Africa

Photo: UNFPA does a lot of work in Sierra Leone especially with regards to maternal health. Credit: Joan Erakit | IDN-INPS

Freetown Flooding Raises Concern About Maternal Healthcare

By Joan Erakit

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) - In the early hours of August 14, disastrous weather took to Freetown as the city was flooded with torrential downpour. Shortly after, a mudslide followed dragging countless homes down a suburban hillside in slushy red dirt in Regent, east of Freetown. The Red Cross reported at least 200 people dead as aid organizations and local authorities rushed to the scene.

In a statement attributable to the Spokesperson of the UN Secretary-General, Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq told IDN that, “the Secretary-General is saddened by the deaths and devastation caused by the mudslide and flooding in the town of Regent, Sierra Leone, and throughout Freetown,” adding, “the Secretary-General extends his condolences to the people and Government of Sierra Leone for the loss of life and destruction caused by this natural disaster.”

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; THE WORLD; Africa; 15 August 2017

Photo: Najma Hassan cooking in her kitchen in Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya, Credit: Justus Wanzala | IDN-INPS

Clean Energy Coming to Kenya’s Kakuma Refugee Camp

By Justus Wanzala

KAKUMA, Kenya (IDN) – As the sun shrinks into a red ball steadily disappearing beyond the horizon, residents of Kakuma refugee camp in Turkana County, north-western Kenya, adjust to their evening routines. Late shoppers rush out to food stores, school children pick up their books and mothers start preparing the last meal of the day.

Darkness quickly envelopes the camp – which is administered by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) – and only a few businesses and homesteads are in the fortunate position of possessing diesel generators or solar and kerosene lanterns to provide lighting.

: Justus Wanzala; THE WORLD; Africa; 26 July 2017

Photo: Returnees pose for the press at the Cameroon Diaspora Forum organised by the Cameroon government from June 26 to 30. Credit: Ngala Killian Chimtom

Cameroon Looks to Its Diaspora to Save Troubled Economy

By Ngala Killian Chimtom

YAOUNDE (ACP-IDN) – “You are welcome back home”, said Cameroon Prime Minister Philemon Yang, setting the tone for a five-day event intended to woo the Cameroonian diaspora to invest in its country of origin.

With eyes set on 2035 as the year Cameroon should attain emergence status, public authorities are doing what they can to fast track the country’s economic growth, constrained as it is by a draining battle against terrorist group Boko Haram and falling oil prices on the international market.

As a result, Cameroon is now turning to its diaspora to help the troubled economy of the Central African country.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Africa; 13 July 2017

Photo: African ministers call for using and sharing agriculture data to boost food production and contribute to making Africa food secure. Credit: Justus Wanjala | IDN-INPS

Africa Embracing Open Data to Tackle Food Insecurity

By Justus Wanjala

NAIROBI (ACP-IDN) – Despite possessing huge potential for agricultural growth due to the availability of vast land and water resources, Africa’s food production sector is seriously under-performing.

Steps are now being taken in the direction of using and sharing agriculture data to boost food production and contribute to making the continent food secure.

Participants at the Ministerial Conference on Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition and 4^th Agritec Africa Exhibition, held in Nairobi from June 14-16, 2017, agreed that a new mechanism is needed to ensure rapid and sustained growth of food production and put Africa on the path of ending hunger and improving nutrition.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Africa; 05 July 2017

Photo: In the rural areas of Kenya, the burden of collecting, carrying and managing water (often contaminated) has always rested on the shoulders of women. Credit: Robert Kibet | IDN-INPS

Solar Power to the Rescue of Kenya’s Rural Women

By Robert Kibet

NAIROBI (ACP-IDN) – Braving a scorching temperature, 38-year-old Caroline Rono rambles barefoot along a tiny path that snakes in the direction of the reptile-infested salty seasonal Lake Solai in Kenya’s Rift Valley with the giggling baby on her back swaying to the movement of her mother’s hips.

In the rural areas of Kenya, as in virtually in all African countries, the burden of collecting, carrying and managing water has always rested on the shoulders of women, and under the weight of recurrent droughts, this burden has almost become unbearable.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Africa; 04 July 2017

Photo: Amina J. Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General. Credit: UN Photo/Mark Garten.

