Day: September 19, 2022

The number of forest fires in the Brazilian Amazon so far this year has surpassed that recorded for all of 2021, according to official figures released Monday that triggered new alarm for the world’s biggest rainforest.

Satellite monitoring has detected 75,592 fires from January 1 to September 18 this year, already higher than the 75,090 detected last year, according to the Brazilian space agency, INPE.

The latest grim news from the rainforest will likely add to pressure on President Jair Bolsonaro, who is fighting to win reelection next month and faces international criticism over a surge in destruction in the Amazon on his watch.

Experts blame Bolsonaro for easing environmental protections which had protected the Amazon and allowed loggers and ranchers to illegally clear more land since he took office in 2019.

Bolsonaro’s office and the Environment Ministry did not immediately respond to the new report.

Widespread forest fires are an indication that Brazil is not curbing greenhouse gas emissions. Nearly half of the country’s carbon pollution comes from land conversion or deforestation. The Amazon rainforest is an important carbon absorber for the planet, but burning timber releases that carbon into the atmosphere.

Since the far-right agribusiness ally took office in January 2019, average annual deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has increased by 75% compared to the previous decade.

Greenpeace Brazil spokesman Andre Freitas called the latest figures a “tragedy foretold.”

“After four years of a clear and objective anti-environmental policy by the federal government, we are seeing that as this government’s term — one of the darkest periods ever for the Brazilian environment — comes to an end, land-grabbers and other illegal actors see it as the perfect opportunity to advance on the forest,” he said in a statement.

 

 

Source: Voice of America

 

With COVID-related school disruptions setting back children around the world, activists implored world leaders Monday to prioritize school systems and restore educational budgets slashed when the pandemic hit.

The summit on transforming education, held at the U.N. General Assembly ahead of the annual leaders’ meeting, was expected to produce commitments from the world’s nations to ensure that children everywhere from sub-Saharan Africa to the United States don’t fall too far behind.

“Seven years ago, I stood on this platform hoping that the voice of a teenage girl who took a bullet in standing up for her education would be heard,” said Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai, a U.N. messenger of peace. “On that day, countries, corporates, civil society, all of us committed to work together to see every child in schools by 2030. It is heartbreaking that halfway through that target date, we are facing an education emergency.”

Nigerian youth activist Karimot Odebode was more pointed. “We demand you take responsibility,” Odebode told the General Assembly. “We will not stop until every person in every village and every highland has access to an education.”

The percentage of 10-year-old children in poor and middle-income countries who cannot read a simple story increased to an estimated 70% — up 13 percentage points since before the pandemic shuttered classrooms, according to a report from the World Bank, UNESCO and UNICEF.

Will the world’s leaders do enough to help their youngest citizens learn to read and gain the other skills they need to thrive? It will require addressing systemic problems that existed before the pandemic, dignitaries and students say. Countries will need to increase spending, change policies to increase access for girls and disabled students, and modernize instruction to stress critical thinking rather than rote memorization.

“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for us to radically transform education,” U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed told reporters ahead of the education summit at U.N. headquarters in New York. “We owe it to the coming generation if we don’t want to witness the emergence of a generation of misfits.”

When COVID-19 closed schools around the world in spring 2020, many children simply stopped learning — some for months, others for longer. For many, there was no such thing as remote learning. More than 800 million young people around the world lacked internet access at home, according to a study by UNICEF and the International Telecommunication Union in December 2020.

More recent studies underscore the pandemic’s lasting effects. “The learning losses from COVID were enormous,” Mohammed said.

The amount of time school buildings were closed because of COVID-19 varied widely around the world. At the extreme, schools in parts of Latin America and South Asia were closed for 75 weeks or longer, according to UNESCO. In parts of the United States, including cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles, schools operated remotely from March 2020 through most of the 2020-2021 school year.

There also were huge variations in the availability and quality of remote learning. In some countries, students stuck at home had access to paper packets, or radio and television programs, or almost nothing at all. Others had access to the internet and video conferences with teachers.

The estimated learning delays on average ranged from over 12 months of school for students in South Asia to less than four for students in Europe and Central Asia, according to an analysis by consulting firm McKinsey & Company.

Most of the world’s classrooms are now back open, but 244 million school-age children are still out of school, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said during the summit, citing data from the U.N. education agency. Most of those children — 98 million — live in sub-Saharan Africa, followed by Central and Southern Asia, in a reminder of the deep inequalities that persist in access to education, she said.

