SOLVE FSHD annonce la nomination de la Dre Eva Chin en tant que directrice exécutive et la structure de financement par « venture philanthropie »

VANCOUVER, Colombie-Britannique, 11 mai 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Suite au récent lancement acclamé de SOLVE FSHD, l’organisation a le plaisir d’annoncer officiellement la nomination de la Dre Eva Chin au poste de directrice exécutive. Le fondateur de SOLVE FSHD, Chip Wilson, a personnellement engagé 100 millions USD pour trouver un traitement contre la dystrophie musculaire facio-scapulo-humérale (FSHD), une maladie rare qui lui a été diagnostiquée à l’âge de 32 ans. En tant que première directrice exécutrice de SOLVE FSHD, la Dre Chin sera chargée d’aligner les objectifs de l’organisation avec l’expertise des chercheurs, des scientifiques et des entreprises afin de promouvoir et de financer la découverte et le développement de nouvelles thérapies pour lutter contre la FSHD.

« L’expérience et la spécialisation de la Dre Chin dans les maladies neuromusculaires rares ajoutent une immense valeur à notre organisation. Nous sommes ravis de profiter de son expertise et de ses conseils pour atteindre l’objectif de l’organisation consistant à trouver un remède pour la FSHD d’ici décembre 2027 », a déclaré Chip Wilson, fondateur de SOLVE FSHD. « Seulement quelques semaines après le lancement de l’organisation, l’appel de SOLVE FSHD en faveur de demandes de subvention qualifiées et de nouvelles technologies thérapeutiques a reçu une réponse exceptionnelle, et elles seront examinées sous la direction de la Dre Chin », a-t-il ajouté. « En outre, elle a travaillé sans relâche pour construire de solides alliances industrielles pour SOLVE FSHD, elle a évalué minutieusement les projets passionnants visant à financer et à faciliter les opportunités de financement collaboratif dans les secteurs académique et industriel de la recherche et le développement de médicaments contre la FSHD. »

La Dre Chin a obtenu son doctorat en physiologie à l’université de Waterloo au Canada et a suivi une formation post-doctorale à l’université de Sydney, en Australie et à l’U.T. Southwestern Medical Center, à Dallas, se concentrant sur le rôle du calcium intracellulaire dans la fatigue musculaire et la régulation transcriptionnelle de l’expression du gène dans la détermination du type de fibre musculaire et la plasticité musculaire.

« C’est un honneur pour moi de rejoindre l’équipe de SOLVE FSHD, afin de soutenir Chip et la famille Wilson dans notre mission visant à améliorer la qualité de vie des personnes touchées par des maladies neuromusculaires rares en finançant des projets de recherche qualifiés et des recherches précliniques et cliniques qui accéléreront la découverte d’un traitement pour la FSHD », a déclaré la Dre Eva Chin, directrice exécutive de SOLVE FSHD.

Au cours de sa carrière, la Dre Chin a travaillé dans les secteurs académique et pharmaceutique, avec des postes précédents chez Pfizer, à l’université du Maryland, ainsi que chez MyoTherapeutics, Cytokinetics et NMD Pharma. Chez Pfizer, Eva est passée de la recherche universitaire axée sur les mécanismes cellulaires et moléculaires de la fonction musculaire à la découverte et au développement de thérapies ciblant les muscles. Au cours des cinq dernières années, elle a dirigé le développement non clinique de nombreux médicaments candidats dans des essais cliniques portant sur la SLA, la SMA, la myasthénie grave et la cardiomyopathie hypertrophique.

Sous la direction de la Dre Chin, le modèle de financement par « venture philanthropie »  de SOLVE FSHD utilisera stratégiquement l’engagement financier de Wilson pour soutenir les subventions initiales, les investissements dans des jeunes entreprises axées sur la FSHD et inciter les compagnies pharmaceutiques dans le domaine des maladies neuromusculaires à se concentrer davantage sur la FSHD. Le modèle de « venture philanthropie » permettra à l’organisation d’être financièrement autonome grâce au retour sur investissements. Les investissements dans des opportunités de recherche viables, malgré un risque élevé, peuvent générer un flux continu de réinvestissement dans l’organisation pour soutenir davantage les initiatives de financement par subventions.

