The non-profit environmental media advocacy organization, the Environment Report, has urged the Ada East District Assembly in the Greater Accra Region to rescind the eviction notice issued to salt farmers in the area.
The notice, issued on December 14, 2023, mandates all salt miners to vacate their lands by December 31, 2023, to allow Electrochem GH to commence full operations on January 3, 2024.
The Environment Report contends that this eviction contradicts the ongoing parliamentary and CHRAJ probe, investigating widespread human rights abuses, threats of violence, and fatalities linked to the government’s allocation of salt mining rights to Electrochem Ghana.
The organization emphasizes the centuries-long harmony of Ada’s indigenes with the land, practicing sustainable salt production that is integral to their livelihoods and cultural identity.
The statement stresses the need for the local assembly to withdraw the eviction notice, allowing Parliament to conclude its investigations before any action is taken.
Additionally, the organization calls upon Parliament and the Local Government Authority to advocate for the operationalization of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
This, they argue, would ensure that laws and policies governing business enterprises facilitate respect for human rights rather than constraining them.
More than 136,000 people are stuck in the old city of Timbuktu in Mali, including about 74,000 children, according to Save the Children.
The NGO said on Monday that people trapped in the city are running out of food and medicine because armed groups are not letting these essential items in.
The NGO said that because the official aid routes are blocked, there are fewer supplies and they are worried that they may have to stop helping people in the city if the crisis isn’t solved soon.
The NGO also mentioned that they have heard about children getting hurt or killed by bombs, and some are also joining armed groups.
Timbuktu is a very important place that is protected by Unesco. It has been attacked by a group of people who are linked to al-Qaeda since August.
The jihadists stopped trucks from other areas from going into Timbuktu. This has led to not enough food, fuel, and other things in the city, and the prices are very high.
Terrorist attacks in the city have made over 33,000 people run away, the UN says.
An NGO has issued a concerning warning regarding the escalating cases of severe malnutrition among children under the age of five in northeastern Nigeria.
According to FHI 360, an alarming total of 15,781 malnourished children required treatment at its facilities between February and September.
This figure represents a staggering increase of almost 160% compared to the previous year.
“The situation in north-east Nigeria is grave, and increased support is needed to address the critical health and nutritional needs of communities, especially women and children,” the organisation added.
Unicef, the United Nations children’s organization, has previously reported that Nigeria holds the unfortunate distinction of having the second-highest global rate of child stunting. This condition, often caused by extensive malnutrition, is particularly prevalent in the northern region of the country.
Unicef’s estimates indicate that approximately two million children in Nigeria are affected by malnutrition. However, only a mere 20% of these children receive the necessary treatment.
Furthermore, according to Unicef data, malnutrition plays a significant role in contributing to 45% of child deaths in Nigeria among those aged under five years.
A non-governmental organization (NGO), Amnesty International Ghana, has urged Members of Parliament (MPs) to support the abolishment of the death penalty in Ghana through the Criminal and Other Offences Amendment Bill and the Armed Forces Amendment Bill.
The organization emphasizes that the death penalty violates human rights, including the right to life and protection from torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. The call was made in a statement issued in Accra on Tuesday.
“These rights are protected under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights among others,” it added.
Since its establishment in 1985, Amnesty International Ghana has been actively campaigning for the abolition of the death penalty in the country.
The NGO’s long-standing commitment to human rights and its efforts to end capital punishment are reflected in its call to MPs to back this significant legislative change.
“Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception, regardless of who is accused, the nature or circumstances of the crime, guilt or innocence or method of execution,” it added.
A non-governmental organization (NGO), Child Rights International has stressed the necessity for the government to take a multidisciplinary approach to the problem of street children begging.
The organization believes the government ought to consider several factors including control mechanisms, social welfare, and protecting the rights of children in dealing with the menace.
The call comes on the back of the advice by the Ministry of Gender and Social Protection to the public to desist from giving cash to child beggars.
The Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Lariba Zuweira Abudu at a press conference appealed to the public, especially residents of cities to restrain from giving cash to children engaging in begging, sometimes under dangerous circumstances on the streets.
