{{The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, have agreed to demarcate their common land border at the end of a three-day meeting of experts from 4 to 6 August in Goma.}}
The two parties also decided to put in place a joint technical team to identify the boundary stones starting from stone 6 to stone 22, based on the data from the draft agreement signed on June 25, 1911 between Belgium and Germany, the two colonizing powers of the DRC and Rwanda, respectively.
The joint technical team, whose mission is expected to run from 25 to 30 August, will use a location form, GPS data based on the three-meter WGS 84 reference and pictures of the stone, the source said citing the minutes of the Goma meeting.
The team will also have compasses, GPS navigation receptors, digital cameras, as well as vehicles, the source added.
Another source contacted by APA revealed that only five of the 22 boundary stones have so far been identified.
{{West Africa’s Ebola epidemic is an “extraordinary event” and now constitutes an international health risk, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday.}}
The Geneva-based U.N. health agency said the possible consequences of a further international spread of the outbreak, which has killed almost 1,000 people in four West African countries, were “particularly serious” in view of the virulence of the virus.
“A coordinated international response is deemed essential to stop and reverse the international spread of Ebola,” the WHO said in a statement after a two-day meeting of its emergency committee on Ebola. The declaration of an international emergency will have the effect of raising the level of vigilance for transmission of the virus.
The agency added that while all states with Ebola transmission – so far Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone – should declare a national emergency, there should be no general ban on international travel or trade.
Keiji Fukuda, the WHO’s head of health security, stressed that, with the right steps and measures to deal with infected people, Ebola’s spread could be stopped.
“This is not a mysterious disease. This is an infectious disease that can be contained,” he told reporters on a telephone briefing from the WHO’s Geneva headquarters. “It is not a virus that is spread through the air.”
The WHO said the current outbreak was the most severe in the almost 40 years since Ebola was first identified in humans.
{{Rwandan rebels in Democratic Republic of Congo believe an extended deadline to disarm allows them to stall, a top U.N. official said on Thursday, suggesting military action against factions which do not comply or commit human rights abuses.}}
Rwandan FDLR rebels, who seek to overthrow the Rwandan government and who include former soldiers and Hutu militia held responsible for Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, announced in April they would disarm, and some began doing so in May.
The Congolese government presented a 22-day plan for the group to disarm in May, but since then, the United Nations said, only 186 rebels have voluntarily disarmed out an estimated 1,500. So, African nations agreed in early July to extend for six months the deadline for the FDLR to disarm.
“The FDLR interpreted this decision as a call to stall the process,” the U.N. special envoy to Congo, Martin Kobler, told the U.N. Security Council. “In addition, the perceived absence of military pressure has thrown the process into a freezer.”
He said FDLR leaders have largely ignored U.N. and Congolese attempts to persuade the group to continue disarming, describing it as “a serious sign of non-cooperation.”
“Experience has shown that only a combination of political and military pressure has led to disarmament and demobilization,” Kobler told the Security Council.
Congolese Foreign Minister Raymond Tshibanda told the council that after the extension of the disarmament deadline, Congolese authorities had made clear to the FDLR that “the military option was still on the table and it could take place at any time if their behavior … lacked credibility.”
Kobler said the United Nations, which has a 22,000-strong peacekeeping force in the country, and the Congolese government need to agree on criteria for assessing the disarmament process and what action to take if compliance was insufficient.
{{The Rwanda Civil Aviation Authority has denied any cases of Ebola at Kigali International Airport.}}
Since morning there have been unconfirmed reports that eight people suspected to be infected with the deadly Ebola virus were being quarantined at Kigali International Airport triggering fears and rumours among the local population.
Speaking to IGIHE, Tonny Barigye the Public Relations Officer of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said, “The rumours are false. We don’t have any cases of Ebola at the Airport. Iam also in touch with officials from Military Hospital and can confirm to you that there are no such cases of Ebola”.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health has denied any Ebola outbreak in the country saying in a statement, “there are no Ebola cases reported or suspected at this time in Rwanda. Any confirmed Ebola case in Rwanda will be investigated on time and the public will be informed.”
Rwandas national carrier Rwandair makes routine flights to western Africa nations a situation that places Rwanda on high alert.
However, IGIHE spoke to immigration officials at small border crossings who indicated that there was no presence of MINISANTE officials and or officials from MIDMAR to conduct screenings of people entering and leaving the country.
Nathan Mugume of Health Communication Centre in the Ministry of health says surveillance and emergency management systems have been strengthened throughout the country.
