Africa

Hundreds of Coptic Christians have fled Egypt’s northern Sinai region after a spate of so-called Islamic State attacks with seven people killed within two weeks.

How charities working in Kenya are experimenting with cash transfers instead of more traditional forms of aid.

The walls and floors are being repaired, the hotel refurbished but will the tourists come back to Tunisia after the beach shootings at Sousse two years ago?

A US charity is giving aid to Kenyans in cash and allowing them to choose how to spend it.

The cost of staging the 2022 Games may force Durban to drop out as host, South Africa says.

Motorists in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, face difficult driving conditions as they try to avoid potholes on the road.

A Unicef report exposes the extreme dangers of violent and sexual abuse faced by child migrants.

With hundreds of thousands in need of assistance in famine-struck parts of South Sudan and rising insecurity hampering relief work, a senior United Nations relief official in the country has called on all parties to ensure that humanitarians have immediate, safe and unhindered access across the nation.

Saidy Brown discusses the extraordinary reaction after she disclosed her HIV status on Twitter.

Less than half of the people in Somalia have access to basic health services, the United Nations health agency today said, announcing that it is scaling up its response in the country amid a severe drought and worsening food crisis.

Remittances sent home by migrant workers account for 30% of the economy in Lesotho.

How the men of Chad's Wodaabe culture go about finding their brides at a desert festival where the stress is on make-up and clothes.

Thousands are to receive aid in Unity State but many more remain cut off, writes Alastair Leithead.

February 25, 2017 (NYALA) - South Darfur ministry of education has requested the state government to provide the necessary support to transport and accommodate pupils from three areas in Jebel Marra to safe areas where they can participate in the examination for the Certificate of Primary Education (CPE).

South Darfur Minister of Education Mohamed Abdallah Hisham, Saturday said his ministry need the support of the state government to transport pupils from Eastern Jebel Marra locality to Marshang area in the Unity locality.

He added they also have to gather pupils from two other areas in Kass locality of Jebel Marra due to the security condition in the surrounding areas, as they have used to do every year since the eruption of Darfur crisis.

Jebel Marra, which spans over three states including North, Central and South Darfur, was the theatre of clashes last year between the government forces and a rebel faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement - Abdel Wahid al-Nur.

However, the government has allowed humanitarian groups to reach the conflict-affected areas after banning it for several years. Government officials say they defeated the rebels but admit the existence of some pockets at the top of Jebel Marra.

Hisham praised the efforts exerted by the security committee in Kass to prepare the examination centres and to provide the housing for the pupils during their stay period.

According to the minister, over 38 thousand pupils will participate this year at the CPE examination and 198 centres have been prepared to receive them on 4 March.

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February 25, 2017 (JUBA) - The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said it is providing emergency health care and shelter assistance to South Sudanese forced to flee their homes due to violence in volatile areas of the war-torn nation.

IDPs shelter near the UNMISS base in Wau (IOM/Gonzalez 2016)

IOM, in coordination with Mercy Corps, is reportedly conducting an emergency shelter and non-food item kit distribution from 22 February – 3 March for over 9,400 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Nyal, Unity state.

The kits, the agency said, will include blankets, nylon and rubber rope, plastic sheeting, a kanga (cloth) and a large carrying bag.

Nyal, in Unity's Panyijiar county, has been hosting IDPs from surrounding counties since a military offensive in the area in early 2015. The resurgence of conflict in July 2016 prompted additional displacement in central and southern Unity, with many IDPs either fleeing north toward the Bentiu Protection of Civilians (PoC) site or toward Nyal, which has remained relatively stable.

IDPs in Nyal are living in very difficult circumstances, having fled with little-to-no belongings. They are largely relying on support from local host communities, where already limited resources are rapidly becoming exhausted.

Panyijiar is located in one of the most food insecure areas of South Sudan. The county is classified as facing emergency level food insecurity, meaning that without humanitarian assistance, some families could be facing famine conditions today.

IOM is currently collaborating with the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to biometrically register the population in Nyal to inform humanitarian response planning and distributions for the area. The exercise is expected to be complete by April.

In Central Equatoria, which continues to experience episodes of fighting, an IOM rapid response team completed a five-week mission on 23 February to provide emergency health care to over 30,000 IDPs sheltering in volatile Kajo Keji County, west of Kajo Keji town, at IDP sites in Ajio, Kerwa and Logo. IDPs in the area fled fighting in nearby counties, and the majority of reported multiple displacements.

“Families ran from their homes with next to nothing, leaving behind their farms and livelihoods,” said IOM Health Rapid Response Team Coordinator, Derebe Kintamo.

“Within three weeks of displacement, our clinics began seeing increasing numbers of cases of malnutrition among children under five. We coordinated with a nearby medical centre to ensure cases of acute malnutrition received prompt treatment," he added.

The team reportedly conducted over 7,700 health consultations, providing general health care, vaccinations against common diseases, nutrition screening and maternal health care. On completion of the mission, IOM handed over responsibility for the three clinics to the American Refugee Committee and the County Health Department.

