Month: May 2022

Luanda – The Angolan Head of State, João Lourenço, on Saturday in Malabo, called on African leaders to seriously and deeply reflect on the need for the rapid operationalisation of the African Standby Force.

Speaking at the closing session of the extraordinary summit of African Union leaders, the Angolan statesman said that this multinational military force will have, among others, the mission to intervene in critical moments and situations that threaten the stability and security of the continent’s countries.

He said that the possible intervention of the Standby Force is within the architecture of peace and security in Africa.

According to the Angolan statesman, who led the summit, it is necessary to build a consensus on the notion of shared security in Africa, in order to understand that it is not possible to build stability and security for some without supporting and taking into account the security and stability of all others.

In João Lourenço’s view, conflicts on the continent can only be resolved through sincere dialogue in which each of the parties must accept the idea of making concessions, always bearing in mind the high value of peace, the protection and well-being of the people and development as goals to be achieved.

The Summit on Terrorism and Unconstitutional Changes of Government in Africa was proposed by President João Lourenço, at the time of an ordinary meeting of the continent’s leaders, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The meeting served to analyze, among other actions, the impact of this “scourge” on the continent, in order to identify strategies leading to a comprehensive action plan.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

A documentary about discrimination within the ranks of Dutch police has sparked a national conversation in the Netherlands about racism, with many officers and others hoping it will finally bring about change.

The Blue Family, or De Blauwe Familie in Dutch, discusses a culture of bullying and fear in the national police force. It premiered on Dutch television Monday, timed around the second anniversary this week of the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minnesota police.

“There is no way back,” Peris Conrad, one of the officers featured in the film, told The Associated Press.

Born in the former Dutch colony Surinam, Conrad dreamed of being a police officer as a child. He moved to the Netherlands when he was 4 years old, and after a stint in the military, became a security guard.

While in that job, he had an encounter with police officers who were looking for information about crime in the Surinamese community. The officers encouraged him to join the force himself, which he did, ultimately spending 26 years in service.

But Conrad, who is Black, recalled how in his first year at the police academy, colleagues hung a picture of him with cell bars drawn on it. The caption read: “Our monkey in a cage.”

Police leaders received an early showing of the film and promised action.

“The personal stories make it painfully clear how great the impact is (of the racism), and how long it will last,” Police Chief Henk van Essen said in a statement. “We all have something to do; not just executives, but all 65,000 colleagues. Because safety outside starts with safety inside.”

“There is no room for racism and discrimination in our police,” Justice Minister Dilan Yesilgöz told Dutch talk show RTL Boulevard.

The Dutch parliament voted by a large majority this week to place police leaders under stricter supervision, citing the suicides in recent years of three officers who had complained about discrimination.

Last year, a Dutch newspaper published messages from police group chats that showed officers making racial slurs and joking about killing non-white people. “One less Turk” one officer wrote, in response to the slaying of a 16-year-old girl who was shot and killed by her ex-boyfriend in her high school’s bicycle shed.

As in other countries, the problems in the Netherlands have a long history. A 1998 report by the Ministry of Internal Affairs said discrimination was driving out police officers with a “migration” background — defined as having at least one parent born abroad.

While 24% of the Dutch population meets that definition, only 14% of the police force does. The National Police Corps employs some 65,000 people, and around 40,000 work as officers.

Margot Snijders has spent 30 years on the national force, including several years working on diversity and inclusion efforts. After years of frustration, she took a step back from that role.

“People don’t trust us, and they don’t want to work for us,” Snijders, who also appears in The Blue Family, told The Associated Press.

George Floyd’s death in the U.S. two years ago prompted protests of racial injustice in the Netherlands and around the world. Controle Alt Delete, an advocacy organization that pushes for better law enforcement practices, wanted to highlight problems within the Dutch police force.

The group brought on board filmmakers Maria Mok and Meral Uslu to direct and produce the documentary, which was backed by Dutch public broadcaster KRO-NCRV.

Problems with racism, as well as discrimination against women and members of the LGBTQ community, are widespread and systemic within police ranks, said Jan Struijs, the chairperson of the country’s largest police union.

Struijs also took part in the film. “I hope this is a historic turning point,” he told the AP.

The first article of the country’s constitution, which is displayed on posters in every police station, outlaws discrimination against any group. The Dutch consider themselves to be some of the most open-minded, tolerant people in the world.

