Council of Churches in South Africa: “relieve the President of his responsibilities, and allow for the healing of the nation"

CANAA || By Father Don Bosco Onyalla, Nairobi || 10 April 2017

The South African Council of Churches (SACC) has revisited its year-old statement when the body called on President Jacob Zuma to do some soul-searching and had stated, "It is better for the processes to be initiated or negotiated to relieve the President of his responsibilities, and allow for the healing of the nation".

“This call remains as in-season today as it did a year ago, and the spirit of the statement is in-fact intensified by the various challenges of the last week,” SACC have stated in a media release dated Thursday, April 6 following President Zuma’s decision to reshuffle his cabinet during which he fired the Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.

SACC is an inter-denominational forum bringing together 36 member churches and organizations with the mission to express, “through proclamation and programmes, the united witness of the church in South Africa, especially in matters of national debate.”

“The President and some in government seem to be afflicted with an objectionable outbreak of numbness, insensitivity and imperviousness to what impacts the lives of poor families and the marginalised of our country,” SACC has stated.

In their statement titled, SOUTH AFRICA – BE HEARD, SACC has encouraged all their “member churches and all people of goodwill and various faiths to find the most suitable way to enable their people to feel heard and participate in the actions of their choice around the country – be it a day of lament and prayer in the many places of worship; or through the public show of solidarity where other South Africans are gathered to register their voice.”

SACC’s statement reinforces that of the Catholic Bishops who, on Tuesday, April 4 called on President Zuma to “reconsider his position” as President.

“As we enter the coming week - the week of the suffering of Christ unto death, we encourage all Christians to mount their pain, anguish and their very tangible fears for South Africa, on the cross of the crucified Christ on Good Friday, believing in faith that the national cry for change has been heard, and that the resurrection of our nation will yet manifest, even as our savior, Jesus Christ is risen,” SACC’s statement reads in part.

“Beyond this, the SACC National Church Leaders Forum will convene on April 20 to further reflect on the broader state of the nation, and strengthen the message of hope in its pastoral role to the people, in order to move us closer to the South Africa We Pray For,” SACC has stated in conclusion.

Below is the full text of SACC’s media release statement

South African Council of Churches (SACC): 6 APRIL 2017

SOUTH AFRICA – BE HEARD: SACC

The South African Council of Churches (SACC), following its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of Wednesday 5 April 2017 has revisited its statement of almost a year ago to the day, on April 8 2016, made with all national religious formations, where it called for introspection on the part of the President of South Africa to ‘do the right thing’, saying that "It is better for the processes to be initiated or negotiated to relieve the President of his responsibilities, and allow for the healing of the nation". This call remains as in-season today as it did a year ago, and the spirit of the statement is in-fact intensified by the various challenges of the last week when the removal of a minister who stands in his way is conducted in a way that guarantees the most negative impacts on the livelihoods of ordinary South Africans not protected by State cushions.

The President and some in government seem to be afflicted with an objectionable outbreak of numbness, insensitivity and imperviousness to what impacts the lives of poor families and the marginalised of our country. Police Minister Mbalula's bellicose jingoism of fire for fire and invoking the Marikana tragedy manifests this governmental insensitivity to the pain of society.

The various mandates and rights of government to govern the country should not normally be in question; however the Church questions unreservedly, the capacity of the government to demonstrate any moral consideration of the people in effecting the decisions it is constitutionally required to make, pointing out numerous contradictions in the intentions behind certain government and Presidential decisions.

In 2015, we witnessed the incredulous ‘fire-pool’ demonstration at the President’s private residence. Later that year, the Church spoke out at the attempt to hoodwink the South African public through the ‘redeployment’ of Nhlanhla Nene to a post at the BRICS Bank that has yet to materialise. The Nation endured two years of the President's obdurate refusal to accede to the Public Protector's remedial instructions and pay for his private Nkandla benefits, only for him to tell the Constitutional Court that he'd always wanted to pay. And while on the one hand last week we were told of an ‘Intelligence Report’ exposing a gross conspiracy and a very much treasonable plot on the part of Pravin Gordhan; yet on the other hand we are today expected to believe that there were irreconcilable differences of opinion between Gordhan and President Zuma that motivated his dismissal. The ‘smoke and mirrors’ approach to the justification of decision making processes insults the intelligence of the people and the snowball effect of the too-numerous-to-mention examples of these instances has served as the catalyst for the unification of the people of South Africa against this leadership.

Where those elected into positions of leadership disregard and undermine their responsibility towards the protection of the interests of the people, those people can choose to exercise their collective moral conscience, and this has found full expression in their choice to host numerous activities lead both by the Church and civil society.

We would encourage all our member churches and all people of goodwill and various faiths to find the most suitable way to enable their people to feel heard and participate in the actions of their choice around the country – be it a day of lament and prayer in the many places of worship; or through the public show of solidarity where other South Africans are gathered to register their voice. With peaceful intentions, let all South Africans exercise their right to speak and be heard, without fear of intimidation and violence.

As we enter the coming week - the week of the suffering of Christ unto death, we encourage all Christians to mount their pain, anguish and their very tangible fears for South Africa, on the cross of the crucified Christ on Good Friday, believing in faith that the national cry for change has been heard, and that the resurrection of our nation will yet manifest, even as our savior, Jesus Christ is risen.

Beyond this, the SACC National Church Leaders Forum will convene on April 20 to further reflect on the broader state of the nation, and strengthen the message of hope in its pastoral role to the people, in order to move us closer to the South Africa We Pray For.

ENDS

 

SCBC President Calls for Peace as Tribute to Late South Sudanese Bishop Deng, One Month after His Demise

CANAA || By Father Don Bosco Onyalla, Nairobi || 06 March 2017

One month since the death of Bishop Rudolf Deng Majak of the Catholic diocese of Wau in South Sudan, the President of the Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SCBC), Bishop Barani Eduardo Hiiboro of Tombura-Yambio diocese has called on the citizens of the late Bishops’ administrative region to work for peace as a tribute to Bishop Deng.

Bishop Barani made the call in “An Open Letter of Hope and Peace to the Elders of Greater Bahr El Ghazal” dated Thursday, April 6.

“I am writing to you this letter first to thank all the people of South Sudan for giving a dignified burial for Bishop Rudolf and in a special way to ask for another way, very simple but central, to pay tribute to Bishop Rudolf Deng – that is Peace,” Bishop Barani has said.

“Let us from now on pay tribute to Bishop Rudolf Deng Majak’s memory by being Ambassadors for Peace, first in Wau State, second in Greater Bahr El Ghazal and thirdly throughout South Sudan,” Bishop Barani’s letter says.

Bishop Deng died Monday, March 6, at a relative’s residence in the city of Siegburg, Germany, while awaiting an operation that had been scheduled for Tuesday, March 14. He was aged 76.

“The best gift we can give him forever is being part of the reconstruction, reconciliation, and reintegration, regeneration of our country, ravaged by the war waged by us and against ourselves,” SCBC President went on to say.

SCBC brings together Catholic Bishops of the seven dioceses of South Sudan and the two dioceses of Sudan.

Below is the full statement of Bishop Barani’s open letter a month after Bishop Deng’s demise.

 N. 00020/CDTY/0017                                                                             April 6, 2017

Dear beloved Elders of Greater Bahr El Ghazal,

Ref. An Open Letter of Hope and Peace to the Elders of Greater Bahr El Ghazal

It is exactly one full month when the worst happened to us, the passing on of our beloved Bishop Rudolf Deng Majak of the Catholic Diocese of Wau. We must continue to celebrate Bishop Rudolf Deng Majak.  The wound inflicted by his death remains deep and raw and so, as we pray for him, we carry in prayer those for whom his death has left a painful void: the Catholic Diocese of Wau, the family, the people of Greater Bahr El Ghazal, the Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference, circle of friends and the people of South Sudan.

We surely hold in sadness and with a deep sense of loss.  We come before God with empty hands, aware of our need for God’s healing.  Over one month now, the enormity of what happened with the death of Bishop Deng Majak has slowly come home to us. ‘The people that walked in darkness’ – that Isaiah speaks of – describes the journey we have made during this one month (March 6^th – April 6^th); it has been a time of disbelief, shock, loneliness and grief.  We struggled – and continue to struggle – to make sense of Bishop’s untimely death.

However, Isaiah goes on to say that ‘the people who walked in darkness has seen a great light; on those who live in a land of deep shadow a light has shone’.  Where, for Isaiah, does the light come from? He says, in a phrase that we know well: 'For there is a child born for us, a son given to us and dominion is laid upon his shoulders’.

For Christians this promise of a light coming to those who walk in darkness was fulfilled in the birth of the child Jesus.  This is why St John describes Him as ‘a light’: All that came to be had life in him and that life was the light of men and women, a light that shines in the dark, a light that darkness could not overpower.

In spite of all that has happened and all its impact, we continue to believe that Jesus, the light of the world, has accompanied us at every step.  He has given us strength to carry a heavy cross; He has opened His compassionate heart to us; He has been close to us when we turned to Him in prayer; He has listened to our prayers for ourselves and for each other.

I am writing to you this letter first to thank all the people of South Sudan for giving a dignified burial for Bishop Rudolf and in a special way to ask for another way, very simple but central, to pay tribute to Bishop Rudolf Deng – that is Peace.

Let us from now on pay tribute to Bishop Rudolf Deng Majak’s memory by being Ambassadors for Peace, first in Wau State, second in Greater Bahr El Ghazal and thirdly throughout South Sudan.

