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UN Chief Says Africa ‘Source Of Hope’ For The World

Published

4 years ago

February 6, 2022

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, says Africa is “a source of hope” for the world, highlighting the examples of the African Continental Free Trade Area and the decade of financial and economic inclusion for African women.

Guterres also said that in the last 20 years, the African Union (AU) “has helped to bring this hope to life, in order to enable the continent to realize its enormous potential.”

UN chief said this in his address to the 35th Assembly of the Heads of State and Government of the AU in Addis Ababa on Saturday via video message.

He was represented in the Ethiopian capital, by Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed.

According to Guterres, the collaboration between the UN and AU “is stronger than ever”, with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063, Africa’s blueprint for a peaceful, integrated and more prosperous continent, as the central pillars.

The secretary-general argued that “injustice is deeply embedded in global systems”, but it was the Africans who “are paying the heaviest price.”

He remembered that the vaccination rate in high-income countries was seven times higher than in Africa and stated that “a morally bankrupt global financial system has abandoned the countries of the South.

“The unethical inequalities that suffocates Africa, fuel armed conflict, political, economic, ethnic and social tensions, human rights abuses, violence against women, terrorism, military coups and a sentiment of impunity,” he said.

Because of that, Guterres said, tens of millions of people are displaced across the continent and the democratic institutions are in peril.

The secretary-general then offered the UN’s support to ignite “four engines of recovery.”

First, he said, everyone needed to get their vaccines.

In this regard, he highlighted the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Force (AVATT) and the benefits that greater vaccine production in South Africa and other African countries will generate.

“I urge you to create the conditions for the number of African countries capable of producing tests, vaccines and treatments to multiply, including by addressing intellectual property issues, and providing the technical and finance needed,” he said.

Second, Guterres said Member states needed to ignite the engine of economic recovery by reforming the global financial system.

“But the deck is stacked against Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa is facing cumulative economic growth per capita over the next five years that is 75 per cent less than the rest of the world,” he said.

He called for re-directing Special Drawing Rights – an IMF-created reserve currency asset – to countries that need support now, reform of the international debt architecture, and more concessional forms of finance.

Thirdly, the UN chief pointed to a green recovery across the continent.

The vast continent contributes just 3 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, but many of the worst impacts of climate change are being felt there.

“To address today’s tragic reality, we need a radical boost in funding for adaptation and mitigation on the continent,” the UN Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted Guterres as saying.

According to him, the Glasgow COP26 commitment to double adaptation finance, from 20 billion dollars, must be implemented, but it was not enough.

He called on wealthier countries to make good on the $100 billion dollars climate finance commitment to developing countries, starting this year, and hold to account private sector partners who have also made similar commitments.

He said “We are in emergency mode, and we need all hands on deck,” he said, pointing to the next UN Climate Conference (COP27), happening later this year in Egypt, as “an essential opportunity for Africa and our world.”

Lastly, the UN chief said peace across the continent could also work as an engine for recovery.

In multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural states across Africa, Guterres believes an organisation like the African Union “is about showing how people can co-exist – even flourish – by working together.”

According to him, this requires “inclusive and participatory structures” and so member states need to make them a reality through good governance.

Guterres added that young Africans specially need more connectivity to access information and benefit from faster communication, better education and jobs.

(NAN)

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Mexican President Pledges Tougher Sexual‑harassment Laws After Being Groped

Published

1 day ago

November 6, 2025

Editor

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Thursday unveiled proposals to boost reporting and prosecution of sexual abuse after she herself was groped in the street in an attack that caused outrage.

Mexico’s first woman president, 63, was assaulted on Tuesday by a drunken man while walking through the streets of the capital.

The assault made global headlines and focused attention on the dangers and harassment suffered by many women in the Latin American country.

Sheinbaum has pressed charges against her attacker for sexual harassment, a charge that in Mexico City covers lewd behaviour and groping.

She has also ordered a review of the widely diverging laws on sexual harassment and abuse across Mexico’s 32 states.

Sexual harassment in public spaces is so prevalent in Mexico that in the last decade, the authorities have created women-only spaces on the metro.

Other cities with similar arrangements include Mumbai and Rio.

“May what happened serve so that women do not feel alone in situations of harassment or abuse… and for this to happen, there must be institutions and a government that supports them,” Sheinbaum told her regular morning press conference.

The UN says around 70 per cent of Mexican girls and women aged 15 and over will experience at least one incident of sexual harassment in their lives.

Sheinbaum said that 45 per cent had experienced sexual “abuse.”

The man who assaulted her put one arm around her shoulder while she was greeting supporters, and with his other hand touched her hip and chest while attempting to kiss her neck.

A member of Sheinbaum’s security detail pulled him away.

Citlalli Hernandez, Secretary for Women, said more than 25,000 complaints of sexual harassment have been filed so far this year.

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US Lawmakers Urge Sanctions On Miyetti Allah, Others Over Alleged Religious Violations

Published

1 day ago

November 6, 2025

Editor

The United States House of Representatives has urged the Departments of State and Treasury to impose targeted sanctions on individuals and organisations, including Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria and Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, over alleged violations of religious freedom in Nigeria.

This was contained in a resolution introduced before the House on Tuesday and cited by The PUNCH from the US Congress website on Wednesday.

