Category: General

Young international candidates and Seychellois youth with an interest in conservation are being asked to join Nature Seychelles’ programme on Cousin Island Special Reserve for the hawksbill season, which begins in October.

The chief executive of the non-profit organisation, Nirmal Shah, told SNA that “we are looking for people with the mental and emotional ability to apply as they will have to spend long hours alone on the beach when working on Cousin.”

Nature Seychelles launched the call for nature lovers the world over, wishing to do their part to conserve the environment to join the progamme which will run for six months from October 2023 to April 2024.

This is part of the established turtle monitoring programme on the island, found about 2 km from Praslin, the second most populated island of Seychelles.

The programme has been in operation since 1972, making it one of the longest running monitoring programmes for hawksbill turtles in the world.

Shah explained that as a result “there are 800 times more turtles coming to Cousin since the programme has been implemented.”

With the latest call for applicants to help in its continuing work on Cousin, Shah stressed that those interested must also be able to work in the country for three months as well as pay their own way to and in the country.

“These are volunteer positions, we are not paying people to take part, but they will instead acquire a wealth of knowledge and experience,” he explained.

Shah added that since the progamme started “most of the candidates who take part are foreigners. Seychellois volunteers are also welcomed.”

During the programme on Cousin, volunteers will carry out a series of tasks – which include the relocation of turtle nests.

“With climate change, the beaches on Cousin are changing, there are some nests that used to be in certain areas that are no longer there,” said Shah.

“Hawksbill turtles are still critically endangered and the work being done on Cousin is crucial to their conservation,” he added.

Due to the scientific nature of the work being carried out on the island, Shah also expressed his organisation’s preference to have candidates with some knowledge of conservation and who may be able to compute the data they are collecting.

“It is good to have university students who will know how to analyse the information they are collecting,” he said.

So far, Nature Seychelles has managed to fill some slots for the different months until March 2024 when the season ends but it is still open for the right candidates.

Source: Seychelles News Agency

With the aim of creating an opportunity for Seychellois craftspeople to display their products as well as provide business opportunities for them, a four-day exhibition of local artisanal works is being held at the Carrefour des Arts in the capital Victoria.

Under the theme “Reviv Lartizana Seselwa” – Creole for “Relive Seychellois Craftwork”- the exhibition was organised by the National Arts and Crafts Council (NACC) in collaboration with the crafts steering committee.

The exhibition, which is open until August 4, is made up of an array of craftwork from over 20 artisans of two groups – Group de Artisans Seychelles and Cooperative des Artisans. With all the exhibits on sale, items have been crafted from vacoa, fiber, raffia, bamboo, wood, sand and coconut.

There are also ceramic, textile and crochet works among others on display.

Albest said NACC wants to inspire the Seychellois youths. (Seychelles Nation) Photo License: CC-BY

In an interview with SNA, the person responsible for craft development at NACC, Juliette Albest, shared that as the theme states, the aim of the exhibition is to relive artisanal work.

“We also want to inspire our youth, showing them that artisanal crafts are of high quality and they can make a living out of it. We want to inspire them to create. We would also like more Seychellois to support local work as well as buy them. There are many talents in our country,” said Albest.

Stopping before the work of Florent Servina, a 71-year-old artisan, Albest shared that the former policeman recently conducted two workshops with students from the Seychelles Institute of Technology (SIT) and Seychelles Institute of Arts and Design (SIAD), showing them how to carve into coconuts.

The work of the student is also displayed in the exhibition.

For over 40 years, Servina has been crafting with coconut, recreating different animals – tortoise, bird, monkey, and bat among others.

Albest outlined that the exhibition is being held in line with the mandate of NACC, which is to develop this sector.

There is the possibility to showcase work produced during workshops at schools and district level. (Seychelles Nation) Photo License: CC-BY

“With the creation of the crafts steering committee, it has been outlined that there is the need to pass on artisanal work knowledge. They are putting together a plan on how to meet with agency and relevant authorities to find solutions to this challenge,” she said.

NACC is also working on other projects that will help achieve its mandate.

“There is the possibility to showcase work produced during workshops at schools and district level that are currently being conducted. Soon there will be a young Creolophone artist exhibition in which pupils from different schools will be participating. This will be held in October as part of the Creole Festival,” said Albest.

Source: Seychelles News Agency

Speaker of the Assembly of People’s Representatives (ARP) Brahim Bouderbala and Cuba’s Ambassador to Tunisia Máriem Martinez Laurel had a talk Friday at the seat of the parliament.

Máriem Martinez Laurel said her country is keen to bolster parliamentary relations by means of intensifying visits between MPs and members of friendships groups.

The ambassador underlined the importance of bilateral relations and joint keenness to bolster them, especially in health, education, culture and sports, the assembly said in a press release.

Tunisia and Cuba share views on a number of regional and international issues, the diplomat further said.

Cuba, Máriem Martinez Laurel said, lends paramount importance to further promoting the Group of 77 + China as its current chair. The grouping seeks to increase security, stability and cooperation across the globe.