« Pour profiter des récentes avancées dans le domaine des thérapies génétiques, SOLVE FSHD a construit une plateforme de financement créative afin de faciliter le développement de traitements qui ralentissent, arrêtent ou inversent rapidement la faiblesse de la FSHD », a déclaré le Dr John Day, MD, Ph.D., directeur du programme de médecine neuromusculaire de l’université de Stanford. « Le fait que quelqu’un possédant l’expérience et les compétences de la Dre Eva Chin rejoigne SOLVE FSHD est essentiel pour établir le programme scientifiquement rigoureux nécessaire pour définir et valider des traitements sûrs et efficaces le plus rapidement possible », a déclaré le Dr John Day, MD, Ph.D., médecine neuromusculaire, Stanford Neuroscience Health Center.

À propos de SOLVE FSHD
SOLVE FSHD finance des activités de recherche et de développement biotechnologiques et biopharmaceutiques innovantes qui accélèrent les nouveaux traitements contre la dystrophie musculaire facio-scapulo-humérale (FSHD). L’initiative est entièrement financée et créée par l’entrepreneur et philanthrope canadien Chip Wilson. Le fondateur de la société de vêtements d’athlétisme inspirés par le yoga Lululemon Athletica Inc. souffre de FSHD depuis trois décennies. Il a consacré 100 millions de dollars de son propre argent pour créer SOLVE FSHD et lancer un financement dans des projets qui correspondent à la mission de l’organisation : accélérer la recherche sur de nouvelles thérapies et trouver un remède contre la maladie d’ici 2027.

Les prochaines annonces de financement de subventions seront publiées sur le site Web de SOLVE FSHD – https://solvefshd.com/Pour les entreprises en phase de démarrage, contacter SOLVE FSHD à l’adresse info@solvefshd.com.

Si vous êtes atteint(e) de FSHD et souhaitez en savoir plus sur les essais cliniques ou être inclus(e) dans le registre FSHD, veuillez consulter le site Web de SOLVE FSHD – https://solvefshd.com/

Pour toute demande d’ordre médiatique ou d’entretien à des fins médiatiques, veuillez contacter :
Kamran Shaikh, directeur de compte
PR Associates
kshaikh@prassociates.com
778-846-5406

Une photo accompagnant cette annonce est disponible à l’adresse https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0e87aacb-92f4-4723-9e7e-e24021cff5f7

Synchronoss Finalizes Agreement with iQmetrix to Divest Digital Experience Platform and Activation Solutions

BRIDGEWATER, N.J., May 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Synchronoss Technologies, Inc. (“Synchronoss” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: SNCR), a global leader and innovator in cloud, messaging and digital products and platforms, today announced the successful completion of the sale of its Digital Experience Platform (“DXP”) and Activation Solutions (“Activation”) to iQmetrix, a leading provider of telecom retail management software. The divestiture was formally announced on March 8, 2022.

“The sale of DXP and Activation is part of our strategic plan to create a leaner business model that focuses on our core growth areas for the future,” said Jeff Miller, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Synchronoss. “Closing this deal is favorable for Synchronoss’s long-term product focus areas. It provides us with operating flexibility to improve our capital structure and to accelerate the development of new product offerings in our key areas such as our cloud portfolio.”

“As a trusted provider of intelligent retail management software, iQmetrix is the natural acquirer of choice for the Digital Experience Platform and Activation Solutions,” said Ryan Volberg, President and Chief Executive Officer of iQmetrix. “We’re very excited as this supports our plans to be the number one enabler of personal connected devices globally. In such a relentlessly changing industry, this is the next big step of many that we’re excited to take to help us create great experiences in the telecom space.”

The DXP and Activation offerings enable telecom operators and retailers around the globe to create, orchestrate and manage digital experiences across all channels. Following the sale, the Synchronoss digital business portfolio includes its Financial Analytics and spatialSUITE products as well as the iNow Platform.

