NEWSBRIEFS

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

COVAD-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.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 25 January 2021

Photo: Midwife lifts one of the very first babies born in Mali in 2020 at a Health Center in Segou, central Mali. © UNICEF/Seyba Keïta

Make 2021 A Fairer, Safer, Healthier World for Children

By Caroline Mwanga

NEW YORK (IDN) – More than 371,500 children would be born on the first day of 2021, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The agency's Executive Director Henrietta Fore said on the eve of the New Year day: "The children born today enter a world far different than even a year ago, and a New Year brings a new opportunity to reimagine it."

: Caroline Mwanga; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 01 January 2021

Photo: A collage of UNGA President Volkan Bozkir (UN picture) superimposed on a detailed view of Assembly Hall (UN Photo/Cia Pak).

UN Assembly President Calls for Working Together for A Better Tomorrow

NEW YORK (IDN | UN News) – The President of the United Nations General Assembly has urged everyone around the world "to continue to work together" to end the coronavirus pandemic, and to build an inclusive and sustainable future.

In a message for the New Year, Assembly President Volkan Bozkir said that each individual, community, and country has a role to play, locally and globally, to reduce inequalities, protect the most vulnerable people, and create more just, safer societies.

: UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 31 December 2020

Photo: Collage of the pictures of Dr Jargalsaikhany Enkhsaikhan, Blue Banner NGO against the backdrop of the Mongolian Capital.

Mongolian NGO Greets 50th Ratification of TPNW

ULAANBAATAR (IDN) – Blue Banner, Mongolian NGO and a partner organization of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), welcomes the 50th ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) on October 24 as a major political impulse and a step in making this most dangerous weapon of mass destruction illegal under international law.

: Europe Editor; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 28 October 2020

Photo: Ugandan activist Vanessa Nakate (left) CC BY-SA 4.0 and South African climate activist Ayakha Melithafa (right) at DAVOS World Economic Forum in 2020. CC BY 3.0

African Teens on World Stage Demand Action on Climate Change

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has at least two African partners stepping up on the global stage and telling world leaders to “wake up” and recognize the dangers to women and girls of climate change.

In a speech broadcast as part of the Desmond Tutu International Peace Lecture, Ugandan activist Vanessa Nakate tied climate change to poverty, hunger, disease, conflict and violence.

“See the danger we are in,” Nakate urged the leaders at the Tutu peace lecture.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 14 October 2020

Photo: A new economic analysis for South Sudan indicates that the economy is recovering, but poverty remains deep rooted. Credit: World Bank.

Cash-Strapped Sudan Faces New Demands Before Painful Sanctions Are Lifted

Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – The U.S. has now conditioned the lifting of painful sanctions on Sudan until it agrees to Washington’s Middle East agenda and to normalizing relations with Israel.

If Sudan agrees before U.S. elections in November, sanctions could be lifted, opening the floodgates to desperately needed investment for this economically stressed corner of Africa.

Our economy is in shambles, admitted Amjed Farid, assistant chief of staff for Sudan’s prime minister. Sudan can't even get COVID aid from international institutions. U.S. sanctions have blocked all transactions using US currency or products, impeding any business with operations in the U.S. from trading with Sudan.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 05 October 2020

Photo: Irreecha is a thanksgiving festival celebrated every year. Oromo people gather from all places to the sacred lake and sprinkle the water to their body. In 2019, Irreecha was celebrated at artificial lake for the first time due to the drying up of lake. CC BY-SA 4.0

Popular Harvest Fest in Ethiopia Scaled Back as Opposition to Leadership Grows

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Harvest festivals are a common sight in Africa although this year organizers were advised to keep the numbers down due to the COVID-10 pandemic.

The Homowo Festival – a celebration by the Ga people of Ghana – was held as scheduled in Ga Mashie. Many of the celebrants could be seen wearing masks while cooking pots held steaming soups and other dishes.

In Ethiopia, massive crowds were expected in the Oromia region for the harvest festival of Irreecha – one of the year’s most important cultural and religious events for millions of ethnic Oromos. Flowers and long grasses are traditionally tossed into a pool of water to thank God for the blessings of the past year and to wish prosperity for the coming year.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 05 October 2020

Faith Leaders Criticise Bill Gates for A 'Highly Problematic' Agricultural Project

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – African faith leaders are calling on Bill Gates to reconsider his foundation’s “highly problematic” support of genetically engineered foods, crops and agrichemicals against the interests of non-corporate farmers in countries throughout Africa.

“We write out of grave concern that the Gates Foundation’s support for the expansion of intensive industrial scale agriculture is deepening the humanitarian crisis,” says the sign-on open letter coordinated by the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (SAFCEI).

SAFCEI, based in Cape Town, South Africa, is comprised of African traditional healers, members of the Baha’i, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, and Quaker faiths, and a wide range of Christian denominations.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 05 October 2020

In Quest of Data-Based Solutions for A Sustainable Future

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – More than 2,000 participants from the data user and producer communities will discuss in the first-ever fully virtual UN World Data Forum, from October 19-21, some of the greatest data challenges in our fast-changing world. They will identify innovative solutions to intensify cooperation on data for sustainable development. and renew the urgent call for more and better funding for data.

“In a world wracked by COVID-19, we need data-based solutions to guide our way to a sustainable future,” said Francesca Perucci, Assistant Director of UN DESA’s Statistics Division. “We need data for a changing world, and we need data for a better world.”

: Santo D. Banerjee; UN INSIDER; 01 October 2020

Photo: Makerere University main building burning (PHOTO/PML Daily).

Historic Uganda University Devastated by Overnight Blaze

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – "It is a very dark morning for Makerere University. Our iconic Main Administration Building caught fire and the destruction is unbelievable. But we are determined to restore the building to its historic state in the shortest time possible."

Those were the words of Makerere’s Vice-Chancellor Barnabas Nawangwe as fire officials struggled to extinguish the last embers of a huge fire that appear to have started in the upstairs public relations office of the Main building – also known as the Ivory Tower, spreading to floors below that house the finance and records department. Buildings that housed the classrooms were not damaged, witnesses said.