Eswatini, Africa’s last absolute monarchy, said Saturday it had shut its schools “indefinitely with immediate effect” as the country faces a wave of pro-democracy protests.

Students of the tiny, landlocked nation formerly known as Swaziland have been protesting for a number of weeks, boycotting lessons and calling for free schooling, as well as an end to the regime under King Mswati III.

“His Majesty’s government has taken the decision to close schools indefinitely with immediate effect,” Prime Minister Cleopas Dlamini said in a statement.

According to pro-democracy activists, the army and police have been deployed in schools this week, and several students have been arrested.

Civil society and opposition groups demonstrated in the largest cities, Manzini and Mbabane, in June, looting shops and ransacking business properties.

At least 28 people died as police clashed with protesters in some of the worst unrest in the southern African country’s history. The latest fatality came Wednesday.

On Friday, Eswatini shut down the internet for two hours as pro-democracy marchers headed to the capital.

The shutdown came as images of the protests circulated on social and traditional media, including pictures of two people who said they had been injured by gunshots fired by security forces.

The internet shutdown blocked social media and left many services running very slowly afterward.

On Saturday, the situation was calm, according to an AFP journalist.

King Mswati III has ruled Eswatini since 1986 and owns shares in the country’s telecoms.

He is criticized for living a lavish lifestyle in one of the world’s poorest countries and is accused of stifling political parties.

The king has accused demonstrators of depriving children of their education by taking part in the protests. 
…

As climate change continues to hit farmers because of erratic weather conditions, researchers believe there is a need to not only improve agricultural innovation but seek farmers’ opinions before introducing new farming methods.

Hadijah Naigaga has been a banana farmer for over 10 years. With Uganda experiencing erratic rainfall in some parts of the country and prolonged dry seasons, Naigaga says her garden was not spared. 

She says there used to be huge banana plantations but they have collapsed. First, we had a prolonged dry spell and the plantation dried up, she says. Then, the rain was so heavy and the trees fell down. I had calculated that I would make a profit of between $3 and $6. But you realize that where you calculated $6, you have nothing. The trees are gone, she says.  

Antonio Querido, the Food and Agriculture Organization representative in Uganda, says in order to have better production, nutrition, environment and life, there’s a need to transform agri-food systems. That would ensure that everyone has access to enough affordable, safe and nutritious food to lead an active and healthy life. According to the FAO, 690 million people suffer from hunger worldwide and that number has increased due to the coronavirus pandemic.   

However, Querido said the agri-food systems are also contributing to climate change and that calls for better ways in the long term to produce safe and nutritious food. 

“We need to invest more in research and development, to make farming more technology-advanced. We need innovation in digital agriculture to improve literacy rates among women. Because these can only go a long way in reducing hunger,” Querido said. 

Ambrose Agona, the director general of the National Agricultural and Research Organization, says that while Uganda is considered a food basket for the Eastern African region, the question now is on the quality of food.   

He says to ensure farmers grow quality of food, researchers need to talk with farmers, who often apply indigenous methods to raising crops.

“So, for instance, you’re talking about adaptation maybe to climate change. They have, for instance, certain crops, sorghum, finger millet, ground nuts, pigeon peas. They have been actually drought tolerant. But now, the farmers will be saying, if this newly improved variety is actually tolerant to climate change, how does it compare to ours,” Agona said. 

According to the FAO, $40 to $50 billion must be invested worldwide to end hunger by 2030. 

In Uganda, efforts are focused on training farmers and improving methods to produce information that leads to early warning systems to help them plan and anticipate the impacts of climate change. 

That would be in addition to supporting post-harvest management and collective marketing to drive economic success and reduce poverty among farmers.    

 
…

Marking World Food Day, the United Nations is warning the fight against world hunger is being lost and calling for action to improve food security for the world’s most vulnerable people.

In his message marking World Food Day (Oct. 16), United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for vigorous action and investments in strengthening local food systems.

His message comes as nearly a billion people globally do not have enough to eat. The United Nations warns hunger is on the rise, driven globally by conflict, displacement, climate change, and the economic impacts of COVID-19.  Among those most at risk, it says, are refugees and those forcibly displaced within their countries by conflict.

The U.N. acknowledges its goal of eliminating world hunger by 2030 will likely not be met.  

Guterres says almost 40% of the world’s population, 3 billion people, cannot afford a healthy diet. That, he says, is causing undernourishment, in the form of both malnutrition and obesity, to proliferate globally.

“The pandemic has left an additional 140 million people unable to access the food they need.  At the same time, the way we produce, consume and waste food is taking a heavy toll on our planet.  It is putting historic pressure on our natural resources, climate and natural environment—and costing us trillions of dollars a year,” Guterres said. 

World Food Day marks the anniversary of the founding of the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization, which was established on October 16, 1945, in Quebec, Canada.  FAO Senior Program Officer in Geneva Patrick Jacqueson says more than 150 countries hold special events every year in observance of the day. 

He says this year’s theme calls for the transformation of agri-food systems to provide enough affordable and nutritious food to people everywhere.

“With an ever-growing population, expected to reach 10 billion by 2050, we need to feed the world and nurture the planet.  It is not just about responding to emergencies, it is about building longer-term resilience and changing how we produce and consume food,” Jacqueson said.

The FAO recommends development of diverse agricultural systems, which, it says, are more adaptable to climate change and other shocks.
…

Thousands of military-aligned demonstrators gathered in front of the presidential palace in Khartoum on Saturday, chanting “down with the government of hunger” as Sudan grapples with the biggest political crisis in its two-year transition.

Military and civilian groups have been sharing power in the east African country in an uneasy alliance since the toppling of long-standing President Omar al-Bashir in 2019.

But following a failed coup attempt in September attributed to forces loyal to Bashir, military leaders have been demanding reforms to the so-called Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition and to the civilian cabinet.

Civilian leaders, however, have accused them of aiming for a power grab.

A military-aligned faction of the FFC, including armed groups that rebelled against Bashir, called for Saturday’s protests.

Ahead of the demonstrations, members of an unidentified armed group removed security barriers around government buildings and prevented the police and security forces from going about their work, Khartoum State Governor Ayman Khalid said in a statement.

At the root of the conflict are disputes on issues of justice, military restructuring, and the dismantling of the financial apparatus of Bashir’s regime, analysts say.

In a speech on Friday, civilian Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok presented a roadmap out of the crisis and warned that not finding a resolution would throw the country’s future “to the wind.”

Pro-civilian groups have called for protests on Thursday.
…

Claims from Nigeria that the leader of one of the fastest-growing Islamic State terror group affiliates is dead are being met with extreme caution in the United States.

