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Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi visited Mangrove forests: G20 Summit Bali

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Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi visited Mangrove forests: G20 Summit Bali

PM Modi was joined by other world leaders, including U.S. President Biden and French President Macron, EU President Ursula von der Leyen. 

Diplomat Times (Bali) -Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi along with other G-20 Leaders visited and planted Mangroves at the ‘Taman Hutan Raya Ngurah Rai’ Mangrove forests.

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi along with other G-20 Leaders visited and planted Mangroves at the ‘Taman Hutan Raya Ngurah Rai’ Mangrove forests on the sidelines of G-20 Summit in Bali today.

Mangroves play an important role in global conservation efforts. India has joined the Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC), a joint initiative of Indonesia and UAE under the Indonesian G-20 Presidency.

More than 50 mangrove species can be found spread over 5000 sq km in India. India is placing emphasis on the protection and restoration of mangroves, which are rich sites of biodiversity and serve as effective carbon sinks.

What is Mangrove ? 

Indonesia harbors the largest area and diversity of mangrove ecosystems in the world. Mangroves support coastal livelihoods through fisheries (fish, crab, and other seafood), protect the country’s coasts from disasters, and store 3.14 billion tons of CO2, playing a significant role in mitigating global climate change. Recent World Bank research found Indonesia’s mangroves are worth approximately US$15,000 per hectare on average, with some locations – particularly those near developed coastal areas — worth about $50,000, due to their role in flood protection.
A recent study suggested that in this past ten years, mangrove conversion contributed to almost 200 million tons of CO2 going into the atmosphere, equivalent to the electricity use in over 35 million homes for one year.

Where and how to reach :

The mangrove forest is located 6 kms away from Sanur in Kuta direction. You can reach there by taxi or car from Ngurah Rai Airport.

https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/1592732134795808769/photo/3

 

“PM @narendramodi and other G20 leaders visited a mangrove forest in Bali, giving a strong message of coming together to tackle climate change and boost sustainable development. India has also joined the Mangrove Alliance for Climate,” the Prime Minister’s Office tweeted.

 

Bahrain poll held without opposition

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Bahrain poll held without opposition
Bahrain poll held without opposition

Reuters (Dubai) – Six candidates including one woman won seats in a first phase of Bahrain’s parliamentary election, while others will compete for the remaining 34 seats in the main event next week, authorities announced on Sunday.

Bahraini voters cast their ballots in polling stations across the small Gulf kingdom on Saturday, but in the absence of two major opposition groups that were dissolved years ago.

Justice Minister Nawaf bin Mohammed Al-Maawda told reporters late Saturday that turnout was 73 percent in the poll, contested by a record number of candidates.

This was “the highest participation rate since 2002,” he said, and “no violations were recorded.”

More than 330 candidates, including a record 73 women, are competing to join the 40-seat council of representatives — the lower house of parliament that advises King Hamad, who has ruled since his father died in March 1999.

This is up from the 293 people — including 41 women — who ran for parliament in the last election in 2018.

On Sunday, the results showed that six candidates, five men and one woman, won seats, while the remaining seats will be contested in a run-off next Saturday.

The two main opposition groups, the Shiite Al-Wefaq and the secular Waad, were prevented from presenting candidates. These parties were dissolved in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

Read Also

.   First Global Media Congress kicks off in Abu Dhabi with wide-scale international participation

This is the third election since demonstrations in 2011 driven by demands for a constitutional monarchy and other political reforms.

Amnesty International said ahead of the poll that the elections were taking place in an “environment of political repression”.

A government spokesperson pushed back against that criticism on Saturday.

“Requirements include not having a criminal record or not belonging to a society dissolved due to their court-proven involvement in acts of violence in contravention of legitimate political activity”, he said.

The number of registered voters in the Gulf kingdom is about 350,000 people out of a population of about 1.4 million people.

First Global Media Congress kicks off in Abu Dhabi with wide-scale international participation

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First Global Media Congress kicks off in Abu Dhabi with wide-scale international participation

Global Media Congress kicks off in Abu Dhabi with wide-scale international participation, Under the patronage of Mansour bin Zayed

Abu Dhabi – Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court, the first edition of the Global Media Congress 2022 kicked off in Abu Dhabi, under the theme “Shaping the Future of the Media Industry”.

