Continued heavy rainfall causes flooding in Sudan and Nigeria

Africa Weather Hazards
1. Below-average rainfall since mid-May has led to abnormal dryness across eastern Uganda and southwestern Kenya. Moisture deficits are likely to negatively impact cropping and Pastoral activities.
2. Torrential rain led to destroyed houses in Central Darfur, Sudan. Heavy rain is forecast to continue during the next week. High flooding risks in the region continue.
3. Heavy rain caused fatalities and flooding over areas of the Lagos, Oyo, Niger, and Abuja regions of Nigeria. Moderate to locally heavy rain is forecast during the next week, which could trigger new flooding.

Continued heavy rainfall causes flooding in Sudan and Nigeria

Africa Weather Hazards
1. Below-average rainfall since mid-May has led to abnormal dryness across eastern Uganda and southwestern Kenya. Moisture deficits are likely to negatively impact cropping and Pastoral activities.
2. Torrential rain led to destroyed houses in Central Darfur, Sudan. Heavy rain is forecast to continue during the next week. High flooding risks in the region continue.
3. Heavy rain caused fatalities and flooding over areas of the Lagos, Oyo, Niger, and Abuja regions of Nigeria. Moderate to locally heavy rain is forecast during the next week, which could trigger new flooding.

Every year a quarter of all international aid – approximately US$15 billion – is spent on capacity development. However, despite the continued dominance of capacity development, results are frequently disappointing.

Over a period of six years, the Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium (SLRC) has conducted a series of studies on state capacity in eight countries, focusing on the ways in which international actors attempt to build the capacity of states in fragile and conflict-affected situations to deliver services – typically considered a ‘core function’ of any modern state. This report synthesises the findings of these studies, drawing out cross-cutting themes that help us understand both the ways in which capacity development in such contexts is currently undertaken, and the assumptions, challenges and trade-offs that underpin this practice.

This report is one of a series produced at the end of SLRC’s first phase. These reports bring together and analyse all relevant material on SLRC’s overarching research questions, with a view to drawing out broader lessons that will be of use to policy makers, practitioners and researchers.

In Sierra Leone, volunteers were trained in safety procedures that replaced the traditional high-risk burial practices, and worked in ‘Safe and Dignified Burial’ teams. Many were ostracized by their communities but thanks to the support of the Ebola Multi-Partner Trust Fund, they were able to successfully reintegrate.

UNDP and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, with support from the Government of Finland, helped the volunteers to develop skills to be able to make a living, as well as providing counselling and training.

“In the beginning nobody wanted to know me or be my friend. I faced stigma every day. Thanks to the Red Cross and UNDP my community has been educated and have now welcomed me back.”

Link to Photo Report.

A year after the country was declared free of the virus, maternity care and family planning remain starved of funding

Mamie Gibila travelled across choppy waters for almost four hours last week to reach a hospital. She was midway through labour with twins. The first baby was born at home, but she was unable to deliver the second and urgently needed medical attention.

Gibila lives in the town of Mina in the district of Bonthe, which comprises several islands off Sierra Leone, and the closest hospital is 105 nautical miles away. The journey, she says, was foul. When she arrived, it was too late to save her second baby.

Read more on the Guardian

Today the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect celebrates the World Day for International Justice. Holding perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes accountable for their actions plays an essential role in delivering justice for victims of mass atrocity crimes and preventing their recurrence. Every state, and the international community as a whole, has a role to play in this historic battle against impunity.

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the only permanent international court for the prosecution of individuals accused of mass atrocity crimes. As a “court of last resort,” since 2002 the ICC has tried perpetrators with crimes that include the use of child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), sexual violence in Central African Republic (CAR), and systematic destruction of humanity’s shared cultural heritage at Timbuktu, Mali. In doing so, the Court has helped establish that any person, regardless of rank or office, can be held accountable for atrocities that violate international law and stain the conscience of humanity.

Alongside the ICC, domestic and regional mechanisms, as well as ad hoc and mixed tribunals, have also contributed to strengthening international justice. From the War Crimes Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, worldwide we are witnessing systematic attempts to hold perpetrators of atrocities accountable. In 2016 a federal court in Argentina convicted seventeen former senior military and intelligence officers from Argentina and one from Uruguay of crimes against humanity committed during the 1970s and 80s. Principles of international justice have also been reinforced by the convictions of Chad's former military dictator, Hissène Habré, at the Extraordinary African Chambers within the courts of Senegal and former Liberian President Charles Taylor's conviction at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Finally, the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda have convicted more than 145 individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, including former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić and former Rwandan Prime Minister Jean Kambanda.

The Global Centre commends the UN General Assembly’s December 2016 decision to establish an International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism to assist in the investigation and prosecution of perpetrators of atrocities in Syria since 2011. We also acknowledge the efforts of the UN Human Rights Council to create independent investigative mechanisms, including the team of experts recently appointed to investigate more than 80 mass graves discovered in the Kasaï region of the DRC.

But in too many parts of the world the promise of international justice remains unfulfilled. Every day civilians in Burundi, Sudan and Yemen face the ongoing threat of mass atrocities and see past crimes go unpunished. No one has been held legally accountable for the genocide committed against the Yazidi minority in northern Iraq by the so-called Islamic State armed group. Meanwhile the establishment of specialized courts in South Sudan and CAR have faced interminable delays, and credible international investigative mechanisms have been blocked from entering Myanmar and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

For victims, recognition of their suffering and accountability for violations and abuses perpetrated against them can have immense restorative value. On this World Day for International Justice, we must remind ourselves of the importance of pursuing justice and accountability for all mass atrocities, not just as an institutional responsibility and legal obligation, but as a moral necessity.

Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
Phone: 1 212-817-2104
Fax: +1 212-817-1565
info@globalr2p.org

Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies
The Graduate Center, CUNY
365 Fifth Avenue, Suite 5203
New York, NY 10016-4309, USA

Executive summary

While the polio eradication effort has made significant progress since 1988, the recent spread of polio in late 2008 and throughout 2009, particularly in Africa, has caused some African countries that had been polio-free for a number of years to become reinfected. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) is a broad partnership of organizations committed to global eradication of polio. The role of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and its member National Societies in this partnership has historically been concerned with social mobilization around supplementary immunization activities. To undertake social mobilization, each National Society mobilizes and trains its network of volunteers.

Because of the acknowledgement that the Africa polio outbreak was a public health emergency and threatened the eradication goal, the International Federation launched a special appeal for funding in 2009 so that National Societies in the renewed outbreak countries could assist the GPEI and other partners to respond to the emergency and support the vaccination against polio of approximately 25 million children under five years of age. A sum of CHF 1.7 million (over US$ 1.6) was raised, allowing the Red Cross Red Crescent to mobilize over 30,000 volunteers.

An independent evaluation of the role of the Red Cross Red Crescent was commissioned, with a remit to assess the added value of the activities undertaken with the emergency appeal funding. Of the 15 countries funded, the evaluation team visited four of the countries to interview stakeholders and in some cases to visit households and observe activities undertaken by the National Society. The stakeholders interviewed were all asked the same series of questions which had been developed earlier by the evaluation team. The team also studied reports from the other 11 countries. It was in general found that the experiences of all the countries funded were very similar.

The four countries visited were Uganda, Sudan, Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso. In all but Sudan, funds were used for social mobilization activities, which included pre-campaign activities, house-to-house visits, during-campaign activities and, in some cases, post-campaign reviews. Some volunteers also acted as vaccinators following training. The situation in Sudan was complicated by delays in delivery of funding for the activity in South Sudan, and thus the consultants were unable to evaluate the activity.

Findings for the four countries are similar. In each case, the potential for utilization of the National Society volunteer network in future polio rounds was emphasized, largely because volunteers are able to reach communities that may be less accessible to government or other agencies. In general, Red Cross Red Crescent volunteers are welcomed into homes, and play a valuable role in “selling” the need for immunization. The use of the network is also very cost-effective. In general, the consultants noted the need to raise the visibility of the National Society, both with partners and other major stakeholders, so that they are aware of the broad mandate to work in health and disasters, and include the National Society in national plans. In addition, to help raise the profile of the National Society in high level planning meetings of all the partners, the attendance of very senior National Society staff is recommended.

In most cases, while GPEI partners respect the talent of the Red Cross Red Crescent for social mobilization, the consultants also found a need to work more closely in cooperation with all the partners, in order to avoid duplication of effort and to work more effectively with the funds available. In general, it was found that the National Society network of volunteers did give added value, both at district and at national level, although often there is less awareness of the role of the National Society by government and other stakeholders at national level than at branch level.

Recommendations for the four countries are also similar, concentrating on the need for National Society capacity-building, timely funding and systematic evaluation of contribution. Some of the issues highlighted include sometimes poor communications and poor record-keeping, meaning that results cannot be quantified and assessed accurately.

The final recommendation is that GPEI partner organizations should realize the potential of the Red Cross Red Crescent and the role it can play in polio eradication, particularly through social mobilization activities and postcampaign monitoring

By Busani Bafana

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Jul 18 2017 (IPS)

Southern African countries have agreed on a multi-pronged plan to increase surveillance and research to contain the fall army worm, which has cut forecast regional maize harvests by up to ten percent, according to a senior U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) official.

The crop-eating fall army worm (Spodoptera frugiperda), first detected in Central and Western Africa in 2016, has been positively identified in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe where it has extensively damaged maize crops.An estimated 13.5 million tonnes of maize across Africa, worth 3 billion dollars, are at risk from the worms in the next year.

FAO Sub-regional Coordinator for Southern Africa, David Phiri, said Southern African countries have agreed on a region-wide strategy to contain the pest, known to attack more than 80 plant species, including staple cereals and vegetables. The agreed strategy includes undertaking national assessments to determine the impact of the pest on crop yields and using Integrated Pest Management (IPS), an environmentally friendly approach to controlling pests focusing on pest prevention and application of pesticides only as necessary.

“The Fall army worm is still a threat that is not going away soon,” Phiri told IPS in a telephone interview from Harare. “Depending on the country, the impact of the pest has been 2 to 10 percent reduction in yield and that is worrying for the region which has experienced a food crisis.”

The scale of the damage of the Fall Army worm is expected to be felt more on maize where over 741,316 acres of the cereal – the staple for more than 200 million people in most of Southern Africa – have been affected.

The United FAO says while it was too early to know the long term impact food security as a result of the outbreak of the pest, native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas, the potential for serious damage and yield losses were high. This has necessitated the development of a coordinated strategy to manage the pest ahead of the next agriculture season.

A consultative multi-stakeholder meeting in Nairobi, Kenya in April 2017 formulated a region-wide Framework for the Coordinated Management of FAW which involves surveillance and early warning, impact assessment, sustainable management and coordination of the pest. The Framework will guide the development of projects and programmes by governments, researchers, academics, farmers and other actors to contain the migratory pest which can reproduce quickly in the right environment.

Estimates from the Centre for Agricultural and Biosciences International (CABI), show that 13.5 million tonnes of maize worth 3 billion dollars across Africa are at risk from the FAW in the next year. It gets worse, in all confirmed and suspected fall army worm incident countries; there is total value at risk of over 13.3 billion dollars across all crops, according to a note on the recommendations from the Stakeholders Consultation meeting.

