GENEVA, Switzerland, February 20, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — In early January 2015, torrential rains and flooding hit Malawi’s southern districts destroying the homes, crops, and livelihoods of over half a million people.The floods left an estimated 230,000 people internally displaced and the Malawi government declared a national state of emergency, activating disaster management clusters and operations.At the request of the Malawi Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) and the UN Resident Coordinator’s office, IOM is addressing critical gaps in Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) and shelter for internally displaced people (IDPs).With funding from the UN Central Emergency Response…
Author: apofeed
WASHINGTON, February 19, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Press StatementJohn KerrySecretary of StateWashington, DCFebruary 18, 2015I welcome the completion and launch of an 8.5 MW solar installation in Rwanda by Gigawatt Global. This is the first utility-scale solar project to come online under the U.S.-Africa Clean Energy Finance (ACEF) program, which is now an integral part of Power Africa. The project expands electricity generation capacity by more than 6 percent in a country where more than 80 percent of the people live without access to electricity, and is providing enough grid-connected power to supply 15,000 homes.With continually decreasing costs, minimal…
NEW YORK, February 18, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — United Nations humanitarian chief, Valerie Amos, has allocated US$10.2 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support thousands of families displaced by major floods in Malawi and Mozambique. Extremely heavy rains and floods in January displaced 230,000 people in Malawi, and 50,000 people in Mozambique. Many have lost everything, including their homes. “The Humanitarian Country Teams in both countries requested CERF funding to kick-start emergency relief efforts. CERF has been part of the collective effort to provide critical, life-saving assistance for those affected by the floods in Malawi and…
NAIROBI, Kenya, February 18, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — As we witness utilities across the continent struggling to acquire and evacuate electricity sufficient enough to reach a base-load, transmission is fast-proving the biggest barrier to energy access across Africa.Logo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/energynet1-2.pngPhoto: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/index.php?level=picture&id=1763Presently, there are never-before-seen levels of investment into the power sector- no longer is it simply the poor cousin of exploration. Investors today view power as an opportunity quoted by some as so vast it will make the returns of the African telecoms giants insignificant by comparison.However, despite over US$8bln of project investments in greenfield projects in South Africa alone,…
HARARE, Zimbabwe, February 18, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — After over 5 years of leadership in the township wall advertising industry throughout South Africa, township media specialists, Keys Communications (http://www.keyscommunications.co.za) are expanding their successful business model to include the rest of Africa. The African operations will be headquartered in Zimbabwe. This unique model has a pivotal CSI component, providing community members with revenue opportunities for the use of the township wall as an advertising platform. In turn brands enjoy a strategic advertising location which facilitates direct access to a captive audience within the context of their daily experiences – be…
WASHINGTON, February 20, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice met today at the White House with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry. Ambassador Rice reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the strategic partnership with Egypt and offered condolences to the Egyptian government and people on recent terrorist attacks, including the murders of Egyptian security personnel and civilians in the Sinai Peninsula and twenty-one Egyptian Coptic Christians at the hands of ISIL-affiliated terrorists in Libya. She emphasized the importance of U.S.-Egyptian cooperation to help the Libyan people address threats from terrorism and to promote a unified Libyan government…
DAKAR, Senegal, February 17, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Senegal Ministry of Education and Samsung Electronics Africa (http://www.samsung.com/africa_en) today announced the launch of a mobile education solution aimed at creating positive change and providing an advanced and interactive classroom experience for learners. Logo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/samsung.jpgInstalled at the Plan Jaxaay Secondary School, the Samsung Smart School initiative is an integrated platform that includes a monitoring and controlling feature – which allows teachers to keep track of educational content on their learners’ screens – a screen-sharing feature and a real-time question-and-answer feature.The future of education is about accessing information and collaborating locally…
GENEVA, Switzerland, February 13, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Gabon’s record on women’s rights will be examined by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on Tuesday 17 February in meetings that will be webcast live. Gabon is one of the 188 States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and so is required to submit regular reports to the Committee of 23 independent experts on how it is implementing the Convention. The Committee will engage in a dialogue with the delegation from the Government of Gabon on questions…
BRUSSELS, Kingdom of Belgium, February 13, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Didier Reynders noted with concern the recent Human Rights Watch report on the armed incidents that occurred in the province of Cibitoke (Burundi) in the beginning of January 2015. The report describes some elements that, if confirmed, are extremely serious and shocking. It indicates that, during the clashes, not less than 47 summary executions were carried out by security forces, the army and police. Minister Reynders is also concerned about indications on the involvement of the youth wing of the CNDD-FDD…
GENEVA, Switzerland, February 12, 2015/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Stephen Dungu Karau, the new Permanent Representative of Kenya to the United Nations Office at Geneva, today presented his credentials to Michael Møller, the Acting Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva. Prior to his appointment to Geneva, Mr. Dungu Karau was the African President of the Collaborative Arrangement for the Prevention and Management of Public Health Events in Civil Aviation (CAPSCA). At the same time, he worked as the Chief Medical Assessor at the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, where he oversaw the work of all the Aviation Medical Examiners…