Officials at the White House, Pentagon and State Department said Friday they were aware of accounts that Islamic State West Africa Province leader Abu Musab al-Barnawi had been killed, but some said it was too early to say anything for sure.

“We are aware of the reports but note that unconfirmed reports in the past have proven unfounded,” one senior administration official told VOA on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the situation.

“That said, ISIS-West Africa remains a threat to peace and stability in the region,” the official added, using another acronym for the terror group.

Nigeria’s chief of defense staff, General Lucky Irabor, first announced the death of al-Barnawi at a news conference in Lagos on Thursday.”

I can authoritatively confirm to you that Abu Musab is dead,” Irabor said, offering no other details.

Some media outlets suggested al-Barnawi had been killed in clashes with rival factions, but such claims could not be independently verified.

Al-Barnawi is the son of Mohammed Yusuf, who founded the rival terror group, Boko Haram. In 2016, when most of Boko Haram split with Islamic State, al-Barnawi was appointed the leader of the faction that remained loyal.

The U.S. named al-Barnawi a “specially designated global terrorist” in 2018, citing the risk he posed to U.S. national security.

For years, al-Barnawi’s IS West Africa had been battling Boko Haram for supremacy in Nigeria and the Lake Chad region. But al-Barnawi’s group seemed to finally gain the upper hand in May when its forces surrounded Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau following a battle in the Sambisa Forest.

According to accounts posted online by IS and later confirmed by Nigerian and U.S. officials, Shekau, who, like al-Barnawi, was reported dead multiple times, eventually blew himself up rather than be taken alive.

According to U.S. military officials, Shekau’s death has since led to a rapid expansion for IS West Africa.

“ISWA (IS West Africa) has pretty much consolidated the vast majority of Boko Haram fighters,” one official told VOA, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence.

As a result, IS West Africa’s ranks have grown substantially, from about 2,500-3,000 fighters to about 5,000 fighters.

Intelligence from United Nations member states has also warned of IS West Africa’s growing ambitions.

A report by a U.N. sanctions monitoring team in July said the group was “expected to seek to extend its area of operations towards Maiduguri, Nigeria.”

The report further warned that IS West Africa was increasingly targeting “foreign interests” on the border with Niger.

More recent intelligence suggests that in some ways, al-Barnawi’s group is succeeding.

IS West Africa “is now a large and very capable presence,” the coordinator of the U.N. sanctions monitoring team, Edmund Fitton-Brown, told a security conference in Doha, Qatar, Tuesday.

“(It) also has a, as it were, a spoke or side affiliate known as IS Greater Sahara, which is active to the west broadly in the Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali border area,” he said. 

 
…

Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok on Friday unveiled a road map to end what he described as the country’s “worst and most dangerous” political crisis in its two-year transition. 

Since a coup attempt in late September, Sudan’s military and civilian power-sharing partners have been locked in a war of words, with military leaders demanding the reform of the Cabinet and ruling coalition. Civilian politicians accused the military of aiming for a power grab. 

“The coup attempt opened the door for discord, and for all the hidden disputes and accusations from all sides, and in this way we are throwing the future of our country and people and revolution to the wind,” Hamdok said in a speech. 

Sudan’s military and a coalition of civilian political parties have ruled under a power-sharing agreement since the removal of former President Omar al-Bashir in 2019. Bashir loyalists are accused of executing the failed coup attempt. 

Hamdok described the current conflict as not between the military and civilians but between those who believe in a transition toward democracy and civilian leadership and those who do not. 

“I am not neutral or a mediator in this conflict. My clear and firm position is complete alignment to the civilian democratic transition,” he said. 

Nevertheless, he said he had spoken to both sides and presented them with a road map that called for the end of escalation and one-sided decision-making and a return to a functioning government. 

He emphasized the importance of the formation of a transitional legislature, reform of the military, and the expansion of the base for political participation. 

Referring to an ongoing blockade of the country’s main port in the east of the country by protesting tribesmen, Hamdok described their grievances as legitimate while asking that they reopen the flow of trade. He also said an international donors’ conference to benefit the region was being organized. 

Civilian politicians have accused the military of being behind the blockade, which it denies. 

Political groups aligned with the military have called for protests in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Saturday. Groups advocating for civilian rule have called for protests on October 21.

 
…

Political activists in South Sudan say mobile phone carrier Zain South Sudan illegally disrupted their telephone service, crippling their communications ahead of a planned anti-government protest. 

People’s Coalition on Civil Action Coalition member Rajab Muhandis said that when activists tried to access their WhatsApp messages on August 29 — the eve of the planned protest in Juba — they received messages saying their numbers were registered to other phones. 

Zain South Sudan denies the accusation of duplicating sim cards. 

But activists say the move made it impossible for them to communicate with one another. 

“Zain duplicated the sim cards of members of the coalition and those numbers were then activated on telephones and they were used,” Muhandis told VOA’s South Sudan in Focus. 

“Since then, those numbers are active and if you communicate to these lines, the messages go through, indicating they are being used in telephones and there is no other company that could duplicate these numbers except Zain,” Muhandis said. 

The protest fizzled amid what activists say was an intentional internet outage and warnings from security officials of serious consequences against organizers if the demonstration happened. 

Activists say the phone company was part of a government-led effort to crack down on them and to deter the planned protests. 

Coalition member Joseph Akol Makeer said he realized his sim card was compromised when he received a text saying his phone had been registered to a different device. 

“What Zain company has done is unethical, unprofessional, criminal and endangers people’s lives,” he said. “Those who were in that contact were compromised and already the state has contacted some of them because they were sending me messages which were going to the state.” 

When Makeer tried calling his own number from a different phone, he said the call went through but not to his phone. 

The activists said they are planning legal action against Zain South Sudan. 

Wilson Ladu, technical director for Zain South Sudan, said the company does not tap users’ communications. 

“Our subscribers, their lines are protected, in fact we at Zain, we don’t tap,” Ladu told South Sudan in Focus. “We don’t have that right to tap and technically you cannot have the same number duplicated because it has the address. You cannot have two addresses.” 

The company has not received a complaint from activists, Ladu said. 

Juba residents told Reuters that the night before the planned protests that mobile data was unavailable on the network of South African mobile operator MTN Group, and the following day it was also halted on the Zain Group. 

Alp Toker, director of NetBlocks, a London-based group that monitors internet disruptions, said it detected “significant disruption to internet service in South Sudan beginning Sunday evening, including to leading cellular networks.” 
…

The World Food Program warns it will be forced to cut food rations for half-a-million people suffering from acute hunger in northeast Nigeria unless it receives urgently needed funding.