In many places, money is the key ingredient for stemming the crisis, if not fully reaching the leaders’ lofty goal of “transforming education.” “Education financing must be a priority for governments,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the General Assembly Monday. “It is the single most important investment any country can make in its people and its future.”

On average wealthy countries invest $8,000 a year per school-aged child, compared to upper middle-income countries, like some in Latin America, that invest $1,000 per year, according to a report from UNESCO and Global Education Monitoring. Lower income countries allot roughly $300 a year and some poor countries— just $50 a year per student.

Rich countries should also step up spending, said Guterres. In recent years, Germany, France and the United States have given the most international aid toward education in low-income countries, according to a 2021 Center for Global Development report. The United States invested more than $1.5 billion annually from 2017-2019, according to the report based on the most recent available data.

As top dignitaries urged individual countries to prioritize their youngest citizens, it was some of the youngest attendees at the summit who aired the most skepticism toward any prospect of change. After all, the U.N. lacks any authority to force countries to spend more on schooling.

Yousafzai urged countries to devote 20% of their budgets toward education. “Most of you know what exactly needs to be done,” she said. “You must not make small, stingy and short-term pledges.”

 

 

Source: Voice of America

Luanda – Engineer Manuel Gomes da Conceição Homem, who was recently appointed by the President of Republic João Lourenço, has become the 24th governor of the province of Luanda.

The former minister of Telecommunications, Information Technologies and Mass Media replaces Ana Paula Chantre Luna de Carvalho, who governed Luanda between 2021-2022.

Check below the list of governors of Luanda

1-Pedro Fortunato Luís Manuel (1976-1977)

2-Afonso Van-Dunem ” Mbinda ” (1977-1978)

3-Agostinho André Mendes de Carvalho (1978-1980)

4-Francisco Romão de Oliveira (1980-1981)

5-Evaristo Domingos Kimba (1981-1983)

6-Mariano da Costa Garcia “Puku” (1983-1986)

7-Cristóvão Francisco da Cunha (1986-1988)

8-Luís Gonzanga Wawuti (1988-1991)

9-Kundi Payama (1991-1993)

10-Rui Óscar de Carvalho (1993-1994)

11-Justino José Fernandes (1994-97)

12-José Anibal Lopes Rocha (1997-2002)

13-Simão Mateus Paulo (2002- 2004)

14-Job Pedro Castelo Capapinha (2004-2008)

15-Francisca do Espírito Santo (2008-2010)

16-José Maria dos Santos (2010-2011)

17-Bento Joaquim Sebastião Francisco Bento (2011-2014)

18-Graciano Francisco Domingos (2014-1016)

19-Francisco Higino Lopes Carneiro (2016-2017)

20-Adriano Mendes de Carvalho (2017-2019)

21-Sérgio Luther Rescova Joaquim (2019-2020)

22-Joana Lina Ramos Baptista (2020-2021)

23-Ana Paula Chantre Luna de Carvalho (2021-2022)

24-Manuel Homem (2022)

 

 

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – The training of staff in all domains will be the top priority of the fifth legislature of the National Assembly, its Speaker, Carolina Cerqueira, said Monday.

Speaking at the opening of the initiation seminar for newly elected deputies, the Parliament Speaker added that during the current legislature, the training of the members of the National Assembly  will be constant, so that they can fulfil with zeal the mission entrusted to them by the people.

 

She spoke of the need for knowledge and skills to be reinforced, particularly on the organization and functioning of the Parliament, underscoring that this should be one of the core premises for an MP to fulfill his duty correctly and  competently.

 

Carolina Serqueira added that she will spare no effort to ensure the modernization of the parliament and to seek technological solutions to improve the work of the MPs.

 

She  underlined that  the holding of this kind of seminar aims to ensure the  harmonization of skills, knowledge and competences of the deputies.

 

“It is important to realize that, regardless of the knowledge that the deputies possess, parliamentary life has its own dynamics that are not yet sufficiently addressed in the academies and the respective literary world,” the Speaker said.

 

In the three-day training course, topics such as “The evolution of the Angolan Parliament, “Organic structure and functioning of the National Assembly,” “Parliament and information technology,” and “The role of the National Assembly in matters of defence and national security” are being addressed.

