Covid-19: Angola may get 12 million doses of vaccines

Luanda - Angola might get a donation of 12 million doses of vaccines for covid-19 as soon as the World Health Organisation approves one of those currently in the making.

This was announced Monday evening in Luanda by the Health minister, Sílvia Lutucuta, during the usual covid-19 update briefing with journalists.

She on the occasion said Angola might get the 12 million doses donation as the country is on the list of developing nations.

“We have been working with the International Vaccine Alliance and the WHO and we have an initiative that is Covax, which enables developing countries a chance to get the vaccines as soon as they are approved,” said the official.

She added that priority will go for patients with associated diseases like hypertension, diabetes, anaemias and others.

Angola’s current covid-19 figures stand at 2.654 positive cases, 108 deaths, 1.071 recoveries and 1.475 active patients.

Covid-19: Angola reports 30 new infections, one death, eight recoveries

Thirty new positive cases of covid-19, one death and eight recoveries have been detected in Angola since the latest update, the Health minister, Sílvia Lutucuta, said Monday evening in Luanda.

Health minister Sílvia Lutucuta

Speaking at a press conference as part of the daily covid-19 update, Sílvia Lutucuta said the new cases were reported in the capital, Luanda, the country’s epicentre of the pandemic.

She mentioned those newly infected as being eight to 79 years of age, 16 males and 14 females. The dead is a Chinese national who was in critical condition for some time.

With the latest data, Angola’s covid-19 figures stand at 2.654 positive cases, 108 deaths, 1.071 recoveries and 1.475 active patients.

Africa Educates Her Campaign with Sofonie Dala. Day 2

Africa Educates Her campaign is going live in Angola 

Girls education is key to the development of Africa. COVID-19 is threatening decades of progress made to advance gender equality and girls education. 

 AUCIEFFA calls on Africa's youth, development partners, human rights defenders, and government ministries responsible for education to safeguard girl's right to education in light of the COVID-19 related school closures and ensure that they go back to school when schools reopen. We all can play a part, join the Africa Educates Her Campaign. 

Today we invited Madalena to share her challenges during this hard time. 

All the interviews are being conducted in Portuguese. 

Note: this is a collection of stories via video from girls in primary, secondary and tertiary level who have been affected by the lockdowns.

Key questions answered are:

What is your name?

What is your age?

Country?

What level of education are you in?

How has COVID-19 affected you as a student?

What are the challenges you are facing or have faced in your pursuit to continue learning during the school lock-down?

And what do you think educators, government and development players can do to ensure every girl goes back to school after the lock-down?

UNICEF Youth Mediathon 2020 for Content Creators worldwide

 Application Deadline: September 15th 2020

Click here to apply: https://bit.ly/31CdA3K

In the wake of COVID-1​9, young people just like you feel they are no longer in control of their futures. From disrupted schooling, to increased anxiety, to the challenges of finding their first job in a recession and standing up for racial justice, they are uncertain about their next steps in life.

But what if you could tell leaders what you wanted to see change, and help other young people understand and take action? That’s what the UNICEF Youth Mediathon is all about – to help young content creators like you reimagine a better world.

The UNICEF Youth Mediathon is an online event that will give you the opportunity to improve your skills as a content creator, connect with other creatives, and develop content about the issues affecting young people today. 60 lucky applicants will win the chance to:

Meet and learn storytelling skills from top content creators

Receive mentorship from experienced professionals in creative fields

Have your work published on Voices of Youth and other leading content platforms

Chatham House Mo Ibrahim Foundation Academy Fellowship 2021 for young African Leaders ( £2,295 monthly stipend)

 Application Deadline: 20th September 2020

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

Applications for the Mo Ibrahim Foundation Academy Fellowship in the Queen Elizabeth II Academy for Leadership in International Affairs are now open.

Eligibility criteria

Citizenship

The fellowship is open to citizens of Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Uganda, Mozambique, Zambia.

Applications will also be accepted from applicants holding dual nationality which includes one of these countries.

Education

It is required that the applicant holds a completed BA degree or equivalent, Masters degree with an international focus is preferred.

Career

The fellowship is aimed at candidates at the mid-stage of their career and who come from academia, NGOs, business, government departments, civil society or the media.