Millions of people in Nigeria’s crisis-ridden Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states are suffering from years of conflict and insecurity and the socio-economic fallout from COVID-19.

The WFP says 4.4 million people are facing acute hunger. It warns it will have to start cutting food rations for half-a-million men, women, and children in a matter of weeks unless it gets an immediate infusion of $55 million.

WFP spokesman Tomson Phiri says hunger is peaking now as the country emerges from the so-called lean season. That is the period between June and August when food stocks are at their lowest.  

He says attacks by armed groups are heightening insecurity in the region and discouraging people from working their land.

“The states in the north are largely agrarian in nature. They rely on agriculture to survive and when you have insecurity, they are unable to farm. They are unable to rear livestock. And this is sort of fueling the food insecurity situation,” he said.

Phiri siaid the WFP is providing food assistance to 1.9 million Nigerians. He said 800,000 of them are facing food emergency levels that are just one step from famine.

“Although famine has not been confirmed, the suffering of the people is quite immense. We are concerned as the World Food Program as over one million children are malnourished in the northeast and…a lot of people have been displaced. These are people who have been displaced multiple times. So, people are really, really knocking on the door of starvation,” Phiri said.

To sustain its humanitarian lifesaving operations in northeast Nigeria until March, the WFP urgently requires $197 million. As of now, WFP officials say they only have received $6 million.
…

Kenyan authorities say the economic losses caused by COVID are driving more people to fish illegally. Poaching has tripled since last year and caused the daily catch to drop from an estimated 600 tons to 200 tons, according to Kenya’s Maritime Fisheries Research Institute. As a result, the Coast Guard has been deployed to protect lakes from poachers. Victoria Amunga reports from Naivasha.
…

The United States is donating 17 million doses of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine to the African Union, bringing the total American donation to the continent to 67 million doses.

The U.S. previously donated 50 million doses to the AU, which has 55 member states, including some of the world’s poorest nations. The new tranche of 17 million will be delivered to the African Union in the “coming weeks,” the White House said in a statement Thursday. 

“We’re continuing our shared fight against COVID,” Biden said Thursday, during a meeting with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta. “The United States, we’ve donated 2.8 million doses of vaccine to Kenya as part of 50 million doses we’ve donated to the African Union. And I’m proud to announce that today, that we’re making additional, historic, one-time donation and 17 more million doses of the J&J vaccine to the AU.”

Kenyatta said the United States “has done its best to step up, in terms of not only helping Kenya, but with the African continent, in general, with regard to access to vaccines.”

The White House said it chose the one-dose vaccine for its unique advantages.

“(The) J&J vaccine is in high demand and short supply in Africa and elsewhere around the world,” the White House said. “Single-dose administration, long shelf life and easy cold chain make this vaccine an asset to global vaccine programs.”

That vaccine has not been as popular in the U.S. as its two-dose counterparts.

Any new vaccines are likely to be welcomed, after the World Health Organization said Thursday that its assessment found that six out of seven COVID-19 infections are not being detected on the African continent. WHO estimates there are 59 million cases in Africa — far more than the reported number of cases, which stands at 8 million.

But health advocates say more needs to be done.

“Speed matters as we fight this pandemic, and Africa urgently needs more doses to stem the overwhelming impacts of COVID-19. This donation is another example of U.S. leadership on the global response and is a step in the right direction in closing the vaccine access gap,” said Sarah Swinehart, senior communications director for North America at the ONE Campaign, a group that advocates to address extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa.

“As we continue to work towards the goal of getting 70% of the world vaccinated, all wealthy countries must be bolder and more ambitious. This will require more doses and more money to get those doses into arms.”

The White House has countered criticism over its push for already vaccinated Americans to receive boosters when many people across the planet have yet to receive a single dose.

“With this donation, the U.S. will be giving away over half of the J&J vaccines purchased by the U.S. for its domestic program,” it said in Thursday’s statement.

The announcement coincided with Biden’s first face-to-face meeting with an African leader. Kenyatta met with Biden in the Oval Office to discuss a range of topics, including democracy and human rights issues, as well security, accelerating economic growth and addressing climate change. 

 
…

The World Health Organization’s endorsement of the world’s first malaria vaccine marks a major advance against the mosquito-borne illness, which kills some 265,000 children in Africa annually.

Bitrus Yusuf pours syrup into a measuring cup to give to his three-year-old daughter and grandson who are sick with malaria. 

He said the mosquito-borne parasite that causes the illness is all too common at this Abuja camp for internally displaced people where they live. 

“We went to bed, all was well, everybody was well,” Yusuf said. “But toward midnight I heard him shivering. As I touched his body (it was) very hot, so I woke him up.” 

The World Health Organization said some 94% of malaria cases and deaths worldwide occur in Africa, and that Nigeria accounts for a quarter of the fatalities. The U.N. agency said children under the age of five and pregnant women are the most affected.

Last week, the global health body announced its approval for the rollout of the world’s first malaria vaccine, Mosquirix. The vaccine, made by the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, has been in development for more than three decades.

The WHO said Mosquirix could potentially change the course of public health history.

Walter Kazadi Mulombo is the WHO representative in Nigeria. 

“You know before the vaccine could be introduced in the country, it has to be cleared by NAFDAC for the case of Nigeria and there are steps to be taken for the country to approve the vaccine so that introduction can start,” Mulombo said.

NAFDAC refers to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control in Nigeria. 

During a large-scale pilot program that began in 2019, some 2.3 million doses of the vaccine were administered to children in Malawi, Kenya and Ghana. 

The WHO said when rolled out, the vaccine could help prevent up to four in 10 cases of malaria.

But Mulombo warns there could be supply problems at first.

“There may be some supply issues so it may not be in the quantity we require to reach all those that we need to reach,” Mulombo said. “But we understand that GSK, the manufacturer, is working already with some African countries to decentralize production.”

Abuja Primary Health Board official, Ndaeyo Iwot, said the new vaccine does not eliminate the need for taking other malaria preventive measures.

“If you don’t combine it with sleeping under insecticide treated nets and also taking care of your environment, where the vectors can breed, then you’re more likely to continue to have the scourge of malaria in this country,”  Iwot said.

GlaxoSmithKline said it will manufacture about 15 million doses of the vaccine yearly, but experts say at least 50 to 100 million doses are needed every year in areas with moderate to high transmission.

In the meantime, Nigerian parents like Yusuf said they are hoping to get their children vaccinated as soon as possible.
…

A new World Health Organization initiative is getting under way in Africa to rapidly detect COVID-19 infections to curb transmission and contain future flareups of this deadly disease.

