Ojok Okello is transforming his destroyed village into a green town where social enterprises responsibly harness the shea tree
The village of Okere Mom-Kok was in ruins by the end of more than a decade of war in northern Uganda.
Now, just outside Ojok Okello’s living-room door, final-year pupils at the early childhood centre are noisily breaking for recess and a market is clattering into life, as is the local craft brewery, as what has become Okere City begins a new day.
Continue reading...The number of civilians reported killed in explosions nearly halved in 2020 to the lowest level in a decade
The number of civilian casualties in conflicts around the world plummeted during the Covid-19 pandemic, a new report shows.
Last year, an average of 10 civilians a day were reported killed by explosive weapons, compared with 18 in 2019, according to analysis by Action on Armed Violence (AOAV), a London-based charity.
Continue reading...Rally in Kale turns violent and stun grenades deployed in Yangon
Three people have been critically injured after security forces fired live rounds at anti-coup protesters in north-western Myanmar, medics said, as a regional meeting of south-east Asian countries failed to find a breakthrough to the political crisis.
Police also fired stun grenades and rubber bullets on Tuesday to disperse protesters in the city of Yangon, according to witnesses, as demonstrations continued over the military’s removal of Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government a month ago.
Continue reading...Monday’s announcement confirmed my worst fears – not even those in the most desperate crises are safe from aid cuts
Three weeks ago, foreign office minister James Cleverly told me that in the face of drastic cuts to the UK’s aid budget, Yemen would remain a UK priority country and the government would use the full force of its diplomatic efforts to bring about peace.
On Monday, those words rang hollow when he announced the UK was slashing humanitarian aid to Yemen by more than 50% compared with last year. As a consequence, an already devastated country now faces the worst famine in decades and the prospect of lasting peace seems further away than ever.
Continue reading...Born under Taliban rule, Sara Barackzay studied abroad and now hopes to start her own school
A woman in traditional dress breaks open the bars of a prison. A young child dances, oblivious to a backdrop of tanks and explosions. The drawings by Afghanistan’s first professional female animation artist, Sara Barackzay, reflect the struggles of her young life.
Barackzay, who lost her hearing as a child, left Afghanistan to study in Turkey, but has returned with the hope of starting a specialist school for animation arts.
Continue reading...Dr Michael Ryan says Covid-19 is ‘very much in control’ as global infections rise for first time in almost two months
Despite the spread of Covid-19 being slowed in some countries due to lockdowns and vaccination programs, it is “premature” and “unrealistic” to the think the pandemic will be over by the end of the year, the World Health Organization’s executive director of emergency services has said.
Speaking at a press briefing Geneva, Dr Michael Ryan said while vaccinating the most vulnerable people, including healthcare workers, would help remove the “tragedy and fear” from the situation, and would help to ease pressure on hospitals, the “virus is very much in control”.
Continue reading...The world’s poorest are becoming poorer as the impact of Covid compounds existing crises, says Disaster Emergency Comittee
Thousands could starve in the world’s most fragile states as the pandemic comes on top of existing crises, warns a new report today which found aid workers are deeply pessimistic about the coming year.
The survey of aid workers by the Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC) found that they believed humanitarian conditions were at their worst in a decade.
Continue reading...Monday’s high-level meeting convened by UN will call for immediate funding to slow the hunger endangering millions
In November the United Nations issued a warning that Yemen was in imminent danger of the worst famine the world has seen for decades.
Today Yemen is fast approaching the point of no return. Yet, just as the country reaches its darkest hour, an opportunity has presented itself.
Continue reading...As illegal, and often violent, pushbacks of asylum seekers continue – human rights groups also report growing hostility
At the offices of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, a human rights group in Budapest, András Léderer and his colleagues have a map on which they track every asylum seeker – man, woman or child – who has been physically pushed back by police from the Hungarian border and into the forests of Serbia.
The pushbacks are illegal under international law. Yet it is Léderer and his fellow human rights activists who could face arrest and a jail sentence if they went to the border to witness what is happening there.
