Month: October 2021

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Kenya Researchers Confident Population Will Embrace Malaria Vaccine

More than 260,000 African children under the age of five die from malaria each year, including more than 10,000 in Kenya, according to the World Health Organization. The WHO’s backing of a malaria vaccine, Mosquirix, for children in sub-Saharan Africa has raised hopes of preventing those deaths. The vaccine proved effective in a pilot program in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi.

On Wednesday, the World Health Organization gave the green light for the use of the vaccine for children between five and 24 months of age in Africa and other regions prone to a high level of malaria transmission.

This follows trials of the vaccine in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi. The four-dose shot was administered to 800,000 African children.

Thirty-year-old Salome Awuor allowed her son, now three years old, to take part in the malaria vaccine trials in Kisumu County, western Kenya.

The mother of four said previously she would visit her nearest clinic four times a month to get malaria treatment for him. At the time, he was 12 months old.

“My son was given three jabs, and malaria went down. I never went back to the clinic seeking malaria treatment. I feel so good my children no longer get sick most of the time. That’s why whenever I hear about vaccines, I run to get them because it helps a lot,” she said.

WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus described the malaria vaccine breakthrough as historic and one that could save the lives of tens of thousands of young people each year.

According to the WHO, malaria affects more than 229 million people each year and kills more than 400,000.

In Africa, more than a quarter of a million children die from the mosquito-borne disease.

Earlier trials in 2015 showed the vaccine could prevent 40 percent of malaria cases and about 30 percent of severe cases.

Bernhards Ogutu is a chief researcher at Kenya Medical Research Institute. He said Kenya’s participation in the study proves the vaccine will work on the country’s population.

“If it’s safe you know it was done in your population and you know it’s good for you. You are not relying on data from another population but from your own population. So that you can confidently advise the government this is safe for us, it works and its approved and it was done by us and we contributed to this development,” he said.

The first three vaccine doses are given a month apart when children are babies, and a final booster is given when the child is one-and-a-half years old.

Ogutu has voiced confidence that Kenyan parents will vaccinate their children from malaria.

“People have been asking where it is now that we have been given the go ahead, we can now go for the rollout. I think it’s time to get to our people and tell them now it’s available and now it’s a matter of procuring the vaccine and ensuring it’s available and start getting it to those who need it,” said Ogutu.

So far, there is no word on when the vaccine will become available to the general public.

Source: Voice of America

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Nobel Prize in Literature Awarded to Tanzanian Novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah

This year’s Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to Tanzanian novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah for his body of work detailing the refugee experience and how colonialism shaped African culture.

At a news conference at the Swedish Academy’s headquarters in Stockholm, Permanent Secretary Mats Helm said Gurnah received the award for “for his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents.”

Gurnah, born in 1948 and raised on the island of Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean, arrived in England as a refugee himself in the late 1960’s. He has published ten novels and a number of short stories.

In its statement, the academy said, “In Gurnah’s literary universe, everything is shifting – memories, names, identities. An unending exploration driven by intellectual passion is present in all his books.” The statement said that quality is as evident in his latest novel, 2020’s “Afterlives,” which he began writing as a 21-year-old refugee.

The academy went on to say Gurnah’s writing is “striking” for its dedication to truth and “his aversion to simplification. His novels recoil from stereotypical descriptions and open our gaze to a culturally diversified East Africa unfamiliar to many in other parts of the world.”

Gurnah will receive a $1.1 million cash prize, but for writers, the prize also adds prestige and publicity by exposing their work to much wider audience.

The Nobel Prizes for medicine, physics and chemistry were awarded earlier this week, with the Peace Prize to be awarded Friday, and economics on Monday.

The awards will all be formally presented in December. Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the academy announced this year’s ceremony will be a mixture of digital and physical events. Laureates will receive their Nobel Prize medals and diplomas in their home countries.

Source: Voice of America

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UN: ‘Transitional Justice’ Key to Unblocking Vicious Cycle of Violence in DR Congo

A report by U.N. human rights chief Michele Bachelet finds some progress has been made in the human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, the report finds extensive violations and abuses continue unabated in North Kivu and Ituri provinces. Bachelet is calling for a system of what the U.N. calls “transitional justice” to address the situation.