The WHO reports more than 8.4 million cases of COVID-19 in Africa, including 214,000 deaths. However, a new analysis indicates the magnitude of the pandemic on the continent is greatly underestimated. 

The assessment finds only one in seven COVID-19 infections is being detected, meaning the true number of cases in Africa could be around 59 million. It estimates a lesser number of deaths, one in three, is being reported.

Given the low vaccination rates on the continent, WHO Regional Director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti says it is vitally important to know where and how the virus is circulating in communities.

Currently, only 4.4 percent of the 1.2 billion population is fully vaccinated. “With limited testing, we are still flying blind in far too many communities in Africa. Most tests are carried out on people with symptoms, but much of the transmission is driven by asymptomatic people. Estimates suggest that between 65 and 85 percent of COVID-19 cases are asymptomatic. The reported cases we see could therefore just be the tip of the iceberg,” she expressed.

Moeti notes the WHO’s community testing initiative is a radically new approach, and one that should help raise detection rates significantly; adding the world health body is providing $1.8 million to kick off implementation in the eight countries taking part in the pilot project: Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, the Republic of Congo, Senegal, and Zambia. 

“Local authorities in hot spot districts will use antigen-detection rapid diagnostic tests, which are reliable, affordable, easy-to-use and provide results in around 15 minutes, so that individuals can quickly know their status…It is expected that more than seven million people will be tested through this new initiative—increasing the testing capacity in each participating country by 40 percent,” she pointed out. 

Moeti warns end-of-the year celebrations could usher in a fourth wave of the coronavirus across Africa and the globe.

She also urges wealthy countries that have vaccinated around two-thirds of their populations to share their surplus doses now with people in Africa, rather than next year.
…

U.S. President Joe Biden is welcoming his first African leader to the White House on Thursday as he hosts talks with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The White House said the meeting would include discussion of democracy and human rights issues, as well security, accelerating economic growth and addressing climate change.

Biden and Kenyatta will also talk about “the need to bring transparency and accountability to domestic and international financial systems,” the White House said.

That is expected to include revelations about the offshore holdings of Kenyatta and his family. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists said in recent reports about the Pandora Papers that Kenyatta’s family had stowed away about $30 million in offshore wealth. There is no evidence that the Kenyatta family stole any state assets.

When asked Wednesday about the push for transparency and the Pandora Papers revelations, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden “has been quite vocal as you all know about the inequalities in the international financial system.”

“That doesn’t mean we don’t meet with people you have disagreements on,” Psaki said. “We have a range of interests in working with Kenya and working with them on issues in Africa, in the region, and that will be the primary focus.”

Thursday’s meeting also comes as conflict and a humanitarian crisis continue to unfold in Kenya’s neighbor, Ethiopia.

Kenyatta told reporters Tuesday at the United Nations that the warring sides in Ethiopia need to reach “a political resolution, because we do not believe that there is any military solution.”

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, and Reuters.
…

Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield returned to public service earlier this year when President Joe Biden nominated her to be the representative of the United States to the United Nations.

The veteran diplomat had a 35-year career with the U.S. foreign service that included major roles in U.S. policy toward sub-Saharan Africa as well as management leadership positions within the State Department. She also served as ambassador to Liberia and had foreign postings in Kenya, Gambia and Nigeria.

Thomas-Greenfield spoke with Hayde Adams, the host of VOA’s Straight Talk Africa, during the U.S.-Africa Business Summit about U.S. policy toward Africa, how countries in the region are recovering from the pandemic, and why women should play a central role in that effort.

The following interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

VOA: Earlier this year, you acknowledged that Africa has many challenges: COVID-19, of course, poverty, terrorism, amongst many others. But you also said that the Biden administration understands that it needs to focus on the opportunities on the continent and not just the challenges. What are the greatest opportunities that the United States sees on the African continent today?

Linda Thomas-Greenfield: Before COVID-19 hit Africa, African economies were some of the fastest-growing economies in the world. And somewhere between six out of 10 of the top fastest-growing countries were on the continent of Africa. I see many opportunities for these countries now to build back better, as we have said here in the United States, and they can build back better with more equitable growth, with more diversity, with more market-based transparent practices and with a focus on climate smart futures. And also, I have to add, with a focus on equity for women who have been key players in the marketplace on the continent of Africa.

So let me start with climate change. Climate change is a challenge for all of us all over the globe. But it also presents a tremendous opportunity to create well-paying jobs on the continent of Africa as the world transitions to renewable energies and develops transformational technologies that can help countries reduce emissions and also adapt to climate change. We’re committed to making sure, for example that developing countries can build back greener through public climate financing. Africa, with a population of 1.3 billion people with a median age of 19 … Africa’s youth are probably one of its greatest resources. There’s a tendency to see youth, for example as a problem. But for the continent of Africa, youth are an opportunity, and they are an opportunity that the continent needs to take advantage of.

VOA: Many African nations are currently experiencing their worst surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths since this pandemic began and it’s all largely driven by the delta variant. What are the most worrying pandemic trends that you are seeing on the continent right now? And what is your assessment of the way African governments have responded to these twin health and economic crises?

Thomas-Greenfield: This pandemic has really had a devastating impact on the economies of African countries, and as we reflect back on the last 18 months, I have to say that many of the actions that were taken by African leaders to confront COVID-19 early on have saved countless lives. Many of these countries shut down. Many of them had already had experiences dealing with pandemic-like conditions when some of them had to deal with Ebola.

But the situation continued to get worse and particularly as African countries were not able to access the COVID vaccines once these vaccines came on board. And they were not prepared, for example, with the challenges to their very weak health care systems, the countries began to falter. And with this new delta variant out there, I think the situation is going to get even worse. You may know President (Joe) Biden has just announced and pledged that the United States will be the world’s arsenal of vaccines. I love that phrase. And we’re working as fast as we can to get shots in arms, not just here in the United States but through COVAX (a worldwide initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines directed by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and the World Health Organization) to get as many vaccines out to the continent of Africa as possible, as well as through bilateral donations of vaccines. And so we see that we’re not just fighting the disease, we’re fighting to secure decades of development progress that the pandemic could unwind.

VOA: Given the opportunities for the U.S. on the African continent and beyond the COVAX commitments, what is America willing to do to ensure that Africa is not left behind as economies all over the world try to recover?

Thomas-Greenfield: We have tremendous programs that work with young people, that are working with women, that are working with finance ministries to support their development agendas through not just USAID (the U.S. Agency for International Development), but also through DFC (the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation), through our engagements with the World Bank and the IMF (International Monetary Fund) to ensure that these countries get the injections into their economy.