There’s been no significant criticism of the The Blue Family, those involved in the documentary welcomed the response to it.

“I have been saying the same things for years, only now do they get a positive reaction,” Snijders said.

The Dutch police union is calling for better mental health counseling for officers and more accountability for ones who make racist jokes.

Conrad sees a need for widespread change, both in policy and leadership.

In the meantime, he’s forbidden his 20-year-old son from joining the force.

“I don’t want him to experience this,” he said.

 

Source: Voice of America

 

Experts say Mali’s struggle against Islamist militants is putting its World Heritage sites at risk. For the first time in modern history, officials say, the annual replastering of the mud mosque in the town of Djenné in central Mali will likely be canceled because of security concerns. The concerns cast doubt onto the government’s claim it is winning the fight against terrorism.

The Great Mosque of Djenné is the largest mud brick building in the world and was a main attraction in Mali’s formerly thriving tourism industry.

Each year the mosque is replastered in an event known as the “crépissage.” This year, the event is on the verge of cancellation for the first time, as Mali’s decadelong conflict has gradually moved south into the center of the country.

A Djenné resident who wished to remain anonymous, speaking via a messaging app from Djenné, said that in recent weeks he saw ambulances circulating in town and military helicopters flying overhead, signs of unrest in neighboring villages. The Malian army said on its Twitter account this month that four soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb attack near the town.

He said that due to insecurity, village residents have decided not to hold the crépissage this year, an event he has participated in since he was a child.

Abdramane Dembele, deputy mayor of Djenné, said that the crépissage has not yet been officially canceled, but has been delayed due to insecurity. If rescheduled, it would need to be held before the rainy season begins in June. One of the objectives of the crépissage is to protect the building from rain.

Abdoulaye Deyoko is an engineer and city planner and founder of Bamako’s School of Engineering, Architecture, and Urbanism, and a tireless advocate for Mali’s mud architecture.

Deyoko explained that the mosque is built from “banco,” a mixture of mud and small pieces of rice bran.

When it rains, he said, these small pieces have a tendency to break away. Traditionally, villagers have a celebration, a type of ritual that allows them not only to repair the mosque but to celebrate.

Deyoko said that despite this, he thinks the Djenné mosque can hold up for a year or two without the crépissage, although he said the event is important for the social life of the town, not just for technical maintenance.

The Djenné mosque and surrounding mud brick town is on the UNESCO List of World Heritage in Danger.

Ali Daou, UNESCO’s culture program director in Mali, said Djenné, like all of Mali’s four World Heritage sites, is in danger because of the ongoing hostilities. It is not just the threat of direct conflict, he said, but the difficulty of conducting the annual crépissage that puts the site at risk.

In recent months, Mali’s military government has launched a highly publicized offensive against Islamists. Many locals, though, say that these military operations target civilians rather than extremists.

The army claimed to have killed 200 terrorists in the village of Moura in March, while residents said the majority of those killed were innocent civilians.

 

Source: Voice of America

 

Luanda – Angola is participating since Friday in the opening session of the 110th International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva (Switzerland), running until the 11th of June, at the Organization’s headquarters, with inaugural session being held virtually.

The Secretary of State for Labour, Employment and Social Security, Pedro José Filipe, and seven MAPTSS experts participate in the  event.

While the minister of Public Administration, Labour and Social Security (MAPTSS) Teresa Rodrigues Dias, head of the Angolan delegation to the event, is expected in Geneva on the 5th of June.

The team will also be made up of the Permanent Representative of Angola to the United Nations Offices in Geneva Margarida Izata, and diplomats from the Permanent Mission.

During the event, MAPTSS head Teresa Rodrigues Dias will speak in the plenary, which begins on June 6, where the most serious issues that have affected government agendas will be presented, particularly in the context of a pandemic.

According to the ILC agenda, the commissions will start the preparatory work on the 30th of May, with the plenary sessions to take place between the 6th and 11th of June.

The high-level summit on the world of work will be held on the 10th of June and will end on the 11th of June.

At this event, the CPLP Executive Secretary, Zacarias da Costa, will also make a statement on behalf of the Group.

The agenda will covers the possible amendment of the 1998 ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work to include safe and healthy working conditions.

