I miss Africa Educates Her Campaign with Sofonie Dala. And you?

Girls back to school campaign - Angola

Teen pregnancy compromises young girls’ development opportunities, as dropping out of school hinders their formal education, resulting in employment and productive disadvantages, while making them vulnerable to poverty, violence, crime and social exclusion.

Today we invited Osana, she will share with us a little of her academic life.

It has been difficult to pay for my studies and at the same time support my baby

Hello, good afternoon! My name is Osana Manuel, I'm 22 years old and I'm going to share my academic life with you.

Unfortunately, I became pregnant at the age of 18. I gave birth to my son, finished high school and even managed to enter the first year of university. But I was forced to lock the school year because of financial problems.

How long have you been without studying?

I stopped studying in 2019. I locked the year because it has been difficult to pay for my studies and at the same time support my baby.

Osana, aren't you married? I'm not married. Unfortunately my relationship with my son's father did not work so I am a single mother.

Would you like to go back to school if an opportunity came up?

I would really like to go back to school because study is one of my biggest focuses. I attend many short courses  but I really want to finish university.

How did covid-19 impact your life?

The covid-19 disease was practically a disgrace, I was working and suddenly I stopped because of the covid-19 pandemic. I am now unemployed. Till today I'm sitting at home.

Thank you!

Nearly one-third of teen girls who have dropped out of high school cite early pregnancy or parenthood as a key reason. Only 40 percent of teen moms finish high school, and less than two percent of teen mothers (those who have a baby before age 18) finish college by age 30.

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.

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

There is a time for everything. A Lesson from Ecclesiastes 3

 There is a time for everything we experience in life. God knows what has happened, what is happening and what will happen. He knows that there is an appointed time for every single thing under heaven. Nothing is new to him. All the seasons of life are normal parts of our days. God is with us through it all. He is there with us in every moment.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you…” Isaiah 43:2

Times to laugh and cry. Times to plant and tear up. Times to speak and times to be silent.

Times to move to another country or change ministry positions or start a new work in a hard place. Times to sit by the pool, go for a run, read a book or watch Netflix.

Times to learn and grow. Times to put it all into practice.

Why is it that when circumstances aren’t “good” or going the way we desire, that we assume that something is wrong and out of control? To be sure, if we sin we should expect there will be consequences, but in the normal course of life there are ups and downs. Some people think everything that is “up” is of God and everything that is “down” is from Satan. Although this might be true at times, the greater truth is that God is sovereign and ALWAYS in control. If the greatest biblical examples such as Joseph, Moses, Daniel, David, Job, Paul, and so many others who experienced suffering and hardship within the will of God for their lives, then how should we deal with the same?

Ecclesiastes 3

1There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—

2A time to give birth and a time to die;

A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.

3A time to kill and a time to heal;

A time to tear down and a time to build up.

4A time to weep and a time to laugh;

A time to mourn and a time to dance.

5A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;

A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.

6A time to search and a time to give up as lost;

A time to keep and a time to throw away.

7A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;

A time to be silent and a time to speak.

8A time to love and a time to hate;

A time for war and a time for peace.

9What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils? 10I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves. 11He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

UN Food Systems Summit 2021, the Youth Alliance for Zero Hunger is organizing a Food Systems Dialogue

 We invite young people to participate in this video challenge. Selected participants will have the chance to engage with global policy makers at the Food Systems Dialogue organized by the Youth Alliance.

Your videos will also serve as inputs to the Global Youth Food Pledge & Actions 4 change of the Food Foundation & GAIN!!

The deadline to send your videos is the 10th April and the Food Systems dialogue will be held in May.

Don't miss out on the opportunity!!

We would really appreciate it if you could share this information widely with your youth networks and contacts.

Best regards,

youth4zerohunger@gmail.com

--

Youth Alliance for Zero Hunger

Sharon Osbourne rejects racism claims as CBS confirms The Talk will remain on hiatus

 

US daytime TV show The Talk will remain on hiatus for another week after a discussion about racism involving co-host Sharon Osbourne went off the rails, CBS says.

The network said it was committed to “a process where all voices are heard, claims are investigated and appropriate action is taken where necessary”.

