19 August is World Humanitarian Day, an opportunity to honour the humanitarian community and the life-saving work they perform every day. This year’s theme, “it takes a village”, recognizes the importance of collective action in delivering humanitarian assistance—by professionals and volunteers, but also by crisis-affected people themselves.
When crises occur, women and girls disproportionately bear the impact. Their low participation in humanitarian response planning and decision making, however, limits their voices from being heard and their needs from being fully met. Empowering women to lead in crisis settings can help catalyse more robust humanitarian action that better addresses the needs of everyone.
Over the past several years, refugee settlements in two districts of Uganda have provided a real-world demonstration of this trend.
Though women and children make up to 81 per cent of the nearly 1.53 million refugees in Uganda, refugee settlement leadership has historically lacked women’s representation. Cultural barriers, coupled with limited knowledge on rights and access to education, kept women from participating in decision-making processes.
In 2018, UN Women began providing trainings for the women and youth of Adjumani and Yumbe districts, which host 30.1 per cent of Uganda’s total refugee population. The trainings included instruction in literacy, numeracy, women’s rights, leadership and life skills development, public speaking, debating and radio presentation. The results were striking.
“Before I participated in the leadership training, I was a shy person. I could not speak up because of fear”, says Joy Aiba, a South Sudanese refugee living in Bidibidi Refugee Settlement in Yumbe District. Now, she feels empowered to make her voice heard within settlement leadership.
Ugandan refugee settlements are governed by Refugee Welfare Committees (RWCs), with committee members directly elected by the refugee community under the supervision of the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM). Elections of RWCs take place every two years. While the guidelines for RWCs provide for 30 per cent refugee representation, women had not been coming forth to run in the elections and take up leadership positions.
Medi-science International Limited and Kenya-based startup Afya Rekod (AfyaRekod.com) have announced a strategic collaboration that seeks to transform healthcare delivery through improved access to personal health data in Africa and Europe. The partnership will give patients an accessible record of their own health history, by enabling patients, doctors and hospitals to host health records securely on one platform through a digital application.
Decentralization signifies the modification or change of our current Healthcare Systems. Our current Healthcare Systems have standard normalized processes and procedures. A person is sick; they visit a physician, they provide insurance or they pay out of pocket after being assessed. They then are given a prescription or medications conventionally appropriate to treating that effect. However, there are imperfections in this system. Many patients have to wait weeks to see a Doctor, some do not have the insurance or the financial resources to pay for a medical professional’s treatment. Others cannot afford prescriptions or are given drugs that do not treat the issue but that only make them become dependent on the drug.
Afya Rekod, a patient-driven platform, puts patients at the core of all healthcare services. They can capture, store, access and own their health records, which has multiple benefits including reducing the cost of repeating medical tests. Both patients and clinicians will be able to access imaging files and test results through an app on their phones or browser without having to go back to the health clinic to collect the files. To protect confidentiality, Afya Rekod uses various AI and blockchain modules, and the patient maintains the sovereign right of ownership to their health data.
John Kamara, CEO Afya Rekod said, “Our vision is to put patients at the core of what we do. We want families to have access to their medical records virtually and access them any time, in a matter of seconds. The partnership with Medi-science International Limited will allow for a seamless flow of data between the patient and doctors.”
“Afya Rekod allows clinicians to view data and share with other experts, enabling them to make better informed diagnoses and decisions. An efficient proximity between Doctors and patients thereby diminishing long-line waiting times for consultations between physicians and patients; thus more efficiently affording a Patient-Prompt Service without the need for that patient to be at a physical hospital or Healthcare location.” added John Kamara, CEO Afya Rekod.
Sunny Ahonsi, CEO Medi-science International Limited said, “Our world’s Healthcare Systems are going through what we would like to call a stage of awakening. For decades our demographically overloaded Healthcare Systems’ accessibility and effectiveness have been stagnating in their traditional forms of treatments and care for individuals. This is why the Decentralization of Healthcare is becoming increasingly imperative. At Medi-science International Limited we are working along with the current Healthcare Systems while at the same time decentralizing their conventional formalities to generate the most efficient, effective and economical standards of care.”
