Author: IGIHE

MTN kicks off employee volunteer programme with call to share knowledge

{MTN Group has launched employee volunteer programme inviting social media users across Africa and the Middle East to join its employees in a virtual campaign to break down traditional barriers to education, by sharing interesting facts during the company’s annual 21 Days of Y’ello Care programme. }

Using the hashtag #ShareKnowledge, members of the public with access to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, are encouraged to share fun facts or pieces of information that is less known about their countries, but it is of great interest to the world. The campaign aims to pass on knowledge and make learning fun.

“Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s famous quote, Be the change you want to see in the world, we are launching this campaign to practically demonstrate the role of technology in enabling greater access to education. We are particularly excited about this initiative because it is something that everyone in our communities can be part of,” says Chris Maroleng, Executive for Corporate Affairs, MTN Group.

While the knowledge share efforts gain momentum virtually, MTN employees will be making a difference physically by embarking on a myriad of education-focused activities in local communities. These range from classroom renovations and literacy projects, to Information Communication Technology (ICT) training and the provision of digital educational content.

Maroleng says if past efforts are anything to go by, 2017 will deliver yet another memorable Y’ello Care campaign for communities in MTN’s markets.

“In 2016, more than 10 000 employees participated in Y’ello Care. Together, they built 10 classrooms, established 56 libraries and launched eight ICT labs. Their efforts benefitted more than 100 000 people in our communities,” says Maroleng.

MTN employees in Rwanda will spend the next 21 days implementing a digital application to manage communication around education for teachers, students and the education department. The team will host ICT training, and mentorship and reading sessions. They will also construct three classrooms, as well as install solar panels and water tanks to enable access to clean water.

MTN employees in other countries are also set to be involved in various activities enhancing societal positive transformations.

{{Prize monies for the best campaigns}}

At the end of the programme, all MTN operations that participate in Y’ello Care stand in line to win monetary prizes, which are to be invested into CSI or community upliftment programmes in their market. These include the Group President & CEO prize of US$100 000 and Vice President prizes for each region (WECA, SEA and MENA) of US$30 000.

June 2, 2017
Kagame emerges most conversational World leader on Twitter

{President Paul Kagame has emerged the most conversational world leader chatting with over 1.6 million of followers on Twitter. }

The study dubbed ‘Diplomacy Study 2017’ was unveiled yesterday by the CEO of Twitter Jack Dorsey in a talk show aired on NBC Television based in New York.

The study lists President Kagame as the most conversational leader a position he had maintained during previously similar study.

According to Twiplomacy, Kagame’s 79 percent of his tweets are replies to other Twitter users while he gets into Twitter exchanges with his critics, even sometimes chats publicly with his children.

Rwanda’s Prime Minister Anastase Murekezi is also ranked among most conversational leaders holding Twitter chats with the hashtag #TalkToPMRwanda.
The study indicates that half of tweets of Rwanda’s Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo are also replies to followers.

Kagame is the second Sub-Sahara president most followed on Twitter after Uhuru Kenyatta.

Pope Francis has become the most followed world leader with more than 33.7 million followers while U.S. President Donald Trump is the second-most followed world leader, with 30.1 million followers on his personal Twitter account.

Kagame joined Twitter in 2009 three years after it was launched in 2006. He follows 138 accounts including heads of states, leaders of powerful institutions and international organizations like the World Bank.

His first message on twitter appeared on 15th May 2009 saying “Hello #Rwanda – Paul Kagame is now on Twitter.”

June 2, 2017
NEC pushed into abandoning social media censoring project

{The National Electoral Commission (NEC) has finally relented to the surging pressure and accepted to modify the recently announced order of censoring social media messages from presidential candidates and their agents before they are posted on different platforms. }

“NEC’s mission is to ensure free, fair and safe elections. We will adjust social media regulations based on public feedback,” NEC has informed the public via twitter account.

The move to alter polls regulations follows various comments from concerned people expressing disappointment over social media censorship decision.

Commenting on NEC’s decision via twitter account, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Louise Mushikiwabo expressed disappointment saying “I strongly respect the National Electoral Commission but I disagree with licensing Rwandans on social media messages… majority of Rwandans are mature and law-abiding; the few abusers should face the law, instead of restricting citizens’ views.”

Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) also castigated the decision taken by National Electoral Commission (NEC)to censor presidential candidates’ social media messages and assured citizens of their rights saying NEC has no right to interfere with citizens’ freedom of expression.