The Ambassador, whose country will be hosting next September the G77 plus China summit , expressed ” the hope to see Tunisia attend this summit with a high-level delegation, given its importance in achieving rapprochement and strengthening bilateral and multilateral cooperation.”

Bouderbala welcomed the Cuban Parliament’s kenness to further strengthen relations and underlined willingness to achieve this goal, notably through the creation of the Tunisian-Cuban parliamentary friendship group.

Tunisian-Cuban relations are of key importance, the speaker further said, and there is need to give them impetus according to a new vision.

Tunisia is committed to an active presence in regional and international organisations, considering the importance of joint action and increased consultation on issues related to global security and stability.

The Ambassador handed a congratulatory letter to Bouderbala from President of the National Assembly of People’s Power, Cuba’s parliament, Juan Esteban Lazo Hernández.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

President Kais Saied presented credentials to four new ambassadors, during a ceremony held on Friday at the Carthage Palace.

They are:

Yassine I Oued, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Tunisian Republic in London.

Karima Bardaoui, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Tunisian Republic in Pretoria.

Rachid Saidani, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Tunisian Republic in Dakar.

Kais Darraji, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Tunisian Republic in Seoul.

During the ceremony, the newly appointed ambassadors were sworn in before the Head of State, in the presence of Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration, and Tunisians Abroad Nabil Ammar.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

President Kais Saied, during the presentation of credentials ceremony at Carthage Palace on Friday, called on the new ambassadors “not to forget that they represent a sovereign country, to act as equals with the countries to which they are accredited and to serve the interests of our country in all fields”.

In particular, Kais Saied called on the new ambassadors to defend just causes and stand up to defamation campaigns against Tunisia.

Addressing the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad, Nabil Ammar, Kais Saied said that “consuls must take full responsibility for the Tunisian community, as their mission is to serve Tunisians abroad”.

President Kaïs Saïed, on Friday, presided over a ceremony to hand over credentials to four new ambassadors.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

President Kais Saied said at a meeting with Tunisian Television CEO Awatef Dali Friday at Carthage Palace that “this national institution must serve Tunisian citizens and not “lobbies hiding behind the scenes”.

The President of the Republic made it clear that “this is not an invitation to false propaganda, which is outdated”, considering that a number of programmes and even the presentation of news in the Tunisian Television’s news bulletin (broadcast on Al Wataniya 1) “are not unbiased”.

He wondered about the absence of TV programmes commemorating the assassination of Tunisia’s two martyrs, Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi, as well as members of the army and police who sacrificed their lives in the hunt for terrorists and traitors.

Referring to the programme “Al Zaman Al Jamil” (The Beautiful Days) broadcast on Al-Wataniya, Saied regretted that the pre-revolutionary period was described as “the beautiful era” by a number of guests who lived in “shadows” before 2011 and have become “heroes” today.

The President of the Republic also wondered about the absence of television programmes dedicated to the demands and grievances of Tunisians, which were voiced in December 2010 and January and February 2011, as well as television programmes commemorating major historical events in Tunisia, such as those of January 26, 1978 and January 3, 1984.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

The National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT), in a statement on Friday, called on President Kais Saied to respect the independence of the media and “stop interfering in their content”.

The union called on the President of the Republic to apply the law in appointing officials at the head of public media institutions, especially the radio and television, “respect the independence of public, confiscated and private media and refrain from parachute appointments, in which the President of the Republic has basically resorted to symbols of propaganda and disinformation during the period of media blackout,” according to the same statement.

President Kais Saied had indicated during his meeting on Friday at the Carthage Palace with the CEO of

Tunisian Television, Awatef Dali, that “the national television should be at the service of Tunisians and not at the service of lobbies hiding behind the curtain”. He considered that “a number of programmes and the order of the news in the news bulletin of Tunisian Television (Watania 1) are to blame”.

The SNJT stressed in the same statement, in response to the dialogue between President Kais Saied and the CEO of Tunisian Television, that the public media must play its primary role as a public service at the service of the state and society and express the people’s demands and concerns within the framework of information and objectivity, and adopt the priorities of news, education and entertainment, and not be a propaganda tool for the ruling authorities, whatever they may be.

It called on all professional structures and regulatory bodies to publicly reject these practices and to defend the right of women and citizens to a free media that reflects different political and intellectual orientations and represents the diversity and pluralism of Tunisian society.

In this context, the union stressed that it is not the role of the executive authority to control and monitor media content, but rather that of the editorial boards within the institutions and the independent High Authority for Audiovisual Media.

It called on the staff of Tunisian Television in particular and the rest of the public media institutions in general to address these “serious practices and deviations and any attempt to use the public institution to serve the authority or any other entity,” according to the text of the statement.

It considered that “the intervention of the President of the Republic is part of a context of censorship of the public media, sexism and the undermining of the principle of pluralism, diversity and objectivity”, especially in Tunisian television and radio and the TAP news agency, in addition to exclusionary practices, in particular the prevention of civil society and political forces from appearing on Tunisian television, which is funded by taxpayers’ money.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Angola’s President João Lourenço has spoken about the importance of opening Embassies of Angola in Australia, Indonesia and East Timor, with stress to the last country.

