Africa

Starting with one family 30 years ago, a whole village in Sudan has stopped cutting its women and girls.

The UK believes it can lead the way in stamping out the practice by using aid to help grassroots groups.

As an official French report is expected to call for the return of Africa cultural artefacts to its former colonies, take a quiz to see how much you know.

A selection of the best photos from across Africa this week.

Liverpool and Senegal forward Sadio Mane agrees terms on a new long-term deal which will keep him at Anfield until 2023.

How can Nigeria's economy diversify to meet the challenges of extreme poverty in the West African nation?

Political activist Vimbaishe Musvaburi says there is 'a level of freedom' in post-Mugabe Zimbabawe.

PRESS RELEASE

By Football for Peace
Nov 22 2018 (Football for Peace)

Airways Aviation Academy has teamed up with sports charity ‘Football for Peace’ (FfP) Founders British Footballer Kashif Siddiqi and Chilean FIFA Legend Elia Figueroa, to support #FootballSavesLives campaign, aimed at training the next generation of young leaders in how to harness a shared passion for football to bring together their local communities.

FfP will launch the #FootballSavesLives initiative, at a Peace Tournament, to be held on the 22nd November 2018 at the Copper Box Arena in London. HRH Prince William, The Duke of Cambridge will participate in the event which will honour the Young Peace Leaders that have graduated from the City for Peace initiative this year from across the UK.

The new #FootballSavesLives programme aims to train 500 Peace Leaders by 2020 by working in conjunction with local councils, football clubs and schools to train young people aged 15-18 in how to unite their communities on and off the pitch, from running local football tournaments to organising classroom workshops to discuss the issues currently dividing their communities.

Romy Hawatt, Founder of the Airways Aviation Group and also a Founding Member of the Global Sustainability Network ( GSN ) says that “business and governments alike carry a joint and several responsibility to help create safe, tolerant and sustainable societies for the benefit of present and future generations. Worthy initiatives like #FootballSavesLives that contribute towards the empowerment of our youth, the promotion of self-determination, the encouragement of a peaceful community dialogue and the seeking of common ground between us through initiatives like #FootballSavesLives has our commendation and complete support”.

The peace tournament will bring together footballing ambassadors Wilfried Zaha, Mesut Ozil, Louis Saha, John Terry, Bacary Sagna, Lucas Perez and newly trained Young Peace Leaders who have already been through this programme to manage the teams branded as Equality, Diversity, Unity, Friendship, Dialogue from different schools across Newham.

On the day, HRH Prince William will attend a workshop on tolerance and team building, which will be delivered by FfP tutors and attended by Young Peace Leaders. His Royal Highness will then meet the charities Footballing Ambassadors and students who will all then take part in an activity which will break down a wall with footballs in a message against hate and violence to support the #FootballSavesLives campaign.

“With the #FootballSavesLives campaign, we want to encourage all football lovers and peace defenders to support our pledge to train the next generation of Young Peace Leaders to create more peaceful and tolerant communities across the UK. These schools in normal instance, hardly mix let alone play on same teams, the country needs more integration activities”, says FfP co-founder Kashif Siddiqi.

Adding to this, Arsenal player Mesut Ozil said “I am proud to support an initiative which brings people together in the such divided times we are living in”.

ENDS

Football for Peace: An overview of the charity
Football for Peace is a grassroots football movement with diplomatic impact, championing the power of the beautiful game to bring people of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds together on the pitch, while fostering understanding and tolerance off it. Supported by international personalities including Ronaldinho and The Duke of Cambridge, Football for Peace organises Peace Matches, one-off football matches held annually around the world to raise awareness of football diplomacy and promote a message of equality and peace. FfP also provides football and leadership training for youth from different faiths, cultures and backgrounds through a local community programme, Cities for Peace. Futbol Por La Paz (Football for Peace) was established in 2006 by FIFA and Chilean legend Elias Figueroa and co-founded Internationally in 2013 by British South Asian International Footballer, Kashif Siddiqi. More information on footballforpeaceglobal.org.

