{{Atelier Augusti is the brainchild of sisters Julie and Claudie Ramirez who first visited Burkina Faso six years ago after their mother married a Burkinabe man.}}
“To us it was not a choice between manufacturing in the Far East or Africa,” says 27-year-old Claudie Ramirez.
“It was always going to be Africa, though obviously the Far East would have been cheaper,” she says.
”The quality of workmanship is high in Burkina Faso and we can easily travel there from France and oversee production.
“We want to know the people who work for us.
The sisters want to work with 100% cotton – which they buy from the large Comatex textile factory in neighbouring Mali, she says.
“However, we have to send the elastic and the ink for the screen printing from France. The quality we require simply is not available in Burkina Faso.”
The lingerie is on sale on the internet and at four outlets in France, including one in the capital, Paris.
Selling Augusti products in Burkina Faso would be ”complicated”, says Claudie Ramirez, because the price – a minimum of 18 euros (£14; $25) – is far higher than most Burkinabe women are used to paying.
Ms Tiema partly agrees: “In the market you can pick up Chinese underwear for next to nothing.
“But it is synthetic and horrible on the skin.”
The veteran dressmaker explains that there are second-hand items – known as “France au revoir”‘ – which are sometimes made of cotton.
“But I do not want to wear someone else’s pants,” she says, adding that design is also an issue.
“I am sure there would be a market for beautifully made, high-quality cotton lingerie which is cut to our African shapes.
{{Israeli police have found a body they believe may be that of a Palestinian teenager kidnapped in East Jerusalem.}}
A boy was seen being forced into a car in Beit Hanina early on Wednesday. Within hours, a body was discovered in a wood in Givat Shaul, to the west.
Israeli police were unable to confirm the motive, but Palestinian sources said it appeared to be a revenge attack for the murder of three Israeli teens.
Later, Palestinians clashed with Israeli police outside the boy’s home.
The protesters threw stones at the officers, who reportedly responded by firing sound bombs and rubber bullets.
The killing comes a day after funerals were held in the West Bank for the three Jewish seminary students whose bodies were found near the city of Hebron on Monday, two-and-a-half weeks after they were abducted.
Thousands of people attended the ceremony in Modein, among them Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres.
Mr Netanyahu has vowed to strike at Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group he holds responsible for their deaths. It denies any involvement.
{{Countries engulfed in conflicts, insecurity and the lack of peace, have been found lacking in achieving the Millennium development Goals (MDGs).}}
A new project ‘Freedom from violence’ was launched June 24, seeking to promote the inclusion of Peace, security and Conflict Prevention in the post 2015 development agenda.
In essence, peace, security and conflict prevention must be part of any nation’s development agenda.
Rwanda which has experienced lack of peace and insecurity that climaxed into genocide against Tutsi in 1994, has managed to successfully transition into a model nation currently seen as a shinning star.
It’s against this background that Rwanda has been chosen to pilot the Freedom from violence project that will be implemented by United Nations Association-Rwanda (UNA-Rwanda) with support of the Swedish government through the world federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA).
According to Jackline Kamanzi the Chairperson of UNA-Rwanda, the work will be mainly carried out in Rwanda, although the project’s outcome will be global reaching and some training and seminars may take place outside Rwanda.
Kamanzi explains that UNA-Rwanda will work with WFUNA and other UNAs on raising awareness, capacity building and engaging in dialogue and consultations to integrate peace, security and conflict prevention within the Post-2015 Development Agendas.
She adds that a series of trainings will be conducted throughout the country aimed at creating awareness, capacity building, gathering of thoughts and opinions among NGOs, Youth, Media and the academic Community on the inclusion of peace, security and conflict prevention in the Post – 2015 development agenda.
Speaking during a training workshop at Classic Hotel in Kicukiro, Kamanzi noted that participants will have acquired a great level of awareness on the project and advocate for incorporation of peace, security and conflict prevention in the post 2015 development agenda.
