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[NEWS] Artisanal and small-scale mining is the main source of income for more than 100,000 gold and diamond miners in Liberia. Out of the 1,293 mining operations in the country, 1,142 (88.3 per cent) are artisanal and small-scale miners.
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.
Rep. Gregory Meeks etched his name in history as was elected the first Black Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs... View Article
The post Rep. Meeks elected first Black Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee appeared first on TheGrio.
[Nation] Mozambique authorities say they are detaining 12 Iraqi nationals linked with supporting insurgents in Cabo Delgado province, providing further evidence of an external hand in the local violence that has claimed thousands.
Nigerias election commission postponed for six weeks presidential elections scheduled for Feb. 14 after the military said it could not protect voters in the northeast from Boko Haram. Some questioned if the decision was influenced by President Jonathan, whose victory was by no means guaranteed. Indeed, he faced a strong challenge from Muhammadu Buhari, a former military dictator who was behind a 1983 coup. Buhari prevailed in the March 2015 election, which was largely peaceful. Jonathans defeat was attributed to his failure to defeat Boko Haram and his inability to crack down on endemic corruption. Jonathan accepted the loss, making for a smooth transfer of power—the first between civilians from different parties.
Buhari fired his top military leaders in July 2015, citing the militarys ineffective response to Boko Haram and alleged human rights violations—the use of torture, starvation, and ill treatment at detention facilities—during its campaign against Boko Haram.
In late Jan. 2016, Boko Haram raided the village of Dalori and killed at least 65 people. Dalori residents said that as many as 100 people were killed in the attack. During the raid, children were abducted and the entire village was burned.
The following month, at least 58 people were killed and another 78 wounded in a suicide bombing at a Nigerian refugee camp. The suicide bombers were three girls who had been welcomed into the camp. Two of the girls blew themselves up with bombs, while the third girl chose not detonate hers and gave herself up to authorities after seeing members of her immediate family in the camp. The refugee camp was for people fleeing Boko Haram. As of Feb. 2016, at least 2.5 million have fled from attacks and threats by the militant group.
On June 5, 2020, the Green Institute, in collaboration with Hamad Bin Khalifa University (Qatar Foundation), will host Jeffrey Sachs (SDSN) and over 25 renowned sustainability experts from across the globe, at a virtual symposium Time #ForNature for World Environment Day, a United Nations awareness campaign for environmental protection, held annually since 1974.
This hallmark event organized by a sustainability organization is a confluence of sustainability leaders in various fields endeavored at assembling individuals and organizations towards achieving sustainable development in Africa and beyond.
As the Associate Professor at the College of Islamic Studies (CIS) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (Qatar Foundation), the Assistant Dean for Innovation and Community Development and Lead Project Investigator for a Qatar National Research Priorities Program on Localizing Entrepreneurship Education in Qatar, Dr. Tok has extensive experience in building disruptive mechanisms in education and learning in post-graduate studies.
Organizations such as the Hamad Bin Khalifa University (a member of Qatar Foundation) and the Sustainable Solutions Development Network have been instrumental towards the success of The Green Institute.
The participating organizations include the UNEP, UNDP, Qatar Green Building Council, Qur'anic Botanic Garden, Farm Lab, Human Future, Springer Nature, Institute for Oil, Gas, Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development, University of Basel, the Open University UK, TerraCycle, Design Future(s) Initiative of Georgetown University, United Nations Development Program, and the Green Maasai Troupe Doha Qatar.
Friday night, on the track in front of the new turf at the North Central High School football stadium, those who knew Paul Loggan best were able to offer some closure to a man who was “Mr. North Central” during his long career as a teacher, administrator and coach.
Saniniu Laizer, a Tanzanian small scale miner has hit the jackpot, becoming an overnight millionaire after digging up two huge Tanzanite stones, one of the world’s rarest gemstones. Laizer earned $3.4 million after selling the gemstones with a combined weight of 33lb to the country’s ministry of mining. The discovery is said to be the...
The post Therell be a big party Tanzanian miner with 30 children becomes overnight millionaire appeared first on Face2Face Africa.
IN CITIES ACROSS the world, global citizens have taken to the streets to protest in solidarity with the late George Floyd, slain at the hands of Minnesota police officers while he screamed \"I can't breathe'.
THE US EMBASSY in Monrovia, in response to the recent protests, posted a statement from Alyson Grunder, Chargé d'Affaires this week, sharing and appreciating the deep concerns and sorrow that Liberians, from the most senior levels of government to ordinary citizens, who have expressed to us in recent days regarding the tragic killing of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis.
WHILE WE WELCOME the show of solidarity from the United States government and deep concerns, the US can pay no greater tribute to injustice and human rights violations around the world, than by marking an asterisk on 2020 for its Human Rights report.
