UNFPA

By Cecilia Ologunagba
The Executive Director, UN Population Fund (UNFPA), Dr Natalia Kanem, has said Enough to All Forms of Violence against Women and Girls in a message to the launch of 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence (GBV) across the globe.

Kanem, who emphasised the UN organs position on GBV, said that is what we say today and always; enough to domestic violence against women, enough to rape, enough to harmful practices such as Female Genital Mutilation and child marriage, and enough to impunity to violation of human rights.

Women and girls everywhere have a right to live and right to be free from violence.

Today (Nov. 25) is international day to end violence against women. We remind the world against violence to women.

According to her, Nov. 25 marks the beginning of 16 days of activism on violence against women.

She added that COVID-19 had shown the world the way to think differently and act differently, stressing that let us say enough is enough to GBV.

Let us put issues against GBV on the top of the list. One word to transform our world is to say enough!.

The 16 days of activism against GBV, which runs from Nov. 25 till Dec. 1 is thelongest-runningwomens rights campaign in the world, with more than 6,000 organisations from approximately 187 countriesparticipating.

Since its launch by activistsat the inaugural Womens Global Leadership Institute at Rutgers University in 1991, the Centre for Womens Global Leadership had been leading the initiative.

The 16 days campaign initiallyaimedto connect GBV and human rights by falling during a period with several human rights advocacy days, such as the International Women Human Rights Defenders Day on Nov. 29 and the World AIDS Day on Dec. 1.

However, GBV occurs in developing and developed countries alike. Over a third of women (35 per cent) have experienced physical and/or sexual violence, and such violence impacts one in three women in their lifetime,accordingto the World Bank.

Consequently, failure to protect women threatens future generations, as children who grow up in households with violence aremore likelyto experience or perpetuate violence.

Source: NAN News

HIV self-testing

By Ikenna Osuoha
Faith communities across the country have united for elimination of stigmatisation against persons living with HIV/AIDS.

Mr Charles Usie, the Country Director, Christian AID,called for an end to stigma against persons living with HIV, which he said was imperative in reducing the spread of the virus.

Usie, who stressed the need for increased public concern and commitment on the trauma of stigma, called for urgent end to discrimination against persons living with HIV.

He emphasised the need to engage religious leaders in the elimination of stigma and discrimination against persons living with the condition.

The country director wondered why HIV/AID was not accorded the attention required by stakeholders as COVID-19.

Why is HIV not getting the general concern it deserves? Thousands are still living with the condition which has no cure as yet and killing people.

If we can get to a stage where stigma around HIV will be removed like COVID-19, where a big man or woman will publicly announce his or her status without fear of being stigmatised, it will be great.

Mr Gabriel Udelikwuo, the Representative of UN Joint Programme on HIV/AIDs (UNAIDS) described stigma and discrimination as the biggest barriers to ending HIV/AIDS cases.

Udelikwuo said that stigma and discrimination were capable of hindering persons living with HIV the uptake of treatment services because of fear of marginalisation.

Mr Ikenna Nwakanma, the Monitoring and Evaluation officer of Nigeria Network of Religious Leaders Living with or Personally Affected by HIV/AIDS (NINERELA) emphasised the need for an end to stigma and discrimination.

Nwakanma urged religious bodies to begin to de-emphasise the discriminatory acts or practices against persons living with HIV.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the faith based dialogue for elimination of stigma against persons living with HIV/AIDS was organised by NINERELA in collaboration with Presidents Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and UN Joint Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS).

Source: NAN News

Sport Minister Mr Sunday Dare

By Cecilia Ologunagba/Justina Auta
The Minister of Youth and Sports Development,Mr Sunday Dare,has described as worrisome that most public facilities do not offer youth-friendly services in the country.

Dare said this at the opening of two-day Nigerian Stakeholders Consultation Toward West and Central Africa Region Ministerial Commitment for Educated, Healthy and Thriving Adolescents and Young People in Abuja.

The forum was organised by UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), in collaboration with ministries of education and health.

Dare, who was represented by Mrs Janet Angyu, an Assistant Director in the ministry,however, expressed optimism that the outcome of the forum would provide recommendations toward changing the situation.

The forum, he added, would also provide policy framework to strengthen and facilitate the scale up of National Reproductive Health Education programmes and services.

Dare said most of the health challenges of youths in Nigeria had behavioural roots and they were preventable, thus, the high level of health challenges among youths reflect the situation.

It reflects the situation, to a large extent, the inadequate response of the Nigerian health and related social sectors system to the health needs, concerns and challenges of the youth, he said.

