The construction of a road network to connect five West African countries and boost trading has not yet started because of regional politics. From Accra, Ghana, Senanu Tord reports on the corridor project stretching from Abidjan, Ivory Coast, to Lagos, Nigeria, and the people whose livelihoods will be affected by it.
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Intercommunal violence and fighting between Sudanese armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in West Darfur state have intensified in recent days, according to reports. Witnesses who escaped the city of Geneina say their hometown is being ripped apart. Henry Wilkins reports from Adre, Chad.
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Heavy fighting has been reported in central Somalia after al-Shabab militants stormed a government military camp in the town of Masagaway on Tuesday, the second attack in days.

Security sources who are following the situation say deadly fighting ensued between government forces and al-Shabab following the militant attack.

According to one security official involved in the efforts against al-Shabab, the militants raided a military camp at dawn. The camp is manned by troops trained in Eritrea and local fighters. He said the militants managed to enter the camp and remove three vehicles.

As the militants exited the town, reinforcements from the town of el-Dheer just north of Masagaway ambushed al-Shabab militants sparking a fierce gun battle.

The two officials who requested anonymity because they do not have authorization to speak to the media said reinforcement forces inflicted heavy losses on al-Shabab and recovered some of the vehicles and weapons taken by the militants.

Dozens of fatalities have been reported on both sides.

In a press statement, the Somali government said government troops and local fighters have repulsed militants who attempted to storm the town. The statement said that 30 were killed in the attack and three vehicles were captured and three soldiers were injured.

Al-Shabab meanwhile, said its fighters overran the base and killed 73 soldiers and seized vehicles. Both specific claims have not been independently verified.

Masagaway, about 270 km northeast of Mogadishu, was captured by government forces and local fighters in January of this year. In April, al-Shabab raided the town, killing three elders who have been involved in the local mobilization against the group.

The attack comes as military campaigns against al-Shabab appear to have paused in the central regions.

It also comes just four days after militants carried out another deadly attack on a military base manned by Ugandan forces serving as part of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS).

Both the AU and Uganda are still assessing the number of fatalities as a result of the attack as the militants are still present in the vicinity of the base in the town of Bulo Marer, which is 110 km south of Mogadishu.

The Ugandan military has confirmed to VOA Somali that a company of 221 soldiers was stationed at the base.

Al-Shabab initially claimed killing 137 soldiers in the attack before one of the group’s most senior commanders, Mahad Karate, increased the number to over 200 killed, a figure that has not been independently verified.

But a spokesperson for the Uganda Peoples’ Defense Forces (UPDF), Brigadier General Felix Kulaigye, said the group is exaggerating the death toll.

“Certainly, they are exaggerating,” he said.

Kulaigye said details of the casualties will come after an investigation as UPDF sent a team to Mogadishu.

Kulaigye confirmed that some of their soldiers were captured by al-Shabab following the May 26 complex attack.

“I don’t just believe, I know some were,” he responded when asked if he believes some of their soldiers may have been captured by al-Shabab as claimed by the militant group.

He said it would be speculation to give the number of soldiers who were captured by al-Shabab.

On Tuesday, ATMIS said “a substantial number of the terrorists have been eliminated,” and multiple weapons looted from the Bulo Marer base retrieved following a joint operation by the AU and Somali forces.

The United States military also said it had carried out an airstrike against the group on the day of the attack.

“The strike destroyed weapons and equipment unlawfully taken by al-Shabaab fighters,” AFRICOM said in a statement.

Asked about how the Bulo Marer attack might impact UPDF operations in Somalia, Kulaigye said it makes the soldiers more determined to fight al-Shabab.

“It gives us more determination to deal with this enemy of peace in Somalia,” he said.

“They will pay for that attack. No one attacks UPDF and goes scot-free.”
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Uganda on Tuesday condemned the Western response to the East African country’s new anti-LGBTQ law, considered one of the harshest in the world, and said sanctions threats from donors amounted to “blackmail.”

The law signed by President Yoweri Museveni carries the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality,” an offense that includes transmitting HIV through gay sex.  

Its enactment, announced on Monday, drew immediate rebukes from Western governments and puts in jeopardy some of the billions of dollars in foreign aid the country receives each year.  

U.S. President Joe Biden threatened aid cuts and other sanctions, while Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the government would consider visa restrictions against Ugandan officials.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the law would impact Uganda’s ties with international partners.

In the Ugandan government’s first detailed comments since Museveni signed the law, Information Minister Chris Baryomunsi rejected the condemnation.

“We do not consider homosexuality as a constitutional right. It is just a sexual deviation which we do not promote as Ugandans and Africans,” he told Reuters.  

“While we appreciate the support we get from partners, they must be reminded that we are a sovereign country and we do not legislate for the Western world. We legislate for our own people here in Uganda. So that kind of blackmail is not acceptable.”

Ugandan activists and lawyers filed a lawsuit on Monday against the law. They said it encourages discrimination and stigmatization and allege it was passed without meaningful public participation.  

In an interview, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk told Reuters he expects the courts to agree.

“I hope that the judiciary is going to look into it and I can tell you, if they look at human rights law, their own constitution, they will find it in violation of it,” Türk said, describing the law as “devastating.”

He did not elaborate on which aspect of the constitution had been violated.  

Asked about alleged breaches of international law, a spokesperson later added: “a whole range,” saying these included the rights to equality, non-discrimination and to life.

France’s TotalEnergies TTEF.PA, which is developing a $3.5 billion oil pipeline between Uganda and Tanzania, told Reuters on Tuesday that its CEO had expressed the company’s views on the bill to Museveni before he signed it.  

“Respect for others is a core value at TotalEnergies,” a spokesperson said.
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China has been a major investment partner in Sudan’s energy, agriculture and transport sectors in recent years, pumping nearly $6 billion in investments into the country since 2005.

Its interests in Sudan date back to 1959, but China began to flourish on a broader level after the U.S. placed the country under economic sanctions in 1998. And now, as nations work to extend a shaky cease-fire between rival forces, China is looking to maintain a neutral stance and advance its own interests as well.

China played a key role in developing Sudan’s oil fields before the country split into north and south in 2010, investing close to $3 billion, according to some sources. Chinese workers built much of the project’s infrastructure before it was handed over to the newly independent South Sudan. A pipeline to transport the oil continues to flow through the north of Sudan, where it is ultimately shipped from Port Sudan.

In 1959, Khartoum became one of the first Arab states to recognize the People’s Republic of China. Medical aid and construction projects like the People’s Hall in Khartoum were signature pieces of early cooperation between both countries.

And Beijing’s interests with Sudan flourished during the years that former leader Omar al-Bashir ruled the country, Washington-based Middle East analyst Theodore Karasik told VOA.