Working Together to Achieve the Africa We Want

By Amina J. Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General

Following are extensive excerpts from Amina J. Mohammed's remarks on July 3 as prepared for delivery to the African Union Summit (June 27 to July 4) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through Investments in Youth as thematic focus. She was Minister of Environment of Nigeria from November 2015 to December 2016. Prior to this, she served as Special Adviser to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, where she was instrumental in bringing about the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the Sustainable Development Goals. – The Editor

ADDIS ABABA (IDN-INPS) - Our organizations are embarking on two extremely ambitious agendas – Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – along with the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the Paris Climate Agreement.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; OPINION; 03 July 2017

Photo: Deputy Premier of the British Virgin Island, Dr. Kedrick Pickering (left), with President of the UN General Assembly, Peter Thomson (centre), and Director of the BVI London Office, Benito Wheatley (right). Credit: BVI London Office

British Virgin Islands Leads International Advocacy for Islands

By Desmond Brown

TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands (IDN) – On the heels of the UN Ocean Conference held in New York between June 5 and 9, the British Virgin Islands (BVI) – a tiny British overseas territory – is highlighting the common challenges faced by islands as it calls on international partners to support the efforts of islands to address their unique challenges.

As co-Chair of the Global Islands Partnership (GLISPA), the British Virgin Islands has been at the forefront of United Nations efforts to raise awareness about the challenges faced by islands.

“I take great pride as a GLISPA leader in lending my voice to the cause of islands and the sustainability of the ocean in which islands must exist,” Deputy Premier and Minister for Natural Resources & Labour Dr. Kedrick Pickering told IDN.

: Phil Harris; UN INSIDER; 23 June 2017

Voters queuing to cast their votes in Qachas Nek district, bordering on Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Credit: Sechaba Mokhethi

Lesotho – Crisis Beyond Polls

Analysis by Sechaba Mokhethi

MASERU, Lesotho (IDN) – Snap elections held on June 3 have ushered Lesotho into a new political era, but the outgoing Pakalitha Mosisili government insists on setting terms for the new administration after losing the election on the heels of its earlier loss of a vote of no confidence on March 1.

The tiny Southern African kingdom has been plagued by political instability since 2014, with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) periodically intervening to restore peace and order – having also called for the 2015 snap election that was envisaged to resolve internal strife.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Africa; 18 June 2017

The significance of ocean life across Africa means very little to many people here as they enjoy vacations on ocean-side beaches like Muizernberg beach in Cape Town, shown in the photo. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo | IDN-INPS

Oceans in Crisis Around Africa

By Jeffrey Moyo

HARARE (IDN) – As soon as dusk falls, Petina Dube emerges from her house balancing a sack full of garbage which has been lying uncollected in her yard amid reports that the municipal garbage collectors have no fuel to carry out their job across many residential areas in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare.

At the age of 43, Dube, a resident of Warren Park high density suburb in Harare, apparently does not care where the garbage will go after she dumps it. “I am honestly not worried about where this garbage will end up; I will just dump it by a stream not far from here,” says Dube.

But for many environmental experts like Happson Chikova, who holds a degree in environmental studies from Zimbabwe’s Midlands State University, waste dumped anywhere eventually ends up in oceans and this spells bad news for marine life.

: Phil Harris; UN INSIDER; 06 June 2017

A river in Mozambique. Shortage of water is set to hit Maputo. Credit: Construction Review Online

Water Woes Rock Southern Africa

By Jeffrey Moyo

HARARE (IDN) – Evelyn Mbiza struggles with a wheelbarrow laden with multiple five litre containers filled with water while her eight-year-old child follows behind carrying another container as the two head home after spending several hours queuing for the precious liquid at a local borehole in Malbereign, a medium-income suburb in Harare, the Zimbabwean capital.

For 26-year-old Mbiza, despite the heavy rains that have pounded this Southern African nation, tap water has become a scarce commodity as local authorities constantly cut water supplies in the capital claiming to be doing maintenance work.

“It’s sad; all dams are full of water while we have no water here. It’s humiliating to be queuing for water at boreholes when you are living in the city,” Mbiza told IDN.