The “Song and Dance Ensemble of the Russian Black Sea Fleet” presented a musical performance at Cinema Roma on April 4, commemorating the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations. The event saw the attendance of ministers, senior government and PFDJ  officials.

Ambassador Zemede Tekle, Commissioner of Culture and Sports, remarked that the event was a part of efforts to bolster the ties between Eritrea and the Russian Federation.

In related developments, the Russian Pacific Fleet frigate, Marshal Shaposhnikov, which had arrived in the port city of Massawa on March 28 for a port call marking the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Russian Federation and Eritrea, has successfully concluded its mission and departed.

The farewell ceremony was graced by Ms. Asmeret Abraha, Governor of the Northern Red Sea Region; Col. Melake Teklemariam, Chief of Staff of the Eritrean Naval Force; and Mr. Dawit Mengisteab, General Manager of the Massawa and Assab Port Authority.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Information, Eritrea.

The Eritrean community in Sweden convened for its annual congress on March 23 in Stockholm, adopting the theme “Development and Revitalizing Communities.” The event was well-attended by representatives from various Eritrean communities throughout Sweden.

Mr. Biniam Misgina, the chairman of the Eritrean community, highlighted the community’s three-decade-long dedication to organizing and strengthening its members, preserving national values for future generations, vibrantly celebrating national holidays, motivating prosperous Eritreans to invest in their homeland, conducting significant seminars, and offering advice and consultation aimed at parents.

Mr. Biniam pledged to continue efforts to enhance the community’s organizational capabilities and its engagement in national issues, urging members to increase their participation in these endeavors.

In related developments, Mr. Yohannes Teklemicael, Eritrea’s Ambassador to South Sudan, met with officials from the Western ‘Bahr el-Gazal’ region and hosted a seminar for Eritreans living in the area. During the seminar, Mr. Yohannes provided a detailed update on the development initiatives planned for 2024 and the current situation in Eritrea.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Information, Eritrea.

“The UN WFP has managed to bring desperately needed food and nutrition supplies into Darfur; the first WFP assistance to reach the war-wracked region in months,” said Leni Kinzli, WFP Communications Officer in Sudan.

The convoys crossed into Sudan from Chad in late March carrying enough food and nutrition supplies for 250,000 people facing acute hunger in North, West and Central Darfur. 

Constant flow needed

Despite this welcome development, the UN agency spokesperson warned that unless the people of Sudan receive a constant flow of aid “via all possible humanitarian corridors from neighbouring countries and across battle lines”, the country’s hunger catastrophe will only worsen.

Last month, WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain warned that the war in Sudan risks triggering the world’s worst hunger crisis unless families in Sudan and those who have fled to South Sudan and Chad receive desperately needed food assistance. 

This requires unfettered access, faster clearances, and funds to deliver humanitarian response that meets the huge needs of civilians impacted by the devastating war.

Humanitarian stakes

Securing safe and constant aid access to the Darfurs “has been extremely challenging”, WFP’s Ms. Kinzli explained, adding that the situation has been complicated further by the decision of the head of the Sudanese armed forces based in Port Sudan to refuse permission to humanitarians seeking to reach the Darfurs from Chad.

Delayed response

“Fierce fighting, lack of security and lengthy clearances by the warring parties have led to delays in the distribution of this assistance to people in need,” Ms. Kinzli insisted. “WFP and our partners urgently need security guarantees and deconfliction so the supplies in North Darfur can be distributed to people who are struggling to find even one basic meal a day.”

The UN agency reported on Friday that 37 trucks carrying 1,300 tons of supplies crossed last week into West Darfur from Adre in Chad – and that food distributions were underway in West and Central Darfur.

Last year, WFP supported one million people in West and Central Darfur with food transported via Chad’s Adre crossing.

Another 16 trucks with around 580 tons of supplies entered North Darfur from Chad’s Tina border crossing on 23 March, WFP said. 

An additional six trucks with 260 metric tons of food reached the area from Port Sudan a few days later – the first aid delivery to be transported across conflict lines in six months. 

But the UN agency noted that “fierce fighting, lack of security, and lengthy clearances by the warring parties” had led to delays in the distribution of this assistance. 

Geneina in crisis

“There is a lack of clarity whether we will be able to continue and regularly use the cross border [route] from Adre into West Darfur, which is so critical because West Darfur is among the most food-insecure areas in Sudan,” the WFP official noted.

This is especially the case in Geneina, capital of West Darfur, where the UN agency said that “many vulnerable women” had reportedly stormed one of the distribution points “out of desperation because there was not enough food for everyone”.

