Day: November 5, 2022

World health officials are linking a significant rise in African Ebola outbreaks in this century to climate change.

Uganda’s September 20 Ebola outbreak is just the latest in a growing number of eruptions of this deadly hemorrhagic disease in Africa. Since 2000, the World Health Organization has reported 32 outbreaks of Ebola, 19 in the last decade compared to 13 in the preceding one.

Ebola is one of a range of zoonotic diseases — infections originating in animals and jumping to humans. A WHO analysis finds Ebola and other viral hemorrhagic fevers constitute nearly 70% of these outbreaks. The remaining 30% include dengue fever, anthrax, plague, and monkeypox.

WHO Africa incident manager for the Ebola outbreak in Uganda, Patrick Otim, says the number of zoonotic diseases occurring in the region in the last decade has increased by more than 63%.

“There have been a couple of researchers that have shown a possible link between the climatic changes that we are seeing and the increase in zoonotic diseases, and for this particular case for Ebola, for instance,” he said.

Otim said diseases are caused by several factors. Ebola, he said, is strongly influenced by the human factor. As populations increase and people encroach on wildlife habitats, interaction with animals increases. This, he said, increases the spread of disease to humans.

Otim said temperature and climatic changes also spur migration and movement of some Ebola virus hosts.

“For the Ebola virus, we know that the bats and other animals are hosts of this particular virus,” he said. So, when they move from areas where, for instance, there is drought or whether areas that are no longer conducive for them and they move to favorable areas, they may move into an area where the human population is inhabiting and therefore the interaction between the humans increases.”

WHO says Ebola now has spread to seven districts in Uganda beyond the original epicenter in the Mubende district. The latest reports put the number of cases at 131, including 48 deaths.

The current Ebola outbreak in Uganda has been triggered by the so-called Sudan strain for which there is no vaccine. WHO said several promising candidate vaccines soon will undergo clinical trials to evaluate their potential against Ebola.

 

Source: Voice of America

New York – Angola proposed the enlargement of the Executive Committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, during the third commission of the UN General Assembly.

The draft resolution A/C.3/77/L.37 adopted by acclamation on Friday, allows for the enlargement of the Executive Committee from 107 to 108 members.

The document will be submitted to the General Assembly for approval next December.

Angola, as a State Party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, attaches particular importance to the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Available data show that, currently, close to 30,000 refugees and 16,000 asylum seekers are controlled in Angola.

In total, there are refugee citizens of more than 18 nationalities in the country, especially the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guinea, Mali and Eritrea.

According to Ambassador João Gimolieca, Angola presented the draft Resolution in item 57 of the agenda, concerning the Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Issues related to refugees and displaced persons and humanitarian issues, based on its experience on managing the refugees and internally displaced people, acquired over more than 30 years of internal armed conflict and in welcoming of refugees from various countries.

“The draft resolution recommends to the General Assembly the enlargement of the Executive Committee from 107 to 108 States and requests the Economic and Social Council to elect Angola as 108th member. Angola’s experience and commitment to refugee issues will increase contributions to the Executive Committee,” he said.

João Gimolieca said that Angola recognises the efforts of Member States and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and other interested parties, aimed at improving the situation of refugees and displaced persons in host communities, in view of the growing number in various parts of the world.

According to the diplomat, Angola also recognises the needs of vulnerable groups, in particular women, children, the elderly and people with disabilities, among refugees and displaced people, including the risks and dangers to which they are exposed.

Angola, he said, urges States and all interested parties to collaborate towards the common objective of full implementation of the Pact, in order to achieve all of its four goals in an equitable manner and based on the principle of burden and responsibility sharing.

He stated that Angolan legislation concerning refugees and asylum seekers is based on the principle of the 1951 Convention, existing international law, human rights norms and treaties.

 

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda –Angola’s Vice President Esperança Costa has been in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, since Saturday afternoon to attend, on behalf of the Head of State João Lourenço, the COP27 running from 6 to 18 November.

Esperança Costa  was received at Sharm El Sheikh International Airport by the Egyptian Minister of Youth and Sports, Ashraf Sobhi.

Minister of the Environment Ana de Carvalho Luna Chantre, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Esmeralda Mendonça, and the Angolan Ambassador to Egypt Nelson Cosme, also welcomed the Vice president.

On the sidelines of the event, the Vice-President will meet with the President of Kenya William Rutu, the Deputy Director General of WFP Ute Klanert, the Prime Minister of Portugal António Costa.

The agenda also covers meetings with the head of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), deputy director of FAO, the UNDP representative, among other individuals.

The event’s programme includes participation in high-level meetings on the operation of the African Early Warning System for the Substantial Reduction of Losses and Damage resulting from Climate and Disasters in Africa.

ANGOP learnt that Esperança Costa will participate in the plenary sessions, in the high-level side event on “Accelerating Africa’s adaptation”, co-organised with the African Union Commission in collaboration with France and African countries, as well as in round tables on different topics.

A press note from the Vice-President’s Office states that Angola will reiterate its concern about climate change, one of the greatest challenges that humanity faces, due to the effects this phenomenon has caused.

At this meeting, Egypt assumes the Presidency of the Conference of the Parties (COP27), which marks the thirtieth anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Among the topics to be defended by Angola at COP27, emphasis should be placed on the financing of some projects focused on the environment, aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change.

Angola will come up with the Blue Carbon projects, which are being designed by the Otchiva Association, with the support of Sonangol and Total, of Photovoltaic Power Plants, the so-called clean energies, by the Ministries of Energy and Water and Natural Resources, Oil and Gas, as well as that of Green Hydrogen.

These projects will be presented at the Congo Basin Stand, which also has the Blue Fund Project.

The sustainability of protected areas and the impact of solid waste on the environment are, among others, the burning issues to be analysed during COP27.