Airways Aviation Academy overview www.airwaysaviation.com
Airways Aviation is a global Aviation Pilot Training solutions provider for European, Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), Australian, Civil Aviation Safety Agency (CASA) and Montenegro Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Fixed Wing pilot licenses courses.It has established Pilot Training Academies across key locations in Oxford, United Kingdom, Huesca, Spain, Podgorica Montenegro, Gold Coast & Caloundra, Australia. Airways Aviation Head Quartered in Oxford, United Kingdom brings together a global network of singled owned aviation flight schools to offer flight training and an enhanced experience for aspiring pilots from locations around the world.

Global Sustainability Network overview http://gsngoal8.com
The Global Sustainability Network (GSN) is a platform that brings leaders and innovators from each respective sector (Business, Government, Community, Media & Faith) to achieve Goal 8 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). In a span of three years the GSN has over 900 global change makers from around the world. The GSN conducts four main events yearly located at the United Nations Head Quarters in New York, Lambeth Palace or House of Lords in London, The Vatican in Rome and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Event Partners

Grange Hotels
EFI and Syncoms
Puma
Apco Worldwide
Soccerex
DCD Group
BT Sport
Airways Aviation
Diplomat

Social media

Twitter: @FfP_Global
Facebook: Football For Peace Global
Instagram: ffp_global
#FootballSavesLives

Media queries
For more information about Football for Peace or this campaign, please contact:

FOOTBALL FOR PEACE
info@ffpglobal.org
0207324 2025

The post Airways Aviation Academy teams up with ‘Football for Peace’ in sponsoring the launch of the #FootballSavesLives campaign appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

PRESS RELEASE

The post Airways Aviation Academy teams up with ‘Football for Peace’ in sponsoring the launch of the #FootballSavesLives campaign appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By International Organization for Migration
Nov 22 2018 (IOM)

The Global Migration Film Festival showcases films that capture the promise and challenges of migration

 
THE FESTIVAL

Over the years, films have been used to inform, entertain, educate and provoke debate. It is in this spirit that IOM, the UN Migration Agency, launched The Global Migration Film Festival (GMFF) in 2016.

Cinema and migration have a magical bond stretching back over a century ago when film makers, many of whom were immigrants themselves, began making movies that depicted a world on the move. Their films brought the dramatic, poignant and comic stories of migrants to diverse audiences, through images that provoked feeling amongst people of every culture.

The Global Migration Film Festival (GMFF) features films and documentaries that capture the promise and challenges of migration, and the unique contributions that migrants make to their new communities. The goal of the festival is to pave the way for greater discussion around one of the greatest phenomenon of our time.

 
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

Films have the power to show different facets of life, which can in turn help viewers to cultivate deeper empathy for migrants and a better understanding of their realities, needs, perspectives and capacities.

The objective of the GMFF is to use films as educational tools that influence perceptions of and attitudes towards migrants, by bringing attention to social issues and creating safe spaces for respectful debate and interaction.

Furthermore, the Festival is an innovative creative avenue for normalizing discussions of migration through storytelling, and it is an advocacy tool that can also draw attention to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), thus helping all nations as they work to meet them.

Films can: INFORM, INSPIRE, TRANSFORM AND PROMOTE INCLUSION

 
HOW IT WORKS

Professional and emerging filmmakers are invited to submit films about the migrant experience according to the established theme:

The Promise and Challenge of Migration, and the Positive Contributions Migrants Make to Their New Communities. A committee of international film professionals will select a number of outstanding productions to be screened for a diverse audience: thousands of people in almost 100 countries.

The screenings will take place in varied locales, from cinemas to concert halls, and even impromptu settings in hard to reach areas and along popular migration routes such as the trans-Sahara corridor.

MORE THAN 30 FILMS
IN OVER 100 COUNTRIES

The post Global Migration Film Festival appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Villarreal teenage winger Samuel Chukwueze describes his international debut for Nigeria as the completion of a "dream year."

Ready for a day's work at sea, a small fleet of boats hugs the shoreline of a fishing village in the district of Kilifi. Fishing is important to the local economy. Experts experts insist that there is still a lot more to be done towards developing a strong blue economy action plan for Kenya. Credit: UN Photo/Milton Grant

By Miriam Gathigah and Robert Kibet
NAIROBI, Nov 22 2018 (IPS)

In a matter of days the world’s blue economy actors and experts will converge in Nairobi, Kenya for the first ever global conference on sustainable blue economy.

