Month: July 2022

GENEVA — The World Health Organization is warning of growing health risks in the Horn of Africa as acute hunger spreads there.

The World Health Organization’s incident manager for the Horn of Africa, Sophie Maes, says urgent action is needed to slow the health and hunger crisis that is sickening and killing increasing numbers of people in the region.

WHO has released $16.5 million from its emergency fund for operations there.

“Due to the acute food insecurity, malnutrition rates are getting higher and higher, and especially children and pregnant and lactating women are very, very vulnerable,” said Maes. “… There is this synergy between malnutrition and disease where malnourished children become more easily sick and sick children more easily malnourished.”

The World Food Program warns 20 million people are at risk of starvation as drought in the Horn worsens.

Speaking from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, Maes says the priority is to ensure everyone has access to food. At the same time, she says it is important that’ health needs are not neglected.

She warns the risk of disease outbreaks is higher because of a lack of clean water. She says the drought has dried up water sources, forcing people to leave their homes in search of food, water, and pasture for their cattle. Consequently, she says people are more likely to get sick as their living conditions deteriorate.

“And we are seeing a spike in disease outbreaks. We are looking at measles in Djibouti, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Somalia, Sudan,” said Maes. “Cholera and acute water diarrhea in Kenya, in South Sudan and Somalia. Meningitis, Hepatitis E, to name but a few.”

Maes appeals for international support to help WHO provide needed care to severely malnourished children.

She says it is crucial to respond to disease outbreaks quickly, to have sufficient supplies of drugs and equipment available, and to ensure children receive needed vaccines.

Source: Voice of America

CAIRO — A senior U.N. official for Libya on Saturday condemned the storming of the parliament’s headquarters in the east of the oil-rich country as part of protests in several cities the previous day against the political class and deteriorating economic conditions.

Hundreds of protesters marched in the streets of the capital, Tripoli, and other Libyan cities Friday, with many attacking and setting fire to government buildings, including the House of Representatives in the eastern city of Tobruk.

“The people’s right to peacefully protest should be respected and protected but riots and acts of vandalism such as the storming of the House of Representatives headquarters late yesterday in Tobruk are totally unacceptable,” said Stephanie Williams, the U.N. special adviser on Libya, on Twitter.

Friday’s protests came a day after the leaders of the parliament and another legislative chamber based in Tripoli failed to reach an agreement on elections during U.N.-mediated talks in Geneva. The dispute now centers on the eligibility requirements for candidates, according to the United Nations.

Libya failed to hold elections in December, following challenges such as legal disputes, controversial presidential hopefuls and the presence of rogue militias and foreign fighters in the country.

The failure to hold the vote was a major blow to international efforts to bring peace to the Mediterranean nation. It has opened a new chapter in its long-running political impasse, with two rival governments now claiming power after tentative steps toward unity in the past year.

The protesters, frustrated from years of chaos and division, have called for the removal of the current political class and elections to be held. They also rallied against dire economic conditions in the oil-rich nation, where prices have risen for fuel and bread and power outages are a regular occurrence.

Protesters also rallied Saturday in Tripoli and several towns in western Libya, blocking roads and setting tires ablaze, according to livestreaming on social media.

There were fears that militias across the country could quash the protests as they did in 2020 demonstrations when they opened fire on people protesting dire economic conditions.

Sabadell Jose, the European Union envoy in Libya, called on protesters to “avoid any type of violence.” He said Friday’s demonstrations demonstrated that people want “change through elections and their voices should be heard.”

The U.S. ambassador to Libya, Richard Norland, urged Libyan political leaders and their foreign backers to work for a compromise to hold elections.

“It is clear no single political entity enjoys legitimate control across the entire country and any effort to impose a unilateral solution will result in violence,” he warned on Twitter following a call with Mohammad Younes Menfi, head of the Libyan presidential council.

Libya has been racked by conflict since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. The country was then for years split between rival administrations in the east and west, each supported by different militias and foreign governments.

Source: Voice of America

NAIROBI — As Kenya heads toward a highly contested presidential election, many are worried about a repeat of deadly violence seen in past votes. The Kenyan group Mothers of Victims and Survivors is calling for all sides to maintain peace during this year’s polls.

Benna Buluma, also known as Mama Victor, is clutching photos of her two deceased sons at her makeshift home in the Mathare section of Nairobi.

Election time brings painful memories to the 48-year-old widow.

On August 9, 2017, her sons; Benard and Victor Okoth, both young men, were shot dead following a police crackdown on election protests in the area, just a day after the presidential polls. Five years later, the killers still have not been held accountable.

If it was my sons who had killed someone on the road, they would have been arrested, says Buluma as she fights back tears. But the police who killed my sons have not been arrested to date, she says, and that is what pains me the most. I ask myself why, she adds. They are all human beings, and the law should serve everyone equally.