“While countries are doing vulnerability assessments, the biggest problem we have now is the next cropping season, “ said Phiri. “The pest is there and we have to manage it as it will affect next year’s production because we have not identified any particular pesticide that can control it and this is a race against time.”

The FAO, which is leading the response strategy for the FAW, is working with the government of South Africa to lead the research on technologies to help manage the pest. Earlier in July, the FAO met with experts from Latin America in Accra, Ghana, to see which if their management technologies could be applied in Africa. Brazil spends an estimated 600 million dollars annually to control the fall army worm.

“For sure we know that Integrated Pest Management works and that for large farms the judicious use of pesticides might be the only option and when that happens we need to identify a particular pesticide that is effective and at the same time foes not harm the environment and does not lead to resistance and hence the marathon meetings and research going on at the moment,” Phiri said, noting that the cost to control the pest was not yet determined for the region as countries were undertaking assessments.

FAO is developing a long-term IPM-based strategy for the sustainable management of fall army worm, including forecasting, crop monitoring, use of biological control options, resistant varieties and promotion of good agricultural practices and the use of pesticides as a last resort.

Kerstin Kruger, Associate Professor in the Department of Zoology and Entomology at the University of Pretoria, told IPS the recent arrival of fall army worm and other invasive species highlights the need for a strong scientific basis to respond to such threats.

Sub-Saharan Africa is economically highly dependent on agriculture and is considered to be amongst the most vulnerable regions to the economic threat posed by invasive species. Kruger said a thorough understanding of the biology of the pest and its interaction in its environment was key to its successful management.

North and South America have battled the FAW for decades and have developed a number of non-chemical management options ranging from planting of maize varieties that are less susceptible to FAW attack to monitoring with pheromone traps. In addition, biological control using natural enemies such as insect parasitoids, predators and microbial pesticides and BT-maize has been used.

“One avenue worthwhile exploring is to research local natural enemies of the related native Armyworm,” said Kruger, citing that wasps parasitizing the native African army worm may also attack the Fall army worm.

Harnessing the collective strengths of the UN system to improve the health of women, children and adolescents everywhere

The H6 Partnership, formerly known as H4+, builds on the progress made towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and contributes to the collaboration required to support countries as they move forward to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This joint partnership of six UN agencies has been functioning since 2010 as the technical arm of UN Secretary-General’s Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health, and subsequently the updated Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescent’s Health (2016–2030) – also known as the Every Woman Every Child movement. It focuses on 75 high-burden countries where more than 85 per cent of all maternal and child deaths occur, including the 49 lowest-income countries.

This report reviews progress made in 2016 and since the inception of the H6 Joint Programme collaboration with Canada and Sweden (Sida). The report features findings from a recent evaluation of this programme, which mobilized $99.76 million to provide catalytic and strategic support to national health systems to address the root causes of poor health outcomes in 10 countries: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The H4+ partners renamed their coalition the H6 Partnership, reflecting the full commitment and equal engagement of all six member organizations.

Executive summary

The WHO Health Emergencies Programme (WHE) was established in 2016, aiming “to build the capacity of Member States to manage health emergency risks and, when national capacities are overwhelmed, to lead and coordinate the international health response to contain outbreaks and to provide effective relief and recovery to affected populations”. It is built on the “one” concept – one emergencies programme, one workforce, one budget, one line of accountability, one process and set of benchmarks, to streamline its work from headquarters to country level, and thereby, make public health responses more predictable.

The achievements of the WHO African Region Health Emergencies Programme in 2016 were in three key areas:

Response to public health events improved

Better coordination in health emergencies and faster deployment of WHO experts were achieved by the implementation of the Incident Management System (IMS), which was activated in Angola (yellow fever), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (yellow fever and cholera), Cabo Verde (Zika fever), Ethiopia (El Niño), Nigeria (humanitarian crisis), Niger (Rift Valley fever), South Sudan (humanitarian crisis) and the United Republic of Tanzania (cholera). Over 300 rumours were detected through surveillance and media monitoring. Of these, at least 100 were public health events, of which 91 were outbreaks of infectious diseases. WHO supported the laboratory confirmation of these 91 infectious disease outbreaks through regional and national laboratory networks. The notifications were made through event-based and indicator-based surveillance systems, both of which have improved post-Ebola.

• In protracted emergencies, WHO supported the public health response, reaching 1.6 million internally displaced persons and 1.1 million refugees from South Sudan; 1.8 million IDPs in Nigeria; over 300 000 refugees from Burundi; over 475 000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and over 450 000 refugees and 380 000 IDPs from the Central African Republic. In response to the yellow fever outbreaks, 25 million people in Angola and 14 million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were vaccinated.

• The WHO Regional Office for Africa coordinated the deployment of more than 2500 experts in 2016 to respond to major public health events including Ebola and yellow fever outbreaks and was able to deliver emergency supplies to 30 countries in need.

• Almost US$ 10 million was mobilized to address critical gaps in the response to these emergencies;
WHO coordinated responses through the Strategic Health Operations Centre; and also prepositioned and dispatched emergency health kits to the various emergencies.

Capacity and preparedness built

• Regional outbreak risk mapping was undertaken for the epidemic prone diseases in the Region in order to strengthen preparedness. This has increased the understanding of disease-specific epidemiological risks and subnational distribution of outbreaks. In addition, an in-depth analysis was undertaken on the potential for Zika virus disease outbreaks, with countries classified as being at high, medium or low risk with associated recommended preparedness activities.

