{"id":92142,"date":"2017-05-02T01:30:14","date_gmt":"2017-05-01T23:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/committee-on-the-elimination-of-racial-discrimination-hears-from-non-governmental-organizations-from-kenya\/"},"modified":"2017-05-02T01:30:14","modified_gmt":"2017-05-01T23:30:14","slug":"committee-on-the-elimination-of-racial-discrimination-hears-from-non-governmental-organizations-from-kenya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/committee-on-the-elimination-of-racial-discrimination-hears-from-non-governmental-organizations-from-kenya\/","title":{"rendered":"Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination hears from non-governmental organizations from Kenya"},"content":{"rendered":"

APO News from Africa:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination hears from non-governmental organizations from Kenya<\/a>: <\/p>\n

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this morning met with representatives of civil society organizations from Kenya to discuss the situation of racial discrimination in this country, which the Committee will review later this week.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The Committee will also consider reports of Cyprus and Bulgaria this week, but there were no non-governmental organizations present to talk about the situation in those countries.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Representatives of civil society said that that the Vision 2030, Kenya’s development blueprint, recognised that no society could gain social cohesion if significant sections of that society live in abject poverty, and included equity as a recurrent principle in all its economic, social and political programmes. They drew the attention to the situation of pastoralists in 14 counties who suffered forced evictions, burning of homes, displacement, and silent killing of people and their livestock by paramilitary forces. In those counties, land issue loomed large. The Committee should urge Kenya to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms of the pastoralist communities, and to ensure the realization of the right to freedom of movement and residence within the State as guaranteed by the Constitution. Furthermore, the Committee should undertake research into the racial relation in Laikipia and Baringo counties.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Four indigenous people civil society organizations – Indigenous Movement for Peace Advancement and Conflict Transformation, Yaaku People’s Organization, Maasai Women for Education and Economic Development, and Samburu Women Trust – spoke in a joint statement.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Live webcast of the Committee’s public meetings is available at http:\/\/webtv.un.org. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The Committee will reconvene in public at 10 a.m. tomorrow, 2 May to discuss its working methods. In the afternoon of 2 May, the review of the report of Kenya will start.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Consideration of reports of Cyprus and Bulgaria will start on 3 and 4 May respectively.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Statements on Kenya<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Four indigenous people civil society organizations, including Indigenous Movement for Peace Advancement and Conflict Transformation, Yaaku People’s Organization, Maasai Women for Education and Economic Development, and Samburu Women Trust  delivered a joint statement, in which they addressed the gaps and challenges to the effective implementation of the Convention in Kenya.  The Constitution required the State to put in place an affirmative action programme for minorities and marginalized groups, and the Vision 2030, Kenya’s development blueprint, recognized that no society could gain social cohesion if significant sections of that society lived in abject poverty, and included equity as a recurrent principle in all its economic, social and political programmes.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The indigenous people civil society organizations drew the attention to the situation of pastoralists living in the 14 counties who suffered forced evictions, burning of homes, displacement, and silent killing of people and their livestock by paramilitary forces. The land issue loomed large in those counties, the speakers said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The Committee should urge Kenya to ensure the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms of the pastoralist communities, the right to freedom of movement and residence within the State as guaranteed by the Constitution, and undertake research of a fact-finding mission into the racial relation in Laikipia and Baringo counties.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Discussion<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

NICOLÁS MARUGÁN, Committee Expert and Rapporteur for Kenya, inquired about the definition of racial discrimination in the Constitution and the country’s legislation, the payment of school fees for non-citizens as stipulated by the Basic Education Act, ethnic profiling by security forces in the context of counter-terrorism. Access to justice seemed to be out of financial reach of many Kenyans, including those who were victims of racial discrimination. What was the level of satisfaction of people displaced by the post-election violence in 2007 with remedies they received?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Other Experts noted the pattern of denial of economic, social and cultural rights which tied in with under-servicing of some counties, the situation in slums and who were the inhabitants of those slums, and land issues. Who were the marginalized and historically disadvantaged people in Kenya? How did the politics and ethnicity play into exclusion and marginalization? Experts also asked about the management of communal land and the recognition of indigenous people in Kenya.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Responding, civil society representatives said that the basic education act had not addressed the particular issues of pastoralists who continued to be marginalized in accessing education and excluded from it because of prohibitive costs. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

