Day: January 17, 2023

Some 50 women and girls in Burkina Faso who were abducted last week while looking for food must be released immediately, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

Unidentified armed groups reportedly kidnapped the women and girls on Thursday and Friday near the town of Arbinda, located in the north.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has strongly condemned the incident.

‘Spare no efforts’

“The Secretary-General calls for the immediate and unconditional release of the abducted women and girls and for their safe return to their families,” UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said in a statement.

Mr. Guterres urged the authorities to “spare no efforts in bringing those responsible for this crime to justice.”

He also underlined the UN’s commitment to continue working with the West African country, and international partners, including to enhance the protection of civilians and support efforts towards lasting peace.

UN rights chief ‘alarmed’

The UN human rights chief, Volker Türk, has also called for the perpetrators to be held to account.

“I am alarmed that dozens of women out to search for food for their families were abducted in broad daylight, in what could be the first such attack deliberately targeting women in Burkina Faso,” he said in a statement on Monday.

Mr. Türk noted that Arbinda is one of many towns and villages in the north of the country that have been besieged by armed groups since early 2019.

‘Unprecedented’ insecurity

This had made it extremely difficult for residents to have access to food, water and other basic goods and services.

“I call for the immediate and unconditional release of all the abducted women and for the national authorities to promptly conduct an effective, impartial and independent investigation to identify those responsible and hold them to account,” he said.

Earlier this month, the UN Security Council again heard how countries in West Africa and the Sahel continue to face multiple challenges, including “unprecedented” levels of insecurity.

Giovanie Biha, Officer-in-Charge of the UN Office for the region, UNOWAS, said activities by armed groups, violent extremists and criminal networks have forced the closure of thousands of schools and health centres, and displaced millions.

Source: UN News Centre

Ukraine’s first lady scolded world leaders and corporate executives at the World Economic Forum’s annual gathering in the snowy Swiss town of Davos for not all using their influence at a time when Russia’s invasion leaves children dying and a world struggling with food insecurity.

As the anniversary of the war nears, Olena Zelenska said Tuesday that parents are in tears watching doctors trying to save their children, farmers are afraid to go back to their fields filled with explosive mines and “we cannot allow a new Chernobyl to happen,” referring to the 1986 nuclear disaster as Russian missiles have pounded Ukrainian energy infrastructure for months.

“What you all have in common is that you are genuinely influential,” Zelenska told attendees. “But there is something that separates you, namely that not all of you use this influence, or sometimes use it in a way that separates you even more.”

She spoke as hundreds of government officials, corporate titans, academics and activists from around the world who descended on the town billed as Europe’s highest. The weeklong talkfest of big ideas and backroom deal-making prioritizes global problems such as hunger, climate change and the slowing economy, but it’s never clear how much concrete action emerges to help reach the forum’s stated ambition of “improving the state of the world.”

“We are all internally convinced that there is no such global problem that humanity cannot solve,” Zelenska said. “This is more important now when Russia’s aggression in Europe poses various challenges.”

The war in Ukraine, which has killed thousands of civilians, displaced millions and jolted food and fuel markets worldwide. With the war raising inflation and expanding food insecurity in developing nations, Zelenska called it “an insult to mankind and human nature to have mass starvation.”

Ukraine and Russia had been key suppliers of wheat, barley and other food supplies to Africa, the Middle East and Asia where many were already going hungry.

About 345 million people in 82 countries are facing acute food insecurity, according to the U.N. World Food Program, up from 135 million in 53 countries before the pandemic and war in Ukraine.

Zelenska warned that the war could expand beyond Ukraine’s borders and worsen the crises but “unity is what brings peace back.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urged the assembled executives and global leaders at Davos to keep aiding Ukraine.

“Ukraine wants to become a member of the European Union, and it is a perfect opportunity to take investment and reform to pave this way for Ukraine towards the European Union,” she said after Zelenska’s address. “And my call on you is: We need every helping hand on board. Ukraine deserves to have as much support as possible.”

While urging unity for Ukraine, von der Leyen unveiled a major clean tech industrial plan to compete with China and the United States as the 27-nation bloc looks to stay a leader on plotting a greener future.

She said the plan would make it easier to push through subsidies for green industries and inject funding into EU-wide projects to help reach its goal of climate neutrality by 2050. The bloc also would be more forceful in countering unfair trading practices.

At Davos, a helicopter buzzed overhead in overcast skies as scores of notables, including former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, trudged through the snow and crisscrossed the Alpine town of 10,000 to attend a number of panel sessions on everything from the environment to cryptocurrencies to the fight against COVID-19.

