Day: June 28, 2022

Prominent Mozambican cleric and civil society leader, Bishop Dinis Matsolo, says the media in the country must report responsibly on the conflict in the Cabo Delgado Province in the northern parts of the country. Bishop Matsolo also said there is a need to rebuild confidence and trust between police, correctional services and communities in Cabo Delgado in order for peace to rerun to the province.

The bishop was speaking during meetings with community leaders, police and correctional service officers which were held in Pemba on 24 June 2022 as part of efforts by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to finding lasting peace in Cabo Delgado, which has been under attack from terrorists. SADC has come up with a Peace Building Support Programme for Cabo Delgado to enhance the capacity building of the police and correctional services; and skills development programmes for the youth and women for their social development.

The programme is funded by the European Union (EU) under the Early Response Mechanism (ERM) of the African Union Commission in support of Mozambique. The meetings are aimed to rebuild trust and confidence between police, correctional services and communities in order to bring peace to the region.

Bishop Matsolo said while the media must report truthfully about the conflict in Cabo Delgado, reportage by journalists must convey messages of hope to communities affected by the violence. He said there was a need for a positive narrative of Africa, instead of concentrating on negative coverage of conflicts.

There is also a need for mutual trust between the media and state institutions such as the army, police and correctional services in order to build peace in the communities. Journalists often worked under hostile environments which resulted in them failing to access accurate and reliable information, and this was not good for peace building, Bishop Matsolo said. He said there is a need to rebuild confidence and trust between communities in northern Mozambique and the police and correctional services, which will result in peace and development.

To build peace, police and the communities must engage each other and speak truthfully, demonstrating respect, creating transparency and correcting mistakes made in the past. The police and communities must demonstrate loyalty to their country, provide results, and strive for own perfection. There was also a need for communities and police to clarify what is expected of them in society, and face reality of the situation in the region. They must practice responsibility, listen to each other, and fulfill promises, and both sides must do this for a solid relationship, which will result in lasting peace, said Bishop Matsolo.

Representatives of the various communities in Cabo Delgado who attended the meetings identified highlighted lack of trust between the communities and government institutions, extreme poverty and lack of good infrastructure and public amenities such as good schools and hospitals in the region as some of the issues causing conflict. They also cited inequalities and lack of opportunities, despite the wealth abound in the province. They said there was a need for a multifaceted approach to address the violence in Cabo Delgado province. The SADC peace building initiative seeks to enhance capacity of Mozambique police and correctional services, social protection mechanisms, law and order and humanitarian assistance in Cabo Delgado which was under attack from terrorists and violent extremists.

The SADC Peace Building Support to the Republic of Mozambique follows the Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government held on 23 June 2021, which approved a mandate to deploy SADC Standby Force Rapid Deployment Capability in the province. It is expected that the activities being implemented will provide humanitarian assistance and multidimensional peacekeeping which entails, among others, the involvement of civilians to undertake confidence building measures/programmes, aimed at addressing mistrust within the communities.

This will create cohesion to facilitate synergies that will foster peace and security and sustain social economic development in Cabo Delgado Province. At national level, the Government of the Republic of Mozambique developed the Cabo Delgado Recovery Plan (PRCD) in areas affected by terrorists. The Plan is organised into three pillars, namely Humanitarian Assistance; Infrastructure Recovery; and; Economic and Financial Activity. The Reconstruction Plan in Cabo Delgado requires an estimated budget of US$300 million, of which US$100 million has been secured.

Source: Southern African Development Community

Millions Face Threat of Famine

Acute food insecurity continues to rise in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia due to an exceptionally persistent and severe drought, increasing the risk of starvation in the region and the potential for famine in Somalia. Four consecutive below-average rainy seasons since late 2020 have made the current drought the most extensive since 1981. The October–December 2022 forecasts anticipate another below-average rainy season. The drought has impacted farmer and pastoralist livelihoods and led to lower food production and millions of livestock deaths. More than 18 million people are food insecure (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification System [IPC] Phase 3, 4, or 5) due to drought and more than 7 million children face acute malnutrition.

Source: US Department of State – Humanitarian Information Unit

“Today UNICEF is launching an important new report ’25 years of children and armed conflict: Taking action to protect children in war’. This report coincides with the 25^th^ year of the mandate of the SRSG on Children and Armed Conflict.

“Our report analyses sixteen years of data on grave rights violations committed against children in conflict situations, from 2005 to 2020, to show the impact of armed conflict on children across the world and over time. To give just some sense of the magnitude of the problem: in one decade alone – from 2010 to 2020, there was an increase of 185% of verified grave rights violations committed against children in conflict situations.

“The report examines how information on the documented patterns of grave violations is being used to respond to children’s needs. It examines how engagement with parties to conflict — State and non-State actors alike — enables ending and preventing child rights grave violations.

“Our analysis shows that despite decades of advocacy with parties to conflict and those who influence them —as well as enhanced monitoring, reporting and response mechanisms for grave rights violations—children continue to bear the brunt of war. Every day, girls and boys living in areas under conflict endure unspeakable horrors that no one should ever experience.

“I would like to share with you some key findings from the report:

“Between 2005 and 2020, the United Nations verified over a quarter of a million grave violations against children committed by parties to conflict in more than 30 conflict situations across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. This is a staggering average of 71 verified grave violations against children every day.

“This includes more than 104,000 children verified as killed or maimed; more than 93,000 children verified as recruited and used by parties to conflict; and at least 25,700 children verified as abducted by parties to conflict.

“In addition, parties to conflict have raped, forcibly married, sexually exploited, and committed other grave forms of sexual violence against at least 14,200 children. And the UN has verified almost 14,000 incidents of attacks against schools and hospitals.

“I must emphasize, these figures are a fraction of the violations believed to have occurred, as access and security constraints hamper the reporting, documentation and verification of grave violations.

“What’s more, it’s important to underline the annual number of verified violations has gradually increased since 2005, surpassing 20,000 in a year for the first time in 2014 and reaching 26,425 in 2020.

“Between 2016 and 2020, 82 per cent of all verified child casualties occurred in only five situations: Afghanistan, Israel and the State of Palestine, Syria, Yemen, and Somalia.

“It is also important to note that many children experience more than one violation, increasing their vulnerability. For example, abduction is often combined with or leads to other violations, like recruitment and use and sexual violence.

“As part of the report’s recommendations, UNICEF continues to call on parties to conflict listed in the Secretary-General’s annual report on children and armed conflict to engage with the United Nations to develop and implement Action Plans that establish sustainable and concrete measures to protect children from violations and their impact. These Action Plans can play a critical role in bringing about positive change for children.

“In addition to calling on parties to conflict, and states, to abide by their obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law, the report includes recommendations on providing care and response services for children, data collection and aggregation, and monitoring.

“UNICEF staff, in collaboration with other UN and partner organizations, judiciously collect and verify information on grave violations so that we can better understand and respond to the needs of children and surviving families. We also engage those responsible for violations, with the concrete goal of preventing and putting a stop to further violations.

“These efforts have achieved concrete results for children. For example, since the year 2000, at least?170,000 children have been released?from armed forces and groups, many having survived multiple violations — including abduction or sexual violence.

“There are many children who still need our help. That is why we must continue to collect these stories, even amidst dangerous circumstances. And that is why we must also continue speaking up and speaking out, especially when children, families or witnesses are unable to do so.?

“Thank you.”

Source: UN Children’s Fund