EAC Summit Chair discusses boosting intra-African trade at AU Summit

ARUSHA, Tanzania, January 31, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Kenyan President and current Chair of the EAC Heads of State Summit H.E. Mwai Kibaki has said the EAC is fully committed to the establishment of the Grand Continental Free Trade Area having experienced the benefits of regional integration.

The President, who was contributing during discussions on the theme of the 18th African Union Summit, Boosting Intra-African Trade at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, noted that the current level of trade within Africa remains too low compared to other regions and therefore it was imperative to review the achievements so far made and chart the way forward for increased trade.

The President asserted that increasing intra-regional trade requires bolstering cooperation between governments and opening up borders to let the people move and trade freely.

“We must also invest in infrastructure, the development of human capital, embark on rapid industrialization and create enabling domestic economic policies” noted the President. He said these efforts will create employment, increase trade and multiply Africa’s wealth and prosperity.

The Chairperson of the Summit disclosed that negotiations towards a COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite agreement had commenced and were scheduled to be completed within two years and that the three RECs involved were committed to meet the deadline.

He said that the experience within the EAC and COMESA shows that opening up countries to intra-regional trade does not translate into loss of revenue.

“Indeed, studies show that a good number of countries accrue increased government revenue as a result of regional trade”.

The Kenyan President affirmed that Africa and her people stand to benefit greatly from intra-African trade and that in view of the demands for growth in all African countries, efforts to increase intra-regional trade should be guided by political commitment accompanied by measurable, time-bound targets.

“We have paved the way for free trade in East Africa and our people have started to enjoy the benefits of integration. It is my hope that the EAC experience can be replicated in other regions of the continent,” President Kibaki reiterated.

The Summit, which opened with the selection of Benin’s President Thomas Boni Yayi as AU chairman, was attended by over 40 Heads of State and Government. The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, the Secretary General of the East African Community Amb. Dr. Richard Sezibera, and Chinese government representatives attended the Summit.

China was the honored guest at the Summit, and the opening session was filled with expressions of gratitude for Beijing’s gift of a new $200-million AU headquarters that was officially launched on Sunday 29 January 2012.

SOURCE 

East African Community (EAC)

Déplacement d’Edouard Courtial en Afrique (1 – 6 fevrier 2012)

PARIS, France, 31 janvier 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Edouard Courtial, Secrétaire d’Etat chargé des Français de l’étranger, effectuera un déplacement en Afrique du 1er au 6 février 2012 qui le conduira au Cameroun, au Gabon et au Congo. Dans ces pays, il rencontrera les autorités locales ainsi que nos compatriotes et visitera des établissements et entreprises emblématiques de notre action en faveur de la paix, de la sécurité et du développement humain.

SOURCE 

France – Ministry of Foreign Affairs

WFP responds to growing needs among tens of thousands affected by conflict in S. Sudan

JUBA, South Sudan, January 31, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has scaled up food assistance to reach 80,000 people affected by the recent escalation of inter-communal violence in Jonglei State, in the eastern part of South Sudan.

“The violence in Jonglei is only one of the many challenges that South Sudan is currently facing, and the world must respond to ensure that the people of this new nation have the support they need to build a peaceful and prosperous country,” said WFP Deputy Executive Director, Ramiro Lopes da Silva, on a visit to the region. “Many of the women I met in Pibor and Akobo had lost their children and had no one to depend on but the humanitarian agencies on the ground.”

WFP’s response includes:

•    WFP has rapidly scaled up its food assistance to more than 80,000 people in ten locations affected by the inter-communal violence since it peaked in Jonglei earlier this month.

•    WFP is providing a 15-day emergency food ration to all people verified as displaced and affected by the attacks. WFP is conducting a thorough assessment to determine the food security situation.

•    WFP is using its logistics expertise to help other humanitarian agencies overcome the intense logistical challenges in establishing a critical humanitarian lifeline for the affected population. As the lead agency of the logistics effort, WFP has deployed three helicopters, an aeroplane and 28 trucks to deliver not just food but shelter items, medical supplies and other assistance on behalf of the entire humanitarian community, to the remotest, most inaccessible corners of Jonglei.

•    WFP is aiming to bring in large quantities of food by truck before the rain starts in March, when 90 percent of the locations targeted for food assistance will become inaccessible by road.

•    While many of those who had been displaced are now returning home, they will continue to require support as they confront immense challenges, including destroyed homes and an absence of basic social services.

•    With four months to the next food production season, WFP is working with partners on activities that will help affected households cultivate their own crops in time for the next harvest in August.

