Day: June 13, 2022

British health officials have detected another 104 cases of monkeypox in England in what has become the biggest outbreak beyond Africa of the normally rare disease.

The U.K.’s Health Security Agency said Monday there were now 470 cases of monkeypox across the country, with the vast majority in gay or bisexual men. Scientists warn that anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, is susceptible to catching monkeypox if they are in close, physical contact with an infected person or their clothing or bed sheets.

According to U.K. data, 99% of the cases so far have been in men and most are in London.

In May, a leading adviser to the World Health Organization said the monkeypox outbreak in Europe and beyond was likely spread by sex at two recent raves in Spain and Belgium.

Last week, WHO said 1,285 cases of monkeypox had been reported from 28 countries where monkeypox was not known to be endemic. No deaths have been reported outside of Africa. After the U.K., the biggest numbers of cases have been reported in Spain, Germany and Canada.

WHO said many people in the outbreak have “atypical features” of the disease which could make it more difficult for doctors to diagnose. The U.N. health agency also said while close contact can spread monkeypox, “it is not clear what role sexual bodily fluids, including semen and vaginal fluids, play in the transmission.”

Meanwhile, countries in Africa have reported more than 1,500 suspected cases including 72 deaths from eight countries. Monkeypox is considered endemic in Central and West Africa.

Source: Voice of America

Botswana is hosting an anti-corruption conference (June 13-14) led by the African Union and the International Monetary Fund. The IMF said the COVID pandemic has underscored the need for good governance.

IMF deputy managing director Antoinette Sayeh said the continent faces increasing challenges in fighting corruption particularly due to the COVID-19 crisis.

“Of course, corruption has long been an issue,” Sayeh said. “But today as we face multiple crises at once – the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the ongoing challenges of climate change and the security situation in the Sahel – the need for good governance has only become more urgent.”

Sayeh said countries with strong economic institutions respond better to the new challenges and prepare for a resilient recovery.

She said the IMF has stepped up anti-corruption efforts to ensure accountability during the pandemic.

“Countries receiving IMF emergency financing must commit to transparency and accountability safeguards,” Sayeh said. “This included publishing COVID-19 related procurement contracts — including beneficial ownership of companies, conducting and publishing audits and detailed reporting on COVID spending. In cases of severe governance weaknesses, we work with authorities to ensure remedies would be taken.”

Africa Union commission department director Djamel Ghrib said there is a need for the continent to utilize technology to fight corruption.

“Corruption however does not seem to be moving and Africa remains the region most affected by this scourge,” Ghrib said. “We should all take advantage of the fourth revolution’s impact and wave of element of trust that it has brought to our life. The opportunity of digitization to curb corruption is here and we need to take advantage.”

Transparency International notes that while technology is now available to help uncover corruption, the lack of a supporting legal framework, among other things, hampers progress.

Botswana’s Ministry of Finance secretary for development and budget, Olesitse Masimega says corruption undermines development in most African countries.

“I need to mention the possibility of weak governance and corruption scaring foreign investors and potential business partners that could support economic expansion and modernization, or at worst attracting the wrong kind that would perpetuate the bad outcomes for the economy and society,” Masimega said.

Despite commitments made by leaders in Africa in 2018 to fight corruption, sub-Saharan African remains the world’s lowest scoring region on the International Transparency Corruption Perception Index.

Source: Voice of America

Despite global efforts to curb plastic use, sub-Saharan Africa is predicted to see a six-fold increase in plastic use by 2060, said the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

In South Africa, one man is trying to make a difference by creating jobs and transforming plastic waste into outdoor furniture and playgrounds.

It may look like timber, but the long, chocolate-brown planks used to construct a dining set are made of recycled plastic.

Hudson Diphofa started his business building with these planks at his home in the township of Katlehong, after he lost his job during the coronavirus pandemic.

He said it has created employment for himself and two other staff and contributes to environmental protection.

“It is safe to do the recycling so that we can save our environment because the animals, they won’t die from those plastics and everything, our dams they won’t be dirty, so I think that’s the way to save our community,” Diphofa said.

The 34-year-old now gets regular orders for outdoor furniture and playgrounds.

