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Africa: Food Crisis Looms in a Number of Countries

The report also indicates that food security may create civil unrest and political instability as populations could scale protests because of inflation. Seventy-five per cent of African countries are at a higher or extreme risk on food security, risk analysis company Maplecroft indicates.The company’s food security risk index shows that of the 59 countries that are most at risk, 39 are from Africa. Among the African countries include (in the order) Somali and DR Congo as first on the index followed by Burundi, Chad, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Comoros and Sierra Leone. Maplecroft´s head of maps and indices Helen Hodge says food prices for the coming year depicted a sad picture especially in sub Saharan Africa. The Food Security Risk Index is used a barometer to identify countries prone to famine, food shortages and price fluctuations. The report also indicates that food security may create civil unrest and political instability as populations could scale protests because ...

Africa: Canadian Govt Addresses Child Health Challenges

Thursday 13 September 2012 Uganda, Burkina Faso and South Africa are among African countries that will receive grants from Grand Challenges Canada. OTTAWA---As many as 200 million children fail to meet their full developmental potential because of the debilitating impact of poverty. Risk factors, such as malnutrition, infection, unhealthy pregnancy and birth complications, as well as an absence of stimulation and nurturing all contribute to the loss of cognitive potential in developing world children and condemn them to impoverished lives. "The best way to keep a country poor is to rob its children of their full developmental potential," said Dr. Peter A. Singer, CEO of Grand Challenges Canada. "Consistent with Canada's commitment to women's and children's health, the Saving Brains initiative is a bold and transformational approach to addressing the significant challenges facing the developing world. We are investing in improving conditions in the first...

Open Letter to Kenya's Minister of Information Hon Amos Kimunya

Dear Sir, I take this opportunity to congratulate you for your increasing hard work and efforts to ensure citizens move around by all means of transport. Am however sad that your ministry is hardly visible on social media, to interact with the common mwananchi (citizen) to get views During my visit to Netherlands for training in Internet for journalists at the Radio Netherlands Training Centre (RNTC) www.rntc.nl/ , I spotted something in their transport system that would be of interest to you. Sir, you are aware our rail system has been in ruins. You are also aware of the corruption system experienced in the sector that initially dashed hopes of its survival. Sir, I am aware of plans by Kenya Railways Corporation to invest Shs. 32 billion to overhaul the sector, which I support. I would however like to give you an insight on how this money can be put to good use. In Netherlands, there are several providers and the network is well developed to cover atleast all parts of th...

Lobby for protection of Lake Turkana

Lake Turkana is in danger of drying up unless the government and International agencies step in to stop unsustainable development both within and outside Kenya. Friends of Lake Turkana, a lobby group claims appeals to protect the lake have continued to fall on deaf ears. The group adds that the most critical development that threatens to adversely affect the lake for decades is the Gibe III hydroelectric dam being built on the Omo River in Ethiopia. The group says the recent announcement by the World Bank to give up to $648 million loan to build a 1,000 km electricity transmission line from Gibe III into Kenya was a blow to the endangered lake. Ethiopia plans to sell about 60% of the power generated by Gibe III to Kenya through this line. Earlier, the UNESCO World Heritage Sites committee rejected an appeal by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), an appointed advisor to the committee, to place Lake Turkana and three other endangered properties around t...

Migori Stakeholders express key concerns ahead of Elections

Stakeholders in Migori County have expressed a serious fears and concerns ahead of the next General Elections if the implementation of the constitution is derailed by what they said were “emerging cases of resistance by both sections of the government and the political class.” During a recent two day County Forum in Migori town organized by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) and the Kenya Correspondents Association (KCA), the stakeholders called on the government and parliament to faithfully implement the constitution and particularly the devolution framework, if the country is to avoid further conflicts and violence. The more than 40 stakeholders who were drawn from different sectors and all the constituencies in the county said the hopes of the citizens who voted for the constitution rested on the full and timely implementation of the constitution, adding that there was growing unease over delays and attempts to subvert the implementation process. The leaders spoke during a foru...

KENYAN JOURNALISTS EMBRACE PEACE JOURNALISM

As the country prepares for the forthcoming general elections, Kenyan journalists are among stakeholders eager to preach peace while undertaking their work. While attending three day training on peace and electoral journalism, the journalists drawn from various media houses in Nairobi realized that there was need to relay stories that promoted peace to avoid the country from plunging into election violence. The journalists noted that media houses were a contributing factor to the violence and called on the need to have policies that would control what goes on air. The lead trainer, Professor Steven Youngblood, director for Center for Global Peace Journalism, Park University US urged journalists to promote peace through their stories. “We can make choices in our stories that can make peace possible. It’s all about considering the consequences of what we do before the stories go on air,” he said. The professors reiterated that there was need for media houses to put in place guidelines ...

Rights Body Urged to Press AU Member States to guarantee safety of Journalists

The Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), the African Regional Organization of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), has urged the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) to press its member States to urgently free all imprisoned journalists and end the use of anti-terror laws against journalists. “We urge the Commission to demand that its member States end violent repression against journalists and urgently address the deteriorating safety and security situation of journalists in the continent”, said Omar Faruk Osman, President of the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ) in his address to the African Commission in Banjul, The Gambia Delegates from the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), West African Journalists Association (WAJA), Eastern Africa Journalists Association (EAJA) and USYPAC (Central Africa’s Professional Media Workers Unions) attended the 51st Ordinary Session of the African Com...
KCA JOINS THE MEDIA FRATERNITY IN MARKING WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY Kenya Correspondents Association (KCA) today joins the Kenyan media fraternity and journalists world wide in marking this year's World Press Freedom Day with a call for greater respect for journalists rights and press freedom, including guarantees on safety and security of journalists. In Kenya, the World Press Freedom Day is being marked in Nairobi at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi and which is part of a three day East Africa Journalists Convention organized by the Media Council of Kenya(MCK). KCA notes with concern that as the country moves towards the next General Elections, journalists are increasingly under threat from politicians, the business class, organized criminal gangs and militias and also the police. "We need to remember on this important day, the unresolved murder of Journalist Francis Kahinda Nyaruri about three years ago in Kisii in Western Kenya and the increasin...