VOA: International institutions and civil society organizations are sounding the alarm that all the hard-won progress on gender equality and women’s empowerment is now at risk of being eviscerated. Can you help us understand what is at risk for women right now, especially those on the African continent? And do you think that any setbacks that we encounter now can be overcome in our lifetime?

Thomas-Greenfield: We have to do everything possible to ensure that whatever experiences women have right now in Africa, that we find a way to turn those around. There’s a lot at risk, but it’s not just for women and girls, it’s for their entire families because we know that when women are empowered, they empower their families, they empower their communities, they empower their countries.

We have to work with these countries to ensure that the pandemic and the alarming numbers of women worldwide who have been forced to choose between their jobs and their family and their health and their businesses, that they have adequate support to move forward. But what we’ve seen, and I think what has been so devastating is the impact. Early on, I saw statistics that indicated that child marriages are going up, that the rape of girls … sexual exploitation of girls … school-age girls, because they’re not in school, that those numbers have gone up significantly, that people are taking advantage of women and girls in these circumstances. … We’ve seen that COVID-19 does seem to be reversing decades of hard-won gains for girls, including access to education. … And so that is something that we have to work to address, to not only get vaccines out but to get girls back into the classroom.

VOA: The safety of women and education of girls probably (are) among the most heartbreaking consequences and heartbreaking stories of the groups that have been affected by this pandemic. The United Nations policy brief on the impact of COVID-19 on women says across the globe, women earn less, they save less, they hold less-secure jobs, and are more likely to be employed in the informal sector. And in some African countries, there are no fiscal relief packages or social safety nets like we see in the United States and in other countries in the West or any other sort of benefits to help mitigate the devastating impacts of this pandemic on women’s lives and their livelihoods. In your view what do African governments stand to gain by including women in their economic recovery strategies, and what do they stand to lose if they don’t?

Thomas-Greenfield: I think countries are now, leaders are now more conscious of the importance of having women engage in their country’s development plan. Because again, and I say this over and over and over again, when we invest in women they invest back in their families, they invest in their communities, and they invest in their countries. And in many of these countries, they represent 50% of the population. You cannot ignore 50% of your nation and think that your country is going to grow. So these countries are losing significantly if they don’t include women in their development plans, if they don’t include women in their investment efforts. They’re losing out on what these women might contribute to their countries. We’ve seen all across the continent of Africa, successful, women-run businesses. And we see the success that women have had in building their communities through civil society activity. But we’ve also seen that they’ve been impacted by the virus much more than other parts of the population and we need, for that reason, to make sure we give them more attention than we might have otherwise given women, as we start to build these economies.

VOA: You’re a longtime champion of gender equality. … There’s a generation in Africa of well-educated but unemployed youth. They’re struggling through unprecedented and uncertain times. They’ve been called the “Pandemic Generation.” What immediate investments can governments, business and the international community at large make in Africa’s youth, especially its girls? What kind of investments can be made today that will prepare them and build resilience for whatever crisis might come next?

Thomas-Greenfield: When you consider the fact that the median age on the continent of Africa is 19, we started with that. And then you have countries like Niger, where the median age is 15. If we don’t focus on young people, we’re ignoring a country. Half of the population under the age of 19, so it was for that reason I am most proud of the work that I did, and the (U.S. President Barack) Obama administration did on supporting young people across the continent of Africa.

The Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) will be paying dividends on the continent of Africa long after I’m gone from here. And it is something that we all have to make sure that we continue to invest in. Invest in mentoring young people, encouraging young people, supporting the leadership of young people in government, in business, in civil society, in education. … We want them to be leaders in their community. We want them to be leaders in their businesses. We want to be leaders in their churches, in their schools. And they will start building the next generation of leaders on the continent. And that’s where Africa’s future is.

VOA: Madam Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, thank you so much for your time and for being here with me I really, really do appreciate it.

Thomas-Greenfield: Well thank you very much. And again, I know Africa’s future is bright because I know that there are so many young people out there who are building that future one brick at a time. And we’re going to see the results of their work in the future.

 
…

A South Sudan women’s rights activist has been named one of three winners of an award given by Amnesty International USA recognizing women who the group says “protect the dignity, liberties and lives of women and children in crisis regions.”

Riya William Yuyada, executive director of Crown the Women-South Sudan, was honored for her commitment to women’s safety, equality and empowerment in South Sudan. 

Named for an Italian-born American human rights activist who spent years defending women unfairly persecuted by oppressive governments, the annual Ginetta Sagan Award comes with a grant of $20,000. 

Norma Andrade, a human right defender in Mexico who works with mothers of slain daughters, and Naw K’nyaw Paw, who helps displaced women and girls in Thai refugee camps, were co-winners, Amnesty told VOA. 

Yuyada told South Sudan in Focus that she accepted the award on behalf of women and girl activists in South Sudan. 

“I feel excited, and I must say it is not just an award recognizing Riya for her outstanding work toward the fight for women’s rights, but also an award for all the South Sudan women who are working hard for better [conditions] and all the girls and women that I work with,” Yuyada told VOA.

Crown the Women-South Sudan has carried out mentorships in 10 schools in Juba to inspire girls to stay focused in school and to promote girls’ education.

The largest group of out-of-school children in South Sudan are girls, according to the UNICEF. Poverty, child marriage, and cultural and religious beliefs hinder girls’ education.

Yuyada’s group also links older South Sudanese women as mentors with younger women struggling to overcome challenges.

Yuyada plans to use some of the $20,000 award money to build a healing center for survivors of rape and other gender-based violence in South Sudan.

“My dream has always been to have a healing studio or healing center for survivors of sexual violence, especially survivors of rape,” she said. “So, I will acquire a piece of land with it and then see what follows next.”

Yuyada said the recognition from the award will pave the way for her to connect with the two other women who have won the Sagan award.

“We are three this year uniquely, so I believe this award is going to help me tap into the network of Sagan’s family … to amplify further issues on women and girls’ human rights here in South Sudan and [across] the continent,” Yuyada said.
…

Suspected jihadis killed 10 villagers in an attack on a mosque earlier this week in western Niger’s Tillaberi region, local sources said Wednesday. 

The attack on Monday occurred in the village of Abankor in the tri-border region where Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso meet. 

“The attackers arrived on motorbikes during evening prayers and the victims were in the mosque when they were killed,” an official in Banibangou city told AFP. 

A resident of the neighboring town of Tondiwindi confirmed the attack and the death toll. 

On local radio Studio Kalangou, an Abankor resident said one person was injured in addition to the 10 dead, adding that the attack occurred in the early evening. 