South Africa is one of the world’s top countries for recycling plastic, capturing about 45% of its plastic waste.

At the Tufflex Plastic Products recycling plant in Johannesburg, durable and sustainable faux timber is being made with plastics that are too low in quality to be reused for packaging or other materials.

Recyclers say it’s extending the lifespan of plastic used in everyday life.

Charles Muller is with Tufflex Plastic Products.

“When you wake up in the morning, you will touch or interact with plastic more than 100 times before you get into the office,” Muller said. “And that’s turning on the light switch to your toothpaste. The problem we have with plastic is it’s visible and it pollutes — not plastic pollutes — people pollute.”

The economic incentive for recycling plastic has given rise to an informal waste picking industry.

People gather and separate materials to sell to recyclers, providing them with income.

But the informality of the business means waste pickers don’t have access to all neighborhoods or industrial areas, so the material ends up as litter or in landfills.

Luyanda Hlatshwayo reclaims waste.

“Because South Africa is such a disposing country, there’s plastic everywhere for us to collect,” Hlatshwayo said. “There’s no proper structure that fight against the redirecting of plastic from going to the environment.”

Globally, 460 million metric tons of plastic are used annually, half of which is for packaging.

That’s set to triple by 2060, with a six-fold increase in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a new report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

And recycling is not keeping up, capturing only 9 percent of plastic waste globally.

Which is why environmentalists say reducing plastic consumption — especially non-essential packaging — is necessary.

Lorren de Kock is with the World Wildlife Fund.

“In Africa, there’s lack of financial capacity, human capacity to collect this waste efficiently, and so recycling is a problem,” de Kock said. “This needs to be looked at by businesses and government, because we need to change the default and the normalization of just offering consumers plastic continuously.”

Even with a reduction in plastic use, there would still be plenty of recycled material for creators like Diphofa to transform for new uses.

Source: Voice of America

Clashes in Sudan’s Darfur between Arab and non-Arab groups have killed more than 100 people, adding to a toll of hundreds in the region over recent months.

The latest fighting broke out last week between the Arab Rizeigat and non-Arab Gimir tribes in the district of Kolbus, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) from El Geneina, the capital of the West Darfur state.

It started as a land dispute between two people, one from the Rizeigat and another from the Gimir, before morphing into broader violence involving other members from both tribes.

“The fighting has so far killed 117 people and left 17 villages burnt,” including three Monday, Ibrahim Hashem, a leader in the ethnic African Gimir tribe, told AFP by phone.

Hashem said the deaths counted so far were largely among the Gimir tribe. He added that “many people” from his tribe have gone missing since the violence broke out and was continuing.

It was not immediately clear how many were killed among the Arab tribe.

The latest violence highlighted a broader security breakdown in Darfur which was exacerbated by last year’s military coup led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

The October coup derailed a fragile transition put in place following the 2019 ouster of President Omar al-Bashir.

In April alone, more than 200 people were killed in clashes between an Arab community and the non-Arab Massalit minority in the Krink area of West Darfur.

The United Nations estimated 125,000 people were displaced in that unrest.

A month earlier, fighting in South Darfur between the ethnic Fallata and the Arab Rizeigat tribes killed at least 45 people.

On Monday, U.N. special representative Volker Perthes said he was “appalled” by the violence in Kolbus.

“The cycle of violence in Darfur is unacceptable & highlights root causes that must be addressed,” he said on Twitter.

Perthes called on the fighting sides to “de-escalate.”

Sudan’s western Darfur region was ravaged by a bitter civil war that erupted in 2003.

The conflict pitted ethnic minority rebels who complained of discrimination against the Arab-dominated government of then-President Bashir.

Khartoum responded by unleashing the Janjaweed, mainly recruited from Arab pastoralist tribes, who were blamed for atrocities including murder, rape, looting and burning villages.

The scorched-earth campaign left 300,000 people dead and displaced 2.5 million, according to the United Nations.

Many Janjaweed have since been integrated into the feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, de facto deputy leader of Sudan, according to rights groups.

In 2020, Sudan signed a peace deal with key rebel groups including those from Darfur.

The main conflict has subsided over the years, but the region remains awash with weapons and deadly clashes often erupt over access to pasture or water.

Source: Voice of America