The best gift we can give him forever is being part of the reconstruction, reconciliation, and reintegration, regeneration of our country, ravaged by the war waged by us and against ourselves.

Today April 6, 2017 clocks one full month since Bishop Deng Majak left us; hence I boldly take this solemn occasion to make an earnest appeal first and foremost to the people who come from Greater Bahr El Ghazale, all political leaders and organizations to recognize the urgency and gravity of the situation.

The situation of suffering, death, hunger, hate, revenge killings, huge internal displacement, very poor level of tolerance I saw two weeks ago in the historical city of Wau dragged me into uncontrollable tears. It was not the Wau I knew in the 'eighties where people were identified by the beauty and greatness of Wau.

When we were laying Bishop Deng Majak to rest, I appealed to you the great daughters and sons of Greater Bahr Ghazal to reread your history to appreciate the spiritual, cultural and political richness Wau has had. The people of Bahr El Ghazal have a rich history which has hugely and significantly influenced the entire nation of South Sudan. Please stop, retreat and move together to solve the problem at hand.

It demands of all of us that we act with real respect for human life. It demands that those who still sponsor anger, hate, segregation and violence against one another end such meaningless projects or ideas.

It demands new initiatives to move Greater Bahr El Ghazal and our country forward to freedom as quickly as possible. With this letter I am indeed consulting leaders of civil society, religious leaders, community organizations, business, cultural and other leaders in Greater Bahr El Ghazal to sieze an opportunity on such initiatives.

Bishop Rudolf Deng Majak was your beloved Bishop of the Greater Bahr El Ghazal, please honour him by working hand in hand, each and everyone of you for peace! It is because of this motive that I have chosen to send you this peace-seeking letter.

The people of Greater Bahr El Ghazal should draw their strength from each other as one people. You have common humanity, heritage, history and you are socially interwoven. At his funeral I saw one people, I did not see Fertit, Dinka nor Jur but one people of Wau, who are one, with mixed cultural values by their great history, also by blood. Over the death of Bishop Deng Majak you have shown your care, determination, respect, pride, unity, greatness of Wau, your courage, your love of freedom.

Wau your historical city is now at a very pitiful situation caused to it by her own children. I urge you to consider what has happened and act. I ask you to help stop as soon as possible the spiral cycle of violence, targeted killings, suffering, the spirit of displacement and hate which is now dominating the once great people of Wau.

Rationale:
These losses of youth, children, women, men and elders alike are not occurring in a context of war but sustained act of violence motivated by hate. The attack on innocent civilians seriously undermines all confidence in the one great people of Wau. The killings must stop. The Intellectuals, Elders, Generals, Army, Organized forces, Religious leaders, community leaders, politicians, you have power to change the course of things for the better.

Background

At the core of the crisis within South Sudan’s war-affected communities and regions is the desire to acquire power and secure resources for one group of elites or one ethno-national group at the expense of others. In our current society for example, the country has become fragmented in many directions with government and armed groups on opposite sides. The issue of identity has mixed with culture, heritage and the control of economic resources to create a base of political tension and violence. This activity has undermined the social fabric of our society or nation.

The effects of these conflicts in terms of refugee flows into neighbouring countries and the emergence of internally displaced persons (IDPs) now in the great Wau City, have locked communities as prisoners in churches and UN compounds.

In all of these cases, violence has led to the breakdown of our beloved homes. Human lives have been lost. Infrastructure has been destroyed, education and health services have suffered, and the environment has been damaged. The ties that link people together (Belanda-Bongo-Jur-Dinka-Banya, Golo-Shere-Azande,etc), have been broken, social solidarity has collapsed and political tension has been highly generated. In addition, socio-economic development has also been severely retarded as a result of the bloodshed and destruction caused by conflicts.

If we are looking for reasons why these conflicts have plagued our beloved country South Sudan, we do not need to look any further than into ourselves, especially the leaders. Competing self-interested political and military elites have made use of the divisions and legacies of the past malice.

It is not all bad news from about us as South Sudanese, however. There is enough reason for hope. We have witnessed relative peace, development and economic growth after our national independence shortly in 2011.

I am appealing to you Elders of Greater Bahr El Ghazale in the spirit of the called for National Dialogue to take lead in finding immediate solution to the suffering in Wau and other parts. Something must be done to change the dynamic and preserve the possibility of peaceful resolution.

“Asks” in Light of Events:

As one of the largest power blocs in South Sudan, also as Elders of the region, you have a moral obligation to take action as this situation is disgraceful. The stability of the Historical Wau city, the whole Bahr El Ghazal region and the entire country is hanging in a delicate balance.

I ask that you:

– convene multiple searches for peace by engaging all stakeholders in various communities concerned without pre-conditions. All the processes must be inclusive so that no stone be left unturned in finding solution to the problem urgently at hand.

– Support all groups who sincere seek peace through activities of reconciliation and healing. Allow room for people to speak out and create the ability of listening! If possible you can permit an independent investigation into atrocities carried out by the community against each other and to hold the perpetrators accountable.

– Collectively as Elders of the community in the area you should be seen together publicly voicing unequivocal condemnation of revenge killings, violence which target civilians, and use of hate speech which sponsor tribal sentiments!

– Call urgently for immediate robust humanitarian intervention for the starving people in and outside Wau. There is high desire to encourage the authority to open roads and support aid workers and safe delivery to the needed population. Any failure to provide enough food staff this season will bring serious consequences for the hungry population.

- Call for use of stronger measures of actions to prevent or stop killings of any sort but work more on reconciliation and healing of the wounded society. I strongly encourage that the moral authority of the Elders can be felt and will introduce some significant and meaningful breakthrough on this extremely troubling reality for the suffering communities.

How can our Cultural values of Bhar El Ghazal assist Peace-building?

Elders let me bring you also before I conclude this letter by referring you to one of the riches which you are endowed with. I repeat you have the strength, the power, the influence and obligation to use whatever you have at hand to solve the problems facing the people in Wau and other parts of Bahr El Ghazal.

As you are urged to seek ways and means to solve your problems, you cannot ignore the role that culture can play in enabling you as a people to resolve your disputes and to strengthen the ties that bind you together. People derive their sense of meaning from their culture. What does it mean to be human? What is – or ought to be – the nature of human relations? These notions feed into the attitudes and values that we choose to embrace, which in turn determine how we interact with each other. Cultural attitudes and values throughout the history of the people of Wau State and adjacent regions, therefore, have provide the foundation for the social norms by which you as people exist and live. Through internalizing and sharing these cultural attitudes and values with fellow community members, and by handing them down to future generations, societies can – and do – re-construct themselves on the basis of a particular cultural image.

For Wau State to live and prosper, we must come together! In order to re-establish social solidarity in our war-affected community, a key step would be to find a way for members of these communities to ‘re-inform’ themselves of their rich history of co-existence with a cultural logic that emphasizes sharing and equitable resource distribution. This, in effect, means emphasizing the importance of reviving progressive cultural attitudes and values that can foster a climate within which peace can flourish.

God’s Guidance for Christians in the time of Violence:

My beloved people of Greater Bahr El Ghazal, I write to you as one of your Bishops in South Sudan and above all of the Catholic Diocese of Tombura-Yambio. The Catholic Diocese of Tombura-Yambio was born of Bahr El Ghazal, it means you are our grandparents in Faith. So I want invite you to seek answers to the current conflict in Jesus Christ in whom the majority of you believe. I wish conflict among Christians were a relatively insignificant problem. I wish we who believe in Jesus could experience the unity he commended to us (John 17:20-24). I wish there wasn’t animosity within communities of believers, in societies, in churches, etc.

But all of this is, I admit, wishful thinking. The fact is that Christians often have a hard time getting along with each other. This has been true from the earliest days of the church. The Apostle Paul, who planted the church in Corinth, wrote what we call 1 Corinthians to the believers there principally because of internal conflict in the church. By the time Paul wrote 2 Corinthians, the tension was largely between Paul and his church.

Perhaps one of the most discouraging things about studying church history, from the first century onward, is to see just how often Christians have been mired in disputes and strife. Sometimes, in our worst moments, we have actually put to death fellow community members who even are Christians. Not a happy story, not at all.

This was not what Jesus intended, to be sure. In his famous “High Priestly Prayer” recorded in John 17, Jesus prayed:

“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:20-23)

A little earlier, Jesus had said to his disciples: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). To be sure, there are times when followers of Jesus do love each other in an exemplary way. But, far too often, such love is marred by conflict, tension, and outright meanness. And, far too often, we have not dealt with these problems in a loving way.

Therefore, God does not keep a record of our wrongs in that, after he deals with them through the cross, and after we confess and are forgiven, God chooses to look upon us as if we had not sinned. At first he does keep a record of wrongs, however, calling us to account for what we have done that is contrary to his will. But in the end his mercy triumphs as the record of wrongs is nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:13-15).

Where does this leave us in our effort to imitate God’s love by not keeping a record of wrongs? Well, it does not mean that we should simply pretend as if a wrongdoing hasn’t happened. (Sure, we should ignore trivial, unintended offenses at times, but this isn’t the main point of our text.) When someone has wronged us, there needs to be an accounting for this wrong. The offender needs to acknowledge the offense so that there can be reconciliation. Ignoring or rationalizing or minimizing sin is yet another form of sin, and must be avoided.