Osbourne reacted angrily last week during a discussion about British television personality Piers Morgan, who she describes as a friend.

Morgan left the Good Morning Britain show after he said he didn’t believe Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, when she said in an interview that she had considered suicide when unhappy with her life in Britain’s royal family.

A fellow host, Sheryl Underwood, asked Osbourne: “What would you say to people who may feel that, while you’re standing by your friend, it appears that you gave validation or safe haven to something that he has uttered that is racist, even if you don’t agree?”

Osbourne replied angrily, using words that were bleeped out, and said she felt like she was being placed on “the electric chair” for having a friend who some people thought was racist.

The emotional discussion continued after a commercial break. At one point Osbourne said to Underwood: “Don’t try to cry. If anyone should be crying, it should be me.”

Osbourne claimed later that the show’s producers told her off-screen that CBS had ordered she be confronted about her support for Morgan.

‘I am still learning’

CBS has not addressed that accusation, and would not say precisely what claims it was investigating.

In a statement, the network said it was “committed to a diverse, inclusive and respectful workplace across all of our productions”.

Addressing the controversy earlier this week, Osbourne — the wife of rock star Ozzy Osbourne, who came to fame during MTV’s series about the family — apologised for her comments, adding she “panicked, felt blindsided” and “got defensive” when “accused of being racist”.

“There are very few things that hurt my heart more than racism, so to feel associated with that spun me fast,” she wrote on Twitter after the show aired.

“I am not perfect, I am still learning like the rest of us [and] will continue to learn, listen and do better.”

She also rejected claims made by Holly Robinson Peete, one of the program’s original hosts who exited the program in 2011, that she had called her “too ghetto”.

Peete suggested the comments played a role in her departure, tweeting that she was “mortified watching the disrespectful condescending tone [Osbourne] took” with Underwood last week.

“Never in my life did I utter the words that Holly was ‘too ghetto’ to be on the Talk, as well as not having her fired,” Osbourne wrote in response.

CBS said the show was expected back on the air next Tuesday.

AP/ABC

………………………………………………………………

Germany arrests ex-Gambian elite guard complicit in Jammeh ‘murders’

German police detained a Gambian man on Tuesday suspected of participating in crimes against humanity, including the killing of a journalist, as a driver in the elite guard of former President Yahya Jammeh, Germany’s federal prosecutor said.

The Federal Public Prosecutor General (GBA) identified the suspect as Bai L., under German privacy rules which bar releasing the surname of suspects.

It said the suspect had been a member of Jammeh’s elite guard, known as “the junglers,” for three years starting in December 2003, and on at least three occasions drove officers to locations where they fired on the president’s opponents.

According to a German judicial official, one of those was journalist Deyda Hydara, a critic of Jammeh’s government who was shot dead in 2004 on the outskirts of the capital Banjul.

A Gambian army officer, Malick Jatta, testified two years ago before a truth commission in Gambia that he and two colleagues had shot Hydara dead on the ex-president’s orders.

Bai L. was also charged with being the driver in attacks against a lawyer in 2003, and against another unidentified opponent of Jammeh, probably in 2006.

Police had searched his apartment in the northern city of Hannover, the GBA said. It did not say whether his arrest had been requested by Gambia.

Jammeh fled to Equatorial Guinea in 2017 after losing a presidential election, bringing an end to 22 years in power marked by extrajudicial killings, torture and forced disappearances as well as the embezzling of state assets.

………………………………………………………………

Libya arms embargo ‘totally ineffective’: UN

 The arms embargo imposed on Libya since 2011 is “totally ineffective,” say UN experts in a stark report released on Tuesday which underscores “extensive, blatant” violations by actors including its own member states.

The six experts charged with monitoring the embargo on the civil war-torn state pointed the finger at an array of international backers on both sides of its conflict, plus private mercenaries and non-state actors – including the Russian Wagner group as well as former Blackwater head Erik Prince.

They used photos, diagrams and maps to support their accusations in the report of 550-plus pages, which covers the period from October 2019 to January 2021.