In an emergency vote Friday, the Minneapolis City Council agreement with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, which opened a civil rights investigation this week into the city's police department in the wake of the killing of George Floyd.
MAKE NO MISTAKE, the world welcomes and looks forward to the US Annual Human Rights Report, they help spot sores in the eyes of governments clamping down on free speech, human rights, child trafficking and a host of other abuses.
ROME, CMC – The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) says that the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is both a challenge and an opportunity to fix the remittance systems in the Caribbean and other places.
“With a Euro here and a dollar there, remittances, the money that migrant workers send home to their families, have been adding up in a big way to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals and lift tens of millions out of extreme poverty,” said IFAD.
IFAD President, Gilbert F. Houngbo, said that “regardless of whether nor not the (post- coronavirus) recovery will be faster than expected, the global pandemic has exposed the vulnerabilities of the global remittance systems.”
But with the onset of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the World Bank projects that cross-border remittances will fall by 20 percent, or US$110 billion, to US$445 billion, potentially pulling tens of millions below the poverty line while undermining progress towards fulfilling the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development.
In response, the UN said Switzerland and the United Kingdom, joined by several other member states, the World Bank, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and other UN agencies and industry groups, issued a global “call to action” on May 22 to ensure that migrant workers and diaspora communities can keep sending back money in ways that can also improve the remittance system.
Analysis - Lost revenue, environmental damage and exploitation of vulnerable communities makes this a high-cost industry for Uganda.
Speakers Urge the Council to Establish an International Commission of Inquiry to Investigate Systemic Racism in Law Enforcement in the United States
The Human Right Council this afternoon began an urgent debate on current racially inspired human rights violations, systemic racism, police brutality and violence against peaceful protests.
It heard calls from speakers for the Council to establish an international commission of inquiry to investigate systemic racism in law enforcement in the United States.
E. Tendayi Achiume, Special Rapporteur on racism, via video message, on behalf of other mandate holders, urged the Council to create an international commission of inquiry with the necessary authority to investigate systemic racism in law enforcement in the United States.
The Council will next meet on Thursday, 18 June at 10 a.m. to conclude the urgent debate on current racially inspired human rights violations, systemic racism, police brutality and violence against peaceful protests.
Statement by the President of the Human Rights Council
ELISABETH TICHY-FISSLBERGER, President of the Human Rights Council, recalled that on Friday, 12 June 2020, she had received a letter from Burkina Faso on behalf of the African Group containing the formal request to hold this urgent debate on \"the current racially inspired human rights violations, systemic racism, police brutality against people of African descent and violence against peaceful protests\".
Independent inquiry
\"Independent journalists covering the conflict are often tagged as accomplices of separatists and tried in military courts.
The press in Cameroon has never been free throughout the two regimes that have ruled the country,\" says DW's Mimi Mefo.
\"As an independent investigative journalist in Cameroon, you know you could be jailed or killed.\"
Regime stays mute
DW's Mimi Mefo is one of many journalists jailed in the central African country in recent years.
South West Governor Barnard Okalia Bilai has told journalists that only Yaounde can answer over the fate of Samuel Wazizi.
Recognising legal aid as being essential to ensuring access and fair representation within the justice system, a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report has found that most jurisdictions in the Carib-bean have legal aid only for the most serious offences, while noting that the system is overwhelmed.
The article Access to legal aid ‘woefully inadequate’ in Guyana appeared first on Stabroek News.
[Nation] Kenya's athletics legend Ben Jipcho has been laid to rest at his rural home in Kisawai village in Kitale, Trans Nzoia County.
Sudan, in northeast Africa, measures about one-fourth the size of the United States. Its neighbors are Chad and the Central African Republic on the west, Egypt and Libya on the north, Ethiopia and Eritrea on the east, and South Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, and Democratic Republic of the Congo on the south. The Red Sea washes about 500 mi of the eastern coast. It is traversed from north to south by the Nile, all of whose great tributaries are partly or entirely within its borders.
Military government.
What is now northern Sudan was in ancient times the kingdom of Nubia, which came under Egyptian rule after 2600 B.C. An Egyptian and Nubian civilization called Kush flourished until A.D. 350. Missionaries converted the region to Christianity in the 6th century, but an influx of Muslim Arabs, who had already conquered Egypt, eventually controlled the area and replaced Christianity with Islam. During the 1500s a people called the Funj conquered much of Sudan, and several other black African groups settled in the south, including the Dinka, Shilluk, Nuer, and Azande. Egyptians again conquered Sudan in 1874, and after Britain occupied Egypt in 1882, it took over Sudan in 1898, ruling the country in conjunction with Egypt. It was known as the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan between 1898 and 1955.
