Day: March 3, 2022

After almost two years, Western Australia has lifted the nation’s toughest COVID-19 border controls. Double-vaccinated international and domestic travelers are now allowed in, as the so-called hermit state reconnects with the rest of the world.

For almost 700 days Western Australia was cut off from the rest of the country and the world.

Most international visitors were banned, as Australia’s largest state, which is 10 times the size of the United Kingdom, tried to isolate itself from the pandemic.

The state premier, Mark McGowan, said the tough policy had “avoided needless deaths,” but he acknowledged the pain felt by separated families and businesses.

The tough measures did keep infections low, but they were unable to stop a recent surge in omicron cases.

A total of 1,770 cases were reported Wednesday — a new record for Western Australia — but the number of hospitalizations remains relatively low.

With almost 99% of the eligible population double-vaccinated, authorities have insisted that the time is right to end border restrictions.

Dr. Mark Duncan-Smith, president of the Australian Medical Association (Western Australia), told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that the tough border strategy appears to have worked.

“What is happening here in WA [Western Australia] right now, with omicron at 1,000 cases a day, is a social experiment that has never been done in the world, and so what we are hoping for is that we will get a very, very soft landing and hopefully our hospitalization numbers will stay very low and that will be testimony to the effectiveness of those borders over the last two years, buying us that time,” he said.

Western Australia’s tough stance on border closures led to it being dubbed a “hermit kingdom.”

McGowan was compared to the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un by Alan Joyce, the CEO of Australia’s national airline, Qantas, last month. Joyce later apologized for his comments.

Other Australian states and territories imposed internal border closures during the pandemic, but those restrictions ended last year. Australia reopened its international borders to all vaccinated international travelers on Feb. 21, but Western Australia maintained its restrictions.

Passengers on the first flights from Sydney and Melbourne into the Western Australian state capital, Perth, were welcomed with gifts of toy quokkas, a small marsupial said to be the “world’s happiest animal.”

Tourism officials in Western Australia have said the reopening of domestic and international travel into the state would bring “joy” to the industry.

Australia has recorded about 2.9 million coronavirus infections since the pandemic began. More than 5,200 people have died.

Source: Voice of America

The United Nations Environment Assembly, meeting in Nairobi, has adopted a resolution detailing what to do about plastic pollution. It calls for two years of negotiations toward a comprehensive, international treaty on the full life cycle of plastics.

Delegates from 175 countries endorsed an agreement Wednesday that addresses plastic waste.

The United Nations says 400 million tons of plastic is produced every year, and that figure is set to double by 2040.

Rwanda is one of the countries that banned plastic in its territory and is pushing for a plastic-free world.

Rwanda’s environment minister, Jeanne Mujawamariya, said her country would benefit a great deal from global regulation of the use of plastics.

“If adopted, the creation of a legally binding instrument would be greatly significant for countries like Rwanda, where we have made good progress,” she said. “Systematic global change is needed if we are to clean up the current mess, develop sustainable alternatives and make them affordable.”

The debate surrounding plastic pollution has been on the U.N. agenda since 2012.

Recycling has remained one of the effective ways of reducing plastics. The Environmental Investigation Agency, an environmental nonprofit organization, said the existing method of managing plastic is not sustainable.

Less than 10% of plastic that has been produced is being recycled, 76% is discarded into landfills, and experts warn its production will triple by 2050.

Amina Mohammed, the United Nations deputy secretary-general, told the meeting attendees not to fear a future without plastic.

“While we have learned to recycle plastic, we need a far more robust approach to tackle this enormous problem and ensure systemic change through strong action upstream and downstream,” Mohammed said. “We must be ambitious and move faster to win this battle. This is going to require genuine collaborations and partnerships with a shared vision.

The fight against plastic pollution aims to reduce plastic going into the oceans by 80% by the end of the year 2040 and create 700,000 jobs by that time.

Jane Patton, the plastic and petrochemicals campaign manager at the Center for International Environmental Law, told VOA the agreement will mandate that companies producing plastics manage the waste being emitted.

“The resolution specifically calls for a legally binding instrument, which is good, as we have seen the companies that are producing this plastic waste and putting it into the environment, they don’t follow through commitments unless they are legally bound to do that,” she said. “And so, we are excited to see that the treaty will have both a mandatory and voluntary commitments by government, and that will affect companies to address this problem.”

The head of the U.N. Environment Program, Inger Andersen, said adopting the plastic treaty is the most important international environmental agreement since the 2016 Paris climate accord took effect.

Source: Voice of America

Luanda – The National Assembly (parliament) approved this Thursday the Resolution-draft that ratifies de Co-operation Accord signed between Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in the domain of security and public order.

The legal instrument aims to strengthen co-operation between both countries, with focus on mutual collaboration in the areas of illegal immigration, trafficking of human beings, money laundering, technical assistance and exchange of information.

In presenting the accord, during the Sixth Plenary Session of the National Assembly, the secretary of State for Home Affairs, José Bamoquina Zau, said that the legal tool- which was passed by unanimous vote – also covers the training of border security staff.

On the same occasion, the MPs approved also by unanimous voting the agreement between the Angolan Home Affairs Ministry and South Africa’s Police Department.

The members of the Angolan Parliament equally passed the Resolution-draft that approves the Protocol on the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights specifically in regard to the rights of persons with disability, and the rights of Elderly People.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – The minister of Foreign Affairs, Téte António, this Thursday reaffirmed the commitment of Angola to multilateral co-operation, in a world that is increasingly globalised.

