Congratulations! We are celebrating the successful completion of ''Girls Back to School after Lockdowns -Campaign with Sofonie Dala'' Don't miss it! Webisode 27

Our campaign ''GIRLS BACK TO SCHOOL AFTER LOCK-DOWN- AFRICA EDUCATES HER - ANGOLA'' came to an end!

The end of the campaign is not the end of the movement, thanks to all spectators, children, students and all who believes and supports our project.

Entry covid-19 song from Vanessa

Report of the campaign  

From August to November 2020, we have been running the great campaign to bring awareness around issues that hinder girls and women from accessing education.

The main objective of ''Girls Back to School After Lockdown Campaign'' is to certify that there is no weak compliance to COVID-19 measures in schools and also to help us understand why children and youth, and especially parents and families, may experience anxiety and concern (as schools reopen)".

Our campaign came to an end, collecting 33 video interviews launched between October - November with a series of 27 internet broadcast webisodes. Over 30 Angolan students from primary school to higher education were interviewed, participants are aged between 5 to 23 years old. The language we have been working for the campaign is Portuguese. 

Moreover, we recorded three Covid-19 music video, two Covid-19 poems and invited one primary school teacher to give the last interview. The study show that the COVID-19 pandemic will have long-term effects on students and will impact their education, their mental health and social and emotional well-being. It also show that students and teachers are aware - and 50% of them are afraid - of the virus. 

Students’ experiences of the lockdown period have been very varied. For some, it have been a safe and enjoyable time. For others, it have been challenging or traumatic.

Overall, respondents said the pandemic has already affected their academic performance. Here are some of the main figures:

75% of students said school didn't distribute any bio-safety material to them and the preventive measures against Covid-19 are not being followed. 

65% of students worry they will repeat the grade as a result of COVID-19.

30% of students said they forgot almost everything they studied before school closures.

10% of students said they did not go back to school due to financial inability to pay.

Only 25% of students said they are happy with the conditions created by school in order to prevent them from the Covid-19 pandemic and their schools have been distributing hand sanitizers for them.

Covid-19 poem from Meury

Covid-19 school closures around the world have hit girls the hardest, affecting their education, their rights and their future. In this campaign, we are shining the spotlight on the unique challenges facing girls during the coronavirus pandemic.

Our today's guest is teacher Inacio. He will share with us his experiences during covid-19 pandemic.

Interview with teacher Inacio

Hello! I am professor Inacio Dala. I am a primary school teacher in Angola.

The corona came to end the dream of many Angolans. Corona is a disease that came to prevent any citizen here, and I'm sad because I lost my job.

Since April to the current month, I am not working because the grade I teach is stopped, no one is studying, that is, students from the 5th grade downwards are not studying. Schools are only entitled to assist students from 6th grade upwards. This should not be like this, and it is very sad indeed.

We are ready to teach and guide our students but unfortunately things are not happening as they should. I have been visiting the school constantly on the scheduled days, and each time I find normal conditions that have been very valuable to students. For example, we have buckets of water to wash our hands, we have sanitizer products, we also have a thermometer to check students' temperature.

Did the school distribute any biosafety material to students?

No, in order for school to distribute, firstly the government had to supply the school with these equipment. We received nothing from the government. Our school is state owned. Meaning the school's safety level is low, it is weak.

Can you tell us what are the Covid-19 prevention measures that school has created to ensure the safety of students inside the schools?

We have a general rule that the government orders all institutions to follow. Before entering the classroom, each student must wash their hands with water and soap, the desks inside the classroom are already organized 1 meter apart from each other.

Could you tell us how do you feel in this new phase of post covid-19 education? How is the dynamic of schools in this period?

I'm not happy. Sadness hurts me because it is a disease that is killing lives worldwide. Although the level of death in Angola is not as high as we usually see in the European countries, but it is really very sad.

On the other hand, despite the fact that some students are studying, it is still a detriment to these same students who are studying, because today students study in phases, one week they are at school and the other week they stay at home.

Even the fact of staying at home is already a brainstorming for the students. Since the education in Angola is grotesque and weak, this new beginning shouldn't be like this anymore, holidays after holidays, when it is to study we must really study. But unfortunately, the disease forces us to go as far as we cannot.