In South Sudan, one in every four people has been forced from his or her home due to the crisis that broke out in December 2013. IOM emergency aid operations aim to reach vulnerable populations both in displacement sites and remote areas, many affected by multiple waves of conflict and displacement. In 2017, relief agencies are trying to reach 5.8 million of 7.5 million people currently in need of humanitarian assistance.

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February 25, 2017 (JUBA)- EcoBank, a Kenyan-owned commercial financial institution has denied involvement in the $ 10 million allegedly transferred to it by a former South Sudan general who resigned from the military last week.

Lt. Gen. Thomas Cirillo (R) with commander of presidential guards Maj. Gen. Marial Chanuong at Juba airport on November 5, 2014 (ST).

The South Sudanese government said it is tracing its missing money to accounts at three Kenya-owned banks.

The three accounts are linked to Lt. Gen Thomas Cirillo, the ex-deputy chief of staff for logistics and his kin, Fueni Cirillo.

But Ecobank, in a statement, said documents, including a bank statement, which bears its letterhead were falsified.

“We wish to confirm we neither hold the account number published in The Star newspaper nor have any accounts that bear names similar to what was mentioned in The Star report. Furthermore, the bank statements published in the newspaper are falsified,” the bank said in a statement.

Eco bank said there are glaring inconsistencies in the story and documentation relied on to publish the report, including a non-existent account number, non-existent account names and a wrong branch address.

“The story indicated that $10 million had been stolen from the South Sudan government and stashed in three Kenyan banks, among them Ecobank Kenya. We wish to emphatically state that we adhere to strong anti-money laundering policies, as well as Know Your Customer procedures in line with best practice and regulatory requirements,” the Kenyan-owned bank further stated.

“We conduct our business professionally, ethically, with integrity and in accordance with Kenyan laws and regulations, as well as international best practice and have put in place a robust vetting process aimed at ensuring Ecobank Group and all its affiliates are not used as conduits of money laundering,” it stressed.

Meanwhile, Ecobank said it has not yet received any official request from South Sudan authorities on the money issue.

The South Sudanese army chief of staff, in a letter dated 9 February, said the cash went missing after Cirillo resigned his job and defected from South Sudan army (SPLA).

In the letter Gen. Paul Awan requested Renish Omullo, South Sudan's special envoy to Germany on international and regional affairs, to trace and return the money, allegedly transacted in US dollars. On 10 February, Omullo wrote to Kenya's foreign affairs cabinet secretary. Amina Mohamed requesting that bank accounts held by the Cirillos be frozen.

Cirillo was described in the letter as a former SPLA officer and “fugitive” in Kenya who stole over $10 million. In his resignation, Cirillo accused President Salva Kiir and army's top leaders of "abuses" and "pushing a tribal agenda" in the country.

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February 25, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's interior ministry Saturday estimated that around one million and a half foreigners who entered illegally from neighbouring countries are currently in Sudan seeking to travel to Europe and Israel.

The head of the directorate of foreigners at the Sudanese interior ministry, Gen. Yassin Mohamed El-Hassan said that the number of undocumented foreigners has reached one million five hundred thousand people who crossed the border illegally from Eritrea and Ethiopia.

The Sudanese official who was speaking at a symposium on the foreign presence in Khartoum pointed that this category of migrants do not want to settle in the country but see Sudan as a way station, not a final destination.

The majority of illegal immigrants do not want to settle in Sudan because they want to cross into Libya and from there to Europe across the Mediterranean Sea or to Israel, he said.

However, in order to control their movement inside the country, the authorities deliver them identity document, the Sudanese official added.

He further said many of them receive remittances from abroad to help them to undertake the journey, adding they noticed that many who fail in their attempt leave the Sudan and return to their homeland.

Sudan is identified as a source of migrants to Europe and a transit country for migrants from Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia.

Many of Sudanese, particularly from Darfur region who used to work in Libya in the past, consider it now as a station into Europe. Sudanese from the centre and the northern parts travel to the Gulf countries.

The European Union signed several agreements with the Sudan to control and illegal migration and human trafficking.

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February 25, 2017 (JUBA) - The Swiss government announced on Friday that it would contribute CHF15 million ($14.9m) to address the famine crisis affecting war-torn South Sudan, as well at food shortages in Somalia, Nigeria and Yemen.

The Swiss funds, it said in a statement, will be distributed among various humanitarian initiatives and organisations working in the affected regions where 20 million people stand to suffer if nothing is done soon.

"Switzerland is calling for rapid mobilisation of aid. Some 100,000 people are already experiencing famine in South Sudan and other countries in the region are also at risk,” the Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter said in a statement.

The donation comes days after the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, appealed to countries to release funds for tackling famine.

“One of the biggest obstacles we face now is funding. Humanitarian operations in these four countries require more than $5.6 billion this year. We need at least $4.4 billion by the end of March to avert a catastrophe,” said Guterres.

So far, the UN said it has received commitments worth $90 million and this, Guterres stressed, adds up to only around two cents for every dollar needed.