About Synchronoss
Synchronoss Technologies (Nasdaq: SNCR) builds software that empowers companies around the world to connect with their subscribers in trusted and meaningful ways. The company’s collection of products helps streamline networks, simplify onboarding, and engage subscribers to unleash new revenue streams, reduce costs and increase speed to market. Hundreds of millions of subscribers trust Synchronoss products to stay in sync with the people, services, and content they love. That’s why more than 1,500 talented Synchronoss employees worldwide strive each day to reimagine a world in sync. Learn more at www.synchronoss.com.

Media Relations Contact:
Domenick Cilea
Springboard
dcilea@springboardpr.com

Investor Relations Contact:
Matt Glover / Tom Colton
Gateway Group, Inc.
SNCR@gatewayir.com

Reuters s’associe à la plateforme d’automatisation Sophi.io de The Globe and Mail

TORONTO, 11 mai 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sophi.io, une plateforme d’automatisation, d’optimisation et de prédiction basée sur l’IA développée par The Globe and Mail, travaille désormais avec Reuters, la division actualités et médias de Thomson Reuters, alors qu’elle continue d’investir dans les dernières solutions d’IA pour sa salle de rédaction. Sophi aide à automatiser la curation de contenu sur certaines sections de Reuters.com, qui a été relancée en avril 2021.

Sophi Site Automation est un système d’IA qui gère de manière autonome le contenu numérique pour trouver et promouvoir le contenu le plus attrayant d’une organisation. Sophi examine tout le contenu tel qu’il est publié, et tout le trafic, pour trouver les joyaux cachés que les clients d’une organisation apprécient le plus.

Afin d’automatiser la curation du contenu, l’algorithme de Sophi a appris auprès des rédacteurs de Reuters. La salle de rédaction a été en mesure de travailler avec certaines des dernières solutions d’IA, ce qui a permis aux rédacteurs de se concentrer sur la recherche de la prochaine histoire et de créer le journalisme qui fait de Reuters une marque si réputée.

Josh London, responsable de Reuters Professional et directeur du marketing de Reuters, a déclaré : « La plateforme d’IA de pointe de Sophi est l’une des prochaines étapes de l’évolution de nos propriétés numériques. Sophi nous aidera à poursuivre notre mission consistant à apporter des technologies et des outils basés sur l’IA à davantage d’employés, tout en aidant à apporter à nos lecteurs les histoires qu’ils veulent et ont besoin de connaître. »

Michael Young, directeur de la technologie chez Reuters, a déclaré : « Notre partenariat avec Sophi.io est un autre exemple de la manière dont une salle de rédaction comme la nôtre peut déployer avec succès certaines des dernières solutions d’IA pour une découverte de contenu efficace.Notre équipe a travaillé en étroite collaboration avec celle de Sophi pour garantir que notre score Sophi reflète nos objectifs commerciaux et nous sommes ravis de l’automatisation du site qui en résulte. »

Mike O’Neill, cofondateur et PDG de Sophi.io, a ajouté : « Nous sommes ravis d’accueillir Reuters en tant que client. Ils font confiance à Sophi et nous sommes ravis d’automatiser la curation sur l’ensemble de leurs pages d’articles afin de commencer et d’étendre la relation pour inclure davantage de solutions à l’avenir. »

« C’est formidable de travailler avec Reuters dans ce contexte », a déclaré Phillip Crawley, éditeur et PDG de The Globe and Mail. « Ils ont une mission forte et Sophi.io les aide à continuer de démontrer comment l’intégrité éditoriale peut être soutenue par l’IA. »

À propos de Reuters
Reuters est le premier fournisseur mondial d’actualités, d’informations et d’analyses de confiance, atteignant des milliards de personnes dans le monde chaque jour. Fondée en 1851, elle réunit un journalisme de classe mondiale, une expertise industrielle et une technologie de pointe avec une vitesse, une fiabilité et une précision inégalées pour permettre aux gens de prendre de meilleures décisions. Reuters s’engage à respecter les principes de confiance d’indépendance, d’intégrité et d’absence de parti pris, et est la source essentielle d’actualités commerciales, financières et mondiales fournies aux professionnels de la finance exclusivement via les services Refinitiv, ainsi qu’aux organisations médiatiques, aux événements du secteur et directement aux consommateurs du monde entier.

