The Nation Newspaper

Tag: UN

  • African women entrepreneurs network to fight hurdles

    African women entrepreneurs network to fight hurdles

    The challenges affecting women entrepreneurs are many , however the women are determined to push on , no matter the hurdles. This  was part of the focus of the 217 edition of  the Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF) which took place in Cape Town , South Africa.

    Over 500 delegates, 60 speakers and 40 exhibitors took part.According to Irene Ochem, AWIEF Founder and Chief Executive Officer  it was “an awesome convocation of people for a specific purpose. And not just any people, and not an insignificant purpose.”

    The conference theme was:”Equity, impact and inclusive growth towards Agenda 2030 and a sustainable African future.” Stakeholders from the entire entrepreneurship ecosystem from government to business and investors gathered to find means of addressing roadblocks to the development of women-led businesses which are poised to affect Africa’s future. Among these hurdles were gender stereotypes and difficulties in gaining access to finance, education and training,and markets.

    entrepreneursExecutive Mayor de Lille pointed out that women make up more than 50% of Africa’s population. She said that in connecting and strengthening partnerships with stakeholders across Africa, women’s economic empowerment, organisation and business networks would accelerate the continent’s socio-economic progress.

    Vanessa Moungar, Director of gender, women and civil society at the African Development Bank, Côte d’Ivoire, emphasised theneed for governments to develop good regulatory frameworks that would create appropriate environments for women entrepreneurs. ZiziphoNyanga, CEO of Old Mutual’sMasisizane Fund added that women entrepreneurs should benefit from both social and financial returns, becoming credible mentors and role models who could inspire and motivate others.

    AWIEF’s flagship Growth Accelerator Programme was magnificently showcased as 10 South African women entrepreneurs who had previously participated in the programme pitched their businesses to the audience of business leaders, investors and governments. The Programme supports women-owned enterprises with business modelling and growth strategy needed to scale up, become investment ready and develop entrepreneurship leadership. It will be replicated across several African countries.

    The highlight of the highpoint of the event  was the recognition and celebration of outstanding female entrepreneurs in seven different categories during the inaugural AWIEF Awards.

    These were DeolaSagoe,  House of Deola (Nigeria): Global Brand Award; HyasinthaNtuyeko,  Kasole Secrets Company Ltd (Tanzania): Young Entrepreneur Award; Temie Giwa-Tubosun, Lifebank (Nigeria): Tech Entrepreneur Award; Sonia Paiva, Woman Farmer Foundation (Swaziland): Agri Entrepreneur Award; Sabetha Mwambenja, Covenant Bank for Women Tanzania Ltd (Tanzania): Empowerment Award; Ndidi Nwuneli, LEAP Africa (Nigera): Social Entrepreneur Award; Stella Okoli,  Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (Nigeria): Lifetime Achievement Award.

    Other participants included African women entrepreneurs from across the continent, ministers from numerous African governments, ambassadors and diplomats, stakeholders from several prestigious financial institutions, UN Women, multinational corporates, small start-ups and aspiring women entrepreneurs as well as many illustrious guests, such as Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and his wife, and the Executive Mayor of Cape Town, Patricia de Lille.

  • UN: 15,000 children die each day despite health progress

    UN: 15,000 children die each day despite health progress

    The number of children who die before their fifth birthday globally has more than halved since 1990, but the current death count of 15,000 children daily is far too high, the UN said on Thursday.

    “Despite this progress, large disparities in child survival still exist across regions and countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa,” Under-Secretary General, Liu Zhenmin, and top UN economic official, said.

    The UN said in a report that was published on Thursday that in countries south of the Sahara desert, one in 13 children die before they reach the age of five.

    In developed countries, the ratio is one in 189, according to the report that was drawn up by several agencies, including the World Health Organisation and the UN Children’s Fund.

    It said that preventable and treatable diseases like pneumonia and diarrhoea, as well as birth complications are the biggest killers of young children around the globe.

    The agency is especially worried about newborn mortality, as 7,000 babies who are less than a month old die each day.

