Africa

The United Nations envoy for Somalia has strongly condemned Sunday’s terrorist attack on a hotel near the international airport in capital Mogadishu that left at least five people dead and dozens more wounded. 

Asmelash Woldeselassie has given his eyesight, left arm and now his life to a succession of wars in Tigray.

Algeria's coronavirus restrictions mean that people in the diaspora are unable to properly mourn.

Seventeen-year-old Victoline explores progress to tackle the disease in her home country, Kenya.

Remembering iconic trombonist and exiled anti-apartheid activist Jonas Gwangwa who has died aged 83.

Violence and insecurity related to the recent elections in the Central African Republic (CAR) has forced more than 200,000 people to flee their homes in less than two months, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday, warning tens of thousands are facing dire living conditions. 

The top UN official in Libya urged the Security Council on Thursday to express clear support for a new unified government in Libya, amid hopeful signs that a decade of armed conflict might finally be coming to an end.

A phone call in the middle of the night led one Swiss lawyer to pursue Nigeria's stolen money.

The handover of a former Central African Republic (CAR) militia leader and war crimes suspect to the International Criminal Court (ICC) has sent a strong warning to rebel groups, political actors and others who thrive on impunity, a UN independent human rights expert said on Wednesday. 

Three months since fighting began in Ethiopia’s northern state of Tigray, there’s grave concern for the plight of youngsters there, the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF has warned.

The deal aims to increase the relatively low trade between African countries.

African basketball stars discuss Kobe Bryant's legacy one year since his death in a helicopter crash.

UN agencies are ramping up efforts on Tuesday to help communities in Mozambique hit hard by Tropical Cyclone Eloise, which barrelled through the country just three weeks after the devastating Tropical Storm Chalane. 

The BBC's Andrew Harding has returned to Mogadishu to see what hopes people have for peace.

January 23, 2021 (JUBA) – South Sudan's ruling Sudan's Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM) has ordered for the appointment of the acting SPLM Interim State Secretary for Upper Nile State.

SPLM Acting Secretary General Jemma Nunu Kumba (File Photo ST)

The order is dated in January 20 letter issued by the acting SPLM Secretary General, Jemma Nunu Kumba.

“In exercise of the power conferred upon me under Article 28 (1) (m) of the SPLM Constitution 2008 (as amended in 2016), I, Cde Jemma Nunu Kumba, Acting Secretary General of the SPLM, do hereby issue this order for the appointment of the Acting SPLM Interim State Secretary for Upper Nile State,” the letter read in part.

In June last year, President Salva Kiir and the First Vice-President, Riek Machar reached a deal on the allocation of the country's 10 states after three months of discussions.

The armed opposition (SPLM-IO), led by Riek Machar, was given three states, including Upper Nile, where the appointment of a governor is still pending.

The SPLM-IO nominated General Johnson Olony as governor of Upper Nile.

Kiir, however, rejected the SPLM-IO nominee, describing him a “war monger” and asked the First Vice-President to write an undertaking to take responsibility if Olony breaks the truce.

(ST)

A young woman scientist in Burkina Faso is researching the role of micro-organisms in fighting desertification in the Sahel Region, as part of a UN programme to restore degraded land in Africa.

Against the backdrop of a rapidly deteriorating security situation in Mali and the wider Sahel region, the UN peacekeeping chief concluded a visit to the restive northwest African nation on Thursday. 

A sharp uptick in intercommunal violence in Sudan’s Darfur region has forced more than 100,000 people to flee their homes in search of safety, including many into neighbouring Chad, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) reported on Friday.

January 21, 2021 (JUBA) - The United Nations has urged “zero tolerance” policy and called on all parties to prohibit the use of sexual violence and cease hostilities in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the U.N. secretary-general's special representative on sexual violence in conflict, Pramila Pattern said there has been a high number of reported rapes in the Tigray's capital, Mekelle and reports that some women are being forced by military elements to have sex in exchange for basic commodities.

“I am greatly concerned by serious allegations of sexual violence in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, including a high number of alleged rapes in the capital, Mekelle. There are also disturbing reports of individuals allegedly forced to rape members of their own family, under threats of imminent violence,” said Patten.

She added, “It remains critical that humanitarian actors and independent human rights monitors be granted immediate, unconditional and sustained access to the entirety of the Tigray region, including IDP [internally displaced people] and refugee camps where new arrivals have allegedly reported cases of sexual violence”.

According to the UN, 59,000 Ethiopians have fled to Sudan, while some 5,000 Eritrean refugees are living in “dire” conditions in the area of Shire. The U.N. says 25 of the refugees are women and girls of reproductive age.

“I call on all parties involved in the hostilities in the Tigray region to commit to a zero-tolerance policy for crimes of sexual violence, in line with their respective obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law,” Patten said.

“I call on the government of Ethiopia to further exercise its due diligence obligations to protect all civilians from sexual and other violence, regardless of their ethnic origin and those displaced by conflict, and to promptly allow for an independent inquiry into all allegations of sexual and other forms of violence, to establish the facts and hold perpetrators accountable, provide redress to victims, and prevent further grave violations.”

While commenting on the monitoring and investigation missions recently conducted by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in Western Tigray and the Amhara region, the UN official called on the Ethiopian government to further exercise its due diligence obligations to protect all civilians from sexual and other violence, regardless of their ethnic origin and those displaced by conflict.

Patten also urged authorities to promptly allow for an independent inquiry into all allegations of sexual and other forms of violence, to establish the facts and hold perpetrators accountable, provide redress to victims, and prevent further grave violations.

On November 4 2020, the Ethiopian government launched a “law enforcement operation” against the leaders of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the region's ruling party, after TPLF fighters attacked a federal military base. TPLF leaders called the federal government's response a war against the people of Tigray.

(ST)

January 21, 2021 (NEW YORK) – The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is working with authorities to establish a temporary operating base in the greater Tonj area of Warrap State to reduce tensions and build confidence, a UN official said Thursday.

Map of South Sudan showing Warrap state in red

The move comes amid reports of sporadic intercommunal conflict caused by cattle raiding in the Greater Tonj area of Warrap State.

The incident reportedly led to deaths, injuries and displacement of the population.

A spokesperson for the UN Secretary General, Stephane Dujarric said the mission is closely monitoring the situation and preparing to intensify patrols to deter further violence.

“Additionally, the mission is stepping up its community sensitization activities in Warrap through peace campaigns,” he said in a statement.

The campaigns, he noted, are intended to raise awareness among residents on the need for social cohesion as well as benefits of a peaceful cattle migration season.

Cattle are a main source of wealth for many communities in the East African nation.

Livestock-keeping communities in South Sudan routinely engage in cattle raids, which observers say have become more deadly because pastoralists switched from using spears and arrows to guns.

(ST)