Mr Alex Ogundipe, the Director, Community Preventive and Care Services, National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) said adolescents were part of the HIV response of the agency.

Represented by Ms Hafsat Aboki, the Principal Programme Officer at NACA, he said a good number of young people do not know their HIV status.

We need to make sure they are tested, linked to treatment if need be. This is time to act, he said.

The Emir of Garki, Alhaji Usman Kupi, commended the UNFPA and UNESCO for their interventions in addressing barriers to educating youth and adolescents on culture and reproductive health.

Kupi said that the difference between man and the lower animals was culture, and urgedtraditional rulers as custodians of culture and values to work harder toward imparting the values in youths.

He said we need to make sure that we do not allow our norms and values to be disrupted by western culture and values.

If you look at our ladies hairstyles these days, they are mostly western; so, let us cherish our culture, our foods, ourindigenous languagesand fashion; it is time to appreciate what we have.

The emir also appealedto the Federal Government and the FCT Administration that Gbagi indigenous language be used as one of the languages for learning in schools in the FCT.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the aim of the forum is to get Nigerias ministerial commitments toward healthy and thriving adolescents and young people.

The forum is a response to the Dakar Call to Action that will lead to a regional high-level commitment by ministers of education andhealth of 25 West and Central African countries.

It will be instrumental to changing the narratives for adolescents and young people as it relates to their education and health.

Source: NAN News

Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed,

By Rotimi Ijikanmi
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, says the news of Nigeria entering recession marks a positive development for the nations economy.

The minister stated this when he featured on Nigeria Television Authority programme Good Morning Nigeria.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nigeria officially entered recession at the end of third quarter (Q3) after its Gross Domestic Product declined for the second consecutive quarter in 2020 (Q2 and Q3).

Speaking on the programme monitored by NAN in Abuja, the minister said the decline of -3.62 per cent in Q3 is much smaller than the -6.10 per cent recorded in Q2.

By comparison, South Africa recorded a decline of -50 in Q2 2020.

The economic conditions are actually improving, with 17 activities recording positive real growth in the third quarter, compared to 13 in Q2. Also, 36 of 46 economic activities did better in Q3 2020 than Q2 2020, he said.

The minister explained that the -3.62 per cent contraction recorded in Q3 2020 was better than the -6.01 per cent earlier forecast by the National Bureau of Statistics, adding that this outperformed several domestic and international forecasts.

He noted that before COVID-19, the Nigerian economy had been experiencing sustained growth that was improving every quarter until Q2 2020 when the impact of COVID-19 started to be felt.

According to the minister, the main reason for the recession is the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said Nigeria was not alone as dozens of countries, including economic giants like the US, UK and Canada, had entered recession due to the global pandemic.

The minister said other countries in recession included Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Russia and Spain.

Mohammed added that the oil sector was largely responsible for the slow-down in economic activity in Q3 2020.

He said the sector recorded a sharp contraction of 13.89 per cent in Q3 2020 year on year, the largest decline in that sector in 14 quarters.

The reason is the slow-down in global economic growth and oil demand due to COVID-19 pandemic as well as Nigerias obligations to meet OPEC cuts, he said.

The minister said although the non-oil sector also contracted in Q3 2020, the decline in the sector by -2.51 per cent year on year in Q3 2020 was significantly better when compared to the contraction of -6.05 per cent year on year recorded in Q2 2020.

He, however, said the the latest recession would be short-lived and the country would return to positive growth soon unlike the 2016 recession which lasted five quarters.

Mohammed explained that the recession would be short-lived because of several complementary fiscal, real sector and monetary interventions proactively introduced by the government.

He said the interventions were introduced to forestall a far worse decline of the economy and to alleviate the negative consequences of the pandemic.

Source: NAN News

Nigerians celebrating the countrys independence

By Rotimi Ijikanmi
The Federal Government says it will repackage its social intervention programmes to ensure it reached more people at the grassroots.

Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed disclosed this when he featured on Nigeria Television Authority programme, Good Morning Nigeria.

Speaking on the programme monitored by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, the minister said the decision was sequel to the complaints by Nigerians that the social intervention programmes were not trickling down to the grassroots.

He said the reports from the ministers when they interacted with the people in their states as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari was that the programmes were not reaching as many people as they ought to.

The minister said the same complaint was made when the presidential delegation led by the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, met with traditional rulers and other stakeholders in the geopolitical zones.

