Africa

Arm wrestler Bonginkosi Madonsela says he is on a mission to bring the sport to the black community in South Africa.

Iceland head to the World Cup without a win in four matches as they are held by Ghana's late fightback.

Goncalo Guedes scores twice to boost his chances of starting at the World Cup as Portugal beat Algeria in a friendly in Lisbon.

The body's president was apparently filmed accepting a $65,000 bribe by an undercover reporter.

By WAM
JEDDAH, Jun 7 2018 (WAM)

Sheikh Shakbout bin Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, UAE Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, has said that holding the first meeting of the Saudi-Emirati Coordination Council in Jeddah yesterday and the signing of Memoranda of Understanding, MoUs, reflect the strategic relations between the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

He added that the bilateral ties between the two countries could be described as the strongest, most understanding and unified in terms of opinions in the region, due to the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and King of Saudi Arabia.

Sheikh Shakhbout went on to say that holding the meeting, which was chaired by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence and Chairman of the Council of Economic Affairs and Development of Saudi Arabia, confirms that the directives of the leadership of both countries are unified in a variety of topics. He also noted that he is looking forward to developing their ties to benefit their people, especially as they are both political and economic powers and are united by many mutual stances and overall cooperation, to promote the process of development and face future challenges.

Sheikh Shakhbout praised the strategic ties between the UAE and Saudi Arabia while stressing that the relevant directives of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa are based on a historic Emirati vision established by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan to promote the UAE’s key ties with Saudi Arabia, as the two countries share a historic legacy and future prospects and possess human resources and economic capacities that make their integration a natural process at all levels.

He noted that the UAE has always been and will always support joint Arab action, whether through the Gulf Cooperation Council or the Arab League, and considers the council a platform for reinforcing joint Arab action, through harnessing the social and economic potential of member countries for the benefit of the region’s people.

Sheikh Shakhbout congratulated the leadership and people of both countries while pointing out that the UAE and Saudi Arabia will always be leading international models of maintaining relations based on integration, understanding and harmony.

WAM/Rola Alghoul/Nour Salman

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By Editor BCFN
BRUSSELS, Jun 7 2018 (BCFN)

European Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner Phil Hogan said Wednesday that his proposed farm subsidy reforms are designed to improve food sustainability and to end trade distortions fueling migration.

Speaking at the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition (BCFN) Foundation’s “International Forum on Food and Nutrition”, Hogan said his new Common Agriculture Policy 2021-2017 program will reduce spending on production of commodities often dumped in the developing world. At the same time, he said Europe was ending trade barriers on imports of food from the developing world.

“The CAP already has delivered a lot for the environment and sustainability, but has to do more,” he said.

Asked whether he supported a new focus on promoting healthy, nutritious and affordable foods, as proposed by the BCFN Foundation, as opposed to simply increasing production, Hogan gave a one-word reply, “Yes.”

The BCFN is calling for a shift to a “Common Agri-Food Policy” from a Common Agricultural Policy.

Hogan addressed a crowd of some 500 people in Brussels at the BCFN Forum. It is the first time that the BCFN Foundation has held the forum outside of Italy. Scheduled speakers included experts from the United Nations, think-tanks, civil society, entrepreneurs and activists including Bob Geldof, in addition to representatives of the European Parliament and European Commission. Speakers said that Hogan’s remarks go in the right direction – and need to be accelerated and deepened.

“We should be scared about the situation that is in front of us, but we should also be fascinated by the solution,” said Paolo Barilla, BCFN Vice Chairman, opening the conference.

“Phil Hogan’s comments are a positive sign, but need to move beyond the evolutionary approach to a more comprehensive reform,” said Barbara Buchner, Executive Director at Climate Finance and a member of the BCFN Advisory Board.

Food is central to all the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agreed in 2015. These include eliminating hunger, sustainable consumption and production, climate change mitigation and improving human health and well-being, among others.

“Food systems need to be radically rethought and transformed,” said Gerda Verburg, United Nations Assistant Secretary General. “They need to be refocused on producing high quality diets, not just calories.”

The BCFN Forum called on 2030 Agenda signatories to establish an Intergovernmental Panel on Food & Nutrition to address the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic, environmental and social. It would be modeled after the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the high-level group that successfully achieved an international consensus on the measures needed to tackle climate change.