    According to the report, the vast majority of these newborn deaths occur in South Asian or sub-Saharan countries, pointing at high number rates in India, Pakistan, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ethiopia.

    The UN agencies urge countries to improve health care for pregnant women, and to promote immunisation, breastfeeding and cheap medicines.

    “Access to clean water and sanitation facilities are also key to keeping small children safe from illness,’’ the UN said.

    NAN

  • Reps task FG on extreme poverty eradication

    Reps task FG on extreme poverty eradication

    The House of Representatives on Tuesday called for effective implementation of programmes aimed at tackling extreme poverty in the country.

    The call was sequel to a unanimous adoption of an Urgent Motion of National Importance move by Rep. Muhammed Wudil (Kano-APC) at plenary.

    Moving the motion earlier, Wudil said UN General Assembly passed a resolution which adopted Oct. 17 as International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

    He said the 25th anniversary of the resolution was a wake-up call for governments across the world to rise up to the challenges of providing basic necessities of life.

    “Efforts of the Federal Government to eradicate poverty in Nigeria through the 2017 budgetary provision for the Special Intervention Fund to cater for unemployed youths, women empowerment and job creation has not impacted positively on the country,’’ he said.

    According to him, UN report on Nigeria’s Common Country Analysis (CCA) published in 2016 described the country as one of the poorest.

    The lawmaker said the report showed that over 80 million Nigerians or 64 per cent of the country’s population lived below 1.9 dollars a day.

    In his contribution, Rep. Mohammed Monguno (Borno-APC) said the North-East was the least developed zone in the country and that poverty was endemic in the zone.

    He said the only way to eradicate poverty in the zone was by conscious investment in agriculture for job and wealth creation.

    Also, Rep. Hulayat Omidiran (Osun-APC) said the South-West was equally feeling the pains of hardship.

    Omidiran said that the poverty in the land was unusual as the people now begged for food without shame, a situation hitherto, was unheard off in the zone.

    She said lawmakers representing the zone were also feeling the pinch of extreme poverty in the area.

    She therefore urged the Executive to ensure that the various poverty alleviation programmes got to the right beneficiaries.

    Also speaking, Rep. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha (Abia-PDP) said that in dealing with poverty, there was need to address the basic issues of infrastructure.

    She said government must fix the roads, hospitals, schools and other social amenities needed to raise the standard of living.

    Onyejeocha said that in a situation where government could not increase salary, cost of schools and hospitals could be subsidised to address extreme poverty.

    She said the house must insist on 100 per cent budget implementation, adding that 30 per cent implementation was not acceptable.

    In his contribution, Rep. Wale Raji (Lagos-APC) said a situation where less than 10 per cent of the nation’s populations control over 90 per cent of national resources was unacceptable.

    He said there was need to take a critical look at the managers of the economy with a view to ensure optimum performance.

    Raji called for upward review of minimum wage as a means to address extreme poverty in the country.

    The house urged government to promote the establishment of small and medium enterprises and to ensure the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals ( SDGs ).

    NAN

  • South Sudan: Crisis man-made, leaders responsible – UN chief

    South Sudan: Crisis man-made, leaders responsible – UN chief

    The Head of UN Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix on Tuesday, called the South Sudan’s crisis man-made, and alleged that the leaders of the country were responsible.

    Lacroix, the Under-Secretary-General of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, told the Security Council amid worsening security and the dire humanitarian and human rights situation in the country.

    He called on the international community to demand that the South Sudan’s leadership act in a manner that is expected of them.

    “I would like to reiterate that the conflict in South Sudan is a man-made conflict for which the leaders of South Sudan bear a direct responsibility.

    “The same leaders responsible for the conflict can also bring the country back from the impending abyss,” Lacroix added.

    He underscored the need for genuine political will to halt military operations, peacefully negotiate and make the compromises necessary to achieve sustainable peace in the country.

