Deputy President Shipokosa Paulus Mashatile is undertaking a Working Visit to Dubai and Abu-Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from 22 – 25 April 2024. 

The Deputy President’s visit to the UAE is aimed at building and strengthening bilateral relations, particularly increasing economic and knowledge exchange between the two states. 

The visit will see the Deputy President and his delegation engage with experts in the telecommunications and digital economy, in line with South Africa’s goals related to expanding technological and digital infrastructure towards Meaningful Universal Connectivity. 

Countries are moving towards digital sovereignty and South Africa, as one of the leading nations in the sector within the continent has the opportunity to spearhead initiatives in this regard towards strengthening public service delivery and enhancing participation in the digital economy. This working visit is as such, integral to building capacity towards digital sovereignty. 

During the visit the Deputy President will interact with the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Applications as well as other relevant national and regional entities within the UAE.

The UAE is a competitive market for the information and communication technology (ICT) sector in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The UAE public sector investment helps drive demand for ICT products and services in sectors such as healthcare, aviation, defense, transportation, financial services and others linked to the UAE’s economic diversification plans.

The visit by the Deputy President provides an opportunity for the South African government to increase knowledge and expertise in the ICT sector towards the improvement and expansion of public services and governance systems through digital economy channels.

The Deputy President is accompanied to the UAE by Deputy Minister Candith Mashego-Dlamini – Department of International Relations and Cooperation, Minister Mondli Gungubele – Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, and Minister Ronald Lamola – Department of Justice.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The Presidency of the Republic of South Africa.

On March 25, 2024, the Government of Japan received the notification from the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Algeria, informing the completion of its internal legal procedures necessary for the entry into force of “the Agreement for the Establishment of an Intergovernmental Joint Economic Committee between the Government of Japan and the Government of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria” (Agreement for the Establishment of the Japan-Algeria Intergovernmental Joint Economic Committee, signed on July 27, 2023). The Government of Japan has already sent its notification for the same effect to the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Algeria. Accordingly, this Agreement will enter into force on April 24, 2024.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.

Around one in six – or 15.6 million – children in Nigeria are facing hunger in the lead up to the lean season starting in June, according to a new analysis by Save the Children. The number of hungry children is 25% higher than the same period in 2023, and is likely the result of increasing insecurity, protracted conflict, banditry and rising food prices in the West African country.

According to Save the Children’s analysis of figures released by the Cadre Harmonisé – a regional framework to identify food and nutrition insecurity in the Sahel and West Africa – almost 32 million people in Nigeria, including 15.6 million children, will face crisis levels of hunger between June and August unless food and cash assistance is received [1].

While these months between harvests are when hunger typically peaks in Nigeria, a quarter more children are set to go hungry compared to 2023. This suggests that over 3.4 million additional children – on average 9,000 a day – have been plunged into hunger in the last year [2].

Violent killings, attacks and kidnappings by non-state armed groups and bandits in the country’s north have affected food production, disrupted local markets and caused farmers to flee their farms. According to the Association of Nigerian Farmers, so far this year at least 165 farmers across Nigeria have been killed, mostly in Benue in the country’s north-central region which the UN has said is an emerging hotspot for farmer and herder conflict [3].

Duncan Harvey, Save the Children’s Country Director for Nigeria, said:

“An already dire hunger situation in the country is gradually going from bad to worse as violence, insecurity and rising prices combine to leave over 15 million children hungry in Nigeria. Hunger exists nationwide, but the situation in the north where violence is rife is particularly dire. In Borno, Yobe, Katsina and Zamfara, one in three children do not know where their next meal will come from.

Children in Nigeria – who make up one of the largest child populations in the world – have already endured far too much, as millions face conflict, violence and exploitation. This year one in six children will go hungry – an increase from last year. Urgent action must be taken to prioritise the needs of children to stop this devastating trend and protect innocent lives. If not, armed groups will continue to carry out brutal attacks, drive up food prices, and push more families to starvation.”

Under the IPC scale, Phase 3 is a crisis, Phase 4 is an emergency, and Phase 5 is used for when the situation is reaching famine-like conditions — the worst scenario categorised by starvation, death, and extremely critical acute malnutrition levels. At least 490,000 children – mostly in Borno and Katsina – are expected to face catastrophic levels of hunger (classed as IPC4). Hunger has risen sharply in Nigeria in recent years, up from about 7% of the population analysed by the UN in 2020 to 15% currently [4].