“We have done a lot to take them from the streets, but somehow they find themselves back, we even repatriated 400 of them and engaged the embassies here, but they find ways to come back, so we have to stop giving money to minors on the streets because as adults I don’t see why we should be giving monies to six-year-olds on the streets,” Ms. Abudu said.
She said the government did not have the resources to repatriate the child beggars presently on the streets but would encourage the public to shun them and desist from giving them cash to help force them out of the streets.
“If you don’t give them today and I don’t give them tomorrow, next week they will be forced to leave the streets and move away,” the minister added.
But in an interview with Citi News, the Executive Director for Child Rights International, Bright Appiah added that there must be a policy to make begging on the streets uncomfortable.
“There are other factors that are more dominant than even the resources that people give. If we are able to do that then it will add to the call that this government has made in respect to people not giving monies to beggars on the street.
“The major issue that we have to deal with has to do with making the environment uncomfortable for people to think that they can be on the street to beg.”
Rights activists has charged the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) on Tuesday April 5 2023 with exposing the phone numbers of voters who they claimed had received “intimidation” texts from the ruling party ahead of the country’s presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for August.
According to local NGO Team Pachedu, voters, some of them newly registered, have received personalized text messages in Shona (the local language), including the name of the constituency to which they belong and signed with the name of President Emmerson Mnagwa, who is running for re-election.
“This information only appears on the new electoral lists and only the ZEC (electoral commission) is supposed to have access to it,” stressed the organization contacted by AFP.
In addition, “the people who receive the messages are new registrants” as well as opposition supporters “who have never provided their details” to the ruling Zanu-PF, added Team Pachedu.
The organization has declared its intention to sue.
Asked by AFP, the electoral commission denied having provided any contact details.
“We have not given anything to anyone,” said its vice president, Rodney Simukai Kiwa. “We are shocked to hear that,” he added.
When contacted by AFP, Zanu-PF did not respond.
According to Team Pachedu, the “intimidation tactic” of sending text messages on private numbers had already been used during the last elections in 2018.
The organization had denounced irregularities in the division of electoral districts last month.
President Mnangagwa is regularly accused of muzzling the opposition. But unable to revive an economy that has been in crisis for two decades, he is facing growing discontent.
At Min Aung Hlaing’s request, Myanmar’s already two-year-old state of emergency was extended by another six months on Wednesday, according to state media.
It happened at the same time as the US and its allies announced new sanctions against the military regime.
On the second anniversary of the coup that overthrew the nation’s civilian government and resulted in Aung San Suu Kyi’s arrest, the National Defense and Security Council approved the extension.
The “state of emergency will be extended for another six months starting from February 1,” acting President Myint Swe was quoted as saying. “Sovereign power of the state has been transferred to commander in chief again,” he added.
State media also reported Min Aung Hlaing as saying on Wednesday that “Our government will work to hold elections in every part of the country so as the people will not lose their democratic right.”
The UN has warned that the promised elections will likely not be free and fair.
Junta slammed with new round of sanctions
Washington, along with Canada and the United Kingdom and Australia on Tuesday imposed sanctions on the Union Election Commission, mining enterprises, energy officials and others, as per a statement by the US Treasury Department.
The statement said this was the first time the US had targeted Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) officials, the managing director and deputy managing director. It is the country’s single largest revenue-generating state-owned enterprise.
Mining Enterprise No 1 and Mining Enterprise No 2, both state-owned companies, as well as the Union Election Commission, were also hit with sanctions by Washington.
Canada targeted six individuals and prohibited the export, sale, supply or shipment of aviation fuel. Australia targeted members of the junta and a military-run company.
The UK designated two companies and two people for helping supply Myanmar’s air force with aviation fuel used to carry out bombing campaigns.
The sanctions come as Myanmar’s military has conducted aerial bombings and other attacks against pro-democracy forces.
UN warns planned elections likely a ‘sham’
On the same day, the independent UN special investigator on Myanmar warned that the military junta plans to seek legitimacy by orchestrating a “sham” election this year.