    During the past month, South Sudan has seen rising insecurity because of numerous clashes in many parts of the country, as well as presence of armed groups and soldiers that continues to drive tension.

    He said the insecurity has also led to shrinking space for humanitarian action – which used to be very effective, reaching millions with assistance as well as restrictions on the movement of relief actors and the UN Mission in the country (UNMISS).

    The human rights situation too remained issue of concern, with alarming reports of extrajudicial killings of civilians, arbitrary arrests and detentions, repression of free speech and harassment of political opponents, he warned.

    In his briefing, Lacroix, said that “while dialogue remained key, the unwillingness, so far, of significant opposition groups to join, notably because of the concurrent Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) military operations, the credibility of the National Dialogue process remains in question”.

    He recalled a meeting between Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD, an eight-country trade bloc in Africa) Foreign Ministers with President Salva Kiir and his cabinet, held on Oct. 13, during which the IGAD group reportedly committed to support the Revitalisation Forum.

    The UN peacekeeping chief called on the members of the Security Council to use their “leverage on all parties and encourage them to engage in this process meaningfully and without any preconditions.”

    “The conflict in South Sudan is a direct outcome of a prolonged disproportionate access to power and wealth in the country.

    “All future dispensations, therefore, must rest on the principle of inclusivity that leads to equitable power and wealth-sharing,” he said.

    Lacroix added that it was critical that all processes and international support must strive to build institutions so that politics shifts from ownership by individuals to those institutions that must be accountable to the people of South Sudan.

    Also in his briefing, Lacroix updated the Security Council on the deployment of the Regional Protection Force to the country.

  • ‘Nigeria’s re-election to UN Rights Council puts it under self-scrutiny’

    ‘Nigeria’s re-election to UN Rights Council puts it under self-scrutiny’

    Nigeria’s re-election to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has placed the country under human rights’ self-scrutiny.

    Prof. Tijjani Bande, the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the UN told the Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in New York that with the election, Nigeria now has added responsibility to respect the rights of its citizens.

    Nigeria was on Monday re-elected by the UN General Assembly in New York to the UNHRC in Geneva alongside 14 other countries for the 2018 to 2020 term.

    NAN reports that Angola, Senegal, Slovakia, Ukraine, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Afghanistan, Nepal, Pakistan, Australia and Spain were also elected to the body, while Nigeria and Qatar won second terms.

    The UNHRC is the highest intergovernmental body in the UN system for matters relating to protection and promotion of human rights worldwide.

    Read: Nigeria seeks re-election into UN Human Rights Council

     Bande said: “the fundamental issue is that if we are on a Council that should advocate and defend rights of all human beings.

    “We must therefore always remember that we have an added responsibility in our own country to respect rights of citizens and it’s a commitment.

    “When you’re in that Council, you’re putting yourself forward for scrutiny and then that tells you that Nigeria is ready to scrutinise itself in regards to respect for human rights”.

    He said Nigeria’s re-election really underscored that around the world a lot of people and countries have seen that the country has something to offer on that Council.

    “Nigeria is a very important member of the global family and when it comes to rights, we have very robust documents from the Constitution to other documents that speak to our respect for rights.

    “Going beyond the shores of Nigeria, we have produced some of the finest minds relating to the defence of rights of citizens, of individuals and of human beings generally.

    “So it is important that we are on that Council to continue to develop not only the push for the protection of rights.

    “But where possible, if certain countries appear not to push in the same direction, we ask them to join all other countries in the world in respecting the rights of human beings”.

    Ghana and Nigeria are currently serving out their tenure for the 2015 to 2017 term while Ghana, which initially sought re-election, stepped down alongside Sierra Leone, for Nigeria to get on board for another term.

    Nigeria has illustriously served the global community on the UNHRC for three terms since the establishment of the Council in 2006.

    These are 2006 to 2009, 2009 to 2012 and currently, 2015 to 2017, and with the reelection, would remain on the Council till 2020.

    NAN reports that the Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the UN hosted a reception for envoys to launch Nigeria’s re-election bid on Friday in New York and solicit countries’ “firm support” for Nigeria’s re-election on the council.