• Using the newly developed Joint External Evaluation (JEE) tool, WHO and partners engaged with nine countries (Côte d’Ivoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Liberia, Mozambique, Namibia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and the United Republic of Tanzania) to assess their capacities to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to public health threats. The JEE identified gaps in the International Health Regulations (2005) core capacities and informed the development of comprehensive country plans to address these gaps.

• WHO also conducted Vulnerability and Risk Assessment Mapping (VRAM) in Ethiopia, Nigeria, and South Sudan. This ensured that preparedness efforts were targeted and that the best use was made of available resources to reach communities most in need, while also enhancing the health systems’ capacity to cope with emergencies.

• In order to better coordinate national preparedness for, and response to public health events and emergencies, the WHO Regional Office for Africa trained 27 countries on the Public Health Emergency Operations Centre (PHEOC) framework, supported 13 countries to develop plans to implement the PHEOCs and trained 12 countries on the new incident management system and operations for management of public health emergencies

UNHCR IN GUINEA-BISSAU

Guinea Bissau operation is characterized by refugees living in protracted situations both in rural and urban areas. With a low number of urban refugees and a big caseload of protracted Senegalese refugees in the rural area the most suitable durable solutions identified for Guinea-Bissau is local integration. In order to ensure sustainability and to create a positive environment for local integration, the Office works to empower the existing national structures through capacity building activities and provision of technical support to the government and other stakeholders. UNHCR is continuously advocating for the access of POC to national services while supporting livelihoods projects to promote refugee’s self-reliance.

In addition, its protection and durable solutions strategy focus on the development of a local integration package for the naturalization of refugees willing to acquire the Guinea Bissau nationality and formalization of land for vulnerable refugees whose properties were given by local and traditional leaders. Finally, according to its mandate, UNCHR in Guinea-Bissau also works closely with the Ministries of Justice and Interior to prevent and respond to statelessness.

Protection priorities:

• Promotion of naturalization and land formalization of Senegalese refugees;
  
• Capacity building of existing national structures on asylum related issues;
  
• Promotion of livelihoods and self-reliance of refugees and host communities

2017 ACHIEVEMENTS

Protection/Durable Solutions

• In March, UNHCR together with the National Commission for Refugees (CNRD) conducted a Naturalization Workshop involving all relevant governmental stakeholders who plays a role in the naturalization process in order to advocate for the reduction of naturalization costs and a recommendation was done to reduce the costs to 150.000 XOFs/file (actual costs exceeds 900.000 XOFs).

• In June, a Workshop on Land was organized by CNRD and UNCHR in order to advocate for the reduction of costs and the simplification of existing procedures. The governmental counterparts who attended the event recommended the exemption of costs for a number of steps that compose the formalization process (e.g. issuance of juridical opinions, publication in official diaries, registration of concession designations) and which will incur in a considerable reduction of costs. An SOP was developed by the participants as to speed up the process and define roles of pertinent Ministries.

• In May UNHCR facilitated the participation of the Bissau-Guinean delegation at the Banjul Ministerial Meeting for the Elimination of Statelessness. In the aftermath, a Workshop on Statelessness was held in June by UNCHR and Ministry of Justice as for to spread the messages agreed in Banjul and advocate for the approval of the National Action Plan for the Elimination of Statelessness, developed in 2015.

• A verification exercise was conducted in June in order to confirm the physical presence of Senegalese refugees in the country as well as to provide them with refugee ID Cards. Registration centers were created in 11 villages and a total of 2.860 individuals were registered, out of which 1.710 were newly registered. One innovation of this activity was the presence of a Birth Registration Officer from the Ministry of Justice which allowed over 300 refugee children born in Guinea-Bissau to receive birth certificates during the verification.

• Regarding the Office`s strategy to ensure protection from violence, in June 2017 a reskilling SGBV Workshop was conducted by Mani Tese in collaboration with UNHCR targeting the 41 Protection Committees created since 2012. In addition, Mani Tese, together with UNHCR and local communities, created Protection Committees in 4 new villages.

Livelihoods

• In 2017, 12 communities will be supported with livelihoods activities. Out of those, 4 communities are being assisted in poultry production and henhouses were constructed in the villages of Varela, Sidif, Sougoto and Djegué. In addition 5 communities will benefit from gardens and irrigations systems for horticulture purpose. In the first semester, 4 wells were built in Sougototo, Edjaten, Capal, Barraca Biro;

• In order to strengthen Community-Based management structures, UNHCR and Mani Tese sensitized, in the first semester of 2017, over 300 communities members from the villages of Edjaten, Sidif and Capal on the importance of setting up Management Committees for better supervision and monitoring of the projects to be implemented in their villages. An AGD approach was applied and the need to include women into local management structures was highlighted. Finally 03 Management Committees were created with 7 members (4 refugees and 3 nationals’ males and females).

Intergenerational HelpAge programme restores livelihoods and builds community cohesion in post-Ebola Sierra Leone

By Ben Small

Older people in Sierra Leone are rebuilding their livelihoods and experiencing greater levels of dignity and respect in their communities in the wake of the Ebola outbreak, thanks to a HelpAge International programme that has brought older and younger generations together.

The new report Breaking the age barrier: Lessons from an intergenerational livelihoods programme in Sierra Leone looks at the design and impact of this initiative that we delivered in collaboration with Age International and Restless Development.

What impact did Ebola have on older people in Sierra Leone?

After years of civil conflict, Sierra Leone was already economically and socially unstable when the Ebola crisis hit in 2014. This was exacerbated when the virus went on to infect over 14,000 people and kill nearly 4,000.

The weakened immune systems of many people aged 65 and over left them much more susceptible, and they were more reliant on the community and government services that broke down as the emergency gripped the country.