From Nov. 26 to 28, participants from around the globe will meet in Kenya’s capital to discuss how to develop a sustainable blue economy that is inclusive of all.

Professor Micheni Ntiba, the Principal Secretary for Kenya’s Department of Fisheries, Aquaculture and the Blue Economy, says partnership linkages with development agencies such as the United Nations Development Programme are key to progress, but synergies need to be directed towards integrating policy and strategy for implementation.

“This will be a conference like no other, with a research and scientific symposium. It requires knowledge and hence there is the need to integrate policy and strategy for implementation as well,” Ntiba told IPS in an interview.

Wilfred Subbo, an expert in natural resources and an associate professor at the University of Nairobi, told IPS that the Sustainable Blue Economy Conference will significantly jumpstart the country’s blue economy by setting the agenda on the need to prioritise the exploitation of water-based natural resources.

He said that the stage is set for governments and private sector actors to transform the country into a robust commercially-oriented blue economy.

Just this week, on Nov. 19, President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the country’s newly-formed Kenya Coast Guard Service in Mombasa, Coastal region.

With the Kenya Coast Guard Act 2018 already in place, the mandate of the new coast guard includes controlling illegal and unregulated fishing, border disputes, and piracy as well as the degradation of the marine ecosystem.

Also on the same day, Kenyatta launched the ‘Eat More Fish’ campaign, which has Ali Ahmed is elated. Ahmed is a Malindi-based fisherman whose main target markets are in Malindi, Mombasa and Nairobi.

Government statistics shows that the current per capita fish consumption is at 4.6 kilograms, and that the president’s campaign will drive consumption to rival Africa’s average of 10 kilograms, and later attain the global average of 20 kilograms. This is part of an agenda to encourage ordinary Kenyans to both invest and reap from the blue economy based on the untapped potential in fisheries.

“Kenyans have turned to other foods like traditional vegetables and ignored fish. They say it is too expensive but this is not true. Most of the fishermen are in the business to put food on the table and nothing else,” he tells IPS.

Nonetheless, experts insist that there is still a lot more to be done towards developing a strong blue economy action plan, just as countries in the Western Indian Ocean such as Mauritius, Seychelles, Madagascar and the Union of Comoros have done.

Professor Peter Anyang Nyong’o, the Governor for Kisumu County where Lake Victoria is located, told IPS in a telephone conversation that despite huge funding towards solving environmental problems in Lake Victoria, the impact has been negligent.

The Lake Region Block is planning to host a conference early next year that seeks to discuss pollution in Lake Victoria, mainly caused by the hyacinth, the invasive plant that has paralysed commercial fishing and marine transport.

“Hyacinth has heavily affected fish life in the lake as it impedes oxygen level. We are going to discuss scientific research that seeks to bring a better solution to the hyacinth in the lake,” says Nyong’o.

And as counties from the Lake Region plan to attend the Sustainable Blue Economy Conference, Nyong’o says his county is currently working on a plan to revive the fibreglass boat-making project to curb accidents and deaths caused by the use of soft wood in making boats, which he says causes roughly 5400 deaths a year.

Experts such as Nairobi-based economist Jason Rosario Braganza told IPS that the conference offers the public and private sector an opportunity “to reinforce the narrative on the importance of a holistic approach to sustainable development through the diversification of the economy.”

Braganza says that the high-level meeting will draw attention to the responsibility that citizens have in the ethical consumption and responsible use of natural resources.

According to the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (Kippra), the estimated annual economic value of goods and services in the marine and coastal ecosystem in the Blue Economy in the Western Indian Ocean is currently slightly over 22 billion dollars. Kenya’s share is approximately 4.4 billion dollars, with the tourism sector accounting for about 4.1 billion dollars.

Dickson Khainga, from the Productive Sector Division, says that Kenya’s blue world is more than just tourism and includes “the extraction of non-living resources such as seabed mining, marine biotechnology and the generation of new resources such as energy and fresh water.”