“Your health is in the hands of our Innovative experts, MediLiVes is the care Connectors. In our collaboration with Afya Rekod, we will work on data accessibility to help create insights for better, more targeted, more individualized patient care. The health sector and the public must all come together to further the digital healthcare journey, to the benefit of millions of people, and this partnership supports that journey. Your health is in the hands of our Innovative experts, MediLiVes are the care Connectors!” added Sunny Ahonsi, CEO Medi-science International Limited
MediLiVes, a product of Medi-science International Limited, offers an Analytical telemedicine system to make medical examinations cost effective and quick. MediLiVes is an innovative initiative offering unique, new-generation telemedicine solutions. Telemedicine, based on technology that enables a patient’s health condition to be monitored from a distance, is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. The versatile nature of our core product means that it can find abnormalities not only in cardiology, but also in diabetes, dietetics, civilization diseases, and chronic illnesses.
Recently positioned as the Gender Advisor of the UN Humanitarian Country Team (HCT), UN Women Sudan is working proactively with humanitarian actors to ensure gender-sensitive humanitarian response and action in the country. With over 1.2 million refugees, and nearly 3 million internally displaced people, Sudan is facing a huge humanitarian crisis, expected to escalate under the current political and economic crises.
To strengthen gender mainstreaming in humanitarian action, UN Women Sudan is conducting an assessment titled; “Rapid Gender Assessment of the Humanitarian Context, Crises and Response in Sudan.” The assessment is intended to identify how gender issues are integrated into humanitarian intervention, reflect on gender inequalities, challenges and barriers facing humanitarian action and actors and provide strategic recommendations to engender humanitarian action in Sudan. The study is expected to be published by the end of August 2022.
Despite the conclusion of the Juba Peace Agreement 2020, the humanitarian situation in Sudan continues to worsen. The number of security incidents is rising in Sudan, with inter-communal violence in West Darfur, West Kordofan, South Kordofan, Red Sea and recently in the Blue Nile State.
In July 2022, the Blue Nile Region witnessed inter-communal conflict between Hausa and Fong tribes. About 14,000 people were displaced between the 14th and the 17th of July 2022. The Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) has so far registered 97 deaths related to the violence, according to the UNHCT in Sudan report. The crises affected over 1,985 women and girls. Currently living in IDP camps, the Blue Nile girls and women are facing food insecurity and remain in dire need of immediate hygiene and protection support as well as trauma counselling and treatment.
In response, UN Women Sudan has coordinated with Sudanese women groups to unite their efforts, and maximize the impact of their humanitarian response, and ensure that gender perspective is mainstreamed in all aspects of the humanitarian response; that women and girls are equally consulted to understand and address their needs and vulnerabilities; that women’s leadership is leveraged; that gender is integrated into humanitarian assessments, reporting and monitoring tools; and that gender experts are included in the humanitarian teams responding to the crisis.
“Although this conflict is between men, and no single woman is involved; The first and last victims in this conflict are women,” said Amina, a member of a leading women’s group in Blue Nile state.
Today on the occasion of World Humanitarian Day, the humanitarian community in north-east Nigeria honors all aid workers stepping up to respond each day to the crisis in the region by providing life-saving assistance to millions of women, children and men.
This year’s theme #ItTakesAVillage is built upon the metaphor, ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’ At an event commemorating World Humanitarian Day today in Maiduguri Mr. Matthias Schmale, United Nations (UN) Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria stated, “Just as it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a whole community to help people in need; to provide urgent health care, shelter, food, protection, transportation, security, water and much more.”
He noted that the humanitarian ‘village’ in north-east Nigeria proudly includes volunteers and paid staff from civil society, national and international NGOs, government, the United Nations and crisis-affected people themselves. The vast majority of aid workers in Nigeria — including those who are exposed to the most risk — are Nigerians.
“Despite the many challenges in this crisis, we should all be immensely proud of the impact humanitarians have in north-east Nigeria. Through our combined effort our humanitarian ‘village’ delivered assistance to five million people last year. That assistance saved countless lives, improved living conditions, and protected the most vulnerable people,” said Mr. Schmale. Part of this assistance continues to be empowering affected people as part of this village to help themselves.
World Humanitarian Day also advocates for the safety and security of aid workers, who often work in volatile and unpredictable environments. Since 2016, 35 aid workers have been killed in north-east Nigeria, according to the Aid Worker Security Database (AWSD). Twenty-two have been wounded and 28 kidnapped. So far in 2022, six aid workers have been kidnapped and one has been killed in the region (AWSD). Globally, in 2021 some 460 aid workers were victims in 267 major attacks: 140 aid workers were killed, 203 seriously injured and 117 kidnapped. This marks the highest number of aid worker fatalities recorded since 2013, according to Humanitarian Outcomes.
The Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ms Candith Mashego-Dlamini, will embark on a Working Visit to the Levant region from 21-26 August 2022. The Deputy Minister will visit Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
The Working Visit is intended to enhance and strengthen bilateral relations between South Africa and the Levant countries. This will include the formation of a Strategic Dialogue between Palestine and South Africa aimed at advancing the Palestinians’ desire to establish an independent, sovereign state.
It is expected that the visit will further provide the Deputy Minister an opportunity to exchange views on the most recent developments in South Africa, the SADC region and the African continent.
While in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, the Deputy Minister will hold meetings with her counterparts. The meetings will be aimed at deepening relations between South Africa and these countries.
Deputy Minister Mashego-Dlamini will be accompanied by the Director General of the Department, Mr Zane Dangor, and other officials.
The Director-General will co-chair the second round of the South Africa – Palestine Political Consultations, which will be held in Ramallah on 21 August 2022.
National Action Plans (NAPs) are essential tools used by governments to address the global threat posed by antimicrobial resistance (AMR). NAPs provide a framework of sequence of actions to align activities of different stakeholders in different sectors toward one large goal of mitigating AMR.
In 2017, the Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ), with support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) developed its first NAP for AMR (2017-2022)1.
The NAP for AMR (2017-2022) was implemented across the human and animal health, agriculture, and environment sectors. A multi-sectoral coordinating committee was set up, with members from the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water & Rural Development (MoLAFWRD) and the Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism & Hospitality Industry (MoECTHI) to oversee the implementation of the NAP for AMR (2017-2022).
Zimbabwe’s NAP for AMR (2017-2022) is concluding at the end of this year. Preparations for the new NAP for (2023-2027) are already underway. FAO’s Progressive Management Pathway for AMR tool was used to evaluate the implementation progress, gaps and challenges of the first NAP. One of the gaps identified was poor costing and budgeting. Therefore, the WHO conducted a 3-day training of 14 National Costing Coordinators using the recently launched WHO costing and budgeting tool for the AMR NAP 2. The costing tool seeks to assist countries to coordinate and budget for the successful implementation of AMR NAPs. Costing coordinators are being trained to optimally use resources to achieve the best possible outcome for the implementation of the NAP.
In his welcoming remarks, MoHCC Chief Director of Public Health, Dr Munyaradzi Dobbie emphasized on the importance of planning, costing and budgeting NAPs on AMR.
The training took place in Kadoma from 21-23 June 2022, 14 costing coordinators from the Ministry of Health and Child Care, the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water & Rural Development and the Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism & Hospitality Industry now have the technical capacity to cost and budget for the new AMR NAP. The WHO AMR experts Dr Alessandro Patriarchi and Mr Paul Verboom, taught participants key components and functionalities of the tool and provided them with hands-on training of its usage through a series of practical exercises.
“This is one of the most robust, but simplest excel model costing tools that I have ever seen. I can now cost any project using this model, even animal health and welfare, and food safety projects” noted Dr Lawrence Dinginya, Acting Deputy Director of Veterinary Public Health who was one of the participants from the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water & Rural Development.
The African Energy Chamber (AEC) proud to announce that Rebecca Enonchong, Chair of the African Center for Technology Innovation and Ventures; founder and CEO of AppsTech and I/O Spaces; and Board Chair of AfriLabs, will be speaking at this year’s edition of the African Energy Week (AEW) (www.AECWeek.com) conference and exhibition, Africa’s premier event for the energy sector, which will take place from October 18-21, 2022, in Cape Town. With discussions during the conference largely centered on the need for an Africa-adapted energy transition; implementing Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) with large-scale energy projects; and the role technology plays in making energy poverty history, speaker confirmations made by industry experts such as Enonchong will be critical.
Describing herself as a tech fanatic, Enonchong represents one of Africa’s leading innovators, promoting the transformative potential of technology in Africa. Having founded several businesses, including her first, AfriLabs – a network organization of over 80 innovation centers across 27 African countries, serving as hubs for future entrepreneurs – Enonchong is committed to expanding the penetration of technological solutions across the African economy at large. Similarly, her business ActivSpaces also serves as an incubator, with centers based predominantly in rural areas in order to improve human capital development and expand technology innovation beyond urban borders. Through her businesses, various programs and outreach initiatives, Enonchong continues to drive the technology of the future in Africa.