    The 47-member council was created by the General Assembly in 2006 to strengthen the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe, address situations of human rights violations and make recommendations on them.

     

  • Pope implicitly criticises U.S. for leaving Paris climate accord

    Pope implicitly criticises U.S. for leaving Paris climate accord

    Pope Francis on Monday implicitly criticised the United States for pulling out of the Paris agreement on climate change, praising it as a means to control the devastating effects of global warming.

    The U.S. is the only country out of 195 signatories to have withdrawn from the accord, which aims to cut emissions blamed for the rise in temperatures.

    President Donald Trump announced the decision in June shortly after visiting the pope, a strong supporter of the deal.

    At the time a Vatican official said the move was a “slap in the face” for the pope and the Vatican.

    “We see consequences of climate change every day,” the pope said in an address to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation ( FAO ) at its headquarters in Rome.

    “Thanks to scientific knowledge, we know how we have to confront the problem and the international community has also worked out the legal methods, such as the Paris Accord, which sadly, some have abandoned,” he said.

    Under the deal, United States had committed to reducing its own emissions by 26 to 28 percent, compared with 2005 levels, by 2025.

    Many world leaders have criticised Trump for deciding to pull out.

    In his Spanish-language address to the UN agency, Francis denounced “negligence toward the delicate equilibrium of the ecosystems, the presumption of manipulating and controlling the limited resources of the planet, and the greed for profit.”

    Agriculture ministers and diplomats from the Group of Seven (G7) world power nations attended the gathering, which marked FAO’s World Food Day.

    “We can’t be satisfied by saying ‘someone else will do it,’” the Pontiff said.

    Ending local conflicts and curbing the effects of climate change were two of the “prerequisites” for dealing with world food security, Francis also said.

    “The yoke of poverty caused by the often tragic movement of migrants can be removed by prevention, consisting of development projects that create jobs and offer the capacity to respond to climactic and environmental changes,” he said.

    NAN

  • Youth obesity increases 10-fold in four decades – UN

    Youth obesity increases 10-fold in four decades – UN

    The number of obese children and adolescents aged five to 19 years worldwide has risen ten fold in the past four decades, a UN – backed study has revealed.

    The World Health Organisation ( WHO ) said in the study that if current trends continued, there would be more obese children and adolescents than those moderately or severely underweight by 2022.

    The study led by Imperial College London and WHO was published in The Lancet, to commemorate the World Obesity Day

    Ms Fiona Bull, Programme Coordinator for Surveillance and Population-based Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases at WHO, said obesity was a global health crisis.

    Bull said: “These data highlight, remind and reinforce that overweight and obesity is a global health crisis today, and threatens to worsen in coming years unless we start taking drastic action.

    “It looked at body mass index (BMI) from weight and height measurements of nearly 130 million people, including 31.5 million youth aged five to 19.

    “Obesity rates in the world’s children and adolescents increased from less than one per cent – equivalent to five million girls and six million boys – in 1975 to nearly six per cent, or 50 million girls, and nearly eight per cent, or 74 million boys, in 2016.”

    Combined, the number of obese five to 19 year olds rose more than tenfold globally, from 11 million in 1975 to 124 million in 2016 while an additional 213 million were overweight in 2016 but fell below the threshold for obesity.

    “These worrying trends reflect the impact of food marketing and policies across the globe, with healthy nutritious foods too expensive for poor families and communities,” said lead author Majid Ezzati, a professor at Imperial’s School of Public Health.

    Ezzati said that the trend predicts a generation of children and adolescents growing up obese and at greater risk of diseases, like diabetes.

    He stressed the need to make healthy, nutritious food more available at home and school, especially in poor families and communities, as well as the need for regulations and taxes to protect children from unhealthy foods.

    “If post-2000 trends continue, global levels of child and adolescent obesity will surpass those for moderately and severely underweight youth from the same age group by 2022.