June 1, 2017
CAR tops list of ‘world’s most neglected’ crises

{Norwegian aid agency says displaced Africans receive least economic and political support, as well as media attention.}

The conflict in the Central African Republic (CAR) is the world’s most neglected displacement crisis, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council.

Unveiling its annual index, the aid agency said on Thursday that the world pays the least attention to humanitarian crises when they force Africans from their homes, dashing hopes of peace and raising the risk of escalated conflict.

In the NRC’s list of the world’s 10 most neglected displacement crises, CAR was followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sudan, South Sudan, Nigeria, Yemen, Palestine, Ukraine, Myanmar and Somalia.

“The fact that most of these people do not turn up at our doorsteps gives us no right to close our eyes to their suffering, and does not remove our responsibility to assist,” Jan Egeland, the NRC’s secretary general, said in a statement.

The NRC analysed all countries worldwide in which more than 100,000 people are displaced.

The countries topping the list are characterised by insufficient economic support to meet the most basic humanitarian needs, limited media attention and lack of political will to solve the crises.

“The international community has not only forgotten these crises, but has never really shown sufficient willingness to contribute to a solution,” Egeland said.

“Economic support to alleviate humanitarian crises must be given based on needs, and not be subject to geopolitical interests.”

Chronic conflict involving militias in countries such as CAR and the DRC could drive more and more people into armed groups, said Richard Skretteberg, a senior NRC adviser.

In 2016, the United Nations only received 38 per cent of the money it needed to distribute humanitarian aid in CAR.

Almost half of the population faces food insecurity, eating only one meal per day, according to the NRC report, while only 35 per cent of people in CAR have access to clean water.

“When you combine limited state presence in much of these countries, mass displacement, and a lack of protection and aid for civilians, this creates a fertile breeding ground for radicalisation,” Skretteberg told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“Rebuilding and working towards peace are difficult when so many people are displaced,” he added.

One in five Central Africans – about one million people – is displaced, and at least 100,000 were newly uprooted last month in some of the worst violence between the mainly Muslim Seleka rebels and Christian militias since conflict began in 2013.

Spreading ethnic violence in the DRC has also forced more than 1.5 million people to flee their homes within the country this year – more than triple the number uprooted within Syria and five times the number within Iraq, according to the NRC.

The UN has received just one-fifth of the $812.5m sought in the humanitarian appeal for DRC this year, and 25 percent of the $400m requested for Central African Republic, the UN’s Financial Tracking Service shows.

Africa’s arid Sahel belt, which stretches from Senegal to Eritrea and lies south of the Sahara desert, topped the NRC’s index last year, followed by Yemen and Libya.

Source:Al Jazeera

June 1, 2017
Israeli forces shoot Palestinian teen during ‘attack’

{Nouf Enfeat, 15, was shot and evacuated to a nearby hospital, while Israeli army says a soldier was also hospitalised.}

Israeli forces have shot and wounded a Palestinian girl after she allegedly stabbed a soldier outside of a Jewish-only settlement in the northern occupied West Bank.

Nouf Iqab Abd el-Jabbar Enfeat, 15, was transferred to a hospital for medical treatment and has sustained moderate wounds, the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) healthy ministry told Ma’an News Agency.

The incident took place at the entrance of the Meto Dovan settlement and an Israeli soldier was injured, an Israeli army spokesperson told Al Jazeera by telephone.

Earlier this week, Israeli forces opened fire and injured 16-year-old Khaled Ghamri during a protest on the border of southern Israel and the blockaded Gaza Strip, according to Arabic-language news outlets.

Ghamri, who was struck in stomach, is currently hospitalised and in critical condition, according to Defence for Children International – Palestine (DCIP).

A day before US President Donald Trump met with PA President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli forces shot dead 15-year-old Raed Ahmad Rdaydeh during an alleged stabbing attempt at a checkpoint near the city.

Rdadyeh was one of at least eight Palestinian children killed by Israeli forces or settlers so far this year, according to DCIP’s count.

In 2016, DCIP documented the killing of at least 32 Palestinian children by Israeli forces and settlement guards. Israel says that at least 24 of those took place during attacks or attempted attacks, but the rights group says its investigations cast doubt on those claims.

More than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements, which are considered illegal under international law, in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Trump opened his first visit to the region last week, a two-day stop aimed at seeking ways to restart talks between the PA and the Israeli government.

