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Aug
29
2024
By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY
Ten African countries prioritising education

Ten African countries prioritising education

EDUCATION
IN April 2024, the African Union (AU) declared this year the 'Year of Education,' urging governments to ramp up efforts to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 4—to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” While countries require an additional US$77 billion annually to meet national education goals and deliver quality education, funding for education remains largely stagnant. Government spending on education as a percentage of GDP hovers at just 3.7% —a figure that has barely budged since 2012. According to a 2024 analysis by UNESCO, nine out of 49 African countries dedicate 20%…
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Aug
18
2024
By The African Mirror
Sudan to open Adre border crossing to facilitate humanitarian aid access

Sudan to open Adre border crossing to facilitate humanitarian aid access

NEWS
UN aid agencies have welcomed the news that the Sudanese authorities will open the Adre border crossing from Chad into Sudan, as the war-torn country faces famine or acute hunger in many regions, with many roads impassable owing to heavy rains. The vital humanitarian corridor will allow the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to scale up assistance to 14 areas facing famine in Darfur, Kordofan, Khartoum and Gezira. “As we speak, two convoys with nearly 6,000 metric tons of food and nutrition supplies for around half a million people, are being loaded, destined for risk-of-famine areas in north, central and…
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Aug
17
2024
By Jovial Rantao
Sudan’s catastrophe: farmers could offer quick post-war recovery, if peace is found

Sudan’s catastrophe: farmers could offer quick post-war recovery, if peace is found

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS
MORE than a year of conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces has weakened the country’s fragile economy. This is in addition to triggering a humanitarian crisis, loss of lives, property destruction and income disruptions. Even before the current conflict, Sudan ranked among the poorest countries in the world. The proportion of those without access to basic necessities such as education, healthcare and proper living conditions was estimated at 52.3% of the population. The economy heavily depends on agriculture. The sector’s productivity has been low because of traditional pastoral systems and limited mechanisation. The armed conflict has damaged infrastructure and disrupted agricultural services…
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Aug
16
2024
By The African Mirror
Guterres calls for a permanent African seat on the UN Security Council

Guterres calls for a permanent African seat on the UN Security Council

NEWS
UNITED Nations chief António Guterres has called for Africa to be given a permanent seat at the UN Security Council, a reform aimed at making the body more representative and globally credible. Addressing the council, Guterres said the current composition of the Council was anachronistic and undermined the body’s legitimacy. “We cannot accept that the world’s preeminent peace and security body lacks a permanent voice for a continent of well over a billion people,” said Gutteres. “Nor can we accept that Africa’s views are undervalued on questions of peace and security, both on the continent and around the world.” The five permanent members…
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Aug
15
2024
By The African Mirror
Venezuela: UN Human Rights Chief concerned over high arbitrary detentions

Venezuela: UN Human Rights Chief concerned over high arbitrary detentions

WORLD
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has voiced his deep concern over the high and continuing number of arbitrary detentions, as well as disproportionate use of force reported in the aftermath of presidential elections in Venezuela, and the resulting climate of fear. “It is especially troubling that so many people are being detained, accused or charged either with incitement to hatred or under counterterrorism legislation. Criminal law must never be used to limit unduly the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association,” UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said in the biweekly UN press briefing in Geneva.…
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Aug
14
2024
By The African Mirror
UN calls for release of staff detained in Yemen, condemns storming of office

UN calls for release of staff detained in Yemen, condemns storming of office

WORLD
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has strongly condemned the storming of his Office’s representation in Sana’a by the Ansar Allah de facto authorities and renewed his call for the immediate and unconditional release of all UN staff detained in Yemen. “Entering a UN office without permission and seizing documents and property by force are wholly inconsistent with the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations. This is also a serious attack on the ability of the UN to perform its mandate, including with respect to the promotion and protection of human rights, which our Office is there to defend,” UN Human Rights…
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Jul
04
2024
By WILL WORLEY
As the UN’s ‘fixer-in-chief’ steps down, a look at Martin Griffiths’ record

As the UN’s ‘fixer-in-chief’ steps down, a look at Martin Griffiths’ record

WORLD
By Will Worley This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian. AFTER three years, multiple crises, and an increasingly fractured global landscape, the United Nations’s relief chief, Martin Griffiths, is stepping down for health reasons. The under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator (ERC) is set to leave the job with widespread praise for his role as a skilled mediator and diplomat who did his best to alleviate human suffering amid heinous violence.But there’s also criticism that the leader of the UN’s humanitarian aid coordination arm, OCHA, has not done enough to help in some long-running conflicts, nor…
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Jul
02
2023
By MICHELLE NICHOLS
UN ends peacekeeping mission in Mali, US blames Russia’s Wagner

UN ends peacekeeping mission in Mali, US blames Russia’s Wagner

NEWS
THE United Nations Security Council unanimously voted to end a decade-long peacekeeping mission in Mali after the West African country's military junta abruptly asked the 13,000-strong force to leave - a move the United States said was engineered by Russia's Wagner mercenary group. The end of the operation, known as MINUSMA, follows years of tensions and government restrictions that have hobbled peacekeeping air and ground operations since Mali teamed up in 2021 with Russia's Wagner group, which was behind an abortive armed mutiny in Russia last weekend. U.N. peacekeepers are credited with playing a vital role in protecting civilians against an Islamist insurgency that has killed…
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May
26
2023
By MICHELLE NICHOLS
UN, Africa bank work to ease Russian grain, fertilizer exports -UN official

UN, Africa bank work to ease Russian grain, fertilizer exports -UN official

NEWS
THE United Nations is working with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to create a platform to help process transactions for Russian exports of grain and fertilizer to Africa, the top U.N. trade official told Reuters on Wednesday. An agreement struck in July last year requires the U.N. to help Russia overcome any obstacles to its grain and fertilizer exports for three years. It was reached at the same time as a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of food and fertilizer from Ukraine following Russia's February 2022 invasion. The deals were intended to ease a global goods crisis that the United…
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Aug
07
2020
By The African Mirror
‘UN Security Council must act against Israel’s violations and illegal actions’

‘UN Security Council must act against Israel’s violations and illegal actions’

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
JERRY MATJILA  WE are meeting here today, as we do every month to discuss the situation in the Middle East, including the question of Palestine. Unfortunately, there is very little progress in resolving this conflict despite the continued and necessary focus on this conflict that has spanned over seven decades. Month after month we have heard of continued settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territory, we have heard of the seizure and demolitions of Palestinian land, we have heard of the continued violations of the rights of the Palestinian people and the rejection of the internationally recognised parameters for direct…
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