Day: August 26, 2022

erienced the same difficulties that other displaced people did. I saw that there were still many stories that needed to be told and shared with the world.

SIRWAN KAJJO:

The more she reports, the more Rasho sees the impact her work has on the lives of others.

In 2019 she reported on a man left with permanent injuries from a bomb blast, who had learned to play the drums. When others heard his story, they encouraged him to perform in the camp.

But reporting as a displaced person is not without challenges. Journalists like Rasho often lack space or adequate equipment.

Access to information and the ability to communicate with the outside world are essential for displaced people globally, says the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR.

Chris Boian, UNHCR Spokesperson:

I think that really there is nothing that speaks to the elemental truth of the refugee story more powerfully than the voice of one who has lived that story and survived to tell it.

SIRWAN KAJJO:

Over 100 million people are displaced globally, the UNHCR says, including 5,000 at Rasho’s camp.

Boian says the UNHCR and its partners provide help and protection to those people and give them the opportunity to tell their own stories.

Rasho, being that voice for others displaced by conflict is what gives her the determination to keep going.

Sirwan Kajjo, VOA News.

CAROLYN PRESUTTI:

That’s all for now.

For everyone behind the scenes who makes this show possible, I am Carolyn Presutti.

Follow me on Twitter at CarolynVOA and on Instagram.

And follow VOA News on Instagram and Facebook.

And online — stay up to date at VOANews.com

Thanks for being with us.

See you next week for The Inside Story.

Source: Voice of America

The World Meteorological Organization warns millions of people in the greater Horn of Africa will likely face a fifth consecutive season of insufficient rains. According to the U.N. weather agency the terrible four-year long drought in the Horn of Africa is set to continue for another year.

World Meteorological Organization spokeswoman Claire Nullis says the seasonal climate outlook for the region, which was issued Thursday, bears bad news for millions of people who already have suffered the longest drought in 40 years.

“The predictions show high chances of drier than average conditions across most parts of the region. In particular, the drought affected areas of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia are expected to receive significantly below rainfall until the end of the year.”

The WMO notes the October to December season contributes up to 70 percent of the annual total rainfall in the equatorial parts of the greater Horn of Africa, particularly in eastern Kenya. It says the lack of rain is likely to extend to parts of Eritrea, most of Uganda and Tanzania.

Last month humanitarian agencies and the regional bloc IGAD issued an alarming report about the growing number of people suffering from acute hunger in the region.

World Food Program spokesman Tomson Phiri says drought is not a new phenomenon in the Horn of Africa. However, he says what is happening now is more severe and is occurring with greater frequency.

“Hunger and malnutrition is worsening across all drought-affected areas. And there is a very real risk of famine in Somalia”, says Phiri. “I think this is well documented. This is on the record. It is in the public domain…No one has called for a famine now, but it does not mean it may not be declared in the coming months. It is very much a real threat.”

U.N agencies estimate more than 50 million people in the greater Horn of Africa suffer from acute food insecurity. The director of the WMO’s regional climate center for East Africa, Guleid Artan, warns the region is on the brink of an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.

Source: Voice of America

Big name entertainment providers like Netflix, Showmax and Paramount have been meeting African content creators this week at the Fame Week Africa conference in South Africa. The three-day conference, which ended Friday, was billed as the continent’s premier business conference for the creative and cultural sectors.

A local government official who declined to be named said numerous deals were being concluded on the floor – and predicted that Fame Week Africa would put Cape Town on the world map in terms of film events.

Countries like the United States, Canada and Kenya had government representation there, while businesses in film, TV, animation, music and entertainment technology had cubicles set up in the Cape Town International Convention Center.

Bonolo Madisakwane, the content distribution executive for Paramount Africa, was sitting in one of them.

“Next week is going to be a very busy week for me and my programming team,” she said. “We have received a lot of screeners. I’m very, very hopeful.”

She said Fame Week Africa was the biggest event of its kind in Africa since the COVID-19 lockdown and people have taken full advantage of it.

“Most of them I had pre-meetings already but quite a number of them, the minute they see me and I’ve got nobody sitting there with me, they just take a seat and they just pitch whatever it is that they want to pitch and they ask all the questions,” Bonolo said.

One man who was hoping to catch up with the likes of Bonolo was South African actor and social media influencer Ernest St. Clair, who has over 67,000 followers on Instagram. He stars in a new film, “2 Thirds of a Man.

“We shot this film in lockdown and it’s finally released and been picked up,” he said. “We are really hoping for it to be picked up by other channels like Showmax.”

Another participant, Canadian singer Domanique Grant, was there to promote her company that works with brands and artist management and development.

“We help to do everything from sponsoring vocal lessons to bringing them to major conferences so that they can get into the industry,” she said.

Having lived in Uganda, she’s also hoping to reach a wider African audience. She is also at the conference to promote her new album, “Queen/Dom.”

“‘Queen/Dom’ is about generational healing and self-love,” she said.

Jill Casserley, Africa sales manager for RX Global, which organized Fame Week Africa, said she believes there will be more events like this to come and that a lot of business was done at this one.

“I’m sure it will continue,” she said. “People are happy to be back to face-to-face meetings. I think they’re done with virtual markets.”

The event was sponsored by MIP Africa, the International Animation Festival, Muziki Africa, Media and Entertainment Solutions Africa and the city of Cape Town.

Source: Voice of America

The head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Friday that very few people in the United States have received a full series of monkeypox vaccinations.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said the large majority of Americans who received a first dose of the vaccine have yet to get their second dose, despite being eligible.

She told a White House briefing Friday that nearly 97% of the inoculations administered so far have been first doses.