Since the start of the year, attacks by suspected jihadis have skyrocketed in the area around Banibangou and nearby towns in the Tillaberi region. 

The flashpoint area is frequently targeted by the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara and the al-Qaida-affiliated Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims with deadly attacks against civilians and soldiers. 

Early this month the United Nations warned that the Tillaberi region was facing a “major food crisis,” with almost 600,000 people exposed to food insecurity. 

“Insecurity and recurrent attacks by suspected elements of non-state armed groups targeting farmers and civilians will have serious repercussions this year on the already precarious food situation,” the U.N. Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs office warned in a report sent to AFP.
…

The United States said Wednesday it was providing an additional $26 million to address the humanitarian crisis in northern Ethiopia. 

The assistance will enable humanitarian agencies to help many of the estimated 6 million to 7 million people in need in the north, “including some of the 900,000 who are facing famine-like conditions, and over 48,000 refugees who have fled from northern Ethiopia to Sudan,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

The humanitarian situation “will continue to worsen without a political solution,” Blinken said.

The Ethiopian federal government has been engaged in an armed conflict with forces of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front for nearly a year.

The government announced a unilateral cease-fire and withdrew its forces from the northern Ethiopian region in June, but the conflict has since spilled into the neighboring regions of Amhara and Afar.

Blinken called for “immediate, full, safe, and unhindered access for humanitarian organizations and workers” in Tigray. The United Nations has said few humanitarian aid trucks are getting through to the region.

At the U.N. Wednesday, spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the situation in northern Ethiopia “continues to be highly unpredictable and volatile. The delivery of humanitarian supplies into Tigray remains heavily constrained through the only road access route from Afar.”

Dujarric said 211 trucks carrying humanitarian supplies arrived in Tigray October 6-12, up from 80 a week earlier.

He said the increase is positive, but the number is still not sufficient to meet the region’s needs. For that, he said, 100 trucks must enter the region each day.

Tigrayan leaders and Ethiopian government officials blamed each other’s forces for blocking roads so the trucks cannot reach areas in need.

Last week, Ethiopia expelled seven top U.N. aid officials, saying they were meddling in Ethiopian affairs and had diverted aid to the TPLF. The U.N. said the officials did nothing wrong.

Blinken said the U.S. has provided nearly $663 million in humanitarian assistance for northern Ethiopia since the crisis began.

Margaret Besheer contributed to this report.
…

Akinwumi Adesina, the president of the African Development Bank, is holding a series of meetings with senior U.S. government officials and business leaders in Washington to encourage increased investments in Africa.  

VOA’s Peter Clottey spoke with Adesina, a Nigerian economist, to discuss why he thinks the continent is ripe for foreign investment – especially from the United States.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

VOA: How do you plan to encourage foreign investment in Africa?

Adesina: I think first and foremost … remember that Africa — even before the pandemic – has six of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world. You look even with the African Continental Free Trade Area that is going to be a free trade area with 1.3 billion people and a collective GDP of $3.3 trillion…And so when you look at what that means, you have big consumer and business expenditures on the continent going to rise to $6.7 trillion by 2030. So that tells you that the fundamentals of Africa are strong as they were. And so basically my mission into the U.S. is to encourage the U.S. private sector to invest massively in Africa — in particular in infrastructure and energy in terms of renewable energy and digital infrastructure. 

So basically, our role as the African Development Bank is to tell the investment story of Africa. Second is to actually give the investors the confidence that they can invest because we can help to source the deals, we can design bankable projects, we can do risk projects and we can ensure that governments actually do the right thing in terms of the business investment and regulatory environment.

VOA: Speaking about the pandemic, you have been very vocal around the issue of vaccine inequity. Why this stance?

Adesina: I’ve been quite vocal about access to vaccines. Take a look at it today in Africa. Only 24 million Africans have been vaccinated. And so, you have a continent that is not being treated fairly in terms of access in terms of the equity with regard to vaccinations. And that’s because you have a situation wherein the developed countries bought up all the vaccines, advanced purchase agreements, locked it all up. 

And so the key really is making sure that Africa doesn’t go through this again. So, we want to make sure that we’re dealing with this in three ways. One is to encourage global manufacturing companies of vaccines to relocate to Africa, and I think we’re making some good headway there. You need to build your own indigenous research and development capacity. And at the African Development Bank, we are working right now to support Africa in this. We need to have an African health care defense system. 

Look at this as a defense system that requires greater investment in pharmaceuticals, greater investment in vaccine manufacturing on the continent, but also joining that with greater investment in quality health care infrastructure — primary health care, secondary, tertiary health care infrastructure and diagnostic facilities. So those three things have to work in tandem to secure the health of Africa.

VOA: One of the African Development Bank’s annual flagship events, which has drawn significant investor interest from around the world in the last three years, is the bank’s Market Days to be held in December. Tell me a little bit more about it and your expectations for this year. 

Adesina: The Africa Investment Forum has become Africa’s premier investment marketplace. And what makes it very unique is that there are actually no speeches in these meetings. You know, it’s all transactions, deals and deals and deals. 

What investors will tell you is, ‘Why will I want to invest in Africa because I actually don’t know whether they are bankable projects.’ Well, we’ve shown that there are really bankable projects. In 2018, when we had the Africa Investment Forum’s first premiere edition, we were able to mobilize $38.7 billion dollars of investment interest in Africa on bankable projects in less than 72 hours. Just think of that. And we did it again in 2019 and were able to secure investment interests of $40.1 billion U.S. dollars. And so that means that the investment opportunities are actually there. 

Of course, things got really affected by the COVID-19 situation; however, going back now to the Africa Investment Forum Market Days for 2021, the event will be held December 1-3 in Abuja under a hybrid model. We will have some people in Abidjan that will link to others globally. We will run the investment boardroom sessions where we bring in the investors, the project developers, the insurance companies, the legal facilities and the banks that can help to co-finance or syndicate or do risk projects that are all going to be there with heads of state. Everybody is eager to have investment rebound now in Africa.

VOA: You have been outspoken about the importance of renewable energy, climate resilience, adaptation and mitigation as well as emerging technology. How do you see Africa embracing these issues? 

Adesina: Well, quite honestly, we have to. We have no choice. Africa only contributes no more than 3% or 4% of greenhouse gas emissions. But now we have to actually deal with the negative consequences of it. For example, the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that just came out was scary. It basically says that Africa will get drier, much hotter. It will make some parts of Africa probably almost unlivable. I think we have to very quickly respond to that. 