“China’s interest in Sudan has been long and significant in terms of previous energy and other contracts, especially in mining and agriculture,” Karasik  said. “Beijing was also close to the Bashir regime, which had contracts with China’s defense producers. Many of these interests also seem to overlap with Iran’s interest in Sudan’s Military Industrial Company.” 

China “has taken a neutral stance in the current conflict in Sudan,” Karasik said, noting that China “invests very heavily in infrastructure,” such as “building a national rail system for some east African states.” He also pointed out that China is “involved in peacekeeping in some regional states” and “has plans for logistic operations out of Port Sudan in a post-war Sudan.”

Relations between China and Russia are also problematic in Sudan, where both countries appear to have differing interests and strategies. “The real question,” said Karasik, “is how Russia will interact with China in Sudan because in different parts of the continent they behave differently, or sometimes in tandem, in terms of their approach to extraction economics.”

“Sudan in China’s larger regional strategy is part of a maritime arena that becomes critical in global shipping,” he added. “It is not a coincidence that improving healthy Saudi-Chinese ties are occurring at the same time that Sudan is going through its catharsis. It’s clear that China uses different partners for Sudan’s business.” 

Egyptian political sociologist Said Sadek told VOA that China’s interests in Sudan are related to its regional geography and the growing strategic importance of the Red Sea basin to world trade.

“The other motivation of course is [China’s Belt and Road Initiative], because they wanted to be in the Red Sea and their only foreign base abroad is in Djibouti and this is part of their expansion in Africa, including Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea … as they see that the Red Sea is going to be a very important place for strategic assets, [such as] oil, gas, and tourism,” Sadek said. 

“The Saudis are currently building their $1 trillion NEOM project [planned smart city in Tabuk Province in northwestern Saudi Arabia] on the opposite side of the Red Sea,” Sadek added, “with islands that are going to be like Las Vegas or Monte Carlo,” so “China wants a strong presence in the area.” 

Sadek said that “most of Africa’s 54 countries are poor and China is very active in providing economic aid. … [China] enters with soft loans and it builds infrastructure, because most African countries lack infrastructure … and [Beijing doesn’t] ask questions about human rights and democratization like the U.S. does.”

Paul Sullivan, Middle East analyst at the Atlantic Council, told VOA that China has focused its strategy on several areas in its efforts to cultivate stronger ties with Sudan.

“Sudan is a big part of China’s overall strategy in the region to bring east and North Africa more on its side,” he said. “It has a lot to do with business, investments, infrastructure and even education, including teaching Mandarin to Sudanese. Sudan is a significant player in the Nile Basin but is weak and uncertain now, but has great potential with the right leadership. Instability and uncertainty open Sudan up to exploitation by other countries, terrorists, and organized crime.”

China is “interested in gold deposits in Sudan,” Sullivan said, adding, “like Russia, China is also interested in ports in Sudan.” He noted that a “pipeline system from South Sudan via Uganda to the Kenyan coast will likely get more interest after [the current conflict subsides].” 

U.S. and Chinese interests in Sudan and the region are at odds, Sullivan said, because the U.S. does not want a Chinese or Russian military or other port in Sudan, given “the sensitive strategic locations” of Port Sudan. Sullivan also underscored that China is trying “to block the U.S. more and more.” 
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Health care providers in Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp say an ongoing cholera outbreak is becoming a looming catastrophe. Doctors Without Borders has described the six-month-long cholera outbreak as the worst yet, amid an influx of new refugees from Somalia.

Medecins Sans Frontieres, popularly known as Doctors Without Borders, told a news conference Tuesday that a cholera outbreak the Dadaab camp is approaching epidemic proportions and that urgent attention in the areas of water and sanitation is needed. Dr. Nitya Udayraj is the medical coordinator. 

“The humanitarian conditions there are already at its limit. An outbreak like cholera, like measles, is literally the last stroke that will bring it to the breaking point,” said Dr. Nitya Udayraj, MSF’s medical coordinator. “Which is why today we want to bring focus that the humanitarian situation is already precarious. … We would like to bring attention that after six months, the outbreak is still continuing. It is not normal.”

The cholera outbreak hit East Africa’s largest refugee camp last November. At least five people have died since then. The Dadaab complex in Kenya’s northeastern region is home to over 300,000 refugees, most from neighboring Somalia.

Their numbers have exceeded capacity due to the extended drought in Somalia. At least 67,000 more refugees arrived in the camp last year, according to national data, putting pressure on already limited resources. Doctors Without Borders’ country director Hassan Maiyaki said sanitary conditions are dire.

“Today, according to humanitarian organizations working in the camps, almost half of the camp population has no access to functional latrines, leading to open defecation in and around the camp, which raises the risk of disease outbreaks.”

Kenya’s Ministry of Health conducted cholera vaccinations at the camp, but the doctors say curbing the outbreak remains elusive without sanitation and hygiene intervention.
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A Kenyan aid group is using forensic image technology to help parents find their missing children. The Missing Child Kenya foundation says it has assisted in the location or rescue of more than 1,000 children in Kenya since its founding seven years ago. Victoria Amunga has the story from Nairobi. Video: Jimmy Makhulo
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Dozens of protesters clashed with security forces in Senegal’s capital, Dakar, on Monday after lawmakers and supporters were blocked from visiting the home of a prominent opposition politician on trial for rape and libel. 

Police fired tear gas at demonstrators who built makeshift barricades along one of Dakar’s main highways and in one neighborhood set cars and a ministerial building on fire.  

It is the latest round in months of unrest triggered by President Macky Sall’s refusal to rule out running for a third term in office and by court cases involving a leading rival, Ousmane Sonko, who denies wrongdoing and says the charges against him are aimed at ruling him out of presidential elections next February. 

Police diverted Sonko to his house on Sunday after a caravan of vehicles including him and some supporters had planned to enter Dakar ahead of a court judgment in the rape trial expected on June 1. 

Opposition MP Ramatoulaye Bodian said politicians and mayors had planned to visit Sonko at home on Monday but were prevented by police who fired tear gas at them. Reuters could not immediately verify that claim.  

Senegal’s interior minister said Sunday’s caravan had not sought permission and was stopped for security reasons. 

“Sonko can’t leave his house. … No one can go see him, but why? Where is this democracy?” said El Malick Ndiaye, a spokesman for Sonko’s Pastef Party.  

The police and Sall’s office did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.  

Senegal is seen as one of West Africa’s strongest democracies and has a two-term limit for presidents. But critics of Sall worry that he will use a change in the constitution in 2016 as an excuse to reset his mandate and run again, as other long-standing rulers in the region have done. 

Sonko has strong support among young people, but his degrading comments last week about a woman who accused him of rape in a massage parlor in 2021 sparked backlash from Senegalese women’s groups and dozens of well-known figures.  