The event welcomed the participation of more than 1,200 media sector leaders and pioneers, specialists, influencers, experts, and intellectual icons from six continents.

The opening ceremony of the Global Media Congress was attended by His
Excellency Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced
Technology; His Excellency Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for
Foreign Trade; Her Excellency Shamma bint Suhail bin Faris Al Mazrui, Minister of
State for Youth Affairs; His Excellency Dr. Ramzan bin Abdullah Al Nuaimi, Minister
of Information Affairs in the Kingdom of Bahrain; His Excellency Ahmed Afif, Vice
President of the Republic of Seychelles; His Excellency Mona Ghanem Al Marri,
President of the Dubai Press Club; and Mohammed Jalal Al Rayssi, Director General
of Emirates News Agency (WAM). In addition to 12 ministers from different countries
and more than 35 ambassadors to the UAE.

The event was also attended by His Excellency Osman Abukar Dubbe, Minister of
Information, Culture and Tourism of Somalia; His Excellency Walid Ammar Al Lafi,
Minister of State for Communication and Political Affairs of Libya; His Excellency
Monica Mutsvangwa, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Services of
Zimbabwe; His Excellency Guy Ahmed, Minister of Justice of the Comoros; His
Excellency Mohamed Idris, Minister of Information of Ethiopia; His Excellency
Babacar Diagne, President of the Audio Visual Regulation Council of Senegal.

The opening ceremony, which was organized by ADNEC Group in partnership with
Emirates News Agency (WAM), began with the national anthem of the United Arab
Emirates. Her Excellency Shamma bint Suhail Faris Al Mazrui, Minister of State for
Youth Affairs also delivered a speech, which was followed by the first metaverse
media interview and an interactive art performance about the future.

In a speech delivered on his behalf Mohammed Jalal Al Rayssi, Director General of
WAM, His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan said: “The UAE, under
the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of
the UAE, is a futurist state that focuses on the continuous launch of world-class
strategic initiatives and projects in various fields and sectors. The UAE has been
successful in reaching the world through its influential national media system that
applies creativity, innovation, and advanced technology to create reliable and high-
quality media content.”

“Our national media is witnessing sustainable development that aligns with the vision
of our wise leadership and supports the UAE’s direction for the next fifty years. Over
the past decades, the UAE has been able to develop a media system that has
become at the forefront of the regional and global scenes and has become a catalyst
for achieving development and spreading the values ​​of tolerance, coexistence, and
peace,” His Highness added.

Global Media Congress
Photo : GMC

“The Global Media Congress, which brings together media leaders, experts, and
professionals in the sector, is the culmination of the UAE’s efforts to build an
exceptional environment characterized by flexibility and competitiveness and based
on an advanced digital infrastructure. This in turn consolidates its position as a global
hub and destination that embraces talent, creators, and influencers in the field of
media and social communication, particularly in light of the rapid changes and digital
transformation.” His Highness added.
The Global Media Congress includes a conference and exhibition, which provides an
inspiring platform to learn about the media industry and realize a forward-looking
vision for the future of the sector, which has become a major catalyst for sustainable
development.

Global Media Congress
Photo : GMC

The global event attracts more than 200 CEO’s and includes more than 30 dialogue
sessions and more than 40 workshops, in which more than 162 prominent
international speakers will participate. In addition, more than 193 prominent media
institutions and companies from 42 countries will participate in the exhibition, where they will highlight the                                                  latest global technologies specialized in this vital sector.

The Congress will feature six major initiatives, including the Live Shows Platform, the
Global Program for Empowering Young Media Professionals, the Future Media Lab,
the Innovation Platform, the Global Buyers Program, and a special session on the
role of media in building a culture of tolerance in human societies.
This year’s Congress focuses on a number of themes, topics, and key issues,
including digital communication, the impact of artificial intelligence on contemporary
media, and the integration of advanced technologies and innovation in the media
sector.

