NEWSBRIEFS

Photo: Collage of UN pictures (left) Violence in West Darfur has forced thousands of Sudanese across the border into Chad. ©UNHCR/Aristophane Ngargoune and (right) A woman wearing a protective mask and gloves checks her phone while walking along the East River in New York. UN News/Elizabeth Scaffidi.

COVID-19: UN Agencies Working Round the Clock to Ensure Humanitarian Support

By Daniel Johnson of UN News

GENEVA (IDN) – United Nations agencies are working round the clock to provide all the necessary aid to vulnerable sections of the society to combat the Coronavirus pandemic at diverse levels: ensuring meals to millions of children affected by the closure of schools, airlifting relief to Sudanese refugees in Chad.

Also, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said that for the moment, there is no reason why people infected with the COVID-19 virus should not take ibuprofen, a widely available drug used to treat fever and soreness.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 23 March 2020

South African President C. Ramaphosa demonstrating greeting by elbow. Credit: 2oceansvibe.com

Coronavirus Reaches African Shores

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Only a few weeks ago, African leaders were breathing a sigh of relief as the new coronavirus skipped the continent to lodge in Italy, Spain and other European countries.

“Whether it’s a matter of faulty detection, climatic factors or simple fluke, the remarkably low rate of coronavirus infection in African countries, with their fragile health systems, continues to puzzle,” said Amadou Alpha Sall, head of the Pasteur Institute in Dakar, Senegal.

: THE WORLD; Africa; 17 March 2020

Photo: Zimbabwe school children | UNICEF/UN050424/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi

New Laws Allow Zimbabwe to Fine or Jail to Keep Kids in School

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — Zimbabwe is experimenting with a bold attempt to make parents prioritize education and bring down drop-out rates.

Harare has amended its laws to make the first 12 years of schooling compulsory. Children are now required by law to stay in school for an extra five years to 16 years of age.

It is also now an offence to expel children on the grounds of pregnancy or non-payment of fees.

: THE WORLD; Africa; 10 March 2020

Photo: Jardim Constantino in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. Credit: UN News/Ana Carmo.

From Coronavirus to Climate and Gender Equality

By J Nastranis with UN News in Brief

NEW YORK (IDN)— As the coronavirus continues to spread globally, the UN's top human rights official Michelle Bachelet appealed on March 6 to countries and businesses to put rights "front and centre" to protect their most vulnerable citizens. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said that although the virus would likely have an impact on greenhouse gas emissions because of the expected global economic slowdown, it was too soon to say how great that impact might be.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 10 March 2020

Photo: Nikita Pearl Waligwa. Source: MyClallamCounty.com

Uganda's Queen of Katwe Star Dies of Brain Cancer

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Nikita Pearl Waligwa, who starred as the friend of chess prodigy Phiona Mutesi in the 2016 Disney film "The Queen of Katwe", passed away on February 15 after a valiant struggle with cancer. She was 15 years of age.

The film, which starred David Oyelowo as the chess teacher, Lupita Nyong'o as Phiona’s mother, and Madina Nmwanta as Phiona, was based on a true story about the young Mutesi. She learns to play chess and becomes a Woman Candidate Master after her victories at World Chess Olympiads.

: THE WORLD; Africa; 19 February 2020

Photo: Abidjan shaves a district to secure its airport. Courtesy of FR24News

Shantytowns Housing Thousands Demolished in Ivory Coast

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Bulldozers have begun demolishing homes built in the shantytowns of Abidjan, the commercial capital of the Ivory Coast, leaving thousands without shelter as authorities carry out plans to build a buffer zone around an international airport.

This comes as large numbers of Ivorians are leaving remote farms and villages for a better life.

The demolitions even destroyed the neighborhood mosque, charged Imam Issa Sankoudouma.

: THE WORLD; Africa; 01 February 2020

Image: Blast mine - American M14, Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Trump Administration's Landmine Policy a Dangerous Misstep

By J C Suresh

TORONTO | WASHINGTON, DC (IDN) —In yet another move to reverse former President Barack Obama’s strategies for a more humane world, the Trump administration is poised to rescind his predecessor's 2014 directive to no longer “produce or otherwise acquire any anti-personnel landmines,” known as APLs, according to several media reports. APLs are small explosive devices placed under, on, or near the ground. The new policy would reportedly lift current restrictions on deploying landmines outside the Korean Peninsula.

: J C Suresh; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 30 January 2020

Photo: Denise Butler (right) embraced Nelima Sitati Munene on January 4 in Brooklyn Park as they celebrated a new federal law giving Liberians in the U.S. a path to citizenship. Credit: Evan Frost | MPR News

Liberians Rejoice Over A Promised Path to U.S. Citizenship

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – As the Trump administration turns down an ever-growing number of applications for asylum, it surprised many that some 5,000 Liberians in the United States have been granted a path to citizenship.

In fact, it was the product of decades of effort by the Liberian community and its allies.

: THE WORLD; Africa; 08 January 2020

Photo: Bisi Silva, Nigerian contemporary art curator based in Lagos (2012) CC BY-SA 2.0

‘Season Africa 2020’ Recalls Much Loved Nigerian Curator

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – One of the more ambitious exhibits of African art to showcase French-speaking, English-speaking and Portuguese-speaking Africa, including North Africa, is scheduled to open June 2020 and run for six months.

The occasion will also mark the passing this year of Bisi Silva, an adventurous curator who, with her own money, founded a nonprofit art gallery and education center in Lagos, Nigeria, that has nurtured the growth and recognition of contemporary African artists. Silva died on February 12 in a hospital there. She was 56.

: THE WORLD; Africa; 30 December 2019

From Protecting Nature to Greenand's Raid Melt and Australia's Bushfires

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – A young environmentalist in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has invented robots to help protect nature, reports the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Asked about the role of children in creating a positive impact on the environment in the UAE, 11-year-old Sainath Manikandan said: “The backbone of a nation is its youth.”