Remembering the last day of Africa Educates Her Campaign - Angola with Sofonie Dala (updated)

 Reaching out of school girls in rural communities

Good evening everyone. We hope life have been fair to you!

Ladies and gentlemen in this scenario we will share with you what remained behind the scenes on the last day of the season 3.

Our everyday motto is "If a poor girl cannot come to the education, then education must go to her.''

Many children took a long walk to reach us and learn something from us. Most of these children have never attended a school, others have been facing big challenges in their student journeys due to extreme poverty and some have never returned since the emergence of covid-19 in Angola in March 2020.

Children are sharing their academic experiences

Special song from Marcia

Hello, my name is Marcia, since we are experiencing difficult moments in this pandemic, I will sing a song that has always comforted me.

Jesus died on the cross for me

Jesus died on the cross for me

he was falling and getting up, 

broken he was, 

abandoned by death

even so, he still said Father forgive them 

because they don't know what they do

 Click here to watch the entire season 

Microsoft Leap Apprenticeship Program 2021 for young Africans

Application Deadline: February 27, 2021 

The Microsoft Leap Apprenticeship Program’s mission is to recruit, develop, and upscale unconventional talent for employability into the technology industry worldwide.

Leap participants are change catalysts and change multipliers: they bring a diverse set of personal experiences and cognitive abilities to their work as well as to their colleagues and communities at Microsoft. They play a vital role in advancing engineering processes, accelerating innovation and activating inclusion as a part of Microsoft culture.

Requirements

We’re looking for candidates who are lifetime learners with broad professional experience to join the Leap Program. We seek individuals who demonstrate passion, resilience, and determination. At Microsoft, our mission is to empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more. That’s what inspires us, drives our work, and pushes us to challenge the status quo every day.

Successful candidates will have graduated from a project/program management boot camp or from a coding academy. They will have at least 6 months of professional project management experience or professional software development experience.

Click here to apply: https://bit.ly/3kiVqeX

GLOBAL FUND RELEASES USD 82.6 MILLION TO FIGHT MALARIA, HIV/AIDS, TB

 The Global Fund for Angola Monday in Luanda released Usd 82.6 million to help the country fight malaria, Hiv/Aids and tuberculosis.

The information was released by the Health minister, Sílvia Lutucuta, on the fringes of the video-conference with the Global Fund.

Sílvia Lutucuta added that the Global Fund grant beat the expectations as there has been a rise from the initial Usd 52 million to Usd 82 million.

She said this is an indication of the trust the Global Fund has about Angolans’ commitment to the projects designed to reduce the impact of the above mentioned diseases.

The minister explained that the Global Fund will help fight the three diseases in the central provinces of Benguela and Cuanza Sul and will also provide assistance for treatment and diagnosis.

According to her, the whole programme includes a strong community component involving prevention and control of the above ailments.

Sílvia Lutucuta reiterated that the Global Fund has been a Health Ministry’s strategic partner and has contributed an additional Usd 6.2 million for laboratories, testing and RTPCR reagents.

ANGOLA REAFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO HUMAN RIGHTS

 Angolan government will continue to endeavour to improve the wellbeing and living of Angolans, as a means to safeguarding the protection of human rights.

This was said Monday in Luanda by Foreign minister Téte António, while addressing the high level 46th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council going online from Geneva (Switzerland).

According to the diplomat, the Angolan government will continue to implement its 2019-2022 National Human Rights Strategy designed to promote and protect human rights, and recognise the relevant role played by civil society organisations on the issue.

“We also believe that an administration closer to the population contributes, in a more significant way, to the effective realisation of the human rights and the Sustainable Development Goals,” he stressed.

"It is within this framework that Angola is preparing to put in place the local power, as soon as the legislative, administrative, financial and sanitary situation in made possible,” added the minister.

According to Téte António, Angola is also committed to abiding by international regulations and by a constructive cooperation with the regional and international human rights mechanisms.

