Tag: UN Africa News

In a statement released by his Spokesperson, António Guterres welcomed the international and regional efforts which took place last week, led by the President of Angola and African Union (AU) Champion for Peace and Reconciliation, João Lourenço, with the Mouvement du 23 Mars (M23). Eastern DRC is home to multiple armed groups, including the rebel M23 force, which has been fighting a major campaign against… Read More

Addressing the Human Rights Council, Nada Al-Nashif warned that serious violations of people’s basic freedoms in Eritrea have continued “and show no sign of improvement”. Military servitude In addition to the longstanding problem of indefinite military service – which intensified during the recent Tigray conflict in Ethiopia – Ms. Al-Nashif insisted that the agreed withdrawal of the Eritrean Defence Force (EDF) from Ethiopia… Read More

When my mandate began, in 2018, it was not long after the end of the dictatorship . The new Government was already embracing several reforms simultaneously, reviewing the constitution, the judiciary, and the security sector, and the UN had allocated funds for peacebuilding. UN News/ Hisae Kawamori Women working in a rice field, The Gambia… Read More

During an update to the Human Rights Council in Geneva, the UN rights chief highlighted the death on Tuesday of a 17-year-old demonstrator, shot dead by a police officer in the Sharq Alnil area of Khartoum, “one of 125 people to die since protests began over 16 months ago, one in five of whom have been children under the age… Read More

The development comes ahead of the UN water summit in New York next month, where countries will gather to find solutions to tensions caused by water scarcity. ‘Decisive step’ Niger’s decision to accede to the Water Convention is a “decisive step” for the region since it gives Lake Chad – whose volume has shrunk by more than 90 per cent since 1963 – full legal… Read More

Amina Mohammed was visiting the École Pays-Bas, in a suburb of the capital Niamey, which less than two years ago, burned to the ground, after the straw it was made from caught fire, amid searing temperatures and a suspected electrical wiring fault. A total of 21 children died in the inferno – nine boys, and 12 girls – mostly pre-schoolers.… Read More

Today in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, more than eight million people require food assistance and around 332,000 “urgently need food, otherwise their lives are at risk”, said UNHCR spokesperson Olga Sarrado. A full eight in 10 of the displaced are women and children, the UNHCR official continued, while UN migration agency, IOM, warned that failed rains and conflict in Somalia, “could force tens… Read More

As the continent weathers the full impact of fallouts from the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and the war in Ukraine, she underscored the need for greater action to achieve UN and African Union roadmaps that promise an inclusive and sustainable future for all.  Countries off track  “At the mid-point of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Agenda 2063 we are… Read More

“The political process remains protracted and falls short of the aspirations of Libyans, who seek to elect their leaders and reinvigorate their political institutions,” said Abdoulaye Bathily, Special Representative for Libya and head of the UN’s political mission in the country, known as UNSMIL. “In short, Libyans are impatient,” he stressed, noting that they are widely questioning the will and… Read More

Guidom Sabally’s high school education was cut short because his family could no longer afford school fees. For many years, he struggled to find work as an unskilled labourer. Now in his 40s, Mr. Sabally was able to take up the opportunity of free technical training, provided by a UN-led training programme, in 2018; having completed the course, he found… Read More