The last round of peace talks, led by then-President Barack Obama and his secretary of state, John Kerry, fell apart in 2014.

One point of contention is the fate of East Jerusalem, which, along with the rest of the West Bank, was occupied by Israeli forces 50 years ago during the 1967 Middle East war.

During his presidential campaign, Trump advocated breaking with decades of precedent and moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, deeply alarming Palestinians.

He has since said the move was still being looked at.

Source:Al Jazeera

June 1, 2017
Leaders warn Trump against Paris climate withdrawal

{From world leaders to prominent intellectuals, many urge the US to keep its commitment to the Paris climate change deal.}

Reports emerged on Wednesday that President Donald Trump is set to pull the United States out of the landmark Paris climate accord,in what is seen as a huge blow to efforts aimed at cutting global emissions.

If the US does withdraw from the Paris accord, it will join Nicaragua and Syria as the only countries to have not signed onto the deal, which aims to limit the increase of global temperature to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2100.

Trump, who has previously called climate change a “hoax” and a Chinese-created concept, tweeted late on Wednesday that he would announce his decision regarding the deal on Thursday at 19:00 GMT.

During his presidential campaign, the Republican vowed to “cancel” the agreement, adding he would “stop all payments of US tax dollars to UN global warming programmes” within his first 100 days in office.

Trump’s promise has drawn immense condemnation from many corners of the world. Here are some of the seven strongest warnings given by prominent individuals and groups to the US president regarding the potential withdrawal from the deal:

{{1. ‘Not a fairy tale’}}

In Europe, many leaders issued strong rebukes over the reported US withdrawal, taking issue with the Trump administration’s climate-sceptic stance.

“Climate change is not a fairy tale,” European Parliament President Antonio Tajani said on Wednesday.

“People die or are obliged to leave their homes because of desertification, lack of water, exposure to disease, extreme weather conditions,” he said. “If we don’t act swiftly and boldly, the huge human and economic cost will continue to increase.”

European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker warned that quitting the Paris agreement is not a straightforward process.

“The Americans can’t just leave the climate protection agreement,” Juncker told a conference in Germany on Wednesday. “Mr. Trump believes that because he doesn’t know the details.”

Juncker added that it is the “duty of Europe” to tell the US how the agreement works.

During last week’s G7 meeting, attended by Trump for the first time, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the discussions on climate change “very difficult – not to say very unsatisfactory”.

Merkel said European leaders “made it clear that we want the US to stick to its commitments”.

{{2. ‘A betrayal’}}

Other leaders and diplomats also warned Trump about the impact of a withdrawal – not just on climate change, but also US standing in the world.

Ethiopian diplomat Gebru Jember Endalew, a key figure in climate change negotiations for the “48 least developed countries” group, said it would be a “betrayal” if the US were to abandon the agreement.

“If the US withdraws, it’s a betrayal to the global community – especially the least developed countries and the most vulnerable groups of countries,” Endalew said.

Chai Qimin, of the Chinese government-funded National Centre for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation, warned this month that leaving the agreement would “harm mutual trust” between world powers.

“President Xi [Jinping] and our ambassador to the United Nations have said several times that withdrawing from the Paris Agreement is irresponsible, which will harm the mutual trust in the multilateral mechanism.”

Xi on Wednesday reaffirmed his commitment to uphold the Paris agreement, saying the world must “protect the global governance achievements contained” within the Paris accord.

{{3. ‘World’s most dangerous party’}}

Noam Chomsky, the renowned US academic and intellectual, has in the past sharply criticised the Republican Party for its approach to climate change, calling it “the most dangerous organisation in the world”.

In a recent interview with Democracy Now, Chomsky defended his self-described “outrageous statement”, citing what calls the party’s dedication and commitment “to the destruction of organised human life on Earth”.

At least 22 Senate Republicans and a dozen House Republicans have expressed support for a plan to pull out of the Paris agreement.

Oklahoma Republican James Inhofe, a climate change denier, led the senators in drafting a letter calling for “a clean break” from the accord.

“We have been encouraged by the steps you have taken to reduce the regulatory burdens facing the country,” the senators said.

But others within the party, including former presidential candidate Mitt Romney, have expressed concern:

Affirmation of the #ParisAgreement is not only about the climate: It is also about America remaining the global leader.

{{4. ‘Really stupid’}}

Hillary Clinton, the former US secretary of state and Trump’s Democratic rival in November’s election, recently said it would be “incredibly foolish” and “totally incomprehensible” to pull out of the agreement.

