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{{Following the growing number of U.S. citizens in Rwanda, the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy in Kigali recently added a new consular officer to support the community of U.S. citizens in Rwanda and ensuring that Rwandan visa customers get quick and friendly support. }}

“It’s exciting to be the first Vice-Consul ever at this embassy,” said Heather Chase, who arrived in Kigali in January.“Our first priority is assisting U.S. citizens, whether they need new passports or advice on finding medical care overseas.”

“Heather’s arrival is a demonstration of the commitment of the United States to both its citizens in Rwanda and Rwandans who seek to visit and study in the United States,” Consul Dominic Randazzo added.

Since mid-2013, the Consular Section at the U.S. Embassy in Kigali has almost tripled in size, enabling the team to spend more time talking with U.S. citizens about their interests and needs, and discussing student and tourist visas with Rwandans across the country.

Increased staffing has enabled the Embassy to establish deeper ties with organizations that bring Americans to Rwanda, such as Rwanda’s tour companies and national parks, Randazzo explained.

He also said that additional staffing now means that wait times for Rwandans seeking visas will be lower in the future, especially during the busy periods in July, August, and December each year.

{{The Heads of State of the Northern Corridor have signed a pact at the closure of summit in Speke Resort Munyonyo in Kampala Uganda.}}

The three Heads of State, namely President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya and their host, President Yoweri Museveni today signed a mutual Defence Pact at the end of the Munyonyo Summit in Kampala.

The three leaders also signed a Mutual Peace and Security Pact.

The Summit also witnessed the Ministers of Foreign Affairs signing a memorandum of understanding to formalize engagement with Africa 50 infrastructure.

The regional leaders issued a communiqué that was presented by the Ugandan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sam Kutesa.

On the situation in South Sudan, the Heads of State noted that the current crisis has serious implications on regional peace and security.

They rejected attempts of unconstitutional change of Government as enshrined in the African Union Constitutive Act.

The Heads of State strongly condemned the recent attack by the rebels in South Sudan on the town of Malakal on the 18th February 2014, as this constituted a serious violation of the cessation of hostilities agreement signed on the 23rd January 2014 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The leaders reaffirmed their support to the Republic of South Sudan in her request for resolution of the crisis in consonance with IGAD mechanism.

They resolved that partner states would develop a joint power generation project.

They noted that all the partner States have made contribution to the Bank Account in Kigali towards the feasibility study for the engineering, procurement and construction of an oil pipeline.

{{For the third time, Rwanda peacekeepers in Central African Republic (CAR) escorted and delivered humanitarian and commercial goods to Bangui, on 19 February 2014 from the Cameroon-CAR border.}}

The convoy of 68 vehicles escorted by Rwanda Mechanised Infantry battalion (RwaMechBatt1) serving in the African-led International Support Mission to the Central African Republic (MISCA) was received by the MISCA Force Commander, Brigadier General Martin Tumante who thanked the Peacekeepers for good job well-done.

Gen. Tumante thanked the MISCA Forces for having escorted and protected the humanitarian aid convoy, “you spent five days and nights to deliver the much needed humanitarian and day to day goods for CAR people, thank you for your commitment”.

{{Several attacks along the humanitarian corridor}}

The third humanitarian convoy escort started the 700 km long journey from Bangui to CAR-Cameroon border on 15 February 2014. Along the way, the peacekeepers rescued 2000 fleeing civilians who were under attack from Anti-Balaka armed group.

The fleeing civilians were safely protected from several Anti-Balaka attacks and evacuated to a safe zone in the neighbouring country, Cameroon. Unfortunately three innocent people among the fleeing civilians were killed by the Anti-Balaka thugs.

Three injured civilians were evacuated to Cameroon Hospital after having first aid treatment from the Rwanda Peacekeepers medical staff (below on the photo).

On the other hand, the peacekeepers, in protecting civilians and the humanitarian convoy fought the assailants and killed at least seven of them. Two sub-machine guns and several rounds of ammunition were recovered from them.

“MISCA reiterates its commitment to continue to provide security for humanitarian and other convoys along the corridor connecting the Central African Republic to the border with Cameroon”, reads a press statement released on 15 February by MISCA.

RwaMechBatt1 peacekeepers first opened the 700 km humanitarian Corridor on 27 January2014.

{{The African Union-United Nations Joint Special Representative/Joint Chief Mediator, Mohamed Ibn Chambas has said that Rwandans should be proud of their country’s reconstruction success after the 1994 genocide against ethnic Tutsi’s.}}

The UNAMID head was speaking to IGIHE today in an exclusive phone interview shortly before addressing an audience of peacekeeping forces in Darfur gathered for the 20th commemoration of the Genocide against ethnic Tutsi’s that claimed over a million lives in April 1994 in Rwanda.

Mr. Chambas said never again should such atrocities happen anywhere in the world; “The international community learnt allot from the Rwandan situation and this triggered a timely responce in Sudan to avert genocide in Darfur region. UNAMID provides protection to civilians and has been pressing for a sustainable peace agreement between conflicting parties.”

{Below is an excerpt of the interview;}

IGIHE: {{The UN peacekeeping force has been accused of failing to protect ethnic Tutsi in Rwanda during the 1994 Tutsi Genocide. How effective has UNAMID been to protecting Darfur people from ethnic cleansing.?}}

{{UNAMID Head, Mr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas}}: The international community admitted its failure to protect ethnic Tutsi in Rwanda during the 1994 Tutsi Genocide. However, allot of lessons were learnt and Never Again should such mayhem happen anywhere in the world. This is why there was a timely intervention in Darfur region of Sudan.

A Significant UNAMID peacekeeping force with a mandate to protect civilian population has since been deployed in Darfur.The force maintains daily patrols in the region to ensure safety for civilian population. The force also guards around Internally Displaced Peoples Camps (IDPs).

IGIHE: {{UNAMID Mission deadline: Do you think the mission will achieve its set goals before the deadline is reached or there might be an extension of this deadline?}}

{{Mr.Chambas}}:The Peacekeeping Mission looks towards ensuring that a sustainable peace Agreement between warring parties is achieved but this has not been achieved at the moment.

In our mandate we are also providing protection to the civilian population.

IGIHE:{{ As Rwandan’s prepare for the 20th commemoration of Genocide against ethnic Tutsi’s, what message do you send out to the youth and survivors?}}

{{Mr. Chambas}}:The world has not forgotten about what happened in 1994 in Rwanda. The international community learnt from Rwanda and never again should any such happen.

Rwanda’s reconstruction success after the 1994 genocide against ethnic Tutsi’s should be a source of pride.

IGIHE: {{Will you describe the working experience of having Rwanda Army contributing to a UN peacekeeping force like UNAMID?}}

{{Mr. Chambas}}: Right now am going to address an audience of peacekeepers and I will give credit to the Rwanda Defence Forces for proving to be resilient. They have strong men and women that are dedicated to bringing peace in Africa.

{{Directors of Criminal Investigation Departments (CID) from the Eastern Africa Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation (EAPCCO) are gathered in Seychelles to discuss counter-terrorism strategies.}}

This is being done through a three-day workshop currently being held at the Regional Anti-Piracy Prosecutions and Intelligence Coordination Centre (Rappicc) on Bois de Rose Avenue.

As many countries of the region currently face the plight of piracy, maritime piracy along with crime scene management and related training needs are among the main topics being covered during the three days.

The conference was officially opened yesterday morning by EAPCCO chairman and local Police Commissioner Ernest Quatre.

In his opening speech, Commissioner Quatre said Seychelles is proud and honoured to host a high profile workshop covering a worldwide problem which is having a terrible impact on the lives of innocent civilians and communities at large.

He reminded that every government has a primary responsibility to provide security for its citizens, without which there will be no economic and social growth.

This is why he emphasised that EAPCCO countries should take positive actions, such as building on their police and security services, to reduce or eradicate the impacts of terrorism through shared experiences and mutual support.

“We are faced with the challenges to develop counter-terrorism strategies […]. It is true that counter-terrorist strategies focus on military, police or other internal security approaches. But equally, and as we are doing today, building upon external relations and building networks, we also look to our shared experiences and friendships to be part of an overall strategy that will address concerns or threats before they become terror onto our people,” Mr Quatre said.

The workshop is being organised with the collaboration of Interpol and the Seychelles government, with the financial support of the USA, Canada, Norway and Australia.

It is being led by two experts from the South African-based Institute for Security Studies (ISS), senior researcher Anneli Botha and senior training coordinator Willem Meintjes.

Other than Seychelles, the conference has brought together delegates from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, South Sudan and Uganda, while Djibouti and the Comoros are absent.

{Nation}

{{The U.S. government has warned airlines to pay particular attention to the possibility of terrorists attempting to hide explosives in shoes, a result of new intelligence, according to two people familiar with the situation.}}

The officials stressed there is no specific threat or known plot.