An initial discussion on learning will be held with a view to the possible creation of a new international labor standard.

The committees will also discuss decent work and the social and solidarity economy and the strategic objective as part of the follow-up mechanism to the ILO Declaration on social justice for fair globalization.

The conference will be followed by an ILO Governing Board meeting on 13 June, at which new leaders will be elected for the period 2022-2023.

The ILC, also known as the world labour parliament, is the largest international meeting dedicated to the world of work, with the participation of representatives of governments, employers and workers from the 187 member states of the ILO.

Delegates discuss major issues related to the world of work, adopt and monitor the application of international labor standards, and define the ILO’s priorities and budget at the global level.

 

 

 

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – The Multisectoral Commission for Maritime Affairs began Friday in Luanda the public presentation of the proposed “National Strategy for the Sea of Angola (ENMA) and its “Action Plan,” in order to collect contributions and suggestions that promote social welfare, increase employment and national wealth.

The document, created through Presidential Decree 147/19 of 12 August, has as its main objectives to promote and diversify the maritime economy, as well as optimize the means and adopt security and surveillance mechanisms in the country’s seas.

Professional qualification at sea, promotion of scientific knowledge and technological development of the oceans are also included in the goals of the National Strategy for the Sea of Angola, to be implemented in the 2022-2030 period.

Additionally, the creation of ENMA aims to optimize the security model of the maritime space and strengthen Angola’s role in the regional and international context in relation to coastal zone policies.

With the start of the public consultation in Luanda, the Multisectoral Commission for Sea Affairs is available for dialogue to receive contributions from all interested parties, with emphasis on sea operators, associations and non-governmental entities.

Besides ENMA, the respective Commission, coordinated by the Minister of State and Head of the Civil House of the President of the Republic, Adão de Almeida, also plans to submit to public consultation the Planning of Marine Space, next July, according to the national director for Affairs of the Sea, António da Silva.

When presenting the Strategy, the official clarified that the two documents were elaborated based on the regional context with the national ocean framework.

Without specifying the period that the public consultation will last, the national director assured ANGOP that the actions programmed in the two documents (ENMA and the Planning of the Marine Space) will start to be materialized after the conclusion of the consultation and approval of these strategies.

On the occasion, the Secretary of State for Fisheries, Esperança da Costa, considered the Sea Strategy as a fundamental factor in the efficient and intelligent management of the national maritime space, in order to prevent potential conflicts of interest between the different sea operators.

In the global scope, he said, the document will also allow the conservation of the coastal and marine areas to be accelerated, as well as having an impact on the reconstruction of fishing sources and the fight against illegal, “not declared” and “not regulated” fishing.

The public presentation of the National Strategy for the Sea of Angola was witnessed by members of the Multisectoral Commission for Sea Affairs, representatives of the United Nations and the European Union, businessmen, associations, biologists, environmentalists, teachers and students.

 

 

Source: Angola Press News Agency

 

Luanda – The regulations on electoral observation and on voting outside the country were approved Friday in Luanda at an extraordinary session of the National Electoral Commission (CNE).

In statements to the press, CNE spokesman Lucas Quilundo said that national observers can be citizens of legal age with active electoral capacity, while international observers must be invited and in a legal migration situation.

He said that national and international observers must express their interest to the CNE for accreditation.

The spokesman for the body in charge of organising the general elections said that observation should be by constituency and that the National Assembly can invite 50 observers, the Constitutional Court 24 , and the legalised political parties 18  observers.

Lucas Quilundo noted that the approved regulation does not limit the number of observers to the President of the Republic.

He added that voting abroad will take place at the same time as on national territory, upon presentation of an Identity Card.

 

 

 

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Porto-Amboim – Angolan government will support the Rui Teixeira Salinas in coastal Cuanza Sul province to encourage the increase in production of this essential product for human consumption.

The pledge came from the Secretary of State for Planning, Milton Reis, while speaking to the press, at the end of the visit to the salt pan, located in Porto-Amboim, Cuanza Sul province, on Thursday.

The official said that the Government, through Prodesi programme, has created policies to enable the private companies to access to credit.

The initiative allowed the purchase of equipment to increase production and jobs, especially for youth.

“The country should not only receive from abroad. We have to create the conditions for national businessmen to improve their activities. There are several programmes that are contributing to the development of the country, so we advise entrepreneurs to join the associations or cooperatives”, he said.

