Africa

On day four of UN-led talks to transform an uncertain truce in Libya into a permanent ceasefire, veteran negotiator Ghassan Salamé on Thursday welcomed the “progress” that had been made so far, before urging an end to any “provocative” military action that might dash the chance of a successful outcome.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) is stepping up response in Africa’s Sahel region where escalating violence has forced a rising number of people to flee their homes. 

Citizens of Chad who have spent most of their lives as refugees in neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR) have been talking to the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, about the challenges they have faced returning to their home country.

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“I don’t have gloves; when we pick up the fruit bunches it hurts us,” said a palm fruit harvester that has worked for the company for over a decade. “Sometimes the fruit bunches fall on people or animals’ excrement.” Boteka, November 17, 2018.

© 2018 Luciana Téllez/Human Rights Watch. Four European development banks have announced they will require a major palm oil company in the Democratic Republic of Congo to take steps to redress human rights abuses recently reported by Human Rights Watch.

The 95-page report, A Dirty Investment, concluded that Feronia, which is financed by the four banks, was responsible for health and labor rights abuses, and environmental harm.

The banks responded on the same day as the report launch, saying they would require the company to take a series of measures to deal with the violations. Feronia employs more than 10,000 workers through its subsidiary in Congo, and its plantations are home to more than 100,000 people.

Human Rights Watch found that the company exposes workers to toxic pesticides and engages in abusive employment practices that result in extreme poverty wages. The company’s factories also dump untreated industrial waste that may have contaminated the only source of drinking water for several hundred villagers. It was the development banks’ obligation to prevent and redress abuses, but their monitoring and accountability mechanisms failed to do so.

The government-owned banks – Belgian BIO, British CDC Group, German DEG, and Dutch FMO – have invested US$100 million in the company since 2013. CDC Group also owns 38 percent of Feronia.

Human Rights Watch conducted more than 200 interviews for the report and traveled 1,200 kilometers on the Congo River to reach people in the remote plantations.

The measures the banks announced include addressing labor rights violations that result in extremely low wages, ensuring wage parity between men and women, addressing villagers’ concerns around water contamination, and taking steps to protect the health of laborers who spray pesticides.

Human Rights Watch will continue to engage the banks over the implementation of these measures. What is still lacking, however, is a commitment to address the monitoring and accountability failures that allowed for these abuses to happen under their watch. The banks should carry out structural reforms, including strengthening monitoring and accountability mechanisms, that would not only protect thousands of workers in Congo, but also protect the rights of people affected by the more than 2,000 projects the banks are involved in across the developing world, where they control billions of dollars in investments.

 

Refugees crammed into a church in the South African city of Cape Town are desperate to move.

The Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has jabbed former President John Mahama over the latter rsquo;s recent criticism of government rsquo;s decision to prioritise the procurement and commissioning of the 307 new ambulances. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said John Mahama must celebrate the government for the action rather than crit ...

A man has been caged by the Garu District Police Command for attempting to bribe the police with an amount of GHc 6,540 for a theft case to be dropped against two of his partners. According to reports by the police, the first suspect, Amadu Yakubu was arrested on Tuesday, January 28, 2020, in connection with a missing motorbike. A se ...

The Ghana Association of Certified Registered Anesthetists has called on government and all other relevant stakeholders to find lasting solutions to their problem as soon as possible in order to stop their impending strike. The group laid down their tools on Friday, January 31, 2020 to, among other things, protest the refusal of the ...

A former first Vice-Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Western Region, Kwesi Biney has picked nomination forms to contest as a parliamentary candidate in the Ahanta West constituency. He seeks to replace the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP), Kojo Kum in the election scheduled for April 25 this year. Confirming hi ...

The Member of Parliament for the North Tongu constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa is urging government to, as a matter to urgency, evacuate students and other Ghanaians trapped at Wuhan in China rsquo;s Hubei Province due to the outbreak of the deadly Coronavirus. He said, considering the fact that the outbreak has been declared a g ...

President Muhammadu Buhari says he wants "productive relations" with the US.

The victims' bodies were found lying in the streets of Matholeville district in Johannesburg.

Fifa President, Gianni Infantino, proposes that the Africa Cup of Nations be held every four years instead of two.

Paul Makonda launched a surveillance squad dedicated to hunting down gay people in Dar es Salaam.

Despite having a day job as a medical doctor, Fola David doubles as a visual artist.

Africa Magic will announce nominees in all 28 categories in the 7th Africa Magic Viewers rsquo; Choice Awards (AMVCA) on Thursday, 6th February 2020. DStv and GOtv viewers should tune in 8pm to watch the broadcast LIVE on all Africa Magic channels. The AMVCAs Nominee announcement will be hosted by Nollywood rsquo;s Linda Ejiofor and Ibrahim ...

How lifelong supporter Odion Ighalo became the answer to Manchester United's striker woes in a deadline day twist.

"Freedom, better education and health: that's all we wanted," one of Lina Ben Mhenni's friends says.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, is among the countries subject to the new immigration ban.

The UN Security Council on Friday renewed the arms embargo against the Central African Republic (CAR) and extended the mandate of the expert panel assisting its sanctions committee for the country.