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Highlights
1. The DRC1 is the country with the largest internally displaced population in Africa
2. DRC hosts over 0.5 M2 refugees and asylum seekers
3. Lack of a proper civil registration system puts many at risk of statelessness in DRC. UNHCR joins the United Nations Legal Identity Program to help the DRC government put in place a strong registration system that is inclusive for all types of populations, ensuring that no one is left behind.
Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said the COVID-19 state of emergency for Tokyo and several surrounding regions will continue through September 12 rather than expiring at the end of this month after a surge in new cases over the past three days.
Tokyo announced 2,962 new daily cases on Monday, after a record 5,773 on Friday. All of Japan saw a record 20,400 cases that day.
Suga told reporters the surge in infections is reaching alarming levels. He said the state of emergency currently in effect for Tokyo, Osaka and Okinawa will include three other areas – Kyoto, Hyogo and Fukuoka, which are currently under a less severe COVID-19 status.
The state of emergency began in July, just before the start of the Tokyo Olympics. With the latest extension, the emergency will remain in force during the Paralympics Games August 24 through September 5.
Suga said the measures will become official Tuesday, following further consultations with experts. He also said hospital care was “a priority,” and people waiting at home to be hospitalized were getting checkups by phone. Critics say the government has not done enough to respond to the crisis in organizing the hospital system overall to accommodate those with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
Japan’s state of emergency restricts commercial activity, with bars and restaurants told to close or stop serving alcohol, and movie theaters and karaoke parlors closed. Japanese laws limit how much the government can mandate, making the state of emergency declarations little more than requests for cooperation.
Just over one-third of the nation’s population has been fully vaccinated, even while the highly infectious delta variant of the coronavirus is reportedly spreading. Japan’s vaccine rollout got off to a relatively late start and is proceeding at a pace that is one of the slowest among industrialized nations.
Japan has had more than 15,000 COVID-19-related deaths, and worries have been growing about the health care system becoming increasingly stretched thin.
Source: Voice of America
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents say they have now seized more than 121 shipments containing more than 3,000 counterfeit COVID-19 vaccine cards this year alone.
In a release, the agency said agents have intercepted the shipments at the port of Memphis, Tennessee, all of them from China and bound for different U.S. cities. The manifest usually indicates the contents are paper or greeting cards. Inside were packs of 20, 51 or 100 of the counterfeit cards.
The officers say the cards have blanks for the recipient’s name and birthdate, the vaccine maker, lot number, and date and place the shot was given, as well as the logo of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the upper right corner. But the cards contain typographical errors, unfinished words and often misspellings, and they are always imported by a non-CDC or medical entity.
The agency says there is no attempt to hide or disguise what is inside the packages.
The discoveries come as more and more businesses and entertainment venues are requiring proof of vaccination to enter. New York City will this week begin phasing in its vaccine mandate for bars, restaurants and other venues.
The FBI has warned the public that buying, selling or using a counterfeit COVID-19 vaccination card is a crime. It can be categorized as the unauthorized use of an official government agency seal — such as the CDC or U.S. Department of Health and Human Services — and violators could face a fine and up to five years in prison.
In the agency release, Area Port Director of Memphis Michael Neipert said counterfeits are a waste of time and resources, considering vaccinations are free and available everywhere.
“If you do not wish to receive a vaccine, that is your decision. But don’t order a counterfeit, waste my officer’s time, break the law and misrepresent yourself,” he said.
On Sunday, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called on federal officials to crack down harder on the fake cards.
Source: Voice of America
Saurimo – The provincial Commission for Rapid Response to Covid-19 in Lunda Sul will send to Luanda, within days, samples collected randomly to confirm the probable variants of the virus that predominates in the region, given the growing number of positive cases and deaths.
Viegas de Almeida, deputy coordinator of the provincial commission for rapid response to the pandemic in the region, told Angop on Monday that the epidemiological situation was critical, judging by the growing number of positive cases and deaths recorded in recent weeks.
Without giving the number of samples, Mr. Almeida said the commission suspected that some variant of the disease was circulating in Lunda Sul, given the drastic changes in the clinical situation of patients with Covid-19 that arrive at health units, as well as their aggressiveness.
He alerted the population to change their behaviour, however, as a result of disobedience the cases are constantly increasing and the situation may get out of control of the health authorities.
Source: Angola Press News Agency
Luanda – The loans granted to the real economy, under Notice 10/20, total 578.19 billion kwanzas, or the equivalent of USD 905.37 million.
According to the National Bank of Angola, by July of this year a total of 284 credits had been disbursed to the real economy, of which 205 with effective disbursements.
Since the publication of BNA’s Notice 10/20, the amount disbursed by commercial banks up until July totalled Kz 326.82 billion, representing an increase of 30.83 billion kwanzas (10.42 percent) against June 2021.
During the period in question, the amount approved by the banking sector, corresponded to 324.77% of the minimum amount to be granted until the end of 2021, with the amount actually disbursed representing 183.57%.