Remuneration and benefits

The fellow will receive a monthly stipend of £2,365. Modest provision is made for the costs of relocation, fieldwork, and possible publication costs.

Fellowship structure

A fellow’s time will be split between three key areas:

Completing a personal research project of the fellow's own design undertaken with the guidance of a Chatham House expert, (approximately 50%).

Contributing to the ongoing research activities of their host research team and other Chatham House teams as appropriate (approximately 20%).

Participation in the Academy’s Leadership Programme (approximately 30%). The Leadership Programme is a key part of the Academy fellowships. It provides fellows with the opportunity to develop their knowledge, skills, network and self-awareness, which they can then draw upon in their future careers as effective leaders in their field.

Microsoft 2020 Full time opportunities for students & recent graduates

 Application Deadline: unspecified

Click here to apply: https://bit.ly/3gH8uaD

Are you insatiably curious? Do you collaborate well with others, knowing that better solutions come from working together? Are you motivated every day to empower others to achieve more through technology and innovation?

Microsoft is a workplace unlike any other. The graduate experience helps new hires hit the ground running, navigate a complex global organization and position themselves for success.

Qualifications

o Pursuing or within one year of graduation from a full time Bachelor’s or Master´s degree

o Education background in computer science, computer engineering, IT, electrical engineering, IT & Business innovation or other related fields

o First practical experiences or internships in IT technology related fields

o Combining business acumen with technological experience

o Well developed communication, presentation as well as analytical and problem-solving skills

o Negotiation, customer service, and interpersonal skills

o Passion for technology

o Fluency in English and local language is required

o Full work authorization is required

Xenophobia on the Rise in Southern Africa Amid Covid-19 Outbreak?

 Amid widespread economic decline and the alarming lowering of standards of the political discourse in South Africa, opportunistic xenophobes are stoking the fire against migrants.This comes after the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said that reports of rising xenophobia and stigmatisation of refugees had been noted in Southern Africa with the global body adding that tensions were not only limited to health stigmatisation but also linked to increasing economic pressures in refugee-hosting areas amid the impacts of Covid-19 restrictions.

Rising Xenophobia Needs to Be Challenged 

In this difficult situation, there has been an alarming escalation of an increasingly crude nativist and xenophobic discourse. Much of it is driven by elites who are trying to exclude migrants from positions at universities and in corporations. And it is not just happening in WhatsApp groups or online.

The escalation and normalisation of xenophobic sentiment reached a new stage when the Sunday Independent published a vituperative article on its front page on 23 August under the headline, in capital letters, "SA UNDER FOREIGN CONTROL", with the word "foreign" in red. As one Facebook user commented: "Imagine a headline in a German newspaper in 1938 with the headline, in the same colour scheme, reading 'Germany under Jewish control'. Or a newspaper in Rwanda in 1994 with the headline, again in the same colour scheme, reading 'Rwanda under Tutsi control'."

In the article, migrants are referred to as "enemy agents'". The Sunday Independent is not generally considered a credible newspaper after its explicit support for the Jacob Zuma faction of the ANC, its withdrawal from the Press Council and the shenanigans of its owner, Iqbal Survé, who was massively enriched with public money during the Zuma years. Nonetheless, it is a deeply shocking headline and one that can be read as a deliberate incitement to violence.

The 'put South Africa first' rhetoric

The article suggests that the devastating levels of unemployment in South Africa are due to migration. This is plainly not the case, and it's an argument that leaves racial capitalism and ANC mismanagement off the hook while scapegoating people who are already in an extremely precarious situation. However, it is a view that has been shared by many xenophobes recently, including the All Truck Drivers Foundation, which used and encouraged vicious language against migrant drivers. More than 200 people - mostly migrants - have been killed in the violence plaguing the trucking industry. Many of those who are spewing the most dangerous xenophobic and chauvinistic statements online claim, much like President Donald Trump in the United States, to be acting out of love for South Africa and its people. Some xenophobes here have even adopted a version of Trump's slogan: 'Put South Africa First'.

The road to this increasingly steep descent of our public discourse into such dangerous forms of dehumanisation was paved by a number of public figures, including several ANC politicians as well as former mayor of Johannesburg Herman Mashaba, South African First's Mario Khumalo, and the African Transformation Movement's Vuyolwethu Zungula.