Recall that Trump, in a post on Truth over the weekend, declared Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” and threatened to take military action if the country did not stem the alleged killings of Christians.

Filed as H. Res. 860 in the 119th Congress, the resolution, submitted by Rep. Christopher Smith with Rep. Paul Huizenga as a co-sponsor, commends President Donald Trump for redesignating Nigeria as a CPC.

The sponsors decried the alleged worsening persecution of Christians and other religious minorities.

They cited a catalogue of findings and reports that informed the measure, including media accounts and NGO data alleging large-scale attacks on civilians, destruction of places of worship, and a pattern of impunity.

The resolution reads in parts, “For over a decade, Islamic terror organisations have carried out mass murder, rape, kidnappings, and other atrocities targeting mostly Nigerian Christians and non-Fulani moderate Muslim populations, resulting in mass displacement and destruction of places of worship

“Prominent Christian and Muslim leaders have been kidnapped or assassinated, including priests, pastors, and imams who advocate for religious tolerance;

“Religious leaders, such as Father Remigius Iyhula and Bishop Wilfred Anagbe, who testified on March 12, 2025, at a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee about the persecution and targeted killings of Christians in the Diocese of Makurdi, have faced intimidation, threats, and harassment from both extremist groups and government authorities.”

Supporters of the measure argued that the CPC redesignation would strengthen diplomatic leverage to press Nigeria for accountability and protection of religious minorities.

“The designation of Nigeria as a CPC will enhance diplomatic efforts to encourage the Nigerian government to take necessary actions to protect religious minorities and uphold fundamental human rights,” they said.

They therefore moved that “President Donald Trump acted appropriately and decisively to redesignate Nigeria as a CPC and hold the Nigerian government accountable for its complicity in religious persecution by radical Islamists, such as Boko Haram and Fulani terrorists.”

They further recommended conditioning US foreign assistance on demonstrable steps by Nigeria to prevent persecution, prosecute alleged perpetrators, and care for displaced populations.

“The State Department should provide immediate humanitarian assistance directly to faith-based groups to support internally displaced people in Nigeria’s middle belt states.

“The United States, through the Department of State and Department of Treasury, should impose targeted sanctions, including visa bans and asset freezes under the Global Magnitsky framework and other restrictive measures, on individuals and entities responsible for severe violations of religious freedom in Nigeria, including sanctions against Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) and Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, and should place Fulani-Ethnic Militias operating in Benue and Plateau States on the Entities of Particular Concern List under the International Religious Freedom Act,” the resolution read.

The resolution also asked the US to justify the purposes and amounts of recent security and development assistance to Nigeria and to tie future support to improved human-rights outcomes.

The resolution was referred to the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Judiciary Committee for further consideration.

If it advances out of committee, the resolution would mark a clear congressional signal backing Trump’s CPC decision and could open the door to further legislative or executive actions.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government had said the United States’ designation of Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” over alleged violations of religious freedom is based on a wrong perception of the country’s security challenges.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, stated this on Wednesday in Abuja while addressing journalists.

Idris said the US position stemmed from “misrepresentation and misinformation” about Nigeria’s internal security situation.

According to him, terrorism and violent crimes in Nigeria do not target any particular religious group.

“Nigeria faces long-standing security challenges that have impacted Christians and Muslims alike.

“Any narrative suggesting that the Nigerian state is failing to take action against religious attacks is based on misinformation or faulty data,” Idris said.

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Nancy Pelosi, First Female Speaker Of US House, Announces Retirement

Published

1 day ago

November 6, 2025

Editor

Nancy Pelosi, a towering figure in US politics and the first woman to serve as speaker of the House of Representatives, announced on Thursday that she will step down at the next election.

“I will not be seeking reelection to Congress,” said the 85-year-old Democrat who has been one of President Donald Trump’s fiercest opponents.

In a video targeted at her hometown constituents in San Francisco, Pelosi said that she would serve her final year “with a grateful heart.”

Pelosi — whose term ends in January 2027 — was the first woman to lead a major political party in the US Congress.

Despite entering political office later in life, she quickly rose through the ranks to become a darling of liberal West Coast politics and, eventually, one of the most powerful women in US history.

She is in her 19th term and has represented her San Francisco-area district for 38 years. But her fame centers especially on her renowned skills at the national level, leading her party for two decades.

As House speaker for eight years, she was second in line to the presidency, after the vice president, including during Trump’s chaotic first term.

She was revered for her ability to corral her often fractious caucus through difficult votes, including Barack Obama’s signature Affordable Care Act and Joe Biden’s infrastructure programs.

Republicans painted her as the driving force behind a liberal elite that had turned its back on American values and was undermining the social fabric.

Trump especially made her a target, repeatedly insulting her as “crazy Nancy.” Pelosi never shrank from direct confrontations with the Republican leader, including demonstratively ripping up a copy of his State of the Union speech on live television.

Rumors of her departure had been swirling for weeks on Capitol Hill, but she deflected questions over her political future, insisting that she was focused on a redistricting reform initiative in California that passed on Tuesday.

“I say to my colleagues in the House all the time, no matter what title they have bestowed upon me — speaker, leader, whip — there has been no greater honor for me than to stand on the House floor and say, I speak for the people of San Francisco,” Pelosi said.

“I have truly loved serving as your voice,” she said. “As we go forward, my message to the city I love is this: San Francisco, know your power.”