After this long interview, professor Inacio told us that he is a gospel singer and decided to sing us a COVID-19 song in an Angolan traditional language "kimbundu". 

Brief considerations

In sum, from the Africa educates her campaign launched in August to the Girls back to school campaign ended in November, more than 60 students including two teachers were interviewed. Educators and students have all expressed concerns about the safety of schools and lack of details as class begin. "It's important to recognize and honor girl's knowledge and insights in their thinking right now."

Most students said they are afraid of the virus but want to return to class and have missed various elements of school, especially seeing friends. A lot of the them we talked to were really aware of the pandemic and of what you need to do to stay safe, and they were worried about other people not following the rules. 

Furthermore, the pandemic has deepened the inequalities between students. Preschool and primary school children have been excluded from quality education in Angola. Many children received no instruction, feedback, or interaction with their teachers. “Children are not taught during this period”. Schools in Angola reopened in early October, the Angolan government postponed the resumption of lessons in primary education (1st to 5th grade), the largest chunk of the education system. The postponement in the Primary Education owed to the increase in Covid-19 positive cases in the country.

So far, Angola’s Covid-19 figures show 13,451 positive cases, 322 deaths, 6,444 recoveries and 6,682 active patients.

 Covid-19 poem in Portuguese- Rosalia

Since July 2020, we have been conducting daily interviews with girls and young ladies across Angola in order to make sure that all the students will return to school after lockdown. 

However, studies shows that After Covid-19, millions of girls may not return to the classroom. The educational consequences of coronavirus will last beyond the period of school closures, disproportionately affecting marginalized girls.

Meet our participants!

Interviews: The Complete Collection 

Our campaign came to an end, collecting over 30 video interviews.

The school doors reopened in Angola, measures like handwashing stations, physical distancing, mask wearing and temperature checks are being integrated into school life. Here’s a glimpse of what a return to school looks like for students in Angola. 

Please click the links below to watch all the webisodes. From 1 to 27

1. Webisode 27. The grand finale. Celebrating the completion of Girls back to school campaign: https://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2020/11/the-grand-finale-congratulations-we-are.html

2. Webisode 26. Interview with Rosalia: https://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2020/11/girls-back-to-school-after-lockdown_14.html

3. Webisode 25. Interview with primary school children- Joice, Laurindo and Braulio: https://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2020/11/back-to-school-after-lockdowns-campaign.html

4. Webisode 24. Interview with kids - Tina, Jenito and Ivanilson: https://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2020/11/back-to-school-after-lockdown-campaign_12.html

5. Webisode 23. Interview with kids - David and Lanete:  https://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2020/11/back-to-school-after-lock-down-campaign.html

6. Webisode 22. Interview with Maria: https://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2020/11/girls-back-to-school-after-lockdown_10.html

7. Webisode 21. Interview with Dorothea: https://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2020/11/girls-back-to-school-after-lockdowns_9.html

8. Webisode 20. Interview with Francisco, Augusto and Paulo: https://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2020/11/back-to-school-after-lockdown-campaign_8.html

9. Webisode 19. Interview with Antonia - https://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2020/11/girls-back-to-school-after-lockdowns_7.html

10. Webisode 18. Interview with Beatriz: https://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2020/11/girls-back-to-school-after-lockdown.html

11. Webisode 17. Interview with Janio: https://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2020/11/my-name-is-janio-i-am-angolan-i-am-7.html

12. Webisode 16. Interview with Chelsea: https://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2020/11/girls-back-to-school-after-lockdowns_4.html

13. Webisode 15. Interview with Francisco: https://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2020/11/girls-back-to-school-after-lockdowns_4.html

14. Webisode 14. Interview with Madalena: https://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2020/11/girls-back-to-school-after-lockdowns_2.html

15. Webisode 13. Interview with Augusta: https://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2020/11/girls-back-to-school-after-lockdowns.html

16. Webisode 12. Interview with Laura: https://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2020/10/girls-back-to-school-after-lockdowns_31.html

17. Webisode 11. Interview with Benita: https://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2020/10/girls-back-to-school-after-lockdowns_30.html

18. Webisode 10. Interview with Decania: https://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2020/10/girls-back-to-school-after-lockdowns_29.html

19. Webisode 9. Interview with Paulina: https://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2020/10/girls-back-to-school-after-lockdowns_28.html