Continue reading...‘There is a huge amount of damage you can’t see – the mental trauma’, says Syria Relief report author
More than three-quarters of Syrian refugees may be suffering serious mental health symptoms, 10 years after the start of the civil war.
A UK charity is calling for more investment in mental health services for refugees in several countries after it found symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were widespread in a survey of displaced Syrians.
Continue reading...After initially enduring criticism over its handling of restrictions, Chile moved to secure vaccines from a range of suppliers
Chile has administered more than 3.1m vaccine doses in just three weeks to emerge as a global leader in Covid-19 inoculations, trailing only the US, UK, UAE and Israel in vaccination doses per 100 people.
Having initially endured heavy criticism over its handling of pandemic restrictions, Chile has moved quickly to secure vaccines from a range of suppliers and aims to have 80% of its population immunised against the virus by June. It has already vaccinated 16% of its 19 million citizens at hospitals, schools, stadia and municipal buildings throughout the country.
Continue reading...Brazil has passed two grim landmarks, as deaths from Covid-19 passed 251,000 and the country saw its highest daily toll since the coronavirus was first detected there one year ago.
A total of 1,582 Brazilians died from Covid-19 on Thursday as the country struggles with a slow vaccination rollout, new variants of the disease and an uncoordinated government response.
Continue reading...A roundup of the best photography on struggles for human rights and freedoms, from Algeria to Uganda
In a country where pneumonia, malaria and TB are much bigger killers, doctors say ‘resource-intensive’ Covid-19 is diverting precious resources
When stocks of medical equipment in the general ward of Tengandogo University hospital in Ouagadougou ran low as resources flowed to the coronavirus unit, medical staff bought the essentials themselves.
Blood pressure monitors, glucose monitors and oximeters were needed. Even the ink in the printers had to be replaced.
Continue reading...Ban on violence against children will only apply in Islamabad, but campaigners hope rest of the country will follow suit
Pakistan has passed a bill banning corporal punishment for children in a move described as “historic” by rights activists.
It comes amid a number of high-profile cases of schoolchildren being badly beaten and even killed in schools, religious institutions and workplaces.
Continue reading...Instances of violence pointed to ‘structural and systematic’ abuses within the police force and sparked calls for reform
Police officers in Colombia killed 86 people last year, according to a local NGO which reported “structural and systematic” abuses in the South American nation’s police force.
Temblores, an non-governmental organization that monitors state violence, also documented 7,992 cases of assault and 30 cases of sexual violence, with migrant communities and Afro-Colombians often the victims.
Continue reading...Law would widen strict rules in country where thousands suffer complications from unsafe terminations
A bill to liberalise Malawi’s abortion laws will be debated by MPs today in the face of opposition from faith groups.
If passed, the termination of pregnancy bill would allow abortions when a woman’s mental or physical health is in danger, in cases of rape and incest, and when there are serious foetal abnormalities.
Continue reading...Founder says community centre in Accra was closed pre-emptively to protect its staff
A community centre for LGBTQ+ people in Ghana has been closed, following a wave of protest against the rights of sexual minorities in the country.
In recent weeks government ministers and religious groups had demanded the closure of the centre, intended to be a safe space for LGBTQ+ people to meet and find support. Yet since the opening in January of the centre in the capital, Accra, many people have received death threats and online abuse.
Continue reading...At least two people stabbed after pro-junta demonstrators march through central Yangon
Supporters of Myanmar’s military armed with iron rods, catapults and knives have attacked anti-coup protesters in Yangon after weeks of rallies calling for the return of democracy in the country.
At least two people were stabbed in the attacks, which occurred after hundreds of pro-military demonstrators marched through central Yangon towards the main railway station. Pro-democracy supporters met them with crossed wrists, banging pots and pans.
Continue reading...Amlo again clashes with women’s rights activists as he dismisses complaints against Félix Salgado Macedonio, candidate for governor
A growing row over a gubernatorial candidate facing accusations of rape has once again pitted Mexico’s populist president against women’s rights campaigners.
Félix Salgado Macedonio has registered to run for governor in southern Guerrero state with the ruling Morena party, despite accusations of sexual violence and rape by five women dating back as far as 1998.
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