The training was attended by representatives from Rwanda Governance Board, Ministry of local government and Ministry of finance and economic planning, NGOs, Youth, Media and the academic Community.
{{Understanding the Post-2015 Development Agenda}}
The international community acknowledges the need to link peace and security to sustainable development and is speaking of peace and security as a 4th pillar to development.
Endorsed by the UN High Level panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda by acknowledging an inescapable link between, conflict prevention, peace and development and as such identified a list of goals including; ensuring good governance and effective institutions and Ensuring stable and peaceful societies.
As MDG’s deadline in 2015 comes closer, the international community has already started to motion a new post-2015 global development agenda with a discussion on what to include in the Post-2015 agenda taking place globally.
Its time to fully amalgamate security and conflict prevention in the development programme.
According to the UN High level panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda means that civil society ought to be engage broadly around the world.
Consultations are taking place at the UN level; however, since the idea of incorporation of security and conflict prevention into the development agenda is a new idea, civil societies globally require capacity, skills and the know-how to engage in these dialogues.
It’s argued that informed civil societies will be fundamental in advocating their governments on specific policies that influence the post-2015 debate, engage in UN-led consultations and amplify the global agenda.
WFUNA’s United Nations Association’s (UNAs), as advocates of all themes under the UN pillars and located in all parts of the world, has taken the initiative to take the lead on raising awareness and creating a platform in which civil society, the academic community, media and politicians can engage in inclusive dialogue.
UNA – Rwanda has a special mandate from WFUNA to advocate for implementation, disseminate information, lobby government, mobilise public support and to collaborate with other national voluntary organizations on projects related to all themes under the UN pillars.
{click to watch Video on Freedom from violence}
{{An Indian MP who threatened to kill opposition workers and have women raped has apologised, saying it was a “gross error of judgement”.}}
Trinamool Congress (TMC) party MP Tapas Pal said he had “no excuses to offer” for his remarks.
Mr Pal made the controversial comments warning the rival Communist party while addressing his party supporters.
Opposition parties and the National Commission for Women have also condemned his comments.
Mr Pal made the threat weeks ago, but a video clip of his comments emerged for the first time on Monday when it was aired on Bengali news channels.
In the video, Mr Pal says: “If any CPM [Communist Party of India – Marxist] man is present here, listen to me. If you ever touch any Trinamool Congress worker or their families, you have to pay for this.
“If any rival touches any Trinamool woman, father or child, then I will ruin their generations. I will let loose my boys, they will commit rape. Yes, they will commit rape,” the MP warned.
Mr Pal’s statement has led to widespread outrage in India and TMC, which is the ruling party in the eastern state of West Bengal, has distanced itself from his comments.
{{Kenya has received a US$600mn grant from the European Union (EU) to develop public transport infrastructure and agriculture.}}
According to the EU, part of the funds would be spent on Nairobi’s public transport system to reduce congestion. The remaining cash will be used to boost food production, improve drought management and governance.
Ethiopia, Tanzania and Somalia are also expected to sign similar agreements amounting to over US$2.4bn as part of the 11th European Development Fund (EDF).
According to the Kenya’s national treasury, the EU has already released funds worth US$35mn to address traffic congestion in Nairobi. It is estimated that between US$12mn and US$94mn would be set aside for road development.
The tenth EDF had a budget of US$30.9bn, which expired in December 2013. The European Development Fund is EU’s primary agent of aid to African, Caribbean and Pacific nations.
In mid-June 2014, 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific nations met in Nairobi for three days to discuss trade issues with the EU.
During the meeting, the nations sought greater market access to Europe for bananas, cotton and sugar.
{{Muslim “relatives” of a Sudanese Christian woman hiding at the US embassy are taking her to court to try to prove she belongs to their family, a lawyer said Tuesday.}}
The complainants are the same people who laid an apostasy charge against Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag, 26, said the lawyer, Mohanad Mustafa.