“What’s really stupid about [withdrawing from the agreement] is that they are throwing out the economic opportunities that being part of the Paris agreement provide for the United States,” Clinton said at a technology conference in southern California on Wednesday.

A number of other Democrats have taken to Twitter to express their concern about the possible withdrawal.
{{
5. ‘No choice, but to resign’}}

Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX, has threatened to quit his role on White House advisory councils if Trump withdraws the US from the agreement.

“[I] don’t know which way Paris will go, but I’ve done all I can to advise directly to POTUS, through others in [the White House] that we remain,” Musk tweeted on Wednesday.

In response to a question about what he plans to do if Trump does pull out of the agreement, Musk said he would “have no choice, but to depart counsels”.

In April, more than 15 tech and energy companies, including Apple, Google and Shell, signed a letter to the president expressing support for US participation in the agreement.

“We urge that the United States remain a party to the Paris Agreement, work constructively with other nations to implement the agreement, and work to strengthen international support for a broad range of innovative technologies,” the letter said.

{{6. ‘Planet Earth First’}}

Activists in Italy’s capital, Rome, projected the message “Planet Earth First” on St. Peter’s Basilica last week as Trump arrived for a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican.

“Trump must not be allowed to shirk his moral responsibility or renege on America’s Paris commitments,” Greenpeace said in a statement following the protest.

Last month, hundreds of thousands of climate activists marched on Washington, DC as part of the People’s Climate March. This year, the march was focussed on the “need for bold action” to address climate change, especially with an “administration more reticent to climate … than any in recent memory”.

{{7. ‘Get on train or get left behind’}}

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that other countries would be quick to fill a “void” if the US were to pull out of the Paris agreement.

“If one country decides to leave a void, I can guarantee someone else will occupy it,” Guterres said during an event on New York on Tuesday.

“The message is simple: The sustainability train has left the station. Get on the train or get left behind.”

Source:Al Jazeera

June 1, 2017
Zoran Zaev wins confidence vote to form goverment

{MPs back cabinet led by Social Democrat leader, whose party has formed a coalition with two ethnic Albanian parties.}

Macedonia’s parliament endorsed a new government led by Social Democrat leader Zoran Zaev on Wednesday, in a first step towards ending the country’s two-year political crisis.

Zaev, whose SDSM party has formed a coalition with parties representing the country’s ethnic Albanians, won the support of 62 out of 120 MPs, in a vote that came nearly six months after parliamentary elections.

Forty-four voted against and five abstained.

“I conclude that the parliament voted in the government of Macedonia,” Talat Xhaferi, the parliamentary speaker, said after the vote.

Zaev, a 42-year-old economist by training, vowed to step up economic reforms and pledged to speed up the country’s bid to join the European Union and NATO.

“The concept of one society for all is the future of Macedonia,” Zaev said Wednesday, he said.

His opponents, however, said his goals would be difficult to achieve.

During the debate leading up to the vote, which began on Tuesday, a deputy of the nationalist VMRO-DPMNE, Dimitar Stevanandzija, said Zaev made “promises that are unreal and absurd”.

Political crisis

Macedonia has been without a functional government since 2015, after a wiretapping scandal brought down the previous administration of Nicolas Gruevski.

Efforts to advance towards membership of the EU and NATO have stalled due to a row with Greece over Macedonia’s name, which it shares with a northern Greek province.

What is happening in Macedonia?

Of the 25 ministers in Zaev’s government, seven are ethnic Albanians, who make up one-third of the country’s population.

President Gjorge Ivanov earlier had refused to give the mandate to Zaev, accusing him of endangering Macedonia’s unity and sovereignty.

The crisis threatened to re-ignite inter-ethnic conflict, with ethnic Albanian parties demanding as a condition for joining any new government that Albanian be designated a second official language.

A month of protests followed across the country.

As part of the coalition deal, Xhaferi, an ethnic Albanian, was elected last month parliament speaker. That prompted protests by nationalists who stormed the parliament building and beat some politicians, including Zaev.

Source:Al Jazeera

June 1, 2017
Over 40 people ‘die of thirst’ in Sahara Desert

{Survivors say 44 people have died of thirst after their truck broke down in the Sahara Desert in northern Niger, the Red Cross has told the BBC.}

The six survivors, all women, walked to a remote village and are being looked after in Dirkou, Niger, Red Cross official Lawal Taher said.

They say several children among the dead.