Addressing the swearing in ceremony of the ambassadors from the aforementioned countries on Friday, João Lourenço described as “inconceivable situation” the fact that only now Angola has an Embassy in East Timor.

The president underlined that East Timor was the only State of the Community of the Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) in which Angola did not have an embassy, “a situation (…) that is now being corrected”.

The CPLP is a privileged multilateral forum for the deepening of mutual friendship and cooperation between its members.

Along with Angola and East Timor, the organisation, created on July 17, 1996, includes Brazil, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Portugal, Mozambique, as well as São Tomé and Príncipe.

The President also praised the role of the Embassies of Australia and Indonesia in the Asian region, where Angola “had poorly been represented”.

In his speech, João Lourenço recommended that the new ambassadors work to attract more tourists to Angola, as well as businessmen, as part of openness to direct private investment.

Ambassadors to Australia António Manuel Luvualu de Carvalho, Indonesia Florêncio Mariano da Conceição e Almeida and East Timor José Andrade de Lemos, were sworn in during a ceremony held on Friday (04) at the Presidential Palace

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)

President William Ruto is set for a five-day intensive development tour in the Mount Kenya region.

Speaking to the media during a briefing today at Sagana, State lodge, Statehouse Spokesman Hussein Mohammed confirmed that President Ruto will travel by road from Nairobi, marked by stop-overs in Githurai and Kenol. Accompanied by his Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua

‘During his tour the President will launch various projects aimed at improving the quality of life in line with the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda,’ said Hussein.

Hussein said President Ruto will start his tour at Kagio Trading center, Kirinyaga County and he is expected to open a water project before addressing Wananchi at Baricho.

He will then travel to Karatina where he will commission the Marua-State Lodge Road that will ease the movement of goods and services and spur growth in the area.

On Sunday, the head of state will be at the State Lodge Sagana for an interdenominational prayer service.

On Monday he will start his day in Mukurwe-ini where a road will be commissioned and later launch of water projects in Tetu and Othaya.

On the same day he will open a bus park at Asian Quarter in Nyeri town that is poised to ease congestion and create a friendly transport environment.

On Tuesday he will open a new Kenya Co-operative Creameries facility in Kiganjo and thereafter host Mount Kenya leaders at the Sagana State Lodge. Agriculture, infrastructure, health, education, among other sectors are expected to dominate the talks in the meeting.

The Mt Kenya tour will come to an end on Wednesday when the President will open the three-storey 175 bed capacity Narumoro Level IV hospital and later launch affordable housing project in Gichugu before landing in Thika where he will commission the Karimenu Dam water supply project and also launch affordable housing project.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The Ministry of Health in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO) Kenya and UNICEF Kenya are targeting to vaccinate 1.7 million Kenyans against Cholera in the next ten days.

This is the second phase of the oral Cholera vaccinations in the country after the first phase which targeted 2.3 million people in February, this year.

According to the World Health Organization Nairobi Team Leader on Health Emergencies, Preparedness and Response Dr. Martins Levinus 11,800 Cholera cases and 190 deaths have been reported in the country since October 2022.

‘This Cholera wave had spread to 26 counties initially but with the effort of the Government of Kenya, partners such as WHO and UNICEF Kenya it has been controlled to only 3 countries. Hopefully we hope to bring it to zero cases in Kenya as soon as possible and that is why we are carrying out the Oral vaccination exercise to aid and support the various response activities going on in the various counties across the country,’ said Dr Martins

Dr. Martins however remarked that the oral cholera Vaccine is not the only thing that can be done to control cholera.

‘The vaccine is not the magic bullet. In addition to it, people need to practice good hygiene, cook their food well, wash hands with soap and clean water, dispose of human waste and other waste properly and consume healthy food. With all these measures in place, Kenya will not only be able to mitigate the effects of the disease but it will also save lives,’ said Dr. Martins

He further noted that though the country has been witnessing severe droughts that has made water scarce leading to the emergence of other diseases and not just cholera, the government and the partners are working together to ensure that the citizens are able to access safe water to sustain them.

Kajiado County Chief Executive Committee Member for Health, Alex Kilowua noted that 398 cholera cases and five deaths have so far been reported in Kajiado.

‘The cases have been reported in Kitengela and Kajiado North areas due to the high population. We really appreciate the Ministry of Health and the partners for the vaccine even as we urged our people to practice hygiene as though cholera is deadly, it is preventable,’ said Kilowua.

While revealing that the vaccine will target over 300,000 people in Kajiado East constituency, Kilowua has urged the residents to turn up and take the vaccine.

The oral vaccine will be administered from 3rd to 12th August at health centers and door to door to children over one year and all eligible adults.

The campaign will take place in the affected areas of Kajiado, Garissa, Homa Bay, Machakos, Mandera, Marsabit, Nairobi and Wajir Counties.

Source: Kenya News Agency