Day: March 30, 2022

The youth in the country have been challenged to explore the digital space that is currently growing for the betterment of their lives.

Speaking during the official launch of Pwani Innovation Week in Mombasa, Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru told young people that the cyber space has created immense opportunities for them to utilise and improve their livelihoods.

Mr Mucheru said that the opportunities that came along with the new connectivity have opened Kenya to the world making it among the competitive nations when it comes to advancement in technology.

“Kenya has positioned itself as a regional technology and innovation hub due to massive investment in ICT. Huge amount of investments are coming in because of the environment. Investors can see the opportunities that are there,” said Mucheru.

He told youth to explore extensively some of the advancement made in the introduction of another submarine fiber optic cable system that is expected to provide high-speed internet connectivity in Kenya and the rest of the east African region.

The new cable brought in by Telkom Kenya will be the sixth linking Kenya with the rest of the world and is expected to connect the country with Asia and Europe.

Other submarine cable service providers connecting Kenya and east Africa to the world include East African Marine System (TEAMS), the East African Submarine Cable System (EASSY), the Lower Indian Ocean Network (LION), SEACOM and Djibouti Africa regional Express 1(Dare1).

Following this development, CS Mucheru said that the government will stay committed to continue working and collaborating with investors in a bid to ensure the environment is conducive for innovation and technology to thrive.

He further asked young investors to at least have financial knowledge before investing in any technological field so as to be able to understand how value is being created.

“Look at the business side of your innovation, if it’s a social good, how is it going to be funded. The government is providing the platform, regulations that you need to make your idea work and grow,” added Mucheru.

ICT Chief Administrative Secretary Nadia Abdallah said the platform provided will offer an opportunity to discuss how opportunities can be harnessed to solve some of the country’s problems like unemployment among the youth.

“Pwani innovation week has provided an environment where technology and innovation will be promoted,” she said.

Pwani Innovation week is a consolidated effort by Swahili pot hub, a community space focusing on youth’s interests in technology and arts and its partners to help create a widespread culture of innovation in the coastal counties of Kenya.

Executive Director of the Pwani Innovation Week Mahmud Noor said that the aim of the innovation week is to inspire innovators, policy makers, corporates, funders, researchers and other players to take risks on new ideas and friends, collaborate across sectors and transform the Kenya Coastal region through the scaling innovation.

The four-day activity will focus on the innovative ways of working that have evolved as a result of the pandemic and its catastrophic impacts.

There will be booth camps and master classes together with hack tons to build a collaborative network for investors to unlock their potential.

“Everything you see during PIW is geared towards enabling innovators to flourish in the Coast Region that should see them leapfrog systematic change to alleviate poverty, drive inclusiveness while meeting our country’s agenda,” said Noor.

In the setting up of cyber security booth camp organised by the Communication Authority of Kenya (CAK), Huawei Kenya and Safaricom limited, one Charles Koome exceled and he received a certificate of excellence from the CS during the opening ceremony of the Pwani Innovation Week.

Other partners for the event are the Kenya Chambers of Commerce and Industry Mombasa Chapter, Mombasa County, Cisco, National Museum of Kenya, the Ministry of ICT, the British High Commission among others.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Djibouti is one of the most politically stable countries in the region and hosts approximately 34 990refugees and asylum seekers from the neighboring countries and continues to receive simultaneous arrivals rom Somalia, Ethiopia, and Yemen. Largest group of refugees are Somalis and Yemenis, while most of asylum seekers are Ethiopians and Eritreans. UNHCR and its partners continued to provide protection, assistance, and solutions to persons of concern across the country.

Update On Achievements

Operational Context

The operational context in Djibouti remained generally stable. In February, campaign for municipal and regional elections took place peacefully throughout the country. A total of 215,687 voters are registered for this fourth edition of the municipal and regional election, aiming for greater representation of Djiboutian civil society in public authorities.

Notwithstanding the overall calm situation, it is to be noted the arrest a former Budget Minister. The General Prosecutor announced the existence of a fraudulent connivence between some traders and two officials of the Ministry of the Budget for the misappropriation of several billion Djiboutian currency from the national treasury. Thus, a former Budget Minister and two other personalities of the Ministry have been arrested for further investigations.

The country continues to welcome refugees and asylum seekers from neighboring countries. A slight increase in the number of asylum seekers from Ethiopia have been observed, in relation with the situation in Ethiopia. In total, 175 new arrivals have been registered, of whom 79 Tigrayans.

The UNHCR continue to support the government in national asylum system capacity buildings. Through the National Office for Assistance to Refugee (ONARS), UNHCR provides technical support to the government reinforce the capacity to the eligibility team to conduct refugee status determination particular birth registration. During the reporting period, the operation hosted two missions from the regional bureau. The Deputy Director and Head of Protection Service from the Regional Bureau interacted, from 8 to 10 February, with senior Government officials. This mission paved the way for another regional mission for technical support to conduct a government led assessment and organize a workshop in March on the national refugee status determination strategy.