Mathare, one of the biggest slums in Africa, with some of the most densely populated poor neighborhoods in Nairobi, has remained a constant hotspot of election violence.

MarryAnn Kasina is the co-founder of Social Justice Center, an organization that advocates for social justice in Nairobi.

“Every time we have elections, they know what our issues are, but they have not actualized,” Kasina said. “So, bringing your manifesto, to say that you are bringing water, you’ll do this…it just brings horizontal violence because you are already living in poverty. It is violence already living in it, you know.”

Mama Victor founded the group Mothers of Victims and Survivors Network to help families seek justice.

The group is urging election authorities and participants in the August presidential election to refrain from violence.

We want a peaceful election, she says. And that’s not all – we, as mothers of victims, we want justice for our children, and compensation, she adds.

The Kenyan police have been accused of using excessive force in handling past election-related protests.

With just over a month to the general elections, the National Police Service says it is prepared to provide a secure environment for the polls to run peacefully.

In a statement to VOA, police spokesperson Bruno Shioso said steps have been taken to improve security, including new election security training and additional equipment for officers.

Past elections in Kenya have been marred by deadly violence. In the most notorious incident, more than 1,100 people were killed in riots and attacks after the disputed 2007 vote.

But, as the clock ticks toward this year’s balloting, observers are cautiously optimistic that the polls will be peaceful.

Source: Voice of America

UNODCs Field Offices, 1 July 2022 — The International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, or World Drug Day, is marked on 26 June every year to strengthen action and cooperation in achieving a world free of drug abuse.

And each year, individuals, communities, and various organizations all over the world, from civil society to the private sector, join in to observe World Drug Day to help raise awareness of the major problem that illicit drugs pose to society.

The focus of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking 2022 was “Addressing drug challenges in health and humanitarian crises”. Ensuring access to controlled medicines, guaranteeing evidence-based care, treatment and services, and preventing negative coping behaviours through support were among the calls to action highlighted both on the day and in the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)’s World Drug Report 2022, launched last Monday.

Around the world on Monday 27 June, UNODC regional and support offices celebrated World Drug Day and presented the main findings of the World Drug Report 2022.

In Mexico City, UNODC’s Head of Coordination, Mariana Alegret, joined the National Commission Against Addiction’s annual virtual World Drug Day event, presenting the report to the press, drug policymakers and the general public. The event also heard from representatives of the ministries of health, public security and foreign affairs, as well as the Federal Prosecutor´s Office.

In Chisinau, Moldova, UNODC held a coffee morning with media, police, and civil society organizations (CSOs) where Simon Springett, UN Resident Coordinator in Moldova explained that “apart from Covid-19 and the war in our neighbouring country, we are also fighting a drug use crisis, especially with new psychoactive substances”.

Through open discussions and a photo exhibition, journalists present at the event had the opportunity to get acquainted with the results of a collaboration between CSOs that provide socio-medical services to people who use drugs and the Chisinau police. Police deputy Alexei Grosu spoke about how the collaboration has helped to “change the mentality among the police towards drug users, who are now focusing on offering drug users the needed support by referring them to the CSOs who can provide socio-medical assistance.” UNODC’s Ina Tcaci underlined that such a collaboration was almost impossible a decade ago.

Constantin Cearanovski, representing the Positive Initiative CSO, told from his own experience how the police had played a positive role in motivating drug users toward treatment and rehabilitation, and Dr Lilia Fiodorov, narcologist at the Republican Narcology Dispensary, reported being able to aid 25 refugees who received drug treatment since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.

In Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, UNODC commemorated World Drug Day with four days of events (June 25-29), joined by national authorities and CILAD, the interministerial committee for the fight against drugs (for its acronym in French). More than 250 participants attended the World Drug Report launch event last Monday, and more still joined online.

As the World Drug Report 2022 highlights, West and Central Africa is hard hit by the drug problem, despite having long being considered a mere transit zone. “In a context of health and humanitarian crises, West and Central Africa must continue to invest in data collection and analysis, disaggregated by sex and age, to strengthen early warning and evidence-based responses,” said Dr Amado Philip de Andrés, UNODC director for the region, speaking at the event.

Côte d’Ivoire, like other West African coastal countries, is facing an influx of drugs trafficked from Latin America, as evidenced by recent cocaine seizures off the coast of Abidjan in March 2021 and April 2022. General Vagondo Diomandé, Minister of Interior and Security, spoke to this challenge: “The Ivorian authorities remain committed to combating illicit drug trafficking with the support of UNODC, as demonstrated by the drafting of a bill relating to the fight against trafficking and illicit use of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and their precursors, as well as the national strategy against organized crime.”

Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime