Africa

It comes just days after another mass grave with 19 bodies was found on a farm nearby.

As a documentary about the military disaster is released the BBC speaks to some still affected.

As a documentary about the military disaster is released the BBC speaks to some still affected.

As a documentary about the military disaster is released the BBC speaks to some still affected.

President Nangolo Mbumba announces the death of the Sam Nujoma who led Namibia for 15 years.

The anti-apartheid leader is celebrated for dedicating his life to the struggle for Namibia's independence.

The anti-apartheid leader is celebrated for dedicating his life to the struggle for Namibia's independence.

Leaders from east and southern Africa call on all warring parties - including the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels - to meet within five days.

The White House said South Africa's new law amounts to race-based discrimination.

As M23 rebels advance in DR Congo, regional players meet to defuse the escalating crisis.

As M23 rebels advance in DR Congo, regional players meet to defuse the escalating crisis.

As M23 rebels advance in DR Congo, regional players meet to defuse the escalating crisis.

"Shrapnel and stray ammunition are falling on my neighbourhood," a doctor tells the BBC.

"Shrapnel and stray ammunition are falling on my neighbourhood," a doctor tells the BBC.

"Shrapnel and stray ammunition are falling on my neighbourhood," a doctor tells the BBC.

Women vanish from public life under Taliban rule. Credit: Learning Together.

By External Source
Feb 7 2025 (IPS)

Since the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan in 2021, girls and women have been systematically banned from education, making Afghanistan the only country in the world that denies schooling to girls over the age of 12. The situation continues to deteriorate, with even primary school enrollment for girls in decline, according to UNESCO.

With female teachers barred from instructing boys, a shortage of educators has further deepened the crisis.

In this bleak landscape, online education has emerged as the only hope for an estimated 1.4 million Afghan girls over the age of 12, desperate to continue learning. Yet, this alternative is fraught with formidable obstacles.

 

Barriers to Online Learning

Afghanistan’s poor internet infrastructure and unstable electricity supply make remote education unreliable.

While the situation of electricity in urban centres is relatively better than in the rural areas, it still does not guarantee easy access to online learning to everyone. The amount of money needed for equipment such as computers, tablets and smartphones is beyond what most low-income Afghans families can afford.

Besides that, due to impromptu power outages in Afghanistan, online learning is problematic. Electricity can suddenly go off without prior notice and often for several hours. Frequent instances of such events make it increasingly difficult to hold online lessons and students are unable to download learning material from the internet or do their assignments.

In Afghanistan, online education courses do not have universal recognition, and no public entity provides them.

Besides the poor infrastructure, parents are afraid that the Taliban may be secretly tracking online education, and if caught, their daughters could bring substantial difficulties to the whole family.

An Afghan father who has an 18-year-old daughter expressed his despair. “My daughter has always wished to study law, he said, “in order to fight for justice for women in a country where women’s rights are routinely ignored, but now she cannot study peacefully at her own home”.

He went on to outline the typical problems, “we don’t have electricity, the internet is down, and if the Taliban find out that she is studying online, her life might be in danger, and we all will be in trouble”.

More often than not, the home environment does not allow for uninterrupted studies, especially in large families due to congestion of space.

 

Online learning is the only path to education for Afghan women and girls over 12. Credit: Learning Together.

 

A Network of Learning, Despite the Risks

Many of these online educational institutions, about 33 altogether, are available across several countries in the West and in the South Asian region, with four operating inside Afghanistan.

They provide quality education in a vast range of subject areas such as medical sciences, economics, engineering, computer science and information technology, business management, law, art, and social sciences.

Mainstream media platforms such as television, radio and newspapers are under the tight censorship of the Taliban, and therefore of little use as sources of beneficial information. But fortunately, students can conveniently turn to social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and Telegram for additional supplementary information.

However, even though faced with numerous challenges in pursuing online education, it has nevertheless produced positive outcomes, which has kept hopes alive for a better future for girls who unfortunately, have been abandoned by the Taliban.

Among the individual success stories is Raihana, one of the few girls who has had the opportunity to study economics at an online university.

“Despite all the difficulties and challenges “I have experienced during this time she says, “I remain hopeful”.

According to Raihana, studying online allows her to connect with other students globally and it enables her gain different perspectives.

“I want to tell other girls never to give up, even if the conditions seem difficult”, she says.

“Adding further, “every day, I think about how I will one day return to society and help my community so that more girls have the right to education”.

Excerpt:

The author is an Afghanistan-based female journalist, trained with Finnish support before the Taliban take-over. Her identity is withheld for security reasons

A collection of some of the best outfits from the State of the Nation Address.

Credit: Sergei Gapon/AFP via Getty Images

By Andrew Firmin
LONDON, Feb 7 2025 (IPS)

Alexander Lukashenko will soon begin his seventh term as president of Belarus. The official result of the 26 January election gave him 86.8 per cent of the vote, following an election held in a climate of fear. Only token opposition candidates were allowed, most of who came out in support of Lukashenko. Anyone who might have offered a credible challenge is in jail or in exile.

No repeat of 2020

In office since 1994 as the so far only president of independent Belarus, Lukashenko is by far Europe’s longest-serving head of state. The 1994 vote that brought the former Soviet official to power was the country’s only legitimate election. Each since has been designed to favour Lukashenko.

He only faced a serious threat in 2020, when an outsider candidate, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, was able to run a campaign that captured the popular imagination. Lukashenko’s response was to arrest opponents, repress protests, restrict the internet, deny access for electoral observers and then blatantly steal the election.

When people took to the street in mass protests against electoral fraud, Belarus seemed on the brink of a democratic revolution. But Lukashenko’s government launched a brutal defence, using security forces to violently attack protesters and arresting over a thousand people. It dissolved opposition political parties and raided and shut down civil society organisations: over a thousand have been forcibly liquidated since 2020.

Lukashenko’s regime has gone after those in exile, kidnapping and allegedly killing Belarusians abroad. Belarus is among the 10 states most engaged in transnational repression. They authorities have also deprived the estimated 300,000 people who’ve fled since 2020 of their ability to vote.

By embracing repression, Lukashenko made a choice to abandon his policy of balancing between the European Union (EU) and Russia. When the EU imposed sanctions in response to the 2020 election fraud, Russia offered a package of loans. In 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale assault on Ukraine, some of its forces entered Ukraine from Belarus.

Shortly after Russia began its full-scale invasion, a constitutional referendum held in Belarus, marked by the same lack of democracy as its elections, formally ended the country’s neutrality and non-nuclear status. In December 2024, the two states signed a security treaty allowing the use of Russian nuclear weapons in the event of aggression against Belarus, and Lukashenko confirmed that the country hosts dozens of Russian nuclear warheads.

Belarus has also been accused of instrumentalising migrants to try to destabilise neighbouring countries. In 2021, it relaxed its visa rules for people from Middle Eastern and North African countries and encouraged flights to Belarus. Thousands were taken to the borders with Lithuania and Poland and left to try to cross them in desperate conditions, freezing and without essentials, subjected to security force violence on both sides. Migrants were unwitting pawns in Lukashenko’s game to strike back at his neighbours. Attempted crossings and human rights violations have continued since.

Renewed crackdown

Just to be on the safe side, Lukashenko launched another crackdown in the months leading up to the election. The intent was clearly to ensure there’d be no repeat of the expression of opposition and protests of 2020.

Starting in July 2024, Lukashenko pardoned around 250 political prisoners, releasing them from jail. His likely aim was to soften international criticism in the run-up to the vote. But these weren’t the high-profile prisoners serving long sentences, such as Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski, a founder of the Viasna Human Rights Centre, who received a 10-year sentence in 2023, or protest leader Maria Kolesnikova, sentenced to 11 years in 2021. Those pardoned had to publicly acknowledge their guilt and repent.

The freed jail spaces were quickly filled, with over a hundred friends and relatives of political prisoners detained. In February 2024, authorities detained at least 12 lawyers who’d defended political prisoners. In December, they arrested seven independent journalists. Belarus has the world’s fourth highest number of jailed journalists.

People have been jailed merely for following Telegram channels deemed ‘extremist’ or making social media comments. Over 1,700 people reportedly faced charges for political activities in 2024. Prison conditions are harsh. People may be forced to do hard labour, kept in solitary confinement, sent to freezing punishment cells, denied access to their families and have medical care withheld.

On election day, Lukashenko’s dictatorial style was on full display. He held a press conference where he promised to ‘deal with’ opposition activists in exile and said they were endangering their families in Belarus, adding that some opponents ‘chose’ to go to prison. He also didn’t rule out the prospect of running for an eighth term in 2030.

Time for change

Lukashenko promises more of the same: continuing autocracy and closed civic space. For generations of Belarusians who’ve known nothing but his rule, and with opposition voices so ruthlessly suppressed, it may be hard to imagine anything else. The possibilities opened up in 2020 have been ruthlessly shut down.

But the wheels of history will keep turning, and the 70-year-old dictator won’t last forever. Some kind of cessation of hostilities in Ukraine may well come this year, forcing Lukashenko to make friends beyond Vladimir Putin. If Russia winds down its booming war economy, the ensuing economic shock in Belarus, which largely depends on Russia, could trigger public anger.

Meanwhile, potentially increased scrutiny could come from the International Criminal Court: in September 2024, the government of Lithuania requested an investigation into crimes against humanity allegedly committed by Belarusian authorities. If this move gains momentum, Lukashenko could find himself in an uncomfortable spotlight. States could also intensify sanctions: Canada and the UK have done so following the election.

