Day: August 26, 2021

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African Governments Commit to Eradicating Poliovirus Type 2

African countries have committed to ending all forms of polio after cases of vaccine-derived polio increased last year, partly because of disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, Africa had been declared free of the wild poliovirus, after four years without a single case. But a variant has since returned in communities where not enough children have received the vaccine against it.

Addressing a session of the World Health Organization’s regional committee for Africa, the director of Uganda’s Health Ministry, Henry Mwebesa, said his country would carry out a national campaign to vaccinate children against polio before the end of the year.

“The challenges we anticipate is vaccine hesitancy, which has been common even with the COVID vaccines, and we expect to continue during this period. But we will try our best to mobilize the whole country, cultural leaders, the political leadership and professional associations to assist us to mobilize the communities to address the challenge, the hesitance, to make sure that all our children below five years have received this novel OPV,” Mwebesa said.

The novel Oral Polio Vaccine is key to stopping polio outbreaks.

Last year, Africa was declared free of wild poliovirus.

In the last three years, however, 23 African states have experienced outbreaks of vaccine-derived poliovirus 2. That’s a strain of weakened poliovirus that was included in the oral virus but mutated over time and now behaves like the wild or naturally occurring virus.

WHO regional director Matshidiso Moeti said the continent needs to do more to eradicate that form of the poliovirus.

“Our shared objective is to stop all polioviruses by 2023 and to integrate a polio infrastructure to strengthen border disease surveillance and outbreak response systems, as well as immunization policies,” Moeti said.

Ethiopia has recorded seven cases of poliovirus type 2 in 2021. The country’s health minister, Lia Tadesse, says her government is trying to address the current outbreaks.

“We all agree that the quality of any campaign is as good as our preparedness. We follow our preparedness to the national foundation mechanisms using electronic data tools and self-assessment at the different levels up to the district and then validate those assessments,” Tadesse said.

More than 100 million African children have been vaccinated against the poliovirus since July 2020. But many others missed the vaccinations due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Source: Voice of America

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UN Chief: No Military Solution to Ethiopia Crisis

The U.N. secretary-general said Thursday that there is “no military solution” to Ethiopia’s 10-month-old conflict, and he urged the parties to stop fighting and open a dialogue.

“In every sense, the future of Ethiopia is at stake,” Antonio Guterres told a meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

Last week, in a bid to end the conflict, the U.N. chief appealed for a cease-fire, unrestricted aid access and an Ethiopian-led political dialogue. He told the council these steps are essential to preserve Ethiopia’s unity and the stability of the region and to ease the humanitarian crisis.

“I believe there is an opportunity to address the conflict peacefully, which the parties must seize in the interest of Ethiopia,” he told the council. “Conditions must be created for the start of an inclusive national political dialogue to address the underlying causes of the conflict and ensure Ethiopian voices direct the pathway to peace.”

He said that he has been in close contact with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and has received a letter from the leader of the Tigray region in response to his appeal.

“The U.N. is ready to work together with the African Union and other key partners to support such a dialogue,” he said.

Fighting after cease-fire

On June 28, the Ethiopian government announced an immediate and unilateral humanitarian cease-fire after nearly eight months of fighting with Tigrayan forces. But hostilities have continued, and the prime minister recently urged all Ethiopians to join the fight.

Tigray forces reclaimed control of the regional capital, Mekelle, after Ethiopian government forces withdrew. In the weeks since the cease-fire was announced, they have expanded their presence into the neighboring regions of Afar and Amhara, where fighting has escalated, displacing tens of thousands of civilians.

Guterres also urged the Security Council to stay united and continue to pay attention to the situation.

Council members welcomed Thursday’s announcement by the chairperson of the African Union Commission, appointing former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo as high representative for the Horn of Africa region.

Thursday was only the second time during the conflict that the council held a public meeting to discuss the situation. Britain, Estonia, France, Ireland, Norway and the United States requested the session.

“Time is of the essence,” Irish envoy Geraldine Byrne Nason said. “The very lives of the Ethiopian people are at stake. Now is the time for action.”

Of the 6 million people who live in Tigray, 5.2 million need some level of food assistance, the U.N. says. Over 400,000 people are already living in faminelike conditions, and another 1.8 million people are on the brink of famine.

