Corona Voice - Angola. The tok show with Sofonie Dala. Don't Miss Out! Day 52

 Our Corona Voice show is live in Angola. Day 52

Bravo to all of the young Africans who are already creatively responding to the consequences of COVID-19 or other daily development challenges in the region.

Our today's guest is Gaspar, he will share with us the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on his life as a teacher.

Good afternoon, I'm Gaspar Estove, a primary school teacher. I would like to share the impact that Covid-19 has caused in our lives and Angola's populace in general.

This disease has brutally impacted schools and being a chemistry and biology teacher I was also affected.

The covid-19 created a tragic situation mainly for students, there are many complications and it is being difficult to deal with the situation, some have lost the academic year but we cannot lose hope because covid-19 is not greater than our God.

In the Book of Psalms 23 it says: Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,

for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Therefore, I want these words to serve as comfort and let us understand that nothing is lost yet. We can still fight for life, covid-19 has come to teach us that we still have the ability to overcome our challenges.

Since primary education was the sector most affected in Angola. How has covid-19 affected your life as a teacher? Didn't it impact your job?

I witnessed it and saw students dropping out of school, it was very sad.

Many families were disgraced to the point that they could no longer keep their children in school.

This negatively impacted my job, I lost a double salary.

How did it affect the school in general?

As I said before, one of the biggest losses we had was the absence of students because parents were no longer able to pay for their children's studies.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted even more the glaring injustices and disparities within our societies, and is giving us the chance to reflect on what is important to us. This is an opportunity that we should not squander. Instead, we should use it to recharge, refocus, reorganize and reinvent our ideas, to reform the status quo for a more inclusive and resilient Africa.

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

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.

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Your sponsorship will help the most affected people by covid-19 to take the first step out of poverty.

Africa Educates Her Campaign - Angola. Season 3. Don't Miss Out! Webisode 37

 Our girls back to school campaign is ongoing. Day 37

Education helps protect girls. Education helps in the fight against child marriages and against infant mortality. Because of their education women can better contribute to making their community a fair and more including place.

Today we invited Clara, she will share with us her academic journey.

Hello good afternoon! My name is Clara Makuenge, today I'm going to talk about my academic life.

Clara could share your academic life with us. Do you study?

No, I stopped studying in 2015.

What class were you in at the time?

I was studying in the 9th grade.

How old were you at the time?

I was 15 years old.

What were the reasons that made you stop studying?

I had some financial problems.

Would you like to go back to school?

Yes, I would. If someone turns up willing to pay for my studies, I'd take it.

Are you married? Do you have children?

I am not married, I have a daughter.

Does your daughter study?

No, my daughter is a 4-month-old baby.

Despite not being a student, have you ever tried to create some mechanisms to continue learning?

Yes, I have been reading a lot, studying at home and doing a lot of research.

Have you been following the coronavirus prevention measures?

Yes I am following.

What are the preventive measures against the coronavirus?

To wash our hands constantly with soap and water, disinfect them with the gel alcohol and use the face mask.

Aren't you afraid of the coronavirus?

No no, I'm not afraid.

Girls with a degree grow up to become women investing 90% of their incomes in their family; Household incomes may increase with 25% for each year of additional schooling and mothers with a degree are twice as likely to send their children to school.

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

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 are 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.

Italian PM Giuseppe Conte resigns after losing his majority

 Mr. Conte will officially inform his colleagues of his intentions at a cabinet meeting tomorrow. He will then go to the presidential palace to formally hand in his resignation.

As head of state, President Sergio Mattarella could reject his offer or tell him to form another coalition.

But with the president’s insistence on strong leadership during the coronavirus pandemic, there is also a chance he will accept the resignation and dissolve parliament, triggering an election two years early.

Mr. Conte survived two confidence votes in parliament last week, but then lost his absolute majority in the Senate after centrist ally and former PM Matteo Renzi defected.

This would make it much more difficult to pass legislation or make decisions on the COVID-19 crisis, which has devastated Italy’s long-suffering economy.

The Italian PM has led a long-bickering center-left coalition for 16 months.

For the 15 months before that, he headed a government with the populist 5-Star Movement, parliament’s largest party, but in coalition with the right-wing League party of Matteo Salvini.

That first government collapsed when Mr. Salvini pulled his support in a failed bid to win the premiership for himself.

Mr. Conte’s resignation comes on the same day his government wrote to drug giant Pfizer, demanding it honor Italy’s order of COVID vaccines amid concerns about delays.

Last week Pfizer warned that doses of the vaccine may be slow to arrive while it scales up production of its plant in Belgium.

CAR hands over war crimes suspect to ICC

 ICC arrests alleged commander of Seleka militia on charges of war crimes committed during violence in Bangui in 2013.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has taken into custody a former Central African Republic (CAR) militia commander suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In a statement on Sunday, the court said authorities in CAR handed over Mahamat Said Abdel Kani, a leader of the Seleka faction, on account of an ICC arrest warrant issued under seal on January 7, 2019. The warrant relates to alleged crimes committed in the country’s capital, Bangui, in 2013.

