The Council today adopted an assistance measure under the European Peace Facility (EPF) worth €15 million to the benefit of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. The objective of this assistance measure is to support Mauritania’s land and maritime surveillance and deterrence capacities.

This support seeks to enhance the protection of the national territory and territorial waters of Mauritania. It will also help fight illegal activities at sea which have the potential to undermine the security and authority of Mauritania, thereby contributing to keep Mauritania stable, and provide better security conditions for the civilian population in the country and in the region. 

Concretely, the EPF support will provide individual protective equipment, medical equipment, multi-purpose aeronautical equipment and a patrol boat.

Today’s decision responds to a request made by the Mauritanian authorities and demonstrates the European Union’s commitment to continue its strong and comprehensive partnership with Mauritania. 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Council of the European Union.

On July 19, 2024, Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Affairs of the Foreign Ministry Xue Bing, upon invitation, attended the reception celebrating the 30th anniversary of the liberation of Rwanda held by the Embassy of Rwanda in China, and delivered a speech.

Xue Bing congratulated Rwanda on the 30th anniversary of its liberation and said in recent years, President Xi Jinping and President Paul Kagame have steered the course of China-Rwanda relations in the new era. The two countries have deepened political mutual trust, conducted fruitful cooperation in various fields and enjoyed increasingly close people-to-people exchanges. China is ready to continue to work with Rwanda to jointly pursue development and revitalization and make new contributions to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

Rwandan Ambassador to China James Kimonyo spoke highly of bilateral relations, thanked China for its strong support for Rwanda’s development, appreciated China’s practical and efficient cooperation based on the national conditions of African countries through the Belt and Road Initiative and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation mechanism, and praised China-Africa cooperation with mutual respect, equal treatment and win-win results.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China.

From improved cookstoves, and tree-planting to roadworks, communities in Nwoya District, northern Uganda, are taking a long hard look at how climate change is impacting their lives and identifying solutions that will bring the most benefits for the largest number of people. Perhaps not surprisingly, the local school children are the focus and primary beneficiary of many of their efforts.

Akello Lucy Okot is a mother to four and a teacher at a local secondary school in Nwoya District. She’s had a front-row seat on some of the recent changes made with a Performance-Based Climate Resilience Grant received from the UN Capital Development Fund that was used to introduce improved cooking stoves in the school.

“Students have learned about the technology which the school hopes they will appreciate in their homes,” said Ms. Okot, explaining that children have learned about the negative environmental impacts of tree-cutting for cooking fuel and the negative effects of breathing wood smoke at close quarters with the hope that they take these lessons to their families and trigger many families in the community to reassess the fuel they use to cook the family meals.

“The project should be expanded in the other schools. Using large amounts of firewood for cooking leads to massive tree cutting and degrading [of the] environment,” Ms Okot added.

The improved cookstoves are just one of a series of actions being taken in Nwoya District, where the local government is implementing the UNCDF’s Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) – a mechanism for channelling finance to local governments for locally-led adaptation to climate change.

In Uganda, funding from the European Union, Belgium, Denmark, and Sweden, as well as the NDC Partnership, has enabled four districts to begin work on 12 resilience-building investments working through the Uganda ministries of local government, finance and planning, and economic development.

LoCAL uses performance-based climate resilience grants to boost local-level access to finance to invest in resilience building. But it’s the community themselves that identify the actions to be taken through a series of consultations and planning meetings. In Nwoya District – a region where many families rely on subsistence farming – the community’s children are the focal point for most of the activities that have been planned.

As well as the improved cookstoves, the community also elected to undertake a programme of tree planting around some of the school buildings. The trees, when mature, will help to protect the school buildings from high winds that have damaged some of the children’s classrooms in recent storms as well as provide much-needed shade for the pupils and fruits from that tress that will be used in the school feeding programme.

Ogonyi and Akago River crossing, a local road and culvert in Anaka Subcounty, has also been improved to make it more resilient to flooding, which besets the region on an increasingly regular basis. The improved road will make it easier for children to walk to school and easier for them and their families to access other social services, such as hospitals.

“Too much rain during raining season affects children going to school,” said Jacky Abalo, a mother of four and a local community leader. “Also, health services [are affected] – especially expectant women going to the hospital, and lack of market access for farmers.”

Some local parents have also seen their incomes boosted by taking short-term work opportunities as construction workers on the climate resilience-building projects. Ronald Ochen is 24 and has one child, aged two. Over three months he earned about US$ 250 from working as a day labourer on the Ogonyi and Akago River crossing.

“I worked as a casual labourer at the culverts construction site of Ogonyi and Akago in Anaka Subcounty,” said Mr Ochen. “The project has provided me with finances that helped me hire a farming garden and tractor and open it for crop farming.” Mr Ochen plans to plant beans and has bought two goats, adding: “The little incomes, if used well, can help meet needs.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF).

Despite progress made in reducing HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths among children, a new report released today by the Global Alliance for Ending AIDS in Children by 2030 shows that an urgent scale up of HIV services in countries worst affected by the pandemic is required to end AIDS by 2030.