20. Webisode 8. Interview with Martis: https://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2020/10/girls-back-to-school-after-lockdowns_27.html

21. Webisode 7. Interview with Celma: https://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2020/10/girls-back-to-school-after-lockdown.html

22. Webisode 6. Interview with Izequiel: https://she-leads.blogspot.com/2020/10/back-to-school-after-lockdowns-angola.html

23. Webisode 5. Interview with Meury: https://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2020/10/girls-back-to-school-after-lockdowns.html

24. Webisode 4. Interview with Vanessa: https://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2020/10/campaign-girls-back-to-school-after.html

25. Webisode 3. Interview with Cecilia: https://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2020/10/back-to-school-after-lockdown-campaign.html

26. Webisode 2. Interview with Julia: https://sofoniedala.blogspot.com/2020/10/to-school-after-lockdown-campaign-dont.html

27. Webisode 1. The launch of '' Girls back to school after lockdown camapaign: https://she-leads.blogspot.com/2020/10/we-are-happy-to-announce-new-campaign.html

Celebrating the successful completion of Africa Educates Her Campaign - Angola: https://she-leads.blogspot.com/2020/10/congratulations-we-are-celebrating.html

Ladies and gentlemen, meet our singer Dorothea 

''Longing for you in this quarantine''

Many many thanks, we hope to see you soon!

Link to signup form and pledge: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1hGOHt-E0TDUBT_oNswL1I34ynB1FtLZLsq_m3HjEnDY/edit

Don't miss this opportunity to bring girls back to school. Join us!

Share your experiences learning / teaching during the school closures & the projects or initiatives you've launched to get girls back to school post # COVID19 in your local communities.

Visit my new channel to see all the activities: https://she-leads.blogspot.com/

Gabonese national soccer team made to sleep overnight at Banjul airport

 Airport row seen as designed to deny them adequate rest ahead of their 4pm clash.

THIS JUST IN TO DNT – The entire Gabonese national soccer team had to sleep on the floor at the Banjul airport in The Gambia due to disagreements over COVID-19 tests.

DNT is receiving conflicting reports over the COVID-19 tests with one correspondent from Abijan asserting that The Gambian authorities refused the tests that the team presented upon arrival because according to the Gambian authorities, tests from central Africa are not reliable.

      

The team arrived in The Gambia at 11pm Sunday ahead of its return match with the Gambian national team scheduled for 4pm Monday. Gabon won the first match at home by the score of 2-1 and need a draw to move ahead in the AFCON qualifying series.

But The Gambians have a different take on what transpired. According to DNT correspondent Mustapha Manneh citing airport official Omar Sey, the Gabonese arrived without COVID-19 tests and refused to submit to one upon arrival.

Whatever transpired, members of the Gabonese team were seen sleeping on the floor at the airport between their arrival and 6am Monday morning before being allowed to leave for their hotel.

Meanwhile the match between the two teams is still scheduled for 4pm today.

Boris Johnson self-isolating after contact with COVID-19 positive individual

 Boris Johnson is self-isolating after NHS Test and Trace informed him he had been in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.

DNT London – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in danger of a second bout with the coronavirus after contact tracing established that he had come into contact with an individual who has tested positive for the virus.

The prime minister’s spokesman said he will “follow the rules and is self-isolating” in Downing Street where he will continue to work. Johnson is reported to be doing well and has no symptoms.

Mr Johnson had a meeting with some MPs in Number 10 on Thursday morning, including Lee Anderson, MP for Ashfield. Mr Anderson then developed symptoms for COVID-19 and tested positive.

Linda Wayoe, DNT News, London

Meet the World’s Largest Free Trade Area

 When it comes into effect, the African Continental Free Trade Area will remake African economies—and the world’s.

Leaders from around the world, including many in Africa, have been sending congratulatory messages to U.S. President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. After four years of a U.S. administration that waged war on multilateral institutions, African hopes are high for a reset.

And it couldn’t come at a better time. As a collective, the continent is embarking on a new economic path. In 2018, African heads of state signed an agreement that would bring to life the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)—a game-changer in African regional and international trade. When it comes into effect in stages over the next several months and years, the AfCFTA will cover a market of more than 1.2 billion people and up to $3 trillion in combined GDP, with the potential of increasing intra-African trade by over 50 percent, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. According to the World Bank, meanwhile, the agreement could add $76 billion in income to the rest of the world. On its completion, the AfCFTA will become the largest free trade area in the world since the establishment of the World Trade Organization.