Last week, a prosecutor in the trial requested a 10-year prison sentence. A guilty verdict could rule Sonko out of the election.  
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Niger’s army said Monday that 55 jihadists, including several high-ranking combatants affiliated to the Islamic State group, had been killed in a joint operation with Nigeria.

The 22-day operation, which ended Sunday, targeted an Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) stronghold in Arege, in northeastern Nigeria’s border region with Niger, it said.

The 55 “neutralized terrorists” include several senior military operatives as well as several religious leaders, it said, using a traditional term for jihadists.

The figures were given in an army bulletin on operations in Niger’s southeastern region of Diffa, seen by AFP on Monday.

The ground and air operation aimed to “maintain pressure” on ISWAP and cut supply routes, the bulletin added.

Two soldiers were killed and three were injured, it said, adding that 13 vehicles, 13 motorcycles and five “booby-trapped vehicles” were destroyed.

The vast Lake Chad region, shared by Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad, is a notorious refuge for Boko Haram jihadists and ISWAP, their deadly rival.

The four countries bordering the lake set up a multinational anti-jihadist force in 2015.

Niger earlier this month said the army had picked up nearly 1,400 Boko Haram followers who were fleeing into the country following clashes with ISWAP.

The exodus started in March when ISWAP pursued Boko Haram in its forest hideout of Sambisa in northeastern Nigeria.

Niger’s Diffa region has borne the brunt of jihadist attacks over the years but has been relatively calm since the start of 2023, a security source told AFP.

The country, one of the poorest nations in the world, is also facing a jihadist insurgency in its southwest, launched by militants who launched cross-border raids from Mali in 2015.
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Bola Tinubu became Nigeria’s president Monday during a period of unprecedented challenges for Africa’s most populous country, leaving some citizens hopeful for a better life and others skeptical that his government would perform better than the one he succeeded.

Thousands of Nigerians and several heads of government attended the swearing-in ceremony for the 71-year-old Tinubu in the country’s capital, Abuja. He succeeds President Muhammadu Buhari to lead a country that by 2050 is forecast to become the third most populous nation in the world, tied with the United States after India and China.

Tinubu — the former governor of Lagos, which is Nigeria’s economic hub — has promised to build on Buhari’s efforts to deliver democratic dividends to citizens in a country where deadly security crises, widespread poverty and hunger have left many frustrated and angry. And with his election still being contested in court by opposition parties and among many young Nigerians, Tinubu has also pledged to reunite the country.

In Photos: Bola Tinubu Sworn In as Nigeria’s President 

In his first comments as president, Tinubu, also from Buhari’s party, declared that “hope is back for Nigeria” and said he would work beyond improving the economic and security conditions to unite a deeply divided nation and ensure fairness and justice for aggrieved groups.

“We have endured hardship that would have other societies crumble,” said Tinubu. “Our mission is to improve our ways of life in a manner that nurtures our humanity, encourages compassion towards one another and duly rewards our collective efforts.”

Symbolic of a transition of power and loyalty to the new president, Gen. Lucky Irabor, Nigeria’s chief of defense staff, presented old national and defense flags of Nigeria to Buhari and received new ones from Tinubu, who is also the Chief of the Armed Forces.

Following the national elections in February, newly elected governors also took their oath of office in many Nigerian states Monday.

At the inauguration venue, neither of the two main opposition candidates challenging Tinubu’s election in court was present and many Nigerians tweeted in protest to Tinubu’s inauguration. The outcome of the court challenge is due in about three weeks. If the opposition challenges are upheld, it would be the first time a presidential election would be nullified by the court in Nigeria’s history.

Tinubu’s manifesto of “renewed hope” prioritizes the creation of sufficient jobs and ramping up of local production of goods, investing in agriculture and public infrastructure, providing economic opportunities for the poorest and most vulnerable as well as creating better national security architecture to tackle all forms of insecurity.

However, Tinubu’s ambitious plans could be threatened in his first 100 days in office by a mountain of challenges, from insecurity to a fiscal crisis, poverty and deepening public discontent with the state, said Mucahid Durmaz, senior West Africa analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft.

In Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, locals identified economic hardship and insecurity as the biggest challenges they struggled with during Buhari’s eight-year rule. “People have really suffered [during] this period. People have been dying because of a lack of money, and I pray and hope we should not experience this kind of thing again under the new president,” said Princess Taiwo, a fruit seller.

Long before Buhari came to power in 2015, Nigeria’s development has for many years slowed under the weight of poor governance and endemic corruption, making it difficult for citizens to benefit from the country’s high earnings as Africa’s top oil producer.

Though he has whittled down the power of Islamic extremists in the northeast and has built key infrastructure with the aid of foreign loans, many believe the quality of life and standard of living has reduced under Buhari. They cite widening insecurity in other parts of the country, growing poverty as well as an economy struggling with record unemployment, inflation at an 18-year high of 22.2%, and rising debt.

“When you combine the lack of opportunities in an environment that is disabling with a strong youth population that is frustrated, that is a ticking time bomb and that is the story of Nigeria over the past 50 years and Buhari has made it worse,” said development expert Kolade.

Coming from the ruling All Progressives Congress, which has been dogged with allegations of corruption, Tinubu’s emergence as Nigeria’s president-elect has also drawn concerns about how transparent he would be in office.

Although he has often talked about assembling the best hands to lead Nigeria, the nation’s problem has never been about the quality of public officials but about accountability, said Leena Koni Hoffmann-Atar, associate fellow in the Africa program at the Chatham House think tank.

“What we underestimate is that for state institutions to be strengthened, beyond the character and competence of the individuals, you have to have processes of accountability. And it remains to be seen whether accountability in state institutions will be strengthened under his administration,” said Hoffmann-Atar.

Tinubu must also act quickly and decisively to tackle Nigeria’s security crises with the country already in a critical situation, analysts said.

“There is already a very substantial loss of confidence in the government as a protector of citizens,” said Nnamdi Obasi, senior adviser for Nigeria at the International Crisis Group. “If the new government fails to act very decisively, we would have more people seeking their own self-help and protection.”

Among those now contemplating self-protection are villagers in north central Plateau state’s Mangu district where gunmen killed more than 100 people in a late-night attack earlier in May. Yaputat Pokyes, one of the survivors, said all that they want from the incoming president is to help them stay alive.
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In South Africa, a legal battle is being waged over people who live in shacks in the center of Cape Town. City officials are reasonably confident they will win an order to tear down 300 shacks erected on pavements, under bridges and even at historic landmarks. But human rights groups say it’s far from a done deal. Vicky Stark reports from Cape Town.
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Zimbabwe officials hope vaccinations will tame a cholera outbreak as citizens continue to drink unsafe water. As Columbus Mavhunga reports from Harare, authorities are urging people to practice good hygiene to contain the waterborne disease. Camera: Blessing Chigwenhembe    
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Two U.N. agencies warned Monday of rising food emergencies including starvation in Sudan due to the outbreak of war and in Haiti, Burkina Faso and Mali due to restricted movements of people and goods.