The research and policy analyst says that despite the country having a maritime territory of 230,000 square kilometres and a distance of 200 nautical miles offshore, equivalent to 31 of the 47 counties, Kenya has only explored tourism and fisheries.

According to Kippra, fisheries are by far not its most productive sector, accounting for a paltry 0.5 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Against this backdrop, Braganza emphasises that in pursuit of the blue economy the country will need to seal its policy loopholes.

He says that the “exploitative nature of big corporations of natural resources is a threat to sustainable development.” Braganza cautions that governments “will need to be more robust and decisive in the development of institutions, and legislation to police the exploitation of natural resources.”

With shipping said to be responsible for about 2.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants, an agreement reached to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from global shipping when nations met at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) in April this year marked a big milestone.

Feeding the globe’s projected 9.6 billion people by 2050, invigorating aquaculture estimated to supply 58 percent of fish to the global market has the potential to contribute to food security as well socioeconomic inclusion of some of the world’s poorest.

Ntoba says Africa is still blind to the rich diversity of water body resources, and that its nations should now seize the opportunity by using the upcoming global conference as a wake-up call to foment greater African partnership.

Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya, who chairs the Lake Region Economic Block, told IPS the region will seek to push for a focus to have more funding directed towards improving commercial fish farming in the counties.

So far, the government has already set aside some Ksh 10 billion to improve marine fishing in the coastal region and another Ksh 14 billion to harness commercial aquaculture in 14 counties.

“Water has been mainly used in conventional irrigation agriculture which has contributed to greenhouse gas emissions but there has to be a shift. Sustainable water use will help spur the economy and at the same time curb greenhouse gas emissions,” Oparanya told IPS.

Related Articles

• Women Must be at the Heart of Africa’s Blue Economy
• Kenya Looks to Lead the Way in Developing the Blue Economy’s Potential
• Q&A: All Sustainable Development Goals Relate in Some Way to the Oceans

The post Expectations High for First Global Blue Economy Conference appeared first on Inter Press Service.

The post Q&A: How to Transition One of the Fastest-Growing Economies in the World to a Green Growth Model appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Karolien Casaer-Diez is the new country representative of Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) for Cambodia. She started her career in Foreign Affairs in Belgium and worked for the United Nations Development Programme in Somalia and Bangladesh. She has been based in Myanmar and Laos for GGGI and was assigned to Cambodia three months ago.

The post Q&A: How to Transition One of the Fastest-Growing Economies in the World to a Green Growth Model appeared first on Inter Press Service.

The grade one pupil was attacked by a teenager thought to be his older sister's boyfriend.

Birtukan Mideksa returned home from exile earlier this month and will oversee elections in May 2020.

Many in South Africa's coloured (mixed-race) community complain of being marginalised for their ethnicity.

Thousands of Nigerian patients are being held in extreme circumstances over unpaid medical bills.

African states should allow EU to build and run cities in their countries, a German minister tells the BBC.

Chelsea legend Didier Drogba confirms his retirement from playing, ending "an amazing 20 years".

Holders Nigeria get their Women's Africa Cup of Nations campaign back on track with a 4-0 win over Zambia in Cape Coast in Ghana on Wednesday.

Rita Francke and another fisherwoman at the jetty, in front of the old crayfish factory at Witsands, South Africa. Credit: Lee Middleton/IPS

By Mahawa Kaba Wheeler
ADDIS ABABA, Nov 21 2018 (IPS)

The blue economy has quite rightly been described as the ‘New Frontier of the African Renaissance’. Its potential for a continent on which almost two thirds of its states have a coastline, whose trade is 90 percent sea-borne and whose lakes constitute the largest proportion of surface freshwater in the world, is enormous.

Indeed, its potential runs into the many trillions of dollars and promises to combine enormous economic growth with environmental conservation, if stewarded properly.

The Africa Union’s Integrated Maritime Strategy (AIMS 2050) provides a robust roadmap to fully exploit the potential of its oceans and seas and the first Sustainable Blue Economy Conference in Nairobi next week offers African nations the opportunity to solidify this continental framework.

But one thing we can say with certainty now is that the full potential of Africa’s blue economy can only be reached if it is truly inclusive, allowing all people in society to reap the dividends on offer from the oceans, seas, lakes and rivers of the continent.