The European Commission announced earlier this month plans to shrink farm in the 2021-2027 period to 365 billion euros, down 5 percent from the current CAP, the Commission said. This would represent a share of less than 30 percent of the total budget of 1.279 trillion euros, down from more than 45 percent 20 years earlier.

“The proposal is a clear improvement from what we have now,” said Leo Abruzzese, Global Director of Public Policy at The Economist Intelligence Unit, explaining that it would reduce subsidies, increase flexibility and devolve more authority to individual governments.

About the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition Foundation:
The Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition Foundation (BCFN Foundation) is a multi-disciplinary research center, which analyses the causes of economic, scientific, social and environmental factors and the effects they have on the food system. It produces scientific content, which can be used to inform and help people to make responsible choices regarding food, nutrition, health and sustainability. The Advisory Board oversees the work of the BCFN Foundation. For more information: www.barillacfn.com.

BCFN PRESS OFFICE c/o E+Europe
Brandon Mitchener, brandon.mitchener@gmail.com, +32-477-245-077
Bill Echikson, bechikson@gmail.com, +32-475-669-736

BCFN PRESS OFFICE CONTACTS
Luca Di Leo, Head of Media Relations, luca.dileo@barillacfn.com, +39-0521-2621
Valentina Gasbarri, Communication and External Relations Manager, valentina.gasbarri@barillacfn.com, +39-338-788-2700

The post EU’s Hogan Embraces BCFN’s Food Sustainability Overhaul Plan appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr takes positives from his side's 1-0 friendly defeat by the Czech Republic ahead of the World Cup.

The UN General Assembly, the ultimate authority to ban exemptions on sexual abuse in the UN system. Credit: UN photo/Manuel Elias

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 7 2018 (IPS)

When allegations of sexual harassment were made against a senior UN official—holding the rank of Under-Secretary-General at the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC)– the United Nations admitted that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has no jurisdiction over a UN body created by the General Assembly and answerable only to member states. http://www.ipsnews.net/2018/03/sexual-abuse-un-chief-no-jurisdiction-act/

But this glaring exemption to the UN’s much-ballyhooed “zero tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse” (SEA) also applies to several other UN bodies created by the General Assembly, including, most importantly, the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) and the Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) — making a mockery of the ongoing fight against harassment in the world body.

And these exemptions may also cover some of the UN “Commissions, Boards, Committees, Councils and Panels” – all of which are considered subsidiary bodies of the General Assembly.

“I find it absolutely appalling that three of the UN entities entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring effective functioning of the UN system are themselves flouting some basic UN norms, taking advantage of legal lacuna without any supervision of the Secretary-General,” Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, former Under-Secretary-General, UN High Representative and Chairman of the ACABQ (1997-1998), told IPS.

He said it is “extremely urgent” that this situation be addressed without any more delay by the 193-member UN General Assembly (UNGA).

“By feeling helpless about such abuse and misuse in view of its past resolutions, the Assembly is shunning its responsibility as the world’s highest intergovernmental decision-making body,” Chowdhury said.

Asked for her comments on the ICSC exemption from the UN’s zero tolerance policy, DrPurna Sen, Director of Policy at UN Women, Executive Coordinator and newly-appointed Spokesperson on Sexual Harassment and Discrimination, told IPS that zero tolerance is not an optional extra that (some) employers can apply or not.

“It must have universal reach so that all staff can enjoy safety and respect”.

First of all, she pointed out, sexual abuse, harassment, exploitation and assault are all aspects of sexual violence. There are laws against violence and all states have committed to ending violence by 2030 (Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals 5.2).

“The obligation for ending violence rests with states but all actors, the private sector, universities etc all have a role to play in making this happen. ICSC cannot be exempt from this work: independence cannot confer impunity,” Dr Sen said.

Secondly, the notion there can be places where accountability cannot reach is not tenable.

“With great respect for women who have shouted and hollered until they have been heard, I wish to note the international clamour from women who have put abusers on notice,” she noted.

The MeToo, BalanceTonPorc and other such women-led imperatives for change have at last got attention. Accountability has to be made real – at the ICSC, as well as elsewhere, Dr Sen said.

Finally, it seems that any exemption from the UN’ policies is something that exists due to a General Assembly resolution.

“It is surely within the authority and competence of the GA then to review and change that situation.”

The need for independence cannot trump the need for safety and respectful workplaces, where abuse of power and gender inequality are rendered obsolete, she declared.

