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HOMEF Partners US-based NGO, Announces 2023 ORA-A Fellowship

Published

3 years ago

December 13, 2022

HOMEF Partners US-based NGO, Announces 2023 ORA-A Fellowship

Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) in collaboration with Commonweal, a US-based NGO with 45 years of engagement and accomplishment in diverse fields announces a call for nominations and applications from visionaries, involved in movements or struggles from the African Region into its 2023 Omega Resilience Awards Fellowship programme. This fellowship seeks communicators, artists, and public intellectuals from

diverse fields who are based in Africa to engage in laying bare the
connections between seemingly disparate phenomena – climate, water, health, and migration, taken together often referred to as the polycrisis – and how they interact within the larger system.

The Omega Resilience Awards – Africa (ORA-A), focuses primarily on identifying young visionaries begins today. The fellowship is open to Africans who are under the age of 40 years and are preferably involved in social movements and have their origins in the communities of
struggles.

This award understands that nature should be the focus for solving the
polycrisis and to charting pathways toward a more resilient future.

According to Jay Naidoo, a one time minister in President Mandela’s government who is a member of the advisory board of ORA-A, the fellowship will help unravel the meaning of life and the meaning of service in the midst of the complexities.

“The journey of life is a celebration of joy in service and gratitude to Mother Earth,” he said.

Dr. Firoze Manji, Publisher, Daraja Press and member of the advisory board, speaking on the fellowship stated that “We are faced today with the multiple crises created by destructive capitalism that threatens not only the planet’s survival but also encourage the degeneration of human
social relations into the realms of hate and terror. What is required
today are propositional politics that create today the elements of the
world we want to live in tomorrow, a world based on love, hope and
creativity. The Omega Resilience Awards -Africa is critical for
supporting such developments amongst militants connected with movements of the oppressed and exploited.”

Also commenting, Nnimmo Bassey, Director of HOMEF, and member of the advisory board noted, “Conceptual climate change discourses in Africa
have been largely restricted to academic and social movements circles. The impact of climate change is a living reality for communities across
the continent where hazards and vulnerabilities often if collide to
produce disasters.”

He added that this is a critical reason why we need practicing visionaries in various fields to bring up clear interpretations of the polycrisis from a uniquely African perspective.

“We are excited at the launch of the ORA-Africa program,” said Mark
Valentine, Chief Strategy Officer for ORA.

“It is our belief that we’re
headed into a profound reckoning where society will be forced to
reorganize itself in response to the social and environmental pressures
of the polycrisis. For the ORA Fellows program, we are looking for
people drawn from diverse walks of life who understand that the old
approach to solving problems in silos is no longer viable and that
instead we need to apply a systems thinking lens but not through a way
that paralyzes people with complexities. We need people who can translate complexity into actionable steps that help communities slow and eventually reverse the damage being done by the polycrisis. We’re excited at the prospect of a new cohort of fellows from Africa working in concert with other cohorts being formed in Latin America and India who collectively will illuminate new pathways towards resilience.”

Applicants are expected to show a history of experience in activism,
innovative thinking and should also illustrate how active they are as
change-makers in their communities. In addition they should be ready to participate in regular seminars/webinars throughout the program. The ORA Africa fellowships will be awarded yearly with each fellow receiving a grant of $10,000.00 (Ten Thousand US Dollars only) in support of their
work.

HOMEF announces that interested applicants are to complete and submit an
online application form accessible at the organisation’s website,
www.homef.org

For any clarifications, please feel free to contact
OduduAbasi Asuquo – ORA-A@homef.org
Ogechi Cookey – ogechi@homef.org

Headline

UK Police Arrest Asylum Seeker Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed

Published

20 hours ago

October 26, 2025

Editor

The UK police on Sunday arrested an Ethiopian asylum seeker and convicted sex offender, whose crimes had sparked anti-immigration protests, after he was accidentally released from prison in an embarrassing blunder by British authorities.

London’s Metropolitan Police said officers arrested Hadush Kebatu in the north of the capital on Sunday morning, nearly 48 hours after he was mistakenly freed around 30 miles (48 kilometres) away.