“The fight against corruption and impunity remain one of the pillars of the Angolan government’s new governing paradigm, as they represent a grave threat to sustainable development of the society and negatively impact the realisation of human rights,” the minister also stated.

In this regard, he added that Angola has taken good note of the ongoing High Commissioner’s project concerning the recovery of assets, based on the African Group directions on the negative impact of non-repatriation of funds of illicit origins.

The Foreign minister also appealed for a full cooperation among the member states of the UN Convention on Corruption, with a view to facilitating the retrieval of assets required to fund development projects in applying countries.

The Covid-19 fight

Minister Téte António on the occasion underscored the importance and need for safe, equitable and universal access to the Covid-19 vaccines.

To him, the ongoing session taking place a year after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, when the states continue suffering the burden of the multiple social and economic consequences, comes at the right time.

He on the occasion recalled that due to the aggravation of the socio-economic situation caused by the pandemic, the elevation of the country to the category of Meddle Income nations has been postponed until 2024. 

The minister also recalled that the Angolan government has implemented a number of measures to soften the effects of the sanitary crisis in key sectors of the country, by putting in place credit facilities for companies and money transfer programmes for vulnerable populations.

Minister Téte mentioned the review of the National Development Plan and adhesion to the Debt Service suspension initiative and other measures.

The session going until 23 March, comprises five panels, namely that includes child rights and sustainable development goals, rights of people with disabilities, role of reduction of poverty in promotion and protection of human rights, international decade on people of African descent and celebration of the world day for elimination of racial discrimination.

US deaths at brink of 500K, confirming virus’s tragic reach

 For weeks after Cindy Pollock began planting tiny flags across her yard — one for each of the more than 1,800 Idahoans killed by COVID-19 — the toll was mostly a number. Until two women she had never met rang her doorbell in tears, seeking a place to mourn the husband and father they had just lost.

Then Pollock knew her tribute, however heartfelt, would never begin to convey the grief of a pandemic that has now claimed nearly 500,000 lives in the U.S. and counting.

“I just wanted to hug them,” she said. “Because that was all I could do.”

After a year that has darkened doorways across the U.S., the pandemic is poised to surpass a milestone that once seemed unimaginable, a reminder of the virus’s reach into all corners of the country and communities of every size and makeup.

“It’s very hard for me to imagine an American who doesn’t know someone who has died or have a family member who has died,” said Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics at the University of Washington in Seattle. “We haven’t really fully understood how bad it is, how devastating it is, for all of us.”

Experts warn that over 100,000 more deaths are likely in the next few months, despite a massive campaign to vaccinate people. Meanwhile, the nation’s trauma continues to accrue in a way unparalleled in recent American life, said Donna Schuurman of the Dougy Center for Grieving Children & Families in Portland, Oregon.

At other moments of epic loss, like the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Americans have pulled together to confront crisis and console survivors. But this time, the nation is deeply divided. Staggering numbers of families are dealing with death, serious illness and financial hardship. And many are left to cope in isolation, unable even to hold funerals.

“In a way, we’re all grieving,” said Schuurman, who has counseled the families of those killed in terrorist attacks, natural disasters and school shootings.

In recent weeks, virus deaths have fallen from more than 4,000 reported on some days in January to an average of fewer than 1,900 per day.

Still, at almost half a million, the toll recorded by Johns Hopkins University is already greater than the population of Miami or Kansas City, Missouri. It is roughly equal to the number of Americans killed in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War combined. It is akin to a 9/11 every day for nearly six months.

The toll, accounting for 1 in 5 deaths reported worldwide, has far exceeded early projections, which assumed that federal and state governments would marshal a comprehensive and sustained response and individual Americans would heed warnings.

Instead, a push to reopen the economy last spring and the refusal by many to maintain social distancing and wear face masks fueled the spread.

The figures alone do not come close to capturing the heartbreak.

“I never once doubted that he was not going to make it. … I so believed in him and my faith,” said Nancy Espinoza, whose husband, Antonio, was hospitalized with COVID-19 last month.