The four countries join Afghanistan, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen at the highest alert levels, with communities that are already facing or projected to face starvation or otherwise risk a slide “towards catastrophic conditions.”

The report by the World Food Program and the Food and Agriculture Organization calls for urgent attention to save both lives and jobs. Beyond the nine countries rating the highest level of concern, the agencies said 22 countries are identified as “hotspots’’ risking acute food insecurity.

“Business-as-usual pathways are no longer an option in today’s risk landscape if we want to achieve global food security for all, ensuring that no one is left behind.” said Qu Dongyu, FAO director-general.

He called for immediate action in the agricultural sector “to pull people back from the brink of hunger, help them rebuild their lives and provide long-term solution to address the root causes of food insecurities.”

The report cited a possible spillover of the conflict in Sudan, deepening economic crises in poor nations and rising fears that the El Nino climatic phenomenon forecast for mid-2023 could provoke climate extremes in vulnerable countries.

The report warns that 1 million people are expected to flee Sudan, while an additional 2.5 million inside Sudan face acute hunger in the coming months as supply routes through Port Sudan are disrupted by safety issues.

WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain warned of “catastrophic” consequences unless there is clear action to “help people adapt to a changing climate and ultimately prevent famine.”

“Not only are more people in more places around the world going hungry, but the severity of the hunger they face is worse than ever,” McCain said.
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The Mogadishu Book Fair, an annual literary event that was launched in 2015, took place last week after a three-year break because of the COVID pandemic. The fair, meant to promote reading and Somali culture and heritage by bringing together literary creatives and young people, was held at the National Theatre of Somalia. Mohamed Sheikh Nor has more from Mogadishu.
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Nigeria’s military this month rescued three more schoolgirls abducted by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram more than nine years ago in northeastern Borno state. In that 2014 incident, Boko Haram raided a government secondary school in the town of Chibok and seized nearly three hundred schoolgirls. Many of the girls have been freed through negotiations, but scores more remain captive. From Abuja, Timothy Obiezu has this report, narrated by Vincent Makori.
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Christian Jonathan’s mother was holding the 9-month-old boy in her arms when she was shot dead during an attack on their village in northwestern Nigeria. The assailants cut off one of Christian’s fingers and abandoned him by the side of the road with a bullet wound in his tiny leg.

“They left him on the ground beside his mother’s body,” said Joshua Jonathan, Christian’s father. “They thought the boy was dead.”

The late-night attack in April in Runji in Kaduna State left 33 people dead, most of them burned alive or shot dead. Many more have been killed since in the continuing clashes between nomadic cattle herders and farming communities in northwest and central regions of the West African nation, including more than 100 this month in Plateau state.

The decades long violence is becoming deadlier, killing at least 2,600 people in 2021, according to the most recent data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project. Once armed with sticks, the groups now fight with guns that have been smuggled into the country.

Both sides accuse the government of injustice and marginalization, but the clashes have also taken on a religious dimension, giving rise to militias that side with the herders, who are primarily Muslim, or the farmers from Christian communities.

The growing security crisis presents a huge challenge for Nigeria’s incoming president, Bola Tinubu, who rose to power in Nigeria — Africa’s largest economy and among its top oil producers — promising to improve the lives of affected communities and address the root causes of the crisis by providing jobs and ensuring justice. Tinubu’s inauguration is scheduled for Monday.

If the violence isn’t reined in, analysts say, it could further destabilize the country and drive more of its 216 million people into poverty. U.N. agencies say the violence affects mostly children, who are already threatened by malnutrition, and women, who are often abducted and forced into marriage.

The response of security forces can be slow and arrests are rare, prompting a growing number of communities to defend themselves when they come under siege.

“There is a substantial loss of confidence in the government as a protector of citizens,” said Nnamdi Obasi, the senior adviser for Nigeria at the International Crisis Group. Obasi warned that the failure of the incoming administration to speedily resolve the conflict would lead to “more people seeking their own self-defense, more proliferation of weapons, more criminal groups and a rise in organized armed groups.”

In Runji, an agrarian village, The Associated Press spoke to some survivors in hospital beds and others touring a mass grave and their razed houses. They said they were under attack for hours and that the gunmen fled long before security forces arrived.

Every household bears a scar.

Christopher Dauda’s family was trying to escape when the gunmen caught up with his wife and four children, killing all five. Danjuma Joshua’s two daughters were shot in the back while they tried to flee. In the home of Asabe Philip, who survived but has burns all over her body, the assailants burned five children alive as they cowered in one room.

Christian’s aunt has tried to fill the void left by the killing of his mother. His father said Christian cries a lot and barely sleeps, although his physical wounds are gradually healing.

“We try to manage with what we have left,” Joshua Jonathan said.

On the other side of the conflict, the herders say they are also under attack. They complain of cattle rustling and extrajudicial killings by local security groups working as community vigilantes.

Abdullahi Bello Bodejo, the president of the national herders’ association, denied that anyone in the group was responsible for the violence. Most of the herders belong to the Fulanis, an ethnic group.

“Fulanis are not the killers. Any person carrying out killings is not our member. Sometimes, when communities accuse us of killings, 75% is not true; they have their own crisis but always blame Fulanis,” said Bodejo.

Nigerian security forces say they have arrested dozens of gunmen and recovered their weapons. But the assailants are estimated to number in the thousands and can easily recruit new members, according to Abdulaziz Abdulaziz, a conflict researcher.

“There is a limit to the kinetic (military) operations, as it doesn’t address the socioeconomic issue that gave rise to banditry in the region in the first place,” said Oluwole Ojewale of the Africa-focused Institute for Security Studies. He said the incoming Tinubu administration must work with state governments to address unemployment, poverty and social injustice.

The recent violence has led to the formation of community, state and regional security outfits that experts say could create bigger problems for Nigeria’s security architecture if not properly monitored.

And their recruits are young.

Felix Sunday, a college student in Kaduna, said that he was 16 when he joined a local vigilante group in 2021, and that he struggles to combine the night watch with his studies.

Across much of West and Central Africa, porous national borders facilitate the smuggling of weapons. A survey-based report published in 2021 by the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey in collaboration with the Nigerian government found that at least 6 million firearms may have been in the hands of civilians in the country at the time.

The military and police have recovered hundreds of firearms in Nigeria in the last year, but weapons dealers elsewhere are exacerbating the problem.

“Things have gotten considerably worse. Some are large military weapons imported from other countries,” said Confidence MacHarry with the Lagos-based SBM Intelligence security firm.