“The arms embargo remains totally ineffective. For those member states directly supporting the parties to the conflict, the violations are extensive, blatant and with complete disregard for the sanctions measures,” they wrote.

“Their control of the entire supply chain complicates detection, disruption or interdiction,” the report continued, explaining that both factors “make any implementation of the arms embargo more difficult.”

The experts have been denouncing violations of the embargo for years.

Libya has been torn by chaotic war since a NATO-backed uprising led to the toppling then killing of longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

The country has in recent years been split between a Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli, and an eastern-based administration, backed by strongman Khalifa Haftar. But earlier this week, a unity government – chosen via a UN-supported process – was sworn in, raising hopes for an end to the conflict.

Haftar’s international supporters – including the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Russia, Syria, and Egypt – have all been singled out in previous UN reports or in the one published on Tuesday.

Turkey and Qatar, which support the authorities in Tripoli, have also been named by the experts.

They have identified Russian mercenaries from the private Wagner group, as well as up to 13,000 Syrian rebels and Chadian or Sudanese groups, all acting for one side or the other.

Tuesday’s report strongly reinforces the earlier accusations and adds more, such as the one aimed at Erik Prince, founder of the now-defunct Blackwater security company and a fierce supporter of former American President Donald Trump.

Prince has denied the accusation he sent or wanted to send a force of foreign mercenaries and weapons to Haftar in 2019.

Bribes for power

The experts estimate that up to 2,000 Wagner mercenaries have been deployed in Libya.

“Notwithstanding the ceasefire agreement of 25 October 2020, there have been no indications of any withdrawal from Libya by ChVK Wagner,” they wrote.

Another private Russian company, Rossiskie System Bezopasnosti Group, is cited for its role in refurbishing fighter jets; while the Turkish military contractor SADAT, which has denied any illegal activity in Libya, is also on the list of those incriminated.

The experts reached an identical conclusion when it came to economic sanctions levelled at individuals or entities, citing a “persistent lack of transparency”.

“Implementation of the assets freeze and travel ban measures with regard to designated individuals remains ineffective,” they wrote.

They also say officials in Libya’s east “have continued their efforts to illicitly export crude oil and to import aviation fuel.”

Refined petroleum products continue to be illicitly exported by land, the report said, adding that while the activity is small it has increased compared with previous years, particularly in western Libya.

The UN experts recommended that the Security Council impose “flag deregistration; a landing ban; and an overflight ban” on aircraft identified as having violated the embargo.

They also asked it to “authorise member States to inspect, on the high seas off the coast of Libya, vessels… that they have reasonable grounds to believe are illicitly exporting or attempting to export crude oil or refined petroleum products.”

The report also said at least three participants in UN-led peace talks held in Tunisia in November were offered bribes to vote for a prime ministerial candidate.

Interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, who was sworn in on Monday, has called the report fake and asked the UN experts to make public the report that alleged vote-buying.

………………………………………………………………

Atlanta shootings: Asian women among eight killed at 3 US spas

 At least eight people, most of them Asian women, were killed in shootings at three different spas in the US state of Georgia on Tuesday, with a 21-year-old white man in custody on suspicion of staging all three attacks, police said.

The shootings came with many Asian Americans already on edge following a recent spike in hate crimes against the community and triggered immediate fears that Asian-run businesses may have been deliberately singled out.

Four of the victims were killed at Young’s Asian Massage near Acworth, a suburb of Georgia’s capital city Atlanta, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper reported.

Law enforcement personnel leave a massage parlor where a person was shot and killed on March 16, 2021, in Atlanta, Georgia. [Elijah Nouvelage/AFP]

Captain Jay Baker of the Cherokee County sheriff’s office told the paper the victims were two Asian women, a white woman and a white man, while a Hispanic man was wounded.

The Atlanta police department separately confirmed that four women were found dead at two business establishments in northeast Atlanta, identified as the Gold Massage Spa and Aroma Therapy spa.

Police told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that all four Atlanta victims were Asian women.

Baker did not say if investigators suspect that Asian Americans were specifically targeted.

“Nothing’s going to be ruled out,” he said. “We’re conducting a homicide, a multiple homicide investigation. So wherever the evidence leads us, that’s where the investigators will go.”