{{The US Africa Summit began its first day with the US Africa Business Forum bringing together leaders in the business sectors from both Africa and the United States to discuss opportunities for partnership.}}
Speaking on the panel titled “Game Plan: Shaping the Future of a Fast- Growing Continent” alongside President Macky Sall of Senegal, President Marzouki of Tunisia, President Zuma of South Africa and President Kikwete of Tanzania, President Kagame highlighted the potential to turn Africa’s challenges into opportunities:
“Through this partnership, imagine the kind of growth and development than can be unleashed. But there has to be grounds on which growth can translate into development. Each of the members in this partnership has responsibilities and a role to play.”
President Kagame emphasized the need for Africa to own up to its weaknesses and forge a way forward that ensures Africa becomes an equal partner:
“We need to build our capacities and strengthen our institutions to avoid the over dependency that has been there for too long.We need to own up to our mistakes and weaknesses and contribute to our solutions. We need to tell our own story.”
President Kagame concluded his remarks with an emphasis on the need for African nations to work together:
“There is not much time to waste in terms of building consensus and working together so that we partner with others rather than be dependent on them.”
The US Africa Business Forum was co hosted by Bloomberg Philanthropies and the U.S. Department of Commerce. The day focused on key areas including infrastructure, power, agriculture, finance and capital investments and information and communication technologies.
Speakers throughout the day included African business leaders Aliko Dangote, Ashish Thakkar, Strive Masiyiwa as well as US policy makers including National Security Advisor Susan Rice, Secretary of State John Kerry and US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker.
The investment of US businesses in Africa following this conference is expected to total $14 billion in business deals that will benefit both Africa and the US. Among the issues advocated at the summit, the Obama administration announced efforts to extend the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act set to expire next year for another fifteen years.
{{On the last of the US Africa Summit, over fifty leaders held an interactive discussion on the future of investment in Africa, peace and security on the continent as well as governance}}.
President Obama announced a new initiative over the next three to five years to build capacity of African militaries to rapidly deploy peacekeepers as well as strengthen security institutions. The United States will partner with several African nations including Rwanda.
President Kagame described this initiative as an additional means to ensure Africans remain at the forefront of solving their challenges:
“We are a country shaped and informed by our own history, where peace and security was lacking and resulted in what happened 20 years ago. This is about enabling African to stand on its own feet and deal with issue of development and growth. We are very happy to work with our colleagues across the continent and deal with different challenges including trying to keep and maintain peace in our continent.”
The two day summit ended with a renewed commitment to strengthen mutually beneficial partnership between the US and Africa with an emphasis on expanding trade between Africa and the US, partnering to ensure peace and security and working together to ensure sustainable development.
The US-Africa Business Forum resulted in over $14 billion in new private sector deals while President Obama pledged $7 billion for the Doing Business in Africa Campaign aimed at enhancing US-Africa trade.
{Minister Nsengimana urges Youth to spread peace messages using ICT
The Minister of Youth and ICT, Jean Philbert Nsengimana urges youth in Rwanda to promote peace by using available technologies. This has been revealed on Tuesday, August 6, 2014 where the Ministry of Youth and ICT hosted the bi-monthly YouthConnekt Hangout session on the role of youth in peace building. }
YouthConnekt Hangout platform serves as a channel for Youth, ICT players or anyone interested in both sectors to contribute to the country’s developmental agenda through debates.
Minister Nsengimana noted that “There is a very nice meeting between Youth, ICT and Peace because with new technologies like the one we are using right now, we can really promote peace and take peace where peace is not at least we can carry a message of peace.”
“Peace building effort has to be a holistic effort; it doesn’t just touch on elements of violence it also connected with access to basic necessities like food, shelter, security, education; it’s all interconnected and that’s why any effort that’s contributes to uplifting the standard of living of people actually indirectly contributes to peace building,” Minister Nsengimana added
Jeremy Gilleh, the Founder of Peace One Day, a British non-profit organisation dedicated to raising awareness worldwide of the International Day of Peace celebrated on 21 September.
Gilleh revealed that they are raising awareness worldwide of the International Day of Peace to be celebrated on 21 September, he stressed that “We need young people to believe particularly that peace is possible and the only way is showing them the vision of peace is coming together with them.”
Peace One Day has recently launched a comprehensive three-year campaign, made possible by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, to help raise awareness of Peace Day throughout the Great Lakes region (GLR), working with all parties and sectors of society for a significant moment of peace on Peace Day.
Bosco Rutagengwa living in Ngoma District in the Eastern Province said that “As young people we have to contribute in peace building in our country through various activities among youth by sharing our personal experience and helping genocide survivors in our respective villages.”