The report says the total number of human rights violations and abuses in eastern Congo dropped slightly during the period between June 1, 2020, and May 31, 2021, compared to the year before.

Despite this decrease, it says the number of people killed in summary and extrajudicial executions rose to more than 600. That includes nearly 400 people killed by a rebel group in Ituri province, and 236 people killed by members of the Congolese security and defense forces in the provinces of Ituri and North Kivu.

U.N. Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif, who presented the report to the U.N. Human Rights Council this week, said violations by Congolese armed forces continue to pose serious concerns.

“These violations undermine efforts deployed to secure the east of the country,” she said. “I urge the government to take the necessary measures to ensure that military operations of the armed forces against armed groups are conducted in strict compliance with human rights and international humanitarian law, and that violations by any members of the security forces are investigated and prosecuted promptly in accordance with the right to fair trial standards.”

During the reporting period, Al-Nashif said, Congolese courts have convicted nearly 300 members of the DRC armed forces, Congolese national police as well as members of armed groups on various charges. Some were found guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes.

She says it is critical that the DRC implement a system of transitional justice so perpetrators of violations and abuses continue to be prosecuted.

“As the High Commissioner has stated during previous sessions of the Human Rights Council, transitional justice is key to unblocking the vicious circle of violence that persists in the DRC,” Al-Nashif said. “The establishment of transitional justice mechanisms needs to effectively address impunity, guarantee access to justice and redress for victims, and ensure the implementation of guarantees of non-repetition.”

Transitional justice is a strategy, a way for countries emerging from conflict and repression to deal with human rights violations that are too large for a normal system of justice to tackle. It can include setting up special courts to prosecute gross human rights violations, reforming the existing justice system, or establishing a truth and reconciliation commission.

U.N. Human Rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told VOA that the U.N. cannot prescribe what form transitional justice should take in the DRC. This, she says, “depends on what the victims and civil society in the country demand.”

DRC Minister for Human Rights, Albert Fabrice Puela, says his government is determined to set up a National Commission for Transitional Justice and create a national reparation fund for victims of serious crimes.

Source: Voice of America

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NATO Studying ‘Options’ to Bolster Africa Anti-Jihadi Force, UN Says

NATO is studying options to bolster support for the multinational G5 Sahel Joint Force in the troubled three-borders region of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, where a surge in jihadis violence has cost thousands of lives, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a letter seen by AFP on Thursday.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization could extend such support through its Support and Procurement Agency, the U.N. chief said in a recent letter to the Security Council.

Guterres said he is convinced of the need to create a U.N. support office for the G5 Sahel force, which comprises around 5,000 soldiers from Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso, which would be funded by contributions from the United Nations.

He said such a technique would be “the most effective approach to provide sustainable and predictable support to the Joint Force.”

But the United States, the U.N.’s biggest financial backer, has so far rejected the plan, which is favored by France and several African countries.

In June, U.S. deputy ambassador to the U.N. Jeffrey DeLaurentis said his country wanted to maintain a clear separation between efforts to fight terrorism and efforts to maintain peace in order to protect the U.N.’s neutrality.

For years, the United States has said it prioritizes aid to the Sahel countries directly, rather than ramping up U.N. involvement.

“The creation of the G5 Sahel Joint Force, despite the persisting challenges, is a strong manifestation of political will by the five core states of the Sahel that merits the support of the international community,” Guterres said.

“While all interlocutors underscored their strong support to the G5 Sahel Joint Force as an exceptional initiative that warranted international support, there is no convergence of views within the international community on how best to support it,” the U.N. chief added.

The Security Council, currently led by Kenya, is set to send representatives for a visit to Mali and Niger at the end of the month, to study the security situation.

Guterres pointed out that despite the African Union’s willingness to take on an integral role in fostering cooperation in the region, “the AU stressed that it would require financial support by another donor” to manage logistical support of the Joint Force.

The U.N. currently provides fuel, water and food to the Joint Force through the Minusma peace-keeping mission in Mali, plus bilateral medical support arranged in the last few years.

Source: Voice of America

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Regular Session of DLCO-EA Governing Council of Ministers

The 66th Regular Session of the Desert Locust Control Organization for Eastern Africa (DLCO-EA) Governing Council of Ministers commences today, 7 October at Asmara Palace Hotel.