The Event will consist of a series of dialogues, the launch of innovations, interactive
workshops, and discussion sessions. This is in addition to allocating a number of
areas for meetings with various participants on the sidelines of the event, which will
also include a set of specialized sessions in the fields of press, radio, television, the Internet, social media, and global influencers. The Congress will also feature 30
dialogue sessions, highlighting digital technologies, artificial intelligence, advanced
technologies, and innovation.

Myanmar: Junta bans independent news outlet The Irrawaddy

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Myanmar: Junta bans independent news outlet The Irrawaddy

Myanmar: Junta bans independent news outlet The Irrawaddy

The IPI global network condemns the recent decision by Myanmar’s ruling military junta to ban the independent media outlet The Irrawaddy. The military regime should immediately reverse this move and allow independent media in the country to operate freely.

Burma – The ordered closure of The Irrawaddy came in a statement issued by state media on October 29. Authorities allege that the outlet’s reporting is damaging state security, the rule of law, and public tranquility.

The military regime had previously targeted the news outlet with arrests, threats, lawsuits, and raids. Recently, the military junta threatened to take legal action against The Irrawaddy and BBC Burmese Service for “misreporting” an incident in which three Buddhist pilgrims were shot and killed. This caused staff to go into hiding.

In a statement on its website, The Irrawaddy called the ban the first public acknowledgment of the regime’s efforts to suppress its reporting. The outlet has been working mainly in exile. Editor-in-Chief Aung Zaw told IPI that the newly ordered ban will not stop them from reporting.

“We continue our reporting even though the Myanmar military regime revoked our publishing license”, Zaw said. “Readers from inside and outside of the country can continue to access our publication on the website and on various digital platforms. Our readership keeps on growing, as the people want credible, reliable news and analysis.”

“IPI strongly condemns the Myanmar military junta’s ordered closure of The Irrawaddy, which is an obvious attempt at silencing independent news and information in the country. Authorities should immediately reverse this decision and allow The Irrawaddy and all other independent news outlets to operate freely in Myanmar”, IPI Deputy Director Scott Griffen said.

“The targeting of The Irrawaddy is the latest attack on press freedom by the military regime, which has cracked down brutally on journalists and news outlets following last year’s coup. The international community must do more to pressure the junta to respect fundamental rights and reinstate democracy.”

The ban follows a worrying crackdown on the media environment in Myanmar since the military junta took power in a coup early 2021. In October alone, Japanese journalist Toru Kubota was sentenced to ten years in jail for filming an anti-junta protest and journalist Sithu Aung Myint was sentenced to three years in prison for incitement.

Source : International Press Institute 

Trump’s threat to imprisoned journalists : RSF condemns

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Trump’s threat to imprisoned journalists : RSF condemns
Trump’s threat to imprisoned journalists : RSF condemns

RSF warns that Trump’s new threats against American press should be taken seriously and that a federal press shield law is needed to protect the sanctity of journalistic sources.

Washington, D.C.-  Former President Donald Trump has reportedly held discussions with advisors about how to circumvent the First Amendment and jail journalists during a potential second term in office. According to Rolling Stone, “Trump has privately strategized about what a second term, potentially starting in 2025, could look like, he’s begun occasionally soliciting ideas from conservative allies for how the U.S. government and Justice Department could go about turning his desires — for brutally imprisoning significant numbers of reporters — into reality.”

Trump made a similar threat in public at a rally on November 7th, just one day before this week’s midterm elections, when he mused about jailing reporters for not surrendering their sources and even made a vulgar joke about sexual assault in prison: “You tell the reporter who is it … and if the reporter doesn’t want to tell you it’s ‘bye bye.’ The reporter goes to jail. When the reporter learns he’s going to be married to a certain prisoner that’s extremely strong, tough, and mean, he will say, ‘you know, I think I’m going to give you the information.’

“The former president has often spoken admiringly of authoritarians who punish critics and imprison journalists. We need to take his threats to mimic them seriously, and one of the best ways to do that would be to pass a federal press shield law to protect journalists and their sources.”

Clayton Weimers, Executive Director of the Reporters Without Borders US Bureau

Considering these threats, Congress should pass the PRESS Act, which would limit the government’s ability to compel journalists to reveal their sources. Protection of anonymous sources is essential to investigative journalism and free press.