Bula Saidu (aged 12) lives in Konduga in Borno with his parents and siblings and is the second youngest of twelve children. Bula said:

“Eating is very difficult in my house. We eat once daily – I cannot remember the last time we had three square meals. After eating once, I grow so hungry, but there is no food to eat… I feel so weak and sick most times.”

Save the Children is calling upon governments in Nigeria at local, state and national levels to focus on transforming food production and distribution and to incentivise farmers to grow crops that are resistant to climate change.

Globally, world leaders must address the root causes of acute food and nutrition insecurity. Only by putting an end to global conflict, by tackling the climate crisis and global inequality, and by building more resilient health, nutrition, and protection systems that are less vulnerable to shocks like conflicts and the climate crisis, will we be able to ensure the same warnings are not ringing out again in the coming years.

Save the Children is also calling for greater collaboration between governments, development and humanitarian organisations, climate groups, and the private sector. Children and other community members need to be able to have their say in these discussions. No sector or intervention alone can respond to the many causes and vulnerabilities leading to food and nutrition insecurity, but combined, the impact will be more effective, efficient and at scale.

Save the Children has been working in Nigeria since 2001 and has been responding to the humanitarian crisis in the northeast since 2014. Save the Children is providing food, clean water, nutrition and protection services, sexual and reproductive health care, and education to families across Nigeria. Save the Children also provides technical support to the government on policy changes and reforms, especially in critical sectors such as health, education, and social protection.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Save the Children.

Following the passage of the “Safety of Rwanda” Bill by the UK Parliament, two UN leaders have again sounded the alarm on the harmful impact it will have on global responsibility-sharing, human rights and refugee protection.

Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, are calling on the UK government to reconsider its plan to transfer asylum-seekers to Rwanda and instead to take practical measures to address irregular flows of refugees and migrants, based on international cooperation and respect for international human rights law.

The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill was tabled before Parliament alongside the UK-Rwanda Asylum Partnership Treaty after the UK’s Supreme Court found last year that the proposed transfer of asylum-seekers to Rwanda would breach international and UK law, noting weaknesses in the Rwanda system for determining individual asylum claims. But the Bill and the Treaty do not in practice overcome the protection gaps identified by the Supreme Court. Rather, once enacted, it will restrict the UK courts from properly scrutinising removal decisions, leaving asylum-seekers with limited room to appeal even if they face significant risks.

“The new legislation marks a further step away from the UK’s long tradition of providing refuge to those in need, in breach of the Refugee Convention,” said Grandi. “Protecting refugees requires all countries – not just those neighbouring crisis zones – to uphold their obligations. This arrangement seeks to shift responsibility for refugee protection, undermining international cooperation and setting a worrying global precedent.”

“The UK has a proud history of effective, independent judicial scrutiny. It can still take the right steps and put in place measures to help address the factors that drive people to leave home, and share responsibility for those in need of protection, with European and other international partners,” he added.

For this, a fair, efficient and well-governed migration and asylum system is key – ensuring access to protection for those in need and enabling the return home of those with no lawful basis to remain.

Acknowledging the challenges presented by the irregular movement of refugees and migrants, often in dangerous circumstances, the UN leaders nonetheless expressed grave concern that the legislation would facilitate transfers under the UK-Rwanda asylum partnership, with only limited consideration of their individual circumstances or any protection risks. They called on the UK instead to pursue practical cooperation with countries along the routes that refugees and migrants take, to strengthen protection and offer real alternatives. This includes expanding safe and regular pathways to protection.

“By shifting responsibility for refugees, reducing the UK’s courts’ ability to scrutinise removal decisions, restricting access to legal remedies in the UK and limiting the scope of domestic and international human rights protections for a specific group of people, this new legislation seriously hinders the rule of law in the UK and sets a perilous precedent globally,” said Türk.

“It is critical to the protection of the human rights and dignity of refugees and migrants seeking protection that all removals from the UK are carried out after assessing their specific individual circumstances in strict compliance with international human rights and refugee law.”

The new legislation is the third in a series of progressively restrictive UK laws that have eroded access to refugee protection in the UK since 2022, including through a ban on access to asylum or other forms of permission to stay in the UK for those arriving irregularly via a third country. If implemented, it would pave the way for asylum-seekers, including families with children, to be summarily sent to Rwanda to present their asylum claims, with no prospect of return to the UK. It will also drastically limit the ability for asylum-seekers to challenge or appeal removal decisions, with decision-makers and judges required to conclusively treat Rwanda as a “safe” country in terms of protecting asylum-seekers – regardless of any evidence to the contrary, now or in the future. This situation is even more concerning given the legislation expressly authorizes the Government to disregard any protective interim remedies from the European Court of Human Rights.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).