Speaking by video-conference, at the opening session of the 5th Korea-Africa Forum, Téte António, explained that the continental strategic partnership with the Republic of Korea is a proof that Africa sees the Asian country as a valid partner for development and economic co-operation.

The Foreign minister said that despite several challenges, Africa has been showing its resilience, and its leaders are more committed to overcoming the gap the continent has in relation to the industrialised world.

“We understand that the strategic partnership with Korea offers a good opportunity and valuable conditions for Africa”, stressed the Angolan diplomat.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – A message from the President of Republic of Angola João Lourenço was delivered to his Kenyan counterpart, Uhuru Kenyatta, on Thursday.

The message reiterates the strong ties of friendship between the two countries and both peoples and the willingness to strengthen cooperation relations in the future between Angola and Kenya.

Delivered the message was the Minister of State for the Social Affairs, Carolina Cerqueira, on the sidelines of the session commemorating the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), held at the UN Complex in Nairobi, Kenya.

Angolans and Kenyans have maintained friendly relations since 1961, the period before Angola’s independence, proclaimed on November 11, 1975.

In 2012, both states signed three legal instruments: the General Agreement on Scientific, Technical and Cultural Economic Cooperation, the Memorandum of Understanding on Political Consultations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International trade of Kenya, as well as the Agreement on the Creation of the Bilateral Commission.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Brazzaville, 3 March 2022 – Disruptions to essential health services due to the COVID-19 pandemic are being felt broadly. As the world marks International Women’s Day, a new World Health Organization (WHO) analysis finds that women’s health services are far from being fully restored, with 40% of African countries reporting disruptions to sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health services.

The WHO Global Pulse Survey on Continuity of Essential Health Services during the COVID-19 pandemic carried out between November and December 2021 shows that the majority of the 36 African countries that provided full data reported up to 25% disruption of services. The extent of the disruption remained largely unchanged from the first quarter of 2021.

Another WHO survey in 11 African countries found that maternal deaths in health facilities in six of the 11 countries rose by 16% on average between February and May 2020 compared with the same period in 2019. The figure dropped slightly in 2021 to 11%. However, the estimate is likely to be far higher as maternal deaths tend to occur mostly at home rather than in health facilities. Data show that facility-based births reduced in 45% of countries between November and December 2021 compared with the pre-pandemic period.

“Two years on, the COVID-19 burden still weighs heavily on women. Africa’s mothers and daughters are struggling to access the health care they need. The pandemic’s disruptive force will be felt by women for many years to come,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “Countries must look beyond short-term measures to restore services to pre-pandemic levels and make major investments for stronger systems capable of withstanding health emergencies while ensuring continuity of key services.”

During the pandemic, women and girls are facing a rising risk of sexual violence due to lockdowns, economic uncertainties, decrease in access to key support and health services, and increase in stress in households. Globally, from the latest analysis done in 2021, WHO estimates that 245 million women and girls aged 15 years and above are subjected annually to sexual and/or physical violence perpetrated by an intimate partner. Unfortunately, in Africa, due to the pandemic, services to women who have experienced sexual violence declined in 56% of countries between November and December 2021 compared with the period before the pandemic.

The disruptions also affected the uptake of essential reproductive health supplies. Between June and September 2021 contraceptive use fell in 48% of countries, according to a rapid WHO survey in 21 African countries. Teenage pregnancies also rose in some countries. A 2021 report by the British Medical Journal found that adolescent secondary school girls who were out of school for six months due to the COVID-19 lockdown in Kenya were twice as likely to become pregnant and three times as likely to drop out of school compared with those graduating just prior to the pandemic. In South Africa, a study by the Medical Research Council in five provinces showed that teenage pregnancies have increased by 60% since the start of the pandemic.

Beyond the health impacts, COVID-19 is also inflicting deep economic damage on women and girls. The pandemic is poised to push more women and girls into extreme poverty. Poverty rates rose from 11.7% in 2019 to 12.5% in 2021 and it may take until 2030 to revert to pre-pandemic levels, according to a report by the International Monetary Fund, the UN Development Programme and the UN Women.

Globally in 2021, 247 million women aged 15 and above were projected to live on less than US$ 1.90 per day due the economic impact of COVID-19, with an estimated 53% (132milion) of them from sub-Saharan Africa.

The pandemic has also worsened existing gender inequities in key spheres of life and development. Even though women constitute 70% of the health and social workers in Africa and are on the frontlines of COVID-19 response, few of them are in top pandemic management positions, according to the UN Development Programme and the UN Women Global Gender Response Tracker. In the African region, 85% of national COVID-19 task forces are led by men and only 15% by women, and the overall participation by women is only 30%.

Dr Moeti spoke during a virtual press conference today. She was joined by Dr Francine Ntoumi, President and Director-General, Congolese Foundation for Medical Research, and Dr Eleanor Nwadinobi, President, Medical Women’s International Association.

Also on hand from the WHO Regional Office for Africa to respond to questions were Dr Adelheid Onyango, Director Universal Health Coverage/Healthier Populations, Dr Richard Mihigo, Coordinator, Immunization and Vaccines Development Programme, Dr Thierno Balde, Regional COVID-19 Incident Manager, Dr Leopold Ouedraogo, Regional Adviser for Sexual and Reproductive Health.

Source: World Health Organization. Africa