 

It will also address the “Ethics and parliamentary decorum,” “Parliamentary protocol,” “The Parliament and the media,” “The deputies and the media,” “Remuneration scheme for deputies, subsidies for deputies and subsidies to parties and parliamentary groups” are other topics under discussion.

 

Of the 220 members that compose the Angolan Parliament, MPLA occupies 124 seats and UNITA 90, while PRS, FNLA and PHA have two parliamentarians each.

 

 

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – The National Security Council met on Monday at the Presidential Palace, in a session led by the Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA), João Lourenço.

The information was released in a statement by the Press Office of the President of the Republic, which does not express the issues addressed at the meeting.

 

The National Security Council is the consultation body of the President of the Republic for issues related to the National Security policy and strategy.

 

The members of this forum are the Vice-President of the Republic, the Speaker of the Parliament, the chief judges of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court, the Attorney General of the Republic, as wel as the Ministers of State and Ministers appointed by the President of the Republic, in addition to other entities that the Head of State may determine

 

 

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – The Episcopal Conference of Angola and Sao Tome and Principe (CEAST) on Monday urged political leaders to have more dialogue and help create a smoother social and political environment.

Talking to the press after a meeting with the Head of State João Lourenço, the Lunda Sul Province archbishop, Dom Manuel Imbamba, expressed concern that the political parties are monopolizing life in society.

 

According to the CEAST Chairman, Dom Manuel Imbamba, the political representatives should contribute for an environment of more hope and security and not with suspicion.

 

The prelate who was accompanied by the Luanda Archbishop Dom Filomeno Vieira Dias, said that he requested the Head of State to work on clearing the negative political environment that the country is facing, in order to bring about a smoother environment in society.

 

Dom Manuel Imbamba expects that in the coming years there is greater focus on the well-being of the population and of the country as a whole.

 

The religious leader recalled also the commitment of the politicians in the moralization, education, ethics and in the promotion of positive and cultural behaviours in society.

 

He advised for continual commitment to building unity in diversity for the benefit of the human, social, cultural, political and economic development of Angola.

 

The CEAST Chairman stated that the Church will continue to cooperate in the fields of education, health and training families with ethical values.

 

The Lunda Sul Archbishop, Dom Manuel Imbamba, stressed that it is necessary a change of mindset and attitudes in order to bring about joy, personal fulfilment and healthy socialization.

 

Angola held general elections on 24 August, in which MPLA won 124 MPs out of the 220 seats in the National Assembly (parliament), with its presidential candidate, João Lourenço, being re-elected as President of the Republic.

 

UNITA gained 90 MPs, while FNLA, PRS and PHA elected two MPs each.

 

 

Source: Angola Press News Agency

 

New York – Angola participated Monday in New York, in the Education Transformation Summit.

Speaking at the opening session, UN Secretary-General António Guterres emphasized the challenges of education, stressing the need for its transformation in order to recover learning.

 

António Guterres called for the need to allocate more resources to education with greater focus on digital literacy so that present and future generations have a quality education.

 

“The rich have access to the best resources, schools and universities, leading to the best jobs, while the poor – especially girls – face enormous obstacles to obtaining the qualifications that can change their lives”, the UN leader said.

 

António Guterres said that roughly  70 percent of 10-year-old children in poor countries are unable to read a basic text.

 

The Angolan delegation, which is participating in the High Level political segment of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, took part in the SDG moment- which serves to annually highlight the Sustainable Development Goals in the face of the deepening of the living cost crisis and the enormous implications for advancement, especially in developing countries.

 

The Leaders’ Day is being filled with roundtable discussions on specific topics such as: the Global Challenge to Address the Learning Crisis, Transforming Education to Transform the World: learning to live together sustainably, Education in Situations of Crisis-a partnership for transformative action for learners, Digital Transformation of Education; Promoting Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Girls and Women in and through Education.

 

The Angolan delegation is headed by the Permanent Representative of the Mission of the Republic of Angola to the UN in New York, ambassador Maria de Jesus Ferreira, the Permanent Delegate to UNESCO in Paris, Ana Maria de Oliveira, and the Deputy Permanent Representative of the Mission of the Republic of Angola to the UN, João Gimolieca.

 

It also includes the Permanent Secretary of the National Commission for UNESCO, Alexandre de Sousa Costa, the Minister Counsellor of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Angola to the UN, Tereza Silva, among other officials.

 

 

Source: Angola Press News Agency