GENEVA, Switzerland, October 14, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The FIFA Disciplinary Committee decided on 10 October to sanction the Zimbabwean international player Chafa Devon Taitamba, who had been provisionally suspended in August for an anti-doping rule violation following a doping control conducted after the match of the preliminary competition of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ played in Harare, Zimbabwe on 9 June 2013. The player has been declared ineligible for a period of six months after testing positive for prednisone – a substance included on WADA’s 2013 Prohibited List under the class “S9. Glucocorticosteroids”.By testing positive for a…
Author: apofeed
GENEVA, Switzerland, October 4, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — IOM Zimbabwe has received EUR 1 million from the European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department (ECHO) to provide protection assistance to vulnerable migrants, including asylum seekers arriving in Zimbabwe in mixed migration flows and other mobile populations.The funds will allow for the improvement of ongoing protection monitoring and assessments, the provision of emergency shelter, non-food items, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), and emergency health care.The ECHO aid will allow some 6,000 asylum seekers and stranded migrants to receive emergency assistance at the Nyamapanda Temporary Reception Centre.The funds will also…
GENEVA, Switzerland, September 2, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The chairman of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee has provisionally suspended a Zimbabwean international footballer for an initial period of 30 days and opened disciplinary proceedings following an adverse analytical finding in relation to a doping control conducted after the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ qualifier between Zimbabwe and Egypt played in Harare, Zimbabwe on 9 June 2013. After receiving the “A” sample result, which was positive for a prohibited substance included in WADA’s 2013 prohibited list, the player did not request the analysis of the “B” sample within the deadline granted.The decision…
Choisissez un �l�ment. August 22, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Following the announcement by the Zimbabwean Constitutional Court that the presidential election result should stand and President Mugabe can be inaugurated, the Foreign Secretary William Hague said:�I am extremely concerned that the MDC-T had to withdraw its legal challenge due to concerns over the independence of the judiciary. I strongly believe that an independent investigation of any allegations of election irregularities would be required for the election result to be deemed credible. �As I have set out previously, I have grave concerns over the conduct of the election, and the…
GENEVA, Switzerland, August 9, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — IOM Zimbabwe has received US$ 750,000 from the US Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) to assist in responding to humanitarian and protection needs of migrants in Zimbabwe.The US support will target forcibly returned migrants and asylum seekers arriving in Zimbabwe, including unaccompanied minors and displacement affected communities, by facilitating the provision of emergency humanitarian assistance to them.The money will also go towards facilitating long term durable solutions, community-based disaster risk reduction in high risk areas, capacity building on cross border mobility and provision of humanitarian assistance to forcibly returned migrants.Specific…
TOKYO, Japan, August 6, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Japan congratulates the Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe and its people on the peaceful conduct of the first elections held under the new constitution.Japan hopes that the concerns which have been raised about the elections are dealt with in an appropriate manner, and that the will of the people of Zimbabwe will be respected by fair and peaceful means, through dialogue and cooperation between concerned parties. Japan will continue to follow the situation closely in the country.
OSLO, Norway, August 6, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — “Norway is pleased that the elections in Zimbabwe passed off peacefully, in contrast to the previous elections in 2008. This is a step in the right direction. But unfortunately there are clear indications that these elections were marred by so many irregularities that they cannot be called open and fair,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide. Presidential and parliamentary elections were held in Zimbabwe on 31 July. The results were announced yesterday. According to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, current President Robert Mugabe (ZANU-PF) received 61 % of the votes…
MORONI, Comoros, December 14, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today completed the sixth and final review under the three-year arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) for the Union of the Comoros. The completion of the review enables the disbursement of an amount equivalent to SDR 1.55 million (about US$2.4 million). In completing the review, the Board approved a waiver for the nonobservance of the performance criterion on net credit to the government at end-June 2013.The three-year Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement for the Union of the Comoros was approved in…
OTTAWA, Canada, December 14, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Lois Brown, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development and Minister for La Francophonie, will attend the third African Union Conference of Ministers Responsible for Mineral Resources Development, in Maputo, Mozambique, from December 13-17, 2013.The Parliamentary Secretary will deliver remarks at the Conference’s official opening and will help launch the African Minerals Development Centre, to which Canada is the largest contributor. PS Brown will also participate in a panel discussion on leveraging the Africa Mining Vision.While in Maputo, PS Brown will chair a roundtable discussion on Women’s Economic Empowerment in…
BRUSSELS, Kingdom of Belgium, December 14, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The High Representative expresses her grave concern at the serious incident of 10 December in which a TAP-Air Portugal crew was compelled by a senior member of the transitional authorities of Guinea Bissau, accompanied by military personnel, to carry 74 presumedSyrian nationals with illegal passports from Bissau to Lisbon, in complete disregard of international law.This raises serious questions about the effectiveness of the rule of law in Guinea Bissau and the willingness of the authorities themselves to respect it.The HR calls on the transitional authorities to take urgently the…