À propos de Sophi.io
Sophi.io (https://www.sophi.io) a été développée par The Globe and Mail pour aider les éditeurs de contenu à prendre des décisions stratégiques et tactiques importantes. Il s’agit d’une suite de solutions d’automatisation, d’optimisation et de prévision basées sur l’IA et l’AM qui comprend Sophi Site Automation, Sophi for Paywall et Sophi for First Party Data. Sophi permet également la mise en page automatisée en un clic de l’édition imprimée sans modèle. Sophi vise à améliorer les mesures qui comptent le plus pour votre entreprise, telles que la rétention et l’acquisition d’abonnés, l’engagement, la récence, la fréquence et le volume.

Nous contacter
Kayley Rogers
Responsable des communications
Reuters
Kayley.rogers@thomsonreuters.com

Jamie Rubenovitch
Resonsable marketing, Sophi.io
The Globe and Mail        
jrubenovitch@globeandmail.com
416-585-3355

Reuters faz parceria com a Plataforma de Automação Sophi.io da The Globe and Mail

TORONTO, May 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — A Sophi.io, uma plataforma de automação, otimização e previsão alimentada por IA desenvolvida pela The Globe and Mail, está trabalhando com a Reuters – divisão de notícias e mídia da Thomson Reuters – enquanto continua investindo nas mais recentes soluções de IA para sua redação. A Sophi está ajudando a automatizar a curadoria de conteúdo em seções selecionadas na Reuters.com, que foi relançada em abril de 2021.

Sophi Site Automation organiza autonomamente conteúdo digital para encontrar e promover os artigos de conteúdos cativantes. Sophi analisa todo o conteúdo quando publicado e todo o tráfego, para encontrar o que os clientes de uma organização mais valorizam.

Para automatizar a curadoria de conteúdo, o algoritmo da Sophi está aprendendo com os editores da Reuters. A redação conseguiu trabalhar com algumas das mais recentes soluções de IA, resultando em mais tempo para editores se concentrarem em encontrar a próxima história e criar o jornalismo que torna a Reuters uma marca tão confiável.

Josh London, Diretor Profissional e Diretor de Marketing da Reuters, disse: “A plataforma de IA de ponta da Sophi é um dos próximos passos na evolução das nossas propriedades digitais. A Sophi nos ajudará a promover a nossa missão de levar a tecnologia e as ferramentas com base em IA para a nossa equipe de trabalho, ao mesmo tempo em que ajudará a levar aos nossos leitores as histórias que eles querem e precisam saber.”

Michael Young, Diretor de Tecnologia da Reuters, disse: “Nossa parceria com a Sophi.io é outro exemplo de como uma redação como a nossa pode implantar com sucesso algumas das mais recentes soluções de IA para a descoberta eficaz de conteúdo. A nossa equipe trabalhou em estreita colaboração com a equipe da Sophi para garantir que a pontuação da Sophi refletisse nossas metas de negócios. Estamos satisfeitos com a automação resultante do site.”

Mike O’Neill, cofundador e CEO da Sophi.io, acrescentou: “É um grande prazer ter a Reuters como cliente. Eles depositaram a confiança na Sophi e estamos empolgados em automatizar a curadoria em todas as páginas de artigos para iniciar e expandir o relacionamento para incluir mais soluções no futuro.”

“É muito bom trabalhar com a Reuters assim”, disse Phillip Crawley, Editor e CEO da The Globe and Mail. “Eles têm uma missão forte e a Sophi.io está viabilizando que eles continuem a demonstrar como a integridade editorial pode ser apoiada pela IA.”

Sobre a Reuters
A Reuters é a principal provedora mundial de notícias, insights e análises confiáveis, atingindo bilhões de pessoas diariamente em todo o mundo. Fundada em 1851, ela reúne jornalismo de classe mundial, experiência da indústria e tecnologia de ponta com velocidade, confiabilidade e precisão incomparáveis para permitir que as pessoas tomem melhores decisões. A Reuters está comprometida com os Princípios de Confiança de independência, integridade e liberdade de preconceitos, e é a fonte essencial de notícias de negócios, financeiras e mundiais entregues a profissionais financeiros exclusivamente através dos serviços Refinitiv, e às organizações de mídia do mundo, eventos da indústria e diretamente aos consumidores.

Sobre a Sophi.io
A Sophi.io (https://www.sophi.io) foi desenvolvida pela The Globe and Mail para ajudar os editores de conteúdo a tomar decisões estratégicas e táticas importantes. A empresa oferece um conjunto de soluções de automação, otimização e previsão com base em IA e ML, incluindo Sophi Site Automation, Sophi for Paywalls e Sophi for First Party Data. A Sophi também capacita o laydown automatizado de um clique da publicação impressa sem modelos. A Sophi foi projetada para aprimorar as métricas que mais importam para sua empresa, como retenção e aquisição de assinantes, engajamento, recentidade, frequência e volume.

Contato EUA
Kayley Rogers
Gerente de Comunicações
Reuters
Kayley.rogers@thomsonreuters.com

Jamie Rubenovitch
Dirigente de Marketing, Sophi.io
The Globe and Mail        
jrubenovitch@globeandmail.com
416-585-3355

Bridging Technology and Education: UNESCO and Huawei Deliver Campus UNESCO for Young People in 20 countries

SHENZHEN, China, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — UNESCO and Huawei have to date run ten Campus UNESCO sessions, focusing on technology and education and reaching students from 39 schools in 21 countries.

Campus UNESCO is an ongoing program that gives young people aged 14 to 18 the chance to share views with experts from UNESCO and civil society. The topics discussed in each 90-minute session in either English or French are linked to major UNESCO themes such as education, artificial intelligence, sustainable development, gender equality, and citizenship.

One of the campus real-time screenshot

Huawei has been partnering with UNESCO on the program since June 2021. The sessions have covered a wide variety of topics, including the relationship between technology and education, new technologies for today and tomorrow, and how technology can be used for good. Topics relevant to current issues that rose on the global agenda when the pandemic closed school doors in 2020 were especially welcomed by the students, including the changes brought to schools that either have or lack technology, and the necessity of physical schools when everything can be found on the Internet.

“We believe the SDG and COVID challenges are incredible ingredients for innovation,” said Dr. Valtencir Mendes, Senior Programme Specialist, UNESCO at one of the campuses.

Other issues of focus during campus sessions have been the value of digital skills and new behaviors to prevent cyberbullying, a threat that is on the rise for many teenagers in an increasingly digital world where social media is prevalent and when young people are outside the classroom.

Sharing their experiences and views with expert speakers can raise awareness among young people, not just about how new technologies will impact today and tomorrow, but the role that today’s teenagers can have in shaping the future.

The campus in French language real-time screenshot

As well as UNESCO experts, other speakers include inspirational people from the organization’s networks, such as NGOs, IGOs, startups, spanning a wide range of roles, including scientists, researchers, and local development project managers.

Aligned with the aims of Campus UNESCO, Huawei and UNESCO are also partnering on the “Technology-enabled Open Schools for All” project, the implementation phase of which was launched in 2021 in Ghana, Egypt, and Ethiopia. The three-year project is supporting the construction of resilient education systems that can withstand global disruptions such as COVID-19. In addition to connecting schools, the project is providing training for teachers and students in the use of digital tools, establishing online platforms to link school and home learning, and developing digital curricula that can be accessed remotely.

The “Technology-enabled Open Schools for All” project is aligned with the Tech4Education domain of Huawei’s digital inclusion initiative TECH4ALL, which aims to drive education equity and quality with technology under the major aim of TECH4ALL: to leave no one behind in the digital world.

View the series on the Huawei TECH4ALL official website:

https://www.huawei.com/en/tech4all/stories/bridging-technology-education-campus-unesco

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1815498/image_1.jpg

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1815499/image_2.jpg

Analysts Question Fairness of Planned Trials for Guinea’s Ex-President and Colleagues

WASHINGTON — Analysts say plans by Guinea’s transitional military government to prosecute former president Alpha Condé and 26 of his top officials will likely be marred by doubts over the fairness of their trials.