In turn, the factory manager, Rui Teixeira, stressed that the Porto-Amboim salt pans produce 700 tons of iodized salt monthly, an amount that meets the market demand.

He explained that the salt flat needs USD 3 million to buy equipment and improve working conditions.

 

Source: Angola Press News Agency

 

Luanda – The President of the Republic, João Lourenço, discussed Friday in Malabo (Equatorial Guinea) with his Liberian counterpart, George Weah, in the framework of bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

During the meeting, which took place on the sidelines of the African Union Extraordinary Summit on Humanitarian Crises in Africa, Presidents Lourenço and Weah spoke of the interest in strengthening bilateral relations.

The two states signed in 2011 a General Cooperation Agreement and a Political Consultation Memorandum in the areas of economic and technical-scientific cooperation.

Besides the General Cooperation Agreement, a Memorandum of Political Consultations was signed between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Angola and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Liberia.

 

 

Source: Angola Press News Agency

 

Luanda – Angola is participating, for the first time, in the ninetieth edition of the Mining, Ports and Logistics Fair, in the city of Toronto (Canada), on 13-15 June of this year, with a delegation composed of 20 technicians and national businesspeople, mainly from the mining sector.

Angola’s participation will serve to present the country’s potential, with a view to attracting investment and funding, based on the dynamics of the market and the potential of the world in the mining, exploration and prospecting sector.

The trip will also serve to establish official contacts with counterparts from the participating countries, particularly with Chinese businesspeople.

In a press conference held Friday in Luanda, the president of the Angola Canada Business Chamber (CINAC), Adriano Campos, announced that the delegation is made up of professionals from large and medium-sized institutions, such as Catoca, Calonda, ZEE (Special Economic Zone) Sonangol, among others, with the aim of boosting the participation of national and Canadian businesspeople in the diversification of the economy, as well as in economic and social development.

He clarified that since last April, the chamber has ensured the participation of the business community in the sectors of oil and gas, telecommunications, ports and mining, agriculture and industrial production and agriculture.

“As a result of this event we have parallel agencies in the logistics sector, telecommunications, industry and other areas that have shown interest in participating, due to the desire of Angolan companies to get to know and penetrate that market,” he said.

The president explained that the chamber had also been studying better ways of financial cooperation with sectors of the state, with a view to diversifying the economy in both areas, mainly to ensure greater employability and revenues that will contribute to the national economy.

The vice-president of the Angola Canada International Chamber, Adulai Baldé, lamented the fact that relations between the two countries have so far been very “timid,” such as the purchase of some Canadian aircraft for Angola and exploration in two oil blocks, a situation that is initially expected to change in two years.

The businessman said he was very interested in continuing the business and that he was identifying the common interests of businesspeople from the two countries, in order to analyse the markets and commercial exchange.

From 12 to 15 August the Angola Canada business chamber also has activities focused on the fertiliser sector (production and exploration), with regard to food safety taking place in the city of Alifax.

This event will be represented by a mixed delegation of state and private actors to explore in greater depth the area in question.

The international business chamber Angola Canada aims to promote and consolidate the economic and trade relations between the two countries, within its actions of complementarities of the Government for the diversification of the economy.

 

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Malabo – The President of the Republic, João Lourenço, leads the working sessions of the African Union (AU) Summit on Humanitarian Issues and Donors, which began on Friday morning in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.

The high-level meeting was due to be led by Senegal’s Head of State, Macky Sall, in his capacity as Chairperson of the African Union, but Sall had to return to his country due to a tragedy that occurred in a maternity hospital in the capital, Dakar, where a fire killed several new-born babies.

President Lourenço has been in Malabo since Thursday. Angola holds one of the vice-presidencies of the Bureau of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union.

The problem of humanitarian crises in Africa is being analyzed at a time when there are an estimated 113 million people in need of humanitarian assistance on the continent, 48 million of whom are refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced people.

Given its importance, the Special Summit is expected to provide space for African leaders and international donors to examine the issue of fund mobilization.

AU data indicate that humanitarian needs are increasing rapidly in Africa, mainly due to conflicts and climate shocks, with over 30 million people expected to be internally displaced as a result of inter-community conflicts and food insecurity.

 

 

Source: Angola Press News Agency