The couple from Riverside County, California, had been together since high school. They pursued parallel nursing careers and started a family. Then, on Jan. 25, Nancy was called to Antonio’s bedside just before his heart beat its last. He was 36 and left behind a 3-year-old son.

“Today it’s us. And tomorrow it could be anybody,” Nancy Espinoza said.

By late last fall, 54 percent of Americans reported knowing someone who had died of COVID-19 or had been hospitalized with it, according to a Pew Research Center poll. The grieving was even more widespread among Black Americans, Hispanics and other minorities.

Deaths have nearly doubled since then, with the scourge spreading far beyond the Northeast and Northwest metropolitan areas slammed by the virus last spring and the Sun Belt cities hit hard last summer.

In some places, the seriousness of the threat was slow to sink in.

When a beloved professor at a community college in Petoskey, Michigan, died last spring, residents mourned, but many remained doubtful of the threat’s severity, Mayor John Murphy said. That changed over the summer after a local family hosted a party in a barn. Of the 50 who attended, 33 became infected. Three died, he said.

“I think at a distance people felt ‘This isn’t going to get me,‘” Murphy said. “But over time, the attitude has totally changed from ‘Not me. Not our area. I’m not old enough,’ to where it became the real deal.”

UK PM Boris Johnson’s lockdown exit strategy in full

 Prime Minister Boris Johnson today unveiled his ‘cautious’ lockdown exit strategy which could see life in England return to something close to normal by June at the earliest.

Mr Johnson’s plan for easing restrictions will be split into four separate steps and will see the country treated as a whole, with no return to a tier system. 

The loosening of England’s third national lockdown, imposed amid a winter outbreak of coronavirus in January, will begin on March 8 when all schools across the country will return. 

Rules are then due to be lifted every five weeks to allow four weeks to measure the impact of changes and to give a further week’s notice before the next step comes into force.

However, the Government has stressed that the dates set out in the roadmap are ‘not before dates’ and that they could change depending on the scale of the coronavirus outbreak. 

In his statement to the Commons, Mr Johnson said there are four tests for reopening the country: the success of the vaccine roll-out, evidence that Covid jabs are reducing hospitalisations, infection rates not putting ‘unsustainable pressure’ on the NHS, and whether the risks are ‘fundamentally changed’ by new variants.  

Below is a breakdown of the measures outlined in each step:  

Step One Part One: March 8

SCHOOLS: From March 8, all pupils and students will return to schools and colleges across England.

University students who require practical teaching to complete their studies will also be allowed to return., those who do not need practical teaching will still be banned from campuses with ministers due to conduct a review by the end of the Easter holidays on the options for their return.

So-called wrap-around childcare (including childminders) will also be allowed to resume for all children where it is needed to enable parents or carers to work, seek work, attend education, seek medical care or attend a support group.

Vulnerable children can attend these settings regardless of circumstance. Under-18 sport can take place at school as part of educational provision, or as part of wraparound care, but should not otherwise take place at this time.

In its roadmap, the Government called returning face-to-face education in schools and colleges a ‘national priority’.  It also said there was ‘clear evidence’ that ‘time out of education can be detrimental to children’s future prospects and earning potential, with implications also for long-term productivity’.

The Government also recommends that the use of face coverings in Higher Education, Further Education and secondary schools is extended for a limited period to all indoor environments – including classrooms – unless 2m social distancing can be maintained.

CARE HOMES: Meanwhile, every care home resident in England will be able to nominate a single named visitor who can come in for a regular visit.

The visitor will have to take a rapid lateral flow test every time they visit, wear PPE and keep physical contact to a minimum.

The Government’s stay-at-home order will remain in place, with travel for non-essential purposes still banned.

OTHER: People will be allowed to meet one other person outside for recreation, for example, to have a picnic or to meet for coffee.

Step One Part Two: March 29 

OUTDOOR GATHERINGS AND SPORTS: From March 29, outdoor gatherings of up to six people or a larger group from up to two households will be allowed in private gardens as well as public spaces like parks.