“Surely our collective efforts are not incapable of finding arrangements for their co-existence such that staff and the public have confidence in the whole UN system.”

Seeking an intervention by the Secretary-General and the GA President, Chowdhury told IPS: “I believe very strongly that the President of the Assembly, with his trusted leadership, needs to take the initiative on a priority basis, in consultation with the Secretary-General, to table a UNGA resolution to overcome this lack of jurisdiction and control which results in such abuse without any higher supervisory control”.

He said “past decisions should not be an excuse to overlook such aberrations which the IPS article has very rightly highlighted. Independence of a UN entity should not give it immunity to disregard norms which are core values of the UN.”

Asked to weigh in with his comments, Ian Richards, President of the 60,000-strong Coordinating Committee of International Staff Unions and Associations of the UN System (CCISUA), told IPS: “We expect all parts of the UN system to have policies and structures in place to prevent sexual harassment, in line with Secretary-General Guterres’s promise of zero tolerance.”

“This allows our member unions to help victims assert their individual rights to a harassment-free workplace and get justice when their rights are infringed,” he added.

However, he pointed out, “we are currently unable to assist staff who work for bodies such as the ICSC, ACABQ and JIU, to benefit from these rights. This despite their staff also having UN contracts and being appointed by the Secretary-General.”

He said the ICSC will itself touch on this issue when it discusses workforce diversity at its 87th session this July in Bonn.

“We hope it will join us in calling for consistent HR policies and structures throughout, without of course compromising the independence these bodies require to do their job.”

Brenden Varma, Spokesman for the President of the General Assembly (PGA) told IPS: “It’s for Member States to take such an initiative – not the PGA. From the PGA’s side, he continues to stand firmly against all forms of sexual abuse and harassment.”

Meanwhile, providing an update on cases of sexual exploitation and abuse in the UN system, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters May 1 that for the first three months of this year, from 1 January to 31 March 2018, there were 54 allegations for all UN entities and implementing partners.

But not all allegations have been fully verified, and many are in the preliminary assessment phase, he added.

Out of the 54 allegations, he said, 14 are reported from peacekeeping operations and 18 from agencies, funds and programmes. Twenty-one allegations relate to implementing partners and one to a member of a non-UN international force.

Of the 54 allegations, 17 are categorized as sexual abuse, 34 as sexual exploitation, and 3 are of an unknown nature.

The allegations involve 66 victims — including 13 girls (under the age of 18) and 16 victims whose age remains unknown.

With regard to the status of the allegations, he said, 2 have been substantiated by an investigation; 2 were not substantiated; 21 are at various stages of investigation; 27 are under preliminary assessment; and 1 investigation’s result is under review.

With over 95,000 civilians and 90,000 uniformed personnel working for the UN, sexual exploitation and abuse are not reflective of the conduct of the majority of the dedicated women and men who serve the Organization, Dujarric said.

“But every allegation involving our personnel undermines our values and principles and the sacrifice of those who serve with pride and professionalism in some of the most dangerous places in the world. For this reason, combating this scourge, and helping and empowering those who have been scarred by these egregious acts, continue to be key priorities for the Secretary-General in 2018.”

At a meeting with the Secretary-General in London on May 3, the executive heads of UN agencies, who are members of the Chief Executives Board (CEB), reiterated “their firm commitment to uphold a zero-tolerance approach to sexual harassment; to strengthen victim-centred prevention and response efforts; and to foster a safe and inclusive working environment.”

In addition, they pledged to provide mechanisms such as 24-hour helplines for staff to report harassment and access support; establish a system-wide database to avoid rehire of individuals who have perpetrated sexual harassment.

The CEB also pledged to institute fast track procedures to receive, process and address complaints; recruit specialized investigators, including women; enforce mandatory training; provide guidelines for managers; harmonize policies; and launch staff perception surveys to learn from experiences.

The writer can be contacted at thalifdeen@ips.org

The post UN Exemptions Make Mockery of Sexual Abuse in World Body appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Argentina is in a need of a new development paradigm, to combat a slew of development challenges. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

By Silvia Morimoto
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, Jun 7 2018 (IPS)

Buenos Aires is a charming city; rich with history, magnificent architecture, and a soul and music that can pull you to tango in a heartbeat.