“You cannot have a free and fair election when the opposition is arrested, detained, tortured, and executed, journalists are prohibited from doing their job, and it is a crime to criticize the military,” Tom Andrews said at the UN.
Myanmar’s junta last month outlined plans to hold an election later in the year.
To do that, it is supposed to lift the nationwide state of emergency six months beforehand. Observers had widely expected the military to announce it was preparing for the polls this week, with the state of emergency set to expire on Wednesday’s anniversary.
But on Tuesday, the junta-stacked National Security and Defense Council said the state of the country “has not returned to normalcy yet.”
The statement accused opposition political groups of trying to seize “state power by means of unrest and violence.”
Membership rules set high bar to qualify
The junta had recently introduced new rules for parties contesting elections, which include a huge increase in their membership, a move that could sideline the military’s opponents.
The rules favor the Union Solidarity and Development Party, which was defeated by now-jailed leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party in the 2015 and 2020 elections. The party includes several former military generals.
The NLD and western nations have denounced the election and said they would not acknowledge the results.
John Sifton, Asia advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, told Reuters that the US has still not matched stronger sanctions imposed by the European Union.
“As a result, the measures taken so far have not imposed enough economic pain on the junta to compel it to change its conduct,” he said.
Myanmar’s top generals led a coup in February 2021. The country has since seen instability, with a crackdown on dissent.
According to the independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a watchdog group that tracks killings and arrests in Myanmar, 2,940 civilians have been killed and 17,572 have been arrested by authorities since the army takeover.
NGO reports junta targeted religious sites
The London-based Myanmar Witness released a report on Wednesday saying troops of Myanmar’s military junta occupied a Catholic Church in Moe Bye and fired shells at civilians seeking refuge at the Mwe Daw Pagoda.
“Single events such as this help us to understand the bigger picture of daily life in Myanmar,” Dan Anlezark, Deputy Head of Investigations at Myanmar Witness, told DW.
Myanmar Witness reviewed videos and images captured during a flare-up of fighting in September last year, showing the Mary Mother of God Catholic Church seem to “have been the epicenter of the fighting.”
The destruction in the town reached a climax on September 16, when the Mwedaw Pagoda, which was providing shelter to people fleeing the fighting, was hit by artillery.
Footage collected by Myanmar Witness showed the impact sights and large blood puddles, footwear, and clothing in the pagoda courtyard.
“Two years after the military coup that overthrew democracy in villages and towns around the country, Myanmar Witness is regularly observing and investigating evidence of incidents and abuses of the type documented in this report,” he added.
Non-governmental organisation, Network Against Corruption and Trafficking (NACAT), has sued the Department of State Services (DSS) and its director general over the ‘infringement of fundamental human rights of the NGO and its staff members’.
An originating motion marked FHC/ABJ/CS/85/2023 at the Federal High Court in the Abuja Judicial Division has the DSS (also known as State Security Service) and its director general as respondents while the Incorporated Trustees of Network Against Corruption and Trafficking Foundation, Oghenedoro Tega Samson and Ojefia Ovie Justice are applicants in the infringement of the fundamental human rights case.
The court documents filed by Oghenovo Otemu Esq of the Oghenovo Otemu Chambers, Abuja, counsel for the applicants sought among other reliefs “a declaration that the repeated and constant harassment, intimidation and threat to arrest and indefinitely detain the applicants by officers and men of the respondents is illegal, unconstitutional, null and avoid as it is likely to violate the applicants’ fundamental human rights as enshrined under the section 34, 35, 36 and 41 of the 1999 constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria.
“An order of perpetual injunction restraining the respondents, their agents, officers, servants, privies, or howsoever called from arresting, detaining, intimidating and harassing the applicants on any fact connected with or related to the facts in this application. Such further order or other orders as this honourable court may deem fit to make in the circumstances of the case.”
Meanwhile, a press statement issued by the management of NACAT titled “SSS Is Conniving With Corrupt Civil Servants That Diverted Over N5 Trillion Against Our NGO Investigating Them”, obtained by SaharaReporters, alleged that the secret police were being used by corrupt civil servants to intimidate, harass, threaten and infringe of the rights of the organisation and its workers.