Ishag was sentenced to death in May for apostasy from Islam, under Islamic sharia law that has been in force in Sudan since 1983 and outlaws conversions on pain of death.
An appeals court later quashed the verdict and sentence.
Her case raised questions of religious freedom and sparked deep concern among Western governments and human rights activists.
“In fact, it is not her family” who filed the cases, Mustafa told media. “They want to get her in trouble. Somebody supports them. I can’t mention who.”
Mustafa confirmed that a case has been lodged against Ishag in family court “to prove that Meriam is Abrar and she is one of the family.”
Muslims refer to her as Abrar al-Hadi Mohamed Abdalla.
Neither Ishag nor her lawyers have yet received documents confirming when the case will be heard, Mustafa said.
“I think the court will dismiss the case,” he added.
It is not a criminal action, meaning it would not affect her chances of travelling abroad.
Ishag is, however, charged criminally with forgery and providing false information in relation to a South Sudanese travel document she used last week while trying to leave Sudan for the United States, a day after the appeals court ruling.
On Sunday, lawyers asked prosecutors to dismiss the forgery-related charges.
Mustafa said that would leave Ishag and her family — including a baby daughter born while she was on death row — free to leave the country.
Ishag’s American husband Daniel Wani has said threats forced the family to go into hiding and seek the embassy’s protection.
A man claiming to be her brother has stated that the family would carry out the death sentence if she were acquitted, according to Christian activists.
Ishag was born to a Muslim father who abandoned the family, leaving her to be raised by her Ethiopian Orthodox Christian mother, according to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Khartoum, which said she joined the Catholic church shortly before she married.
The case has re-focussed attention on a country which has slipped from the international spotlight but where an 11-year-old war and other unrest continues in Darfur, government troops and rebels are fighting in South Kordofan and Blue Nile, and millions of people need humanitarian aid.
{{Swiss private banking group Edmund de Rothschild will invest US$530mn in Africa to develop the continent’s economy and raise the living standards of the middle class population.}}
According to reports, the funds will be managed by Amethis, an Africa-centric financing firm.
The company, which is majority owned by Rothschild, has already invested in five African companies including Kenyan Chase Bank and gas distributor Petro Ivoire.
Rothschild, along with Dubai-based private equity investor Abraaj and Washington-based asset management firm Carlyle, will be seeking investors to focus on minority stakes in small to medium-sized companies, stated Reuters.
After five years, investors will have the option to convert their stakes in the fund into shares of a company that could then float to gain permanent capital, allowing them to retain investments over a long period, rather than having to sell them after five to six years, according to reports.
Based on information gathered by data provider Preqin, private equity funds targeting Africa attracted US$2.4bn in 2013 – nearly double the amount from 2012. In early 2014, Carlyle secured nearly US$700mn for its first sub-Saharan African fund – lesser than Helios Partners’ US$908mn pool – considered the largest thus far.
Johnny El Hachem, chief executive of Compagnie Benjamin de Rothschild Conseil, said, “We are looking for high-return projects but with a strong social development aspect. Time counts in Africa. You can get much better returns if you stay longer.”
{{ A number of Indian companies have announced their intention to invest in Africa’s mining and power sectors at the recently held 11th edition of the West African Mining and Power Exhibition (WAMPEX)}}
The expo, held in Accra, Ghana, and was organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) with the support of India’s commerce ministry.
Rachna Jindal, deputy director of CII, commented, “There are lots of opportunities in Ghana, and for that matter Africa, for Indian companies to take advantage, and so, the companies from India have come to showcase what they can offer. We have the technology that is appropriate and are ready to make our expertise available to those countries that need it.”
According to a mining study released by KPMG, the African continent contributed 6.5 per cent of the world’s mineral exports in 2011, by mining 20 per cent of the world’s land area. Members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) produce two-thirds of Africa’s mineral exports by value, with South Africa leading the pack.