    “In 2016, the global number of moderately or severely underweight girls and boys was 75 million and 117 million respectively,” the study found.

    In conjunction with the study, WHO is publishing a summary of the plan that gives countries clear guidance on effective actions to curb childhood and adolescent obesity.

    WHO has also released guidelines calling on frontline healthcare workers to actively identify and manage children who are overweight or obese.

    Bull said “countries should aim particularly to reduce consumption of cheap, ultra-processed, calorie dense, nutrient poor foods.

    “They should also reduce the time children spend on screen-based and sedentary leisure activities by promoting greater participation in physical activity through active recreation and sports,” he said.

    NAN

  • Abolish death penalty, UN chief tells world leaders

    Abolish death penalty, UN chief tells world leaders

    UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday called on all countries which have not forbidden the extreme practice of death penalty to urgently stop executions.

    Guterres said at an event at the UN Headquarters in New York that the death penalty had done  little to deter crimes.

    “The death penalty has no place in the 21st century,” Guterres underscored, speaking alongside Andrew Gilmour, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights.

    He welcomed that some 170 countries have either abolished death penalty and put a moratorium on its use, most recently, Gambia and Madagascar.

    Guterres added that executions in 2016 were down 37 per cent compared to that of 2015.

    The UN chief, however, added that at present just four countries accounted for 87 per cent of all recorded executions.

    He also expressed concern that the countries that continued executions were also failing to meet their international obligations, particular in relation to transparency and compliance with international human rights standards.

    “Some governments conceal executions and enforce an elaborate system of secrecy to hide who is on death row, and why.”

    Guterres said lack of transparency showed a lack of respect for the human rights of those sentenced to death and to their families as well as damaging administration of justice more.

    He urged nation-states that had abolished death penalty to lend their voices to the call on the leaders of those countries that retained it.

    According to him, this is to establish an official moratorium with a view to abolition as soon as possible.

    Also, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights ( OHCHR ) called on all countries to strengthen efforts to abolish death penalty.

    “We call on all states to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” Rupert Colville, a spokesperson for OHCHR, said.

    The Second Optional Protocols to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ( ICCPR ) now ratified by 85 states around the globe, requires its parties to abolish death penalty.

    ICCPR is the only universal international legal instrument that aims to end the practice.

    NAN

  • Price of rice to fall despite World food prices increase

    Price of rice to fall despite World food prices increase

    World food prices rose slightly in September from the month before, buoyed by higher valuations in the vegetable oil and dairy sectors, the UN agency said on Thursday.

    The price index released by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), which measures monthly changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, meat and sugar, averaged 178.4 points in September, up 0.8 percent from August.

    Prices on international markets were 4.3 percent higher than their values last September.

    FAO raised its forecast for global cereals output in the 2017-18 season to 2.612 billion tonnes, slightly above last year’s record harvest.

    The agency also raised its forecast for global wheat production to 750.1 million tonnes.

    NAN

  • 41m children under five are obese – WHO

    41m children under five are obese – WHO

    An estimated 41 million children under five worldwide are obese or overweight, the World Health Organisation ( WHO ) has said.

    The UN health agency experts on Wednesday issued the warning at the launch of new guidelines to tackle what they called a global epidemic.

    WHO said it was faced with evidence indicating that the problem affected rich and poor countries alike.

    The UN health agency released details on how trained professionals could better identify youngsters in need of help.

    The just-published obesity guidelines included counselling and dieting, an assessment of eating habits along with the more usual weight and height measurements.

    WHO said the prevalence of obesity in children reflected changing patterns towards unhealthy diets and physical inactivity.

    “Urbanisation, increased incomes, availability of fast foods, educational demands, television viewing and gaming have led to a rise in the consumption of foods high in fats, sugar and salt and lower levels of physical activity.

    “While there have been major public health interventions to promote improved diet and patterns of physical activity in adults, the contribution of antenatal and young-child interventions to reducing the risk of obesity in later life have not been significantly reviewed.”

    NAN