Fundamentally, the AfCFTA will put African economies—and African citizens—on a better economic footing. The agreement will enhance competitiveness and stimulate investment, innovation, and economic growth by increasing efficiency and eliminating barriers to trade. In fact, it will eliminate tariffs on 90 percent of goods and incrementally apply the same to services—this at a time when other regions of the world are rethinking trade agreements and economic integration. The removal of tariffs on goods in particular is projected to increase the value of intra-African trade by 15 to 25 percent by 2040. This would translate to between $50 billion and $70 billion in dollar value.

But to give the AfCFTA the best chance of delivering on its promises, the continent will need help and investment for updating its infrastructure. The incoming Biden administration should take note.

The implementation of the AfCFTA, although delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, is set to begin anew in January 2021, with a focus first on easing trade for small and medium-sized enterprises, which account for 90 percent of jobs created on the continent. Yet the world the AfCFTA will confront in January will be markedly different from the one in which it was conceived. There are more challenges than ever, particularly thanks to the economic destruction wrought by the pandemic—“an unprecedented health and economic crisis,” noted the International Monetary Fund, “that threatens to throw the region off its stride, reversing the development progress of recent years and slow the region’s growth prospects in the years to come.”

Beyond the impact of the pandemic, there is also the continent’s existing trade architecture to overcome. Today’s regional trade arrangements “exhibit narrow patterns of trade, depend on primary products and involve low levels of inter-country trade,” according to William Amponsah, a trade expert quoted by the U.N. Indeed, intra-African trade is dominated by a handful of countries selling a handful of products. While this situation is improving, it remains a problem that simply increasing intra-African trade would not solve.

In fact, Africa will derive even greater benefits from diversification of trade and moving up the value chain than through a free trade agreement alone. As it stands, the bulk of African exports are raw materials: agriculture and mineral products with approximately 70 percent of value addition occurring outside the continent. The limited value-add is in part a result of trade agreements that punish processed products from Africa in favor of raw products. And those agreements need to be amended for the continent to gain the most benefit from the AfCFTA.

Africa’s underdeveloped infrastructure is another challenge. To move up the value chain, it would need more capacity for processing, packaging, and the like. But the power needed to conduct those operations is often inadequate, expensive, and unreliable. For example, even though the Democratic Republic of the Congo banned export of concentrates of certain strategic minerals in an effort to encourage domestic refinement and production using those minerals, the country has had little choice but to issue indefinite waivers of the bans because it does not have the smelting capacity to make use of them itself.

Africa also has a labor force issue. Given a growing population and rapid urbanization, the continent’s agro-processing capacity will need an upgrade to make enough food. Although over 50 percent of the labor force is engaged in agriculture, Africa imports $72 billion in food and agricultural products a year, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. The continent needs more efficiency in agro-processing so that it can be more self-sufficient.

In short, the AfCFTA will be most valuable if Africa is able to diversify its exports and increase the sophistication of its products, and that will only be possible with a functional infrastructure spine—including food, power, and transportation. Financing these large ticket items was a challenge before the pandemic. It will be even more difficult given today’s debt crisis and collapse of revenues.

This is where leadership under the incoming Biden administration can play an important role. A successful AfCFTA will be contingent on a rapid recovery after the pandemic. As a report from the management firm Palladium notes, “An unprecedented mobilization of global private capital would drive mutually beneficial economic growth that addresses key priorities including job creation, infrastructure development, and improved social services.” The Biden administration can collaborate with other partners and drive private finance to Africa’s single market.

To be sure, Africa’s challenges make its economic integration project significantly harder than it might be elsewhere. But they do not diminish the economic opportunities on the continent.

African markets still “present investors with attractive opportunities,” the report’s authors write, “for returns in a broad range of sectors, from emerging industries such as financial, education, and health technology, to more traditional sectors including energy and agribusiness.” That means the United States could increase its economic partnership with the continent to the mutual benefit of both Africans and Americans. Using existing development tools and co-investing with other bilateral and multilateral agencies, the United States should provide support to Africa’s regional integration project.