Authorities have identified Robert Aaron Long as a suspect in all three shootings.

This handout booking photo released by the Crisp County Sheriff’s Office on March 16, 2021 shows 21-year-old shooting suspect Robert Aaron Long [Crisp County Sheriff’s Office Handout/AFP]

Based on the pattern of surveillance video from the shooting scenes, Atlanta police spokesman Sergeant John Chafee told the AFP news agency: “It is extremely likely our suspect is the same as Cherokee County’s, who is in custody.”

“We are working closely with them to confirm with certainty our cases are related,” he added.

Long was taken into custody after a “brief pursuit” about 240 kilometres (150 miles) from Atlanta, according to a statement by the Georgia Department of Safety on Facebook.

Describing the scene in northeast Atlanta, the city police department said: “Upon arrival, officers located three females deceased inside the location from apparent gunshot wounds.”

While on the scene, officers were advised of shots fired across the street, where they found a fourth female victim.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation was assisting in the investigation, a spokesman told AFP.

‘Marginalised minorities’

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in statement that its diplomats in Atlanta have confirmed from police that four of the victims who died were women of Korean descent.

The shootings come as reports of attacks against Asian-Americans, primarily elders, have spiked in recent months –  heightened during the COVID-19 pandemic, activists believe, by talk of the “Chinese virus” by former President Donald Trump and others.

The New York police department’s counterterrorism bureau said it was “monitoring the shooting of Asian Americans in Georgia” and deploying officers “to our great Asian communities across the city out of an abundance of caution,” though it added there was no known link to the city.

A police officer stands outside a massage parlor where three people were shot and killed on March 16, 2021, in Atlanta, Georgia. [Elijah Nouvelage/AFP]

While racial motivation can be hard to establish, a study by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at CSU San Bernardino found that reported anti-Asian hate crimes nearly tripled from 49 to 122 cases last year across 16 big US cities including New York and Los Angeles – even as overall hate crime fell seven percent.

Georgia is home to nearly 500,000 Asian residents, or just over four percent of its population, according to the Asian American Advocacy Fund.

The Democratic party in Georgia called Tuesday’s shooting spree “horrifying.”

“As details continue to emerge, this attack sadly follows the unacceptable pattern of violence against Asian Americans that has skyrocketed throughout this pandemic,” said Congresswoman Nikema Williams, who is also the state party’s chairwoman.

“Today’s tragic killings in #Atlanta reaffirm the need for us to step up and protect ALL of America’s marginalized minorities from racism,” tweeted Ben Crump, a lawyer known for representing several high-profile Black victims of police brutality in the United States in recent years.

In an address to the nation last Thursday, President Joe Biden forcefully condemned what he called “vicious hate crimes against Asian Americans who have been attacked, harassed, blamed and scapegoated.”

“It’s wrong. It’s un-American. And it must stop,” he said.

………………………………………………………………

Black Stars players did not help Muntari in Brazil fiasco – Agyemang Badu

 Former Black Stars midfielder, Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu has said Black Stars players including himself did not help Sulley Ali Muntari in Brazil’s fiasco.

Muntari was sacked from the camp of the Black Stars together with Kevin-Prince Boateng during the tournament in 2014 due to indiscipline.

The former AC and Inter Milan midfielder has not represented the national team since 2014.

According to Agyemang Badu, Muntari always stood up for his teammates who never backed him up in public.

“I think as players we did not help Sulley Muntari in some situations.”

“I am also guilty I cannot exclude myself.”

“Most of the time he stood up for the team.”

“However, we never mentioned it when we were out of camp.”

“He would receive all the bashing because everyone is looking out for himself.”

“I need to be real because there are times when it really hurts me,” he revealed on Citi Tv’s The Tracker.

Badu recently announced his retirement from international duty after making 78 appearances for Ghana and scoring 11 goals in the process.

………………………………………………………………

Ghana: Young women in politics urged to use intellectual capabilities to propel development

 Young women in politics have been urged to use their intellectual capabilities to propel the development of the country.