•    WFP has reached 10 locations in Jonglei: five locations in Pibor county, including Pibor town and surrounding villages, Lekuangole, Gumruk, Labrab and Boma; and to five of the more recently affected locations in the northern parts of the state. Initial emergency food assistance has been provided in Duk Padiet, while distributions are ongoing in Akobo and Walgak, Yuai in Urur county and Waat in Nyirol county.

SOURCE 

World Food Program (WFP)

Sénégal: l’UE condamne les violences et appelle au dialogue

BRUXELLES, Royaume de Belgique, 31 janvier 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ — L’Union européenne a condamné mardi les violences au Sénégal et appelé opposition et gouvernement au dialogue, tout en refusant de se prononcer sur la troisième candidature du chef de l’Etat Abdoulaye Wade à la présidentielle de février.

L’Union européenne appelle “toutes les parties à faire preuve de retenue et

à opter pour le dialogue, dans l’intérêt de la tenue d’élections pacifiques,

libres et équitables, qui doivent refléter la volonté du peuple sénégalais”, a

indiqué le porte-parole de la chef de la diplomatie européenne Catherine

Ashton.

L’UE “condamne dans les termes les plus forts tous les actes de violence”,

a-t-il ajouté, après celles qui se sont produites depuis le 27 janvier, date

de la première validation de la candidature Wade, à Dakar et à Podor (nord),

qui ont fait trois morts, dont un policier, plusieurs blessés et d’importants

dégâts.

Michael Mann s’est également félicité du fait que la police ait relâché

lundi soir Alioune Tine, un des animateurs de la lutte contre un nouveau

mandat du président Abdoulaye Wade.

En revanche il s’est refusé à se prononcer sur la décision de M. Wade de se

représenter, et le rejet de la candidature du chanteur Youssou Ndour et celle

de deux autres candidats indépendants ne disposant pas de suffisamment de

signatures de soutien.

“Ce n’est pas à l’UE d’entrer à ce stade dans un débat constitutionnel au

Sénégal. L’UE respecte les institutions sénégalaises et est intéressée à

faciliter un processus électoral pacifique, libre et équitable”, a-t-il

déclaré.

La position de l’UE est nettement en retrait de celle des Etats-Unis, qui

ont invité lundi le président Abdoulaye Wade, 85 ans, à “laisser la place à la

prochaine génération” et à ne pas briguer un troisième mandat à la tête du

Sénégal.

“L’attitude digne d’un chef d’Etat serait de céder la place à la prochaine

génération”, avait déclaré à la presse la porte-parole du département d’Etat

américain, Victoria Nuland, tout en disant respecter la décision.

SOURCE 

European Union

EAC police delegation in London for benchmarking visit

ARUSHA, Tanzania, January 31, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ — A ten-man delegation of Senior Police Officers and Experts from the EAC Partner States is in London for a week-long study visit.

The 30 January-5 February visit to the UK International Academy Bramshill (IAB), which is the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) is co-ordinated by the EAC Secretariat in collaboration with the British High Commission in Tanzania.

The purpose of the visit is to study the United Kindom’s experience in harmonising policing standards and polish the draft EAC Common Standing Operating Procedures (SOPs) with a view to strengthening the regional law enforcement agencies.

The Regional Peace and Security Strategy stresses enhancement of the EAC spirit of co-operation by promoting collective responsibility in the provision of regional security by the Partner States. It broadly covers collaboration on cross border and trans-national organised crimes, among others.

“The visit will certainly help to broaden and improve the draft EAC Police SOPs for mutual regional peace and security, which are vital to the achievement of the EAC objectives,” said the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Political Federation, Hon. Beatrice Kiraso.

She encouraged such visits, adding that the region needs security for the success of the economic and political integration of the Partner States.

The British High Commissioner to Tanzania H.E. Diane Corner, who is also the British representative to the EAC, said: “I am delighted to announce that the British Government will support this important work to standardise police procedures within the EAC. Improved and standardised police procedures will not only help to strengthen public confidence in EAC police forces, but will also facilitate closer cooperation between the forces, enabling them to work closely together to fight crime and threats to security throughout the EAC”..

The NPIA leads on national policing issues such as Leadership, Protective Services, Civil Contingencies, Command Doctrine and Counter Terrorism.

The International Academy at Bramshill also provides a professional overseas policing advisory service in support of regional security and justice sector training and development projects.

SOURCE 

East African Community (EAC)

100,000 Displaced Somalis Assisted By IOM To Reach Camps In Kenya And Ethiopia Since The Influx

GENEVA, Switzerland, January 31, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ — IOM and Partners have, over the last eight months, provided transport assistance to 100,000 Somalis fleeing into Kenya and Ethiopia because of war and famine.