A 2019 Afrobarometer survey revealed that over 90% of Guineans consider the judiciary to be corrupt.

Additionally, Jesper Bjarnesen, a senior researcher at Denmark-based Nordic Africa Institute, told VOA that this trial is arguably a diversion.

”There are legitimate charges against the former president,” he said, but added ”I think that a transitional government has the primary task to work towards free and fair elections.”

As for judicial credibility, Bjarnesen said, “I am not sure that a temporary transitional government is the best facilitator of a legal process against the former president” and his cadre.

”There might be room for reconstitution of the judiciary with the military takeover, but that’s still a very slim hope in a system where there’s systematic abuse of power,” Bjarnesen said. “What’s more likely,” he said, “is that you’ll have new people in power making use of a dysfunctional system.”

Condé was ousted by the military last year and placed under house arrest, which the military regime lifted on April 22. But it’s clear he is not free to leave the country.

Charges filed against Conde and the others include acts of violence while in office, complicity in murder, and assault to destruction of property. Other charges include detention, torture, rapes, kidnapping, disappearances, other sexual abuse, and looting.

Alix Boucher, at the Washington-based Africa Center for Strategic Studies, told VOA she doubts the interest of the military junta in ”upholding justice’,” noting that the junta’s suspension of the constitution since the September 2021 coup would make such trials “highly ironic.”

Guineans are “still waiting for those responsible for the massacre and mass rapes committed by the previous junta at the stadium in Conakry in September 2009 to be prosecuted,” she added. “The lack of confidence that such trials would be free and fair reflects Guinea’s weak legacy of independent oversight institutions, even under Condé.”

Boucher said that the junta’s timeline for prosecuting Condé and the 26 others suggests it is set on hanging onto power. The military recently said it needed 39 months to transition back to civilian rule, refuting demands by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to do it much sooner.

“Such pronouncements [by the military regime] lack credibility and obscure the essential takeaway that the junta has no plans to relinquish power on its own,” Boucher said.

Guinea has a long legacy of military and authoritarian governments. But 77% of Guineans prefer democracy to any other regime and want two-term limits for the presidency, according to the Afrobarometer survey.

”Therefore, the junta’s aim to hold power is a direct effort to undermine Guinean’s deeply held aspirations for a democratic government,” Boucher said.

Source: Voice of America

Nigerian Christian Student Accused of Blasphemy Killed by Mob

KANO, NIGERIA — Muslim students in northwest Nigerian city of Sokoto on Thursday stoned a Christian student to death and burned her corpse after accusing her of blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad, police said.

Dozens of Muslim students of Shehu Shagari College of Education went on rampage after fellow student Deborah Samuel made a statement on social media that they considered offensive against the Prophet Muhammad, Sanusi Abubakar, a Sokoto police spokesperson said in a statement.

The “students forcefully removed the victim from the security room where she was hidden by the school authorities, killed her and burnt the building,” Abubakar said.

He said the students “banded together with miscreants” and blocked the highway outside the school before police teams dispersed them.

Abubakar said two suspects had been arrested.

Sokoto is among a dozen northern states where the strict Islamic legal system or Sharia is in operation.

State information commissioner Isah Bajini Galadanci in a statement confirmed the “unfortunate incident … in which a student at the college lost her life.”

A student who gave his name as Babangida, accused the murdered student of posting “the offensive remark on a students’ Whatsapp group which everyone saw.”

“Muslim students in the school who were infuriated by her insult mobilized and beat her to death,” he said.

His account was supported by three other students.

Footage from the rampage was shared on social media, and police said all suspects identified in the video would be arrested.

The state government has ordered the immediate closure of the school with a view to determining “the remote and immediate causes of the incident.”

Blasphemy in Islam, especially against the prophet, attracts death penalty under Sharia, which operates alongside common law in the region.

Two Muslims were separately sentenced to death in 2015 and 2020 by Sharia courts for blasphemy against the prophet.

But the cases are still on appeal.

In many cases, the accused are killed by mobs without going through the legal process.