Her success as an entrepreneur and tech innovator has also been recognized globally, having been listed by Forbes Magazine as one of the top 10 Female Tech Founders to Watch in Africa in 2014 and named as one of the 100 Most Influential Africans in Science, Tech & Innovation in 2017. As such, backed by a wealth of experience in the technology sector and with a commitment to developing a competitive and tech-driven economy in Africa, Enonchong represents a key speaker at the continent’s premier energy event, AEW 2022.
At a time when the African energy sector is on the cusp of a transformation, owing largely to new oil and gas discoveries translating into large-scale developments; the energy transition calling for the accelerated adoption of renewable energies; and recent commitments to reduce emissions across the entire energy value chain, technological innovation in energy is key. While climate change has become a growing concern, leading to stakeholders calling for significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, over 600 million people in Africa are still without access to electricity and over 900 million people without access to clean cooking solutions. Therefore, unlocking new technology will not only ensure climate change is prevented and the energy transition is fast-tracked but that Africa’s socioeconomic development is accelerated.
“Industrializing Africa will require significant innovation within the technological space and stakeholders such as Enonchong are driving success in this regard. With a passion for technology and Africa, Enonchong has and continues to be instrumental in developing Africa’s economies through the widespread adoption of technological solutions. As AEW 2022 moves to make energy poverty history on the back of every energy resource in Africa, having African-led solutions will be key for unlocking a new era of growth and development. This is what AEW 2022 stands for and what experts such as Enonchong will drive at the event in Cape Town,” states NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber (AEC).
CHANGCHUN, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) — Economic operation has progressed steadily in northeast China’s Jilin Province over the past decade, with industrial structure optimized and the business environment improved, according to a press briefing in the provincial capital of Changchun on Monday.
Jilin has strived to develop three major industries, including the automobile industry, food processing industry and ecological tourism.
In 2021, the province saw its gross domestic product grow 6.6 percent year on year and attracted over 10,000 high-caliber talents.
In the past 10 years, Jilin has been increasing its grain production capacity, with annual grain output exceeding 35 million tonnes for nine consecutive years, according to the press briefing.
In addition, grain output in Jilin has reached some 40.39 million tonnes in 2021, up 20 percent compared with that of 2012.
Boasting over 3 million market entities, the province will continue to foster an efficient and conducive business environment to benefit enterprises.
Meanwhile, it will accelerate to build the digital government and inject strong impetus into revitalization and development. ■
In 2013, the idea of targeted poverty alleviation was first introduced in Shibadong Village. This pioneering notion focused on tailoring poverty alleviation efforts to different individuals, local conditions and causes of poverty.
* Over the years, Shibadong Village has developed several industries that draw on its strengths. In 2013, the per-capita net annual income in the village was 1,668 yuan, only 18.8 percent of the average income in other rural areas. In 2021, the figure surged to more than 20,000 yuan.
* With the victory in poverty alleviation, China is forging ahead with rural vitalization in an all-round way. More young people are contributing to the cause.
By Xinhua writers Tan Jian, Liu Fangzhou, Peng Peigen
CHANGSHA, July 22 (Xinhua) — Life has dealt Long Xianlan, 35, a bad hand: His mother left home for ever due to despair of life, his father died 20 years ago from illness, and his only sister drowned two years later.
The village in which he lives, Shibadong in central China’s Hunan Province, has a history of poverty. In 2013, 130 households, or 60 percent of the village population, lived below the poverty line. Long was one of them, living alone, with little hope.
Back then, he would never have imagined that, in less than a decade, his village would become a success in eradicating poverty, nor that he would regain control of his life, becoming a local cooperative manager.
Long Xianlan (L), a beekeeper and head of a local cooperative, poses for a group photo with his family members in Shibadong Village in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, central China’s Hunan Province, July 2, 2022. (Xinhua/Xue Yuge)
In 2013, the idea of targeted poverty alleviation was first introduced in Shibadong Village. This pioneering notion focused on tailoring poverty alleviation efforts to different individuals, local conditions and causes of poverty.
In February 2021, China announced the country had eliminated absolute poverty, with nearly 100 million rural poor lifted out of poverty over the previous eight years.
In Long’s case, it meant getting targeted help and opportunities that he lacked. At his lowest point, Long Xiulin, a local poverty alleviation official, helped him draft a plan to learn the skills he needed to lead an independent life.
In 2014, Long Xiulin suggested that Long Xianlan learn beekeeping and helped him secure a loan of 20,000 yuan (about 2,972 U.S. dollars), as the mountainous village was found to be an ideal habitat for bees.
