Africa

Photo: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right) meets with Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe.

UN Partners With Africa’s Development Agenda 2017-2027

By Jaya Ramachandran

NEW YORK (IDN) - The then United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Alpha Konare, Chairperson of the African Union Commission at that time, signed the Ten-Year Capacity Building Programme (TYCBP) for the African Union in 2006 as recommended by the UN General Assembly the previous year.

With that programme due to expire end of the year, the General Assembly has adopted on December 23 a new joint United Nations-African Union (UN-AU) proposal for a successor programme enshrined in the draft resolution titled Framework for a Renewed United Nations‑African Union Partnership on Africa’s Integration and Development Agenda 2017-2027 (document A/71/L.50).

: Jaya Ramachandran; UN INSIDER; 31 December 2016

Photo: Women barbecuing fish. Credit: Ngala Killian Chimtom | IDN-INPS

Chinese Fishers Going Off With Cameroon's Catch

By Ngala Killian Chimtom

LIMBE, Cameroon (ACP-IDN) – Henry Maloke is disentangling a couple of black catfish from his fishing net at the wharf in Limbe, a seaside locality in Cameroon’s South West Region. It is a day’s catch after spending close to 24 hours at sea.

Back when the ocean was healthy and teeming with life, the 64-year old fisherman could return home after just a few hours with a full net. The situation has changed.

“Chinese fishermen are going away with everything, leaving our waters empty,” complains Maloke. “It’s a catastrophe,” he adds, casting an uncertain glance out to the ocean’s limits.

: IDN-INPS Middle East & Africa Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 28 December 2016

Photo. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right) with Joseph Kabila, President of the DR Congo, at the Secretary-General's residence in New York on 23 April 2016. Credit: UN Photo/Evan Schneider

DR Congo President Ignores UN and Citizen Protests

By Global Information Network

NEW YORK | KINSHASA (IDN) – Considering that the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the world's largest producer of cobalt ore, and a major producer of copper and diamonds, has never had a peaceful transfer of power since independence from Belgium in 1960, the current political crisis does not come as a surprise.

But the killing of a peacekeeper from South Africa deployed with the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) in North Kivu on December 19 has precipitated the situation.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the killing and called on the country's "authorities to ensure that this attack is investigated and its perpetrators are brought to justice". Attacks against UN peacekeepers are unacceptable,” according to a statement issued by Ban’s spokesperson.

: Global Information Network; UN INSIDER; 20 December 2016

Photo: Tanzania is one of the sub-Saharan African countries which have attracted growing interest from foreign investors. Credit: Kizito Makoye Shigela | IDN-INPS

Tanzania Adopts New Policy to Curb Land Grabbing

By Kizito Makoye Shigela

DAR ES SALAAM (ACP-IDN) – Tanzania has adopted a new national land policy which, among others, lowers the ceiling under which foreign investors can lease land from the current 99 to 33 years.

The new policy comes barely months after the East African nation embarked on a campaign to seize “idle” land and deter “rogue investors” from using it for speculative purposes.

The government has repeatedly accused some investors of hoarding swathes of land without developing it, while using the land as collateral for securing bank loans or selling it later at a higher price.

: IDN-INPS Middle East & Africa Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 17 December 2016

Photo: President Uhuru Kenyatta meets Mrs Jumwa Kabibu who after 50 years of misery underwent a successful UN supported fistula surgery. Credit: Newton/UNIC

Kenyan President’s Engagement with the UN a Big Deal

By Siddharth Chatterjee

NAIROBI (IDN) - President Uhuru Kenyatta warmly welcomed dozens of U.N Agencies, development partners and senior Government officials to the State House on November 2, 2016 to discuss the joint development plan from 2014-2018.

He is perhaps the only head of state in Africa to take on this responsibility personally and believes in the transformational power of the Government-UN partnership to address national priorities for sustainable development. (Speech/audio)

The United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) is a critical document that guides government and U.N, partnership, ensuring the UN system is fit for purpose and contributes effectively to national development priorities.