The Government states: ‘Applying either limit provides greater flexibility, recognising the different situations faced by families and individuals; two households will be more helpful for families, while the Rule of Six is likely to help people in different households to reunite outdoors, including those living alone or in shared accommodation.

‘Those eligible to form a support bubble will still be able to do so, enabling close contact for many of those in most need of support, and will continue to be counted as part of the same household.’

Outdoor sports facilities to reopen, such as tennis and basketball courts, and swimming pools, will also ber permitted, broadening the options for outdoor exercise and recreation.

These facilities can be used by people in line with the wider social contact limits. Formally organised outdoor sports – for adults and under 18s – can also restart and will not be subject to the gatherings limits, but should be compliant with guidance issued by national governing bodies.

STAY AT HOME TO BE SCRAPPED: It is at this point that the Government’s stay at home guidance will end, to be replaced by ministers encouraging people to ‘stay local’.

However, the Government is not expected to define exactly what constitutes local, instead choosing to rely on people using their common sense to decide on journeys.

Its roadmap also states: ‘Many of the lockdown restrictions, however, will remain in place. Unless an exemption already applies, it will not be possible to meet people from other households indoors and many business premises will remain shut.

‘Guidance will set out that people should continue to work from home where they can. People should continue to minimise travel wherever possible, and should not be staying away from home overnight at this stage.’

WORK FROM HOME: People will still be told to work from home wherever possible while international travel will still be banned unless it is for essential purposes.

As before, people can leave home for work if they cannot work from home and to escape illness, injury or risk of harm, including domestic abuse.

ELECTIONS: The roadmap explains that Covid-secure council, mayoral and police and crime commissioner elections will go ahead on May 6 in England and Wales.

The Government plans to amend the coronavirus regulations ‘to enable a broader range of campaign-related activity from March 8, but it is essential that this still takes place in a Covid-Secure way, in line with guidance and the law’.

The Scottish and Welsh Governments are responsible for their elections with the exception of the Police and Crime Commissioner Elections in Wales.

Step Two: ‘No earlier than’ April 12

The Government’s roadmap explains that Step Two will take place no earlier than April 12, around four weeks after Step One has been implemented.

The document states that Step Two will reopen some sections of our indoor economy and more outdoor settings, restoring jobs and livelihoods and enabling people to access some activities and services.

However, social contact rules in England will not change further at this point and outdoor gatherings must still be limited to six people or two households as in Step One.

However, if Step Two is delayed, ‘subsequent steps will need to be pushed back in order to maintain the necessary five week period to assess the impact of each step and provide notice’.

HAIRDRESSERS AND NON-ESSENTIAL HOSPITALITY: Non-essential retail will reopen no earlier than April 12 as well as personal care businesses like hairdressers, barbers and nail salons.

Public buildings like libraries, museums and art galleries will be allowed to welcome back customers.

Meanwhile, hospitality venues and outdoor attractions like theme parks will be given the green light to reopen in some form.

However, there will still be rules on household mixing: Essentially any activity which involves being indoors will be restricted to members of the same household.

GYMS AND LEISURE: Gyms and swimming pools will also reopen from at the earliest April 12 but only on the basis that people go on their own or with members of their own household.

PUBS AND RESTAURANTS: Pubs and restaurants will be able to reopen from April 12 at the earliest, but at this point they will only be able to have customers outdoors.

Any visits to a pub or restaurant will have to comply with the rules on social contact, so no more than two households or the rule of six.

The Government will not be bringing back the old requirement for people to order a substantial meal with alcohol while the old 10pm curfew will also be ditched.

All customers at hospitality venues will have to be seated when they order food or drink, with ordering at the bar prohibited.

CAMPSITES AND HOLIDAYS: Campsites and holiday lets where indoor facilities are not shared with other households can also reopen but trips must be restricted to a single household.

WEDDINGS AND FUNERALS: Funerals will be allowed to continue with up to 30 people, while the rules on wedding receptions will be eased to allow the number of guests to increase from six to 15.

