Central African Republic and in Niger held their presidential and parliamentary elections on 27 December 2020 to round up a challenging year where despite fears of disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic, most countries in Africa managed to stick to their scheduled elections. Elections of members of the House of People’s Representatives and of regional State Councils across Ethiopia was to be held in the new political environment ushered in by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s reforms. He won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for ending a two-decade conflict with neighboring Eritrea.
Africa’s Free Trade Area Opens For Business
The formal start of trading was given the official go-ahead at an extraordinary meeting in December 2020 where AU member states called on “women, youth, businesses, trade unions, civil society, cross border traders, the academia, the African Diaspora and other stakeholders to join them as governments in this historic endeavor of creating the “Africa We Want” in line with the Agenda 2063.
Gender-Based Violence: We Must Flatten The Curve Of This Shadow Pandemic
The 16 Days of Activism, which is powered by grassroots organizations globally, is an opportunity to leverage the renewed sense of urgency COVID-19 has created and propel concrete action against gender-based violence. In the lead up to the International Day commemoration, UN Women has appealed to Member States to make concrete, tangible commitments during the 16 Days of Activism.
Our Commitment: Giving Girls In East And Southern Africa A Voice And Securing Their Future
The East and Southern African Commitment has been an essential regional framework to ensure the two key Ministries coordinate their commitment to adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights more efficiently while including other line Ministries, such as social affairs, gender and youth, as well as young people and civil society organizations, to deliver comprehensive sexuality education in and out of schools.
COVID-19 And Education In Sub-Saharan Africa: 5 Actions For The Way Forward
According to data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has low learning proficiency and the highest rates of education exclusion, with more than 20% of children between 6 and 11, about 33% of those between 12 and 14 and 60% of youth 15 to 18 years old out of school (UIS 2019). The advent of Covid-19 has worsened the state of global education, but the hardest-hit regions will be those with less robust education systems such as sub-Saharan Africa. Robust systems are identified by their high literacy and numeracy rates, which can be used to predict the future human capital of the country.
Take Action: 10 Ways You Can Help End Violence Against Women, Even During A Pandemic
The pandemic of violence against women is not new. Even before COVID-19 hit us, globally, 243 million women and girls were abused by their intimate partners in the past year. The COVID-19 pandemic intensified the violence, even as support services faltered and accessing help became harder. This year the United Nations, together with our partners, are demanding four critical actions, summarized by our 2020 campaign theme: FUND, RESPOND, PREVENT, COLLECT.
The Ultimate Guide To Online Higher Education
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, learning was disrupted in major institutions of higher learning around the globe. This led to research and academic centres being forced to seek alternative learning solutions for about 80% of the world’s students. Many learning institutions of learning were closed, leaving learners and teachers with the alternative of going virtual. Most institutions of learning have since introduced online classes for ongoing modules.
The AU Must Learn From Zambia
If the Zambia debacle doesn’t force a change in African borrowing practices, the AU can dump Agenda 2063 and all its dreams of development and economic integration out the window. The people of Zambia are going to suffer deeply because of the Lungu government’s decisions. If African leaders do nothing to prevent similar tragedies, they are the enemy of the African people and they have to go.
The 2020 State Of The Union
The Dialogue draws inspiration from the climate change movement and brings more voices to the table. The Declaration is overly general but universally agreed (what else was universally agreed in 2020?). It packages the 17 SDGs and more into 12 priorities and draws on existing tools like the Paris Agreement and Agenda 2030 even as COVID-19 rages. It offers civil society a document around which to coalesce, to demand action from governments individually and collectively, just as eyes turn to the recommendations requested of Secretary-General Guterres by next fall.
UN75: Engaging Youth To Shape Our Future
UN75 is an opportunity to re-engage the global community, from the world leaders giving addresses at the General Assembly, to the billions of citizens watching those speeches from home. We cannot expect anyone else to solve our problems. Everyone has a role to play, a way to contribute, and a valued voice to add to the conversation. That’s the beauty of the UN75 initiative. I believe strongly in that message, having spent the better part of the last decade empowering Israeli and Palestinian youth to tackle regional and global challenges via Model United Nations (MUN).