What we find out when we got home was that these programmes are not trickling to the grassroots and that is why we have taken a decision to see how we can repackage them.

Everywhere we went, even traditional rulers said they ought to be involved in the execution of these programmes.

I recently wrote a memo to our colleagues that we want the list of all the programmes so that we can also periodically publish them and let them know where they can be accessed.

It is not that there is no information on the programmes, it is the execution that needs fine-tuning.

We need to involve other tiers of government in the execution of some of these programmes, he said.

According to the minister, the social intervention programmes predated the #EndSARS protest because the administration is concerned about the wellbeing of Nigerians.

He said they were designed to create jobs for the youths and alleviate poverty among women and vulnerable groups.

The minister cited the N75 billion National Youth Investment Fund (NYIF) initiated by the government and aimed at providing opportunities for youths.

He said the Fund is part of the N2.3 trillion Economic Sustainability Plan to cushion the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the most vulnerable Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across the country.

The minister also cited the MSMEs Survival Fund as part of the administrations initiative at ensuring job sustainability.

He described the Fund as a cluster of grants to support MSMEs to meet their payroll obligations and safeguard MSMEs jobs from the shock of COVID-19 pandemic.

One highlight of the MSME Survival Fund, according to the minister, is Payroll Support for businesses in health, education, hospitality and food production sectors targeted at 500,000 beneficiaries.

Another, he said, is payment to support self-employed individuals like mechanics and drivers, hair dressers, Keke Napep and Okada riders, plumbers and electricians with a one-time payment of N30,000 for 333,000 beneficiaries.

Mohammed said other initiatives targeted at the youths included N-POWER which had engaged 500,000 beneficiaries with 400,000 more in December.

He also said 10,000 youths had been trained and had benefitted under N-TECH and N-AGRO initiatives.

The minister said the Federal Government FINTECH had created an enabling environment for growth of businesses which use technology to enhance or automate financial services and processes.

He said more than two million farmers and traders, who were mostly youths, were empowered under FARMERMONI, TRADERMONI and MARKETMONI.

Source: NAN News

EU-China

The trade between China and Russia will surpass 100 billion dollars by the end of the year, in spite of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, according to a top-ranking Chinese official.

He Zhenwei, the secretary general of the China Overseas Development Association (CODA), disclosed this in an interview with Sputnik.

We are expecting the overall trade volume between China and Russia to exceed 100 billion dollars at the end of the year. I have a positive view on that matter.

Although the trade between the two countries is currently being affected by the pandemic, the trade between China and Russia will show significant growth, especially in the second half of the year, He said.

The CODA secretary general noted that the Chinese market has an increasing demand for agricultural products and food and that Russia has a number of advantages in that area.

The geographic proximity of the two countries, as well as the fact that Russia manufactures products without genetic modifications also work in favour of growing Russian food exports to China, He added.

According to the Chinese customs service, in the first 10 months of 2020, trade between China and Russia decreased by 2.3 per cent compared to the same period in 2019 and is now estimated at 88.1 billion dollars.

In 2019, the bilateral trade between the countries grew by 3.4 per cent to a record 110.7 billion dollars. (Sputnik/NAN)

Source: NAN News

Ethiopia PM Abiy Ahmed

The Ethiopian military is launching an assault on Mekelle, capital of the restive northern region of Tigray, after the local ruling party rejected an ultimatum that they surrender within 72 hours.

This is according to a communiqu released on Twitter on Thursday by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali.

Earlier in the week, the government issued an ultimatum, giving the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) 72 hours to surrender.

The Ethiopian National Defense Forces have now been directed to conclude the third and final phase of our rule of law operations.

In this final phase, great care will be given to protect innocent civilians from harm.

All efforts will be made to ensure that the city of Mekelle, which was built through the hard work of our people, will not be severely damaged, the statement reads.

The armed conflict in northern Ethiopia broke out earlier in the month after the federal government had accused the TPLF of attacking a local military base and launched a security operation against it. (Sputnik/NAN)

Source: NAN News

India Flag

Police in New Delhis neighbouring state of Haryana on Thursday used tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesting farmers who tried to reach the capital on foot, in buses, and tractors.

NDTV news channel reported that the farmers were moving to the Indian capital to protest against new laws they said would curb their earnings and benefit big corporations.

At one site the farmers retaliated by throwing bricks and pushing aside barricades.

The borders of the national capital have been sealed and metro services in several areas shut down with police saying no rallies were allowed in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

Farmers have been protesting since September against the new laws, especially in the northern states of Punjab and Haryana, known as the grain bowls of India.

