Africa

comes with a substantial monetary award. [IDN-InDepthNews – 03 December 2019]

Western Sahara Rights Activist Awarded Major Peace Prize

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – The Right Livelihood Award, widely known as the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’ goes to five human rights activists this year. Among them is Aminatou Haidar of the Western Sahara.

Ms. Haidar receives the Right Livelihood Award “for her steadfast nonviolent action, despite imprisonment and torture, in pursuit of justice and self-determination for the people of Western Sahara”, according to organizers of the event in Stockholm, Sweden on December 4.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 03 December 2019

South Africans Mark World Aids Day With New ‘Wonder’ Drug

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – On the occasion of World Aids Day on December 1, South African health minister Zweli Mkhize announced the roll-out of a new state-of-the-art antiretroviral drug which, he said, should drastically reduce the number of people living with HIV.

The roll-out could start as soon as this month. A modified three-in-one pill was hailed as a ‘game-changer’, much needed in South Africa where 7.7 million South Africans are living with HIV.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 03 December 2019

Africa Forum Urges Investors to Support Inclusive Development

By Bernhard Schell

CAIRO (IDN) – “I stand here on behalf of the United Nations system and reaffirm our strong commitment to the member states and the people of Africa,” Secretary-General António Guterres told the 30th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU), adding: “I strongly believe Africa is one of the greatest forces for good in our world.”

: Bernhard Schell; THE WORLD; Africa; 02 December 2019

Photo credit: A. Baffoe and deforestation

Tropical African Plants Facing Extinction

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – A new study warns that a third of tropical African plants are on the path to extinction, with much of western Africa standing to lose more than 40 percent of plant diversity.

Ethiopia, and parts of Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are the hardest hit regions, the researchers found.

Species at risk include trees, shrubs, herbs and woody vines.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 28 November 2019

Photo: Sidama people. Source: Addis Standard.

Ethiopia‘s Fragile Union Threatened as Sidama People Vote for Self-Government

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Some of the 80 ethnic groups that form the nation of Ethiopia are demanding great autonomy and are voting with their feet for self-government. The Sidama people voted overwhelmingly in November to become self-governing, casting 98.5 percent of the votes backing the change.

The Sidama – who number about 3 million – represent close to four percent of Ethiopia’s 105 million population. By creating their own federal region, the Sidama hope to regain control of land resources, political representation as well as to reaffirm their cultural identity.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 26 November 2019

Photo: A mother and her baby at the IDP Pissila campsite in Burkina Faso. Credit: WFP/Marwa Awad

The Humanitarian Emergency the World is Ignoring

By Kwame Buist

ROME (IDN) – Almost daily violent attacks in the Sahel nations of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have displaced nearly one million people and caused emergency levels of malnutrition, the World Food Programme (WFP) has warned.

“Conflict is moving forward and moving fast,” says Margot van der Velden, Director of WFP’s Emergencies Division, referring to the three countries, where it is estimated 20 million people are living in areas affected by conflict and 2.4 million people are in need of food assistance – a figure that could rise due to continued displacements.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Africa; 20 November 2019

Photo: President Alpha Condé with Russian President Vladimir Putin on 28 September 2017. Credit: Kremlin.ru

Risks Grow For African Leaders Seeking Extended Term

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – It’s not a piece of cake these days for leaders of African countries plotting to rewrite their constitutions and give themselves another decade or two in power, frustrating efforts by citizen groups to give other leaders a chance to rule.

That’s the endgame facing Guinean President Alpha Conde who is poised to approve a new constitution favourable to extending his stay in power.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 19 November 2019

Photo: The workers are striking against a retrenchment plan that could see nearly one third of the 3,000 employees lose their jobs. Credit: Peoples Dispatch.

South African Airlines in Crisis Mode as Workers Strike

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Unions representing more than half of South African Airways (SAA) workforce called a strike last week after the airline refused to meet wage and job security demands.

The unions, representing more than 3,000 workers, walked out on November 15 after the state-owned airline rejected their demand for 8% raises, offering 5.9% instead. The airline is also planning to cut 944 positions. The strike forced the cancellation of most flights.

: Lisa Monique Söderlindh; THE WORLD; Africa; 19 November 2019

Photo: Collage of the drone releasing sterile male mosquitoes (left) and TDR global scientists team Credit: WHO

Insect Birth Control to Combat Mosquito-Borne Diseases

By Kwame Buist

GENEVA (IDN) – A form of insect birth control – Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) – that sterilises male mosquitoes using radiation will soon be tested as part of global health efforts to control diseases such as dengue, chikungunya and Zika.

The technique involves the mass production, sex-separation and sterilisation of male mosquitoes by exposing them to low doses of radiation. Sterile males released into the wild mate with wild female mosquitoes of the same species, resulting in the production of unviable eggs that lead to a decline in wild mosquito populations.

: Phil Harris; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 18 November 2019

Photo: Rohingyas at the Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh, October 2017. CC BY 4.0

Gambia Sues Myanmar at UN Court with Rohingya Genocide

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Few countries are standing up to Myanmar, formerly Burma, for its mistreatment of the Muslim community known as Rohingya. On November 11, Gambia – the smallest nation in mainland Africa – came to the defense of the persecuted minority, filing a lawsuit with the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, charging Myanmar with genocide.