Long Xianlan, a beekeeper and head of a local cooperative, checks the condition of bees in Shibadong Village in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, central China’s Hunan Province, July 2, 2022. (Xinhua/Xue Yuge)
“Long Xiulin treated me like his brother and offered me all the help and support he could,” Long Xianlan said. “I never had such strong determination to change my life through hard work.”
He earned his first pot of gold, selling 5,000 yuan worth of honey in 2016. In the same year, Shibadong was among the first batch of villages in the province that lifted all its households out of poverty.
Since then, Long’s life has been on an upward trajectory. Today, as a beekeeper and head of a local cooperative, he has registered a trademark for the honey, leading over 80 households in joining the beekeeping industry.
INDUSTRY ABOUNDS
Shibadong Village gets its name from 18 natural karst caves located nearby. Set in the highlands of the Wuling Mountains, at an altitude of about 700 meters, it overlooks a valley and green sloping terrain.
The village is picturesque, but a decade ago it lacked infrastructure, industry and investment. Many villagers left to make a living in various cities that offered more job opportunities.
Yang Zhengbang cleans a table in his homestay in Shibadong Village in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, central China’s Hunan Province, July 2, 2022. (Xinhua/Xue Yuge)
Among them is Yang Zhengbang, 44, who spent years as a migrant worker in the cities. In 2017, after learning of the tourism boom in the village, he returned home.
From 2013, Shibadong became increasingly accessible to tourists thanks to the construction of infrastructure there. With the passage of time, the village also became known for its success in poverty alleviation.
Yang was able to tap into these developments, starting a rural homestay in 2018, providing food and accommodation to visitors. This summer, Yang’s homestay receives more than 400 visitors per day on average.
“The villagers are very motivated to work and start our own businesses, and we feel that we have a promising life ahead,” Yang said.
Yang Zhengbang, who runs a rural homestay, poses for a group photo with his family members in Shibadong Village in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, central China’s Hunan Province, April 25, 2020. (Xinhua/Xue Yuge)
Over the years, Shibadong Village has developed several industries that draw on its strengths. Located in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, the village has fostered ethnic Miao embroidery as its distinctive industry. It has also capitalized on its mountain spring water resources, forming the Shibadong Mountain Spring Water Co., Ltd. in 2017. In addition, the village has been promoting various forms of farming.
In 2013, the per-capita net annual income was 1,668 yuan, only 18.8 percent of the average income in other rural areas. In 2021, the figure surged to more than 20,000 yuan.
RURAL VITALIZATION
With the victory in poverty alleviation, China is forging ahead with rural vitalization in an all-round way. Young people are playing an important role in this process.
The success of Shibadong’s poverty-reduction efforts has attracted more youths to the village. Mei Yao, a non-local graduate from a famous Chinese university, became the director of the village’s women’s federation in 2018. She considers it a great opportunity to learn about how to guide and support rural residents in developing industries.
Mei Yao, director of the village’s women’s federation, talks with students who are on summer vacation in Shibadong Village in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, central China’s Hunan Province, July 2, 2022. (Xinhua/Xue Yuge)
“For me, a village is like a book, and Shibadong is definitely the one most worth reading,” said Mei. “From here, I can become part of the grand scheme of China’s rural vitalization and of the promising future of the rural areas.”
Shi Kang, 22, returned to the village in 2019 after studying a media-related major in the provincial capital Changsha.
Shi grew up in the village while his parents worked in the cities. Back then, he was timid and ashamed to talk to others about his hometown due to its dire poverty. Today, the mindset has changed.
“Many of my peers are willing to come back now, and we would feel proud to say Shibadong is our village,” he said.
Shi Kang promotes village produce on a livestream in Shibadong Village in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, central China’s Hunan Province, July 2, 2022. (Xinhua/Xue Yuge)
Taking advantage of his major, Shi shoots videos about village life, local cuisine and folk stories, and publishes them on short-video platforms.
He has also formed a team with several like-minded young people to regularly livestream online, sharing the stories of Shibadong and promoting village produce such as honey, cured pork and chili peppers.
Their account on Douyin has attracted around 20,000 followers and garnered 84,000 likes. He plans to continue to improve the brand certification of the agricultural products they sell on the platform.
“We would like to take Shibadong’s products further through the internet,” said Shi. “I am full of confidence about the future of the village.” ■
(Video reporter: Yao Yu; video editor: Hong Liang, Mu Xuyao, Wang Houyuan.)