If Belarus attempts to reengage with them, democratic states should insist that no thaw in relations is possible without tangible human rights progress . This should start with the release of all political prisoners, guarantees for the safety of exiled activists and a reversal of attacks on civic space.

Andrew Firmin is CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.

For interviews or more information, please contact research@civicus.org.

 

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Football's world governing body suspends Congo-Brazzaville from internationals because of third-party interference in the affairs of the country's FA.

An infant and young Child Feeding Nutrition programme in the Sidama region of Ethiopia, which has been considerably affected by climate-induced disasters. Credit: UNICEF/Bethelhem Assefa

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 7 2025 (IPS)

Over the past few years, climate shocks have become more frequent and have devastated economies and agriculture systems, exacerbating widespread malnutrition and hunger. It has become increasingly apparent that the utilization of sustainable agriculture practices and disaster risk management systems are crucial to fulfill growing needs as natural resources continue to dwindle.

The Paris Agreement, an international treaty which seeks to limit average global temperatures to 2°C, was adopted by the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) in 2015. A new analysis conducted by climatologist Professor James Hansen states that due to the rapidly accelerating nature of the climate crisis, previous climate goals are now considered impossible to achieve.

“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) defined a scenario which gives a 50% chance to keep warming under 2°C – that scenario is now impossible. The 2C target is dead, because the global energy use is rising, and it will continue to rise,” said Hansen. He adds that global temperatures are likely to reach 2°C by 2045. It is estimated that this will trigger a rise in sea levels by several meters, the melting of polar caps, and irreversible damage to critical ecosystems around the world.

On January 28, the World Food Programme (WFP) released an update to their climate change policies detailing the urgency of effective climate action as it relates to worldwide food production. This release expands upon the 2017 version, underscoring the international setbacks that have contributed to the worsening climate crisis.

WFP’s policy update states that these changes will exacerbate the hunger crisis for the most food-insecure populations. Climate-induced disasters, such as heat waves and tropical storms will disproportionately affect women, children, displaced persons, and people with disabilities. It is estimated that rising global temperatures will cause approximately 12.5 million girls to drop out of school, which significantly undermines their capability to cope with food insecurity and malnutrition in their communities.

On January 27, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released a report titled, Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition 2024, highlighting the wide scale devastation that the climate crisis had brought upon people in rural communities in Latin America and the Caribbean. Of the countries studied in this analysis, 20 reported facing a high frequency of natural disasters and 14 were considered highly vulnerable to malnutrition and food insecurity. In 2023, it is estimated that climate-induced disasters drove roughly 72 million people into emergency levels of hunger.

“Climate shocks are making it increasingly difficult for families across Latin America and the Caribbean to produce, transport, and access food. Frequent storms and floods are destroying homes and farmland, while drought and erratic rainfall are wiping out crops before they can grow,” said Lola Castro, WFP’s Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean.

In 2024, the El Niño weather phenomenon triggered extensive heat waves and droughts across Argentina, Mexico, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, causing an increase in the prices of corn, which is a staple crop. Additionally, heavy rainfall in Ecuador caused a 32 to 54 percent increase in wholesale prices of corn, making food inaccessible for numerous communities.

“In more rural areas they don’t have a lot of resources to be able to weather a poor harvest. You don’t generate as much income. There’s not as much nutritious food around, so they sell what they can, and then they purchase the cheapest thing that’ll fill them up,” said Ivy Blackmore, a researcher with the University of Missouri who analyzed nutrition and agriculture among rural communities in Ecuador.

As extreme weather makes healthier food options inaccessible, communities in climate-sensitive areas have gravitated towards cheaper, unhealthier food sources. This is particularly apparent in Latin America, where the cost of a healthy diet is the highest in the world. As a result, child and adult obesity has risen significantly since 2000 in these areas.

“Overweight and obesity are growing challenges in the region and key risk factors for non-communicable diseases. A healthy diet is the foundation for health, well-being, and optimal growth and development,” said Jarbas Barbosa, Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

According to FAO’s studies, in the Caribbean approximately 50 percent of the population, or 22.2 million people, were unable to afford a healthy and balanced diet.

In Mesoamerica, roughly 26.3 percent were unable to meet their nutrition needs. South America has the highest numbers, with 113.6 million people unable to afford proper nutrition.

WFP’s report concludes that there must be immediate climate change adaptation on a governmental level. WFP is currently working with smallholder farmers and distributors to incorporate more resource-efficient technologies for food production in an effort to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions and prevent excessive wastage. Additionally, they are working with women and young people, who have been historically excluded from jobs in marketing and technology, to support socio-economic growth in these communities.

WFP is aiming to increase government funding for food-security measures, sustainable technologies, and risk management systems. Through the Green Climate Fund and Adaptation Fund and other government-financed investments, WFP seeks to facilitate agriculture practices with a smaller carbon footprint and help the most disaster-vulnerable communities prepare for and face losses from extreme-weather phenomenon.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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