The report, Transforming Vision Into Reality, shows that programmes targeting vertical transmission of HIV have averted 4 million infections among children aged 0-14 years old since 2000. Globally, new HIV infections among children aged 0-14 years old have declined by 38 per cent since 2015 and AIDS-related deaths have fallen by 43 per cent.    

Among the 12 Global Alliance countries, several have achieved strong coverage of lifelong antiretroviral therapy among pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV, with Uganda nearing 100 per cent, United Republic of Tanzania at 98 per cent, and South Africa at 97 per cent. Mozambique has achieved 90 per cent coverage, with Zambia at 90 per cent, Angola at 89 per cent, Kenya at 89 per cent, Zimbabwe at 88 per cent, and Cote d’Ivoire at 84 per cent.

“I applaud the progress that many countries are making in rolling out HIV services to keep young women healthy and to protect babies and children from HIV,” said UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima. “With the medicines and science available today, we can ensure that all babies are born – and remain – HIV-free, and that all children who are living with HIV get on and stay on treatment. Services for treatment and prevention must be ramped up immediately to ensure that they reach all children everywhere. We cannot rest on our laurels. The death of any child from AIDS related causes is not only a tragedy, but also an outrage. Where I come from, all children are our children. The world can and must keep its promise to end AIDS in children by 2030.”

Global Alliance countries are innovating to overcome barriers and accelerate progress towards ending AIDS in children. However, despite advances neither the world nor Global Alliance countries are currently on track to reach HIV-related commitments for children and adolescents and the pace of progress in preventing new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths among children has slowed in recent years.

“Accelerating the delivery and uptake of HIV services for children and adolescents is a moral obligation, and a political choice,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization. “Twelve countries are demonstrating they have made that choice, but significant challenges remain. While we have made progress in increasing access for pregnant women to testing and treatment to prevent vertical transmission of HIV, we are still far from closing the paediatric treatment gap. We need to further strengthen the collaboration and reach of the Global Alliance, and we must do this work with focus, purpose and in solidarity with all affected mothers, children, and adolescents.”

Around 120 000 children aged 0-14 years old became infected with HIV in 2023, with around 77 000 of these new infections occurring in the Global Alliance countries. AIDS-related deaths among children aged 0-14 years old numbered 76 000 globally with Global Alliance countries accounting for 49 000 of these unnecessary deaths. Vertical transmission rates remain extremely high in some locations, particularly in Western and Central Africa, with rates exceeding 20 per cent in countries including Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“In the fight against HIV, we must do a much better job for children,” said Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which provides funding for HIV programmes in over 100 countries through a country-led partnership model. “In support of national programmes, we have been procuring the latest dolutegravir-based paediatric treatment regimens at negotiated prices. Our investments in laboratory systems are helping ensure exposed infants are rapidly tested and that those that test positive are quickly initiated on age-appropriate antiretroviral treatment. Differentiated testing and treatment approaches are helping close the diagnostic gap and ensuring more child-centred service delivery.”

It is concerning that the treatment gap between adults and children continues to widen.

“Just 57 per cent of children living with HIV receive life-saving treatment, compared to 77 per cent of adults,” said UNICEF Associate Director HIV/AIDS, Anurita Bains. “Without early and effective testing and treatment, HIV remains a persistent threat to the health and well-being of children and adolescents and puts them at risk of death. To close the treatment gap, we must support governments to scale up innovative testing approaches and ensure children and adolescents living with HIV receive the treatment and support they need.”

In 2023, there were 210 000 new infections globally among young women and girls aged 15—24 years old (130 000 in Global Alliance countries), four times higher than the 2025 goal set at 50 000. Preventing new infections among this age group is critical both to protect the health and wellbeing of young women and to reduce the risk of new infections among children.

Gender inequalities and human rights violations are increasing women’s vulnerability to HIV and diminishing their ability to access essential services. Globally, nearly one in three women have encountered some form of violence during their lifetime, with adolescent girls and young women disproportionately affected by intimate partner violence. In the four Global Alliance countries with available data, countries are not currently on track to achieve the target of ensuring that by 2025 less than 10 per cent of women, key populations and people living with HIV experience gender-based inequalities and gender violence.

“It has been remarkable to see how many more children’s lives can be saved when all stakeholders and partners come together to commit to end AIDS in children. While much progress has been made, notably through the successful introduction of pediatric dolutegravir, large gaps still remain across the pediatric cascade and we must recommit ourselves with purpose and innovation to fulfill the promises we have made by 2025 and beyond,” said Ambassador John N. Nkengasong, United States Global AIDS Coordinator and Special Representative for Global Health Diplomacy.

The Global Alliance for Ending AIDS in Children by 2030 was launched in 2022 by WHO, UNICEF and WHO to reinvigorate the paediatric HIV agenda. It has now grown, and in addition to the United Nations agencies, the alliance includes civil society movements, including the Global Network of People living with HIV, national governments in the most affected countries, and international partners, including PEPFAR and the Global Fund. Twelve countries are members: Angola, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).