Many older people whose adult children were killed during the Ebola outbreak found themselves looking after orphaned grandchildren too. They had to deal with the emotional toll of losing their loved ones, as well as the financial strain of taking care of their grandchildren on a low income and with little family support.

How did we help rebuild older people's livelihoods?

Working with youth-focused agency Restless Development, we brought together 30 young volunteers for two weeks training on business and teaching skills, and tasked them with imparting this knowledge to older people to support them starting their own businesses.

The volunteers helped establish 85 older people's associations (OPAs) across 60 communities in the Moyamba and Bonthe districts in south-west Sierra Leone. They assisted the OPAs to create savings deposits and, using this cash and the interest gained, they supported the issuing of 1,700 village savings loans to members.

Older people set up small enterprises selling goods such as rice, soap and palm oil, while a number of communities initiated collective groundnut or rice farms. Once they had made enough money, they paid back their loans to the community group with a small amount of interest, which was used to issue further loans to members.

The volunteers supported the older people's business development for nine months, then two mentors were selected in each community to provide ongoing advice to the OPAs once the programme ended.

Eighty-year-old Mamie Morie was able to get her soap business going again with a loan of 140,000 leones (£14.66), and she has now taught her 22-year-old granddaughter Jebbe how to make soap so she can help run the operation.

"Since we started, the money I have been earning from the group is what I have been using to help me prepare my soap," she explained.

"I then pay my loan back, and whatever is left is what I have to feed myself and run my home. Sometimes I save money to buy medication."

With these businesses, older people had their own source of income to spend on what they need most, as well as to support the rest of their household. But the direct financial benefit was not the only positive to come out of the programme.

Developing unity in the community

"The unity we have amongst ourselves is actually more important even than the finance," said an OPA member in Kawela.

Older people said that coming together as a group improved emotional and social wellbeing, reduced quarrels in the community, and encouraged members to resolve their differences and support one another in times of need.

In a number of communities, OPA rules stipulate if a member falls ill, each person will contribute a fixed amount of money to support their recovery. Similarly, if a member dies, cash will be provided to their family to help cover the funeral costs.

With their improved financial standing and reduced dependency, older people report being treated better in their communities. They are greeted positively in public, included in community meetings, and consulted directly on decisions that impact them and their family.

This had a particularly profound impact on older women. The selection system for OPA members honed in on the most vulnerable, and this meant a lot of widowed women who were isolated on the margins of communities were included.

The OPAs gave these women access to a social support network, and the opportunity to earn an income and boost their standing in society.

Unexpectedly, a small number of communities even said the programme led to a reduction in witchcraft accusations. These are overwhelmingly made about these vulnerable older women, and by tackling the poverty and isolation that fuels these allegations, the instances of older women being called witches fell.

Inspiring Sierra Leone's youth

While the programme directly encouraged older people to better manage their money, it also proved to have a positive impact on the youth's financial attitudes and behaviours.

There is not much of a culture of saving in Sierra Leone. Most people believe their children will take care of them when they reach older age. But seeing the impact the loans were having on OPA members in their communities, many younger people were inspired to start saving.

"The spirit of saving has been induced in us by our relatives in the OPA," said one 25-year-old in in Njama.

In one-third of the communities, young people formed their own savings groups, emulating the OPA model. Many specifically cited the need to plan for their later years as the motivation.

Challenging misconceptions between generations

Both the volunteers and the older people involved in the programme revealed they prejudices about each other before the programme started. The youth doubted older people's capacity to learn and start their own businesses, while the OPA members were sceptical about what young people could teach them.

Through the volunteer training and the experience of working with one another, these misgivings were turned on their head.

They were taught to be encouraging and patient with older people they were teaching, and to use storytelling and discussions to get their message across effectively.

"[The volunteers] came even during the heavy rains. Whatever they were taught, they [in turn] taught us, and they earned [our] respect," said an older man from Yoni.

One volunteer from Mano added: "I have no iota of doubt within me about the older people. Of course I know they can do it."

Theresa Monrovia, treasurer at the Nguala OPA, was hugely positive about the strength she believes the programme has brought to her community.

"There is a strong bond; [the young and the old] now have love for each other," she said.

"We embrace each other, we play, we laugh ... whatever we do, we do it in one voice."

Flooding observed in Nigeria and heavy rain continues in Ethiopia, Sudan, and South Sudan

1. Below-average rainfall since mid-May has led to abnormal dryness across eastern Uganda and southwestern Kenya. Moisture deficits are likely to negatively impact cropping and Pastoral activities.

2. Repeated weeks of very heavy, above-normal rains have oversaturated the ground in parts of Ethiopia, Sudan, and South Sudan. More heavy rain during the next week is likely to cause further flooding.

3. Heavy downpours over the past week have resulted in flooding in Rivers State, Nigeria. Potential for flooding remains high as torrential rain is very likely to continue next week.

Africa Overview

Flooding observed in the Gulf of Guinea

Above-average rain fell over many areas of the Sahel this week. From July 17-23, downpours continued over Guinea-Conakry, eastern Senegal, western and eastern Mali. Torrential rain also fell over Togo, Benin, northwestern and the southern coastal areas of Nigeria (Figure 1). According to media reports, the rain last week destroyed many houses in areas of the Rivers State in Nigeria. While the favorable performance of the West African monsoon has benefitted agricultural and pastoral activities in many areas, excess moisture has also negatively impacted ground conditions in other areas.

Due to consistent rain over the past few weeks, positive rainfall anomalies were observed throughout much of West Africa, with some regions accumulating 100-500mm of rain above average over the past thirty days. These regions included Guinea-Conakry, Sierra Leone, southwestern Cote d’Ivoire, and southern Nigeria. In contrast, small negative rainfall anomalies were registered over localized areas of eastern and central Burkina Faso, south-central, and northeastern Nigeria.