There was no legal aid available to the poor, so all those evicted from their land to make room for multinationals could not access justice; some even feared going to courts and fighting for their rights, simply because they did not know the way of life in cities, were illiterate, did not know the procedures nor where to start in vindicating their rights. Access to justice was further constrained by high-level of corruption in the judicial system, and the fact that people were afraid to go against some individuals who held wealth and power.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Kenya will have elections in August 2017, and ethnic agendas were on the rise, which would inevitably lead to a flare up of conflict in the Laikipia county between pastoralists and the newly arrived who were those displaced earlier and settled in the county by the political decision which was ethnically motivated.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Education was free for indigenous people, but it was not accessible. Indigenous people were mainly nomadic pastoralists who moved around, distances to school ranged from 20 to 50 kilometres, and traveling those distances was not safe because of proliferation of guns and volatile security situation.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Land was an issue that people were not ready to discuss openly; a large proportion was owned by cartels and its people were sitting in central and local governments. A lot of land was given to conservation; the Government was not present to provide security and services indigenous territories; and indigenous people were not being consulted and included in decision making concerning resource exploitation, such as oil in Turkana, which was taking place on their territories. Pastoralists owned land communally, and it was the community which defined occupation and the right to use the land. The community land act was taking effect, and regulation was being developed on how communal land should be registered. There was no law that recognized pastoralists or hunter-gatherers as ‘indigenous’, which was a heavily contested term in Kenya.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

With regard to the pattern of denial of economic, social and cultural rights, civil society representatives informed the Committee that currently Kenya had a devolved system of government, and had set up the affirmative fund for eleven counties which had suffered historic injustice and neglect by post-colonial governments.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The land in the Laikipia county had been changing ownership; after decolonization, all land in Kenya had been leased back for 99 years to the people to whom it had historically belonged – everywhere but in the Laikipia county where it was given to colonialists who had fought the war. <\/p>\n

Distributed by APO on behalf of United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG).<\/i><\/p>\n

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Historical ecumenical prayer in Egypt for peace and unity<\/a>: <\/p>\n

Church leaders, led by Pope Tawadros II and Pope Francis, were gathered to pray for the people of Egypt, for unity, for peace and justice in St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, the chapel next to Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral that was bombed in December 2016, now restored. <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Pope Francis and Pope Tawadros entered in a short procession to the church where 29 people died and 47 were wounded on 11 December 2016. The World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit took also part in the procession together with church leaders from Egypt and from other parts of the world.<\/p>\n

Inside the small church, each of the eight Christian leaders seated before the congregation, with Pope Francis; Pope Tawadros of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria; Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Constantinople; Pope and Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria and All Africa; Patriarch Ibrahim of the Coptic Catholic Church of Alexandria; Anglican Archbishop Mouneer Anis, Primate of the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East; Patriarch Gregory III Laham, of Antioch and All the East, and Alexandria and Jerusalem; and Rev. Dr Andrea Zaki, president of the Protestant Community of Egypt, and director of the Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services.<\/p>\n

Each of the church leaders read a verse each from the beatitudes in the Gospel of St. Matthew. Pope Francis and Pope Tawadros II then said a few words in prayer, and everyone shared a sign of peace.<\/p>\n

Pope Francis prayed, “Lord Jesus, I ask you to bless us, to bless my brother Pope Tawadros II, to bless all my brother bishops who are here, to bless all my Christian brothers and to take us on the path of charity and to work together toward the table of the Eucharist. Amen.”<\/p>\n

With music and placing flowers, praying and lighting a candle at the site where so many of Coptic Orthodox Christians were killed by a suicide bomber last year, Pope Francis and Pope Tawadros II paid homage to those who were killed for their faith. The ecumenical group prayed together in front of the photographs of the victims, and Pope Francis placed a bouquet of white and yellow flowers at the memorial wall in their honor.<\/p>\n

Tveit commented, “Praying together in the bombed and now restored St Peter’s and St Paul’s church in Cairo, with the marks of the bomb still very visible on the columns, and the images of the martyrs on the wall, we were deeply moved. We felt the tragic loss, the fear, and the hope of the Christians in Egypt.”<\/p>\n