The NGO stated that the DSS was being used to wage war against its investigation team and noted that as an NGO, it has been at the forefront of investigating corrupt civil servants using companies owned by them to award inflated contracts to themselves. It said it was however shocked to discover that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) command of the DSS instead of supporting its efforts as an NGO, has become a willing tool in the hands of corrupt officials.
Narrating their ordeal in the hands of the officials of DSS, the NGO said, “On 13th January 2023, NACAT Director of Legal and Operations, Barrister Justice Ojefia was invited via call by the FCT command of the SSS. As a law-abiding, he honoured the invitation in less than one hour. While at the command, one of the officials, Mr. Etuk told him that our NGO is among those being profiled, to be sure that we do not use it to fund terrorism. After filling all the necessary forms and taking fingerprints, including photocopies, all our NGO documents and his call to bar certificate, he left them, only to be told to come with his international passport which he went with on 23rd January 2023.
“After making photocopies of it, the officer opened up to him that the National Security Adviser (NSA) wrote to them to investigate NACAT for writing letters to public office holders under the Freedom of Information Act, requesting for copies of their Code of Conduct Bureau Assets Declaration forms.
“Our legal director told them clearly that it is within our rights and mandate as an NGO to write such letters to anyone paid by the taxpayers, and that includes the SSS, which they affirmed. They requested that we furnish them all the letters we have written to public servants, EFCC, ICPC and CCB, an action our NGO director of legal vehemently kicked against.”
Mali’s militaryadministration has announced a ban on the operations of NGOs sponsored or supported by France, including humanitarian organisations, amid an escalating dispute between Bamako and Paris.
In a social media post on Monday, the country’s interim prime minister, Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, justified the action as a reaction to France’s recent suspension of development aid to Mali.
Three months after concluding its withdrawal of forces from the nation, the French Foreign Ministry announced last week that it had made the decision in response to Bamako’s suspected employment of paramilitaries from the Russian Wagner group. Mali denies this, acknowledging only the support of Russian military “instructors”.
Maiga spoke in his statement of “fanciful allegations” and “subterfuge intended to deceive and manipulate national and international public opinion for the purpose of destabilising and isolating Mali”.
“As a result, the transitional government has decided to ban, with immediate effect, all activities carried out by NGOs operating in Mali with funding or material or technical support from France, including in the humanitarian field,” it said.
Last week a Foreign Ministry source said France would maintain its humanitarian aid as well as financing for “civil society organisations” in Mali.
The Necessary Aid Alliance, a Non-governmental Organisation (NGO), has observed that there are myriad of challenges militating against the performances of children with special needs in mainstream schools.
Some of the challenges identified, included inadequate teaching and learning materials such as braille and optical devices, inadequately trained teachers with competencies to handle special needs students, mobility challenges as a result of uneven grounds, and general lack of access to mainstream schools.
Mr Mulumba Ngmenlabagna Songsore, Executive Director for the Alliance, made the observation at an event in Wa to deliberate on the challenges of students with special needs in mainstream schools and the way forward.
It was organised by the Alliance in conjunction with Plan International under the “Youth Challenge Fundâ€.
Mr Songsore emphasised the urgent need for government to pay more attention to ensure that the state of inclusive education in Ghana was improved, which would help the education of children with special needs.
“Necessary Aid Alliance is using this medium to amplify the challenges students with special needs face in mainstream schools, some of the conditions identified are so appalling and very unfair to people who need our utmost support,†he said.
He said the commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal on universal education and the provisions in UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Salamanca Accord and the 1992 Constitution of Ghana could not be realised “if children with disabilities or special needs are continually denied and also not motivated to participate in mainstream education system.
“Inclusive Education is an integral part of the many variables that drive the development of every country hence considered as very important to the realization of the status of a developed world,†he said.
Mr Michael Tofaatey, a teacher in charge of special needs education at the Wa Senior High School (SHS), noted that it was worrying that at some communities, children with special needs education were not in school.