Madam Juliana Abbeyquaye, the Eastern Regional Director of the Department of Gender, also asked people not to underrate young women who strive to take up leadership roles and engage in politics.

“Often time people turn to ask questions such as what can this young woman do when we vote for her to take up the leadership role,” she said.

Madam Abbeyquaye was speaking at the opening of the second session of the West Africa Young Women in Politics Forum in Accra by the Gender Centre for Empowering Development (GenCED) and National for Democracy, both non-governmental organizations.

The two-day forum brought together 30 participants, mostly young women, from Ghana, Nigeria, Niger, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Mali, and The Gambia.

They are expected to discuss topics such as Challenges of Young women’s participation in ECOWAS in the advent of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Building gender-sensitive structures within political parties to promote the participation of young women, and Public Speaking.

Other topics are tackling gender-based violence against young women in political parties and the role of culture and religion as barriers in political participation.

Madam Abbeyquaye called for more stakeholder involvement in sensitizing the public against all forms of violence against women and the erroneous perception that young women in politics were for sexual objectification.

Ms. Afia Adepa, a Member of the Loyal Ladies of the New Patriotic Party and a participant, said women should be included in decision making as they made

excellent judgments.

Ms. Rahinatu Issifu, Ablekumah South Constituency National Democratic Congress Deputy Treasurer, recalled how she braced all odds to attain a position in her party and urged women not to give up in the struggle for leadership roles.

Ms. Elorm Atakli, the Project Director of GenCED, said the forum was a buildup on the first session of Young Women in Politics held in March 2019.

She said women had been marginalized and there was the need to build their capacity to improve on their numbers in politics.

Ms. Atakli said GenCED, last year, built the capacity of nine candidates and two of the women won their seats.

She said it was important to educate women on fundraising for their campaigns, sensitize them on the various international and national laws that govern political participation, and raise their self-esteem.

She said challenges such as violence, insulting women in the media, religion, and cultural barriers must be addressed to encourage more women to participate in politics.

GNA

………………………………………………………………

China approves another COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China has approved a new COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, one that was developed by the head of its Center for Disease Control, adding a fifth shot to its arsenal.

Gao Fu, the head of China’s CDC, led the development of a protein subunit vaccine that was approved by regulators last week for emergency use, the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Microbiology said in a statement Monday.

It is the fifth coronavirus vaccine approved in China and the fourth to be given emergency use approval. Three of those given emergency approval have since been approved for general use. All were developed by Chinese companies.

The latest vaccine was developed jointly by Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The team finished phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials in October and is currently conducting the last phase of trials in Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Indonesia, according to the statement.

The vaccine was approved for use in Uzbekistan on March 1. It’s a three-dose shot that is spaced out with one month each between shots, a company spokesperson said. Like other vaccines China has developed so far, it can be stored at normal refrigeration temperatures.

There is no publicly available information in peer-reviewed scientific journals about the clinical trial data showing efficacy or safety. A spokesperson for the company said that the data could not be shared at this time but that the company was providing the information to health authorities.

The protein subunit vaccine is similar to many of the other vaccines that have been approved globally in that it trains the body to recognize the spike protein that covers the surface of the coronavirus, although the difference lies in how it tells the body to recognize the protein. Scientists grow a harmless version of the protein in cells and then purify it, before it is assembled into a vaccine and injected.

China has been slow in vaccinating its population of 1.4 billion people, despite having four vaccines approved for general use. The latest number, according to government officials at a press briefing Monday in Beijing, is that it has administered 64.98 million doses of vaccines.

China has targeted what it considers key populations for vaccination thus far, namely health care workers, those who work at the border or customs, and specific industries the government has selected. Other groups that have been notably absent thus far in comparison to many other countries are the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions.

The approved vaccines have previously been limited to adults 18-59 years old, as officials cited a lack of clinical trial data for those who are older, although the government appears to be signaling the limits are now being set aside.

“We will promptly carry out mass vaccination of relevant populations,” Li Bin, a vice-chair on the National Health Commission, said Monday.

China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported over the weekend that in certain neighborhoods in Beijing, local health centers started to offer vaccines to those aged 60 and older.

………………………………………………………………