Women must be at the heart of this inclusivity. Gender equality and women’s empowerment is at the heart of all African Union (AU) policies and actions and the blue economy is fertile ground to further women’s role in this transformative field.

The AU at its 31st Ordinary Summit in Nouakchott adopted its first Continental Strategy for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (2017-2027) to accelerate translate Agenda 2063 into reality for the millions of women and girls across the continent.

The first pillar of this strategy is aimed at achieving economic autonomy for women through maximising outcomes and opportunities for them. The blue economy is one such target.

Women have not always been able to fully enjoy the rewards of the growth in Africa’s economies and the roles they have played in helping expand sectors across the continent are gaining greater recognition.

Mahawa Kaba Wheeler, Director for the Women, Gender and Development Directorate, at the African Union Commission, says that while the marine industry in Africa is male dominated, women are working collaboratively with men to find a voice within it. Courtesy: Mahawa Kaba Wheeler

The AU is committed to ensuring this is not the case with the blue economy and is advocating for women to be more involved in marine industries across Africa. The AU currently works with women’s networks in this field, including among others Women in Maritime Africa, Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association and Women in the Maritime Sector in Eastern and Southern Africa, and welcomes new initiatives.

As delegates will hear at the Nairobi conference, we are pushing several initiatives for women in the blue economy, for instance to help them become sea cadets, lead port operations, increase the number of women in the industry, become captains of ships, celebrate their accomplishments and leaders in the industry, to expand their roles in shipping, fishing and other sectors of the marine industry.

We want to make sure that the blue economy is an inclusive one for women. Agenda 2063 calls for inclusive economic growth and we want to make sure that women are included in that growth and within the blue economy.

At present, the marine industry in Africa is male dominated, but women are working collaboratively with men to find a voice within it. This conference will ensure women’s voices are more fully heard.

This is especially important now as we have seen women deciding to come together to play their part in the blue economy and take their dividend from it – across Africa they are joining groups to promote and support the role played, and which could yet be played, in the marine industry.

The AU welcomes and fully supports these and any similar activities as they can only be good for women, for the promotion of inclusivity, and the blue economy as a whole.

But it must not stop there.

The Sustainable Blue Economy Conference in Nairobi offers an opportunity for all blue economy stakeholders, in Africa and from other countries, to not only hear about the key role women can play in the blue economy, but help suggest and support ways and means to expand those roles and to ensure that women are truly and fully included in Africa’s blue economy and able to reap its rewards. Several events will be held to promote women’s role in the blue economy and are anticipated to help leaders rally behind women’s initiatives in the industry.

Together, heads of state, ministers, policymakers, civil society groups and other stakeholders must come together to honour commitments we have all made to inclusivity in the blue economy and guarantee that women are not left behind as Africa’s ‘New Frontier’ is opened up. We must therefore create bold and transformative initiatives to accelerate women’s economic empowerment and leadership in this field.

It must also not be forgotten that this is not just about women’s roles in developing the potential of the oceans, seas, lakes and rivers around the world. It goes well beyond this.

By showing that women can succeed and thrive as entrepreneurs and independent active agents of change and growth in the blue economy, we can inspire women in all other sectors of society. If they can succeed in one economy, why not in another? If a woman can rise to the top in a sector of the marine industry, she can rise to the top in, for example, the finance or retail industry, to name just two.

The AU helps give women a voice in all industries, especially those which are non-traditional or male-dominated, and in Nairobi, we want to help them find their voice in the blue economy.

We say “women can sail Africa to the seas” and we believe the Sustainable Blue Economy Conference will give us the chance to succeed.

Related Articles

• Kashmir’s Fisherwomen Live Between Hope and Despair
• Africa’s Giant Blue Economy Potential
• Q&A: All Sustainable Development Goals Relate in Some Way to the Oceans

The post Women Must be at the Heart of Africa’s Blue Economy appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Mahawa Kaba Wheeler is Director for the Women, Gender and Development Directorate, Bureau of the Chairperson, at the African Union Commission

The post Women Must be at the Heart of Africa’s Blue Economy appeared first on Inter Press Service.