With sophisticated weapons, the gunmen have launched daring attacks in areas with a heavy security presence, including a military base and an airport in Kaduna, indicating that the problem may be the motivation of the security forces themselves.

Survivors of the attack in Plateau told the AP that the police didn’t arrive until the next day, echoing comments from people living in Runji, which has a security checkpoint nearby.

“When we call the soldiers, it is after the attackers have left that the soldiers come. Even if we hear they (the attackers) are coming and we report to the government, they don’t take proactive action,” said Simon Njam, a vigilante leader near Runji who uses bows, arrows and locally-made guns to secure the area.

Part of the problem is that the security forces are disorganized and unprepared to respond to the attacks, according to Kabir Adamu, the founder of Beacon Consulting, a security firm based in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.

“We don’t have a coordinated security sector that identifies and counters threats,” he said. “They need to work together to protect lives and currently, we are not seeing enough of that.”

The Nigerian military and police didn’t respond to written and phone inquiries seeking a response to the claims.

As more families mourn the loss of their loved ones, forced to replace farmland with graveyards, their priority is demanding justice.

“How can people just come and kill and nothing will happen?” asked Dauda in Runji, remembering his life with his wife and four children. “They cannot bring back my lost family, but the government can at least rebuild my home and ensure justice.”
…

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday defended his record on the economy and the outcome of a disputed presidential election, saying he was leaving a legacy of credible and fair votes, a day before he hands over power to his successor.

Buhari first came to office in 2015 after promising to reboot the economy and end corruption and insecurity, but many Nigerians say these issues have worsened under his watch.

Incoming President Bola Tinubu’s victory is being challenged by his two closest opposition rivals, and on Tuesday a tribunal will begin to hear the main arguments in the election petition.

Buhari, an ascetic 80-year-old retired general, said the February vote had helped entrench democracy in Africa’s most populous nation and that Tinubu, who ran on his ruling party’s ticket, was the best candidate to emerge from the election.

“I am leaving behind an electoral process which guarantees that votes count, results are credible, elections are fair and transparent and the influence of money in politics reduced to the barest minimum,” Buhari said in a farewell national broadcast.

Tinubu is inheriting anemic economic growth, record debt and shrinking oil output. Double-digit inflation, which has eroded savings and wages, is one of the biggest issues that will confront him when he is sworn into office.

But Buhari said his government had made some difficult choices to reset the economy, some of which “led to temporary pain and suffering for which I sincerely apologized to my fellow countrymen, but the measures were taken for the overall good of the country.”

Life is tough for Nigerians, and a tangle of protectionist economic policies and foreign currency interventions have caused dollar shortages and spooked investors. 
…

South African customs officials recently became suspicious when they noticed that shipments of “Made in China” children’s toys were being sent, oddly, back to China.

On closer inspection, the packages did not contain toys at all but were filled with poached contraband.

Chinese criminal syndicates, often the very same ones that already have established smuggling routes in South Africa for illegal abalone or rhinoceros horns, have now moved on to trafficking in elephant’s foot.

But elephant’s foot is not what you think.

It is a type of succulent — unique plants with fleshy parts that retain water and grow in arid areas like South Africa’s vast Karoo — and its greyish wrinkled bulb bears a startling resemblance to a pachyderm’s pad.

It’s just one kind of succulent that’s being pulled out of the wilderness at what scientists say are alarming rates, and many of the rare plants — some of which are up to 100 years old and may only be found on a single rocky outcrop — are now nearing extinction.

Social media craze

The Succulent Karoo biome is a globally recognized biodiversity area that stretches all the way from Namibia right down into South Africa’s Western Cape province.

“We have incredibly special plants that occur nowhere else in the world, and it is part of South Africa’s heritage,” said Ismail Ebrahim, a scientist with the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI).

He said some species, particularly succulents like conophytums, are now “on the brink of extinction.”

Some 1.5 million South African succulents have been removed from the wild over the past three years, according to SANBI.

While succulents were always beloved by amateur botanists and collectors, they’ve gained a broader fan base since the pandemic, experts told VOA on a recent trip to the Little Karoo organized by WWF South Africa, which is coordinating efforts to combat the illegal trade.

With people in lockdown, isolated and unable to go out into nature, a trend for houseplants started on social media, with influencers — or “plantfluencers” — calling themselves plant moms and dads and extolling the virtues of ornamental houseplants.

“I would see the appeal of having something in my house because … they’re very unique,” said Emily Norma Kudze, senior scientific coordinator for the illegal succulent trade with SANBI. “Ornamental value is now becoming a thing. I think just because of how they grow has brought in the trendiness of having them in your homes.”

The number of plants confiscated by South African law enforcement has increased by more than 200 percent since 2018, with over 242,000 succulents seized last year alone, according to CapeNature, a government organization that looks after wilderness areas in the Western Cape.

The South African government has developed a national action plan to try and address the growing trade.

Smuggling syndicates

Paul Gildenhuys, a CapeNature enforcement specialist, has been involved with cracking down on smuggling syndicates.

The collecting and export of succulents without a permit is prohibited under South African law and those caught poaching them can face a fine or prison time, Gildenhuys said. The poaching of endangered flora carries the highest penalty, a 400,000 rand fine or 10 years jail.

More than 90 arrests were made last year according to CapeNature. Thanks to informants, the majority of people are caught in vehicles on the highway while transporting the plants.

But prosecutions often lead to relatively small fines and suspended sentences and those caught are usually on the lower rungs of the trafficking groups — locals working for international syndicates who go and dig up the plants.

Still, with high levels of unemployment and poverty in the area, succulent poaching can be an attractive option for South Africans despite the low amounts of money they make.

“The succulent Karoo is a very vast, very arid landscape and there are very limited economic opportunities,” said WWF-SA’s Katherine Forsythe. “[In] the illegal trade unfortunately, all of the benefit is going overseas, while people on the ground in South Africa aren’t receiving any benefit.”

The poached plants are sent to an address in China or Hong Kong — sometimes through Johannesburg’s busy O.R. Tambo Airport, but often simply through the mail or by courier, said Gildenhuys.

Officials VOA spoke to did not want to give exact monetary figures, to avoid encouraging the trade in succulents, but said the profits to be made by foreign-run smuggling syndicates were significant.

Carl Brown, another CapeNature enforcement officer, said while there’s some illegal trade of South African succulents to the U.S. and E.U., China dominates.

Of the almost 400,000 plants seized in the Western Cape between 2019 and 2022, 98.7% of all plants were destined for the Chinese market, according to CapeNature.

“Hundreds of thousands of succulents are going to China weekly,” he told VOA.

Brown said he thinks the demand in China is partially due to the growing urban middle class in the world’s second-largest economy.

