NEWSBRIEFS

Photo: Older adults are amongst the first Peruvians to receive COVID-19 vaccines at a vaccination site in Lima, Peru. © UNICEF/Jose Vilca

COVAX Programme — US Decision to Lift Sanctions Against ICC — Four Peacekeepers Killed

By Radwan Jakeem

NEW YORK (IDN | UN News) — The UN-backed COVAX scheme aims to get two billion vaccine doses into the arms of around a quarter of the population of poorer countries by the end of 2021. Secretary-General António Guterres has welcomed the United States decision to lift sanctions and visa restrictions against officials with the International Criminal Court (ICC). Furthermore. he has strongly condemned a deadly attack on April 2 against peacekeepers serving with the UN mission in Mali, MINUSMA.

: Radwan Jakeem; UN INSIDER; 05 April 2021

Photo: The UN joins landmarks around the world by turning off the lights at its New York headquarters in observance of Earth Jour (file). Credit: UN Photo/Evan Schneider

Make Peace with Nature — India's COVID-19 Vaccines for UN Helmets — UNDP Preparing for Disaster in Nepal

By Radwan Jakeem

NEW YORK (IDN) — Earth Hour, India's donation of 200,000 vaccines to protect UN blue helmets against the coronavirus, and the UN is scaling up its efforts to help Nepal, which faces numerous natural threats, are some of the notable events in the last days.

On March 27, the world began to ripple to darkness as countries globally dimmed their lights at 8:30 pm local time for Earth Hour—an event that, according to the UN, encourages individuals, communities, and businesses to turn off non-essential electric lights, for one hour.

: Radwan Jakeem; UN INSIDER; 28 March 2021

Photo: Two Red Cross workers racing to revive the child at the port of Arguineguín in Spain's Gran Canaria island. Source: El Pais | Ángel Medina G. / EFE

Toddler's Death Highlights Perils of Crossing the Atlantic

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — The sight of refugees clinging to leaking boats, barely floating in frigid waters, or worse, washing up lifelessly on sandy shores, almost fails to shock after these images repeat over and over, year after year.

But consciences were re-awakened when a two-year toddler from Mali was seen lifted from a sinking vessel packed with refugees. A team of Red Cross nurses worked frantically to resuscitate the girl who had suffered cardiac arrest. They hoped for a miracle. It never came.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Reduced Inequalities; 22 March 2021

Photo: Nawal el Saadawi, Tahrir, April 2012. CC BY 2.0

Egyptian Feminist Writer, Activist and Physician Dies

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — Over the course of a lifetime spent fighting for women’s rights and equality, Nawal El Saadawi inspired generations of women even while she faced threats against her life and imprisonment.

Aged 89, she died on March 21 in a Cairo hospital after a long illness.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Middle East; 22 March 2021

Photo: Security forces stand outside a polling station in Kampala, Uganda, on January 14, 2021. Source: The African Report.

Ugandan Election Rights Violations Elicit Threat of European Union Sanctions

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | BRUSSELS (IDN) — As Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni bore down on rights groups and the opposition, the European Union (EU) Parliament responded with the threat of sanctions against Ugandan individuals and organizations they hold responsible for abuses during the recent general election.

Museveni apparently sparked the EU backlash when he instructed the Ministry of Finance, in a letter dated January 1, to suspend the activities of the Democratic Governance Facility, a basket fund of European countries that bankroll most Ugandan civil society organizations that work on governance, rights and related themes.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 16 February 2021

Photo: Collage of pictures from Wikipedia Commons and NationofChange.

Chocolate Multinationals Collude with Mali’s Child Slavery Rings

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — A federal class-action suit filed on behalf of eight Malian citizens against Nestle SA, Cargill, Hershey and Mars, Inc. among others for their alleged complicity in the trafficking and forced labour of African children, is now under review by the US Supreme Court.

The plaintiffs are former child slaves trafficked from Mali to harvest cocoa beans in Côte d’Ivoire, the biggest exporter and producer.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Decent Work & Economic Growth; 15 February 2021

Photo: Official portrait of Joe Neguse, Democratic Party member of the 116th Congress from Colorado. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

House Impeachment Manager Joe Neguse Is First Eritrean-American In US Congress

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — Colorado Congressman Joe Neguse , one of the standout speakers at the impeachment trial of ex-president Donald J. Trump, got raves from news pundits, saying a new national political star had been born.

He credits his parents with the values that propelled him into a career in politics.

“Over 35 years ago, my parents came to the United States from a small country in East Africa … as immigrants to a country that welcomed them with open arms and tremendous opportunities,” Neguse said in his first electoral victory speech.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 15 February 2021

Photo: DRC President Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo as he assumes the post just relinquished by South African leader Cyril Ramaphosa. @GovernmentZA

New Head of African Union Faces Daunting Challenges

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – He’s been described as a “master strategist”, but can the incoming chair of the African Union beat the daunting challenges ahead?

That is the difficult question facing Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, president of the Democratic Republic (DRC) as he assumes the post just relinquished by South African leader Cyril Ramaphosa.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 09 February 2021

Photo: Dr Sibongile Khumalo. Credit: @PresidencyZA/Twitter

Tributes Pour in for South Africa's Musical Genius Dr Khumalo

By Jeffrey Moyo

HARARE (IDN) – President Cyril Ramaphosa has paid tribute to Jazz and Opera Musician, Dr Sibongile Khumalo, for advocating the rights of performing arts, women, as well as human rights. Khumalo passed away on January 28, at the age of 63.

She was an esteemed member of the Order of Ikhamanga, a South African honour that is granted by the President of South Africa for achievements in arts, culture, literature, music, journalism and sport. She was awarded the Order of Ikhamanga in 2008,

: Jeffrey Moyo; ARTS & CULTURE; 29 January 2021

Photo: Africa needs timely access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines. Credit: WHO

COVID-19 Decimating Ranks of Zimbabwe’s Government

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – The coronavirus is reaping a “grim harvest” in Zimbabwe. Those were the words of President Emmerson Mnangagwa acknowledging the deadly reach of the virus in the nation’s highest ranks of government.

Zimbabwe’s transport and foreign ministers both succumbed to the coronavirus less than two days of each other. Four ministers have died so far, with several more reportedly fighting for their lives in hospital.