Category: News

Maimunah Mohd Sharif, executive director of the UN-Habitat, said as urbanization accelerates in Africa, policymakers should prioritize revamping cities’ infrastructure to help cope with population pressure and climatic stresses.

According to Sharif, African cities are the new epicenters of innovation, talent, and economic vitality, hence the need to enact legislation to ensure they are safe, habitable, and resilient to natural disasters.

She said the second session of the United Nations Habitat Assembly, slated for June 5 to 9 in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, will present an opportunity for African countries to revitalize their urban agenda.

Held after every four-year cycle, the assembly is the highest decision-making body on urban issues within the UN system and comprises 193 UN member states.

The assembly will be held under the theme of “A sustainable urban future through inclusive and effective multilateralism: achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in times of global crises..”

Sharif noted that African cities have not been spared the negative impact of the global economic slowdown, the COVID-19 pandemic, conflicts, and the climate crisis, stressing that restoring their vibrancy demands policy shift, forward-looking leadership, and leveraging innovations.

Currently, an estimated 40 percent of Africa’s population live in urban areas, while 53 percent live in informal settlements that lack basic amenities, including safe drinking water, sanitation, and health, according to the UN-Habitat.

Oumar Sylla, director of the Regional Office for Africa at the UN-Habitat, said there is an urgency to tackle extreme poverty, pollution, youth unemployment, crime, and proliferation of slums, which is stifling efforts to create resilient cities in the continent.

Sylla called for the creation of a conducive policy and regulatory environment to spur investments in green mobility, affordable shelter, and waste recycling in a bid to accelerate urban renewal in Africa.

In addition, Sylla said leveraging data and innovations, research, capacity building, sharing of best practices, and domestic resource mobilization will be key to renewing African cities.

The police said so far 133 bodies have been exhumed since the discovery of the mass graves on a piece of land at Shakahola forest in late April.

The police investigators who resumed the search for more mass graves on Tuesday said most of the victims were children who were told by a self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge to starve themselves in order to “meet Jesus.”

The police raided Nthenge’s property in mid-April after receiving a tip-off from members of the public where they found emaciated people. The victims were starving after being informed this was part of the way to go and “meet Jesus.”

Kithure Kindiki, cabinet secretary in the Ministry of Interior and National Administration, said on Tuesday that the exhumation process will be carried out carefully to protect the dignity and privacy of the families of the deceased persons.

He said the search and rescue efforts are ongoing with 65 persons having been rescued from the thickets so far, including two who were evacuated Tuesday morning by the police investigators.

Kenyan President William Ruto who has described the incident as terrorism announced on Friday the formation of a commission of inquiry into the mass deaths.

Al-Burhan made the remarks on Tuesday during phone conversations with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azali Assoumani, president of the Union of the Comoros and chair of the African Union(AU), Sudan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“Al-Burhan expressed the Sudanese government’s openness to any initiative that would help relieve the Sudanese people of the atrocities committed by the rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF),” it said.

According to the statement, Assoumani underlined the importance of maintaining stability in Sudan and supporting the ongoing talks in the Saudi city of Jeddah to stop the fighting and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Assoumani was quoted as saying that he would send a special envoy to Jeddah to help reach an agreement to end the conflict and restore stability in Sudan.

While expressing his concern over the increasing number of fatalities and injuries in the conflict between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary RSF, Erdogan offered to host peace talks, his office said in a statement.

Türkiye is “ready to host the talks if they decide to start comprehensive negotiations,” the statement quoted Erdogan as saying. Ankara will continue its contact with the United Nations to ensure that the urgent humanitarian needs of the Sudanese people are met, Erdogan added.

Erdogan also discussed with Al-Burhan the evacuation and safety of Turkish citizens in Sudan, the statement said.

Sudan has been witnessing deadly armed clashes between the Sudanese army and the RSF in the capital city of Khartoum and other areas since April 15, with the two sides accusing each other of initiating the conflict.

According to UN statistics, thousands of Sudanese citizens have been displaced or forced to seek refuge in safe areas in Sudan and neighboring countries, including Egypt, Ethiopia and Chad.

So far, the deadly clashes have left at least 550 people dead and 4,926 others wounded, according to the Sudanese health ministry.