WASHINGTON, December 13, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The United States welcomes today’s signing of declarations ending the M23 rebellion in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. For too long, the people of the African Great Lakes region have suffered as a result of conflict and instability. Today’s signing moves us one step closer to bringing decades of violence to an end.While we welcome this important progress, much work remains. M23 must be disarmed and demobilized. Those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity must be held to account. A regional dialogue around peace and security issues must now…
OSLO, Norway, December 13, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — “The situation in the Central African Republic is now so serious that the UN humanitarian system has decided to operate collectively at the highest level to mobilise staff, equipment and other resources. Norway is therefore allocating NOK 20 million in funding to UNICEF for its efforts to protect children in the country. In wars and conflicts, children are the most vulnerable group of all,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs Børge Brende. The UN and aid organisations are reporting a dramatic deterioration in the humanitarian situation in the Central African Republic, as…
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, December 13, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved on December 12, 2013 a request by Tanzania to extend the country’s arrangement under the Standby Credit Facility (SCF) until April 30, 2014, to allow time for the third and final review. The decision was taken on a lapse of time basis.1 The 18-month arrangement, approved in July 2012, had been scheduled to expire on January 5, 2014 (see Press Release No. 12/252).The SCF provides financing in an amount equivalent to SDR 149.175 million (about US$230.2 million), of which…
TUNIS, Tunisia, December 13, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The African Development Bank (AfDB) (http://www.afdb.org) is organizing final technical consultations with representatives from across Africa on its new Governance Strategy for 2014-2018.Logo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/african-development-bank-2.png AfDB’s key stakeholders will discuss on Monday, December 16, 2013 how to further improve this strategy in terms of its strategic orientation and relevance in addressing Africa’s key governance challenges. This will also be an opportunity for development partners to discuss how best to work together in addressing governance challenges on the African continent.Participants of this technical consultation, taking place in Tunis, Tunisia, include, among others, African…
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, December 13, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Tanzania’s economy is likely to grow at approximately seven percent annually for the next two years, with inflation stabilizing at around five percent largely due to falling food prices and tight monetary policies. The current account deficit should remain equivalent to a value of 13 -15 percent of GDP, unless there are significant changes in global commodity prices and in the demand for Tanzanian products, according to the World Bank’s latest Tanzania Economic Update released today: ‘Raising the Game: Can Tanzania Eradicate Extreme Poverty,’ The World Bank report says…
VIENNA, Austria, December 13, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the operational unit of the Austrian Development Cooperation, today signed agreements to support an existing renewable energy and energy efficiency centre in West Africa and to set up three more centres in East and Southern African and in the Caribbean region. The four project agreements will receive a total of approximately EUR 3.5 million in funding from the ADA.“The regional renewable energy and energy efficiency centres are another good example of our fruitful partnership with Austria. Local companies…
GENEVA, Switzerland, December 13, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — For the first time in history, Somali National AIDS Commissions*, with technical and financial support from International Organization for Migration (IOM), were represented at the 17th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA).“IOM is grateful to be part of supporting Somali AIDS responses to be known to the world through ICASA. This representation was historical and significant as it offered the international community valuable experiences and lessons learnt from conflict and post-conflict settings,” said Ali Abdi, IOM Somalia Chief of Mission.Held during 07-11 December 2013 in Cape Town, South…
GENEVA, Switzerland, December 13, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The International Organization for Migration’s Regional Office in Dakar is organizing a five-day workshop for Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) to train trainers during natural disasters. The event is made possible due to funding from the European Commission’s Office for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO).The West and Central Africa Region has suffered from numerous political, social and ecological crises in recent years and all will only be exacerbated by climate change in years to come. This underlines the relevance of CCCM which sees the increasing importance of managing populations…
GENEVA, Switzerland, December 13, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Within the scope of its ongoing European Union-funded project “Stabilizing at-risk communities and enhancing migration management to enable smooth transitions in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya” (START), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is currently carrying out a collaborative series of trainings with the Egyptian Government’s National Coordinating Committee for Combating Human Trafficking and Illegal Migration (NCC).The three-day training workshop being held in Alexandria is targeting 60 judges from Alexandria, Marsa Matrouh, Tanta, Kafr Elsheikh and Damanhour, exposing these to the issues of trafficking, migrant protection and international migration law. The aim…
GENEVA, Switzerland, December 13, 2013/African Press Organization (APO)/ — On the 10th and 11th of December 2013, IOM Sudan arranged for the safe departure of 60 Eritrean refugees to be resettled to Canada from Sudan. IOM Staff from Sudan escorted the refugees to Calgary and Toronto. The Government of Canada is the first in the top five resettlement countries accepting refugees from Sudan. A total of 711 refugees have been assisted for resettlement from Sudan to Canada in 2013. The other countries on the top five are Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Australia.One refugee traveling on 11 December said he felt…