LARGE CROWDS: The Government will also launch pilot programmes in April to see how events with large crowds and reduced social distancing could work.

INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL: A new task force looking at how to increase inbound and outbound international travel, while also protecting against importing coronavirus variants, will report on April 12.

The expectation is that international travel will not resume until May 17 at the very earliest.

Step Three: ‘No earlier than’ May 17

Again, Step Three will take place no earlier than 17 May, and at least five weeks after Step Two, following a further review of the data and the four tests. 

Again, the Government will announce one week in advance whether restrictions will be eased as planned. 

In Step Three, all but the most high-risk sectors will be able to reopen. In all sectors, Covid-secure guidance will remain in place and premises must not cater for groups larger than the legal limits, the roadmap states.

TWO HOMES AND RULE OF SIX: The two household and rule of six requirements for outdoor gatherings will be ditched but gatherings of more than 30 people in places like parks will still be illegal.

Crucially, mixing indoors will be allowed again. The rule of six or a larger group from up to two households will be allowed to meet.

However, this will be kept under review by ministers to see if rules could be relaxed still further.

PUBS AND RESTAURANTS: This is also the point at which pubs and restaurants and other hospitality venues will be able to open indoors, with the rule of six and two household limit in place. Larger groups will be able to meet outdoors at a pub.

Entertainment venues like cinemas and children’s play areas will be able to reopen, as will hotels and B&Bs. Indoor adult sports groups and exercise classes can also reopen.

SPORTS AND PERFORMANCE VENUES: Changes will also be made to sporting and performance events in indoor venues with a capacity of 1,000 people or half full, whichever is lower, will be allowed, while outdoors a capacity of 4,000 people will be allowed or half full, whichever is lower.

In the biggest outdoor stadiums, up to 10,000 fans will be allowed to attend matches or a quarter of capacity, whichever is lower.

WEDDINGS AND FUNERALS: Rules on weddings will be eased further, with up to 30 people allowed to attend receptions as well as other life events including christenings.

COVID PASSPORTS: A Government review on whether to introduce vaccine passports or ‘Covid Status Certification’ documents is due to report before Step Four.

It will look at whether the documents, which could show if someone has been tested or if they have had a jab, could help to reopen the economy and make life easier.

MASKS AND SOCIAL DISTANCING: A review of social distancing measures is also due to conclude before Step Four.

It will look at issues like working from home, the wearing of face masks and the one metre plus rule and decide how long such measures will need to be retained.

Step Four: ‘No earlier than’ June 21 

REMAINING RESTRICTIONS: This is the point at which the Government is hoping to lift all of the remaining restrictions on social contact and to reopen sectors of the economy which have not already returned and which could not resume last summer.

For example, this is when night clubs could be allowed to fully reopen while restrictions on large events and performances could also be lifted.

Mass-testing could be used to to reduce the risk of infection at those settings.

The Government will also make a decision on whether all restrictions can be removed on weddings and other life events.

However…

The Government has said that measures may be required even after all adults have been offered a vaccine, because neither coverage nor effectiveness of the vaccine will be 100 per cent.

As a result, a significant proportion of the population will remain vulnerable to infection, some of whom will also be vulnerable to severe disease and death. 

This is reflected in the modelling of different scenarios for unlocking restrictions, which shows that the risk of further cases, hospitalizations and deaths remains after the adult population has been vaccinated, though modellers advise there is considerable uncertainty in these figures.

Virginia lawmakers vote to abolish the death penalty

 State lawmakers gave final approval Monday to legislation that will end capital punishment in Virginia, a dramatic turnaround for a state that has executed more people in its long history than any other.

The legislation repealing the death penalty now heads to Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, who has said he will sign it into law, making Virginia the 23rd state to stop executions.

“There’s a realization that it is time to end this outdated practice that tends to bring more harm to victims’ family members than providing us any comfort or solace,” said Rachel Sutphin, whose father, Cpl. Eric Sutphin, was fatally shot in 2006 while working for the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.