“Now you have the average Chinese citizen with disposable income looking for things that they can decorate their house with, and if you’re living in a high-rise building, you only have a certain amount of space,” he said, adding that sometimes a houseplant is the only bit of green in a person’s home.

Chinese efforts to stop trade

Brown said buyers might not even be aware their plant was illegally pulled out of the ground in South Africa — and admitted the issue does not get people as worked up as something such as rhino poaching.

But he stressed that the trade is having devastating effects.

“A plant the size of my hand that’s being smuggled to China could be 150 years old, and that’s one of the plants that’s setting seeds to replace itself in the ecosystem that’s now been removed,” he said.

There are various pages on the internet that offer succulent plants for sale, such as eBay and Etsy, and Chinese social media, according to CapeNature.

Scientific books on succulent types have also been translated into Mandarin recently, so people know what they are looking for.

Asked by VOA what the country is doing to try to end the poaching, the Chinese Embassy in Pretoria replied by email saying South Africa and China have been cooperating on combating such crimes.

“Over the years, the law enforcement departments of the two countries have always maintained close cooperation in cracking down on crimes such as smuggling ivory, rhinoceros horns and rare plants. Our smooth cooperation has produced fruitful results, especially in intelligence sharing, evidence exchange and arresting suspects,” the embassy said.

Additionally, the embassy said, Chinese diplomatic missions in South Africa have repeatedly reminded Chinese citizens and tourists in South Africa to avoid picking wild plants at will.
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The United States conducted an airstrike on al-Shabab militants Friday in Somalia, according to U.S. Africa Command.

The strike destroyed weapons and equipment “unlawfully taken by al-Shabab fighters,” the U.S. Africa Command said Saturday. The command did not report where the weapons and equipment were stolen from.

The strike against the militants, according to the command, was conducted near an African Union Transition Mission in Somalia forward operating base in Bulo Marer.

The command said the strike was conducted “in support of the Federal Government of Somalia and the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia.”

The command’s initial assessment of the operation was that no civilians were harmed or killed.
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Somalia’s political leaders have agreed to reshape the country’s political system after four days of meetings in the capital, Mogadishu.

In a communique issued early Sunday, the National Consultative Council, which includes the federal leaders, including President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre, and Deputy Prime Minister Salah Ahmed Jama, as well as four regional leaders and the mayor of Mogadishu, have agreed to introduce direct elections as early as next year and unify the election schedules, and endorsed establishment of a presidential system for the country.

In a departure from clan-based power sharing, the leaders agreed that one-person-one-vote elections will take place once every five years. A 15-member national election and border committee will be formed to manage all local, regional and federal elections.

The local council elections will be the first to take place on June 30 of next year. This will be followed that year by regional parliamentary and regional leadership elections on November 30, the communique read.

The leaders have agreed that there will be only two political parties that compete for power in the country. The current political parties law does not limit the number of political parties.

Agreement abolishes premiership

Perhaps the most significant article in the agreement is the restructuring of the leadership system by abolishing the premiership.

In its place, the leaders endorsed a presidential system, with the president and vice president of the country elected directly on a single ticket. The same applies to the regional presidents and their respective vice presidents.

The endorsement of a presidential system will require a federal constitutional amendment, as the current constitution provides for a parliamentary system in which lawmakers elect a president, who then appoints a prime minister. Critics have argued for a long time that the parliamentary system brought endless political squabbles between the president and prime minister.

If popular elections take place nationwide next year, that will end a controversial clan-based system known as “the 4.5,” which has been used for power-sharing since 2000. That system allowed four main clans to have equal share in parliament, while a group of smaller clans got half of the share. The last election based on the 4.5 system brought Mohamud to power in May of last year.

Minister for Interior, Federal and Reconciliation Ahmed Moallim Fiqi, who read the communique hailed the agreement as “one step forward.”

“This is a historic agreement which brings an end to the system used since 2000,” he told VOA Somali. “It gives the Somalis the opportunity to have their say and entrust their vote with those representing them at different levels of local, regional and federal governments.”

The communique did not address what happens when the current president’s term ends on May 15, 2026.

But Fiqi said that next year’s election will be considered as a “midterm” election, where those elected will hold their posts for two years, until 2026, when the election calendar for both local, regional and federal levels will be unified.

Opponents call agreement ‘unconstitutional’

The new agreement was quickly criticized by some politicians who argued it would give term extensions to regional leaders whose terms in office currently end within months.

“Tonight’s communique by the National Consultative Council is an affront to Somalia’s provisional constitutional and the supremacy of our national laws,” said Mursal M. Khaliif, a member of the Federal Parliament.

“Whatever it’s called, this is an unconstitutional term extension for the Federal Member States and the Federal Government.”

The agreement was not signed by the president of the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, Said Abdullahi Deni. Puntland this week held local council elections in which the people voted to elect their representatives, an exercise the rest of the country is working to emulate next year if this agreement is implemented.
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Khartoum was calmer on Saturday as a seven-day cease-fire appeared to reduce fighting between two rival military factions although it has not yet provided the promised humanitarian relief to millions trapped in the Sudanese capital.

A truce signed on Monday by the two fighting parties – Sudan’s army and a paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – aimed to secure safe passage for humanitarian aid and lead to wider talks sponsored by the United States and Saudi Arabia.

In addition, Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) said Saturday it is willing to discuss the possibility of extending a cease-fire agreement with the Sudanese army that is due to expire on Monday.

The RSF “declares its full readiness to continue talks during the last two days of the truce under the auspices of the Saudi-American mediation to discuss the possibility of renewing the ceasefire agreement and humanitarian arrangements,” it said in a statement.

The warring factions signed a seven-day truce last Monday to secure safe passage for humanitarian aid and lead to wider talks sponsored by the United States and Saudi Arabia.

The conflict, which erupted on April 15, has killed at least 730 civilians and caused 1.3 million Sudanese to leave their homes, fleeting either abroad or to safer parts of the country.

On Saturday, witnesses said that Khartoum was calmer, although sporadic clashes were reported overnight and in the afternoon in the city’s southern districts and Omdurman across the Nile.

In a statement on Saturday, the RSF accused the army of violating the cease-fire and destroying the country’s mint in an air strike. The army had accused the RSF on Friday of targeting the mint.

The army said meanwhile that its call on Friday for army reservists was a partial mobilization and constitutional measure, adding that it expected large numbers to respond to the call.

Those who remain in Khartoum are struggling with failures of services such as electricity, water and phone networks. Looters have ransacked homes, mostly in well-off neighborhoods. Food supplies are dwindling.

On Saturday, Sudanese police said they were expanding deployment and also called in able retired officers to help.

“Our neighborhood has become a war zone. Services have collapsed and chaos has spread in Khartoum,” said 52-year-old Ahmed Salih, a resident of the city.