“Let’s be clear: This shortage is not because food is unavailable; it is because the Ethiopian government is still limiting humanitarian aid and personnel, including land convoys and air access,” said Richard Mills, the U.S. deputy ambassador to the U.N.

“We are troubled by disturbing reports that the Ethiopian government is intentionally withholding humanitarian assistance to starving Ethiopians, and these impediments to the movement of humanitarian supplies must be removed immediately, and trucks must be allowed to enter and deliver lifesaving assistance to Tigray,” he said.

Ethiopian envoy Taye Atske Selassie Amde dismissed accusations that the government is impeding aid deliveries, saying it is well aware of its obligations and is facilitating deliveries.

Source: Voice of America

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Gunmen Release Students in Northern Nigeria 3 Months Later

Gunmen have released some of the children kidnapped from a school in northern Nigeria back in May, some of whom were as young as 5 years old, the school’s head teacher said late Thursday.

Abubakar Garba Alhassan told The Associated Press that the freed students were on their way to the state capital, Minna, but added he could not confirm the exact number freed.

Authorities have said that 136 children were abducted along with several teachers when gunmen on motorcycles attacked the Salihu Tanko Islamic School in Niger state. Other preschoolers were left behind as they could not keep pace when the gunmen hurriedly moved those abducted into the forest.

Alhassan did not provide details of their release, but parents of the students have over the past weeks struggled to raise ransoms demanded by their abductors. There was no immediate comment from police or the Niger governor’s office.

The release, though, came a day after local media quoted one parent as saying six of the children had died in captivity.

More than 1,000 students have been forcibly taken from their schools during those attacks, according to an AP tally of figures previously confirmed by the police. Although most of those kidnapped have been released, at least 200 are still held by their abductors.

The government has been unable to halt the spate of abductions for ransom. As a result, many schools have been forced to close because of concerns about the kidnapping risk.

After one abduction at a university in Kaduna state earlier this year, gunmen demanded hundreds of thousands of dollars in ransom. They killed five other students to compel the students’ parents to raise the money, and later released 14 others.

Source: Voice of America

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Nigeria, Russia Sign Military Agreement

Abuja and Moscow have signed an agreement for the former to buy nearly $1 billion in military equipment and services, Nigeria’s ambassador to Russia, Abdullahi Shehu, told VOA.

The Nigerian Embassy released a statement that said the agreement “provides a legal framework for the supply of military equipment, provision of after sales services, training of personnel in respective educational establishments and technology transfer, among others.”

Reuters reported in July that U.S. lawmakers had put a hold on a proposal to sell almost $1 billion worth of weapons to Nigeria over concerns about possible human rights abuses by the government.

When asked if the agreement reached with Russia was influenced by the failure to secure such a deal with the U.S. government, Shehu said no.

“As I stated after opening, after the signing ceremony, I said clearly that Nigeria is not looking for alternatives but complementarity and mutual benefits,” Shehu, who is in Russia, said in a telephone interview with VOA.

“So the fact that Nigeria has signed agreement with Russia does not affect Nigeria’s relationship and cooperation with its strategic partners around the world.”

The Nigerian ambassador added, “So to us, the signing of this agreement is in furtherance of our bilateral cooperation with the Russian Federation in this area.”

The embassy statement described the pact as “a landmark development” in the countries’ bilateral relations.

Shehu said training was one aspect of the military cooperation agreement between the two countries.

“So I believe that as soon as the agreement comes into force, both countries will discuss what would be Nigeria’s needs and how the Russian Federation can assist Nigeria in such direction,” he said.

Nigeria already uses some Russian fighter jets and helicopters, alongside military equipment purchased from Western powers such as the United States, according to Reuters.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson, speaking on background, told VOA in a statement, “Nigeria is a critical partner in the fight against terrorism in Africa. … Our security cooperation with Nigeria aims to enable the Nigerian government to better protect its citizens and defeat terrorist groups that threaten U.S. interests, while respecting human rights and the law of armed conflict.”

The spokesperson said U.S. military assistance included military education and training, as well as training and equipping “law enforcement and judiciary professionals” in an array of priorities, from “stopping banditry to protecting intellectual property rights to more effectively addressing trafficking in persons and gender-based violence.”

Source: Voice of America

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