Next week, heavy downpours are expected to continue over far western West Africa and southern Nigeria, which increases risk for flooding in the region. Moderate to heavy rain is forecast Source: NOAA/CPC across southern Mali, Burkina Faso, western and southern Niger, Nigeria, and southern Chad, while light rain is expected elsewhere.

Rainfall continues over much of Eastern Africa

Since late June to date, Eastern Africa has received average to above-average rain. Positive rainfall anomalies were observed in eastern Sudan, northeastern South Sudan, western Ethiopia, central Yemen, and northern Uganda. However, a few areas, including western South Sudan, localized areas of northeastern Uganda, and north-central Ethiopia, experienced slightly below-average rain over the past thirty days. Above-average rainfall could also lead to river flooding in areas of eastern Sudan and sustain risks for water-borne disease outbreaks in Yemen. Although rainfall totals were reduced last week compared to the previous week, moderate to heavy rain continued over western Ethiopia, southern Sudan, and northern South Sudan.

Next week, heavy and above-average rain is likely over western Ethiopia, which could raise river levels and cause flooding in eastern Sudan. Meanwhile, moderate to heavy rain is expected in the southern and western portions of Sudan, and South Sudan.

MESSAGES CLES

• Dans le nord-est du Nigeria, l’amélioration des conditions sécuritaires continue de favoriser le retour croissant de personnes déplacées et de réfugiés mais l’aide humanitaire demeure insuffisante du fait des financements limités.
  Ainsi, de nombreuses populations dans les Etats de Borno, Yobé et Adamawa restent affectées par l’insécurité alimentaire aiguë de type Crise (Phase 3 de l’IPC) ou d'Urgence (Phase 4 de l’IPC) et avec un risque accru de niveaux élevés de malnutrition aiguë et d'excès de mortalité. Les zones moins accessibles, particulièrement dans l’Etat de Borno, connaitraient des conditions similaires ou pires, et restent confrontés à un risque élevé de Famine (Phase 5 de l’IPC) en 2017.

• Les marchés demeurent bien approvisionnés en denrées alimentaires locales et importées, ce qui permet de satisfaire la demande croissante en cette période de soudure. Toutefois, les prix des denrées alimentaires sont en hausse saisonnière du fait de la baisse des stocks ménages et de la dépendance du marché. Ces hausses sont davantage marquées dans le bassin Est, particulièrement dans le bassin du Lac Tchad où les flux restent perturbés par l’insécurité civile, et au Nigéria où la dépréciation du Naira maintient la hausse généralisée des prix plus marquée dans les zones de conflit. Malgré l’accroissement de la demande du marché jusqu’aux prochaines récoltes en Septembre / Octobre, les prix resteront proches des niveaux moyens, sauf au Nigeria.

• En mois de juillet, la saison agricole 2017/18 connait un progrès satisfaisant avec une généralisation des semis ans plusieurs zones sahéliennes et soudaniennes, et le sarclage pour les semis précoces. Les récoltes en vert de maïs et d’arachide des zones soudaniennes et du Golfe de Guinée commencent à arriver sur les marchés. Avec les prévisions d’une saison humide à normale excepté une partie de l’Ouest du Golfe de Guinée (Guinée, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote ‘Ivoire) les perspectives d’une récolte au moins moyennes sont attendues. Toutefois, les infestations en cours de la chenille Spodoptera frugiperda dans certains pays de la région (Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Niger, Burkina Faso) constitue un risque majeur.

21 July 2017: The 2014 outbreak of Ebola – the worst in history – saw almost 4,000 people killed in Sierra Leone. Those who survived now face medical complications while being shunned by their communities. But some say government promises of support are yet to materialise. Abdul Brima asks if this risks confrontation with the authorities.

There are over 4,000 Ebola survivors in Sierra Leone, according to the country’s health ministry. Many face stigma and discrimination in their families and communities, and thousands more face ongoing physical and mental health problems. Joint pains, fertility concerns and eye problems, as well as livelihood and other economic issues, are daily ordeals for Ebola survivors, according to research such as that carried out by the International Medical Corps in the middle of the crisis.

In 2016, the UNDP and the Government of Sierra Leone through the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs agreed an Annual Work Plan to address these issues.

Sierra Leone’s Minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs is Dr. Sylvia Blyden. On launching the project, she noted that “Under the leadership of the UNDP and the Government of Sierra Leone, we’ll have so many success stories out of this project.”

However, the signing of this workplan has not so far changed the predicament of Ebola survivors.

Unisa Abass Bangura is one of them. Among the first people to survive Ebola, Abass lives in an unfinished building in Goderich, west of Freetown. During the early days of the outbreak, Abass volunteered to work as a hygienist in a treatment centre near his community, where he contracted the virus. He remembers what it felt like living with the disease.

“It was one of the greatest fears of my life. I saw infected people dying like animals every day. There were few survivors.”

“Ten or eleven patients would come, and only one would survive. That was how severe things were. Seeing the hopeless situation of others made me think I was going to die,” Abass says.

When Abass was discharged, things were not easy. His family had already burnt most of his personal belongings and documents. “Even my elder brother didn’t come to visit me because he feared that I might infect him. I felt disappointed and very discouraged.”

Though he survived both Ebola and the stigma that followed, Abass now lives with a medical complication called urethra rapture. The condition makes it difficult for him to urinate freely. He explains with tears in his eyes.

“A young man like me now lives with this type of complication that old people at 80 to 90 years get. This is hell for me.”