“No one is bothered to help the Sudanese people, neither the government nor internationally. We are humans, where is the humanity?” he added.

The UN and aid agencies say that despite the truce they have struggled to get the bureaucratic approvals and security guarantees to transport aid and staff in safer parts of the country to Khartoum and other hot zones. Warehouses have been looted.

The U.N. World Food Program on Saturday tweeted it had begun providing food aid to people in Khartoum, but added that “safety, security, and access are critical so we can increase our support to 500,000 people.”

Rape reports

Fighting also flared in the city of Al Fashir, capital of North Darfur state which had remained calm in recent weeks after a separate local truce there.

Heavy artillery could be heard near the central market and eastern districts, forcing many residents to seek refuge elsewhere in the city, said local human rights monitor Mohamed Suleiman. Several people were injured, he said, but Reuters could not confirm the number.

Outside of Khartoum, the worst hit city is El Geneina, on the border with Chad, which has seen an onslaught of militia attacks that have destroyed its infrastructure and killed hundreds.

The governmental Combating Violence Against Women and Children Unit said late on Friday it had received reports of 25 cases of rape of women and girls in Darfur and 24 reports of rape in Khartoum since the conflict erupted.

It said that victims had described 43 of the men as wearing RSF uniforms and either riding vehicles with RSF licenses or located in RSF-controlled areas.

“The unit expresses its grave concern over reports of gang rape, kidnapping … and reports of women and girls facing sexual assault as they go out to seek food,” it said.

The RSF has denied reports that its soldiers are engaged in sexual assaults or looting.

Reuters could not independently verify the unit’s allegations.
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Sudan’s army chief, General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, has accused U.N. special envoy Volker Perthes of stoking a brutal conflict with paramilitaries, the latest in a series of apparent moves to bolster his war effort.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was shocked by Burhan’s letter, which requested “the nomination of a replacement” to Perthes and accused him of committing “fraud and disinformation” in facilitating a political process that broke down into six weeks of devastating urban warfare. Guterres said he was “proud of the work done by Volker Perthes and reaffirms his full confidence in his Special Representative.”

Burhan and his former deputy, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, were meant to meet for negotiations facilitated by the U.N. on April 15, the day they turned Khartoum into a war zone.

The meeting aimed to restore a transition to civilian rule disrupted since 2021 when Burhan and Dagalo together seized power in a coup before falling out. As their feud worsened, the international community tried to get them to reach a deal on integration of Dagalo’s RSF into the regular army.

Since late last year Perthes and the U.N. mission in Sudan, which he heads, have been the target of several protests by thousands of military and Islamist supporters who accused Perthes of foreign intervention and demanded his dismissal.

Similar protests have taken place in the eastern city of Port Sudan since the war started.

Perthes had maintained his optimism and said the war took him “by surprise.”

In the letter, Burhan said Perthes presented a misleading picture of consensus in his reports to the U.N., and “without these signs of encouragement, the rebel leader Dagalo would not have launched his military operations.”

It has not been possible to verify who fired the first shots.

The fighting across Sudan has killed more than 1,800 people, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project.

The United Nations says more than a million people have been displaced within Sudan, in addition to 319,000 who have fled to neighboring countries, raising concerns for regional stability.

A one-week cease-fire brokered by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia expires Monday night.  

Burhan last week officially sacked Dagalo as his deputy in the ruling Sovereign Council, replacing him with former rebel leader Malik Agar.

But even after reports of Burhan’s letter emerged, Agar said he had spoken to Perthes about “ways to resolve the crisis and end the war.”

Perthes is in New York, where last Monday he briefed the Security Council on Sudan. He responded to those who “accuse the U.N.” by saying those responsible are “the two generals at war.”

Perthes “may not be allowed back into Sudan,” according to Sudanese analyst Kholood Khair, founder of Khartoum-based think tank Confluence Advisory.

“His visa will be a litmus test to gauge the resurgence of the Islamists,” she wrote on Twitter.

Pro-democracy voices have long accused Burhan of being a Trojan horse for Islamists from the regime of strongman Omar al-Bashir, whom the military ousted in 2019 after mass protests.

Several high-ranking officials from the Bashir era have found roles in Burhan’s administration since the coup.

During the fighting Burhan’s backing has grown clearer, including “a web of crony-capitalist corporations, from banks and telecom companies owned by Islamists and intelligence officers to companies owned by the military itself,” according to Sudan expert Alex de Waal.

Dagalo himself has called Burhan an “Islamist” and a “coup plotter” intent on reviving “the vestiges of the old regime.”

Dagalo, whose RSF are descendants of the notorious Janjaweed militia unleashed by Bashir in Darfur, has links to gold mines, and de Waal has said he has thrived in an environment “where money and guns determine everything.”
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Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi has again criticized a 54-year-old partnership with world-leading diamond producer De Beers, saying his country will not back down on demands for an improved deal.

Under the current arrangement, due to expire next month, Botswana gets 25% of rough diamonds mined under its partnership with De Beers, and the company gets the rest. Negotiations on a renewal of the pact, in which Botswana is seeking a higher stake of the profits, are underway.

The stones are mined by Debswana Diamond Company, in which the two partners own equal shares.

Botswana provides De Beers with 70% of its rough diamonds.

Not ‘until death do us part’

Since February, Masisi has ramped up the pressure on the diamond giant. Speaking in Mmadinare, northeast of the capital, Gaborone, on Thursday, he did not mince words.

“This is not [about] ‘until death do us part’ or a permanent agreement,” Masisi said, speaking in the local vernacular, Setswana.

He hinted that the negotiations might stall.

“It is either we accept the situation as it is and continue getting leftovers, or alternatively we dig in and, no matter how tough it is, demand what is ours, even if we lose through litigation,” Masisi said.

No comment could be obtained from De Beers. The company has previously indicated it was confident a deal would be fleshed out, while acknowledging some complexities.

With Botswana due to hold its general election next year, Masisi said he would be willing to lose over the sensitive issue.

“I am not scared,” he said. “Yes, we are politicians and always lobby for votes, but if it means losing as a result of this issue, let it be.”

The current negotiations began in 2018 and were to end in 2021 but were extended until June 30, 2023, because of the pandemic.

Masisi said trade in all rough diamonds mined in Botswana could net up to $15 billion a year, but under the De Beers deal, the country gets “only $7 billion, or $8 billion if we are fortunate.”

Also, he noted, the current agreement restricts Botswana to trading only in rough diamonds. He said the country wants to be involved in the diamond value chain, which includes not just mining but also sorting, cutting, polishing, jewelry creation and sales.

Masisi said involvement in the value chain could earn Botswana nearly $100 billion, which is why it wants a better deal with De Beers.