Not the first time Trump has targeted journalism

During President Trump’s first term in office, he asked what could be done to punish members of the media for doing their jobs. According to the New York Times, Trump broached the topic of jailing journalists who published classified information with then FBI director James Comey in 2017.

Press freedom conditions began declining swiftly during the Trump administration. In 2020, President Trump’s fourth year in office, a record-breaking number of journalists were arrested, in addition to 856 other types of aggressions committed against journalists – the majority of which were deliberate and unprovoked physical attacks on clearly identified reporters. The final days of the Trump administration were marked by an insurrection in Washington, D.C. in which five people were killed, and rioters damaged tens of thousands of dollars worth of media equipment owned by The Associated Press, smashed cameras while yelling “CNN sucks,” and scrawled the words, “Murder The Media” onto doors inside the Capitol Building.

 

Source : Reporters without borders | Daily Caller | Getty images

Archbishop tells G20 event Christianity ‘on the very edge of extinction’ in Iraq

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Archbishop tells G20 event Christianity ‘on the very edge of extinction’ in Iraq
Archbishop tells G20 event Christianity ‘on the very edge of extinction’ in Iraq

Erbil – Speaking at a G20 event centered on religion’s role in helping solve global problems, an Iraqi archbishop warns that Christianity in his country is “on the very edge of extinction.”

The Most Rev. Bashar Warda, the Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Erbil, spoke last week at the G20 Religion Forum in Bali, Indonesia, an event attended by more than 300 religious leaders from across the globe.

He gave a speech titled “The Future of Religious Pluralism: A Warning from Iraq,” a copy of which was emailed to The Christian Post.

During his remarks, the archbishop stressed that “sectarian violence” is a significant problem in Iraq. This country suffered the rise of an Islamic State stronghold during the last decade in which thousands of Iraqi religious minorities were killed, enslaved or forced to flee their homelands.

Warda stated, “without an end to this sectarian violence, there is no future for religious pluralism in Iraq, or anywhere else in the Mideast for that matter.”

“The brutal logic of this is that there does eventually reach an end point where there are no minorities left to kill, and no minorities left to persecute,” said Warda.

“Such is the bleak future of religious pluralism in Iraq today. As I share with you this experience, I pray that you will find in our story a clear warning to you all.”

Warda noted that after around 1,900 years of existing in the region, “we Christians of Iraq now find ourselves on the very edge of extinction.”

“Our Christian ancestors shared with Muslim Arabs a deep tradition of thought and philosophy and engaged with them in dialogue respectfully since the eighth century A.D. The Arabic Golden Age, historian Philip Jenkins has noted, was built on Chaldean and Syriac scholarship,” he continued.

“Now we face the end in Iraq, the same end faced by the Iraqi Jews before us, and the same end now being faced by the Yazidis, with whom we have suffered so much pain, alongside us.”

There is “a fundamental crisis of violence within Islam” that “can no longer be ignored,” Warda said, adding that it “continues to affect the entire Middle East, Africa, Asia and beyond.”

“And if this crisis is not acknowledged, addressed, and fixed, then there can be no future for Christians or any other form of religious pluralism in the Middle East,” the archbishop said.

“Indeed, there is little reason to see a future for anyone in the Middle East, including within the Islamic world itself, other than in the context of continued violence, revenge, and hatred.”

Warda acknowledged that “we Christians have too often embraced the most radical and violent interpretations of our faith,” looking at the Second Vatican Council’s official recognition of religious freedom in 1962 as a critical turning point.

“This is where we Iraqi Christians are today: not forgetting, but still forgiving. Can our Muslim brothers and sisters follow us in this, or will their own story of violence continue, destroying themselves eventually?” he asked.

“Fundamentally, this change in direction can only come about as the conscious work of the Islamic world itself.”

Open Doors USA, a watchdog group that monitors persecution in over 60 countries, ranks Iraq as the 14th worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution.

Although Christians in Iraq once numbered around 1.5 million, that number has fallen to below 200,000 today as the Christian population has deteriorated since the United States military intervention began in 2003.

