WASHINGTON, December 19, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — In recent weeks, government affiliated armed groups and independent militias have committed shocking and horrific atrocities against innocent civilians in the Central African Republic (CAR). The CAR faces extraordinary challenges to restore security and to ensure protection of the civilian population. We are grateful for the important contributions made by the African Union, regional states, and France in support of the international community’s response. And as President Obama said, as forces from other African countries and France work to restore security, the United States will support their efforts to protect civilians. We…
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GENEVA, Switzerland, December 19, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — A group of United Nations human rights experts* today urged all parties in the Central African Republic to call an immediate and unconditional halt to the violence and to bring their forces and militias under control and immediately stop attacks against civilians. “The current shocking violence in the Central African Republic threatens to descend into a full-scale sectarian conflict between Christian and Muslim communities – but it can and must be halted now,” the UN experts said, while expressing grave concern over the escalating violence in the country and the rapidly…
NEW YORK, December 18, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Leila Zerrougui and the Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide, Adama Dieng, are travelling to the Central African Republic (CAR) from 17 to 21 December to assess the impact of the conflict on the civilian population, especially on women and children. The delegation will also include Nancee Oku Bright representing the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict. The mission will conduct field visits and hold consultations with the Transitional Authorities of CAR, representatives of regional…
WASHINGTON, December 18, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — TestimonySenate Foreign Relations Committee, Subcommittee on African AffairsWashington, DCDecember 17, 2013Thank you Chairman Coons, Ranking Member Flake and other members for the opportunity to testify before you today on this urgent matter. I very much appreciate your interest and your raising the profile of this issue. I have submitted a full written testimony to the committee and I would ask that it be entered into the record and I will summarize briefly that testimony here today.We are deeply concerned by the horrific violence across Central African Republic (CAR), particularly the increasingly sectarian…
GENEVA, Switzerland, December 20, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Upon request of the Malian Government, IOM carried out last week an operation to assist the voluntary return of 163 Malians stranded in Libya for several months.Most of the stranded migrants in this group had initially left Mali for Algeria. With the money earned working in the Northern African country they jointly bought a boat to make their way towards Lampedusa in late July, an island known as a prime transit point for migrants wanting to enter Europe, particularly those originating from Africa.On their way to Lampedusa, the migrants got lost…
GENEVA, Switzerland, December 20, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Togo still needs to strengthen respect for human rights in the administration of justice and improve the overall functioning of its justice system, despite some progress and reform, a report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has concluded. The findings are based on work by the High Commissioner’s office in Togo that included visits to places of detention; the review and follow-up of cases; and training courses for justice professionals. The Togolese Government began a programme in 2005 to modernise the judiciary, leading to some concrete achievements, but problems…
TUNIS, Tunisia, December 18, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) (http://www.afdb.org) approved an African Development Fund (ADF) Partial Risk Guarantee (PRG) program of US $184.2 million1 , and an ADF loan of US $3.1 million, for capacity building, to support the Nigerian power sector privatization program.Logo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/african-development-bank-2.pngThe PRG program in Nigeria aims to increase the country’s electricity generation by catalyzing private sector investment and commercial financing in the power sector through the provision of PRGs. The PRGs will mitigate the risk of the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), a…
LONDON, United-Kingdom, December 18, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ – The Western Union Company (http://www.westernunion.com/) (NYSE:WU), a leader in global payment services and a Global Partner of the UEFA Europa League (http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaleague/index.html), today announced that, as the Group Stage in this season’s competition comes to an end, over 250,000 successful passes have been made since the launch of its three-season PASS initiative in September 2012.Logo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/western-union.jpgWith the PASS initiative, Western Union and the Western Union Foundation (http://foundation.westernunion.com/) in collaboration with UNICEF (http://www.unicef.org/), are turning every successful pass in the UEFA Europa League into funding for better education, harnessing the power of…
BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of the Congo, December 18, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The BUILD Africa Forum (http://www.buildafricaforum.com) is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with the Institute for Infrastructure Studies (I.I.S.), a leading infrastructure think-tank based in London, UK and Doha, Qatar. Logo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/build.pngThe BUILD Africa Forum, together with the I.I.S. and the African Development Bank’s Africa50 Fund, have joined forces and committed their combined expertise in infrastructure investment and finance to develop solutions to Africa’s infrastructure funding gap.The strategic relationship aims to answer the following key questions:• How will infrastructure investment risk profiles develop over the next 20 years…
TOKYO, Japan, December 17, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — 1. Japan welcomes the Declarations signed on December 12 respectively by the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the M23 and Chair of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, the President of Uganda, and Chair of the Southern African Development Community, the President of Malawi, on the end of rebellion of the M23 against the Government of the DRC.2. Japan considers these declarations as an important step towards consolidation of peace in eastern DRC and the region. It also expects that the Government of the DRC,…