The Ghanaians and Nigerians were trying to get to Libya, reports Nigerien news site Sahelien.

‘My sister drowned getting to Europe’

The route from Niger to Libya is one of the main ways migrants reach North Africa before crossing the Mediterranean Sea to get to Europe.

Crossing the Sahara is one of the most perilous parts of the journey as migrants are crammed into pickup trucks often with only enough room for a few litres of water, reports Reuters news agency.

Authorities told Reuters that is it almost impossible to know how many have died in the vast and unpoliced Sahara.

Last June, the bodies of 34 migrants, including 20 children, were found in the Sahara Desert near Niger’s border with Algeria.

It appeared they had died of thirst after being abandoned by their smuggler, a government minister said at the time.

Source:BBC

June 1, 2017
Ethiopia blocks mobile internet

{Mobile internet access in Ethiopia has been blocked by the government – but officials are refusing to say why.}

It was reported last year that the country banned access to social media sites after university entrance exams were leaked online.

There has been speculation that similar motives lie behind the latest “blackout”, although some reject this.

A state of emergency has been in effect in Ethiopia since October, following anti-government protests.

Mobile internet access has been disabled on other occasions recently, including a period of a few weeks last year.

“Mobile data has been deactivated,” deputy communications minister Zadig Abraha told the AFP news agency on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the BBC was unable to access websites belonging to the Ethiopian government and the sole communications provider, Ethio Telecom.

There were reports that fixed-line broadband connections had also been affected.

Preliminary data from Google suggested that there had indeed been a big drop in Ethiopian internet traffic to Google services since Wednesday afternoon.

Source:BBC

June 1, 2017
Twins in sub-Saharan Africa ‘more likely to die’ in early childhood

{One in five children born as a twin in sub-Saharan Africa dies before their fifth birthday, according to new research in the Lancet.}

The study is the first to analyse death rates among twins in the region.
The report suggests improvements in survival for twins is lagging far behind other children.

The death rate among single-born children aged under-five halved between 1995 and 2014. For twins, the rate came down by a third.

{{‘Poor fate’}}

Giving birth to twins is riskier than delivering just one baby – no matter which country a mother delivers in.

There is an increased risk of early delivery, low birth weight and mothers suffering severe blood loss.

But researchers say these risks are “compounded” by higher overall birth rates and poor maternal and newborn care in sub-Saharan Africa, where many mothers give birth at home.

In Finland for example – which has some of the best maternity care in the world – researchers say for every 1,000 twins born, 11 die before their first birthday.

According to the study, the equivalent figure for sub-Saharan Africa is 137 per 1,000 twins who die before they turn one.

And 213 in 1,000 die before their fifth birthday.

{{Sub-Saharan Africa: 18 per 1,000 pregnancies}}

East Asia and Latin America: six to nine per 1,000 pregnancies

Europe, North America and the Middle East : eight to 16 per 1,000 pregnancies

{{‘Special attention’}}

Researchers are calling for better health services to help these more vulnerable women and children.

Co-author, Prof Christiaan Monden from Oxford University, said: “So far, the poor fate of twins has gone largely unnoticed.”

He said twin pregnancies needed to be detected earlier and mothers should give birth in a hospital with staff trained in twin deliveries.

This should be followed by continued monitoring in the first few days and even months of their lives.

But this is a big ask in some of the poorest countries with some of the weakest health systems in the world.

Families, particularly those living in remote areas, often do not have hospitals anywhere near where they live.

Many cannot afford the transport to get to the nearest maternity facility, let alone pay for the care they need.

Even if they could, facilities such as specialist twin delivery care are few-and-far-between in many developing countries.

Prof Monden added: “It is very easy to say mothers should just give birth in a nice hospital, but that is not a realistic option for many.

“What surprised us when we found the higher death rate among twins is we thought this must be well-known by big UN organisations and that they pay special attention to twins – but this is not the case.”

Co-author, Dr Jeroen Smits, from Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands, said: “Without special attention to this vulnerable group it will be very difficult to achieve the UN’s sustainable development goal target of fewer than 12 per 1,000 neonatal deaths and fewer than 25 per 1,000 under-five deaths by 2030.”

{{Numbers behind the study:}}

The report used data from 1.69 million children born in 30 sub-Saharan African countries between 1995 and 2014

It included more than 56,000 twins.

16,399 twins died before their fifth birthday.

{{

}}

Source:BBC

June 1, 2017