Abass explains that his family cannot afford the fees for the surgery that will solve his problem. He had asked the government for help on many occasions – but no-one wanted to do so.

“The government once said that Ebola survivors are heroes, but now I live with a rubber where my urine passes and there is no one to help me solve this problem. I told the minister about my condition as a survivor, but he just ignored me. It is very painful to be abandoned in this way after making so many sacrifices to save the lives of others,” says Abass. But the Minister, Dr Blyden, sees beyond the problem of Abass alone.

“The country has tens of thousands of orphans and children who had lost their primary care givers to Ebola, and the government is overstretched on many other social and economic concerns.”

She adds that one of her first priorities upon assuming office was to set up an Ebola survivors unit in her ministry, a desk manned by survivors to address concerns of other Ebola survivors.

“I envisage a long term relationship with Ebola Survivors.

“I’m fully aware they are not just going to disappear into thin air, although many people think they do, and that we should forget about them.”

The Executive Director of civil society organisation the Center for the Coordination of Youth Activities (CCYA), Ngolo Katta, thinks that the time for political gimmicks is over.

“Ebola survivors faced life threatening experiences. They were exposed to death and many witnessed the deaths of family and other community members. The government should encourage them by addressing their economic and social needs.”

Dr. Blyden says her government is committed to addressing the sufferings of Ebola survivors. “To prove that the government is serious about addressing the challenges of Ebola, the president, with support from partners, has introduced a comprehensive package for Ebola survivors. Under this package, Ebola survivors will have access to free medical, psychosocial and livelihood support,” the minister said.

But Abass is not impressed and thinks more needs to be done. “When we go to the hospital there are no medicines, not even paracetamol. Some of our colleagues are frustrated… and have chosen to self-medicate instead.”

29-year-old Adama Kamara also survived Ebola. Adama lost all her family, including her husband, to the virus in 2014. She says that she no longer has any strength, because of complications arising from the disease.

“My eyes scratch constantly. They run all the time, and my thighs and muscles are always paining me and I cannot walk long distance anymore.”

Like Abass, Adama desperately wants the government to help.

“Economic hardship and the difficulties of survival are making life unbearable for me. I can no longer pay my only surviving child’s school fees, or my own medical bill. The government really needs to help us.” The growing frustration among the Ebola survivor community means Abass and many others are thinking of action.

“We will definitely strike and protest if the government fails to fulfil its promises,” Abass says strongly.

In 2015, Ebola survivors demonstrated in the Freetown asking government to step up efforts in addressing medical, social and economic problems of all survivors. Will the same happen again?

Ngolo Katta from CCYA thinks the chance of protest will be higher if the government fails to listen to the cries of Ebola survivors.

“Some of these survivors have lost their primary caregivers. Thousands more are orphans who need someone to feed and pay school fees for them. These concerns have not been addressed, and there is frustration and disappointment among the survivor population.”

“We are talking about over 4,000 people who have the capacity to destabilise the country’s peace if nothing is done to address their concerns.”

In Sierra Leone, Ebola survivors are found all over the country, which increases the potential for strike action in one area to spill over to another part of the country. So Ebola survivors need to be treated carefully. The country does not need another reason to worry about its stability.

Note that quotes from Dr Blyden in this article come from the press release cited and a radio programme hosted by Abdul Brima on which she was a guest.

Highlights

• WFP collaborates with J-PAL and World Vision to commence stunting prevention and immunization promotion food distribution in Kori chiefdom, Moyamba district.

• WFP completes second quarter food support to undernourished tuberculosis (TB) clients and those on the intensive phase of directly observed treatment, short-course (DOTS) in Kambia, Koinadugu, Bombali and Tonkolili districts.

Operational Updates

• In collaboration with Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Lab (J-PAL) and World Vision, WFP commenced food distributions for a joint stunting prevention and immunization promotion in Kori chiefdom, Moyamba district, which has the highest rates of stunting nationwide. The pilot programme will run through 2018 in Moyamba district, targeting 60,000 pregnant and nursing women and 40,000 children aged 6 to 23 months. Upon visits to the clinic, mothers and children will receive monthly rations of specialised nutritious food. Results from the pilot will inform a scale-up to other districts.

• WFP, the National Leprosy & Tuberculosis Control Programme (NLTCP) of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation supported the Food by Prescription programme for undernourished tuberculosis (TB) clients and those on the intensive phase of directly observed treatment, short-course (DOTS) in Kambia, Koinadugu, Bombali and Tonkolili districts.
  Adult beneficiaries received an individual monthly ration of Supercereal with sugar and fortified vegetable oil while children aged 6-59 months received Supercereal plus. The nutrition support aims to improve TB drug adherence and promote nutrition recovery of malnourished TB patients.

The international debate packages the problem neatly, but offers few solutions for Africa.

31 JUL 2017 BY / BY TUESDAY REITANO

Combating human trafficking has become one of the biggest global challenges, attracting high-level pledges of support from world leaders, especially in the West.

Barack Obama and Pope Francis both urged universal commitments in the fight against it; the UK has enacted a modern slavery act; and in 2016, the United Nations (UN) Security Council held its first-ever thematic debate on human trafficking. Targets to end human trafficking have been included in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons has called for new approaches to the problem, particularly in conflict settings.

In February, US President Donald Trump promised to bring the ‘full force and weight’ of the US government to combat the ‘epidemic’, and in March the UN Security Council said that ‘at a time of division in so many areas, this [fight against human trafficking] should be an issue that can unite us’.

Yesterday, on World Day against Trafficking in Persons, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) called on all to ‘act to protect and assist trafficked persons’. This is an important message, but how much impact can it have in Africa where the international definition of the problem doesn’t always fit the context?