Among the other panelists joining the YouthConnekt Hangout on the role of youth in peace building were Dr. Jean Baptiste Habyarimana, the Executive Secretary of the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission, Auke Lootsma, UNDP Country Director and Takahiro Moriya, Chief Representative of JICA Rwanda
The Ministry of Youth and ICT (MYICT) in partnership with UNDP, ADMA, TIGO, HeHe Ltd launched a series of Google+ Hangout sessions called YouthConnekt Hangout.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE WHOLE SESSION: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4LPiGd0pDs
{{The Eastern Police Spokesperson, Senior Superintendent (SSP) Benoit Nsengiyumva has warned residents in Bugesera District against illegal mining which he said is not only a criminal act but may lead to loss of lives.
The warning comes following the recent case Bugesera District, Rweru sector where a man died after cliff of the close site where he was mining illegally in Muyoboro Village, curved in.
SSP Nsengiyumva said the incident was reported by a security guard at the site.
“Illegal mining is not only a criminal act but also leads to loss of lives, which we can’t afford to continue,” he said.
He appealed to the general public to fight the dangerous acts and report those involved.}}
The incident has been blamed on Mabanese Defence Forces, an armed group in Maban county.
UNMISS, in a statement issued Tuesday, said it dispatched a unit of peacekeepers in four armored personnel carriers from its base in the Upper Nile town of Melut to protect UN and humanitarian personnel, as well as civilians taking refuge within its facilities.
The mission called upon local, state and national authorities to bring to justice the individuals responsible for these murders as soon as possible to halt the ongoing descent into lawlessness in Maban.
Toby Lanzer, the UN humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan, said that Maban, where some 127,000 refugees from Sudan are living, has seen an increase in violence and harassment of civilians and aid workers, jeopardising the lives of tens of thousands of men, women and children who count on aid organizations for their survival.
On Monday, a local staffer working for the Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) was also shot and killed after he was reportedly pulled out of a NPA vehicle.
“It’s with a heavy heart Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) today has received the sad news that our good colleague Gabriel Yien Gach was shot and killed in Maban County in South Sudan this morning”, NPA said in a statement on its website.
“Our thoughts are first and foremost with Gabriel Yien Gach’s family and our colleagues in South Sudan,” it adds.
Gach reportedly worked in NPA’s food security and livelihood program, supporting the local community, as well as the internally displaced, with agriculture support and emergency food.
Kathrine Raadim, the head of international department at NPA “strongly” condemned any attacks on civilians in the ongoing crisis.
“Any attacks on civilians are unacceptable, but attacks based on ethnicity are even direr as they will only feed into the circle of violence and revenge”, said Raadim in a statement.
“It is also completely unacceptable to attack NGO [Non-Governmental Organisation] personnel who’s only mission in the field is to help the people of South Sudan in the face of this enormous, man-made, crisis”, she added.
NPA has also demanded investigations in to the killing of their staff and that the perpetrators fully be held accountable.
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said it was extremely concerned by the outbreak of fighting in the northern South Sudanese town of Bunj in Maban, where increasing violence compromised the security and well-being of over 100,000 Sudanese refugees and those of humanitarian agencies’ staff assisting them.
“UNHCR appeals to all parties to the conflict to refrain from harassing humanitarian agents who are dedicated to saving lives of people in need”, said Cosmas Chanda, UNHCR’s chief in South Sudan.
{{Three emergency shelters housing an influx of children from Central America who entered the US illegally will be closed in the upcoming weeks.}}
The US health agency, which manages the shelters, says fewer children were crossing the border and they were adding capacity in standard shelters.
More than 57,000 children have crossed the southwest US border since October.
Efforts to increase resources in response to the crisis have so far failed in Congress.
Both the House and Senate have rejected a $3.7bn (£2.2bn) funding request from President Barack Obama, creating their own competing bills about how to respond.
The three shelters, all on US military bases, were holding unaccompanied children under a 2008 law requiring minors from countries not bordering the US be handed over to the Health and Human Services Department (HHS) with 72 hours of being caught by US border officials.
The young migrants are usually held in shelters, many run by non-profit groups, until a relative or other sponsor in the US can be found to house them while they await a deportation hearing.
Most of the children are from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras – driven north by a spike in gang violence in their home countries, by extreme poverty, and amid incorrect rumours children will be allowed to stay if they make it across the border.
In a statement, HHS spokesman Kenneth Wolfe said the agency expected an emergency shelter at Fort Sill in Oklahoma to close down by 8 August.