But the city’s staggering beauty and its abundant culture struggles with challenges. Argentina’s average poverty rate stands at 25.7% today. Hard-core poverty has averaged around 20% in the last few decades unequally distributed along the country and concentrated in urban areas.

Argentina is in a need of a new development paradigm, to combat a slew of development challenges. The UN Development Programme (UNDP) believes those development challenges require a platform approach, using technology and innovation, to hack development challenges, even faster.

One of the favorite maxims of development experts is that everything is complex and interconnected. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that were adopted by all nations manifest those strong linkages.

To contend with those complex linkages, we are developing a platform in Argentina to mediate connections between an unprecedented range of actors, to help the country achieve the SDGs.

The objective of such a platform is to intensify support to the government in dealing with development challenges, while providing space for building relationships beyond traditional partners.

The idea is to partner with so called ‘unusual suspects’ to convene, connect, engage in co-creating innovative solutions, and raising much needed resources to finance those solutions.

This will foster active collaboration between UN agencies, as well as a range of institutions including government agencies, the private sector, international financial institutions, academia, unions, faith-based institutions and civil society organizations.

Rene Mauricio Valdez, UN Resident Coordinator in Argentina, sees UNDP as a platform that allows to interconnect different actors, sectors and even other platforms to generate sounder policies and programs.

In the world of digital economies, speed and flexibility in decision making are imperative. Mobile technologies have enabled millions to live their lives online. A platform approach is vital if we are to keep up with this ever-shifting development landscape.

Our vision is to try to focus on so called ‘wicked problems’ – problems that seem impossible to resolve. In Argentina, this means for example taking on the challenge of Matanza-Riachueloriver that meanders around the southern edge of Buenos Aires.

That once sleepy and muddy river -as the Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges described it- on whose banks more than five million people reside is now a toxic waterway, contaminated by factories, tanneries, and sewage. It has high levels of arsenic, cadmium and other pollutants that are affecting the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, especially children who live along the riverbanks. They have lead in their bloodstreams, and suffer from a host of respiratory and gastrointestinal problems.

UNDP is willing to support the government to transform the lives of the people living by the river.

It is the kind of problem that befits platform thinking. It requires giving up control and opening-up the space for creative processes to thrive. This will mean moving away from business as usual in an organization steeped in traditions and processes, which allows for unprecedented openness and freedom, to harness integrated responses to economic, social and environmental issues.

We are up for that challenge, as adapting and innovating to a shifting development landscape has long been part of our raison d’etre. A platform approach to our work represents that evolution.

It would ensure that programmes and projects are implemented more efficiently, and with greater transparency and accountability. And it would spawn a growing archive of knowledge, experience, and best practices from across the world, but especially between MERCOSUR states.

UNDP’s new Strategic Plan sets out a vision for UNDP’s ambitions over the next four years, reflecting the people centred nature of the 2030 Agenda. UNDP Argentina has already contributed to mapping available information on sustainable development through the country’s 2017 National Development Report 2017, and developed an online platform with statistical information on baselines and targets for select indicators.

Assessments of the country’s resources to meet SDGs targets will allow for identification of funding gaps for prioritized goals and help raise resources to bridge those gaps.

This will further strengthen and accelerate the process of integrating the 2030 Agenda into Argentina’s plan’s and policies. The aim is to create a more prosperous Argentina at every level. Argentina is showing that it takes more than two to tango, “To leave no one behind.”

The post It Takes More Than Two to Tango: Platform to Achieve SDGs appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Silvia Morimoto is Country Director UNDP Argentina

The post It Takes More Than Two to Tango: Platform to Achieve SDGs appeared first on Inter Press Service.

An investigation by controversial Ghanaian journalist Anas Aremayaw Anas films African football officials accepting gifts of money.

League One Sunderland agree a fee with Serie A side Torino for midfielder Didier Ndong.

Neighbours Zambia and Zimbabwe will meet in the final of the southern African regional championship the Cosafa Cup for a second straight year.

By WAM
ABU DHABI, Jun 7 2018 (WAM)

The end of 2017 has marked a new starting point in strengthening cooperation between the UAE and Saudi Arabia after the establishment of cooperation committees in the fields of trade, politics, economy and security, a move described by the international economic press as the beginning of a new phase on the GCC and Arab levels. It was also described as a vital platform and a cornerstone in rebuilding the regional system with a clearer and more coherent vision of the two largest Arab economies.

