Sudan: Healthcare in Ruins as 41 Out of 87 Hospitals in Khartoum State Destroyed in Attacks
A report by the Sudanese American Physicians Association (SAPA) and the Yale School of Public Health Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) found that nearly half – 41 out of 87 – of the hospitals in Khartoum State have been destroyed since the outbreak of conflict in Sudan, blocking access to medical care for at least one-third of people living in the densely populated state…“Before the war between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Khartoum’s healthcare system provided a comprehensive range of services. People relied on Khartoum State as the main referral and medical hub for patients across the country,” says [Yasir Elamin, SAPA president]. The Africa Report
How Sudan’s Mutual Aid Groups Are Supporting Out of School Children
Over 17 million children are currently out of school in Sudan…International aid groups and UN agencies are providing some education assistance in parts of the country where there has been less fighting. And schools have also reopened in some areas that are fully controlled by the army-aligned government. However, in conflict areas that the warring parties block aid groups from accessing, it is community groups, including neighbourhood-based emergency response rooms, that are carrying the burden of delivering education and other services for children…Emergency response room volunteers said they have programmes that fund teachers to provide national curriculum lessons, and other projects that offer informal education as well as activities like art, sports, and music in child-friendly safe spaces…[T]hese programmes have equipped children with important coping mechanisms to manage stress, and have garnered positive feedback from families, who have seen significant improvements in their children’s mental health. The New Humanitarian
In Nigeria’s Lithium Boom, Many Mines Are Illegal and Children Do Much of the Work
The growing demand for lithium has created a new frontier for mining in mineral-rich Nigeria. But it has come with a steep cost, exploiting its poorest and most vulnerable: its children. Their work often provides material for Chinese businesses that dominate Nigeria’s laxly regulated extractive industry and are often blamed for illegal mining and labor exploitation…Nigeria has laws requiring basic education and prohibiting child labor, but enforcement is a challenge with many illegal mines in hard-to-reach areas. Corruption among regulatory and law enforcement officials is also a problem…The illegal mining thrives on informal networks of buyers and sellers who operate without much fear of the government. Some of the bush miners avoid middlemen…and sell directly to Chinese companies or Chinese nationals. AP
Nigeria: Tinubu Stripping 63 Revenue Agencies of Their Power to Boost Collection
The president plans to strip all 63 agencies to create a single agency that will effectively be in charge of collecting all funds on behalf of the government to ensure better transparency in Nigeria’s tax system. The proposed single agency known as the Nigerian Revenue Service (NRS) is expected to possess more powers than any other Nigerian government agency in history…The government argues the proposed law aligns with global best practices…However, Fisayo Soyombo of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism contends that stripping customs of its revenue collection powers would only deepen corruption…But Auwal Rafsanjani, the head of the local chapter of Transparency International, believes the NRS is the way to go. He, however, cautions about the need to ensure there are enough checks and balances such that the new agency would not abuse its immense powers. The Africa Report
Somalia, Ethiopia Agree on Compromise to End Tension, Turkish Leader Says
Somalia and Ethiopia have agreed on a joint declaration to resolve their dispute over the breakaway Somaliland region and land-locked Ethiopia’s push for sea access, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced…Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy and Somali President Mohamud arrived in Ankara earlier on Wednesday for the talks, which were the latest following two earlier meetings that made little progress…Both have agreed to work together on commercial arrangements and bilateral agreements that would ensure Ethiopia’s “reliable, safe and sustainable access” to the sea “under the sovereign authority of the Federal Republic of Somalia”. They will now initiate technical talks no later than the end of February, which are to be completed “within four months”…Turkiye has been mediating between the two countries since July, leading discussions aimed at resolving their differences. Al Jazeera
Rights Group Accuses Russian Mercenaries of Abuses against Civilians in Mali
Mali’s armed forces, supported by Russian mercenaries, committed abuses against civilians since the withdrawal of a U.N. peacekeeping mission late last year, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Thursday. Malian armed forces and the Russia-backed Wagner Group deliberately killed at least 32 civilians, including seven in a drone strike, kidnapped four others, and burned at least 100 homes in towns and villages in central and northern Mali since May, the rights group said. Human Rights Watch also accused jihadi groups in the region of having summarily executed at least 47 civilians and displaced thousands of people since June. AP
Mali: Lawyer of Jailed Ex‑Spy Chief Kassoum Goïta Push PM for Doctor Visit