Ghana, in particular, is richly endowed with natural resources like gold, diamond, manganese, bauxite, iron ore, limestone, kaolin, feldspar and silica sands. The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources of Ghana, in its website, stated political stability, availability of geological data, favourable investment climate and improvised governance as reasons which put Ghana in a favourable spot with investors.
Jeeva Sagar, Indian high commissioner to Ghana, said, “Ghana is rich in resources while Indian technology and expertise in mining and power sectors is appropriate to and consistent with this friendly country’s developmental model.
The coming together of these complementary strengths augurs well for the bilateral economic cooperation between India and Ghana.”
Shubham Maheshwari, director of Shashwat Cables in Dehradun in the north Indian state of Uttarakhand, said his company was looking for opportunities in Ethiopia and Ghana even though they have their sights set across the African continent as a whole to invest.
“We want to partner with companies in the power industry initially to supply our products but will be looking at joint ventures that will eventually lead to setting up production facility in Africa,” Maheshwari added.
• Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission,
• Silvana Koch-Melhrin, Founder and Chair of the Women in Parliament global forum,
• President of the Rwandan Senate,
• Speakers of Parliament,
• Honorable Ministers,
• Senators and Members of Parliament,
• Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good evening,
We are so used to being taken out by men, but it feels good, rather refreshing to have a ladies night out. I thank the Women In Parliament global forum, for choosing Rwanda to host its 2014 summer summit.
By virtue of your positions, it feels as though the millions you represent were actually in the room with us. Tonight, I promise to spare you the statistics because I know how difficult they can be to digest with dinner. I will simply share a few thoughts on the forum’s theme: how the spirit of women in Parliaments can advance societies.
We thank you for coming together to share ideas and inspiration, on how you can be better enablers, of an equal and just world. Nous vous remercions de vous etre reunies afin d’echanger des idees et vous inspirer mutuellement, sur le moyen de devenir de meilleurs catalyseurs en vue d’un monde juste et equitable.
Rwanda is pleased and honored to welcome such a force, especially at this significant time in our journey – 20 years since the liberation of our country, from the genocidal regime.
As we come out of the 100 days of mourning, we salute the women who shouldered an immense burden during this most tragic time of our history, enduring horrors that would shake any human being to the core.
In these next few days, the national mood will be punctuated by a sense of gratitude, to the Rwandan sons and daughters who stopped the genocide against the Tutsi.
We hold our liberation process and those that led it, in high regard, we are conscious of the price they had to pay. Their sacrifice is warm in our veins.
As the world watched on television, these brave men and women stopped to look fear in the face and fought evil with purpose and passion. They refused to close their eyes and hearts to the worst form of human cruelty, a people can face.
We would be remiss if we did not pay tribute to our defense forces as we celebrate the 20th liberation. These valiant men and women in uniform continue to be part and parcel of Rwanda’s development.
They have truly surpassed our expectations by not only protecting civilians, but also providing practical solutions to daily problems.
For instance: they introduced the annual ‘Army Week’ initiative. They build schools, homes for survivors of the genocide, health centers and they provide medical care for communities.
They have participated in peacekeeping missions in Africa and beyond, where they help women make energy-saving stoves to limit their visits to the bushes in search of firewood, risking rape and death. They have held the Rwandan flag high.
Our National Police has also played a pivotal role in the campaign to end violence against women and girls in Rwanda, and hosts the Africa Centre for Security Organs to end Violence against women and girls, mobilizing an unprecedented 32 African countries against this pandemic.
Since we have only a few men in the room, let me hope they will not take offense at what I am about to say. In the last few centuries, under the exclusive leadership of men we have seen 2 world wars; several genocides; the rise of terrorism; a world dictated by the scramble for scarce resources, and the advancement of strategic interests at the expense of human dignity. I am only stating facts, no emotions.
{{Ladies and gentlemen:}}
While we are not going to pretend that women can fix all the problems, I believe we can make a difference, at this tipping point. Some would argue that people only respond to economic incentives and force.