Following the formation of the Emirati-Saudi Cooperation Committees, the relations between the two countries have become a unique model of cooperation at various levels, supported by the firm will of both countries’ leaders to further strengthen these relations.

All expectations of global financial and economic institutions indicate that the ratio of actual GDP of the UAE and Saudi Arabia will exceed 46% of the actual GDP of the Arab countries for the years 2017 and 2018, compared with 41% on average for the previous period since 2000 - 2016. The two countries account for 53% of the total goods and services foreign trade of Arab countries by the end of 2017

According to economic experts in the two countries, the committees will work on achieving further growth by utilising their large development components being the two largest Arab economies and employing their huge commercial and investment potentials to promote sustainable development in both countries.

The experts further explained that the vast experience enjoyed by the two countries in the fields of economic development, trade and investment are key pillars for making joint cooperation committees a vital platform for the development of plans, strategies and initiatives that support their relentless efforts to achieve development and prosperity, especially through investment and joint ventures in priority sectors; such as industry, construction, reconstruction and others, as well as the development of a partnership between the private sectors in both countries, which is an integral part of the overall development process.

On the economic and commercial levels, the formation of the Emirati-Saudi Cooperation Committees has contributed to closer relations between the two countries and increased the volume of trade exchange between them during the past few months. Saudi Arabia has become the fourth most important trading partner in the UAE.

Saudi Arabia continued to rank first in the Gulf in terms of value of bilateral trade with the UAE with a share of AED58 billion ($ 15.7 billion) in 2017, accounting for 46 percent of the UAE’s total non-oil trade with GCC countries, according to statistics from the UAE Federal Customs Authority.

The value of non-oil trade between the two countries reached AED20 billion in 2016, accounting for 43% of the UAE’s total non-oil trade with the GCC countries and 27% of the UAE’s total non-oil trade with the Arab countries for the same year. These facts indicate the overall strength of the relationship between the two brotherly countries.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was the second most important destination for re-exports from the UAE in 2016, accounting for 9% of the country’s total re-exports that year, meanwhile, the Kingdom was the first on the Arab level, accounting for 29% of the total re-exports to the Arab countries, and 47% on the GCC level. With regard to imports, 45% of UAE imports from the GCC are sourced from Saudi Arabia.

In contrast, the UAE ranked sixth globally as the largest trading partner of Saudi Arabia, accounting for 6.1% of Saudi Arabia’s total trade for 2016 and ranked first on the Arab and GCC level as Saudi Arabia’s largest trading partner, accounting for 56% of Saudi Arabia’s total trade with GCC countries for 2016.

In terms of investment, Saudi Arabia accounted for 4% of the total foreign direct investment in the UAE until the end of 2015, and is ranked first in the Arab world, accounting for nearly 30% of the Arab direct investment stock in the UAE, and 38% of the balance of GCC investments in the country.

It is noteworthy that all expectations of global financial and economic institutions indicate that the ratio of actual GDP of the UAE and Saudi Arabia will exceed 46% of the actual GDP of the Arab countries for the years 2017 and 2018, compared with 41% on average for the previous period since 2000 – 2016. The two countries account for 53% of the total goods and services foreign trade of Arab countries by the end of 2017.

WAM/Esraa Ismail/Rasha Abubaker

The post Emirati-Saudi Cooperation Committees a vital platform of two largest Arab economies appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Gabriel Zakuani and Elliott List sign new two-year contracts with League One side Gillingham.

Henri van Breda, 23, killed his parents and brother in a frenzied attack in January 2015.

Cameroon, Nigeria, South Africa and Zimbabwe are all on the verge of going to the Women's Africa Cup of Nations with first leg away wins in the final round of qualifying.

A family struggles through a dusty environment in Afghanistan. Credit: Fraidoon Poya / UNAMA

By Will Carter
KABUL, Afghanistan, Jun 7 2018 (IPS)

After four decades of perpetual conflict, Afghanistan rolls into two consecutive election years – parliamentary this year, presidential the next. But the country and its people are going through even tougher times than usual with continued displacement and a looming hunger crisis.

Since the last elections in 2014, hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees and migrants have been deported or are returning, not out of hopefulness for a country reborn, but of desperation in a hostile and unwelcoming climate abroad. Increasing numbers of refugees are displaced again after they return.