BRUSSELS, Kingdom of Belgium, December 16, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Council adopted the following conclusions: “1. Recalling its Council conclusions of 22 July 20131, the European Union (EU) confirms its commitment to the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework Agreement for the DRC and the Region (PSC Framework) and to promoting stability and development in the Great Lakes Region. The EU notes a number of significant developments since July, in particular the progress achieved by the DRC in recovering full sovereignty on its territory and in restoring state authority in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the end of…
OTTAWA, Canada, December 15, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Honourable Deepak Obhrai, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and for International Human Rights, today issued the following statement:“Canada welcomes the recent conclusion of the Kampala Dialogue between the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the M23 armed rebel group. We hope that this will result in a successful disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process, which will be key to durable peace in the eastern DRC.“Underlying tensions in the eastern DRC must be addressed to bring peace to all Congolese, and an end to ethnic divisions,…
BERN, Switzerland, December 18, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Federal Council decided during today’s session to extend by three years the freezing of all assets held in Switzerland by deposed presidents Ben Ali (Tunisia) and Mubarak (Egypt) and by politically exposed persons in their entourage. The aim of this extension is to provide more time for criminal investigations in Tunisia and Egypt into the origin of these assets. The Federal Council is thereby taking account of the political transition in the two countries.At the beginning of 2011, the Federal Council ordered the preventive freezing of all assets held in…
BEIJING, China, December 18, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — On December 16, 2013, Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with the visiting Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy in Beijing.Wang Yi said that China and Egypt enjoy profound traditional friendship. China highly values the important status and role of Egypt as a major country in the region, and always sees Egypt as an important strategic partner. It is on the tiptoe of China’s expectation that Egypt remains stable. China respects the right for Egyptian people to independently choose the political system and development path, and supports Egypt for its efforts to…
CAIRO, Egypt, December 14, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Metito (http://www.metito.com), the leader and provider of choice for total intelligent water management solutions in the emerging markets, has won a new project worth USD $ 25million to deliver water and wastewater systems for a new 650MW thermal power plant in Suez, Egypt.Logo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/metito.jpgPhoto: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/index.php?level=picture&id=771 (Karim Madwar, Metito Africa Managing Director)In the presence of Ahmed Emam, Egypt’s Minister of Electricity and Energy, Karim Madwar, Metito Africa Managing Director signed the contract with Hamdy Ibrahim, Chief of East Delta Electricity Production Company (EDEPC) in a ceremony attended by Gaber El-Desoky, Chief of…
GENEVA, Switzerland, December 17, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is urgently appealing to the international community for financial support to continue providing immediate post arrival humanitarian assistance to thousands of Ethiopian migrants arriving from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).As the arrival has surpassed the projected 120,000 migrants within a month, the Government of Ethiopia and IOM are now looking at an additional 35,000 migrants expected to arrive from the cities of Riyadh, Jeddah and new arrivals from Medina.IOM was facing a funding gap of USD 11.2 million to assist 120,000 migrants. However, as…
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, December 16, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union (AU), Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, has learnt with shock and grief about the attack on a mini-bus in Nairobi’s Eastleigh suburb, which took place on Saturday, 14 December 2013, and claimed the lives of a number of innocent civilians while many other people sustained injuries. The Chairperson of the Commission strongly condemns this cowardly attack and expresses AU’s most sincere condolences to the bereaved families, and wishes strength and a speedy recovery to the wounded.The Chairperson of the Commission reiterates the AU’s…
STUTTGART, Germany, December 16, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — A media delegation from Algeria and Mauritania wrapped up a five-day visit to U.S. Africa Command, Friday, December 13, 2013. While at the Stuttgart, Germany-based combatant command, the 13 journalists received in-depth briefings on how AFRICOM operates.On the first day of their visit, the delegation was welcome to Germany by AFRICOM’s Deputy Command for Military Operations, Lieutenant General Steven Hummer who encouraged the guests to ask questions and learn as much as possible about the command’s mission. Over the next five days, the journalists received an avalanche of information on health…
GENEVA, Switzerland, December 17, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — IOM organizes, this week, an HIV awareness and testing campaign for mine workers returning from the South African gold and platinum mines for the holidays. The campaign, which also marks International Migrants’ Day on December 18th, will be done in Ressano Garcia border town, a thriving border post which is the main artery linking Mozambique and South Africa.Mozambique currently has around 35,000 registered mine workers in South Africa; many of them return to their communities of origin over the Christmas period to celebrate with their families. The border office extends its…
GENEVA, Switzerland, September 12, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child is meeting in Geneva from 16 September to 4 October to review the situation of children’s rights in the following countries: Sao Tome and Principle (16-17 Sep), Kuwait (17-18 Sep); Moldova (18 Sep); Tuvalu (20 Sep); Lithuania (23 Sep); Paraguay (24-25 Sep); China (26-27 Sep); Luxembourg (30 September); Monaco (1 Oct). The above are among the 193 States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and are required to undergo regular examinations of their record before the Committee of…