APO News from Africa:
AU Hosts 2017 “Girls in ICT” Day:
On Girls in ICT Day, marked annually on the fourth Thursday in April, the African Union Commission jointly with the United Nations International Telecommunication Union (ITU) – Regional Office for Africa, UN Women, the UNDP Regional Office and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa hosted more than 200 high schools Girls from Addis Ababa and 10 high schools Girls from Tanzania at the AU Headquarters.
The girls spent the Day at the premises of the AUC where they had access to computers connected to Internet and took a quiz on ICT and Information technologies, interacted with speakers on ICT careers, entrepreneurship and innovation, social media and social skills, as well as taking part of a dance competition.
A panel discussion was also organized with six inspirational African women where each panelist member spoke on their life experiences, successes and how they use ICT in their day-to-day business activities. The panel was composed of Mrs. Mahawa Kaba Wheeler the Director of Women, Gender & Development at the AUC, Mrs. Rekia Mahamoudou Head of Division, Administration & Human Resources Management Directorate/ AUC, Mrs. Mekdes Mintesenot Abayneh a senior Director from Ethiotelecom, Ms. Yetnebersh Nigussie Human Rights Activist, and Ms. Selome Tadesse Social Activist and Entrepreneur. The panel was moderated by Ms. Letty Chiwara from UNWOMEN who encouraged the young girls to seize the opportunity to ask questions about the ICT sector and to benefit from the experiences of the four inspirational Women who spoke to them in the panel discussion
The official event was preceded by an SMS competition among Girls.
The official segments of the program started with opening remarks from Mr. Andrew Rugege, Regional Director ITU who recalled the importance of ICT as a driver for change to improve people’s lives especially in Africa for a better education, communication and health systems as ICT is considered a cross cutting and powerful tool. For her part, the representative of the Ministry of ICT of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia Ms. Bekala Ibrahim, International Relation & Cooperation Director, highlighted the high importance given by the Government of Ethiopia for the development of the ICT sector and the efforts to attract and promote more women in this very innovative sector as an enabler for women empowerment and economic development of the country.
Mr. Cheikh Bedda Director for Infrastructure and Energy at the AUC speaking on behalf of Dr. Amani Abou-Zeid, African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, reiterated the critical role played by women and youth in the development of Africa as per the aspirations of the agenda 2063 and the importance of the Day recalling the AU theme of the year on harnessing the demographic dividend through investment in youth. He noted “this event provides us the opportunity to highlight the importance of science and technology and their critical role in promoting innovation, entrepreneurship and skills development, in order to equip youth and particularly young women to participate fully in the digital economy and in all aspects of the society.”
The officials present at the event including the representatives of the Ministry of ICT and Ministry of Women and Children Affairs of Ethiopia as well as Mr. Cheikh Bedda from the AUC, Mr. Andrew Rugege from ITU and H.E the Ambassador of Tanzania in Addis Ababa presented the prizes to the winners.
The Event was officially closed by Ms. Souhila Amazouz, Senior ICT officer at the Department of Infrastructure and Energy of the AUC. She congratulated the girls for their active participation and thanked the ITU Regional Office for Africa and all the partners who have contributed to make the day a success and looked forward to receiving more Girls from the Continent at the celebration of the 2018 Girls in ICT Day.
The International Girls in ICT Day aims to create a global environment that empowers and encourages girls and young women to consider careers in the growing field of ICTs and enable a greater female participation in the ICT sector.it is an initiative backed by all ITU Member States in ITU Plenipotentiary Resolution 70 (Rev. Busan, 2014) and celebrated every year on the fourth Thursday of April.
Distributed by APO on behalf of African Union Commission (AUC).
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Source: APO – Africa-Newsroom: latest news releases related to Africa
African ambassadors to the United Nations in Geneva today reiterated their support for Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to become the next Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), and urged other regional country groups and WHO Member States to support his candidacy. Dr Tedros has been endorsed by the African Union as the most qualified candidate in next week’s election, which marks the first time a new WHO leader will be selected by a vote of all UN Member States.
Dr Tedros is the former Minister of Health and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, and if elected WHO Director-General would be the first chief of the agency to come from Africa and also the first who has led both a national health ministry and foreign affairs ministry. As Minister of Health of Ethiopia, Dr Tedros systematically transformed the country’s health system to improve public health and strengthen the response to disease outbreaks.
