''Corona Voice'' - Angola. The tok show with Sofonie Dala. Don't Miss Out. Webisode 23

 Our coronavirus show is live in Angola. Day 23

Coronavirus denialism still holding Africa back.

Our today's guest is Flora, she will share with us the impact of Covid-19 pandemic in her life.

Hello, good afternoon, I'm Flora. I will talk about how the covid-19 affected my personal life.

Well, first of all, I lost my job. Then I stopped studying and my daughters also stopped studying, right now I am at home, but thank God they receive classes at home.

The fear I have of coronavirus?

Well, many people say that covid-19 does not exist. Because in our neighborhood we have never heard of anyone who has caught coronavirus. Mostly young people say that the coronavirus does not exist, they say that we hear there in the North and in the south but never anyone we know has caught coronavirus.

But I am very afraid, especially for my children. Well, I'm really scared of this disease, first I prefer to protect myself and my children. That's all.

Denialism is impeding the ability of African governments to curb the spread of COVID-19. State corruption and poor communication make buying into conspiracy theories tempting, especially for young people.

This is the first and the only Coronavirus show in Angola where the most ordinary citizens show their brilliant talents.

The heroes of the program are the most ordinary citizens - they share with the audience their songs, poems and real stories of how the Coronavirus pandemic affected their lives.

We launched the “Corona Voice show” campaign to provide a space for young women and men around Angola to share their views, experiences and initiatives.

Click here to watch free full webisodes: https://coronavoice-angola.blogspot.com/

Africa Educates Her Campaign - Angola. Season 3. Don't Miss Out! Webisode 9

 Our girls back to school campaign is ongoing

Over 11 million girls may not go back to school after the COVID-19 crisis. When a girl's education is cut short, the impact can be felt for generations. It leaves a vital gap in their community, their country and the world.

Our today's guest is Teresa, she will share with us her academic experience during the time of Covid-19 pandemic.

Hello! My name is Teresa Andre, I am 13 years old and I live in Angola.

I will talk a little about my academic life.

Well, I stopped studying in 2018 due to lack of financial resources. After this event, my parents were having some problems and I went to live with my grandmother. Being there my family managed to raise some money and enrolled me in the 8th grade this year. I studied only until March, then I had to stop due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Now that schools have reopened, have you gone back to school?

No. I didn't go back to school.

Why?

Because of the financial problems

Would you like to go back to school next year?

Yes, I want to go back to school

Have you done anything to continue learning at home?

Not at all, I just check my notebooks.

Have you been complying with the preventive measures against coronavirus?

Yes. I always wash my hands with soap and water, I use mask and disinfect my hands with alcohol gel.

That's all thanks, bye!

11 million.

That’s the number of girls who might not return to school this year due to COVID-19’s unprecedented education disruption. This alarming number not only threatens decades of progress made towards gender equality, but also puts girls around the world at risk of adolescent pregnancy, early and forced marriage, and violence. For many girls, school is more than just a key to a better future. It's a lifeline.

We launched this campaign to ensure that every girl is able to learn while schools are closed and return to the classroom when schools safely reopen. Everyone can play a role in supporting girls ’education - whether you’re a teacher, parent, student, journalist, policymaker, or simply a concerned citizen.

Don't miss this opportunity to bring girls back to school. Tell us your story!

Do you have a personal experience with the coronavirus would you like to share? Or a tip on how your town or community is handling the poverty among women?

FIND SOMEONE TO SPONSOR TODAY

Your sponsorship will help the most vulnerable girls and women to take the first step out of poverty.

Click here to watch free full webisodes: https://she-leads.blogspot.com/

Coventry University #JoinYourAIFuture Data Science Scholarships 2021 - United Kingdom

 Application Deadline: January 4th 2021

Coventry University, United Kingdom is offering a scholarship opportunity to International students who are willing to undergo a degree program at the Institution.

Data is everywhere. As the volume and complexity of data collected continues to grow, there is increasing demand for expertise in data science to support the analysis and visualization of all this information.

The MSc Data Science is a conversion course for graduates from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds looking to pursue a career, or upskill, in this new and rapidly developing field. Data Scientists are in short supply and there is high demand for data science skills across sectors including business, government, healthcare, science, finance, and marketing.

The Office for Students has made 1,000 scholarships available across a number of Universities with the aim of increasing the number of people from underrepresented groups in the AI ​​and data science fields. Applicants to this course at Coventry University may apply for a scholarship of £ 10,000, to be paid in installations to assist students with the financial aspects of studying this degree.

Click here to apply:  http://bit.ly/3pjIOWj

Death toll in western Ethiopia ‘massacre’ reaches 207: Red Cross

 The death toll from a Wednesday attack in the western Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia has risen to 207 people, a volunteer from the country’s Red Cross said.

“Yesterday we buried 207 people who are the victims and 15 more from the attackers,” volunteer Melese Mesfin told Reuters news agency on Friday.

The attack occurred in the village of Bekoji in Bulen county in the Metekel zone. The state-appointed Ethiopian Human Rights Commission initially estimated at least 100 people had been killed.