Kebatu, 38, had served the first month of a one-year sentence for sexually assaulting a teenage girl and a woman, but was reportedly due to be deported when the Prison Service error occurred on Friday.

His high-profile case earlier this year in Epping, northeast of London, sparked demonstrations in various English towns and cities where asylum seekers were believed to be housed, as well as counter-protests.

Commander James Conway, who oversaw the manhunt for him, said “information from the public” led officers to the Finsbury Park neighbourhood of London, where he was found.

“He was detained by police but will be returned to the custody of the Prison Service,” he added.

Kebatu is now expected to be deported.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Friday he was “appalled” by the “totally unacceptable” mistake that saw him freed rather than sent to an immigration detention centre.

The Telegraph newspaper said he was wrongly categorised for release on licence and handed a £76 ($101) discharge grant.

Police had appealed Saturday for Kebatu to turn himself in, after reports emerged that he had appeared confused and reluctant to leave the prison in Chelmsford, eastern England.

A delivery driver described seeing Kebatu return several times in a “very confused” state, only to be turned away by staff and directed to the railway station.

The driver told Sky News he saw Kebatu outside the jail, asking, “Where am I going? What am I doing?”

“He was starting to get upset, he was getting stressed,” the driver said.

The father of Kebatu’s anonymous teenage victim told the broadcaster that “the justice system has let us down.”

Police arrested the asylum seeker in July after he repeatedly tried to kiss a 14-year-old girl and touch her legs, and made sexually explicit comments to her.

He also sexually assaulted an adult woman, placing a hand on her thigh, when she intervened to stop his interactions with the girl.

He was staying at the time at Epping’s Bell Hotel, where scores of other asylum seekers have been accommodated, and which became the target of repeated protests.

AFP

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Madagascar Revokes Ousted President’s Nationality

Published

21 hours ago

October 26, 2025

Editor

Madagascar’s new government has stripped ousted president Andry Rajoelina of his Malagasy nationality in a decree published Friday, 10 days after he was removed in a military takeover.

According to AFP, the decree means that Rajoelina, who was impeached on October 14 after fleeing the island nation in the wake of weeks of protests, would not be able to contest future election.

The decree published in the official gazette said Rajoelina’s Malagasy nationality was revoked because he had acquired French nationality in 2014, local media reported, as photographs of the document were shared online.

French broadcaster RFI said it had confirmed the decree with the entourage of the new prime minister, Herintsalama Rajaonarivelo, who signed the order.

The decree cited laws stipulating that a Malagasy who voluntarily acquires a foreign nationality loses their Malagasy nationality.

Rajoelina’s French nationality caused a scandal when it was revealed ahead of the November 2023 elections, nearly 10 years after it was granted.

It triggered calls for him to be disqualified but he went on to win the contested polls, which were boycotted by opposition parties.

The 51-year-old politician fled Madagascar after army Colonel Michael Randrianirina said on October 11 his CAPSAT unit would refuse orders to put down the youth-led protest movement, which security forces had attempted to suppress with violence.

Rajoelina said later he was in hiding for his safety, but did not say where.

Randrianirina was sworn in as president on October 14, pledging elections within two years.

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Kamala Harris Hints At Running For President Again

Published

21 hours ago

October 26, 2025

Editor

Former US vice president Kamala Harris said in a British television interview previewed in Saturday that she may “possibly” run again to be president.

Harris, who replaced Joe Biden as the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate but lost to Donald Trump, told the BBC that she had not yet decided whether to make another White House bid.

But the 61-year-old insisted she was “not done” in American politics and that her young grandnieces would see a female president in the Oval Office “in their lifetime, for sure”.

“I have lived my entire career a life of service, and it’s in my bones, and there are many ways to serve.

“I’ve not decided yet what I will do in the future, beyond what I am doing right now,” Harris told the British broadcaster in an interview set to air in full on Sunday.

The comments are the strongest hint yet that Harris could attempt to be the Democratic Party nominee for the 2028 election.

The interview follows the release of her memoir last month, in which she argued it had been “recklessness” to let Biden run for a second term as president.

She also accused his White House team of failing to support her while she was his deputy, and at times of actively hindering her.

AFP