Of the amount disbursed large companies stand out with 59.17% (193.40 billion kwanzas), followed by medium sized companies with 38.53% (125.92 billion kwanzas) and small and micro companies with 1.83% (5.98 billion kwanzas) and 0.47% (1.53 billion kwanzas), respectively.
But in terms of numbers of projects with credits designed, the BNA highlights initiatives of medium-sized companies with 48% (95 ), followed by small with 24% (47 ), large with 16% (31 ) and 14% (27 ) for micro-enterprises.
Source: Angola Press News Agency
Quirima – The provincial governor of Malanje, Norberto dos Santos, expressed dissatisfaction with the level of execution and the quality of the earth levelling work of the 118 kilometres of road linking the municipal centre of Luquembo to Sautar (Quirima) commune, having set a week to correct the failures.
The work, which began in March 2020, with a duration of six months (deadline has already passed), is subdivided into two lots, Luquembo/Quirima (60 kilometres) and Quirima to Sautar commune (58 kilometres).
The project, which is part of the PIIM (Integrated Plan for Intervention in Municipalities), is in the hands of Queirós Ribeiro, is budgeted at 480 million kwanzas and has just under 80 percent of the work physically concluded.
The governor, who visited the project on Saturday, said that the work was not being carried out well, due to a lack of technical capacity demonstrated by the company.
In light of this, he determined that the company should increase its technical resources in the next few days and correct the flaws, otherwise the contract will be terminated.
He acknowledged that the region’s population, especially that of Sautar, is much sacrificed due to the degradation of the stretch, a situation that imposes urgency in the completion of the works, to facilitate the movement of people and goods.
Source: Angola Press News Agency
Luanda – 2Africa consortium announced Monday (August 16) in Johannesburg (South Africa) the addition of four new branches to the 2Africa cable.
The branches will extend the connectivity of the 2Africa to Seychelles, Comoros Islands and Angola and a new mooring point to the South-east of Nigeria.
The new connections join the recently announced extension to the Canary Islands.
The 2Africa consortium comprises China Mobile International, Facebook (Facebook.com), MTN GlobalConnect, Orange, STC, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone and WIOCC.
The world’s major submarine cable project will provide a quicker and trustful Interned service for each country it lands.
According to the consortium, the communities that depend on the Internet for services, such education, health and business, will have the economic and social benefits resulting from this added connectivity.
In order to launch the new agencies, 2Africa consortium selected the Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN).
This will increase the number of landings of the 2Africa to 35 in 26 countries, improving the connectivity within and around Africa.
Since the creation of 2Africa cable in Maio 2020, the source added, there were considerable progresses in the planning and preparation for the implantation of the cable, that will come into force by the end of 2023.
According to the consortium, most of the research activity of the submarine route has already been completed.
Source: Angola Press News Agency
UNITED NATIONS, New York – In a year that has seen a global onslaught of catastrophic heat waves, wildfires, floods and drought, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s latest assessment report, released last week, serves as an undeniable exclamation point. The report, by 234 authors from 66 countries citing 14,000 references, portends more frequent and severe extreme weather events that trace back to human behaviour.
No one escapes the harrowing, heartbreaking consequences of climate change, and the number of people needing humanitarian assistance will double by 2030 because of it. (Per OCHA, 235 million require aid this year.) This isn’t a competition on who suffers most when nature responds violently to the abuses perpetrated by mankind. But vulnerable and marginalized groups like women – who make up the majority of the global poor and whose livelihoods are largely dependent on natural resources among other risk factors – are exposed to particular calamities. According to UNDP, women and children are 14 times more likely than men to die in a disaster.
Below, five more ways climate change afflicts women and girls. Climate change can:
Women and girls, who bear primary responsibility for collecting water and firewood for fuel, have to walk further in their search for scarce resources. When populations are displaced due to climate change (think drought in Somalia and Angola), women and girls face increased risk of gender-based violence at refugee or internally displaced persons camps. Again, in looking for resources to run households, they walk unfamiliar territory, increasing their vulnerability.
UNFPA found sex trafficking spiked after cyclones and typhoons in the Asia-Pacific region and intimate partner violence rose during drought in East Africa, tropical storms in Latin America and similar extreme weather events in the Arab States region.
And according to UNDP, rates of domestic violence, sexual abuse, and female genital mutilation grew during extended periods of drought in Uganda. Violence against women increased in Pakistan after floods and in Bangladesh after cyclones. Developed countries are not immune.
Weather extremes destroy livelihoods and exacerbate poverty. This can incentivize families to marry off young daughters so there’s one less mouth to feed, in exchange for a bride price or because they believe they are improving a girl’s chances at a future. Whatever the motivation, upticks in early marriage have been seen in such countries affected by climate disaster as Malawi, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, and Mozambique, among others.
**3. …lead to stillbirth… **
Research indicates that “a 1 degree Celsius increase during the week preceding delivery was associated with 6 per cent increase in risk during the warm season (May–September) that translates to about four additional stillbirths per 10,000 births.” Greater investigation is warranted, but evidence points to a connection between extreme heat and negative birth outcomes.