William Morva, the man convicted of killing Eric Sutphin, was executed in 2017. Two years later, Rachel Sutphin was one of 13 family members of murder victims who sent a letter to the General Assembly asking lawmakers to abolish the death penalty.

“By voting for abolition, we are showing the way, that if Virginia — the state with the longest history and the most people executed — if we can do it, so can other states,” Rachel Sutphin said.

Virginia’s new Democratic majority, in full control of the General Assembly for a second year, pushed the repeal effort, arguing that the death penalty has been applied disproportionately to people of color, the mentally ill and the indigent.

“It is vital that our criminal justice system operates fairly and punishes people equitably. We all know the death penalty doesn’t do that. It is inequitable, ineffective, and inhumane,” Northam, House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn and Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw said in a joint statement after the votes.

Republicans raised concerns about justice for victims and their family members, and said there are some crimes that are so heinous that the perpetrators deserve to be executed.

Only two men remain on Virginia’s death row. Anthony Juniper was sentenced to death in the 2004 slayings of his ex-girlfriend, two of her children, and her brother. Thomas Porter was sentenced to die for the 2005 killing of a Norfolk police officer. The repeal legislation would convert their sentences to life in prison without parole.

Algerians mark protest movement anniversary with fresh rallies

 Thousands of protesters marched in the Algerian capital and cities across the country to commemorate two years since the beginning of mass protests that culminated weeks later in the departure of longtime President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

Thousands of protesters marched in the Algerian capital and cities across the country to commemorate two years since the beginning of mass protests that culminated weeks later in the departure of longtime President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

Demonstrators in central Algiers on Monday chanted slogans against the country’s powerful military and President Abdelmadjid Tebboune as they marched towards the iconic Grand Poste building.

“We are not here to celebrate, we are here to demand your departure,” one placard read.

Security checkpoints created traffic jams across the city, with identity checks carried out around key flashpoints. Several arrests were made.

Police tried to block protesters from gathering around the Grand Poste, the epicentre of protests against Bouteflika.

Elsewhere in the country, marches were being held Monday including in Annaba, Oran, Setif and Mostaganem, according to witnesses and accounts on social media.

Origins of the movement

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets on February 22, 2019, to protest against Bouteflika’s bid for a fifth term in office, despite his failing health.

The octogenarian gave in to public pressure, announcing in early April his decision to step down after 20 years in power.

But demonstrations did not stop. People continued staging rallies on a weekly basis to demand a complete overhaul of the political system.

The military, seen by many as the arbiter of power, resisted popular demands for change, pressing ahead with a presidential election in December 2019, which saw Tebboune elected on a record low voter turnout of just under 40 percent.

Demonstrators in central Algiers chanted slogans against the military and the president [Ramzi Boudina/Reuters]

‘Same old people’

Protesters had only suspended marches last March due to coronavirus restrictions, but calls circulated on social media for a return to the streets from Monday.

On the eve of the anniversary, Tebboune announced a limited government reshuffle, in a bid to head off renewed rallies.

The reshuffle saw few major changes by Tebboune, who was once a prime minister under Bouteflika.

Among those retained are Prime Minister Abdelaziz Djerad and Justice Minister Belkacem Zeghmati, seen as a symbol of Algeria’s judicial crackdown on protesters and opposition activists.

Tebboune also signed a decree dissolving parliament, clearing the way for early elections, for which no date has yet been set.

Protesters had only suspended marches last March due to coronavirus restrictions, but calls circulated on social media for a return to the streets from Monday [Ramzi Boudinar/Reuters]

In a gesture of appeasement on Thursday, Tebboune announced pardons that have led so far to the release of almost 40 pro-democracy activists, including opposition figure Rachid Nekkaz and journalist Khaled Drareni, who has become a symbol of the struggle for a free press.Zaki Hannache, a 33-year-old activist, said Hirak supporters were unimpressed by the president’s reshuffle and his call for early legislative polls.