Intelligence collected by the United States and other countries has indicated terror groups have been working on new shoe-bomb designs, the sources said Wednesday.

That knowledge prompted the Department of Homeland Security to warn airlines to be on the lookout for explosives hidden in shoes on flights from overseas to the United States, they said.

A separate intelligence official underscored the warning was issued out of a sense of heightened caution.

“This threat is not specific or credible enough to require a specific response. DHS often issues these alerts out of an abundance of caution, but this does not necessarily rise to the level of facilitating a response,” the intelligence official said.

A fourth official similarly stressed there is no specific threat and said there is already some puzzlement about why DHS issued the warning.

Yet another intelligence source said the warning went beyond a concern about explosives in shoes to include cosmetics and liquids.

The official added that the threat is unrelated to recent warnings about toothpaste and cosmetic tubes potentially being used to hide explosives on flights to Russia.

Terrorism experts say airlines continue to be a target of terrorists wishing to make a spectacular impact with an attack. The focus on security since 2001 has shifted from hijackings to bombs, especially those that might be hidden in luggage.

In December 2001, just weeks after the 9/11 attacks, passengers aboard an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami thwarted another passenger’s attempt to detonate explosives hidden in his sneakers. Richard Reid, a British citizen, pleaded guilty and is serving a life sentence.

A failed attempt to blow up an overseas flight heading to Detroit on Christmas Day in 2009 involved a bomb concealed in a passenger’s underwear.

Current Transportation Security Administration policy requires passengers going through security checkpoints to take off their shoes to be X-rayed.

DHS is not making any changes to passenger requirements, though travelers may notice additional searches, including swabs to detect explosives, according to a law enforcement official.

The official added that there are “seen and unseen” measures TSA can take for security and additional scrutiny.

The warning outlined 25 to 30 cities overseas, all of which have nonstop flights to the United States, an airline industry source said. Johannesburg, Paris, London and Cairo, as well as some cities in the Middle East, were on the list.

For carriers flying on those routes, the alert warned there would be increased scrutiny of people who appear on the TSA’s “selectee list,” which includes people deemed suspicious who could warrant additional screening, as well as randomly picked people.

The warning was meant to give a heads up to airlines about delays, not asking airlines to do anything specific, the industry source said.

{wirestory}

{{Gains in fighting malaria in sub-Saharan Africa have left the highest risk for the disease concentrated in 10 countries, according to a study published on Wednesday by The Lancet medical journal.}}

Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Cote d’Ivoire, Mozambique, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Guinea and Togo together account for 87 per cent of areas that have the highest prevalence of malaria, it said.

The study assessed the effectiveness of the battle against malaria, which went into higher gear with the launch of the Roll Back Malaria initiative in 2000.

Since then, financial support has risen from $100 million (73 million euros) annually to about $2 billion (1.46 billion euros).

The researchers drew up a map of the changing face of malaria from thousands of surveys of prevalence of the disease among children in 44 countries.

They set down three categories of risk: high, meaning places where more than 50 per cent of the population were likely to be infected by the Plasmodium falciparum parasite; moderate (10 to 50 per cent of the population infected); and low (less than 10 per cent).

From 2000 to 2010, the number of people living in areas of high-risk infection fell from 219 million to 184 million, a decline of 16 per cent.

But the numbers living in moderate-risk locations rose from 179 million to 280 million, a rise of 57 percent.

The good news was that the tally of people living in low-risk areas rose from 131 million to 219 million.

{{‘Elite club’}}

Four countries — Cape Verde, Eritrea, South Africa and Ethiopia — joined Swaziland, Djibouti and Mayotte in the elite club of countries where transmission levels are so low that elimination of malaria is a realistic goal.

The researchers said the overall picture was mixed, and important gains had been partly offset by population increase — over the decade, an extra 200 million people were born in places with malaria.

“Substantial reductions in malaria transmission have been achieved in endemic countries in Africa over the period 2000-2010,” the paper said.

“However, 57 per cent of the population in 2010 continued to live in areas where transmission remains moderate to intense and global support to sustain and accelerate the reduction of transmission must remain a priority.”

In its 2013 report on malaria, the World Health Organisation (WHO) last December said 3.3 million lives had been saved worldwide since 2000.

Even so, the mosquito-borne disease still killed 627,000 people last year, mainly children in Africa and Southeast Asia.

The agency pointed to a shortage of funding and a lack of access to artemisinin malarial medicines and basic remedies such as bednets remained a serious problem, it said.

NMG