Part of responding to that is the African Development Bank and the Global Center for Adaptation, which is chaired by former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. We set up what’s called the African Adaptation Acceleration Program. This is to mobilize an additional $25 billion dollars towards adaptation in Africa. We want to reach 30 million farmers and pastoralists in Africa with digital climate advisory services that will allow them to be able to have good information and therefore be able to adapt to climate change. From other parts of the bank’s work, which is on agriculture, we are providing today access to farmers with drought tolerant maize varieties all across eastern Africa and southern Africa.
…

Human rights activist Julienne Lusenge of the Democratic Republic of Congo was recently proclaimed the winner of the 2021 Aurora Humanitarian Prize for her work with wartime victims of sexual violence. She was one of five humanitarian finalists who were up for the award, often referred to as the Nobel prize for humanitarian work.

The sixth Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity was announced Saturday (October 9) in Italy at a ceremony on the Venetian island of San Lazzaro degli Armeni.

Lusenge was awarded the one-million-dollar prize for her tireless work with women and girls abused during wartime and for her efforts in helping bring the perpetrators of rape and sexual violence to justice.

She’s the co-founder and director of the Congolese Women’s Fund.

The other nominees included Gregoire Ahongbonon, who helps people in West Africa with mental illness, Ruby Alba Castano, a Colombian activist who protects the rights of peasants, Ashwaq Moharram, a Yemeni physician who provides life-saving support to victims of starvation and Paul Farmer, an American medical anthropologist and physician.

The ceremony began with music and a special prayer in the monastery of the island of San Lazarus by a sect of Armenian monks who have lived on the island since the early 18th century.

After speeches and a performance by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, the finalists were called on an outdoor stage with a view of the Venetian lagoon.

The name of the winner was announced in what turned out to be a very emotional moment, not only for Lusenge, but for many of those in attendance, which included two women winners of the Nobel peace prize: Iran’s Shirin Ebadi and Liberia’s Leyman Gbowee.

Lusenge was in disbelief and in tears when she heard she had been chosen.

“This prize is very important for all Congolese people, Congolese women and Congolese girls because now we will have enough money to support them,” she expressed.

For many years, Lusenge said, she struggled to find funds to help these women. This prize will contribute a great deal in that regard, she said.

The Aurora prize for Awakening Humanity was established by three philanthropists of Armenian origin: Vartan Gregorian, Noubar Afeyan and Ruben Vardanyan in 2015 on the centennial of that country’s genocide. They decided that for eight years — the length of time the atrocities lasted in which one and a half million Armenians perished — the prize would be awarded to extraordinary humanitarians for their work and impact.

Afeyan described it as “a gift from the Armenian community to the world.” Their aim, he added, is to help people who are making a difference in the world in the same way as those who helped Armenians survive.

In addition to creating the annual award for those who have faced personal risk to enable others to survive, Afeyan is also the founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering, a venture capital company focused on biotechnology. The company has “fostered the development of more than 100 scientific ventures” including Moderna, on which he serves as chairman. Afeyan last year was recognized as one of four U.S. immigrants leading the efforts to find a vaccine for COVID-19.
…

The International Court of Justice has drawn a maritime boundary between Kenya and Somalia after the countries failed for years to reach agreement on the issue.

The court’s ruling Tuesday, seen as favorable to Somalia, is almost certain to be rejected by Kenya. The ruling concerns about 100,000 square kilometers of Indian Ocean waters off the east coast of Kenya and Somalia.

The area, believed to hold oil and natural gas deposits, has been a source of dispute between the East African neighbors for years.

The court awarded Somalia the bulk of the territory, while adjusting the border slightly northward to address Kenya’s security and economic interests.

The ICJ rejected one of Kenya’s key arguments, that Somalia had previously agreed to a boundary, saying there was no proof to show that from the documents Kenyan lawyers supplied to the court.

The Hague-based court also rejected Somalia’s demand for compensation for Kenya’s past economic activity in the area.

Somalia filed a complaint against Kenya in the International Court of Justice in 2014, saying it had exhausted all other avenues of finding a solution to the dispute.

It remains to be seen if the ruling will have a real-world impact, as Kenya boycotted the hearing Tuesday and said it would not respect the ICJ verdict.
…

The United Nations’ migration agency has recalled a staff member identified by two U.N. sources in Addis Ababa as the head of its mission to Ethiopia over audio recordings containing criticism of senior U.N. officials. 

In the recordings, two women who say they work for the U.N. in Ethiopia but do not give their names tell a freelance journalist that some top U.N. officials globally sympathize with forces from the northern Tigray region that are fighting Ethiopia’s government. 

Reuters heard the women’s comments after the recordings were released online but could not independently verify the authenticity of the recordings. 

In a letter dated October 11, the head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said a staff member had been recalled to headquarters and put on administrative leave pending an investigation into the recordings. 

“The opinions attributed in the audio recordings to the staff member do not correspond to IOM’s principles and values,” IOM Director General Antonio Vitorino wrote in the letter, seen Tuesday by Reuters. 

In his letter, Vitorino did not name the person who had been recalled. 

Two U.N. staff members in Addis Ababa identified one of the women in the recording as Maureen Achieng, the IOM’s chief representative in Ethiopia. 

An IOM spokesperson did not immediately respond when asked whether the person recalled to headquarters was Achieng. Achieng and the journalist could not immediately be reached for comment.

The U.N. says Ethiopia’s government is preventing aid from reaching hundreds of thousands of people experiencing famine in Tigray, where war has made nearly 7 million people dependent on food aid. The government denies it is blocking aid. Ethiopia last month decided to expel seven senior U.N. officials, accusing them of meddling in internal affairs.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s spokesperson, Billene Seyoum, criticized IOM on Twitter on Tuesday. She said Achieng – whom she referred to by linking to Achieng’s verified Twitter account — had told “the unvarnished truth on institutional bias with the U.N. system.” 

War broke out in November 2020 between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the political party that controls Tigray. 

In the recordings, the two women say – without citing evidence – that World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is among the U.N. officials who sympathize with Tigrayan forces. Tedros, who is Tigrayan, has repeatedly denied taking sides in the conflict.
…

The United States is sending more than 3.5 million doses of the two-shot Pfizer vaccine to Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, a White House official told VOA on Tuesday.

“We are sharing these doses not to secure favors or extract concessions,” the official said. “Our vaccines do not come with strings attached. We are doing this with the singular objective of saving lives.” 

The 3,577,860 doses, which the White House said began shipping to Nigeria on Tuesday, follows a July donation of 4 million doses of the two-shot Moderna vaccine. The donation was processed through COVAX, the global vaccine-sharing initiative. 