He identified lack of embosser machines and recorders as some of the challenges confronting the visually impaired students at the school.
“If you move to some of the communities, we have children with special needs, how do we bring some of these children on-board, it is a big challenge. …some parents will even tell you that there is no need sending such a person to school. It is a very bad attitude,†he said.
He appealed to parents, guardians and the general public to help such children in their homes and societies to also be educated.
Necessary Aid Alliance also distributed over 200 educational souvenirs to students with disabilities in the Region.
Students with special needs from the Wa SHS and some basic schools in the Wa Municipality and queen mothers attended the event.
Women in Ghana have lauded the governments for its promise to scrap the 20% luxury tax on imported sanitary products in the country.
Bridge for Equity, a non-governmental organization has called on the government to factor in a local sanitary manufacturing company in the One District One Factory policy to help cut down the cost of sanitary products.
For years, various organizations and bodies have been calling on the government to remove the tax on sanitary products to make it affordable for all, especially young girls in deprived communities.
Reports indicate that most girls in rural Ghana are prevented from going to school during their monthly menstrual cycle as a result of not being able to purchase sanitary pads.
But, speaking on Saturday, August 22, 2020, at the launch of the New Patriotic Partys (NPP) manifesto at Cape Coast, Vice president, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia assured Ghanaians that they will scrap the tax on imported sanitary products in their next administration.
He indicated that “We (NPP government) will eliminate import duties on sanitary pads to improve health conditions, particularly for girls. It is very important. What we intend doing is to make sure we produce sanitary pads in Ghana until that happens in their numbers, we are going to eliminate import duties to bring down their cost.â€
Speaking on the back of locally produced sanitary pad, the founder of ‘Bridge for Equity’, Lilipearl Baaba Otoo, in an interview with GhanaWeb, advocated that the country goes into the production of reusable sanitary pad which “can last for 4 yearsâ€, this she believes will drastically cut down on the prices of the product and also save the environment.
She stated that “the government can introduce the reusable sanitary pads…we are trying to fit this agenda into governments policies especially the 1 District One Factory, it is possible. We are trying to eradicate plastic; we consider that a reusable one will be more sustainable and efficient…they are healthier,” she added.
“Mondelez International Cocoa Life” a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), has presented Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) worth GHC45,000.00 to the Bia West Health Directorate to support in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic in the area.
The items include, 41 Veronica buckets, 34 basins, 41 waste buckets, 70 gallons of liquid soap, 50 pieces of hand sanitizers, 60 boxes of re-usable nose masks, 41 pieces of megaphones and four infrared gun thermometers.
Mr Adama Isaiah, President of the Organization, presenting the items, said the government alone cannot win the fight against the deadly pandemic hence the donation by the organization to support in the fight against the pandemic.
He said the organization owned it a responsibility to save Cocoa farmers since they played a major role in the socio-economic development of the country and the only way to take care of their welfare in these trying times was to ensure they were free from COVID-19.
He called on individuals and other corporate institutions to support government’s efforts in the fight against the pandemic.
Mr Alex Cudjoe Mensah, Deputy District Coordinating Director for Bia West District Assembly, who received the items on behalf of the District Assembly, thanked the organization for the donation, stating it would go a long way to support the District in its fight against COVID 19 pandemic.
He entreated the Heath Directorate to distribute the items to areas that would most need them, so that the purpose for the donation would be achieved.
Mr Mensah encouraged Ghanaians to continue to adhere to all the accepted protocols including, frequent use of hand sanitizers, wearing of nose masks, regular washing of hands with soap under running water, observing social and physical distancing and avoiding over crowded places in order to manage the spread of COVID-19.
Mr Michael Azumah, Bia West District COVID-19 Surveillance Officer who represented the District Health Director, commended the organization for the kind gesture.
He gave the assurance that the Health Directorate would distribute the items to all health institutions, public and private institutions, lorry stations, markets and communities so as to help win the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.
He advised the residents especially farmers to strictly observe all the accepted protocols when working on their farms.