From its reception centre at Dollo Ado, on the border between Somalia and Ethiopia, IOM used buses and trucks to assist arriving refugees and their possessions reach the main Ethiopian camps of Bokolomanyo, Melkedida and Halweyn which are located some 35 kilometres away from Dollo Ado.

IOM has also helped transport those refugees who were stranded in Kenya on their way to the Daadab camp. Many had been unable to continue further unassisted because of exhaustion, illness and lack of food and water, after spending many weeks travelling on foot from their homes in Lower Shabelle and Bakool in Southern and central Somalia.

The Organization also relocated refugees who have been living in and around Dagahaley on the outskirts of the Daadab for lack of space, to new extensions at IFO 1 and IFO 2.

IOM was asked by the UNHCR to relocate the refugees to various camps in Kenya and Ethiopia to avoid congestion.

At the peak of the influx 2,000 displaced Somalis were arriving daily at the transit centre at Dollo Ado, in Ethiopia. In Kenya, about 1,200 Somalis were being received daily at Daadab, the largest refugee camp in the world.

Up to 25th January, 2012, IOM has provided transport to 54,710 of the displaced Somalis in Ethiopia to reach the five camps of Melkedida, Bokolmayo, Kobe, Hilweyn and Buramino.

In Kenya, 46,139 have been assisted to reach the camps at Daadab, IFO 1 and IFO 2.

Transporting people out of severely over-crowded camps and centres has been vital because the congested conditions are dangerous for refugees’ health and well-being. Taking them to areas where they have proper access to life-saving assistance ensures that they have adequate shelter, food, water and sanitation. In Ethiopia, IOM transport has also been assisting to re-unite separated families in the camps.

Meanwhile, IOM has started constructing two Health Posts for the Somali refugees in Ethiopian camps. The amenities will have wards for treating Acute Watery Diarrhoea, the main disease affecting the residents in the camps, particularly the children. The first such post will be constructed at Bokolmanyo camp in Ethiopia.

Another Health Post is planned for Melkedida camp which houses 40,000 displaced Somalis. The extended health support in the Melkadida and Bokolmanyo, aims to bolster the capacity of the Ethiopian Administration for Refugee and Returnee Affairs (ARAA) efforts to support primary health care in the two camps.

The Organization has deployed three visiting specialists, a psychiatrist, gynaecologist and ophthalmologists who are offering specialized mental and eye healthcare, as well as gynaecological services for women and girls in the camps.

In Kenya, IOM is providing medical assistance to the government of Kenya by seconding locally recruited staff to the ministry of health. The staff provide vaccinations to new arrival Somalis and work with local health centres to assist the host community.

The medical emergency response, co-organized with ARRA, aims to reach thousands of refugees who have been affected by the worst drought in the Horn of Africa for decades.

SOURCE 

International Office of Migration (IOM)

Paludisme / Le manque de financement menace l’avancée de la lutte contre le paludisme selon les dirigeants africains / Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, nommée présidente des efforts africains pour mettre fin aux décès dus au paludisme

ADDIS ABEBA, Ethiopie, 31 janvier 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ – La présidente du Libéria et récente lauréate du Prix Nobel, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a repris aujourd’hui la présidence de l’Alliance des Dirigeants Africains contre le Paludisme (ALMA) (http://www.alma2015.org) après le président de la République Unie de Tanzanie, Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete. Le Président du Mozambique, Armando Guebuza, a été élu vice-président de l’ALMA. L’ALMA est une alliance regroupant 41 dirigeants d’états et de gouvernements africains, qui œuvrent pour mettre fin aux décès dus au paludisme sur le continent.

Logo: http://www.apo-mail.org/alma.jpg

Photo: http://www.apo-mail.org/PHOTO-Sirleaf%20and%20Kikwete%20-ALMA%202012.jpg

La Présidente Sirleaf a hérité d’une campagne contre le paludisme qui a fait de grands progrès, mais qui est toujours confrontée à des défis majeurs en termes de financement. Selon l’Organisation Mondiale de la Santé, le nombre de décès dus au paludisme en Afrique a enregistré une baisse de 33 % au cours de la dernière décennie. En dépit de ces progrès, l’actuelle crise mondiale de la finance, mise en lumière par l’ajournement de la série 11 du Fonds Mondial, met en danger ces bons résultats.

Selon l’ALMA, le manque de financement, nécessaire pour atteindre et soutenir une couverture universelle d’interventions essentielles contre le paludisme, notamment les combinaisons thérapeutiques à base d’artémisinine (CTA), les tests de diagnostic rapides (TDR) et les moustiquaires à imprégnation durable (MID), s’élève à 3,3 milliards de dollars jusqu’à la fin de l’année 2015.