As women we dream of a world where soft power: aspects such as values, culture, innovation can be compatible with the responsible quest for global influence and wealth creation.
True, the world has evolved and demands that we aspire for more and better. The age we live in requires more of our skills and energy. Martin Luther King said and I quote ‘there is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time’. Ladies, this is our time. For a second, can you imagine what the world would miss out on, if they had ignored and excluded such a powerful group?
We enjoyed the confident and bold expressions from Sophia, Natacha and Angel, along with our graceful traditional dancers. I cannot forget Sandrine and Carole, our MCs. These young women are the face of Rwandan women all over this country.
Women who work very hard and are in fact the ones delivering key targets, such as the Millennium Development Goals, on behalf of Rwanda. They need to be encouraged to do even better.
I also want to acknowledge women leaders at national and community level. They have been instrumental in Rwanda’s rebirth and reconstruction and some of them are in the room tonight. This was all made possible, thanks to a visionary leadership that recognized our rightful space.
As legislators representing millions of constituents, I wish to leave you with a few challenges:
• Will you be remembered as the generation of global women leaders that used its power to reach out to the often forgotten?
• Are you ready to protect and sustain the gains women have made?
• And if I may borrow from Angel, will you be a legend?
As I close my remarks, I would like to thank you for associating with Rwanda, especially at this time. This global sisterhood means a lot to us. Thank you for your kind attention and I wish you a memorable stay in Rwanda.
{{Rwanda’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, His Excellency Williams Nkurunziza, is the new Chair of Commonwealth Secretariat Board of Governors. }}
Having been elected unanimously by his fellow Board members, he took up his responsibilities on 1 July 2014.
Mr Nkurunziza succeeds His Excellency Carl Roberts, High Commissioner for Antigua and Barbuda to the United Kingdom, and will serve in this position for two years.
All 53 Commonwealth member states are represented on the Board of Governors, which meets annually to consider Commonwealth Secretariat work plans and budgets.
Speaking after discussions with Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma at Marlborough House, the Commonwealth headquarters in London, Mr Nkurunziza said: “I am profoundly grateful to my fellow Governors for their confidence and for entrusting me and my country with this important responsibility.
I look forward to working with my fellow Governors and the senior management of the Commonwealth Secretariat to ensure that the organisation continues to deliver good value to the member states and all our citizens.”
Greeting Mr Nkurunziza on his first day as Chair, the Commonwealth Secretary-General said: “The High Commissioner for Rwanda takes up his duties as Chair of our Board of Governors on the day we open a new chapter at the Commonwealth Secretariat. The structure of our divisions and our staffing arrangements have been reformed.”
Mr Sharma said he felt sure that they would enjoy a warm and productive relationship as they work together to deliver the Secretariat’s strategic plan for advancing democracy, development and respect for diversity in all Commonwealth countries.
He said: “I look forward to working in close and fruitful collaboration with His Excellency Williams Nkurunziza to serve the needs of all our member states in fresh and practical ways, and to achieve impact that will fulfil their high ambitions for the Commonwealth.”
The Secretary-General said that Mr Nkurunziza comes well prepared for the role of Chair, having served as Chair of the Board’s Executive Committee for the past year.
About HE Williams Nkurunziza
Prior to taking up his role in the UK, Mr Nkurunziza served in India, as High Commissioner of Rwanda there, with concurrent accreditations to the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka as well as designate-Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Union of Myanmar.
Before joining the diplomatic service, he served as Director General of the Rwanda Investment and Export Promotional Agency (RIEPA) during which time he worked tirelessly to reposition post-genocide Rwanda in the international marketplace as an ideal investment destination and a reliable trading partner.
During this time, he also served on President Paul Kagame’s Presidential Economic Advisory Council.
H.E. Nkurunziza is widely travelled and has attended and or addressed international conferences and seminars in over 50 countries across the world – in the Americas, Europe (including the UK), Africa and Asia, on Rwanda’s socio-econo-political development, investment opportunities and potential for trade partnerships.