The 20th century saw the growth of Sudanese nationalism, and in 1953 Egypt and Britain granted Sudan self-government. Independence was proclaimed on Jan. 1, 1956. Since independence, Sudan has been ruled by a series of unstable parliamentary governments and military regimes. Under Maj. Gen. Gaafar Mohamed Nimeiri, Sudan instituted fundamentalist Islamic law in 1983. This exacerbated the rift between the Arab north, the seat of the government, and the black African animists and Christians in the south. Differences in language, religion, ethnicity, and political power erupted in an unending civil war between government forces, strongly influenced by the National Islamic Front (NIF) and the southern rebels, whose most influential faction is the
Roslyn, Washington, was a coal mining town located at the eastern base of the Cascade Mountains.
Within two years, the town’s population grew to over 1,000 as miners from the eastern United States and Europe were attracted by the work the coal company offered.
The company recruited black miners from Virginia, North Carolina, and Kentucky to take the place of the striking miners.
Special trains brought in over 300 black miners and their families during 1888 and 1889.
Once tension subsided, white and black miners worked together peaceably amid the constant danger of the job.
[ICTJ] Tunis -- The Truth and Dignity Commission's (TDC) final report was at last published on June 24, six year after the TDC began its work. It marks an important milestone in Tunisia's transition, but the journey ahead to justice and democracy is a long one. The policymakers and practitioners leading the country's transitional justice process now have the responsibility to take the next step forward. Using the report's findings and recommendations, they must consult with civil society and the public to shape and adopt
Below, Black community activists and their allies share how to turn your empathy into action in the wake of police brutality.
Now more than ever is the time to take action to support Black, Indigenous and other people of color ― even if you’ve been slow to get involved in the past.
(The group Perkal is involved with, Showing Up For Justice, is a perfect example of that: They’re a nonprofit that works to bring more white communities and people into multiracial, antiracist movements for justice.)
In the clip, Elliott asks an audience of mostly white people a very, very simple question: Would you want to be treated like a Black person in America?
“Then you can show up at the police precinct and let the chief of police know you are outraged by the treatment of Black people,” she said.
ROME, Italy (CMC) — The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) says that the COVID-19 pandemic is both a challenge and an opportunity to fix the remittance system in the Caribbean and other places.
“With a euro here and a dollar there, remittances — the money that migrant workers send home to their families — have been adding up in a big way to contribute to the (UN's) Sustainable Development Goals and lift tens of millions out of extreme poverty,” said IFAD.
But with the onset of the novel coronavirus pandemic, the World Bank projects that cross-border remittances will fall by 20 per cent, or US$110 billion, to US$445 billion, potentially pulling tens of millions below the poverty line while undermining progress towards fulfilling the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development.
In response, the UN said Switzerland and the United Kingdom, joined by several other member states, the World Bank, the United Nations Development Program, and other UN agencies and industry groups, issued a global “call to action” on May 22 to ensure that migrant workers and diaspora communities can keep sending back money in ways that can also improve the remittance system.
The call to action also urges remittance service providers to explore ways to ease the burden on their migrant customers by lowering transaction fees, which now average 6.8 per cent worldwide, more than half the target set in the Sustainable Development Goals, according to the World Bank's most recent Migration and Development Brief.
In September last year, Doudou Diene, chairman of the commission of inquiry set up by the UN on Burundi, said the country was primed for a genocide.
Much of the deposits at the Somkhele mine have been exhausted and its owners, Tendele Coal Mining, need to break new ground.
The Mfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organisation (MJECO), which counts 4,000 members in the region (a figure which Tendele disputes) sees the issue as much bigger than a conflict between the mine, its supporters and dependents on one side and the two dozen households holding out on the other.
\"They did not have the proper water use authorisations to do so,\" said Youens, but the mine disputes this and a host of other claims about damage to nearby homes caused by blasting, excessive noise, and relocation of graves without proper consent.
It follows a failed High Court bid last year, where Global Environmental Trust and MJECO applied for an order compelling Tendele to halt all mining until it complied with environmental and other legislation.
He acknowledged the mine had made mistakes in the past but it had worked to rectify these with support from the Department of Minerals and Energy, the local traditional council, municipality, unions and people in the directly affected communities.