Although the Islamic State’s stronghold in Nineveh Plains was eradicated in 2017, the country remains plagued by conflicts that “gravely affect the country’s minority Christian population,” according to Open Doors.

A gathering of 19 countries plus the European Union aimed at addressing issues surrounding the global economy, the G20 Heads of State and Government Summit is scheduled for Nov. 15-16.

Source : christianpost

Over 4,000 Christians killed by terrorists in Nigeria since start of 2022: watchdog report

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Over 4,000 Christians killed by terrorists in Nigeria since start of 2022: watchdog report

Over 4,000 Christians killed by terrorists in Nigeria since start of 2022: watchdog report

Lagos –   Islamic jihadist groups in Nigeria are responsible for killing at least 4,000 Christians and abducting more than 2,300 other Christians in the first 10 months of this year alone, according to a report released this week by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law.

The Fulani herdsmen and Islamic terror groups allied with it were responsible for 2,650 of the 4,020 Christian deaths between January and October, the Anambra-based group Intersociety said in a report sent to The Christian Post.

The other terror groups, including Islamic State in West Africa Province, Boko Haram and Ansaru, accounted for 450 Christian deaths and the Fulani (Zamfara) bandits and their splinter groups were responsible for 370 Christian deaths, it added.

Fulani herdsmen and Fulani (Zamfara) bandits and other armed jihadist groups that are “Nigerian government friendly” abducted more than 2,315 Christians, out of which, 1,401 were abducted between January and June, and 915 between July and October, added Intersociety, which is run by Christian criminologist Emeka Umeagbalasi.

Out of the 2,315 abducted Christians, about 10%, or 231, might not ever be able to return to their families due to their circumstances or have “most likely been killed in captivity for their refusal to convert to Islam or inability to pay huge ransoms demanded,” it further said.

On an average, as per the statistics, more than 400 Christians were slaughtered and 231 others were abducted per month, or 13 deaths and eight abductions were reported per day, respectively, Intersociety stressed.

The report comes about two months after the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom warned that religious freedom was deteriorating in Nigeria because of rising violence by non-State actors and that “poor governance” was driving and aggravating that violence.

“In recent years, nonstate actor violence has increased in most parts of Nigeria, and this violence has yielded devastating humanitarian and human rights consequences, including but not limited to violence based on religion and other violations of Nigerians’ rights to freedom of religion or belief,” USCIRF said in a report on violence in Africa’s most populous country.

“Violence that infringes on freedom of religion or belief in Nigeria includes militant Islamist violence, identity-based violence at the intersection of religion, ethnicity, and geographic heritage, mob violence against individuals accused of blasphemy, and violence impacting worship,” explains the commission, a congressionally mandated body of independent experts tasked with advising the federal government on religious freedom issues.

According to a recent study from the Anambra-based International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), at least 60,000 Christians have been killed in the past two decades in Nigeria. The organization, which is run by Christian criminologist Emeka Umeagbalasi, reported that hundreds of churches had been threatened, attacked, closed, destroyed or burned in 2021 alone.

Intersociety said in an earlier report that at least 60,000 Christians had been killed in the past two decades in Nigeria, adding that an estimated 10 million people had been uprooted in northern Nigeria, where extremist violence was most severe, from July 2009 to July 2021.

The report added that about 2,000 Christian schools were attacked during that time.

The atrocities included “massacres, killings, mutilations, torture, maiming, abductions, hostage-taking, rape, girl-child defilements, forced marriages, disappearances, extortions, forceful conversions and destruction or burning of homes and sacred worship and learning centers,” Intersociety reported at the time.

Over 4,000 Christians killed by terrorists in Nigeria
Funeral-for-victims-of-June-5-Ondo-Catholic-Church-Massacre- Photo : intersociety

Many have raised concerns about what they perceive as the government’s inaction in holding terrorists accountable for the rising number of murders and kidnappings, which some groups warn have reached the level of genocide.

In its report, USCIRF recommended that the State Department designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern for “engaging in and tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.”