Colonel Kassoum Goïta, Mali‘s ex-spy chief who’s been detained since 2021, had disappeared from his cell between May and September last year. Since his secret detention by the Sécurité d’Etat (SE), the country’s intelligence services, the officer is said to have become “very thin and weak”, according to his lawyer, Mohamed Goïta. Kassoum Goïta’s health was the subject of a letter sent by his lawyers on 9 December to Mali’s prime minister, Major General Abdoulaye Maïga. The lawyers reminded the prime minister that their client, whom the junta suspects of plotting against them, has the right to be examined by a doctor of his choice…Kassoum Goïta was finally examined at the Camp 1 infirmary for the first time on 5 December, suffering from severe discomfort and acute pain…Kassoum Goïta’s lawyers say that they don’t trust the medical staff at the gendarmerie camp. The Africa Report
EU: 11-year-old Is Only Survivor from Capsized Migrant Boat
Migrant rescue agencies on Wednesday said they saved an 11-year-old Sierra Leone girl from the Mediterranean after she spent three days fighting for her life at sea when the refugee boat she was traveling in sank. The girl told rescuers that 45 people had been on the boat when it set off for Europe from Sfax, Tunisia…The girl told rescuers that her vessel capsized in a storm en route to the EU…Although they said the girl was “very tired,” rescuers said she was recovering well at a hospital in Lampedusa, Italy, where she was rushed after being saved…The UN’s International Organization for Migration says it has recorded more than 24,300 deaths and disappearances on the sea route between North African Tunisia and the EU nations of Italy and Malta since 2014. Some 2,050 migrants have drowned or gone missing on the route in 2024. DW
UN COP16 Summit Tackles Forced Migration and Insecurity
COP16 has highlighted the urgent link between desertification, land degradation and drought — which are worsening forced migration and threatening global stability. Up to 40% of the world’s agricultural land is already degraded, and this figure increases each year, according to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)…According to COP16 President Abderrahman Al-Fadhli, the Saudi Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, droughts and land degradation are fueling not only rural and cross-border migration but also conflicts…Desertification — a form of land degradation by which fertile land loses much of its biological and economic productivity, and becomes desert — is one of the most significant challenges Nigeria faces in the north, particularly in the states of Borno and Yobe, as well as the border areas with Chad and parts of Cameroon. DW
Ghana to Botswana: Why African Voters Are Throwing Out Ruling Parties
From some 12 general elections, four countries (Ghana, Botswana, Mauritius and Senegal) alongside the breakaway, self-governed region of Somaliland, recorded total transfers of power. Two others (South Africa and Namibia) saw significant opposition gains…Some of the more seismic shifts occurred in the Southern African region where liberation parties, once loved for ending colonialism or apartheid, are increasingly unpopular, particularly among young voters…Elsewhere on the continent, young people’s fury over corruption proved pivotal, in addition to anger over jobs and the economy…The historic opposition wins on the continent signify that democratic institutions in many African countries are becoming increasingly robust and that the people’s will is being respected, experts say. Al Jazeera
Botswana’s President Promises to Restore Bushmen Rights after Yearslong Delay in Burial
Botswana’s new president has promised to restore some rights, which were taken away from the Bushmen, an indigenous tribe of hunters and gatherers found across southern Africa. This week, the government allowed the tribe to bury Pitseng Gaoberekwe who died in December 2021 on the group’s ancestral land, ending a drawn-out impasse. The courts had barred the family from burying Gaoberekwe in his ancestral home in the vast and arid Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), from which most of his relatives were forcibly removed to protect the wildlife zone. International tribal rights advocacy group Survival International has argued the Bushmen were pushed out of the game reserve because there are diamonds in the area…Before Gaoberekwe’s burial Tuesday, President Duma Boko, who took power six weeks ago, promised to restore the Bushmen’s rights, including allowing them to resume hunting wild animals. Boko, a former opposition leader, is a human rights lawyer who represented the tribe in court against the state before he became Botswana’s president. VOA
António Guterres’ Vision for Climate Justice in Africa’s G20 Leadership
The UN Secretary-General António Guterres visited South Africa during its G20 Presidency, emphasizing the need for climate justice. He highlighted that Africa, with its youthful and expanding population, vibrant cultural and natural diversity, and strong entrepreneurial spirit, is hindered by injustices stemming from its colonial past. “And I’m here at the critical time as South Africa assumes the presidency of the G20. This continent’s potential is without question… Africa needs climate justice. The continent stands on the frontlines of the climate crisis. Despite causing minimal emissions, climate change is pummelling your people and pounding your economies. Africa is warming faster than the global average. We must limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius to stop this crisis from spiralling even further out of control,” said Guterres. Africanews with AP