Tag: UN Africa News

Speaking on behalf of the Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed drew the attention of the Council to “a number of worrying trends” Africans face today. The Deputy Secretary-General highlighted the socio-economic burdens of COVID-19, saying it has not only impacted the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) across Africa, but also exacerbated poverty, inequalities and all the drivers of conflict. “It has… Read More

“The warming of their relations was visible in Abyei, where most of the threats to the community were of a criminal nature, not of military nature”, Jean-Pierre Lacroix briefed Council Members.   The area was accorded special administrative status in 2004, and a UN Interim Security Force, UNISFA, operates there to provide support for local policing, and the deployment of armed forces, in accordance with a 2011 Agreement.  Sudan coup:… Read More

Pro-democracy demonstrations continued in the country’s capital, Khartoum, one day after the army dissolved the transitional government and detained civilian Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, and his cabinet.  Appeal for restraint  “I once again strongly condemned the forceful military takeover of power in Sudan,” said Mr. Guterres, responding to a journalist’s question during a press conference at UN Headquarters on Tuesday… Read More

Long-time ruler Omar al-Bashir was overthrown by the military following months of popular protest in April 2019, and a transitional government was set up comprising both military and civilian leadership, after a power-sharing agreement, that was due to lead to full democratic elections in 2023.  Now, according to news agencies, Sudan’s military has dissolved civilian rule, arrested political leaders and declared a state of emergency. Protesters… Read More

The airstrikes in Tigray’s capital Mekelle, Tigray region, threatened the safety of UN staff who are simply there “working to help civilians in humanitarian need”, said relief chief Martin Griffiths, who heads up the humanitarian affairs office, OCHA. “The UN had not received any prior warning of the attacks on Mekelle and had received the necessary clearances for the flight”,… Read More

The assurance came this Thursday from WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, while announcing a Management Response Plan to address the findings of an independent commission.  “This plan outlines the changes we will make as an organisation to make good on this commitment and to create a culture in which there is no opportunity for sexual exploitation and abuse to happen, no impunity if it does, and no tolerance for inaction”, Tedros said.   Immediate action  The plan outlines several short-term… Read More

The region has been hit hard by successive years of severe drought, forcing families in rural communities to resort to desperate measures just to survive.  Madagascar, the fourth largest island in the world, has a unique ecosystem which includes animals and plants found nowhere else on the planet. The country experiences a dry season, usually from May to October, and… Read More

For Mr. Xia, the main threat to peace and stability in this region around the Great Rift Valley, remains the persistence of non-State armed groups.  He pointed to “an upsurge in attacks”, whether by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), or those launched by the RED-Tabara against Bujumbura airport, in Burundi, last September.  Since the beginning of this year, in DRC alone, at… Read More

In an alert, the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan alleged that “overzealous” security forces had prevented dissent so dramatically, that civic space was now eroding “at an accelerating pace”, forcing rights defenders to flee and discouraging others from taking their place.  “The State’s targeting of high-profile human rights defenders will have a chilling effect on civil society and will discourage public participation and corrode confidence in the important processes of transitional justice, constitution making… Read More

A new report, conducted by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, indicates that, after watching the episodes, young people were twice as likely to get tested for HIV.  They were also twice as likely to know their status and to be aware of oral pre-exposure prophylaxis, known as PrEP, a drug taken by HIV-negative people before sex, that reduces the risk of… Read More