Countries subject to the State Department’s “CPC” designation face negative consequences, including the possibility of crippling sanctions.

Source : christianpost

13 year Assam Girl, Gang-Raped Allegedly By 6 Teens, Act Filmed

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13 year Assam Girl, Gang-Raped Allegedly By 6 Teens, Act Filmed

13 year Assam Girl, Gang-Raped Allegedly By 6 Teens, Act Filmed, Police also recovered the video of the act on one of the accused’s phones. One of them recorded the act and shared it with the others, they added.

Karimganj – In a horrific incident, Assam police on Tuesday detained six teenaged boys for allegedly gang raping a minor girl in southern Assam’s Karimganj. All accused are 13 to 15 years old.

According to police sources, the 13-year-old survivor’s family lodged a complaint on Monday at Kalinagar area under Ramkrishna Nagar police station alleging gang rape on November 1. The police launched a search operation and detained all the six accused on Tuesday.

As per the complaint by the parents of the girl, she was alone in the house when the incident took place. The boys forcefully entered the house and raped her one by one. They also made videos of the act on their phones and assaulted her. Initially, the girl was shocked and scared and did not tell anyone about the crime. Later she informed her parents, who filed a complaint on Monday,” said Partha Pratim Das, a senior police officer.

Police also recovered the video of the act on one of the accused’s phones. One of them recorded the act and shared it with the others, they added.

A case has been registered under POCSO, the police said.

Source : NDTV

Accelerating Action to End Child Marriage : unicef India

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Accelerating Action to End Child Marriage : unicef India

Accelerating Action to End Child Marriage : unicef India

Diplomat Times (New Delhi) – India has seen a steady decline in the prevalence of child marriage, from 47.4 per cent in 2005 to 23.3 per cent in 2021. Progress in India has led to a 50% decline in child marriage in South Asia. However, the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to roll back the gains made so far. The health, social, political and economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have worsened existing systemic gender inequalities and estimates indicate up to 10 million more girls could become child brides globally as a result of the pandemic.

The prevalence of child marriage in India varies significantly from one state to another (with eight states currently witnessing rates higher than the national average). Girls from poorer families, living in rural areas, and with little or no education are more likely to experience child marriage.

The UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to End Child Marriage is the first United Nations led joint initiative designed with a focus on promoting the rights of adolescents to delay marriage, supporting adolescents to realize their rights by engaging with communities, and strengthening systems that deliver critical services to adolescents, including health and education. It was launched in 2016 and covers 12 countries – Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia. The Global Programme highlights the need for targeted and focused interventions to accelerate progress to end child marriage.

The Steering Committee governing the Global Programme is scheduled to visit India from end of October to early November 2022. The Steering Committee is comprised of senior representatives from international bilateral government agencies, private donors, and representatives from UNFPA and UNICEF headquarters and regional offices. The Global Programme is generously funded by the Governments of Belgium, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom, the European Union and Zonta International. While in India, they will witness key interventions in action and interact with stakeholders at the national, State (Odisha) and district (Ganjam and Gajapati) levels.

Ms Mieke Vogels, representing the Government of Netherlands in the Steering Committee, said, “Eradicating child marriage requires multipronged, context-specific, collaborative action. Parents, community members, traditional and religious leaders, teachers, local authorities and youth, boys as well as girls, all need to be consulted and involved in working towards ending child marriage – so that in the near future all young people may choose for themselves whether, when and whom to marry. As the international community, supporting the Global Programme to End Child Marriage, we are here to learn from India’s successes in reducing the incidence of child marriage. Indeed, the development, growth and upholding of universal human rights in many countries depends on it.”

The Global Programme, currently in its second phase (2020-2023), has reached over two million girls through life skills education interventions, and has galvanized nearly 20 million community members to take action against child marriage and promote adolescent empowerment in 175 districts across fifteen states in India. The programme has also supported close to 85,000 adolescent girls in India at risk of child marriage to enrol and or remain in school.