In 2018, Washington launched Prosper Africa to coordinate U.S. government resources and expand business opportunities in Africa with a goal of doubling two-way trade between the country and the continent. It is still unclear how this project, which seems great in principle, will be implemented and how quickly. Meanwhile, the official U.S. response to the AfCFTA has been ambivalent at best. To the chagrin of African leadership, the United States continues to negotiate a bilateral trade agreement with Kenya in the hope of developing a model that could later be applied to other countries in Africa. This effort follows a period of decline in two-way trade between the United States and Africa: Between 2014 and 2018, U.S. exports to Africa have decreased by 32 percent, while exports from Africa to the United States have decreased by 55 percent in the same period.

The Biden administration now has an opportunity to strengthen its strategic partnership with Africa by driving investment toward the AfCFTA. The United States already has a suite of policy tools and institutions that make such a role viable. Among them are Power Africa, Prosper Africa, the Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC), and the recently launched U.S. International Development Finance Corp. (DFC). Power Africa has a goal to add more than 30,000 megawatts of cleaner, more efficient electricity generation capacity and 60 million new home and business connections through private-public partnerships. The DFC, which replaced the Overseas Private Investment Corp., has an expanded mandate and greater resources. The MCC, which provides large grants (in the hundreds of millions of dollars) to promote economic growth, reduce poverty, and strengthen institutions, is embarking on regional projects involving two or more countries. All of these, which could help Africa address its infrastructure issues, are a step in the right direction.

These ventures, acting in concert with European, Japanese, and Indian partners, could have a significant impact on economic growth in Africa and the expansion of Africa as a market for outside goods and services. As currently imagined, Prosper Africa will be a one-stop shop to facilitate increased trade and investment between U.S. and African businesses. The initiative has clear linkages with the AfCFTA, and if implemented fully and embraced, it could generate benefits for both actors.

Both Africa and the United States have an opportunity to increase the quality and scope of their economic exchange, but to do so would require coherent U.S. policy toward the continent. The AfCFTA provides a platform to achieve that.

ANGOLA: OIL REVENUE SET AT AKZ 2 BILLION BY SEPTEMBER

 Luanda - Oil revenues from January to September this year totalled Akz 2.8 billion, with the exporting of 360 million barrels of crude oil.

According to data from the Special Taxation Directorate (DTE) to which ANGOP had access, total revenues were set at an average price of US$43.07 per barrel of oil.

Of the more than two billion kwanzas, the National Concessionaire's (ANPG) revenue until September was Akz 1.9 billion.

The revenues also came from the Oil Income Tax (IRP) of Akz 742.4 billion, the Oil Production Tax (IPP), with 146.3 billion kwanzas and the Oil Transition Tax (ITP), with 44.3 billion kwanzas.

Of the 23 blocks described, the performance of the main operators can be observed, with emphasis on Blocks 17 with 912.8 billion kwanzas, Block 15 with

552.2 billion, Block 32 with 329.1 billion kwanzas, among others.

In the Revised State General Budget (OGER2020) the reference price was set at US$33, when the initial value was US$55.

Petroangola's calculations show a loss of around US$15 million per day in gross oil revenues from 2017 to 2019.

COVID-19: ANGOLA REPORTS 102 RECOVERIES, 77 NEW CASES

 Luanda - Angolan health authorities announced Sunday the recording, in the last 24 hours, of 102 patients recovered from Covid-19, 77 new infections and no death.

According to the Secretary of State for Public Health, Franco Mufinda, who was speaking at the country's usual update session for Covid-19, of those recovered, 101 are in Luanda and one in Cuanza Norte, aged between three and 81.

As for the new positive cases, he pointed out that they involve citizens aged around three weeks and 89 years, 41 males and 36 females.

According to the Government official, 59 cases were diagnosed in Luanda province, 16 in Benguela, one in Bengo and the same number in Zaire.

Angola has 13,451 positive cases, 322 deaths, 6,444 recovered and 6,682 active people.

Of the active cases, 10 are in critical condition with invasive mechanical ventilation, 18 severe, 186 moderate, 392 with mild symptoms and 6,076 asymptomatic.

The health authorities have followed up 602 patients in the country's treatment centres.