« La campagne contre le paludisme a rencontré un réel succès en termes d’amélioration de la santé et du bien-être des mères et des enfants, mais nous devons rester vigilants, » a déclaré la présidente Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. « Combler ce manque de financement est une obligation morale et économique. »

Les membres de l’ALMA ont accepté d’intensifier leurs efforts afin de combler ce manque et ont formulé des recommandations et des engagements essentiels, notamment :

•    Employer les crédits de l’IDA de la Banque Mondiale pour protéger ces avancées sanitaires et empêcher le renouveau du paludisme.

•    Accentuer l’engagement de l’Afrique envers la transparence par le biais d’une Fiche de Résultats pour la Responsabilité et l’Action, un outil novateur qui suit l’avancée des indicateurs sanitaires clés (voir la Fiche de Résultats sur Alma2015.org).

•    Accroître le financement africain dédié à la santé pour atteindre l’objectif fixé à Abuja, à savoir attribuer 15 % du budget du secteur public à la santé.

•    Suivre des approches de financement novatrices pour élargir le groupement des ressources consacrées à la santé.

Sept pays membres de l’ALMA (Bénin, Burundi, Cameroun, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda et Tanzanie) ont reçu une mention spéciale pour avoir annulé tous les droits et taxes sur les marchandises liées au paludisme, interdit les monothérapies dangereuses ou fait des progrès importants pour contrôler le paludisme. L’évaluation des crédits est réalisée par un comité d’experts indépendant.

L’assemblée de l’ALMA a également rendu hommage au président Kikwete, le président fondateur de l’ALMA. « Nous avons parcouru un long chemin dans la lutte contre le paludisme, » a déclaré le président Kikwete de la République Unie de Tanzanie. « De nombreux défis existent encore, mais en travaillant avec des partenaires, nous continuerons à avancer pour donner naissance à une Afrique où personne ne mourra d’une piqure de moustique. »

Distribué par l’Organisation de la Presse Africaine pour l’Alliance des Dirigeants Africains contre le Paludisme (ALMA).

Contact Médias :

Janet Choi

+1 646 884 7419

Press@ALMA2015.org

SOURCE

Alliance des Dirigeants Africains contre le Paludisme (ALMA)

China / Jia Qinglin Meets with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir

BEIJING, China, January 31, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ — On January 28, 2012, Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, met with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in Addis Ababa.

Jia conveyed President Hu Jintao’s cordial greetings to Bashir. “China and Sudan boast a profound traditional friendship, and since the establishment of diplomatic relations over half a century ago, they have always trusted and understood each other and treated each other in the spirit of equality and sincerity despite changing international landscape and situations of both countries,” said Jia. In recent years, both sides have maintained frequent high-level visits, increasing political mutual trust, fruitful pragmatic cooperation in trade, energy and other fields and good consultation and coordination in international affairs. “China appreciates Sudan’s consistent support for China on issues of China’s core interests and major concerns, and will in turn support its efforts of maintaining national stability and developing economy,” he added. China’s set policy of developing friendly cooperative relations with Sudan will not change, he said, adding China is willing to make joint efforts with Sudan to promote the deepening of China-Sudan relations for the benefit of the two peoples.

Bashir said that Sudan-China friendly and cooperative relationship has a solid foundation and the Sudanese government and people thank for China’s consistent support and help. In recent years, relations between the two countries have achieved rapid and substantial development and their fruitful economic cooperation has played an important role in promoting economic and social development of Sudan, which not only benefits the two peoples, but is also an example of South-South cooperation. Sudan attaches great importance to developing relations with China and hopes to maintain exchanges with China at all levels, expand mutually beneficial cooperation in oil, mining, agriculture and other areas. “Chinese enterprises are welcomed to invest in Sudan, and they will be protected by concrete measures,” he added.

SOURCE 

China – Ministry of Foreign Affairs

IFJ Urges UN Envoy to Help Protect Media after Murder of Leading Journalist in Somalia

MOGADISHU, Somalia, January 31, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today condemned the killing of Hassan Osman Abdi, a senior Somali journalist and head of Shabelle Media Network which owns Radio and TV Shabelle, who was gunned down on Saturday at his home in Medina district of Mogadishu.

The Federation has written to UN Special Representative to Somalia, Ambassador Augustine P. Mahiga, urging him to call on the Somali Transitional Federal Government to punish Abdi’s killers, help establish an independent investigation into press freedom violations and the government’s failure to stop them as well to press the government to initiate a full and open investigation into the involvement of police and government officials in the attacks against journalists and their organisations.