Ministers of Agriculture of Eritrea, South Sudan, Somalia, Djibouti, Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Kenya are participating.

The regular Governing Council of Ministers session is the continuation of the 66th Regular Session of the DLCO-EA Executive Committee that was held from 4-6 October.

In his keynote address, the Minister of Agriculture of Eritrea, Mr. Arefaine Berhe highlighting Eritrea’s experience regarding control of desert locust stated that since 2006 the world is passing through a period of food shortages and soaring food prices mainly due to crop loss caused by pests and diseases and underlined the role of the Desert Locust Control Organization for Eastern Africa in tackling the situation.

The Executive Director of the Desert Locust Control Organization for Eastern Africa (DLCO-EA), Dr. Stephen W. Njoka on his part noting that member countries are using chemicals to control pests that are harmful to human safety and environment underscored the urgency of switching to biological and mechanical means of control. He further indicated that the organization is working on developing components of preventive, eco-friendly and more cost-effective mechanism for locusts based on benign and bio-rational control tools and tactics.

The State Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries of Uganda and Chairman of the DLCO-EA Governing Council of Ministers Mr. Fred Bwino Kyakulaga on his part noted that the organization has continued to promote food security in the region through its mandate of combating the migratory pests namely desert locusts, Quelea birds, armyworms, and Tsetse flies. He also commended the organization for saving member countries million of dollars by protecting their crops and not importing food.

The 66th Regular Session of the Desert Locust Control Organization for Eastern Africa (DLCO-EA) Governing Council of Ministers will continue until tomorrow.

Source: Ministry of Information Eritrea

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Google to Invest $1 Billion in Africa Over Five Years

Google plans to invest $1 billion in Africa over the next five years to ensure access to fast and cheaper internet and will back startups to support the continent’s digital transformation, it said on Wednesday.

The unit of U.S. tech company Alphabet Inc made the announcement at a virtual event where it launched an Africa Investment Fund, through which it will invest $50 million in startups, providing them with access to its employees, network and technologies.

Nitin Gajria, managing director for Google in Africa told Reuters in a virtual interview that the company would among others, target startups focusing on fintech, e-commerce and local language content.

“We are looking at areas that may have some strategic overlap with Google and where Google could potentially add value in partnering with some of these startups,” Gajria said.

In collaboration with not-for-profit organization Kiva, Google will also provide $10 million in low interest loans to help small businesses and entrepreneurs in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa so they can get through the economic hardship created by COVID-19.

Small businesses in Africa often struggle to get capital because they lack the necessary collateral required by banks in case they default. When credit is available, interest rates are usually too high.

Google said a program pioneered last year in Kenya in partnership with Safaricom that allows customers to pay for 4G-enabled phones in instalments would be expanded across the continent with mobile operators such as MTN, Orange and Vodacom.

Gajria said an undersea cable being built by Google to link Africa and Europe should come into service in the second half of next year and is expected to increase internet speeds by five times and lower data costs by up to 21% in countries like South Africa and Nigeria.

Source: Voice of America

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Ash From Latest Eruption Shuts Down Airport in Canary Islands

Spain’s airport authority for the Canary Islands shut down the airport on the island of La Palma again Thursday because of accumulating ash from a volcano that has been erupting there for 18 days.

From its Twitter account, the airport authority, Aena, said the facility was closed because of accumulating ash. In news agency video from the airport, the cloud of ash could be seen hanging over the runways. The airport was closed once last month because of ash as well.

Scientists monitoring the course of Cumbre Vieja’s eruption say it has been unpredictable. It settled down several days ago, but earlier this week, it reawakened. In the latest report from its Twitter account, the Canary Island Volcanic Institute said the activity had become more explosive in recent hours.

The German Research Center for Geosciences, which sent a team to La Palma, told The Associated Press the lava flow on the island was 6,300 meters long, more than 1,000 meters wide at its broadest point and up to 25 meters (82 feet) thick.

The experts said the molten rock from the crater was now flowing down a lava tube beneath earlier, hardened lava, straight into the sea. That has eased fears it could spread wider and cause more destruction.

The volcanic eruption that started September 19 has forced the evacuation of more than 6,000 of La Palma’s roughly 85,000 residents. The island is part of the Canary Islands archipelago off the northwest coast of Africa.

Source: Voice of America