Over the last four to five years, Geneina is also the place “where we see the highest levels of hunger in the lean season”, Ms. Kinzli said.

Sudan’s war between rival generals which erupted last April has driven hunger to record levels, with 18 million people facing acute malnutrition. In Darfur, 1.7 million people are already enduring emergency levels of hunger – IPC4 – according to global food security experts.

“If we aren’t able to use that specific corridor (from Adre to West Darfur) and continue to use it and scale up via that corridor…what is going to happen to the people of West Darfur who are bearing the brunt of this conflict, who are in an unimaginable situation?” WFP’s Ms. Kinzli said.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of UN News.

Scientists in the Sahel are finding quality groundwater sources — thanks to a nuclear technique and a decade of support and training from the IAEA.

Water resources in Africa are under pressure due to growing water demand, water quality degradation and climate change. On the continent, more than 41 groundwater aquifers are shared by two or more countries, making a joint approach to protection beneficial.

To strengthen characterization, management and monitoring of groundwater resources in Africa, the IAEA is supporting  African experts to use nuclear techniques such as Isotope hydrology. By analysing naturally occurring isotopes (a type of atom) in groundwater, scientists can assess the age, vulnerability and sustainability of water resources. The analysis of nitrogen isotopes in water can also be used to work out the source of pollutants which threaten aquifers, strengthening water security and resilience planning.

The IAEA is equipped with a state-of-the-art Isotope Hydrology Laboratory, which maps water and provides scientific insights for the sustainable management of water resources like rivers, lakes, and underground aquifers.

Through its technical cooperation programme, the IAEA has been providing training, support for academic research and equipment to African scientists in the Sahel region, which has particularly scarce water resources and is dependent on groundwater.

Following earlier projects,  experts from the 13 countries in the Sahel can now better characterize shared groundwater resources in five basins in support of sustainable socioeconomic development. The current project builds on a decade of work by countries in the Sahel region, supported by the IAEA, to address water scarcity and support its transboundary management. It is now being expanded to include shared basins in the south of the continent and to introduce the use of nitrogen isotopes for water quality studies.

Scientists participating in the project have already confirmed the presence of a large amount of quality groundwater in the Sahel basins using isotope hydrology. This is a key discovery, considering the important role that groundwater can play in water supply for the region.

The IAEA has recently provided the Applied Hydrology and Environmental Geology Laboratory of the University of Lomé, Togo, with a laser isotope analyser used to measure stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen in water samples. The laboratory is operated by Togolese scientist Goumpoukini Boguido.

“Today, it is thanks to the support of the IAEA in my training that our laboratory produces high-quality analytical results and can conduct research projects and provide good quality analytical services even outside Togo”, said Boguido, who completing his doctoral degree with the support of the IAEA.

Scientists participating in the project have already confirmed a large amount of quality groundwater in the Sahel basins using isotope hydrology. This is a key discovery, considering the important role that groundwater can play in water supply for the region.

Through South–South cooperation, Boguido carries out physico-chemical and isotopic analyses of water samples collected in various parts of the region. He also supervises students at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels.

Head of the HydroGeosciences and Reservoirs Laboratory (LHGR) at the University of N’Djaména in Chad, Abdallah Mahamat Nour, said the IAEA technical cooperation project had helped his work as a postdoctoral fellow.

“My postdoctoral project has made it possible to make significant progress in understanding the water resources of the Lake Chad basin,” said Mahamat Nour. “The support has enabled me to set up a number of tools and equipment that are now very useful for the LHGR laboratory activities”.  Mahamat Nour also supervises the research work of several Chadian IAEA fellows, guiding them in their research projects using isotope hydrology.

Through an IAEA postgraduate programme for doctoral, master’s and postdoctoral fellows, students are learning to better characterize water samples to map groundwater resources, leading to regional self-reliance in isotope hydrology. The programme has enrolled 60 students, among whom 21 are women. Seven students have already completed the course and graduated.

Collaborative scientific publications involving authors from the participating countries are appearing in scholarly journals – an excellent example of South-South cooperation.

Building on the initial phase of the current project, it is now expanding its scope from the Sahel to include other parts of Africa. The programme will continue to support the existing network of countries in the Sahel region and will seek to increase coverage to include Member States in the south of the continent sharing water resources, such as the Orange River, the Medium Zambezi Aquifer System, the Inkomati-Maputo and the Greater Okavango River Basins.

The IAEA has implemented a series of large-scale projects on the Sahel region’s water resources assessment and management through its technical cooperation programme. The projects support the sustainable management of shared groundwater resources in the region, contributing to regional and local socioeconomic development in line with Sustainable Development Goal 6 and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).