BY FIDELITY MHLANGA The Women Affairs, Community and Small and Medium Enterprises Development ministry has engaged Togabless Mining Investment for gold mining assistance, NewsDay Business has gathered. In a communiqué to the private mining entity, the ministry’s Mashonaland Central provincial development officer Judith Hove requested support to enhance women mining activities in the province. “The above ministry encouraged women to peg mines, but after pegging, (they) fail to be productive as they do not have equipment to use. As a result, most of the miners do forfeit. Some have resorted to artisanal mining. May you kindly assist the women miners. Others need gold buying licences, but cannot afford the charges,” the letter dated June 25, 2020 read. The Women ministry pointed out that women did not have adequate capital to fund mining ventures. “Women do not have capital for the initial requirements for mining. If assistance would be given, then payment for any services rendered would be collected when mining takes place on the women mines,” the ministry said. Togabless specialises in mine pegging and beacon installation, exploration, geophysics, contract mining and construction of mills, among other things. The ministry has since put in place a woman mine service centre with the intention to process gold using the pounding method and has requested Togabless mining to renovate the centre. Togabless managing director Blessing Togarepi said his company had agreed to provide pegging and exploration services to women miners in the province. “As Togabless, we have agreed to assist women in Mashonaland Central with gold claims. We are going to assist them with 15 gold claims in pegging, exploration and also linking them with foreign and local investors,” he said. Small-scale mining contributes about 70% of gold deliveries in the country. Last October, government launched an ambitious roadmap to achieve a US$12 billion mining industry by 2023. Under the US$12 billion mining roadmap, gold is expected to contribute US$4 billion, platinum US$3 billion, while chrome, iron, steel, diamonds and coal will contribute US$1 billion apiece. Currently, gold generates US$1 billion annually. Total gold output for last year stood at 33,2 tonnes. This year, authorities target to achieve 40 tonnes of gold notwithstanding disruptions caused by the COVID-19 and leakages perpetuated by poor payment modalities. On May 26, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe announced that small-scale gold-buying agents and artisanal producers would be paid in cash at a flat rate of US$45 per gramme of gold.
U.S. Department of State Background Note
Algeria, the second-largest state in Africa, has a Mediterranean coastline of about 998 kilometers (620 mi.). The Tellian and Saharan Atlas mountain ranges cross the country from east to west, dividing it into three zones. Between the northern zone, Tellian Atlas, and the Mediterranean is a narrow, fertile coastal plain--the Tell (Arabic for hill)--with a moderate climate year round and rainfall adequate for agriculture. A high plateau region, averaging 914 meters (3,000 ft.) above sea level, with limited rainfall, great rocky plains, and desert, lies between the two mountain ranges. It is generally barren except for scattered clumps of trees and intermittent bush and pastureland. The third and largest zone, south of the Saharan Atlas mountain range, is mostly desert. About 80% of the country is desert, steppes, wasteland, and mountains. Algerias weather varies considerably from season to season and from one geographical location to another. In the north, the summers are usually hot with little rainfall. Winter rains begin in the north in October. Frost and snow are rare, except on the highest slopes of the Tellian Atlas Mountains. Dust and sandstorms occur most frequently between February and May.
Soil erosion--from overgrazing, other poor farming practices, and desertification--and the dumping of raw sewage, petroleum refining wastes, and other industrial effluents are leading to the pollution of rivers and coastal waters. The Mediterranean Sea, in particular, is becoming polluted from oil wastes, soil erosion, and fertilizer runoff. There are inadequate supplies of potable water.
Ninety-one percent of the Algerian population lives along the Mediterranean coast on 12% of the countrys total land mass. Forty-five percent of the population is urban, and urbanization continues, despite government efforts to discourage migration to the cities. About 1.5 million nomads and semi-settled Bedouin still live in the Saharan area.
Nearly all Algerians are Muslim, of Arab,
BARRICK Gold Corporation has paid 100m USD --the first tranche of the 300m USD settle- ment the Canadian mining firm agreed with Tanzania to resolve the disputes it inherited from Acacia Mining.
\"On behalf of the government, let me express our appreciation to Barrick's goodwill gesture and commitment to the new direction in the Tanzania mining industry, which has been agreed on by both parties for mutual benefits,\" said Dr Mpango.
The payment, he noted, was an implementation of the Framework Agreement between the government and Barrick Gold Corporation which was officially signed in January this year after nego- tiations between the two parties were concluded.
On his part, Barrick Gold Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Mark Bristow, said these were landmark events that demonstrat- ed the strength of the partnership the company forged earlier this year through the formation of the jointly owned Twiga Minerals Corporation, which oversees the management of Barrick's opera- tions in the country.
On January 24, this year, the government and Barrick inked a historic mining deal after signing an agreement that redefined how the global leading gold miner will operate in the country.
Prior to the discovery of the massive tunnel mining operation in the New River Basin, Toshao of Masakenari Paul Chekema said that residents frequently heard an airplane flying over the community and this was what prompted him to contact the Guyana Defence Force (GDF).
The article Illegal New River mining… appeared first on Stabroek News.