Last year, a mob in Darazo district in northeastern Bauchi state burned to death a man accused of insulting the prophet.

In 2016, a 74-year-old Christian trader, Bridget Agbahime was beaten to death by a Muslim mob outside her shop in Kano after accusing her of insulting the prophet.

Source: Voice of America

Residents of Ethiopia’s World Heritage Site Struggle to Recover

LALIBELA, ETHIOPIA — The rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, cut and hollowed out by hand into monolithic structures, have stood for almost 900 years, it is thought. Last year, however, the U.N. expressed “serious concern” for their future as Lalibela became a battleground in Ethiopia’s civil war.

During the conflict, the town changed hands at least five times, among forces from the Tigray region and the federal government and allied militias.

Beyene Abate is the chief receptionist at Lalibela’s Top 12 Hotel. He says the hotel was ransacked and used as a field hospital by forces from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front during the occupation. They were able to reopen only two weeks ago, after the cleanup.

“The main problem is hydroelectric power, water supply. Even the road was not yet finished,” Abate said. “The contract was with the Chinese people. They take all the machines, the TPLF soldiers. Because of that, many tourists are not coming here. Just a few tourists came by airplane.”

It could have been worse. The hotel next door was hit by an Ethiopian government drone strike after TPLF forces occupied it, residents say.

Inside that hotel, the windows have been blown out, shattered glass covers the floor, along with other debris.

The town’s economy relies on Ethiopians’ pilgrimages and the international tourism that has sprung up around the churches. The combined effects of COVID-19 and the conflict mean visitor numbers have plummeted in the last two years. The town is struggling to recover. There is no electricity and access to water was severely affected.

Dinku Fente, who sells souvenirs to tourists outside one of Lalibela’s churches, says earning a living under the TPLF was tough.

Fente said the war totally froze his business, explaining that, during the conflict, no one even dared to try to sell souvenirs and religious books at the market because they were too scared. “The TPLF soldiers would steal any money you made anyway, so we chose to just stay away,” he added.

Local tour guide Ayalew Abey said his business shut down during the conflict too. Now, he is finding it nearly impossible to recover.

Abey said, “Before this case happened, almost every two, three days there was the chance to work as a tour guide. But, for the last three years, nothing at all. All the things are blocked or closed. No one is working properly here.

Lazare Eloundou Assomo, an official with the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said the agency plans to support the city of Lalibela.

Assomo said, “Our major concern is the communities who are living at the site, who are caring about the site, who are caring about this important world heritage site, to manage the site and continue using it the way they have been using it, the way they have been doing since many, many centuries.”

According to Assomo, a UNESCO delegation is due to visit Lalibela at the end of the month to assess the type of support that is needed.

Source: Voice of America

18.5 Million Nigerian Children Are Out of School, UNICEF Says

KANO, NIGERIA — About 18.5 million children, the majority of whom are girls, do not have access to education in Nigeria, a figure up sharply compared with 2021, the U.N children’s fund says.

Last year, UNICEF estimated that 10.5 million children were out of school in Africa’s most populous country.

“Currently in Nigeria, there are 18.5 million out-of-school children, 60% of whom are girls,” Rahama Farah, the head of the UNICEF office in Kano, told reporters Wednesday.

The numerous attacks on schools by jihadists and criminal gangs in the north have particularly harmed children’s education, Farah said.

“These attacks have created a precarious learning environment, discouraged parents and guardians from sending their children to school,” Farah said.

Since the 2014 Boko Haram abduction of 200 schoolgirls from the northeastern town of Chibok, dozens of schools have been targeted in similar mass abductions.

Last year, around 1,500 students were kidnapped by armed men, according to UNICEF. While most of the young hostages have since been released for ransom, some still remain in captivity in forests, where armed groups hide out.

In the predominantly Muslim north, Farah said, only one in four girls from “poor and rural families” completes middle school. Insecurity, he stressed, “emphasizes gender inequalities.”

Mass violence and kidnapping have forced the authorities to close more than 11,000 schools in the country since December 2020, according to UNICEF.

The U.N. agency has since warned of an increase in reported cases of child marriage and early pregnancy.

Source: Voice of America