Walensky said that while the vaccine was initially hard to get, supplies have now increased.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allowed for the vaccine to be injected in smaller doses to help stretch supplies.

The Biden administration says it has shipped enough vaccines to jurisdictions around the United States for at least 1.6 million doses.

CDC data show that about 10% of monkeypox vaccine doses have been given to Black people despite the fact that they account for one-third of U.S. cases.

The rate was compiled from 17 U.S. states and two cities.

Walensky said the CDC has taken measures to make the vaccine more accessible to Blacks and other minorities. She said vaccines and educational materials will be available at two upcoming events — Atlanta’s Black Pride festival and New Orleans’ Southern Decadence.

Walensky said the agency is starting to roll out such pilot projects and that “they are working.”

Most cases of monkeypox in the United States have occurred in gay men, but health officials have stressed that anyone can catch the virus.

More than 16,000 people have been infected with the virus in the United States, more than in any other country.

Walensky noted that the spread of the virus is falling in several major U.S. cities.

“We’re watching this with cautious optimism, and really hopeful that many of our harm-reduction messages and our vaccines are getting out there and working,” she said.

Across the United States, cases of monkeypox are still increasing. However, officials say the pace of the outbreak appears to be slowing.

On Thursday, the World Health Organization said global cases of monkeypox dropped 21% in the past week.

The WHO said cases appeared to be slowing in Europe but warned that infections in the Americas were on “a continuing steep rise.”

“In Latin America in particular, insufficient awareness or public health measures are combining with a lack of access to vaccines to fan the flames of the outbreak,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press briefing.

Monkeypox has been endemic in parts of Africa for decades, but since May, cases have been reported around the world.

The virus is typically spread by skin-to-skin contact with an infected person’s lesions. It can also be spread through contact with an infected person’s clothing or sheets.

Source: Voice of America

No sign of relief from ongoing rains and floods in Sudan as torrential rains caused the death of 22 people in Darfur and one person in northern Sudan. In South Darfur, 16,000 homes were completely destroyed.

The humanitarian disaster unfolding in Sudan due to ongoing torrential rains and floods is not showing many signs of improvement yet. In Darfur alone, 22 people died. A few days ago, the death toll from the floods in Sudan was 89.

South Darfur and El Gezira in eastern Sudan have been hit particularly hard so far.

In El Managil, in El Gezira, the the Sadagaat Charity Organisation reported that “despite the great efforts made to help our people affected by the floods in El Managil, the team of the Sadagaat Charity Organisation and several other parties, has not been able to reach the people in the area, because the floods destroyed a number of roads”.

“The heavy rainfall last night made the situation even worse,” the charity explained.

South Darfur

The South Darfur Civil Defence Department stated yesterday that the floods caused erosion and destruction of farms located near valleys in Beleil, Kass, Ed El Fursan, Gereida, Um Dafug, and El Radoom.

Acting South Darfur Governor Hamed Hanoun visited the affected areas. There, people demanded the state government declare the state a disaster area, as happened with El Managil in El Gezira, because of the tragic conditions in which those affected by the floods now have to live.

The destruction of farms and farmland is particularly worrying because Sudan’s agricultural season is already under threat and, with the economic crisis and rising inflation, Sudan’s food security is in peril.

Many farmers live in camps for the displaced after decades of violence and genocide against Darfuri farmers. Camps for the Darfuri displaced have been severely affected by flooding in Darfur and neighbouring Chad.

Kalma camp for the displaced has been affected particularly severely and the humanitarian conditions in the camp continue to deteriorate.

On Tuesday, floods caused by torrential rains swept through Kalma camp for the displaced, east of South Darfur’s capital Nyala, and destroyed a large number of homes of displaced people, who now have to live in the open.

The newly destroyed homes come on top of the roughly 7,500 homes destroyed the week before, which already affected 20,000 families. Most of those affected are without shelter or food.

With 300,000 residents, Kalma camp is one of the largest internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in the region.

In a statement yesterday, the camp leaders condemned “the failure of the Sudanese authorities and humanitarian organisations to remedy the situation in the camp, despite our repeated appeals since the start of the flood disaster”.

‘We condemn the failure of the Sudanese authorities and humanitarian organisations to remedy the situation in the camp, despite our repeated appeals since the start of the flood disaster’ – Kalma camp leaders

They also hold the government and organisations responsible for the deaths of several children because of malnutrition and for the spread of diseases resulting from the poor living conditions in the camp, where large areas have been swept away by rains and floods.

The General Coordinator of the Darfur Displaced People and Refugees, Yagoub Furi, already expressed his concern over the health effects of the stagnant water pools in Kalma camp last week.

Earlier this month, 2,322 children were reported as malnourished in Kalma camp and six died of malnutrition after the World Food Programme (WFP) had to suspend support.

North Darfur

As in South Darfur, Tuesday’s heavy rains severely affected Kabkabiya in North Darfur, which witnessed 79.3mm rainfall. The rains caused damage to many houses and government buildings and lead to death of livestock.

North Darfur’s capital El Fasher and other areas also witnessed floods.

The North Darfur department of the Humanitarian Aid Commission called on the federal government and national and international relief organisations to urgently intervene to contain the situation.

Northern Sudan

In northern Sudan, torrential rains and floods caused the death of a woman and cut off the highway to the Egyptian border (called the Artery of the North) in the vicinity of Sahaba in Northern State.

A listener told Radio Dabanga that the woman was seriously injured when a wall of her house collapsed due to the rain. She died while people tried to bring her to Dongola for medical treatment.

In northern part of Nile River state, the Rainy Season Emergency Room also reported torrential rains that caused great damage to villages the area of Abu Hamad, bordering Egypt.

Source: Radio Dabanga