The president said he finds it strange that if there is a deadlock in negotiations, the matter is referred to courts in England for arbitration.

“People cannot do what they want with our diamonds, leaving us in poverty, yet they get rich,” he said. “The $7 billion that we get … yet we can get close to $100 million. No, no.”

Masisi said that if Botswana reached a favorable deal with De Beers, poverty in the country could be eradicated in the blink of an eye.

“We have been shortchanged with our resources through these agreements, but now we can read, and our eyes are open,” he said.

Negotiating tactics

Belgium-based diamond expert Hans Merket said Botswana’s continued threats to pull out of the De Beers deal had left the industry skittish.

“It is hard to tell if the long-standing deal between Botswana and De Beers is in jeopardy,” he said. “As this continues to drag on and as we continue to hear strong statements from the Botswana side, many people in the diamond industry are clearly getting nervous.

“But the general expectation is that this is still part of the negotiating tactics to get a better deal rather than to risk breaking it. Common sense reasoning is that both De Beers and Botswana need each other to divorce.”

Merket said that because of Botswana’s prominent role in the sector, the value chain can be affected by protracted talks.

“Botswana is the largest diamond-producing country by value, and Debswana accounts for over 90% of that production. So we are talking about roughly 25% of the total world diamond production value,” he said.

“It is clear that any troubles with that supply would be felt globally, all the more given that diamond production from Russia, the other big producer country, is increasingly cornered following Western sanctions in the light of the war in Ukraine,” he said.

Botswana is second only to Russia in global diamond production. However, buyers have been shunning stones mined in Russia following Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
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Editor’s note: Here is a fast take on what the international community has been up to this past week, as seen from the United Nations perch.

Seven-day cease-fire in Sudan

The United Nations welcomed the start on Monday of a U.S.-Saudi brokered 7-day cease-fire across Sudan, intended to allow civilians and humanitarians to move safely. While fighting has continued during previous cease-fires, this one was agreed upon during formal negotiations and has a basic monitoring mechanism. As of Friday, sporadic clashes had been reported between the warring Sudanese army and rival Rapid Security Forces in the capital, Khartoum and in West Darfur, which has seen deadly fighting.

7-Day Cease-Fire Starts in Sudan

The U.N. refugee agency is moving tens of thousands of Sudanese refugees in Chad away from the Sudan border into new camps. UNHCR’s visiting deputy says concerns about security and access to aid are increasing, along with the number of refugees. Watch this report from Henry Wilkins at the Gaga refugee site in Chad:

UN Moves Sudanese Refugees in Chad Away From Border

UN chief: Warring parties must protect civilians

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday that the world is failing to live up to its commitments to protect civilians, an obligation that is preserved in international humanitarian law. Guterres said international humanitarian law “is the difference between life and death” in conflict zones.

UN Chief: Warring Nations Must Protect Civilians

Ukrainian exports at their lowest since grain deal began

Despite renewal of the Black Sea Grain Initiative on May 17, exports of grain and food from Ukraine have slowed to their lowest levels this month since they resumed under the deal in August, as Russian officials repeat complaints that Moscow is not benefiting enough from the initiative. The Istanbul-based Joint Coordination Center that oversees the implementation of the deal said Friday that only two of the three Ukrainian ports authorized to receive and send ships are working, no new vessels have been registered to participate in the initiative in nearly a month, and the number of daily ship inspections have dropped significantly.

Ukrainian Exports Under Black Sea Deal Hit Lowest Levels

UN rights chief urges Iran to decriminalize mandatory hijab for women

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights urged Iran on Wednesday to decriminalize mandatory veiling laws, warning that the harassment of women, including what they do or do not wear, appears to have intensified as street protests have died down. Volker Türk urged Tehran “to heed Iranians’ calls for reform,” and to begin by repealing regulations that criminalize violations of mandatory dress codes. Parliament is considering tightening penalties for people and institutions that fail to comply with regulations.

UN Rights Chief Urges Iran to Decriminalize ‘Mandatory Veiling Laws’

Funding for Horn of Africa drought-affected countries falls far short

Donors raised around $1 billion Wednesday in new commitments for the drought-stricken Horn of Africa during a pledging conference held at the United Nations but failed to close the gap on an appeal seeking $7 billion. The U.N. says the $7 billion is needed this year to assist nearly 32 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia who are facing acute food insecurity after five failed rainy seasons caused unprecedented drought.

UN: Substantial Funds Still Needed for Drought-Stricken Horn of Africa

In brief

— Secretary-General Guterres welcomed the arrest of Rwandan fugitive Fulgence Kayishema in South Africa, for allegedly committing genocide and crimes against humanity in Rwanda in 1994. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda charged him in 2001 with having orchestrated the killings of more than 2,000 people on April 15, 1994, at a church in Nyange, Kibuye Prefecture, in western Rwanda. A U.N. spokesperson said the arrest sends a powerful message that those who are alleged to have committed such crimes cannot evade justice and will eventually be held accountable, even more than a quarter of a century later.

— The humanitarian community appealed for $333 million on Tuesday to help 1.6 million people impacted by Cyclone Mocha in the Myanmar states and regions of Rakhine, Chin, Magway, Sagaing and Kachin. The U.N. says it’s in a “race against time” to provide people with shelter and prevent the spread of water-borne diseases.

— The World Health Organization will begin Africa’s largest polio vaccination campaign since 2020 on Saturday, aiming to immunize 21 million children under the age of 5. Vaccinations will begin in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and the Central African Republic. The Lake Chad region has one of the highest proportions of so-called “zero dose” children – those who are unvaccinated or under-vaccinated. The campaign comes in response to 14 detections of the poliovirus this year.

Quote of note

“But the fact of the matter is that today’s world leaders have thus far failed miserably by putting selfish national interests ahead of urgent global needs. They have failed to see the big picture — that the world will sink or swim together — or they have decided to play a dangerous game of chicken — demanding that others do more to curb CO2 emissions.”

Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and current member of The Elders, regretting that his generation is passing the climate crisis to the next, during his commencement address to graduates at Harvard’s Kennedy School this week.

What we are watching next week

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency is due to brief the Security Council on Tuesday. Rafael Grossi has been seeking a demilitarized zone around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant for months and has made several trips to Ukraine and Russia in its pursuit.

Did you know?

The U.N. marked the 75th anniversary of U.N. Peacekeeping on Thursday. The first U.N. mission of military observers was deployed to the Middle East in 1948. Since then, there have been 71 operations around the world. More than 2 million peacekeepers – or “blue helmets” as they are known for their distinctive colored head gear – from 125 countries have served. Women did not really participate until the 1990s. Today, women make up about 9% of the 87,000 peacekeepers serving in a dozen missions. It is not easy or safe work; more than 4,200 have died in the line of duty since 1948.
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