim to impose tougher federal laws punishing rape and violence against women and children, and to set up sex offender registers in all of the states.
In November 2019, Nigerian authorities launched the first nationwide register of sex offenders, but the recent state of emergency declaration and recent protests signal that the country seeks to do more to combat gender-based violence.
In Kaduna, Nigeria, the U.N. children’s fund has said, one in four boys and one in 10 girls under age 18 have been victims of sexual violence.
Since the pandemic, Nigeria has seen a threefold increase in the number of calls to domestic and sexual violence hot lines.
Amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic, a virtual solemn ceremony presided by the UN Secretary, General Antonio Guterres, is being held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York today, to commemorate the International Day of UN Peacekeepers.
It is in memory of those who lost their lives in the course of peacekeeping operations across the globe and also solidarise with the civilians, police, military who serve under the UN flag for their professionalism, dedication, and courage in the global maintenance of peace and security.
The day is set aside to commemorate the first UN peacekeeping mission on May 29, 1948 when the UN Security Council authorised the deployment of a number of military observers to the Middle East to form the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation to monitor the Armistice Agreement between Israel and its Arab neighbours.
According to the UN, it has deployed more than 95,000 military, police and civilian personnel to maintain peace and security in 13 hotspots across the globe.
Other guest speakers were Lieutenant Colonel Prakash Lamichhane, UNIFIL Senior Military Public Information Officer and Lieutenant Dorcas Quaye, Military Police Officer with Cynthia Prah, National Information Officer, UN Information Centre, Accra.
by Najee El-Amin - Homebuyer education and assistance – an ongoing need in the Memphis area – recently got a $50,000 boost from the Bank of America. On December 15, Bank of America named United Housing, Inc. as its latest Neighborhood Champions recipient. As a result, the nonprofit will be receiving $50,000 in grant support, […]
Dear Editor,
Despite worldwide estimations that one in six boys are affected by sexual violence before they are eighteen, very little evidence is available.
The article Adults can play a larger role in protecting boys from harm and support their wellbeing appeared first on Stabroek News.
1994: Five Iraqis and a Kuwaiti are sentenced to death in Kuwait for plotting to kill former US President George H W Bush with a car bomb during his visit to Kuwait in 1993.
2002: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak says that shortly before September 11, 2001, Egyptian intelligence officials warned the United States that al-Qaeda was planning an attack on an American target.
2003: The Special Court for Sierra Leone, set up to try war crimes suspects from the country's civil conflict, make public a 17-count indictment against Charles Taylor, the president of neighbouring Liberia.
2008: The US military orders navy ships loaded with relief aid off Myanmar's coast to leave the area after the country's xenophobic junta refused to let them help survivors of a devastating cyclone the previous month.
England's King George III (1738-1820); Carl Gustaf Mannerheim, Finnish marshal and statesman (1867-1951); Modibo Keita, president of Mali (1915-1977); Robert Merrill, US opera singer (1919-2004); Dennis Weaver, US actor (1924-2006); Bruce Dern, US actor (1936- ); Angelina Jolie, US actress (1975-); Noah Wyle, US actor (1971- ); Russell Brand, British actor/comedian (1975- ).
