Day 2 of the mission marked a continuation of the ECOWAS Field Monitoring and Evaluation Mission in The Gambia, with visits to the flood-affected communities of Nyofelleh , Fass Omar Saho, and Munyagen. This mission is designed to rigorously assess the effectiveness of the humanitarian aid provided in response to the 2022 flood disaster and food crises.

During the visit, the delegation engaged with local beneficiaries, who conveyed their sincere appreciation for the assistance received from ECOWAS. This support has been instrumental in addressing critical needs, such as securing essential food items and repairing homes damaged by the floods. Beneficiaries highlighted the significant relief this aid has provided, particularly in helping them to stabilize their living conditions in the aftermath of the disaster.

A resident of Fass Omar Saho articulated the community’s sentiments: “We are profoundly grateful for the support from ECOWAS. It has enabled us to rebuild our homes and ensure food security for our families. However, there are many others in our community who remain in need, and we hope that this support can be expanded to assist them as well.”

Similarly, in Munyagen, a beneficiary noted, “The financial support, while modest, has had a meaningful impact on our lives. It allowed us to purchase food and undertake essential repairs to our homes, which were severely affected by the floods. We hope that ECOWAS will continue and broaden this assistance so that more people can benefit.”

The delegation observed that the aid delivery process was met with particular appreciation due to its transparency and efficiency, which helped to minimize conflicts and ensure that the most vulnerable were prioritized. The residents expressed a strong desire for ECOWAS to maintain its commitment to supporting member states, including The Gambia, as they continue to recover from these challenges.

This field visit not only highlighted the positive outcomes of the humanitarian efforts by ECOWAS but also brought to light the ongoing challenges that persist in these communities. The feedback gathered will be instrumental in shaping future ECOWAS humanitarian strategies, ensuring that the relief efforts are both sustained and expanded to address the needs of additional vulnerable populations.

The mission will proceed with a scheduled visit to another community, where further assessments will be conducted to gather additional insights and evaluate the continuing impact of the aid provided.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Responding to the news that Eswatini’s Supreme Court upheld controversial provisions of the Suppression of Terrorism Act on appeal, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for East and Southern Africa, Vongai Chikwanda, said: 

“The Supreme Court’s decision to uphold this repressive legislation is a major setback for human rights in Eswatini. The authorities must immediately repeal the Act, or significantly amend it so that it is precise, targeted and fully in line with international human rights standards. 

“The law in its current form poses significant threats to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly. The Suppression of Terrorism Act is overly broad and vague, and authorities have frequently used it to arbitrarily arrest and prosecute dissenters and suppress media, including by branding political opponents, activists and journalists as ‘terrorists.’ 

“The fact that Eswatini’s highest court has given the Suppression of Terrorism Act its stamp of approval is a dangerous sign for the future of human rights in the country, especially because repression is already widespread.” 

BACKGROUND 

Authorities passed the Suppression of Terrorism Act in 2008 following a bombing incident near the Lozitha Bridge in Eswatini. The same year, authorities declared the People’s United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) opposition party, Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO) and the South Africa-based Swaziland Solidarity Network as terrorist organizations. 

In 2016, the country’s High Court declared several sections of the Suppression of Terrorism and Sedition Acts as unconstitutional, following a court challenge by human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko and SWAYOCO leader Maxwell Dlamini, who authorities had both charged under the Act in 2014, and PUDEMO leader Mario Masuku. 

The government appealed that decision a week later. Throughout the lengthy and irregular appeals process, Eswatini’s government used the Suppression of Terrorism Act to harass and intimidate dissenters, including jailing opposition parliamentarians Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube in 2021 and designating Swaziland News and its editor Zweli Martin Dlamini as “terrorist entities” in 2022. 

In 2023, Maseko was shot and killed in his home in a case the government has yet to investigate. 

Along with the Suppression of Terrorism Act, on 13 August 2024 Eswatini’s Supreme Court upheld controversial provisions of the 1938 Sedition and Subversive Activities Act, which similarly has adverse human rights implications. 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Amnesty International.

UNSMIL is following up with concern the recent unilateral acts by Libyan political actors and institutions, in the East, West and South. In the current climate, these unilateral acts serve to increase tension, undermine trust and further entrench institutional divisions and discord amongst Libyans. Now more than ever, consensus, dialogue and unity are needed. UNSMIL reminds all political leaders and institutions of their commitments and obligations under the Libyan Political Agreement and its amendments, in line with all relevant Security Council resolutions, particularly resolution 2702 (2023).

UNSMIL’s recent consultations with Libyan leaders and regional stakeholders to build consensus and streamline efforts to unlock the political stalemate, will continue. The Mission is committed to facilitating an inclusive political process leading to credible presidential and parliamentary elections.

Given the numerous challenges Libya faces, the Mission calls on all Libyan parties to embrace dialogue and compromise, in a way that serves the interests of all Libyans.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).

Hundreds of truckloads of World Food Programme assistance are speeding this month to the hungriest parts of Sudan, as part of a massively scaled-up response after famine was confirmed at a camp for displaced people in the country’s Darfur region.