In conclusion I want to thank you for reading this letter and doing something about it. Please pay attention to it and we shall be saved! I also register my sincere thanks to His Excellency the President Salva Kiir and all the government officials for the enormous support they gave us during the funeral of Rudolf Deng. I thank all Cooperating Partners, Dioceses, Ecumenical Bodies, Priests, Religious Brothers and Sisters, the choir and various Church groups, the Lay Faithful and people of good will for your comforting messages of condolence and support-both financial and material.

Let us all live to remember Bishop Rudolf as one who was naturally kind-hearted, friendly, cheerful, and always available to everyone. May God reward him by welcoming him into His heavenly Kingdom!

May the Soul of Bishop Rudolf Deng Majak rest in eternal peace! Be sure of my prayers for you all!

God bless you!

Sincerely yours’ in Christ,

Barani Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala

Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Tombura-Yambio &

President of Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference

 

African Students No Longer at Ease in India

AllAfrica.com || By Rasna Warah || 02 April 2017

The brutal mob attack on a group of Nigerian students in a shopping mall in the city of Greater Noida has generated a lot of discussion about how Africans in India are treated.

Although the government has condemned the attack, the incident has once again raised the issue of racism in India.

Africans studying in India report being routinely discriminated against by shopkeepers and landlords.

Residents complain that African students fail to assimilate into Indian culture and are responsible for introducing bad habits, such as alcohol and drug abuse, into their society.

Media reports indicate that the Nigerians were attacked because it was believed that they supplied drugs to an Indian man who died of an overdose.

However, past incidents indicate that often Africans are blamed for crimes they have not committed.

Last year, a Tanzanian woman in Bangalore was harassed and nearly stripped naked by a mob after a Sudanese man allegedly ran his car over a woman.

Ironically, the latest incident occurred not long after an Indian engineer was shot dead by a white racist in a bar in Kansas, United States.

That murder generated a lot of furore among Indians in India and America, many of whom favoured Donald Trump's presidency, but who are now having second thoughts about his paranoia-fuelled racist policies that threaten to keep the majority of the world's people, including Indians, from entering the US.

The attacks in Greater Noida and Kansas may have been racially motivated, but they are occurring at a time when ultranationalism and hatred of "the other" are being associated with patriotism in both India and the US.

SETTLERS

As one Indian commentator noted, India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s hypernationalistic "Hindutva" ideology has found common cause with Trumpism.

This ideology is fuelled by ignorance. Last week, at a seminar titled, "Connectivity Revisited: India, Kenya and the Indian Ocean", hosted by the Indian High Commission in Kenya, many participants lamented that both Indians and Kenyans have little knowledge of each other's cultures and history.

Yet, India and the East African coast have had trade links for centuries.

When Vasco da Gama arrived in Mombasa in the 15th century, Indians had already established trading positions there.

In the 19th century, most of the commerce in Zanzibar was controlled by Indians.

With the building of the Uganda Railway at the beginning of the 20th century, the East African interior opened up to Indian trade.

Indians also took up clerical and other posts in the British colonial administration. Later, some participated in the struggle for independence.

The descendants of these pioneer Indians are found today across all East Africa.

However, while the history of East African Indians has been widely documented, little is known about the many Africans who went to India and settled there.

People of African descent known as the Sidis have been living in the Indian state of Gujarat for centuries.

Also known as the "African Sufis of Gujarat", the Sidis are known for their Africa-inspired music and dance called Sidi Goma, which they have performed in various parts of the world, including Zanzibar and Kenya.

It is believed that the Sidis' origins lie in East Africa; many of their songs are peppered with Kiswahili words.

MILITARY MEN

Even less known is the fact that many Africans were coopted into India's aristocracy since the 14th century.

These former slaves came mainly from Ethiopia and Sudan and were taken to India by Arab slave traders who sold them to kings, rich merchants and aristocrats.

However, not all of them remained slaves. Some rose through the ranks to become nobles and generals.

One of them, Malik Ambar, a slave-turned-general, held a prominent position in the Ahmadnagar Sultanate in western India in the 17th century.

Evidence of Africans playing a role in India's history can be found in an exhibition of paintings that depict Africans participating in various events, not as slaves but as important members of royal Mughal courts.

The exhibition titled "Africans in India: A Rediscovery", which was recently held in New Delhi and New York, shows that unlike African slaves in the Americas, many African slaves in India rose to hold military and other positions.

For their descendants, however, social mobility has not been easy; they are still classified as among one of India's marginalised "scheduled tribes".

Source: AllAfrica.com… 

 

Students from Africa Disturbed by New US Visa Rule

AllAfrica.com || By Kevin J. Kelley || 27 March 2017

Specialists recruiting Africans and other international students for US universities are expressing growing concern over the potentially damaging impact of President Donald Trump’s restrictive visa policies.

Most of the 250 higher education institutions in the US, which recently surveyed on their application trends, reported that the number of Africans seeking to study in the US was holding steady or slightly increasing.

At the same time, however, university admissions professionals are reporting troubling feedback from applicants in Africa, said Melanie Gottlieb, deputy director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.

Prospective students from Africa cite two main sources of worry about applying to attend US universities, Ms Gottlieb noted.

These involved fears of discrimination based on their Muslim faith and anxieties over US visa issues — processing, denials and the ability to travel once admitted to the US, she said.

Some US universities are citing a general concern among international students that Mr Trump’s pending ban on travel to the US from six Muslim-majority countries could be expanded to include additional States.

INCREASED SCRUTINY

Those misgivings may well have intensified in the weeks since the survey was conducted.

Reuters reported on Friday that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has ordered US embassies around the world to identify “populations warranting increased scrutiny” regarding their US visa applications.

This implementation of Mr Trump’s promise to conduct “extreme vetting” of visa applicants could lead to systematic US profiling on the basis of religion or nationality, immigration advocates warn. Applicants with no links to terrorist organisations may be denied US visas as a result of the Trump administration’s broad focus on “populations”.

The number of Kenyans studying in the US had been dropping steadily in the decade prior to Mr Trump’s election victory. The total may shrink even further in the coming years due to heightened difficulties in obtaining US visas and Kenyans’ suspicions that they may not be welcome in Mr Trump’s America.

About 3,000 Kenyans were enrolled in US universities and graduate schools in the 2014/2015 academic year, compared to the more than 7,000 Kenyans studying in the US in 2004/2005. Kenya was once a leading source of international students in the US. Luminaries such as Barack Obama Snr, Wangari Maathai and Uhuru Kenyatta earned degrees from US institutions.

DROP IN SHILLING

But Kenya now sends far fewer students to the US than does Nigeria, which has nearly 10,000 of its nationals currently enrolled in US universities.

The causes of the fall-off in the number of Kenyan students are said to include the drop in the shilling’s exchange rate against the dollar and the emergence of academic alternatives in Kenya.

Promoters of study opportunities in the US are meanwhile offering assurances that the Trump administration’s restrictive policies will not be replicated by US universities.
“International education is at the heart of US higher education,” Ms Gottlieb told the Sunday Nation. “The positions of the current administration will not change the dispositions of individual college and university campuses. International students will continue to be welcome.”

Peggy Blumenthal, a senior counsellor at the New York-based Institute of International Education, said her organisation is confident that “international students will continue to find the US a welcoming and attractive study destination, as do the over one million international students current enrolled in US colleges and universities.”

She also noted that the State Department’s Education USA advising centres around the world are continuing to encourage and assist international students seeking to study in the US.

Source: AllAfrica.com…

 

Meet the Bishop Who’s the Living Memory of the African Church

Crux || By John L. Allen Jr. || 22 March 2017

Bishop Tharcisse Tshibangu, now 80, served as Africa's lone theological expert at the Second Vatican Council, and he's given his life to the quest for an African Catholic theology that's both authentically universal but also authentically, and vibrantly, African.

Probably no one person can reasonably be said to embody the soul of the Church on an entire continent, but Bishop Tharcisse Tshibangu of the Democratic Republic of Congo comes awfully close to being at least the living memory of African Catholicism.

Now 80, Tshibangu was born in Kipushi in what was then still the Belgian Congo - not yet Zaire under strongman Mobuto Sese Seko, and certainly not today’s Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Ordained in 1959, the young Tshibangu was a precocious up-and-coming student riding the first wave of momentum towards a distinctively African way of engaging Catholic theology. In 1960, he dared challenge the views of the dean of his theology faculty at the Louvanium in Kinshasa, Belgian Monsignor Alfred Vanneste.

In a famous exchange on January 29, 1960, Tshibangu argued that Africans needed to consider finding their own approaches to theological questions, and not simply mimic the Western patterns of the missionaries who brought the faith to the continent.

Vanneste replied that he found no need for the idea of an “African Christianity,” since, after all, adaptation in the faith means rising to a higher level, not descending to a lower one. Today it may seem absurd that a Belgian ex-pat was lecturing an African on the right way to conceive of the faith in Africa, but back then native students just didn’t joust with their foreign teachers.

Tshibangu, however, stood his ground.

Explaining his self-confidence, he said it was “due to the fact we already had an in-depth knowledge of Africa, we knew who we were to become.”

He said the slogan among young African Catholic thinkers at the time was, “Christ has brought us universal salvation, but we have to remain authentically African.”

In a rousing address Wednesday morning to a conference on African Christian theology taking place at the University of Notre Dame’s “Globe Gateway” center in Rome, Tshibangu said he felt triumphantly vindicated nine years later when Pope Paul VI visited Kampala in Uganda and told his African audience, “You may, and you must, have an African Christianity.”