Angola has taken concrete steps to mitigate the effect of climate change, one of which was the Construction of the Cafu Canal, a project that aims to bring water from the Cunene River to the populations of the provinces of Cunene and Namibe, aimed to combat the effects of drought in these regions.

 

 

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Astronomers have discovered the closest known black hole to Earth, just 1,600 light-years away.

Scientists reported Friday that this black hole is 10 times more massive than our sun. And it’s three times closer than the previous record-holder.

It was identified by observing the motion of its companion star, which orbits the black hole at about the same distance as Earth orbits the sun.

The black hole was initially identified using the European Space Agency’s Gaia spacecraft, said Kareem El-Badry of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

El-Badry and his team followed up with the International Gemini Observatory in Hawaii to confirm their findings, which were published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

The researchers are uncertain how the system formed in the Milky Way. Named Gaia BH1, it’s located in the constellation Ophiuchus, the serpent-bearer.

 

Source: Voice of America

 

Luanda – Angolan head of State João Lourenço received Saturday the ministers of Foreign Affairs of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Christophe Pen’Apala and from Rwanda Vicent Biruta.

The meeting was meant to mediate the political and military tensions between those countries.

The meeting, attended by the head of Angolan diplomacy, Téte António, is part of efforts to seek a peaceful solution to the situation on the border between the DRC and Rwanda.

Tension between both countries has grown in recent months, after the resumption of fighting between the DRC army and the M23 movement last March, in which the DRC authorities accuse neighbouring country (Rwanda) of fueling the conflict.

At the end of the audience, held at the Presidential Palace in Luanda, the minister Téte António stated that the meeting with the Angolan Head of State outlined guidelines for the Tripartite Meeting.

The Tripartite Meeting gathered the top diplomats from the three countries (DRC, Angola and Rwanda) and experts of the intelligence services, held Saturday in Luanda.

Last Wednesday, the Angolan Head of State João Lourenço described the latest events on the border between the DRC and Rwanda as worrying.

President João Lourenço expressed this concern when he delivered his speech at the Bureau Meeting of the Assembly of the African Union (AU).

At the time, the Angolan statesman insisted on the need for the parties to dialogue.

He acknowledged that there was no environment for a meeting at the level of the Heads of State from the DRC and Rwanda, due to the existing tension.

Angola presides over the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), a geographic block to which the Democratic Congo belongs.

In this condition, the Angolan Head of State João Lourenço mandated by the African Union to mediate the conflict, has multiplied initiatives to achieve peace.

 

 

Source: Angola Press News Agency

 

Luanda – A photographic exhibition that portrays the life and work of the first President of Angola, António Agostinho Neto, has been on display since Friday at UNESCO headquarters in Paris (France), Angop has learnt.

More than 80 different paintings that portray the life and work of Neto are made available, ahead of the celebrations of Neto’s centenary which runs until 10 November.

The exhibition was opened by ambassador Ana Maria de Oliveira, according to a note from the Angolan representation to UNESCO.

The diplomat highlighted the fact that it was the first local tribute to the founder of the Nation, António Agostinho Neto.

Ana Maria de Oliveira underlined that they were the subject of much interrogation by those present around the figure of Neto.

The diplomat also stressed the direct relationship some people had with António Agostinho Neto.

According to the Angolan diplomat, the fact that the exhibition is “very illustrative, representative” raises curiosity.

On the other hand, she highlighted the “moving and realistic” speech about the figure of Neto delivered by the director for International Relations and Priority Africa, Firmin Matoko.

The UNESCO official said that tributes to Agostinho Neto are “living images” of his historical journey in several African countries, including Congo Brazzaville.

In addition to being a politician, António Agostinho Neto was a poet.

António Agostinho Neto was born on September 17, 1922, in Kaxicane, Icolo and Bengo, and died on September 10, 1979.

As the first President of Angola, he proclaimed the country’s independence from Portuguese colonial rule on November 11, 1975.

 

 

Source: Angola Press News Agency

 

Luanda – The urgent need for peaceful solution between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda topped a tripartite meeting on Saturday in Luanda between military entities from Angola, as a mediator, and of the two countries (DRC and Rwanda) in conflict.

The meeting was chaired by the Minister of State and Head of the Military Affairs Office to the Presidency of Republic, General Francisco Pereira Furtado, as part of Angolan President João Lourenço’s effort to achieve peace in Great Lakes Region.

Representatives from the Foreign Intelligence Service (SIE) of Angola, the National Intelligence Agency (ANR) of the DRC and the National Security and Intelligence Services (NISS) of the Republic of Rwanda participated in the meeting.

The meeting was also attended by a representative of the “Ad Hoc” Verification Mechanism.

In his capacity as a mediator in the conflict between the two countries, the President of Angola João Lourenço suggested on Wednesday dialogue at ministerial and experts level, as there are still no conditions for a meeting between the presidents of the two countries.

Speaking at the Board Meeting of the Assembly of the African Union (AU), held by videoconference, João Lourenço said that the current tension between the two neighbouring countries does not allow the meeting of their presidents, so the dialogue will have to be carried out at ministerial and experts levels.

“We have agreed with the DRC and Rwanda that next Saturday the intelligence services of the two countries and that of Angola will meet in Luanda”, said João Lourenço, speaking at the Meeting of the Bureau of the Assembly of the African Union (AU) ), held by videoconference.

“The intention is for the parties to ascertain, from a technical point of view, what is really happening on the ground”, underlined the Angolan statesman, who insisted that “the parties must dialogue”.

Tensions grow between the DRC and Rwanda, after the resumption in March of fighting between the former and the M23 Movement, of ethnic Tutsi, in which Kinshasa authorities accuse the neighbouring country of supporting the Movement.

 

 

Source: Angola Press News Agency