For example, vector-borne illnesses such as malaria and dengue fever have been linked to miscarriage, premature birth and anaemia. Rising temperatures are lengthening the seasons when mosquitoes, which spread these illnesses, are active, and wet environments encourage their breeding. Climate change can also increase the spread of vector-borne diseases like Zika virus, which in pregnant women can cause severe birth defects like microcephaly (small head due to a brain abnormality).
As COVID-19 has shown, emergencies divert health-care resources toward fighting the latest threat and away from services deemed less essential. Emergencies due to climate change will become more frequent, meaning sexual and reproductive health and rights services may be among the first to be curtailed.
But even if sexual and reproductive health and rights services continue, displaced women and girls often lose access to them, which can result in more unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. They can also lose access in other ways, as when Cyclone Idai struck Malawi in 2019. “Many parts of Mangochi district were submerged in water,” said Treazer Masauli, senior health surveillance assistant at Mangochi district hospital. “We had to use a helicopter to reach areas that were not accessible by road to provide sexual and reproductive health services, such as condoms, as a family planning method and for prevention of HIV and STIs, as well as peer education and HIV-related services.”
More than 20,000 women of reproductive age in Mozambique risked unwanted pregnancy when they went without access to contraception in the wake of Cyclone Eloise in January. And after Hurricanes Eta and Iota hit Honduras in 2020, an estimated 180,000 women of reproductive age could not access family planning.
Failed crops due to climate change can also affect sexual and reproductive health. A study found that after shocks like food insecurity, Tanzanian women who worked in agriculture turned to transactional sex to survive, which contributed to higher rates of HIV/AIDS infection.
The world must recognize that sexual and reproductive health and rights are a climate issue, and that women need to be part of climate policymaking. When they are, the planet is better off in such areas as lower carbon footprints and greater protected lands. And when the planet is better off, everyone is better off.
Source: United Nations Population Fund
Fred regained its tropical storm status Sunday and is expected to move across the Gulf of Mexico, reaching the Gulf Coast before Tuesday morning, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
The hurricane center posted tropical storm warnings or watches for the Florida Panhandle and parts of the Alabama coast. And Florda’s Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for the Panhandle.
Tropical Storm Fred was 380 kilometers (235 miles) south of Panama City, Florida, on Sunday afternoon, moving north-northwest at 17 kph (10 mph), the hurricane center said.
Grace, however, lost its tropical storm status, and tropical storm warnings for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Island were canceled. Haiti, which was struck by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake on Saturday, is under a tropical storm watch, the hurricane center said.
Grace was 560 kilometers (345 miles) east-southeast of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, moving west at 25 kph (15 mph).
Whatever their status, forecasters said, Fred and Grace threaten to bring heavy rain and flooding.
Fred is expected to bring 10-20 centimeters (4-8 inches) of rain to the Florida Panhandle. And Grace could bring 7.5-15 centimeters (3-6 inches of rain) to the Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico through Tuesday.
Source: Voice of America
GENEVA – United Nations agencies say they intend to stay in Afghanistan to provide aid to millions of Afghans facing the impending fall of the country to Taliban insurgents.
United Nations agencies are pledging to remain in Afghanistan as urban areas, especially the capital, Kabul, are overflowing with people who have fled Taliban offensives in rural parts of the country.
Jens Laerke, spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, says the U.N. has been in Afghanistan uninterrupted for the last 70 years and it is still there. He says the U.N. is concerned about the safety of its international and national staff and is closely monitoring events to ensure they are protected.
“Of course, it is a very volatile, fluid, rapidly changing situation,” he said. “But we are staying where we are. We have all intentions to stay and deliver for the Afghan people. The deal that we have in Afghanistan is with the Afghan people, with the civilians. And we are there to stay and help them.”
The United Nations has 720 staff assigned to Afghanistan. About 300 U.N. staff members are on the ground in the country. The rest are working remotely because of the COVID-19 pandemic. OCHA coordinates much of the humanitarian assistance that has been provided by 156 U.N. and nongovernmental agencies to 8 million Afghans this year.
Laerke says there has been a surge of displacement since May. This coincides with the accelerated withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan. Before the exodus began, he says 21,000 displaced people were recorded in Kabul.
Now, he says thousands more people are rushing into the capital. He says most have no place to sleep and the delivery of aid is becoming more difficult. He says missions are being conducted to assess the needs.
“As humanitarians, we will engage with anyone including the Taliban if it pertains to accessing people in need and if that… is based fully and firmly on the core humanitarian principles of complete neutrality, impartiality, and independence of delivery,” he said.
The U.N. refugee agency, one of the agencies working in Afghanistan, has assessed the needs of nearly 400,000 people who have become newly uprooted this year. The agency is providing food, shelter, hygiene, and other aid.
The World Food Program reports it is increasing food assistance programs to reach 9 million acutely hungry people through December.
The World Health Organization reports violence induced trauma is a major public health concern. Consequently, it says it is supporting trauma care in 130 facilities. It says it also is supporting blood banks and training health workers on mass-casualty management.
Source: Voice of America