: IDN-INPS Middle East & Africa Editor; UN INSIDER; 14 December 2016

Photo: President-elect Nana Akufo-Addo. Credit: GhanaClass.com

UN Praises Ghana Polls as New President Awaits Inauguration

By Global Information Network

NEW YORK | ACCRA (IDN) – In a surprise upset for incumbent President John Dramani Mahama, Ghanaian voters turned out strongly for opposition candidate Nana Akufo-Addo, whose campaign for the presidency gave hope to thousands of jobless.

While Akufo-Addo bagged 54% of the vote, Mahama took 44% on December 7. It was the first time in Ghana that an opposition candidate defeated an incumbent President at the ballot box – a reason strong enough for outgoing United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to congratulate Akufo-Addo on his election as President of Ghana.

Ban thanked outgoing President John Dramani Mahama for his role in defusing tensions and preserving peace during the election period. According to a statement issued by his office on December 9, Ban reiterated UN’s commitment to continue assisting the Government of Ghana in consolidating democratic and development achievements.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 14 December 2016

Photo: South Africa's mine dumps have over the years heavily contributed to climate change impacts, consequently endangering many lives in the Southern African nation. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo | IDN-INPS

Mining Deepening South Africa’s Climate Change Crisis

By Jeffrey Moyo

JOHANNESBURG (ACP-IDN) – Mariette Lieferink has been dubbed South Africa’s climate change hero and she is prominently featured as the country's leading environmental activist in South African media.

Now, moved by the heavy contribution of the country's mines to climate change, Lieferink, who heads the Federation for a Sustainable Development (FSE), is working flat out to clean up the hugely polluted mining areas of Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city, which is also one of the world's 50 largest urban areas.

According to Lieferink, climate change is a potential disaster, poised to trigger the 'toxic time bomb' left by over 120 years of mining, particularly across Johannesburg, which is also South Africa’s industrial hub.

: Jeffrey Moyo; THE WORLD; Africa; 08 December 2016

Photo: FAO DG José Graziano da Silva presenting Lesotho King designation as Special Ambassador. ©FAO/Giuseppe Carotenuto.

Lesotho King Appointed UN Special Ambassador for Nutrition

By Ronald Joshua

ROME (IDN) - King Letsie III of Lesotho has been appointed as Special Ambassador of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations for Nutrition. The Organization’s Director-General, José Graziano da Silva, made the announcement at the high-level International Symposium on Sustainable Food Systems for Healthy Diets and Improved Nutrition December 1-2, 21016.

The Symposium was held to explore country-level challenges and successes in the nutritional reshaping of food production, processing, marketing and retail systems. Malnutrition – including obesity and micronutrient deficiencies – blights the lives of billions of individuals and can trap generations in a vicious cycle of poverty.

: Ronald Joshua; UN INSIDER; 03 December 2016

Photo: Noor 1: Currently the $9 billion Noor facilities generate 160 megawatts (MW). Credit: Fabiola Ortiz

Morocco Hosts the World’s largest Solar Plant

By Fabíola Ortiz

MARRAKECH (IDN) - The ambitious Moroccan plan for harnessing heat coming from the sun in the Sahara desert and turning it into electricity has drawn international attention, also during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP22), held in Marrakesh, between November 7-18.

Two hundred kilometres Northeast drive from the COP22 venue lies the 450 hectares Noor solar complex. When it starts fully operating in 2018, it will power over one million households and curb 760,000 tons per year of greenhouse gas emissions.

: Ramesh Jaura; THE WORLD; Africa; 01 December 2016

Photo: Nappier grass growing in a farm in Busia county Western, Kenya.

African Livestock Experts Focus on Climate-Resilient Fodder

By Justus Wanzala

NAIROBI (ACP-IDN) - Demand for milk and livestock products in Kenya is growing fast and has already outstripped supply in some parts of the country. One of the results is that many smallholder farmers are venturing into rearing dairy cattle and, to some extent, dairy goats.

One of these farmers is Emily Mukwambo, who keeps six dairy cows in her three and half acre farm in Busia County, western Kenya. However as Emily and thousands of other small-scale farmers embrace dairy farming, it is emerging that climate change is affecting the availability of fodder and forage leading to farmers failing to meet the nutritional needs of their livestock. Compounded by the lack of information some farmers have about these needs, milk production is being affected, leading to diminished incomes.