“Dr Tedros is the best candidate for the next WHO Director-General because he is the only one who has designed, implemented and led the reform of an entire health system and in addition to his transformative leadership, he is a man of integrity and humility who is most loved and respected by the people and the communities he serves’’ said Jean-Marie Ehouzou, Ambassador of the African Union to the United Nations. “WHO is at a crossroads and requires a determined reformer. We are calling on all WHO Member States and regional country groups to support and vote for Dr Tedros.”
Mr Pedro Afonso Comissário, the Ambassador of Mozambique to the United Nations, said: “With the growing global consensus on advancing universal health coverage for sustainable development, Dr Tedros’ unmatched diplomatic, political and technical skills and experience will be crucial for leading WHO.”
Dr François Xavier Ngarambe, Ambassador of Rwanda to the United Nations in Geneva said: “Africans are united fully behind Dr Tedros because he is the best candidate with a track record of results and impact. We are proud to say Dr Tedros is the right candidate to lead WHO not just on behalf of the African continent but on behalf of the entire world.”
Under Dr Tedros’ leadership of the Ethiopia Ministry of Health from 2005 to 2012, child mortality declined by two-thirds, meeting the Millennium Development Goal target two years early. At the same time, HIV infections declined by 90%, malaria mortality by 75% and mortality from tuberculosis by 64%.
In addition to being endorsed by the African Union, Dr Tedros has also been endorsed by the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States.
Distributed by APO on behalf of African Union Commission (AUC).
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Source: APO – Africa-Newsroom: latest news releases related to Africa
The African Development Bank in collaboration with the African Union Commission and the World Economic Forum has launched the second edition of the Africa Visa Openness Index.
The Index analyses the visa regime in Africa and how open countries are in terms of relaxation or elimination of visa requirements for citizens from other African countries traveling to their countries. The report examines which countries are facilitating travel for citizens of other countries and whether they allow people to travel to their country without a visa, with the provision of visa-on-arrival or whether visitors need to get a visa before travel.
Overall, Africans were able to travel more freely across the continent in 2016, as the visa openness levels improved compared to 2015. However challenges still remain. The second edition highlights pervasive regional differences in visa openness performance. For example, 75% of countries in the top 20 most visa-open countries, are either in East or West Africa, while 20% are in Southern Africa. Of the top 20 countries, only one country, Mauritania, is from the Northern region, while none is from Central Africa. “Despite the size of our group, I need 38 visas to move around Africa” says Aliko Dangote, President and CEO of Dangote Group.
Continent-wide, Ghana made the most progress in 2016 in opening up its borders to African travelers, moving into sixth place in the Index, up sixteen places from 2015. Senegal also moved into the top 20 most visa-open countries, up 9 places from 2015 and Tunisia moved 13 places from 2015. Seychelles continues to lead the index and remains the only African country on the continent to offer visa-free access for all Africans. “Our leaders have to bring down the walls that separate us, from East Africa to Central Africa to North Africa to West Africa. We need a wider open market” says Akinwumi A. Adesina, President of the African Development Group.
The African Union Commission Deputy Chairperson Dr. Kwesi Quartey observes that much progress has been achieved despite the numerous challenges. In July 2016, the African Union launched the African Union Passport that has since been issued to Heads of State and Government, the First Ladies, Ministers of Foreign Affairs, the Chairpersons of the Regional Economic Communities, the Permanent Representatives Committee of the African Union as well as some business persons. “The African Union is supporting Member States in rolling out the African Union passport to all its citizens, granting them visa-free access to explore the Continent for business, pleasure, leisure and tourism,” he adds.
Going forward, focus is to continue the positive trend of Africa’s visa openness regime and deliver on the African Union’s decision for African countries to issue visas-on-arrival to all Africans as it seeks to achieve seamless borders. Greater visa openness in Africa would help create a people-centered African integration that offers the much needed free movement of persons, intra-African trade, tourism, study and job opportunities as well as people-to-people exchanges for all Africans.
The website of the Visa Openness Index is accessible at www.visaopenness.org.
Distributed by APO on behalf of African Union Commission (AUC).
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Source: APO – Africa-Newsroom: latest news releases related to Africa