“We understand that Abdi was killed at his home in Madina district, which is situated in an area controlled by the armed forces of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG),” said IFJ President, Jim Boumelha, in his letter to Ambassador Mahiga. “His killers seem to have stalked and assassinated Abdi before walking free and without even being noticed by government forces in the neighborhood.”

According to National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), an IFJ affiliate, Abdi was shot dead by armed men who opened fire at him on Saturday evening as he arrived home from work. NUSOJ says the men, travelling in a Sedan car, had followed him to his home.

The union has strongly condemned the killing of Abdi who was also NUSOJ Secretary in its Banadir branch, saying it will heighten the fears among Somali journalists over their safety.

Abdi becomes the first media fatality in Somalia since the start of the year and the second journalist in as many months to die in targeted killings. Abdisalan Sheik Hassan, another prominent Somali journalist, was gunned down in Mogadishu on 18 December 2011.

The IFJ says that these killings need to be independently investigated and failure to fight impunity for violence against journalists will not just add to the country’s record as journalists’ killing field but also severely hinder efforts to restore democratic rule in the country.

“This monstrous crime is similar to the last unsolved murder of journalist Abdisalan Sheik Hassan of HornCable TV on 18 December 2012 by a man in TFG army uniform, who has so far not being arrested and no investigation has taken place,” added Boumelha. “There is ample evidence to prove that this long-running culture of impunity surrounding the deaths and violent assaults on Somali journalists is allowed to fester, making Somalia the most dangerous country for journalists in Africa.”

SOURCE 

International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)

Senegal urged to stop clampdown on dissent as protesters shot dead

LONDON, United-Kingdom, January 31, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Senegal’s security forces must stop their violent clampdown on dissent, Amnesty International said today after two people were killed during protests in the city of Podor.

One young male protester and an elderly female bystander were shot dead by the gendarmerie, who opened fire on a crowd demonstrating against the Constitutional Council decision to uphold President Abdoulaye Wade’s right to stand for a third term in next month’s election.

“Today’s bloodshed marks a dramatic escalation in the violence that has plagued Senegal in the run up to its elections,” said Salvatore Saguès, Amnesty International’s West Africa researcher.

“As further protests are planned for tomorrow, we call on the authorities to refrain from using live bullets against peaceful protesters”.

Mamadou Sy, aged around 20, and Bana Ndiaye, aged around 60, were shot during protests in Podor, some 500 km north of Senegal’s capital Dakar.

An eyewitness told Amnesty International: “We were walking peacefully when suddenly security forces dressed in blue and belonging to the gendarmerie fired at the marchers with live bullets. People fell in front of me.”

Protests have rocked Senegal since its Constitutional Council ruled on Friday that current President Wade would be allowed to stand for a third term. Today the council rejected an appeal by the opposition to overturn the decision.

Friday’s protests led to clashes between demonstrators and security forces in which one policeman was killed.

During the unrest, three journalists were beaten by the police. One was a correspondent for the French news agency Agence France Presse and the others were female journalists working for the Senegalese daily le Populaire.

One of the le Populaire journalists, Aminatou Ahane, told Amnesty International: “A policeman got out of his car and ran towards us. We shouted to him that we were journalists and we showed our press cards. He grabbed my colleague’s hair and slapped her in the face, then threw her to the ground. He also kicked me and threw me to the ground whilst insulting me. A policeman then came to rescue us.”

Amnesty International is also concerned by the detention of Alioune Tine, President of the African Rally for the Defence of Human Rights (Raddho) and national coordinator of the Movement June 23 (M23) that campaigns against President Wade’s third term.

“Alioune Tine has been in custody since Saturday 28 January and no one has seen him. He needs regular medical treatment and we fear that his detention conditions may endanger his health,” said Salvatore Saguès.

Another activist, singer Daddy Bibson, was abducted by unknown, plainclothed people early Saturday morning, a few hours after the first demonstrations. He was beaten and threatened.

Bibson says the men told him that rap singers could not decide the future of the country, before he was released about 10 hours later.

Bibson is one of the leaders of the M23 and recently published a compilation of songs against President Wade’s candidacy.

“Freedom of expression is under attack in Senegal at precisely the time when open dialogue is critical,” said Salvatore Saguès.

“All of these incidences must be properly investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice.”

“The Senegalese authorities and security forces must avoid using excessive use of force when dealing with protests,” said Salvatore Saguès.

“Such incidents may act as a deterrent and intimidate anyone else who may wish to voice legitimate criticism of the authorities in the run up to elections.”

SOURCE 

Amnesty International