In addition, over a million Afghans have fled their homes within the country due to worsening armed conflict creating record levels of internal displacement. Left with no opportunities for a safe life, many deportees attempt to make their journeys abroad again and so the vicious circle continues.

Now the full effects of a drought coinciding with the political deadlock of elections are threatening an already exhausted population. Hunger is now hitting the country hard. The drought has already affected two out of three provinces in Afghanistan, with displaced families in the North and West regions particularly at risk.

Food insecurity levels have always been high in this country whose main agricultural output is opium, and where food production struggles to break even. But successive ‘prolonged dry spells’ over the past years are now forcing communities to their knees – thousands of families selling off their assets in ‘distress sales’ are now camped in urban centres.

In a survey released by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in January, one in two displaced Afghans said they could not adequately feed their families and were often skipping meals. This is an increase from one in three in 2012.

In hard-to-reach Badghis province in the northwest of the country, the most food insecure province in the country, over half of the recently displaced had no food stocks, and the rest had less food than to last them for a full week. 86 per cent of these displaced households had below borderline food consumption scores, with three quarters borrowing food, two thirds going into mounting debts, and a third eating smaller portions and fewer meals. One in four had restricted their own eating so that small children could eat. Over two million people risk becoming food insecure in the coming months.

Taking a step back, the landlocked country seems like a series of potent man-made and natural disasters stacked atop one another, altogether creating one of the most complex, protracted, largest emergencies on earth.

In spite of this, political and donor commitments to the country are now wavering, if not withering. Compared to five years ago, perhaps the peak of the military stabilisation period, there are now five times more internally displaced Afghans, but only half the humanitarian budgets.

NRC’s own emergency response mechanism in Afghanistan has been halved due to funding shortfalls earlier this year, specifically reducing our capacities in the North and West regions of the country.

Given the current desperate situation, it seems Afghans do not have much choice in the matter of the upcoming elections. The question of whether or not now is a good time stands as a rhetorical one.

Are Afghans hopeful of the years ahead? This one is not a rhetorical question. The odds are obviously stacked against them, but opinion polls (such as The Asia Foundation) reveal something else.

A sense of hope.

If Afghans still have hope amidst continued violence, swirling forced displacement and hunger, ahead of approaching elections, then so too must world leaders, donor countries and humanitarians.

We cannot give up, give in, abandon, or go silent.

The global public must force politicians to make good on their commitments to Afghanistan. Donors must step up their support to aid work. Humanitarians must be held accountable to not shrink but to help hungry and displaced, but yet hopeful Afghan boys and girls despite the darker, more dangerous context.

If Afghans’ hopes are dashed yet again – even they will eventually stop hoping. And that is a recipe for disaster – hope will be replaced by depression, anger, and an overwhelming need to escape. We cannot afford this, and Afghans deserve better than conflict, hunger, and forced displacement.

The post Afghan Electorate: Basic Needs Must be met Before Political Progress can be Ensured appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Will Carter is Head of Programme, Norwegian Refugee Council, Afghanistan

The post Afghan Electorate: Basic Needs Must be met Before Political Progress can be Ensured appeared first on Inter Press Service.

A two-year undercover investigation reveals footage of over 100 officials taking cash before games.

Returned migrants have something to eat and fill out papers for IOM at Yaounde Nsimalen Airport in Cameroon. Credit: Mbom Sixtus/IPS

By Mbom Sixtus
YAOUNDE, Cameroon, Jun 7 2018 (IPS)

“Sometimes when I’m alone, I still get flashes of the grisly images I saw in the desert. I feared I was going to die out there. The people transporting us were ready to get rid of any of us where necessary,” Njoya Danialo recalled as he narrated the ordeal he endured traveling through the Sahara in search of greener pastures.

He told IPS that when the desert winds get too wild, the smugglers take refuge inside and under their vehicles, while passengers perched on luggage in overloaded pickup trucks are left at the mercy of the deadly, dust-filled wind.

Njoya is one of over 1,300 returnees that IOM, the UN Migration Agency, has repatriated to Cameroon since it started its operation in sub-Saharan Africa in June 2017. Boubacar Seybou, IOM Chief of Mission in Cameroon, told IPS the European Union has set aside 3 million Euros for its migrant reintegration operation in this country.

The operation is carried out in collaboration with officials of the EU Delegation in Cameroon, Cameroon’s ministry of external relations, the ministry of public health, ministry of social affairs and ministry of youth and civic education.