Meanwhile, nearly 40,000 people have fled their homes due to the fighting, Bulen county spokesman Kassahun Addisu said.

Wednesday’s attack by unidentified gunmen was the latest deadly assault in an area bedevilled by ethnic violence.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed called the attack a “massacre” and deployed federal troops there the next day. The military killed 42 armed men accused of attacking the village.

Since September, there have been waves of violence against the members of the Amhara, Shinasha, Oromo and Agew communities in the region.

Tensions between Ethiopia’s ethnic groups have increased under Abiy, who has been in power since 2018.

Elections due next June have further flamed rivalries over land, power and resources.

In a separate part of the country, Ethiopia’s military has been fighting rebels in the northern Tigray region for more than six weeks in a conflict that has displaced close to 950,000 people.

The deployment of federal troops there has raised fears of a security vacuum in other restive regions.

Ethiopia is also experiencing unrest in the Oromia region and faces long-running security threats from Somali fighters along its porous eastern border.

The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said in a statement on behalf of the bloc that reports of ethnic violence and other allegations of human rights violations should be investigated independently.

The EU is closely following the crisis in Ethiopia and is concerned about the humanitarian situation, added Borrell, describing reports of the continued involvement of non-Ethiopian actors as worrying.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES

Kenya’s sexual violence survivors get justice, though imperfect

 The women gathered around the table as they had done so many times before, united by their shared trauma and wounds. But this time, it was different. This was the moment these survivors of sexual violence had waited for, a wait of 13 years. Two bowed their heads and clasped their hands in prayer.

Moments later, a judge from Kenya’s High Court appeared on the screen of their shared laptop to deliver his judgement in a landmark case seeking to hold the Kenyan government accountable for sexual assaults that occurred during widespread violence following the contested 2007 presidential election. As the judge read the decision aloud, the survivors sat in disbelief; some cried, others were stunned into silence. They could hardly believe that their pain and suffering had finally been acknowledged.

“This has been a great day for us, the court has heard us,” one survivor exulted. “The wait has been very long but worth it. We have been recognised as survivors of SGBV [sexual and gender-based violence]. No one can ever say that our experiences were not real. We feel vindicated.”

The judgement in favour of four of the survivors was a watershed moment for justice in Kenya, the first time that the government has been held responsible for its failure to investigate crimes of sexual violence that took place during the 2007-2008 post-election violence period. It also marked the first time ever that the government was ordered to compensate survivors for the harms they suffered.

“It has been a very long and difficult journey,” said another survivor. “But we have stuck together and today we are happy that the judgement was issued. The court has heard us today.”

The decision – fittingly delivered on December 10, International Human Rights Day – is momentous not only for the four women who have waited so long for the case to be adjudicated, but also for its implications for future prosecutions of these heinous crimes in Kenya and globally.

The case was brought in 2013 by (eight survivors – six women and two men), three Kenyan NGOs, and the international nonprofit, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), where I lead the Kenya office. It was the legal end of the road for the survivors: all other efforts to secure justice – including through the International Criminal Court – had failed.

But what the judgement made abundantly clear is that local mechanisms can hear and deliver judgements in cases of sexual and gender-based violence. Like the ground-breaking 2017 case in which a Congolese mobile court sentenced 11 men to life for crimes against humanity for the rape of dozens of small children, the case in Kenya is emblematic of the growing recognition of domestic processes as a venue for pursuing and securing justice.

As international justice mechanisms falter, we may be seeing the emergence of a novel legal approach focused on domestic, civil lawsuits to seek accountability for atrocities.

Make no mistake: The process was extremely difficult and excruciatingly long, especially for the survivors – who endured unthinkable violence in 2007-2008, filed this case in 2013, and were then subjected to more than seven years of bureaucratic delays, frequent judge changes and countless setbacks. This month, their persistence finally yielded justice.

Despite this important decision, however, justice was imperfectly served in Kenya. Three of the women survivors whom the court awarded were violated by police officers and members of the state security system. The other survivor who was awarded was violated by a non-state actor, but she had reported the case to the police. The four other survivor-petitioners – two women and two men – were attacked by members of gangs, but because they did not report their cases to the police, the court did not acknowledge the state’s responsibility nor award them compensation. This is a profound tragedy.

Identifying the state’s responsibility for crimes committed by state agents is an important and long overdue first step. But we must go further. The state has a clear responsibility to protect civilians and investigate violence from all actors.

For PHR and our co-petitioners, the struggle for accountability and justice continues. As one survivor said: “We all started this journey together as survivors of SGBV. Sticking together has helped us get this judgement. We will continue supporting the rest of the survivors who did not get any compensation from the court because we know they, too, were violated.”

It is critical to persevere not only for the four survivor-petitioners whom the High Court failed to serve, but also for the hundreds and hundreds of Kenyans still suffering, 13 years later, from the unrecognised horror that was inflicted on them in the 2007-8 post-election chaos, and for the survivors all over the world who endure the lasting trauma of sexual violence and dare to hope for justice.