“To pray together is a significant sign of being together. In prayer we are gathered by God’s grace, sharing the deepest concerns with one another in the prayer of the Church. “<\/p>\n

“The ecumenical prayer is a prayer with one another and for one another. It shows sympathy and togetherness as we struggle for justice and peace in the world, as we constantly pray ‘Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.’”<\/p>\n

Just before the ecumenical prayer, in a historic and significant move toward greater Christian unity, Pope Tawadros II and Pope Francis signed a common declaration over the sacrament of baptism.<\/p>\n

The majority of the 82.5 million Egyptians are Sunni Muslims. Between 12-15 percent of the Egyptian population are Christians, most of them Coptic Orthodox, but there are Catholics, Protestants and other various Christian communities in the country as well.<\/p>\n

Distributed by APO on behalf of World Council of Churches (WCC).<\/i><\/p>\n

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Angola: UNHCR airlifts aid to newly-arrived refugees from the DRC<\/a>: <\/p>\n

A plane carrying UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, core relief items arrived in Luanda, Angola, to assist over 11,000 people who fled a recent surge violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The aircraft, supported by UPS, landed Sunday morning from Dubai, carrying 3,500 plastic sheets as well as 100 plastic rolls to provide shelter during the rainy season, 17,000 sleeping mats, 16,902 thermal fleece blankets, 8,000 mosquito nets, 3,640 kitchen sets, 8,000 jerry cans and 4,000 plastic buckets. UNHCR will be airlifting more relief items to Angola in coming days. <\/p>\n

The brutal conflict in DRC’s previously peaceful Kasai region has already displaced more than one million civilians within the country since it began in mid-2016. <\/p>\n

Humanitarian assistance to the most recent arrivals will be distributed in Dundo area where refugees have been accommodated in makeshift reception centres since early April. Refugees, including some 4,000 children, are arriving exhausted, many with visible signs of violence, and bringing very little resources with them. Conditions in over-crowded centres are extremely poor. <\/p>\n

“Arrivals are in urgent need of life-saving assistance including food, water, shelter and medical services” says Ms. Sharon Cooper, UNHCR Regional Representative for Southern Africa. “UNHCR is also procuring food locally to support the most vulnerable persons including children, pregnant women and elderly.”<\/p>\n

A UNHCR emergency team is present both in Luanda and Dundo to respond to the needs of the refugees as well as to coordinate the relief response with the Government, local authorities and partners on the ground. <\/p>\n

The government is planning to allocate a new site in Nzaji, Camulo municipality some 90 kilometers from the border. The site was previously used to host internally displaced persons during the civil war in Angola. Preparations are underway to assess the site with a view to eventually provide shelter as well as to set up latrines, showers and water points to relocate the asylum-seekers. <\/p>\n

The border is managed by the Angolan Army. The UN Refugee Agency has requested the Government to allow refugees to continue crossing the border, provide unhindered access to UNHCR to assist new arrivals, as well as not to return people fleeing the violence to the DRC. <\/p>\n

Angola is currently hosting some 56,700 refugees and asylum-seekers, of whom close to 25,000 are from the DRC. <\/p>\n

UNHCR Angola had an initial annual budget of USD 2.5 million to protect and assist some 46,000 people of concern. In response to the current emergency, UNHCR is appealing for a total of USD 5.5 million to provide immediate lifesaving assistance. <\/p>\n

UPS is one of UNHCR's key global emergency partners. Every year, the UPS Foundation contributes logistical expertise, funds and services to support and enhance our emergency response to provide life-saving aid to families forced to flee. <\/p>\n

Distributed by APO on behalf of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).<\/i><\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

APO News from Africa: Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination hears from non-governmental organizations from Kenya: The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this morning met with representatives of civil society organizations from Kenya to discuss the situation of racial discrimination in this country, which the Committee will review later this week. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4584],"tags":[5853,7398,12825,3445,7432,1146,24006,20305,21928],"class_list":{"0":"post-92142","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-africa-news-2","7":"tag-committee","8":"tag-discrimination","9":"tag-elimination","10":"tag-from","11":"tag-hears","12":"tag-kenya","13":"tag-nongovernmental","14":"tag-organizations","15":"tag-racial","16":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92142\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}