South Sudan is reportedly a priority for the Swiss and humanitarian actions there will be coordinated by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.

An estimated 3.5 million people have been displaced by conflict in the country and 5 million are in urgent need of food due to conflict and economic instability.
Switzerland is said to have budgeted CHF20 million in aid for South Sudan this year.

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February 25, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - The opposition National Consensus Forces (NCF) Saturday accused the United States of leading an international plot through the African Union mediator Thabo Mbeki to maintain the regime of President Omer al-Bashir.

Farouk Abu Issa (R-C) chairs a meeting of the opposition National Consensus Forces on 10 September 2014 (ST)

The alliance of left parties which comprises the Sudanese Communist Party and several small groups rejects the ongoing efforts by the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) for a negotiated settlement to end the war and achieve democratic reforms in Sudan. Instead, they call to overthrow the regime through a popular uprising.

The African mechanism was supported by the former U.S. Special Envoy, Donald Booth, who during the two past years worked hard to normalise relations with Khartoum and at the same time to bring the government and armed groups to end the war and reach an inclusive peace agreement.

In a statement released Saturday, the NCF said they "kept watching the international plan led by the United States to impose a political settlement through the so-called soft landing that keeps the regime and its policies, and to enlist some opposition parties to participate in its corrupt power".

"The gravity of (the U.S.-led) scheme that it threatens the unity of what remains of the country, stability and sovereignty, with the continuation of the ruling regime and it failed policies."

The opposition NCF was part of the Sudan Call forces which is involved in the African Union led process but gradually some groups led by the SCP walked out of the alliance while others led by the Sudanese Congress Party continue to part of the process.

The NCF stressed that it had no choice but to topple the regime as an entry point to resolve the country's crises, according to his statement.

It further went to say that the cost of the regime maintenance is much higher than the cost of overthrowing it through civilian disobedience and popular uprising.

The opposition alliance is seen as weakened and isolated from its bases by the security apparatus during the 28-year-old regime. However, the leaders of the alliance say they have succeeded to reorganise their organisations and prepare to confront the regime peacefully.

An NCF leading member, Mohamed Mahjoub, told reporters on Saturday that despite repression, they formed Intifada and resistance committees at the level of neighbourhoods and all sectors in the capital and provinces, and established contact with the Sudanese Diaspora abroad.

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February 25, 2017 (JUBA) – South Sudan government has dismissed the Sudanese president's claims that intelligence report allegedly showed the Egyptian government provided arms and ammunition to the world's youngest nation.

Arms and light weapons have been used by both warring parties in South Sudan to commit abuses (Photo courtesy of SSANSA)

The Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir on Tuesday ruled out the direct involvement of the Egyptian arm in South Sudan's conflict but said Cairo provided the Juba regime with weapons and ammunition.

"We have intelligence that they supported the South Sudanese government and continue to support the government with arms and ammunition," al-Bashir told reporters in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, adding "But I do not expect to fight in the South Sudan”.

The foreign affairs ministry, however, said it was dismayed by the “unfriendly” remarks attributed to the Sudanese leader.

“The Republic of South Sudan is disturbed by this unfortunate, unfounded and baseless statement, especially because it came at a time that the two countries and the whole region have agreed to exert more collective efforts towards the realization of peace and stability in the IGAD region”, reads the statement issued on Saturday.

South Sudan, its foreign affairs ministry stressed, upholds its commitment to regional peace initiatives and maintains the highest level of bilateral relations with Sudan based on the spirit of the Cooperation Agreement signed between the two countries in September 2012 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Juba has also vowed to uphold its obligation to the security sector with the objective of achieving and promoting sustainable peaceful coexistence with its neighbours.

“South Sudan does not only express its political commitment to the Cooperation Agreement, but holds its strong obligation to the security sector in the said agreement to ensure the prevalence of sustainable peaceful co-existence between the two countries,” the statement further reads.

It further added, “South Sudan also upholds on the highest level of historic and bilateral relations with Egypt and all the neighboring countries across the region.”

The foreign affairs ministry urged Khartoum not to forget its responsibility to work with South Sudan in the spirit of the Cooperation agreement and to address any issue that may arise between the two nations through dialogue and direct communications at leadership and diplomatic channels.

“There is no way Sudan and South Sudan can abandon each other, because both countries share the longest border in the region, which needs special attention from their respective leaders”, the ministry's statement noted.

South Sudan, its foreign affairs ministry further stressed, has the right to protect its territorial integrity and solicit support from any country in the world based on mutual interests.

“We appreciate the level of cooperation with Egypt. Egypt's role in providing humanitarian assistance, capacity building, health and education, among others, to the people of South Sudan remains unforgettable,” it said.

South Sudan President Salva Kiir visited Cairo in January, where he held talks with his Egytian counterpart, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and other officials. At the time, however, officials in Juba said the purpose of the visit was to thank Egypt for its diplomatic support to the Juba government at the level of the United Nations Security Council.

(ST)