BY HARRIET CHIKANDIWA THE Institute for Community Development Zimbabwe (ICODZim) is set to host the first competition on disability rights on April 16. ICODZim said after realisation that women with disabilities (WWD) still face numerous challenges such as communication and distance barriers in accessing sexual reproductive health rights services, the organisation designed a project to promote the uptake and access of such services by women and girls with disabilities. ICODZim communications and advocacy officer Elinera Manyonga said seven months into the project, the organisation discovered that WWDs suffer from sexual violence and abuses, but most of their cases go unreported. In most cases, they do not receive justice because law officers stigmatise and stereotype them. “One other major challenge which barricade people with disabilities (PWDs) from enjoying their constitutionally-granted rights to health services and justice is poor inconsistent policies,” Manyonga said. “The main reason is to unravel and bring to attention the sad, uncouth and uncivilised reality that even after the Beijing Conference, 41 years of independence and an amended Constitution, WWDs are still not getting justice and their sexual reproductive rights are severely compromised.” “ICODZim remains committed in lobbying, advocating and championing the rights and fair opportunities for WWDs,” she said. “We will leave no stone unturned in achieving this and we will roll out more dynamic, progressive and inclusive programmes in our endeavour to achieve our vision and consolidate it. “Participating institutions are the University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Ezekiel Guti University, Midlands State University and the Great Zimbabwe University.” She said the aim of the competition was to bridge the gap in access to reproductive sexual rights by WWDs, hence the law students from the mentioned universities will be participating. “The competition seeks to identifying gaps within Zimbabwean legal frameworks that hinder WWDs, survivors of sexual abuse and violence from accessing justice,” she said. Follow Harriet on Twitter @harrietchikand1
The post Competition for PWDs on the cards appeared first on NewsDay Zimbabwe.
The shootings in Atlanta come as anti-Asian hate crimes have seen a stunning uptick in the US throughout the past year of the pandemic. Six of the eight victims were Asian. The massage parlors advertised their largely Asian staff. According to one study, though overall hate crimes decreased by 7% in 16 major US cities … Continued
The post Black women denounce violence, stand in solidarity with Asian American communities appeared first on Chicago Defender.
The body of a newborn baby has been found in Delft in Cape Town.
Armed with research to prove how much better off our world would be with the rights of women and girls realised, we in the global advocacy community declared that it is well past time to start living in a gender equal reality.
I had declared in 2018, after the death of another innocent girl victim of sexual and gender based violence, Ochanya, that we were standing on a gender precipice from where good actions could flow, if together, we determinedly took the right actions to protect women and girls.
At the United Kingdom-France consultations on the Prevention of Sexual Violence Initiative last year, we said with such hope that we would uphold the United Nations Security Council's Resolution 1325 on women peace and security.
At the Commonwealth of Nations last year, we made a promise of No More Violence, yet, here we are, from our leaders, and right down to our grassroots, failing women and girls.
The gruesome deaths of Uwa and Tina are a visceral notice of our failure in Nigeria, and that's why I am joining the WACOL Tamar SARC and Social Intervention Advocacy Foundation to call for radical reform of our police, to end the impunity of sexual violence against women and girls.
Nairobi — Burkina Faso authorities should credibly and independently investigate alleged extrajudicial executions of 12 men detained by gendarmes on May 11, 2020 during a counterterrorism operation near the eastern town of Fada N'Gourma, Human Rights Watch said today.
A community leader who investigated the incident said, \"People living around the Tanwalbougou gendarmerie told me they saw the gendarmes and a few VDF returning to the base with many detainees around 4 p.m.\"
\"I lost two brothers that day,\" one man said.
While the government statement did not speculate on the deaths of the 12 men, family members and witnesses who retrieved the bodies from the morgue in Fada N'gouroma and participated in the burials, said they believed the men had been shot in the head.
\"The gendarme post of Tanwalbougou is directly under the command of the regional capital, Fada N'Gourma, tasked with the investigation,\" said a family member.
Community leaders and CISC said numerous Peuhl men from villages around Tanwalbougou had in recent months been executed or forcibly disappeared after their arrest by local gendarmes and noted that victims would be too frightened to respond to judicial summons by local gendarmes.
Collectively, we need to provide extra support to protect those experiencing domestic violence through specializing training of first responders, additional emergency shelters for survivors, immediate removal of abusers, and increased support for helplines.
While the current economic downturn is affecting both men and women, past evidence shows that domestic violence against women increases during periods of high unemployment.
According to the Iraq Family Health survey, 1 in 5 Iraqi women are subjected to domestic violence.
As in many other countries, COVID-19 has exacerbated instances of domestic violence in Iraq, with an average increase of 30% since the country-wide curfew began, and some regions seeing an increase as high as 50%.
For survivors of violence and women displaced in Iraq and globally, the consequences of COVID-19 lockdowns often mean limited access to life saving services.
