BULAWAYO , May 22, 2012 (IPS) - Gertrude Mkoloi earns a living harvesting maize on a small piece of land in rural Zimbabwe. Or at least she used to.
Deep in rural Binga, more than 400 km from the country’s second-largest city, Bulawayo, Mkoloi stared blankly at her maize crop, scorched brown by the sun during what was meant to be the rainy season.
"This is what I have for my labour," she said, pointing to charred maize stalks that failed to grow tassels – a cluster of male maize flowers required for pollination.
(Johannesburg, May 21, 2012) – Angolan security forces frequently abuse irregular migrants during expulsions from Angola, including sexual violence and other degrading and inhuman treatment, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
This is a summary of what was said by the UNHCR spokesperson at today’s Palais des Nations press briefing in Geneva. Further information can be found on the UNHCR websites, www.unhcr.org and www.unhcr.fr, which should also be checked for regular media updates on non-briefing days.
Food security conditions over most parts of Southern Africa remain satisfactory and conditions are expected to remain so throughout the Outlook period. The projected average to above-average maize harvests are assessed to be sufficient to meet the region’s requirements for the next six months and beyond.
Current reports indicate that household food access has improved and increased on-farm food supplies have eased the pressure on local markets. Prices have stabilized, and in some cases, started dropping.
Windhoek - The Namibian vice minister of Migration, Elias George Kaiyamo, considered the Ocire Camp that hosted many Angolans for years the sanctuary and second home to many refugees who fled their countries for their lives.
The Namibian official said so on Monday at an official ceremony that marked the resumption of the repatriation of Angolan refugees.
Some 100 Angolan refugees left Namibia on Monday back to Namacunde, Angolan southern province of Cunene.
JOHANNESBURG, May 11, 2012 (IPS) - Millions of Angola’s poorest families are facing critical food insecurity as a prolonged dry spell across large parts of the country has destroyed harvests and killed off livestock.
Up to 500,000 children are now thought to be suffering from severe malnutrition triggered by the collapse in food production after a lengthy dry season in the first three months of this year. Currently emergency feeding centres are being set up in the worst-affected communities.
LUANDA, May 11, 2012 (AFP) - Authorities in Angola have collected more than 80,000 small weapons since the start of an exercise to disarm civilians in 2008, a disarmament official said Friday.
The majority of the weapons were voluntarily turned in by civilians, mostly in the capital Luanda, home to nearly a third of the 18 million population and where many Angolans fled during the civil war which ended in 2002.
Kinshasa/New York (10 May 2012): Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Šimonović has raised alarm over the recent upsurge in violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
“The human rights situation in the DRC is of grave concern. The activities of armed groups, particularly the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and Mayi Mayi, constitute a major threat to the civilian population especially in the Kivus,” he stated today in Kinshasa at the conclusion of his nine-day visit to the country.
In the last 20 years, the world has saved more than 50 million children’s lives and reduced maternal mortality by one-third. These accomplishments have been the result of good science, good management, bipartisan political support, the engagement of USAID and many other U.S. Government agencies, and the participation of faith-based organizations, civil society, and the private sector.
LUANDA, May 10, 2012 (AFP) - Angolan soldiers could stay in Guinea-Bissau if the international community requested it through a United Nations resolution, minister for economic affairs Manuel Vicente said Thursday.
In April Luanda agreed to recall about 600 soldiers from the poor and unstable west African nation, though it denied Angolan troops had any role in Guinea-Bissau's coup last month.
LUANDA, 10 mai 2012 (AFP) - Le ministre d'Etat angolais en charge de la coopération économique Manuel Vicente a indiqué jeudi que l'Angola pourrait rester en Guinée-Bissau, plongé dans une grave crise depuis un coup d'Etat militaire en avril, mais à la demande de la communauté internationale.
"L'Angola était présente en Guinée-Bissau dans le cadre d'une relation bilatérale", a rappelé M. Vicente lors d'une conférence de presse faisant le bilan de l'action de l'exécutif angolais au premier trimestre 2012.
JOHANNESBURG, May 9, 2012 (IPS) - The cost of maintaining and expanding water infrastructure in southern Africa is high. And while South Africa may be in a better economic position than the rest of the region, it also faces funding challenges that are similar to those of its neighbours.
Despite remarkable economic growth in the past decade, undernutrition remains a serious public health problem in Angola. High rates of child stunting and micronutrient deficiencies are contributing to an under-five mortality rate of 161 deaths per 1,000 live births, limiting the growth and development of children, hindering productivity, and preventing the country from reaching Millennium Development Goals 1 and 4.
Bujumbura 08 Mai 2012- La Conférence Internationale sur la Région des Grands Lacs (CIRGL) organise la Sixième Session du Comité Régional sur l’Initiative Régionale de lutte contre l’Exploitation Illicite des Ressources Naturelles (CR-IRRN) au sein des Etats membres de la CIRGL. La session aura lieu à Bujumbura du 09 au 10 mai 2012.
LUBANGO, Angola, 8 May 2012 – Anton*, 15, helps take care of Fernando Sozinho, an elderly disabled man at a retirement home in Lubango, in the province of Huíla, in southern Angola.
Anton was sent by the juvenile court system to perform community service at the home, his sentence for stealing a box of spaghetti.
Community service is one of several alternatives to detention being offered, thanks to reforms Huíla is making to the juvenile justice system with support from UNICEF.
L’assistant du secrétaire général de l’ONU en charge de droits de l’homme, Ivan Simonovic, a déploré lundi 7 mai à Kamako (Kasaï-Occidental), les conditions dans lesquelles treize mille ressortissants congolais ont été expulsés de l’Angola. En visite au Kasaï-Occidental, il a promis de faire un rapport au Conseil de sécurité des Nations-Unies pour trouver des solutions nécessaires à ce problème.
Kuito – At least eight million dollars was donated in 2011 by NGOs that operated in the central Bié province in assistance of vulnerable families.
This was said to Angop this Tuesday in Kuito city by the provincial coordinator of Technical Unit of Coordination for Humanitarian Aid (UTCAH), Feliz Jéngua.
He said that the amount was invested in the implementation of various social projects, aimed at fighting poverty and reducing poverty in communities.