By that time, Tshibangu was no longer an eager young student, but an accomplished theologian in his own right. He had been named by St. Pope John XXIII to serve as a theological expert, or peritus, at the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), becoming the lone African to serve in that capacity.

Obviously Paul VI liked what he saw in Tshibangu, because one year later, at the age of 37, he was named an auxiliary bishop of Kinshasa. He held the post until 1991, when he was named the Bishop of Mbujimayi in Congo. He retired from that position in 2009.

Along the way, Tshibangu served as a university rector, founded theological journals, wrote books, and generally devoted his life to the cause of building up an authentically African way of living the Christian Gospel, including the Church’s intellectual reflection on the faith.

Rome, Tshibangu conceded, has sometimes been a bit leery of the push for a distinctively African faith. At one point in the John Paul II years, he said, the bishops of Congo proposed, and other prelates around the continent endorsed, the idea of holding an “African Council,” in keeping with the practice of holding regional councils in the early church.

Rome’s response, he said, typically boiled down to “we’ll see” followed by delay, and it never actually happened - although, he pointed out, two Synod of Bishops for Africa were called under John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.

At the Africa conference on Wednesday, Tshibangu delivered a strong charge to the roughly 200 theologians, bishops, clergy and religious, and scholars in attendance.

“It is our duty to remain within African spiritual values, but also to open ourselves to everything humanity has produced and gives and presents for our consideration,” he said. “We must grasp the needs of Africa, the African soul, but also be a stakeholder in universal thought.

“It’s not just a question of African theology for Africans,” Tshibangu said, “but a theology that’s valid for one and all.”

Accomplishing that, he suggested, will require striking the right balance between the local and the universal.

“We have to know the characteristics proper to each church, what it has special unto itself [and] what it can contribute to the universal church, to the evolution of the world, and hence to the salvation of the world, which is the first aim and scope of theology,” he said.

“Let that be our basis, our ground, and our foundation,” Tshibangu said.

Whether that will actually be the basis of African Catholic theology going forward is, of course, anyone’s guess. It’s a pretty safe conclusion, however, that it’s already served as the foundation of Tshibangu’s long and remarkable career.

Source: Crux…

 

Africa Trade Meeting Has No Africans After U.S. Visa Denials

AllAfrica.com || By Michelle Quinn, Voice of America || 20 March 2017

Each year, the University of Southern California brings delegations from Africa to meet with business leaders, government officials and others in the U.S. But this year, the African summit has no Africans. All were denied visas.

Visa issues are not uncommon for people traveling from African nations. During her prior three summits, Mary Flowers saw a high percentage of her attendees at the African Global Economic and Development Summit, unable to attain visas.

"Usually we get 40 percent that get rejected but the others come," said Flowers, chair of the African Global Economic and Development Summit. "This year it was 100 percent. Every delegation. And it was sad to see, because these people were so disheartened."

Flowers estimated that she lost about 100 attendees, including speakers and government officials. The countries affected included Sierra Leone, Guinea, Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia and South Africa.

'A discrimination issue'

"I have to say that most of us feel it's a discrimination issue with the African nations," said Flowers. "We experience it over and over and over, and the people being rejected are legitimate business people with ties to the continent."

A request for comment from the State Department was not immediately returned.

Flowers said those who were denied visas were called for embassy interviews just days before they were supposed to travel, despite having applied weeks or even months ahead of time.

One of those denied a visa was Prince Kojo Hilton, a Ghanaian artist whose work includes special effects and graphic art. He paid his $500 fee to attend the event and was asked to lead a session on filmmaking. But he held off buying his plane ticket until his appointment at the embassy on March 13, four days before he was supposed to travel.

"I was really disappointed when I went to the embassy," Hilton said in an interview with VOA.

Travel ban

It remains unclear why all of the Africans heading to the event were denied visas this year.

Diane E. Watson, who formerly represented a Los Angeles-area district in Congress, said she had called the State Department to ask for information about the denial of visas for would-be delegates to the USC summit. But the State Department isn't allowed to discuss individual visa cases.

With the heightened attention on foreign nationals coming to the U.S., there have been stories of more visas being denied to people from countries other than those named in the Trump administration's executive orders. But visas are routinely denied by U.S. embassies without explanation.

If there has been an increase in the number of visas rejected under the new administration, it's hard to verify. The publicly available State Department data dates only to late 2016.

Source: AllAfrica.com…

 

Sudan Announced as a New Province Within the Anglican Communion

Anglican Communion News Service (ACNS) || 10 March 2017

The Anglican Communion has announced that Sudan will, in a few months from now, become a separate Province is its own right. Currently, Sudan is an internal province within the Anglican Church of South Sudan and Sudan.

The Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon, described it as a “welcome development” that will help connect Christians there with Anglicans in the worldwide Communion. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, will travel to Sudan for the inauguration of the new Province on July 30th.

The Chair of the Anglican Consultative Council, the Archbishop and Primate of Hong Kong, Paul Kwong, expressed joy at the announcement: "I send my warmest and heartiest congratulations to the Church of Sudan on your inauguration as the 39th Province of the Anglican Communion. The birth of a new member province brings not only joy and excitement to the global Anglican family but also richness, encouragement and hope. We look forward to walking together closely with you to serve as  light to the world that leads many into the Kingdom of God and to enable the Word of our Lord to be proclaimed to set many free."

South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011, which left the Primate of Sudan and South Sudan, Archbishop Daniel Deng, with the challenge of overseeing two countries. The four and a half million members of the Episcopal Church are based mainly in South Sudan. In 2016 a formal application was made by the Primate to the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), for the internal province of Sudan to be granted autonomy; in July 2016 a team led by the Secretary General visited the country on a fact-finding trip. Subjects that were reviewed included staff numbers, financial viability and mission focus, as well as the numbers of lay workers. A report on the visit - recommending that the proposed Province be approved - was sent to the ACC which gave its backing.

The Archbishop of Khartoum, Ezekiel Kondo, expressed joy at the news: “I would like to say that the Christians and the entire people of Sudan are very much looking forward to welcoming the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby and Mrs Welby to inaugurate the New Province of Sudan, number 39, which represents 39 Articles of faith of the Anglican Church and the 39 books of the OT! It is my prayer and hope that the occasion will strengthen the church in Sudan for God's glory and extension of His Kingdom.”

Archbishop Josiah said: “It’s a welcome development that we now have another Anglican Province in a predominantly Muslim country. We hope the Province will stand and proclaim Christ in a way that will be meaningful in that context. Having Sudan as a separate Province of the Communion will benefit Christians in Sudan; now they will know they are not alone, that they are a part of the worldwide Anglican family, a family of 85 million believers.”

Source: Anglican Communion News Service… 

 

Twelve Points for the New African Union Commission Chairperson

AllAfrica.com || By International Crisis Group || 13 March 2017

Africa is experiencing the highest number of humanitarian crises since the 1990s. As the new chair of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, takes office, International Crisis Group suggests how he can strengthen the organisation's response to threats to continental peace and security.

Moussa Faki Mahamat, the new chair of the African Union Commission (AUC), takes office in mid-March as the continent faces its worst spate of humanitarian crises since the 1990s. The most alarming is in the Lake Chad basin where more than eleven million people need emergency aid. In Somalia, 6.2 million (almost half the population) face acute food shortages and in South Sudan, where the UN recently declared a famine, nearly 5 million are severely food insecure. The suffering is largely man-made: the effects of drought have been exacerbated by prolonged wars and mass displacement.

More promisingly, Gambia's peaceful transition, negotiated by the Economic Community of West African States with AU support, is one of the steps toward democracy and rule of law being taken in much of the continent.

Whether these gains can be multiplied across Africa depends on how well Mr Faki, Chad's former foreign minister, will use the tools at his disposal to persuade member states to address the triggers and longer-term drivers of conflict: fraught electoral processes; leaders who refuse to leave office as scheduled; corrupt, authoritarian or repressive governments; population growth; joblessness and climate change. These same forces precipitate two other major continental challenges, migration and the threat from religious extremists and other violent non-state groups.

Mr Faki arrives at a time of upheaval for the AU. At January's summit, heads of state agreed to proposals from Rwanda's President Paul Kagame that the organisation should focus only on a limited number of key priorities with continental scope, such as political affairs, peace and security and continental integration, and that institutional structures should be redesigned to reflect this. He will have to carefully manage this radical reform, as well as Morocco's recent re-admission, to avoid aggravating existing tensions and divisions and maintain morale in a beleaguered secretariat.

The geopolitical context for multilateral diplomacy is also changing rapidly. The influence of China, the Gulf states and Turkey (especially in the Horn, the Sahel and North Africa) cannot be ignored. Growing nationalism in Europe and the uncertainty of U.S. President Donald Trump's policies have created new concerns.

There are opportunities here for the AU along with challenges, but to take advantage of them, Mr Faki will have to push it and its member states to take greater responsibility, both politically and financially, for conflict prevention and resolution. Crisis Group offers below ideas on how the new chair of the AUC can drive change and revitalise key relationships so as to strengthen the AU's response to threats to continental peace and security, as well as suggestions for how the organisation can help prevent conflict escalating and move peace processes forward.