Human trafficking is a crime that reduces a person to a commodity to be bought, sold, exploited and abused. It is an umbrella term that includes a variety of criminal practices, including forced labour and modern slavery, sexual exploitation, organ trafficking, child labour, child soldiering and child marriage.

African responses to the issue have been ambiguous. Despite ratification by all but two African nations of the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime’s (UNTOC) protocol on trafficking in persons, the issue is rarely high on the agenda. While the African Union (AU) Commission did, in 2010, launch its Initiative against Trafficking (AU.COMMIT), the issue remains low on the list of priorities for the regional bloc.

From the narrative of international reports on Africa, however, trafficking presents a scourge on the continent’s development, affecting every region.

In Central Africa, traditional practices of poor or rural families sending their children to live with city-based relatives or unknown families for education in exchange for household chores are widespread. Lack of oversight can of course lead to this situation being abused. Children from Benin, Guinea, Mali, Togo, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Liberia and Sierra Leone are housed by rich families in capital cities sometimes in modern slavery-style conditions.

North African children work in agriculture, artisanal gold mining, water collecting, construction and mechanics. Some reports suggest organised gangs force street children to serve as thieves, beggars and drug mules in Algeria and Tunisia, while Sudanese and Egyptian children have been trafficked to Saudi Arabia and Italy for forced begging.

In Southern Africa, men, women and children are exploited in brick-making, domestic service, agriculture, artisanal mining and fishing. Reports of forced and exploitative labour have increased as the mining, manufacturing and agricultural sectors expand in countries such as Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and Botswana.

However the definition and analysis of a problem depends very much on perspective, and the question is: Does internationally accepted terminology around human trafficking adequately capture the reality that fits the African context? Often what the international community labels as human trafficking are in fact locally acceptable labour practices that offer the only meaningful employment available.

Children can be viewed as potential economic earners, either through their labour, particularly as domestic servants for girls, or through early marriage of daughters, which has the dual advantage of providing a dowry and protecting familial reputation. While those practices shouldn’t be condoned, anti-trafficking programmes rarely offer long-term sustainable alternatives for equal prospects for economic or social advancement, nor options to abate it or stamp out its drivers.

Moreover, despite the fact that human trafficking is a borderless crime, and that the UNODC estimates that 90% of sub-Saharan Africa trafficking flows are short distance, in the African context there is a strong propensity to link human trafficking and irregular migration.

With the rising rates of migration towards Europe, new life has been breathed into regional initiatives on managing irregular migration, such as the Khartoum Process in East Africa and the Rabat Process in West Africa. And it is increasingly here where anti-human trafficking initiatives are couched, alongside efforts to counter the smuggling of migrants.

This makes the situation for African governments even more complex.

Yes, migrants and refugees are extremely vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, and the smuggling of migrants often leads to situations of forced labour. But migration and the contexts in which it occurs are vastly different to those envisaged by the authors of UNTOC. The terminology used in the convention and its protocols, and the neat distinctions provided between human trafficking and smuggling, are increasingly incapable of capturing the complexity of human movement in 2017.

Individuals with divergent histories, experiences and reasons for movement are travelling together along the same routes. While there are some who do not consent to the travel (or at least aren’t fully informed of the purpose of the travel), most move fully aware that they will face bribes, threats, violence and abuse along the way. Still others enter ‘transport for work’ agreements with their smugglers. Often this results in protracted periods of forced and bonded labour.

For many Africans, migration to the Gulf, Europe or North America – no matter how this is achieved – is an exceedingly positive economic and development proposition for themselves, their families, and through remittances paid later, their communities and their nations. African economies benefit from more than $35 billion annually in remittances. The risks and abuses of the journey are seen as the price to be paid for generational return.

When viewed from the perspective of African states and their people, more often than not what the West deems as human trafficking is simply a quest for new opportunities and a better life. And vocal international campaigns are perceived as an effort to restrict those opportunities.

So it is no wonder that some African governments do little more than pay lip service to a discourse that is largely shaped outside of Africa.

Written for the ENACT project by Tuesday Reitano, Deputy Director, Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime

ENACT is funded by the European Union (EU). The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of the author and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the EU.

West Africa can be divided into three agro-ecological zones or three different trade basins (West Basin, Central Basin and East Basin). Both important for understanding market behavior and dynamics.

The three major agro-ecological zones are the Sahelian, the Sudanese and the Coastal zones where production and consumption can be easily classified. (1) In the Sahelian zone, millet is the principal cereal cultivated and consumed particularly in rural areas and increasingly, when accessible, in urban areas. Exceptions include Cape Verde where maize and rice are most important, Mauritania where sorghum and maize are staples, and Senegal with rice. The principal substitutes in the Sahel are sorghum, rice, and cassava flour (Gari), the latter two in times of shortage. (2) In the Sudanese zone (southern Chad, central Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Togo, Côte d'Ivoire, southern Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Serra Leone, Liberia) maize and sorghum constitute the principal cereals consumed by the majority of the population. They are followed by rice and tubers, particularly cassava and yam. (3) In the Coastal zone, with two rainy seasons, yam and maize constitute the most important food products. They are supplemented by cowpea, which is a significant source of protein.

The three trade basins are known as the West, Central, and East basins. In addition to the north to south movement of particular commodities, certain cereals flow horizontally. (1) The West basin refers to Mauritania, Senegal, western Mali, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, and The Gambia where rice is most heavily traded. (2) The Central basin consists of Côte d'Ivoire, central and eastern Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Togo where maize is commonly traded. (3) The East basin refers to Niger, Nigeria, Chad, and Benin where millet is traded most frequently. These three trade basins are shown on the map above.