Many concerned minds in Davos were on the devastation from a Russian missile strike that hit an apartment building in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, killing 44 people in one of the deadliest single attacks in months.

Zelenska said Ukrainians “can’t take a day off from war” and that they “have to risk their lives each day” but said she believed the world would unify for peace.

Her husband, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, will be beamed in by video Wednesday to complement the in-person delegation of his wife and officials such as Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov.

Davos offers a new chance for Ukrainian envoys to ramp up international support for donations of weapons like tanks and anti-rocket defenses and greater pressure to further isolate and squeeze Russia’s economy.

France, the U.K., the U.S. and other nations are vowing to send increasingly powerful weapons to Ukraine, such as tanks or armored combat vehicles.

Source: Voice of America

ALGIERS — The member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), Yudi Rodriguez, thanked the support of Algeria in the fight against the US blockade.

In the framework of her participation in the 16th Congress of the Polisario Front which is in session in Dakhla, the high official met with representatives of Algerian parties and organizations with whom she discussed the points of convergence in foreign policy, in defense of the self-determination of Western Sahara and the Palestinian cause.

For his part, the member of the political bureau of the National Liberation Front (FLN), Arghib Farhat, highlighted the presence of the Cuban delegation at the great event of the Saharawi organization and reiterated their support for the Revolution, while stressing the historic ties that unite these nations.

The Algerian political leader extended an invitation to the PCC to participate in the XI Congress of the FLN, whose date is not yet defined, Rodriguez also invited them to visit the Caribbean nation, to which they responded affirmatively.

Meanwhile, the top leader of the National Rally for Democracy (RND), the former Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, valued as positive the opportunity to be together in the Saharawi refugee camps and thanked what Cuba has done and continues to do for Algeria in terms of solidarity and cooperation.

Ouyahia underlined the national unity around the party and expressed her confidence in the continuity of the Cuban Revolution.

The official member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the PCC, culminated her meetings in a talk with the Algerian Construction Movement and described the working day as excellent and productive.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

Somalis are hailing the capture of the port town of Haradhere as a major victory in the fight against the Islamist militant group al-Shabab. The port, once a base for Somali pirates, was a key revenue source for the militants. But analysts say holding onto Harahere and other territories seized from the militants while winning over locals will be a challenge.

The capture of Harardhere is perhaps the single biggest trophy for the Somali army and clan militia who have been waging a ground offensive against al-Shabab since July.

At the height of piracy in Somalia in 2011, Harardhere was the main operating port for pirates hijacking ships at seas for ransom. But it was seized by al-Shabab, which has used it since then to generate revenue by taxing imported goods.

Somalia’s Defense Minister Abdulkadir Nur lauded the capture of Harardhere which adds to a growing list of towns and villages falling into government hands.

He said, we want to thank all the armed forces, particularly the Somali army which made it possible to dislodge the enemy from the two districts which are Gal’ad and Harardhere districts.

Shoki Hayir, a lecturer at SIMAD University and a conflict researcher, told VOA the capture of Harardhere was a significant step for the military campaign which has been running for close to eight months.

He said it is a historic victory achieved by Somali and the local forces. It is a victory that boosts the morale of the troops and a significant achievement registered by the government led by Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and this will speed up operations to liberate the country.

Despite this series of victories by the Somali army, Hayir says government will need to build the confidence of the local communities and quickly establish a presence to ensure these newly liberated areas do not fall back into al-Shabab hands.

He said it is good for the top government leaders to visit the liberated areas urgently to boost the morale of the locals and engage with them as the areas were under al-Shabaab control for a long time. He said, it is also important for the armed forces and the local militias to establish bases in the liberated areas to avoid the loss of those areas once again.

Ahmed Hadi, the director of Somali Civic House, a policy and governance think tank in Mogadishu, says the capture of Harardhere is not only a victory for the military but for the locals.

He said, the recapture of Harardhere is an important move as it is part of a plan to decentralize the administration. The town is also crucial for the movement of people and goods because those areas had been locked off from the rest of the country for a long time.

Hadi also said the government will need to be ready for possible local conflicts over resources.

Last year, President Mohamud declared an “all-out war” against al-Shabab, which has been fighting Somali governments for the past 15 years.

The government says it is also waging financial warfare against the group. President Mohamud told a gathering in Mogadishu last week that the government has closed 250 bank accounts and 7 mobile money accounts suspected to be linked to al-Shabab.

This move, he said, is denying the militant group money to fund its operations.

Source: Voice of America