Strategic Direction

1. Build support for a stronger, more self-sufficient union

In a deeply unstable global environment, with old power centres in disarray and Middle East rivalries infecting the continent, African multilateral diplomacy is more necessary than ever. The new chair's challenge is to convince member states of the AU's worth, in particular the value of its peace and security architecture. That leaders signed on to a bold reform agenda would seem to suggest they want a more effective AU. But for the process to be truly transformative, they must make tough choices on sovereignty, and the tensions between popular aspirations for more open government and the authoritarian tendencies of many of those governments.

Working closely with presidents Kagame, Idriss Déby (Chad) and Alpha Condé (Guinea), the troika appointed to supervise implementation of the reforms, Mr Faki should build a coalition of leaders representing each region, who are committed to reform. But, building political support for a stronger AU will not be enough. Member states also need to provide adequate funding. Aside from the loss of credibility and ownership that reliance on external donors brings, the AU can no longer count on the same levels of external financing from the U.S. and Europe.

The AUC's ability to work effectively depends on member states willingness to implement the July 2016 summit decision for a 0.2 per cent levy on imports, with proceeds going to the AU. Only a handful of states have begun to enact the tax into law. Mr Faki should provide full support to the AU's High Representative for the Peace Fund, Dr Donald Kaberuka, and encourage member states to fulfil their financial commitments. Those who pay only lip service to the idea of a stronger AU must recognise that without significant additional African financing, AU peace support operations will likely remain blocked from sustainable funding from UN assessed contributions as well.

2. Make effective use of the existing conflict prevention architecture

The AU has the tools necessary for conflict prevention but finds it difficult to use them effectively because of resource constraints and the great influence member states willing to play the sovereignty card to avoid scrutiny wield. Changing leaders' thinking is hard, and Mr Faki should focus on building political support for conflict prevention among like-minded members. Even without such a coalition, there are ways to improve existing mechanisms. Translating data and analysis of the AU's early warning system into early action has been hampered, in part, by the way information flows within the AUC and between it and the regional economic communities (RECs). The chair should break down AUC barriers, especially between the Political Affairs and Peace and Security departments.

Mediation mechanisms are fragmented, with little oversight and direction from the chair or the Peace and Security Council (PSC). Creation of the mediation support unit (MSU) has been a good first step, but Mr Faki must ensure it is well-staffed by skilled, experienced specialists. For it to be truly effective, all mediation activities, including those of the Panel of the Wise, special envoys and representatives, liaison offices and special political missions, should be under its purview. There is little transparency in how special envoys and representatives are selected.

Mr Faki should work to change this as well as examine their performance and mandates, making changes where needed. He should also use the reform process either to reinvigorate or dispense with the Panel of the Wise. Likewise, he should engage more personally in preventative diplomacy, especially to unblock stalemated processes in Burundi, Central Africa Republic (CAR) and Mali, and work to build consensus at the local, regional, continental and wider international level so as to bring coherence to the efforts of all those involved in peacemaking. Mr Faki should understand the limitations of his office and bring respected former heads of state into the mediation process.

Many crises are predictable, especially those linked to poor governance and disputed political transitions. The effects of generational and demographic changes, the slow pace of economic growth in many countries and the persistence of repressive or authoritarian regimes mean we can expect increasing discontent and violent protest. Mr Faki must ensure that AUC fulfils its responsibility to alert the PSC to impending conflicts, engaging with affected member states and encouraging the PSC to put them on its agenda at the first signs of crisis. This will be uncomfortable and provoke backlash, but it cannot be avoided if the AU is serious about conflict prevention.

3. Strengthen the institution

The January summit adopted Kagame's bold reform outline, which aims to streamline the AU, making it more efficient, focused and results oriented. The new chair is charged with realising these ambitions. This is not the first reform attempt; ten years ago an independent panel drew up a comprehensive program on which Kagame's team drew heavily.

Mr Faki must learn from previous failures by not rushing the process and building broad support by consulting widely within the AUC and with member states. He should push forward on the reforms linked to the most urgent needs (eg, implementing the PSC protocols and strengthening sanctions mechanisms) and which have the greatest consensus.

The AU's relationship with the RECs, vital for effective conflict prevention and resolution, is often strained and competitive. The principles, rights and obligations governing this relationship are clearly set out in PSC Protocol (Article 16) and the 2007 memorandum of understanding. The chair should ensure these instruments are implemented. Some tension could be eased by more effective communication. Mr Faki should seek opportunities to work collaboratively with RECs and encourage direct, frequent exchanges at all levels during the lifecycle of a crisis.

RECs should be consulted before major decisions, such as the selection of a special envoy or deployment of observers. Uncertainty regarding the principle of subsidiarity limits the AU's its ability to intervene when regional peace processes stall, as in Burundi and South Sudan. He should use the reform process to establish comparative advantage, not subsidiarity, as the basis for the AU-RECs relationship.

4. Revitalise security partnerships

During the past decade, the AU has taken on a greater role in preventing and resolving conflicts. At the same time, the UN Security Council (UNSC) has increasingly delegated to it a central role in political management of Africa's conflicts, in part due to a growing recognition that it cannot manage these crises alone. The AU's confidence and capacity have increased, but it still relies on partners and donors to fund its peace and security activities and fill capacity gaps. As a result, relationships are often strained, sometimes blighted by mistrust and misunderstanding.

Collaboration with the UN, arguably the AU's most important security partner, has increased, but room for improvement remains. Together with the UN Secretary-General, Mr Faki should ensure that UNSC and AU PSC agendas are more closely aligned and reflect the continent's priorities.

By preparing PSC positions ahead of major UNSC decisions, there is a greater chance Africa will speak with one voice and so increase its influence on decisions. Closer AU-UN cooperation, including collective assessments and joint field visits, would foster more understanding and help build common positions and a shared analysis. Mr Faki should take the lead in this area, setting the tone and direction for the rest of the commission.

The European Union (EU) is identifying its strategic interests in Africa, and Mr Faki should ensure the AU defines its interests so common security challenges can be determined. The EU is a vital partner, but the relationship was tested in 2016 by its decision to reallocate 20 per cent of its funding for the AU's Somalia mission, AMISOM, and stop directly paying Burundian troops serving in it.

The EU-Africa November summit in Côte d'Ivoire is an opportunity to renew the partnership, discuss priorities and confirm areas of cooperation. The migrant crisis and terrorism threat will likely reshape EU-AU relations and feature prominently there. The chair must try to counter EU desire to focus narrowly on unpromising short-term curbs of migration to Europe by emphasising the need to address the drivers of the exodus: war, poverty, repression and the youth bulge.

5. Beyond a military response to "violent extremism"

The past decade has shown the costs and limits of a military response to jihadist groups and other violent non-state actors, especially in the absence of a political strategy. Military action is sometimes a necessary part of a strategy - the efforts against Boko Haram in the Lake Chad basin and jihadists in Mali are cases in point - but recent history in Africa and elsewhere suggests governments cannot rely on coercion alone.

The AU and its member states must not overlook the conditions that enable jihadist groups and other violent non-state actors to thrive: distrust of the state, especially in the peripheries; declining state authority; underdevelopment and social deprivation; readily available weapons; and heavy-handed, ineffective security forces. Mr Faki should articulate a stronger focus on developing coherent plans for returning effective government to affected areas.

The possibility of a U.S. return to heavier-handed counter-terrorism policies could encourage others to adopt similar approaches. This is especially dangerous in Africa, where rule of law is often weak or absent. The chair should remind leaders that in dealing with these groups they must not forget human rights obligations, and he should dissuade them from labelling all opponents as "terrorists" or "violent extremists".

Major Crises

6. Burundi

Contrary to government claims, the crisis is far from over. Intimidation, disappearances and killings continue and could quickly escalate, infecting a volatile region. Exact causes and motivations are hard to judge, as authorities have made no serious attempt to investigate and have frustrated the efforts of others, including the AU. The government and ruling party are intent on unilaterally dismantling the gains of the Arusha process that ended the last civil war, of which the AU is guarantor, including all vestiges of genuine power sharing and the critical presidential term limit. Internal debate on the direction is not permitted. The stability and relative peace Burundi recently enjoyed was premised on political pluralism and respect for Arusha's main tenants, notably power sharing. The current path is highly likely to increase violence if left unchecked; the government's drive to change the constitution to allow President Pierre Nkurunziza to run again would undoubtedly be a major spark.

In December, Benjamin Mkapa, the East African Community-appointed mediator, spoke out against the opposition's maximalist demand that the 2015 election result be revisited but did not balance this with criticism of the regime's crackdown. The ruling party made no concessions and continues to refuse dialogue with exiled opposition.

The AU's path is difficult, especially following its retreat from active engagement after the failed January 2016 attempt to send an AU peacekeeping mission. Mr Faki should personally re-engage the government, but he should hold to principled positions. The absence of PSC discussion makes it difficult for the AU to intervene, and the chairperson must encourage the PSC to put Burundi back on its agenda. The AU can support future mediation by clearly stating the current dangers, underlining that violence and intimidation is unacceptable, abuses must be investigated, and free, democratic debate is vital for stability. The AU should also emphasise that opposition violence is unacceptable and dangerous. Burundi's future direction, including continued application of Arusha Agreement, should be freely debated by all parties.

7. Central African Republic

2016's peaceful elections raised hopes of a longer-term resolution of the crisis that began in 2012. Yet, barely twelve months after President Faustin-Archange Touadera's victory, little has changed. A fifth of the population is internally displaced or refugees in neighbouring countries, intercommunal tensions are high, and armed groups de facto control most of the country.

Though security in Bangui is improved, violence against civilians and fighting between armed groups have intensified in the provinces. In the east, ex-Seleka factions compete for territory and resources, triggering massive new displacement and strong anti-Fulani sentiment. In the west, the exclusionary "centrafricanité" concept that emerged in circles close to François Bozizé in 2013 and stigmatises Muslim as "foreigners", prevents return of hundreds of thousands of refugees.

The government, though legitimate, is not in full control and cannot respond to all the challenges. Little has been done at national level to advance reconciliation, and talks between the government and armed groups over disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration are blocked. Regional powers have organised several parallel initiatives to kick-start talks between armed groups, including meetings in 2016 in Chad and Angola.

A proliferation of processes with unclear agendas could undermine attempts to persuade groups to disarm. All initiatives should support Touadera, who must develop a clear strategy for the negotiations, so that his government leads the process. The AU could be important in this, coordinating the initiatives and pushing armed groups to join the talks. A major challenge will be dealing with armed-group leaders - much of the population views their exclusion from government as a prerequisite for a sustainable solution.

8. Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

The 31 December agreement brokered by the National Episcopal Conference of the Congo (CENCO) calmed tensions resulting from the failure to hold elections the previous month. The deal was more inclusive than what the AU mediated in October and shortened the new date for the delayed polls from April 2018 to December 2017. But implementation is stalled over three issues: its timelines; appointment of the prime minister and composition of the interim government; and functioning of the oversight mechanism.

The death in February of opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi has suspended the talks, aiding the ruling majority, which consistently seeks to postpone elections. His loss deprives the Rassemblement, the main opposition coalition, of a genuinely popular leader able to cut deals, at a time when its inability to mobilise large protests undercut its legitimacy. The competition to replace Tshisekedi threatens the Rassemblement's cohesion and could push the opposition to more hard-line positions.

Armed conflict has displaced more than 2.2 million persons and is increasing in many provinces. In addition to the recurrent fighting in North Kivu, instability is spreading. In Kasai-Central, the August 2016 killing of a traditional chief by security forces has pitted militias against government forces and displaced some 200,000.

In Tanganyika, fighting between the Twa (Pygmy) and Luba (Bantu) communities is taking an increasing toll and also affecting Haut-Katanga and Haut-Lomami provinces. Increased tension in Kongo-Central province directly affects the capital, Kinshasa. Rising insecurity is linked to a crisis of state legitimacy, combined with deepening economic crisis. All this makes the organisation of elections increasingly unlikely and creates real risk of an implosion.

The challenge is to ensure credible elections are held on schedule, and the constitution is respected. The AU, in close cooperation with the region and the UN, should call on all parties to implement the 31 December agreement and prioritise organising polls as soon as realistic. It should give full support as CENCO tries to keep the signatories on track. Mass violence remains a distinct possibility, the outcome of which could be state collapse and the entire region's destabilisation. The PSC has taken a backseat on the DRC but needs to fully engage in attempts to broker a political transition.

9. Libya

The immediate priority remains preventing an escalation of violence. The country's de-facto partition into eastern and western areas dominated by loose, fractious military coalitions has been reinforced by failure of the Libyan Political (Skhirat) Agreement. Escalation would most likely come from an advance on Tripoli by General Khalifa Haftar and his Libyan National Army, buoyed by their takeover of oil facilities in the Gulf of Sirte and the dwindling international consensus behind the Skhirat deal.

This would provoke fierce fighting, particularly with Islamist militias in the capital and from Misrata. Preventing this probably requires Egypt and Russia to dissuade Haftar; even with foreign backing, he cannot conquer the entire country. Resetting Skhirat is essential. Direct talks are needed between the Tripoli-based Presidency Council and politicians from the east, leading toward a new, broader-based unity government. A parallel security track should include Haftar and major western armed groups.

But the diplomatic process is in limbo: the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), headed by Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj, barely functions, and there is a lack of direction from major outside powers. Only Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia appear to be proposing new solutions, but Algeria and Tunisia support the GNA, while Egypt is close to Haftar. The three share security concerns but differ on how inclusive a negotiated solution should be, especially toward Islamists.

Time is not with the GNA. Electricity and water shortages, looming collapse of the health sector, shortages of local and foreign currency all have made life much tougher for ordinary Libyans. This gives GNA foes, especially Haftar, an opportunity. Signs of wider confrontation in the absence of a viable peace process abound, and local conflicts (for instance between Arabs, Tebus and Touaregs in the south and among Tripoli-based militias) are gaining importance.

The AU should support Algeria's and Tunisia's more inclusive approach and urge more pressure on Haftar from Egypt, whose legitimate interests must be accommodated. AU support might help impose a solution proposed by neighbours (ultimately bringing in Chad, Niger and Sudan) and help it gain wider support. At a time when the peace process lacks clear direction, encouraging consensus among neighbours could show the way for the UN and non-African powers.

10. Mali

With implementation stalling there is a real possibility the June 2015 Bamako peace agreement could dissolve. The Malian parties have little faith in the significantly flawed deal they were pressured to sign. Insecurity could increase with the fracturing of the main rebel coalition, the Coordination des Mouvements de l'Azawad, into new community-based armed groups.

Jihadist organisations, like al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and Ansar Eddine, are still operating - striking provincial and district centres from rural bases. Insecurity is also rising in long neglected areas like central Mali, which is not covered by the northern peace process. The emergence of new groups, such as the Islamic State in the Great Sahara, and the possible incursion of defeated IS fighters from Libya further complicate the fraught security landscape.

The crisis is now spilling over borders. The G5 countries (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger) thus announced the creation in February of a regional force to combat terrorism and transnational crime. The AU is well placed to give political and logistical support, as it does for the Multi-National Joint Task Force fighting Boko Haram in the Lake Chad basin. But Mr Faki should push the G5 to take a realistic approach and work primarily on border security and improved intelligence sharing and to develop economic cooperation, not focus solely on military action.

A recent high-level Follow-up Committee meeting convened by the international mediation, was a last-ditch try to revive the peace process. It must not be squandered. Through Pierre Buyoya, the AU Special Representative, the chair should work with other partners to maintain momentum, focussing on relaunching the Mécanisme Opérationnel de Coordination (MOC) in northern Mali, including Kidal, and continuing to push for the newly-appointed interim authorities to start working effectively.

11. Somalia

Despite a fractious, fraudulent and corrupt electoral process beset by divisions and delays, Somalia elected a new president, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, with unprecedented cross-clan support. This is a chance for progress toward peace, economic prosperity and political stability. Expectations are inordinately high, however, and to avoid a backlash he must move swiftly on pledges to rebuild the security forces and state institutions, tackle corruption, improve justice and unify the country.

His nationalist rhetoric, supported by Islamist factions in his government, threatens to antagonise powerful neighbours capable of undermining his administration. It is critical for Mr Faki to encourage discreet diplomacy and foster dialogue between Somalia and its neighbours, especially Ethiopia, Kenya and Yemen.

Farmajo's credibility and popular support improves the odds of progress in the government's stalled national reconciliation process. A bottom-up approach has the greatest chance to produce lasting political settlements with and between federal member states. Mr Faki must seize this opportunity and encourage the new government to revive the process and help it mobilise technical and financial resources. Failure to reduce clan tensions and build sub-national administrations would create openings for Al-Shabaab and an emerging, albeit small, IS branch.

Despite significant successes against Al-Shabaab, AMISOM is struggling to win a guerrilla war it is ill-suited and inadequately resourced to fight. Internal challenges, national rivalries and frictions among troop contributing countries compound this problem, hampering military effectiveness. The AU should help to repair cohesion and encourage more realistic, strategic thinking in preparation for a well-managed drawdown framed around Somalia's security sector needs. Hasty withdrawal would be disastrous for Somalia and the region.

12. South Sudan

Famine, driven by a deadly combination of conflict, economic crisis and drought, has left 100,000 on the verge of starvation with a million more at serious risk. Almost eighteen months since a peace agreement was signed, fighting, accompanied by atrocities, shows little sign of stopping in Equatorias, Upper Nile and Unity states. Fierce combat in Juba last July between the government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army-In Opposition (SPLM/A-IO) forced ex-First Vice President Riek Machar to flee.

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development and other major international actors have acquiesced in his exile and replacement by First Vice President Taban Deng Gai. Without Machar, the SPLM/A-IO is less cohesive, and new armed groups are emerging, while President Salva Kiir strengthens his position in the capital and the region.

Kiir's December 2016 call for a renewed ceasefire and national dialogue presents an opportunity to promote negotiations between the government and parts of the armed opposition (including groups outside the transitional government) and to address the grievances of disaffected communities at the grassroots level. This will only succeed if the government is willing to negotiate fairly.

Mr Faki should ensure that the AU High Representative Alpha Oumar Konaré receives the support needed to fulfil the mandate given him at the IGAD-UN-AU meeting in January 2017 to encourage all stakeholders to begin genuinely inclusive discussion on the scope and format of a national dialogue. He should also look for ways in which the AU and its partners can support local communities in this process, in particular by helping them formulate and articulate their complaints.

Under the August 2015 peace agreement, the AU is responsible for establishing the Hybrid Court for South Sudan, mandated to investigate and prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during the recent civil war. Insecurity and severe restrictions on freedom of speech make it currently unfeasible to set up the court, but Mr Faki should ensure that preliminary work defining operation, funding and composition goes ahead and that the collection of evidence begins.

Source: AllAfrica.com… 

 

Empowering Women Changes Lives and Society

AllAfrica.com || 08 March 2017

There is overwhelming evidence that empowering women and girls has transformative personal, social, economic and health benefits for individuals, their children, families and society at large. And yet the recent startling statistics by the African Union show that out of 75 percent of girls starting school in Africa only 8 percent finish. This calls for African countries to reflect on the urgent matter as we commemorate International Women's Day 2017 but all hope is not lost.

Further statistics provided by the AU reveal that only seven in ten children who begin primary school in sub-Saharan Africa will stay in school until the last primary grade. Less than a quarter of high school aged girls are enrolled in secondary school in sub-Saharan Africa.
This year's theme: 'Be bold for change', cannot have come at a better time when the Africa Union has declared 2017 as the year for "Harnessing the demographic dividend through investments in youth. The continent has committed to putting education at the centre of focus. If there is one thing that Africa's leaders and society at large are to take a bold stance on, it is women's and girls' access to quality, relevant education.

Research has shown that simply getting girls into primary school does not ensure they complete schooling. Education initiatives have not been multi-dimensional enough.

Most are still focused on narrow mainstream education competencies of literacy and numeracy, leaving out personal, social and economic competencies that many women and girls need to survive and thrive.  As a result, interventions, have come short.

Promising approaches

It's not enough to provide cash transfers and scholarships but introduce multi-dimensional education programmes are designed to provide girls competencies or assets beyond the narrow core educational competencies of reading, writing and language fluency to include personal, social and economic competencies which inculcate important knowledge, skills and values.

An example of promising multi-dimensional approaches is the Room to Read adolescent girls' education programme, which is already being implemented in nine countries. It was created around a life skills education framework, consisting of 10 core life skills to negotiate key decisions as a way of address these multi-dimensional needs. FAWE, CAMFED and Care have also developed very promising multi-dimensional approaches to education that are worth considering for scale up.

For multidimensional investments to have a far-reaching impact, there must be investment in girls in both the formal and non-formal education opportunities. In order for these multidimensional interventions to succeed, collaboration across sectors such as education, health, labour and adolescent development, is imperative.

Multi-dimensional approaches to education for girls in Tanzania

The Graça Machel Trust acts as a catalyst, working across the continent to advocate for the protection of children's rights and dignity, and amplify women's movements by harnessing and promoting their contributions to the economic, social and political development of Africa. The Trust has partnered with the Tanzania's Mara, regional government to identify, enrol and retain 20 000 out-of-school children between 7-17 years old in the next two years.

The Mara region was identified as a priority region because of it is one of several regions with a high prevalence of gender-based violence, female genital mutilation and child marriage. The Founder, Mrs Graça Machel, encouraged churches, the government of Mara, community leaders and nongovernmental organisations to come together to fight for children's rights, particularly girls affected by harmful traditional practices. This is how the Mara Alliance was formed.

She had learnt that, according to a UNICEF study carried out in 2015, approximately 60,000 children were out-of-school in Mara. She brought her friends from Educate A Child from the country of Qatar to support the Mara Alliance project with a contribution of $2 million dollars while the Graça Machel and the regional government of Mara are contributing $2million dollars in kind. Educate a child has supported millions of out-of-school children to access primary education in many countries.

Detailed information about the 20 000 children and their families will be collected in order to design the right support to fight barriers that keep children out-of-school. In its first six months of implementation, the project has already identified and profiled 12,159 out of school children and their families in 5 of the nine Local Government Authorities of the Mara region. To improve the school environment, barriers found in the schools will be identified. The capacity of teachers, school heads and government staff will be built to deliver quality primary education in the Mara Region by the end of two years. The project will also mobilise an alliance of government, public sector, non-governmental organisations and community-based organisations to support the 20,000 children and their families throughout the project. Detailed information about all these different support partners would be essential to develop a strong referral system, identify service gaps and close them.

The project proposes the revival of a promising non-formal education system called Complementary Basic Education in Tanzania (COBET). The system provides children with not only core education competencies, but also personal, social and economic competencies, and is therefore multi-dimensional.

Invest in education

The lack of investment in education systems is hampering education in Africa. The International Commission on Financing global education opportunities puts the financial gap for global education at USD 39 billion per year between 2015 and 2030 to put global education funding on a sustainable basis. The Pioneer Africa Initiative launched in Uganda in 2015 by former Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete is trying to address the funding gap by encouraging African states to invest in education.

At the recent Africa Union, High Level Dialogue in Addis Ababa, Mrs Machel urged African leaders to re-commit to increased investment as they start implementing the 2030 development agenda and initiatives that feed into Agenda 2063. She appealed to international development partners to recognise that in the face of the Sustainable Development Goals and global interconnectedness, "we need each other now more than ever".

The data gap is also cause for concern

"If we do not know where the women and girls are, how many they are and what their individual experiences are, then how do we design appropriate interventions, plan and budget for them to make sure they are not left behind?"  asked Mrs Machel.
An emphasis on gender, rather than girls, will permit a broader discussion around how gender inequality limits the potential of both girls and boys to fully develop their capabilities.

Murphy-graham, one of the many respected social researchers on women and girls' education, who in her book Opening Minds, Improving Lives, defines empowerment through an education process as follows: "Empowered individuals come to recognise their inherent worth, the fundamental equality of all human beings and their ability to contribute to personal and social betterment. They develop the capacity to critically examine their lives and broader society and take action towards personal and social transformation."

Mrs Machel says "This is what we want for Africa's women and girls," noting "Investing in girls and women is about breaking the cycle of disempowerment, poverty and social exclusion."

Source: AllAfrica.com… 

 

German Government Unveils its 'Marshall Plan' With Africa

AllAfrica.com || African Development Bank Group || 02 March 2017

The German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Gerd Müller, has unveiled his Government's proposed "Marshall Plan" with Africa at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), saying the Plan can help resolve some of the challenges facing Africa.

Briefing the Bank's leadership in Abidjan on Thursday, Müller noted that while Africa remains a continent of opportunity with very dynamic development and a strong and promising youth, it faces many challenges.

The continent, he said, would have to create 20 million jobs per year and expand training and education facilities for a growing population expected to reach 2 billion by 2050.

This scenario, he said, calls for a new initiative with the dimensions of a "Marshall Plan with Africa (not for Africa)," a term, which, he said, underlines the strong concerted efforts from Africa, its partners and the global multilateral system.

With the African Union's 2063 Agenda as the framework, the Minister said the plan will focus on economic mobilization, education, training and entrepreneurship programmes that would give millions of Africans better prospects that are vital for Africa's future and for Europe and the world.

The blueprint proposes a "new level" of equal cooperation between Africa and western countries in areas such as education, trade, business development and energy.

It also calls for better and more equitable market access for African exports, an end to illicit financial flows from Africa and tax evasion by multinational companies. The plan, he said, would further support the development of agricultural value chains within African countries to enable them derive appropriate benefits from the products, citing cotton in Burkina Faso and cocoa and coffee in Côte d'Ivoire as examples.

"If you do not invest in development, if you do not reduce the gap between the rich and the poor, you will not have peace," Müller said, noting that misery, poverty and hunger are often the triggers of terrorism and radicalization.

African governments also have a role to play by fighting corruption, ensuring good governance and improving the situation for women. Müller said his Ministry would increase German development support for Africa by 20% in countries that undertake necessary reforms.

Noting that public funding would not create jobs in the long term, just as government measures were not likely to produce sustainable economic development; increased private investments and more entrepreneurship would be required to replace subsidies and state support, he said.

"Our aim is to provide clear incentives for creating an enabling environment for private investments. We are seeking to establish reform partnerships with African countries based on shared values of accountability, transparency and binding commitment," he said.

According to the Minister, good governance and anti-corruption efforts will play a substantial role in determining the distribution of the country's Official Development Assistance funds with the greater part benefitting reform-oriented countries.

Reform partnerships will be the contribution of Germany's development cooperation to the Compacts with Africa laid out by the G20. Together with international partners and the private sector, Germany will provide substantial support for countries willing to be Agenda 2063 champions, he said, citing Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire and Rwanda as potential beneficiaries.

The Plan supports fair trade rules, an efficient framework against tax avoidance and illicit financial flows and clear rules and strong incentives against land-grabbing and the exploitation of resources. This would help to increase the amount of domestic funds African governments would need to meet reform-oriented goals.

On the Bank's operations, Müller advised that it should endeavour to improve its reserves to increase its loan portfolio and scale down budget support operations.

He expressed the German Government's commitment to contribute significantly to AfDB' capital increase, noting the Bank has considerable comparative advantage on the continent. "We see your Bank as the voice of Africa, a depository of knowledge and experience on the continent's development," he said.

Contributing to the debate, the Executive Director for Morocco, Abdelmajid Mellouki, who stood in for the Board's Dean and other Board members who are on mission, suggested that the Plan be embellished with data to give a clearer picture of its objectives.

In closing, the Bank's Senior Vice-President, Frannie Léautier, who represented President Akinwumi Adesina, thanked the Minister for sharing the plan, which she said, proposed a high level of ownership and placed Africa at an equal level with partners among other issues that are central to the Board's continuous dialogues. She underscored the close alignment of the Plan's four foundations with the African Development Bank's High 5 priorities.