A date for his initial appearance in The Hague has not yet been set.

Said’s arrest comes against the backdrop of a state of emergency in the CAR, with fighting between the country’s army, backed by UN, Russian and Rwandan troops and rebels seeking to overturn a December 27 vote in which President Faustin-Archange Touadera was declared the winner.

The Central African Republic has been mired in violence since a coalition of mostly northern and predominantly Muslim rebels known as Seleka, or “alliance” in the Sango language, seized power from then-President Francois Bozize in March 2013. Their brutal rule gave rise to the opposing Anti-balaka Christian militias, several of the group’s former leaders also face charges at the ICC.

The violence left thousands dead and displaced hundreds of thousands more.

Said, 50, was a Seleka commander during the bloodshed, the court said. In that capacity, he is suspected of being responsible for the crimes against humanity of imprisonment, torture, persecution, enforced disappearance and other inhumane acts; and the war crimes of torture and cruel treatment.

He has not yet been transferred to the court in the Dutch city of The Hague, an ICC spokesman said. Reports said he was due to arrive in the Netherlands on Monday.

“I welcome today’s transfer of the suspect, Mr. Mahamat Said Abdel Kani … to face justice for his alleged crimes as charged before the ICC,” said prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in a statement.

“As I have previously stated, my office will relentlessly pursue justice for the victims of atrocities in the Central African Republic … irrespective of which side of the conflict they may be on.”

Two other suspects in the violence in the CAR are currently on trial at the ICC.

Former Anti-balaka chief Alfred Yekatom, accused of crimes against humanity, was handed over to the ICC in 2018.

Sri Lanka’s cremation of COVID dead a ‘human rights violation’

 UN’s human rights experts says gov’t policy a violation of human rights and could ‘foment existing prejudices’.

The United Nations has urged the Sri Lankan government to halt its policy of forced cremations of coronavirus victims, a practice it said went against the beliefs of the country’s Muslims and other minority populations.

Ignoring the World Health Organization’s guidelines – which permit burials and cremations – Sri Lanka made cremation mandatory in March last year for people who die, or are suspected to have died, from the coronavirus.

The UN’s human rights experts said on Monday the policy could “foment existing prejudices, intolerance and violence”.

“The imposition of cremation as the only option for handling the bodies confirmed or suspected of COVID-19 amounts to a human rights violation,” the experts said in a statement.

“There has been no established medical or scientific evidence in Sri Lanka or other countries that burial of dead bodies leads to increased risk of spreading communicable diseases such as COVID-19.”

The UN experts noted that while the government tasked health authorities to explore burial options amid the pandemic, the advice of a panel of experts to include both burial and cremations as options was allegedly ignored.

“We are concerned to learn that the recommendation to include both cremation and burial options for the disposal of bodies of COVID-19 victims by a panel of experts appointed by the State Minister for Primary Health Services, Pandemics and COVID Prevention was reportedly disregarded by the Government,” the experts noted.

“We hope that the report of local burial options by the main committee referred to by the Health Minister will be available soon and that the authorities will stop pursuing a burial solution in a foreign country.”

Amnesty International also called on authorities to “respect the right of religious minorities to carry out the final rites” according to their own traditions.

“We are concerned to learn that the recommendation to include both cremation and burial options for the disposal of bodies of COVID-19 victims by a panel of experts appointed by the State Minister for Primary Health Services, Pandemics and COVID Prevention was reportedly disregarded by the Government,” the experts noted.

“We hope that the report of local burial options by the main committee referred to by the Health Minister will be available soon and that the authorities will stop pursuing a burial solution in a foreign country.”

Amnesty International also called on authorities to “respect the right of religious minorities to carry out the final rites” according to their own traditions.

Fear of discrimination

Moreover, the UN said pursuing the policy of forced cremations would only deter people from seeking healthcare over “fears of discrimination”.

“We are equally concerned that such a policy deters the poor and the most vulnerable from accessing public healthcare over fears of discrimination,” the experts warned.

Several protests were reported across northeastern Sri Lanka last month against the forced cremations, with many tying white ribbons to the gates of a crematorium as a sign of anger.

Many others protested online, claiming that Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa was using the pandemic to marginalize Sri Lanka’s minorities, especially Muslims.

Muslims, who account for 10 percent of Sri Lanka’s 21 million population, have had a strained relationship with the majority of Sinhala Buddhists, deteriorating in the years after the end of civil war in 2009 during which hardline Buddhist groups were blamed for several attacks against Muslims’ businesses and places of worship.

Following the deadly Easter attacks in April 2019 that killed more than 250 people, Muslims have faced increased hostility from the Sinhala majority.

A little-known Muslim organisation was blamed for the island nation’s worst attack since the civil war fought between the government forces and the Tamil separatist fighters.