APO News from Africa:
Over the last three days, close to 25,000 people have been displaced by intense fighting between the South Sudan People’s Liberation Army and the Agwelek forces around the town of Kodok. The humanitarian organizations that have up until now been providing essential medical services, water, food, non-food items and shelter have had to temporarily suspend activities on the west bank of the Nile River because of the increasing insecurity.
“This is a disaster in the making, just as the demand is greatest,” said Marcus Bachmann, Doctors without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières' (MSF) head of mission for South Sudan. “Hospitals in the area are not operational, and water deliveries are unreliable. Yesterday no water deliveries were made to the IDPs because of the fighting. Given the scorching heat and the exposure of population to the elements, soon we will see people suffering from chronic dehydration and diarrhea as well as diseases like cholera.”
MSF had been providing emergency medical support—including at a field hospital and through two mobile units in the area—to the 13,000 displaced people who had fled fighting in the area in January. However, MSF has been forced to suspend activities because of the recent surge in violence.
Escaping the violence is difficult as positions are rapidly changing hands between the different forces, and displaced people find themselves surrounded by conflict on all sides. Without protection, many will have few other options than to leave for camps in Sudan where they can find refuge. Those who decide to go face a long and arduous journey on foot with hardly any access to food or water.
“We are calling on both parties to ensure that all civilians are protected from the fighting and provided with safe and secure access to essential humanitarian services,” Bachmann said. “As we have been forced to suspend most of our operations, we have provided runaway bags which contain essential medicines and supplies so that our staff who are with the fleeing IDPs can provide basic treatment in the field.”
With the rainy season approaching, it seems likely that the flow of people leaving for Sudan will increase as they avoid being trapped in the area.
Water remains a major concern for these new IDPs. On Tuesday, the people in and around the nearby town of Aburoc only had access to about 16,000 gallons of water per day. This is only an average of less than half a gallon per person, well below the amount needed for survival. On Wednesday, there were no deliveries of water because of the fighting. Water trucks are on hand to resume limited deliveries, but only if the situation becomes safer.
Distributed by APO on behalf of Médecins sans frontières (MSF).
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Source: APO – Africa-Newsroom: latest news releases related to Africa
17 African Law students qualify for final round of the 15th WTO Moot Court Competition:
Seventeen African law students, including 9 women and 8 men, have qualified for the final oral round of the 15th European Law Students’ Association (ELSA) Moot Court Competition on World Trade Organization (WTO) law, which will be held at the WTO headquarters in Geneva from 6 to 11 June 2016.
The ELSA Moot Court Competition is an academic simulation of judicial procedures by law students, helping to foster their awareness and experience in international trade negotiations. It is also a forum for students to acquire practical experience on how to prepare and present legal arguments and how to debate current legal and social issues.
The African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC) of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) sponsored the competing teams from Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda in the fourth African Regional Round of the ELSA Moot Court Competition from 9 to 13 April 2017, which was hosted by Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa.
ATPC has been supporting the competition since 2016 as part of its commitment and efforts in capacity-building. Ultimately, the initiative seeks to contribute to legal education, foster mutual understanding and promote social responsibility of law students and young lawyers in Africa.
Mr. Melaku Desta, Principal Adviser in the Capacity Development Division of ECA who participated in adjudicating the competition in Grahamstown said, “Through ECA’s support, African universities have an opportunity to grow in the knowledge of international trade law and WTO dispute settlement procedures; this should enhance capacity in Africa in the long term”.
This year’s winning teams are from Kenya (School of Law of Kenya; Strathmore University and Kabarak University) and from South Africa:- University of the Witwatersrand. They will compete against the finalists from the other regional rounds, i.e. the All-America, Asia-Pacific, and European regional rounds in Geneva.
Distributed by APO on behalf of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
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Source: APO – Africa-Newsroom: latest news releases related to Africa
Policy makers and government officials from across Southern Africa are meeting under the CAADP/Malabo Biennial Review and reporting mechanism to enhance skills on methods and tool to track and assess progress achieved in CAADP/Malabo implementation and its impact on targeted beneficiaries within the agriculture sector. FAO, in collaboration with the African Union Commission (AUC) and the NEPAD Planning and Coordination Agency (NPCA) organized a five-day technical workshop starting today in Johannesburg, South Africa.
“All players in this process are encouraged to provide required support to make the Biennial Report on CAADP implementation, an integral and a substantive policy instrument critical in supporting effective implementation and contributing to inclusive growth and shared prosperity for Africans” said Ernest Ruzindaza, AU CAADP Team Leader.
The key purpose of the workshop is to provide information on the Biennial Review Mechanism and to train participants on the technical guidelines to track progress towards the Malabo targets that will involve standard country performance-reporting templates.
Under the Malabo Framework, which was agreed by African heads of state in June 2014, countries are expected to provide a report of progress towards implementation of the Malabo roadmap every two years starting in 2018.
Following a broad consultation process, the AUC/NPCA, working with Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and technical partners like FAO have developed a set of 43 indicators based on the Malabo commitments for ‘accelerated agricultural growth and transformation for shared prosperity and improved livelihoods’.
Suffyan Koroma, Senior Economist in his opening remarks said
‘FAO reconfirms its commitment towards supporting the AU/NPCA in synergy with the RECs to accelerate implementation of the Malabo road map by strengthening monitoring and data systems across the region and looks forward to continuing to enhance the capacity of member states to achieve the vision of agricultural transformation in Africa by 2025’.
As part of the implementation of the Malabo Road map, member states are supported to domesticate the new monitoring and reporting tools for alignment with national agriculture data frameworks. Training activities are expected to contribute towards strengthening the capacity of African governments to track and deliver the ambitious 2063 vision for a prosperous Africa based on inclusive sustainable growth spearheaded by the African Union.
In response, FAO is supporting the AU/NPCA through a combination of technical and financial assistance to enhance the institutional capacity of the AU/NPCA in synergy with RECs to develop and utilize monitoring tools for tracking and reviewing progress, while strengthening the alignment between National Agriculture Investment Plans and Malabo targets.
Distributed by APO on behalf of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
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Source: APO – Africa-Newsroom: latest news releases related to Africa