Targeting an initial 3 million people this month, the WFP food-and-cash support aims to prevent more people from falling into catastrophic hunger, one of the most horrific fallouts of the conflict in Sudan.

In war-torn Khartoum, we recently distributed food and nutrition assistance to a hungry population for the first time in months. WFP is also supporting community kitchens – neighborhood volunteer groups that have become a vital food lifeline for Sudanese countrywide, especially in the capital.

“We can still turn the tide against hunger and famine in Sudan,” said WFP Sudan Emergency Coordinator Marco Calvacante. “We can still make it.”

But reaching millions of desperate people demands unfettered humanitarian access, safe passage, and a massive influx of funds. Overall, WFP needs US$459 million for its emergency response to support up to 8.4 million hungry people in Sudan by the end of this year.

“We need this conflict to end. We need unimpeded access to reach those most in need,” Calvacante said. “We need the attention of the world to focus on Sudan.”

Famine confirmed

In late July, the global standard for measuring food insecurity – the Integrated Food Phase Classification or IPC – confirmed famine in Zamzam camp, which houses more than 400,000 displaced people outside the besieged North Darfur city of El Fasher. 

This was a first for Sudan, and it’s only the third famine confirmation worldwide since the IPC was first implemented 20 years ago – 13 other areas in the country are at risk of famine in the coming months.

“Our biggest challenge is the continuation of this conflict which hampers our movement as well as the safe delivery of humanitarian supplies,” said WFP Sudan Country Director Eddie Rowe. ”We call on the parties for an immediate cessation of hostilities.”

Sudan’s is now the world’s largest displacement crisis. Since it started 16 months ago, the war has triggered a hunger spiral engulfing tens of millions of people countrywide. The fighting has ravaged Sudanese food production, destroyed essential markets, and cut off communities large and small from vital assistance. Along with heavy fighting, the rainy season poses another major setback in delivering assistance, with flooded roads grounding dozens of WFP aid trucks.

According to IPC figures for June, nearly 26 million Sudanese face acute food insecurity. Nearly 750,000 people countrywide face catastrophic food insecurity, the highest hunger level. Roughly 730,000 children are projected to experience potentially life-threatening severe acute malnutrition this year. 

In the Darfur region, WFP Security Officer Khalid Hamdnalla describes meeting scores of hungry, displaced people during a recent United Nations interagency mission to assess humanitarian needs.  

“We saw whole families, including children and elders, who don’t have enough food. Some have been displaced more than three times,” said Hamdnalla of those they met, some of whom are sheltering in abandoned schools and other government buildings. “Their main requests were for food, education, sanitation and health services.”

“The host communities are hungry as well,” he adds, “because they’ve shared what they had with the displaced people.”  

The UN mission crossed many armed checkpoints, but heavy rains proved the biggest challenge, making some wadis, or seasonal rivers, impassable. “You cannot imagine the road conditions with the rains,” Hamdnalla says. “There are big wadis, and the current is very fast – it’s very dangerous.”

Few safe options

In late July, WFP was able to reach Sudan’s capital Khartoum for the first time since March, allowing us to deliver two-month rations of sorghum, lentils, oil and salt to people. Many we reached are elderly or otherwise unable to flee the conflict’s frontlines. The fighting has reduced swathes of the city to rubble, including Khartoum’s iconic and all-important Omdurman market – delivering a blow to the country’s food supply and economy.

Over 90,000 people in the greater Khartoum area are on the brink of famine; more than 1 million are experiencing emergency hunger levels. Yet people are trickling back to the capital – not because it is safer, but because there are few safe options after months on the run.

“They starting coming back to their houses, but unfortunately they don’t have anything inside – they even don’t have a job because of the war,’ says Khalid Mohamed Elbaghir, a volunteer with one of Khartoum’s community kitchens. “So we started supplying them with food to make them stay more easily in this neighborhood.”

WFP is supporting neighborhood kitchens like Elbaghir’s, which provide soup and other staples to city residents. The overall aim is to distribute up to 140,000 hot meals daily. For many elderly and other vulnerable people in the capital, it is their only meal of the day.

“Often two or three days passed without us being able to go out and get food – sometimes we’d be trapped in our homes for a week,” says Maya, a former tea seller in Khartoum. “If we tried to leave, we would get beaten in the street and robbed of money and food.”

Other Sudanese are seeking safety elsewhere in the country. Amna Yousif’s family fled their home in war-buffeted Sennar state, walking and hitching truck rides for eight days before reaching the relatively secure seaside city of Port Sudan. “We got up at 2 a.m. on a rainy night, carrying the children in our arms and walking through the night in the mud,” she recalled of their flight.

Today, the family lives in a tent in an abandoned lot in Port Sudan.

“When I left my house I left the okra flourishing and the molokhia (mallow) ready for harvest,” Yousif recalled of the local vegetables she grew – and of better times, when her family lived without hunger. “One of the good things about our village is that when you sow with your hand, you eat and drink.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of World Food Programme (WFP).