“The reshuffle doesn’t interest me, it’s the same old people. Same thing with parliament, the new ones [deputies] will work, like the current regime, for their own interests, not for the people,” he said.

Last Tuesday, thousands of Algerians rallied in the northern town of Kherrata, where the first major protest erupted in 2019 against Bouteflika’s bid for a fifth presidential term.

SOURCE : AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

UN calls on Somalia to hold delayed polls ‘as soon as possible’

 The United Nations envoy for Somalia has called on leaders in Somalia to reach an agreement on holding elections “as soon as possible”, in comments made days after gunfire broke out during an opposition demonstration in the capital, Mogadishu.

In a quarterly video conference of the UN Security Council, James Swan on Monday urged “all of Somalia’s political leaders to pull back from confrontation and avoid risky winner-take-all tactics”.

“Instead, this is a time to pursue dialogue and compromise to reach an inclusive and credible political agreement to hold elections as soon as possible based on the 17 September model,” he added.

President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed – better known by his nickname Farmaajo – and regional leaders had reached an agreement on September 17 that abandoned a promised one-person, one-vote ballot but offered a common path forward for elections.

But they have since been unable to resolve difference over how the polls are to be conducted.

The country missed a deadline to hold an election by February 8, when Farmaajo was due to step down. Amid the constitutional crisis, a coalition of opposition candidates had said it no longer recognises Farmaajo as president and has pledged mass protests until he steps down.

“I remain convinced that the consensus-based 17 September model offers the best available option to proceed quickly to an electoral process for selection of members of parliament, senators and the president,” Swan said.

“The message from partners has been clear that there should be no partial elections, no parallel processes and no unilateral actions by Somali leaders. Such approaches would only lead to greater division and risk of confrontation,” the UN envoy warned.

On Friday, a small group of protesters attempted to march down the main airport road in Mogadishu when shots rang out, sending them ducking for cover. It was unclear who opened fire first.

The violence has subsided since, but the months-old political tensions have not eased, said Francisco Madeira, head of the African Union’s Somalia mission.

He also called for credible elections to be held as soon as possible.

In Somalia, where the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab armed group remains active, the fragile federal government controls only part of the territory, despite the support of the African Union force, largely funded by the European Union.

The mandate of this force expires on February 28 and is expected to be renewed this weekend by the UN Security Council.

Acting US Ambassador Richard Mills, who also called for elections to be held, said on Monday the United States was joining Somalia in calling for some al-Shabab leaders to be placed on a UN sanctions list.

“Today we joined with the federal government of Somalia in co-nominating three senior Al-Shabab leaders, Abukar Ali Adan, Maalim Ayman and Mahad Karate, to the 751 Somalia sanctions list,” he said.

These sanctions include the possibility of asset freezes and travel bans.

“These designations demonstrate that the international community will hold accountable those who undermine Somalia peace, security and stability,” Mills said.

SOURCE : NEWS AGENCIES

It’s high time Ghana recognized gay rights – Inusah Fuseini

 Former Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, Lawyer Inusah Fuseini has said it’s time Ghana recognised the existence of Gay Rights.

Speaking in an interview monitored by MyNewsGh.com on Okay FM Monday, Mr. Inusah Fuseini said gay rights is now a matter of rights which a nation like Ghana should recognize because it is a matter “new rights” emerging.

“As a Muslim, I cannot be seen to be practicing it but that is me as a Muslim, but as a lawyer, new rights are emerging and it is time that we recognize the existence of those new rights,” he said.

He however said as a Muslim, he cannot be seen to practice and or support the activities of gays and Lesbians, but as a lawyer who understands the position of the law, he believes Ghana should recognize the right.

“As a Muslim, I cannot support the activities of the Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgender, Queer Intersex but if you ask me as a lawyer, I think that we are fighting a losing battle. If we want to create a right-based society, it means that if someone has the right to do something, you cannot prevent that person from doing it,” he added.