On February 21st,the Representative took part, alongside the ministry of Social Affairs and Solidarities, and the ministry of Health, to the opening of a social center number 6 (guichet social) in Balbala, a suburb of Djibouti home for thousands of refugees. This center will offer the refugees, most in need, to access the national solidarity family programme (Safetynet) to improve their living conditions. With this opening of the social center, refugees most in need will receive a monthly grant of about USD 170. The event marks the fulfillment of one of the pledges of the Djiboutian government for the inclusion of refugees within the framework of the CRRF(national TV coverage).

Under the reporting period, the UNHCR participated to a two-day (23rd to 24th February) conference, organized conjointly by the IGAD and the ministry of Interior (ONARS), on national dialogue on forced displacements in Djibouti. This national dialogue brought together relevant stakeholders to discuss and reflect on situations of forced displacement and promote the protection of refugees and asylum seekers as part of the broader migration movement in Djibouti. The government of Djibouti also used the opportunity to update stakeholders on their progress in the implementation of Djibouti’s global commitments (Global Compact on Refugees, Global Refugee Forum (GRF) and CRRF) and regional commitments on forced displacement (Nairobi process).

Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees

In November 2021, scientists from the Famine Early Warning System network issued a warning that unprecedented drought was imminent in the Horn of Africa if low seasonal rainfall continued into 2022. Tragically, their prediction turns out to be prescient.

East Africa, and in particular parts of Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya, are experiencing the driest conditions and hottest temperatures since satellite records began. As a result, as many as 13 million people are currently facing severe food and water shortages and 25 million people are predicted to face the same fate by mid-2022.

Scientists blame climate change for the current crisis in a part of the world that is least able to cope. Africa as a whole contributes about 2-3% of global emissions that cause global warming and climate change.

However, the continent is bearing the heaviest impacts of the climate crisis, including increased heat waves, severe droughts and catastrophic cyclones, such as those that have hit Mozambique and Madagascar in recent years.

Furthermore, scientists predict that things will only get worse for Africa if current trends continue. According to the 2022 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , “Key development sectors have already suffered significant loss and damage from anthropogenic climate change, including biodiversity loss, water shortages, reduced food production, loss of human life and reduced economic growth.”

The current drought in East Africa has been particularly devastating for smallholder farmers and pastoralists in the Horn of Africa, already vulnerable to climatic shocks.

This is why the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) is currently supporting 22 African countries to use adaptation solutions based on the ecosystems already present in their environment to strengthen communities against the deadly effects of climate change.

In Djibouti, a small East African nation, for example, UNEP has undertaken three ecosystem-based adaptation projects, including a drought mitigation project aimed specifically at supporting subsistence farmers and pastoralists. whose crops fail and livestock die.

“Ecosystem-based approaches to adaptation, such as planting fast-growing native plant species that can have an immediate impact on the ground, combined with long-term solutions, are incredibly effective in protecting communities from impacts of climate change,” said Eva Comba, Policy Officer in UNEP’s Climate Adaptation Unit.

According to her, restoring existing ecosystems, for example by planting more acacia trees and mangroves, is vital in countries like Djibouti which are vulnerable to droughts, storms, flash floods and coastal erosion.

Among the ecosystem restoration measures Ms. Comba and her UNEP colleagues are working on is the planting of trees on 15 hectares of land. The greenery includes acacia trees, which are ideal plants for providing cooling shade and preventing soil erosion on farmland – a necessity in a hot, dry climate like Djibouti’s.

Another key element of the project is the construction of boreholes and underground water reservoirs that allow subsistence farmers to water their crops in a sustainable way over time.

The replanting and protection of existing mangrove forests is also an important part of UNEP’s ecosystem-based approach to adaptation, particularly in the coastal regions of Djibouti. Mangroves are effective in protecting local communities from storms and in supporting alternative livelihoods, such as fishing and tourism.

Despite the disastrous consequences of climate change in Africa, there are reasons for optimism. UNEP is working with many countries on the continent to ensure that climate change adaptation is mainstreamed into national policies and plans. UNEP is also working with the European Union and the Africa LEDS project to support low-emission development (LEDS) across the continent to unlock socio-economic opportunities while meeting the climate goals of the Paris Agreement .

UNEP has also worked with environment ministers from 54 African countries to create the Africa Green Recovery Programme . This program supports a full green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, which has already cost the continent tens of billions of dollars in lost gross domestic product.

However, there is still a lot of work to be done to mitigate the worst effects of climate change that are yet to come, experts say. According to UNEP’s 2021 Gap between Adaptation Needs and Prospects Report , “Estimated adaptation costs in developing countries are five to ten times higher than current flows of public finance from adaptation. ‘adaptation.” The report also indicates that adaptation costs are expected to reach $280-500 billion per year by 2050 for developing countries.

The current drought in East Africa has sent aid agencies scrambling to avert another famine like the one that hit the same region in 2011 and claimed an estimated 260,000 lives.

If the April rainy season proves as disappointing as the last three, it will mark the longest drought to hit the region since the 1980s, which could lead to a famine of tragic proportions.

“Right now in the Horn of Africa, we are seeing vulnerable communities being disproportionately affected by climate change and being the least able to mitigate its effects,” said Susan Gardner, Director of UNEP’s Ecosystems Division. “To avert a major humanitarian crisis in East Africa, we must provide urgent humanitarian assistance to those in need, while thinking long-term by investing in ecosystem-based adaptation solutions that will save lives, build green economies and protect the environment.”

Source: UN Environment Program