The program was planned to run for three years, facilitating the socioeconomic reintegration of 850 returnees at a cost of 3 million euros. Now Seybou said the program needs to be reviewed as more than 1,000 returnees were registered barely six months after the operation began.

Workers with IOM register returned migrants at Yaounde Nsimalen Airport in Cameroon. Credit: Mbom Sixtus/IPS

Njoya graduated from the Francoise Xavier Vogt football school in Yaounde but never played in a professional club. He claims one is obliged to know someone or pay a bribe to be recruited into a good football club. “That is why I decided to try my luck abroad, especially as a strange illness had attacked my father, causing our family business to crumble. I had to make it on my own,” he said.

Like many of the one million sub-Saharan Africans who have migrated to Europe since 2010, he had a map and a plan. He had high hopes as he navigated his way from Cameroon through Chad, Niger and Benin, until the night he curled up on a street corner in Algeria to sleep. Only then did he realise illegal migrants were not welcome. Like many others, he was forced to leave the country.

“The police arrested many of us and dropped us off at the border in the desert. Many people who walked with us died as I walked on.”

Dubious agents

“Along the trajectory from Niger to Morocco are agents called ‘passeurs’. They offer three possibilities. They can help you get to the Mediterranean where you cross into Spain. They can take you to a detention facility and call your parents for ransom. Or [they will] rob you and abandon you in the forest,” Njoya told IPS.

He was fortunate to get passeurs who helped him travel. He met another migrant from Burkina Faso whowas Spain-bound before being forced to make a U-turn in Algeria. They both struggled to make it to Niamey where the IOM help them return to their various home countries.

But Ramanou Abdou, who was also heading to Spain from Cameroon, told IPS he was not as lucky. The agents, always heavily armed and noted for raping women, drove them into a Savanah forest, robbed them and zoomed off. They all had to struggle to find their way to Niamey where they could get help from IOM, he said.

Like Njoya and others who returned to Cameroon with the help of IOM, Ramanou was offered a package that would facilitate his reintegration. He chose to return to school. He currently studies geography in the University of Dschang.

“I am grateful for the help they offered. I wish they could continue until I obtain my bachelors degree. I also wish they could help me get medical care for the protracted skin disease and stomach problems I returned with. I am still suffering,” he said.

Besides illnesses, Ramanou says many people have a negative impression of those who return from abroad. “Most of my classmates think I am thief. Some think that all returnees are hoodlums or something. Few of them treat me well.”

Like Ramanou, Njoya equally thinks the assistance provided returnees should be stepped up. He was given about 800 euros to start a business which crumbled within a couple of months. He now loads vehicles at a motor park for a living.

“I am saving money to travel abroad through the right track. My dream is still alive and I will make it the right way. I pity those who have left again to follow the same road to perdition in the name of traveling to Europe by land,” he said.

Besides Njoya and Ramanou, another returnee used his seed capital from IOM to start a small business is Ekani Awono. He opened up a coffee shop, but now tells IPS the money was too little to keep his business alive.

The beneficiaries who spoke to IPS say their peers who left the IOM office in Niamey and returned to the Ivory Coast claim to have been given as much as 3,000 euros to start sustainable businesses.

“But in Cameroon, we are constrained to submit business plans for funding limited to FCFA 500,000,” said one of them who preferred not to be named.

But Boubacar Seybou of OIM says the business plans are approved by a steering committee consisting of the funder and government ministries. He told IPS that IOM makes sure reintegration packages are sustainable. He also pointed out that there are many returnees whose businesses are doing well.

Apart from financial aid, IOM and the government provide medical check-ups and psychosocial assistance to returnees when they arrive home, according to Edimo Mbappe of the ministry of social affairs.

“Some women who were raped in the forest, deserts and camps and get here pregnant. Alongside traumatised boys and girls, they are given psychosocial support before we let them move into the community,” she told IPS.

IOM and the government has organised a series of activities, including radio and TV shows, photo exhibitions and musical concerts to dissuade would-be migrants from attempting to travel abroad illegally. They are equally trying to educate the public to absorb returnees and reject the stereotypes that make them feel uncomfortable.

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The post “A Map and Plan”: When Greener Pastures End in a Blazing Desert appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed also announces the liberalisation of parts of the economy.