“If you prevent the person, then you are not creating an open society. Even in our criminal code which we borrowed from our colonial masters, we have unnatural canal knowledge introduced by the British, but now that law is no longer in Britain, new ones were born. They said that that law violates some rights,” he stressed.

He revealed that LGBTQ happens every day in Ghanaian society but is unspoken about.

“Within the cultural context, many things happen. Let me say that homosexuality within our homes, it happens but it happens underground because the cultural set up does not accept or tolerate and considers homosexuality an abominable,” he indicated.

“But as times go on, some cultural practices will give way. Once upon a time, people could not smoke wee in the whole world over but today we have found a way to make wee medicinal . . . in Ghana, Akpeteshie used to be a banned substance initially but as time went on, the people accepted it. As new knowledge begins to emerge people will begin to understand,” he argued.

If you thought he was only speaking on the issue now because it is trending, you’re wrong, as he revealed he read a number of books on the subject matter and is now speaking about it with only facts.

“I have read a lot of books about homosexuality, queerness, lesbianism, so on. It is not something that started recently; it is a stone-age issue that can be traced in the Old Testament, but there has been a determined effort to keep society cohesive and to ensure that the God-right to multiply is not hindered. There have always been those practices, even in pre-historic time,” he stated.

WHO chief urges rich nations not to undermine COVAX scheme

 The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has pleaded with rich countries to check before ordering additional COVID-19 vaccine shots for themselves whether that undermines efforts to get vaccine shots to poorer nations.

Wealthy nations have snapped up several billion vaccine doses and some countries have ordered enough shots to vaccinate their populations more than once, while some countries in the developing world have little or none.

A successful global vaccination campaign is considered to be key to stemming the pandemic.

European nations have given financial support to the UN-backed COVAX scheme, which aims to get vaccines to the world’s most vulnerable people and are considering sharing some of their own doses – though they have not specified when.

On Friday, leaders of the Group of Seven industrial powers said they would accelerate global vaccine development and deployment and support “affordable and equitable access to vaccines” and treatments for COVID-19.

They cited a collective $7.5bn from the G7 to UN-backed efforts.

A successful global vaccination campaign is considered to be key to stemming the pandemic.

European nations have given financial support to the UN-backed COVAX scheme, which aims to get vaccines to the world’s most vulnerable people and are considering sharing some of their own doses – though they have not specified when.

On Friday, leaders of the Group of Seven industrial powers said they would accelerate global vaccine development and deployment and support “affordable and equitable access to vaccines” and treatments for COVID-19.

They cited a collective $7.5bn from the G7 to UN-backed efforts.

Tedros, who has previously warned that the world faces a “catastrophic moral failure” if COVID-19 vaccines are not distributed fairly, said he understands the political pressures leaders in high-income countries face.

They should, he added, tell voters that “the best way to protect you is not only to vaccinate you, but vaccinate the rest of the world, share the vaccine with the rest of the world”.

“If this virus is not defeated everywhere, we cannot defeat it globally. It will have a safe haven somewhere and can strike back,” Tedros said, adding that countries left behind in vaccinating could also become “breeding grounds for new variants”.

Calls for increased production

Tedros underlined the importance of using every opportunity to step up vaccine production “because, with increased production, the pie is increased, then there is a better volume to share”.

“Otherwise, with shortages, sharing is difficult,” he said. “And that’s exactly what’s happening now.”

Steinmeier conceded that money alone was not the solution, adding that vaccines were still a “scarce commodity”.

While refusing to be drawn on how many of its doses Germany would donate and when, Steinmeier said sharing the vaccines was in everyone’s interest.

“This is not easy but it is a question of humanity,” the German head of state said, adding that distributing vaccines, tests and medicines during the pandemic was a “litmus test for global solidarity”.

French President Emmanuel Macron has called in recent days on rich nations to donate 4-5 percent of their vaccine stock to developing countries in Africa as quickly as possible.

The 27-nation European Union is among the regions where authorities face pressure over a sluggish start to vaccination efforts. The bloc secured deals last week for millions of additional vaccines.

SOURCE : NEWS AGENCIES