"We are all in the same boat. We sink and swim together. Africa has a chance to achieve real transformation," Léautier said.

Source: AllAfrica.com… 

 

Fake News, False Info Stokes Xenophobia in Africa

AllAfrica.com || Voice of America || By Salem Solomon || 02 March 2017

Fake news and misinformation are fueling bloody xenophobic clashes in South Africa and elsewhere on the continent, according to a non-profit that promotes accuracy in African public debate and the media.

Amidst growing tension, Africa Check has been debunking false information in South Africa and beyond.

The television news program Carte Blanche recently made one such claim, that one-third of nearby Malawi’s population had immigrated to South Africa. The actual figure is much lower, and the program has since corrected the statement.

“Basically, it’s causing unnecessary tension, and people have misplaced ideas about migration,” said Anim van Wyk, editor of Johannesburg-based Africa Check. “I think people just don’t believe the official estimates. People also believe news like, foreigners are taking jobs. We’ve also been busy looking into claims that they make up a large chunk of the prison population, but we’ve seen this time and again, once we start ... getting the data that it simply doesn’t back that up.”

Some stories describe attacks that never happened, stoking fear and confusion. Earlier this month, Mzansi Live, a South African website, published an untrue gruesome story about four foreign women who were burned alive after their babies were ripped from their wombs.

The post has been shared more than 25,000 times on Facebook, but fact checkers determined it was entirely false.

“You couldn’t believe that somebody would make up such a story just for clicks. It always plays into what is already a quite toxic environment,” van Wyk told VOA. “They publish stories that they completely make up. They cash in on the newsworthiness of xenophobia; with the tension rising they made up this truly awful story.”

Political motives

Politicians have also spread false information about foreigners. Some local reports suggest recent violence, including an anti-immigrant march in Pretoria last week, can be traced back to comments made by the mayor of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba, who has repeatedly blamed undocumented migrants for bringing crime to the country.

Mario Khumalo, founder of the South African First party, has also engaged in heated rhetoric, claiming the country has 13 million immigrants, many of whom are criminals or dangerous former child soldiers.

But van Wyk said her group contacted Khumalo, and he could offer no evidence to back up his figure. In fact, van Wyk says the best estimates put the foreign population in South Africa at three million. “So it was clear that it was really exaggerated,” she said.

Africa Check was set up in 2012 to counter false news and misinformation. The non-profit group has offices in Johannesburg and Dakar, Senegal, where staffers examine statements by politicians, institutions and media organizations.

Climate of fear

Anti-immigrant attacks aren't new in South Africa, but rhetoric and false information proliferating on social media may be amplifying anger and unease.

In numerous interviews, VOA reporters have found a climate of fear developing. Aklilu Beresa, an Ethiopian grocery store owner in Pretoria, said he lost everything during xenophobic rioting in 2015.

“They broke into [the business] and entered, and I can’t even tell you how I saved my life,” he said. “They came forcefully, and people saved me, and I lost all of my property."

Hassan Isse Mohamud, a Somali business owner in the town of Atteridgeville, fled to nearby Pretoria after an attack.

“Local community leaders came to us and they said, 'You must leave this area within one month,” he told VOA Somali Service. He said they accused them of stealing their jobs and robbing people. “They told us, if we don’t leave the city within that time [before February 24th], that they will loot our businesses, then kill us,” Mohamud said.

Another Pretoria resident, Daniel Gebru of Eritrea, said South Africans accuse immigrants of taking jobs, bringing in drugs, and sexually abusing women.

To combat that negative image, Gebru told VOA Tigrigna Service, Eritrean and Ethiopian immigrants have raised money to build homes for disabled children and worked with the Mandela Foundation to help the elderly and distribute blankets to homeless people.

South Africa’s turmoil is causing effects beyond its borders. In Nigeria, an angry mob attacked offices of the South African mobile phone giant MTN last week in response to xenophobic attacks in South Africa.
The National Association of Nigerian Students announced it would give South Africans 48 hours to leave Nigeria or the attacks would continue.

Law enforcement taking notice

The role of false information in ongoing xenophobic violence has caught the attention of law enforcement. South Africa’s internal security branch, the Justice Crime Prevention and Security Cluster, has become so concerned about the spread of false information it issued a statement denouncing harmful social media posts and called for them to stop.

Meanwhile, van Wyk sees reason for cautious optimism.

“People are now much more aware, and when we fact-check these kind of things, people would tell us, ‘Yeah, I’ve been calling them out for a long time,’" van Wyk said. "So that is very encouraging."

"But, that said ... like anywhere else, people are on their phones, on Twitter, they just see part of a headline or they are in a hurry, and then unfortunately these things get shared or spread or believed to be the truth.”

Minia Afwerki, Mestawet Shumye, Ismail Mohamed contributed to this report.

Source: AllAfrica.com… 

 

Famine Hits Parts of South Sudan

AllAfrica.com || UN News Press Release || 20 February 2017

UN agencies warn that almost 5 million people urgently need food, agriculture and nutrition assistance 

War and a collapsing economy have left some 100,000 people facing starvation in parts of South Sudan where famine was declared today, three UN agencies warned. A further 1 million people are classified as being on the brink of famine.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) also warned that urgent action is needed to prevent more people from dying of hunger. If sustained and adequate assistance is delivered urgently, the hunger situation can be improved in the coming months and further suffering mitigated.

The total number of food insecure people is expected to rise to 5.5 million at the height of the lean season in July if nothing is done to curb the severity and spread of the food crisis.

According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) update released today by the government, the three agencies and other humanitarian partners, 4.9 million people – more than 40 percent of South Sudan's population – are in need of urgent food, agriculture and nutrition assistance.

Unimpeded humanitarian access to everyone facing famine, or at risk of famine, is urgently needed to reverse the escalating catastrophe, the UN agencies urged. Further spread of famine can only be prevented if humanitarian assistance is scaled up and reaches the most vulnerable.

Famine is currently affecting parts of Unity State in the northern-central part of the country. A formal famine declaration means people have already started dying of hunger. The situation is the worst hunger catastrophe since fighting erupted more than three years ago.

"Famine has become a tragic reality in parts of South Sudan and our worst fears have been realised. Many families have exhausted every means they have to survive," said FAO Representative in South Sudan Serge Tissot. "The people are predominantly farmers and war has disrupted agriculture. They've lost their livestock, even their farming tools. For months there has been a total reliance on whatever plants they can find and fish they can catch."

Malnutrition is a major public health emergency, exacerbated by the widespread fighting, displacement, poor access to health services and low coverage of sanitation facilities. The IPC report estimates that 14 of the 23 assessed counties have global acute malnutrition (GAM) at or above the emergency threshold of 15 percent, with some areas as high as 42 percent.

"More than one million children are currently estimated to be acutely malnourished across South Sudan; over a quarter of a million children are already severely malnourished. If we do not reach these children with urgent aid many of them will die," said Jeremy Hopkins, UNICEF Representative a.i in South Sudan. "We urge all parties to allow humanitarian organizations unrestricted access to the affected populations, so we can assist the most vulnerable and prevent yet another humanitarian catastrophe."

"This famine is man-made. WFP and the entire humanitarian community have been trying with all our might to avoid this catastrophe, mounting a humanitarian response of a scale that quite frankly would have seemed impossible three years ago. But we have also warned that there is only so much that humanitarian assistance can achieve in the absence of meaningful peace and security, both for relief workers and the crisis-affected people they serve," said WFP Country Director Joyce Luma. "We will continue doing everything we possibly can to hold off and reverse the spread of famine."

Across the country, three years of conflict have severely undermined crop production and rural livelihoods. The upsurge in violence since July 2016 has further devastated food production, including in previously stable areas. Soaring inflation – up to 800 percent year-on-year – and market failure have also hit areas that traditionally rely on markets to meet food needs. Urban populations are also struggling to cope with massive price rises on basic food items.

FAO, UNICEF and WFP, with other partners, have conducted massive relief operations since the conflict began, and intensified those efforts throughout 2016 to mitigate the worst effects of the humanitarian crisis. In Northern Bahr El Ghazal state, among others, the IPC assessment team found that humanitarian relief had lessened the risk of famine there.

FAO has provided emergency livelihood kits to more than 2.3 million people to help them fish or plant vegetables. FAO has also vaccinated more than 6 million livestock such as goats and sheep to prevent further loss.

WFP continues to scale up its support in South Sudan as humanitarian needs increase, and plans to provide food and nutrition assistance to 4.1 million people through the hunger season in South Sudan this year. This includes lifesaving emergency food, cash and nutrition assistance for people displaced and affected by conflict, as well as community-based recovery or resilience programs and school meals.

In 2016, WFP reached a record 4 million people in South Sudan with food assistance — including cash assistance amounting to US$13.8 million, and more than 265,000 metric tons of food and nutrition supplies. It is the largest number of people assisted by WFP in South Sudan since independence, despite problems resulting from the challenging context.

UNICEF aims to treat 207,000 children for severe acute malnutrition in 2017. Working with over 40 partners and in close collaboration with WFP, UNICEF is supporting 620 outpatient therapeutic programme sites and about 50 inpatient therapeutic sites across the country to provide children with urgently needed treatment. Through a rapid response mechanism carried out jointly with WFP, UNICEF continues to reach communities in the most remote locations. These rapid response missions treat thousands of children for malnutrition as well as provide them with immunization services, safe water and sanitation which also prevents recurring malnutrition.

Source: AllAfrica.com…