Andrea Wojnar, Representative, UNFPA India, said, “Child Marriage, because of its linkages with poverty, low levels of education and poor access to essential services can lead to increased risk of early pregnancy and maternal mortality. It is important we take stock of what has and has not worked and keep our focus on reaching the most vulnerable and marginalized adolescents, including those in remote areas. We cannot afford to lose the momentum of the significant progress already made in India – the Global Programme reaffirms its commitment to building back better for increased resilience in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic. We will continue to support the government and CSO partners for achieving equal rights and freedoms for all.”

Cynthia McCaffrey, Representative, UNICEF India, said, “Child marriage spells an end to childhood, deprives children of their rights and leads to negative consequences for society. India’s progress towards the reduction of child marriage has made important contributions to its global decline. The Government of India’s investment demonstrates the impact of factors including increased literacy of mothers, better access to education for girls and strong public messaging on decreasing the prevalence of child marriage and, therefore, protecting millions of children from this practice.”

The Global Programme to End Child Marriage will soon enter its third phase. This phase has the longer-term, gender transformative goal of enabling significantly larger numbers of adolescent girls and boys to fully enjoy their rights and choices and experience a childhood free from the risk of marriage. Advancing adolescent rights, agency and autonomy is the most critical pathway to achieve the global common goal of eliminating harmful practices against women and girls by 2030. India’s progress on this front is critical to the success of the Global Programme, and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal on ending early, child and forced marriage.

Children in Africa five times less likely to learn basics: UN Report

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Children in Africa five times less likely to learn basics: UN Report

Children in Africa five times less likely to learn basics: UN Report

Diplomat Times (Port Louis) – The ability of education systems to ensure even rudimentary literacy skills for their students has declined in four out of 10 African countries over the last three decades.

The findings are published in the first of a three-part series of Spotlight reports on foundational learning in Africa, called Born to Learn, published by the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report at UNESCO, the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) and the African Union.

Manos Antoninis, Director of the GEM Report, said while every child is born to learn, they can’t do so if they’re hungry, lack textbooks, or don’t speak the language they’re being taught in.

Lack of basic support for teachers is another key factor.

READ MORE : Somalia-Frontline States Summit 2023 concluded in Mogadishu

Lessons for all

“Every country needs to learn too, ideally from its peers”, added Mr. Antoninis. “We hope this Spotlight report will guide ministries to make a clear plan to improve learning, setting a vision for change, working closely with teachers and school leaders, and making more effective use of external resources”.

The report includes data from accompanying country reports developed in partnership with ministries of education in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ghana, Mozambique, Rwanda and Senegal and a series of other case studies on the continent.

“Africa has a complex past that has left parts of it with linguistic fragmentation, conflict, poverty and malnutrition that have weighed heavily on the education systems’ ability to ensure universal primary completion and foundational learning”, said Albert Nsengiyumva, the Executive Secretary of ADEA.

New opportunity

“Our partnership is shining a spotlight on this issue together with education ministries to help find solutions that work. The social and economic consequences of low learning outcomes are devastating for Africa. This report’s findings give us the chance to find a new way forward, learning from each other”.

The report finds that, in addition to socioeconomic challenges, the limited availability of good quality textbooks, lack of proper teacher support, inadequate teacher training and provision of teacher guides, were a bar to progress across sub-Saharan Africa.

UNICEF/Vincent Tremeau Students attend class at a school in Kaya, Burkina Faso.

Hopeful signs
Recent interventions show progress is possible, if efforts are focused on classroom practices that are evidence based.

Positive practices highlighted in the report and other experiences will be fed into a peer-learning mechanism on foundational learning, hosted by the AU that has been launched alongside the eport, the Leveraging Education Analysis for Results Network (LEARN), building on the Continental Education Strategy for Africa clusters.

Mohammed Belhocine, African Union Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation said the COVID-19 pandemic had thwarted efforts to ensure all children have fundamental skills in reading and maths.

“This is why a focus on basic education within our continental strategy’s policy dialogue platform is warranted. The work of the new LEARN network on basic education within the AU launched this week will draw from the experiences of countries that have taken part in the Spotlight report series”.

African leaders gathered in Mauritius on Thursday, to mull solutions to the education gap highlighted by a new UN education agency report which shows children on the continent are five times less likely to learn the basics, than those living elsewhere.

 

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