Nigeria has reported at least 2,747 deaths from the virus and some 208,000 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization. However, medical officials in Africa and overseas have expressed concern that the African continent’s true COVID-19 situation has been underdiagnosed and underreported.

On the continent, South Africa remains at the epicenter, with at least 88,317 deaths counted by WHO, and more than 2.9 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the highly contagious coronavirus.

With more than 206 million people, Nigeria is a lower middle-income country, according to World Bank data. Nigeria has also accepted donations of vaccines from Russia, plus donations of diagnostic and treatment equipment, and test kits from China and South Korea, its Ministry of Health said.

As of this month, just over 7.2 million vaccine doses have been administered, according to WHO. That’s a far cry from the goal shared by Nigerian authorities to vaccinate 40% of its population — about 80 million people — by the end of 2021.

The nation appears to be emerging from a third viral wave, with a height of about 5,000 daily reported cases. The second wave, the nation’s worst, peaked in January, with nearly 12,000 new cases reported in one day, according to WHO data.

In September, U.S. President Joe Biden announced the U.S. would donate 500 million additional doses of the Pfizer vaccine to low-income and lower-middle-income countries. In all, the United States has now pledged 1.1 billion doses.

But aid groups say this is not enough, coming from the world’s wealthiest nation. 

“Despite its claim to be a global leader on COVID-19, the U.S. is hoarding nearly 500 million excess COVID-19 vaccine doses — more than any other country,” said Dr. Carrie Teicher, director of programs at Doctors Without Borders’ U.S. branch. “It’s reckless and dangerous for the U.S. and other high-income countries to be sitting on excessive stocks of COVID-19 vaccines while others — including in many places where MSF (Doctors Without Borders) is battling surges of COVID-19 — are desperate to provide their most vulnerable people with even their first dose.” 

U.S. officials have been criticized for urging booster shots for vulnerable Americans while vaccination rates are low in the developing world. The White House casts the controversy over booster shots as a false choice, claiming the U.S. can help vaccinate the world while also protecting Americans.

According to projections by the Oxford University COVID-19 database Our World in Data, only one nation in sub-Saharan Africa — the tiny enclave nation of Lesotho — is on track to meet the target of inoculating 40% of its population with at least one dose of the vaccine by the end of 2021. 

Patsy Widakuswara contributed to this report.
…

Medical aid groups are welcoming plans by U.S. drug maker Moderna to build a plant for manufacturing vaccines in Africa. The groups say the plant, the first from a company making a COVID-19 vaccine, will help in fighting vaccine inequality. 

African countries are facing a shortfall of nearly 500 million COVID-19 vaccines according to the World Health Organization. 

The shortage has left most countries unable to vaccinate even the most vulnerable 10 percent of their populations. 

Last week, U.S. drug maker Moderna announced plans to build a plant on the African continent. Its statement is raising hope Africa will have a sufficient supply of COVID-19 vaccines in the future.

Medical aid groups say although the plan will boost Africa’s vaccine manufacturing capacity, the continent still needs an immediate solution to shortages. Dr. Githinji Gitahi is the chief executive officer at Amref Health Africa.

“As significant as it is because of the high financial commitment of 500 million dollars, there are several other factors to consider,” said Gitahi. “One, that factory will not be a solution to the current challenge of vaccine access in Africa. If the factory is going to be ready in 2-4 years Africa wants to vaccinate at least 70% of its population by the end of June next year. Therefore, Africa still demands the most important step in redistribution of doses earmarked for rich countries to come into Africa.”

Although Moderna has yet to say where it will build the factory, at least 10 countries, among them Kenya, Morocco, South Africa and Senegal, have expressed an interest in hosting the facility.  

Dr. Willis Akhwale, the chairman of Kenya’s vaccination task force, says Moderna will need to look at the project as a partnership with the host country.

“If Moderna is coming to open, they should come with an open mind that they are bringing technological transfer, not just setting up a factory,” said Akhwale. “Therefore, they need to transfer that technology to the host country. The other thing is capacity building of the local people beyond just the COVID-19 vaccine towards the whole human vaccine manufacturing.”

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention welcomes the idea of manufacturing the COVID-19 vaccine on the continent. 

Dr. Bernhards Ogutu, chief research officer at the center’s office in Kenya, says although the process is likely to take a long time, it’s a promising sign for making health care more available in Africa.  

“If we really want health care affordable and accessible to all, then we must start doing a lot of production of health commodities in the region,” he said.

By September, an estimated 5.2 billion COVID vaccine doses had been administered globally but only 2 percent of those were in Africa. African medical groups say they hope that the manufacturing of such vaccines on the continent will prevent such unequal distribution in the future.
…

The U.N. human rights office has condemned a recent escalation of violent, deadly attacks and abusive treatment of migrants and asylum seekers, allegedly by both Libyan state and non-state agents.

This month, the U.N. agency says at least five people were killed and many injured during a series of heavy-handed security operations and raids against migrants and asylum seekers.

It says mass expulsions of people to countries in sub-Saharan Africa have taken place. The rights office says that violates laws against the forcible deportation of individuals to places where their lives could be at risk.

U.N. human rights spokeswoman Marta Hurtado says last week, Ministry of Interior personnel raided an informal settlement near the capital, Tripoli. Among the inhabitants, she says, were hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers registered with the U.N. refugee agency.

“Women, children and men were arrested and handcuffed. Security forces used unnecessary and disproportionate force to detain them, including shooting and beating those who resisted or tried to escape,” said Hurtado. “As a result, at least one person died, five were injured, and more than 4,000 were detained.”

Hurtado says those arrested have been taken to an overcrowded, unsanitary, government-run detention center in Tripoli, where they have little access to food or water. She says similar scenarios have been repeated since then.

On October 6, 500 migrants escaped from the Gheriyan Detention Centre in Tripoli. Hurtado says they were chased by guards, who opened fire using live ammunition.  She says preliminary information indicates at least four people were short and killed and many others injured.

A recent report by the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya said the widespread and systematic violations suffered by migrants could amount to crimes against humanity.

Hurtado says the government justifies raids against the migrants as a necessary measure to tackle crime.

“What we are saying is if you want to tackle crime, try to go against the traffickers,” said Hurtado. “Do not go and pick up the migrants and detain the migrants that are quite often the victims of these traffickers. Having said that, the government has acknowledged as well that maybe what happened last week was not the best way forward.”

Hurtado says the government has promised to free some of the migrants.

The U.N. human rights office is calling on authorities to conduct a prompt and impartial investigation into the violent events and to hold perpetrators of crimes and abuse accountable. It says authorities also should stop criminalizing people solely for their migration status and end their policy of forcible deportation.
…