Farmers groups from five states had called for the Dilli Chalo (Go to Delhi) campaign on Thursday.

Large deployment of police and paramilitary could be seen at all entry points into Delhi.

Vehicles were checked and those with farmers were asked to turn back.

Indias Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, which also rules Haryana, insists that the laws passed by parliament in September will make it easier for farmers to sell their produce to big institutional buyers.

The government says this will fetch better prices and free farmers from traditional middlemen who dominate the trade.

Critics say the changes will end the purchase of grains at prices guaranteed by the government and leave farmers vulnerable to market forces. (dpa/NAN)

Source: NAN News

Dr Boboye Oyeyemi

By Ibironke Ariyo
The Federal Government has expressed determination to put appropriate structures in place to mitigate child road mortality.

The Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Dr Boboye Oyeyemi said this at the stakeholders workshop on child road safety strategy for Nigeria on Wednesday in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop was jointly organised by FRSC and World Bank for stakeholders to deliberate on the use of roads.

The gathering offers great opportunity for the improvement of existing strategies as well as re-modelling some approaches to meet domestic and international expectations on child road safety.

Oyeyemi said that the Corps had in the last three decades sustained its emphasis on stategies, programmes and processing aimed at reducing the number of children killed or injured on Nigerian roads.

He said that the focus had been to consistently reduce exposure to mobility risk through dedicated measures that were cross-cutting, impactful and evidence-based.

He added that the Corps had specifically pursued child road safety through deliberate and targeted policy thrust and well cut out implementation guidelines.

In the series of interface with the World Bank and other development partners, some gaps were observed thus, necessitating the inclusion of the child road safety strategy in the reviewed Nigeria Road Safety Strategy II (NRSSII).

The identified concerns generated a new wave of engagements between representatives of World Bank and the Corps aimed at harnessing existing gains to secure greater fortunes in the promotion of child Safety Strategy in Nigeria.

We anticipate the final approval of the documents from Federal Executive Council (FEC).

No doubt, with the inclusion the child road safety strategy in NRSS II document, the stage is set for a more comprehensive approach that is expected to yield higher dividends, he said.

Oyeyemi noted that the global burden of disease study estimates that road traffic injury was the cause of death for children ages 5 to 14 years in Nigeria and 10th highest cause of disability.

He noted that World Health Organisation (WHO) had in 2018 said that road traffic injuries were currently the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged 5 to 29 years.

It was also estimated that in 2017, this figure must have caused Nigeria about .8 billion. Statistics from FRSC data base shows that between 2015 and 2019, 9, 809 children suffered various degrees of injuries from 1, 884 road traffic crashes (RTCs), he said.

The President, Fire Officers Wives Association, (FOWA), Mrs Larai Liman, said that the inclusion of child road Safety Strategy in the NRSS II would go a long way in addressing the problems with children.

Liman noted that most schools where built on the highway and had no signs to show that children were within such areas, saying that such had led to death of many children.

She said that most times the children used the road by themselves thereby causing more harm than good as nobody was there to help them cross the roads.

I will advise schools to ensure that they put road signs for children in order to help them avoid cars and stay off road accidents, she said.

Source: NAN News

FRSC personnel on duty

By Ibironke Ariyo
The Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC) has reiterated the enforcement of speed limiting device on all vehicles as the end of the year celebration approaches.

The Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, said this at the stakeholders workshop on child road safety strategy for Nigeria in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the FRSC introduced the use of the speed limit device in 2016 to reduce incidents of accidents and loss of lives.

Oyeyemi emphasised that over speeding, reckless driving and overloading were among the causes of road accidents in the country.

He said that the Corps was determined to confront negative driving behaviours that would lead to unwarranted loss of lives and property.

This he said was necessary to note as the traffic gradually builds up in the preparation for the end of the year celebration.

He said that the Corps would ensure enforcement of strict compliance with the use for speed limiting device and road worthiness standards.

The FRSC boss also said that fatigue was one of the causes of road traffic crashes and admonished drivers to observe adequate rest before embarking on any journey.

The Corps wishes to draw the attention of the motoring public to the increasing rate of road traffic crashes involving commercial vehicles especially mini buses, with attendant high fatality and injuries.

Investigation has shown that most of these cases were avoidable if road users complied with traffic regulations and observed safe driving rules.

Road users are encouraged to adhere strictly to all advisories on safe driving during the Yuletide seasons. Drivers are also expected to comply with speed limit specifications, avoid night journeys and fatigue, he said.

Source: NAN News