Ethiopia: Crisis in Tigray enters sixth month with no clear end in sight amid ‘severe and ongoing child rights violations’ (20.04.2021)

Geneva Palais Briefing on the situation of children in Tigray, Ethiopia.

GENEVA, Switzerland, April 20, 2021 – This is a summary of what was said by UNICEF spokesperson James Elder – to whom quoted text may be attributed –  at today’s press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

“The crisis in Tigray has entered its sixth month with no clear end in sight.

“More than one million people have been displaced, and fighting continues. Access and security remain serious issues.

“We have been very concerned from the onset about the harm this crisis will cause to children. Such fears are now being realized.

“This is a protection crisis. What is emerging is a disturbing picture of severe and ongoing child rights violations.

“This is also an education and nutrition emergency, and I saw extensive destruction to the systems and essential services on which children rely.

Education

“Children in Tigray have been hit by COVID-19 then conflict. That means 1.4 million children have been out of school for more than a full year (since March 2020). Yes, not a day of school in 13 months.

“I met a 16-year-old girl, Merhawit who fled fighting in the west of Tigray, and walked – with her baby brother on her back – for 300km. Yes, she walked 300km in broken flip flops. Before the conflict, she was top of her class in physics. Now she was searching for food and hasn’t seen a classroom in more than a year.

“A decision to reopen schools, however, is contingent on (1) security; (2) rehabilitation works – the Ministry of Education estimates that up to 25 per cent of schools have been damaged; and (3) reopening schools requires the relocation of the hundreds of thousands of IDPs who are currently sheltering in school premises.

Water

“A recent assessment in 13 towns by UNICEF and partners revealed that more than half of the boreholes are non-functional.  These were advanced systems – with generators and electrical circuitry – and most have been damaged and looted.

“I saw an example of this destruction in a health clinic 100km from Mekelle. This had an entire new operation ward devoted to emergency c-sections for mothers and emergency surgery – that opened in 2020, with the support of Rotary in Belgium. Everything – X-ray machines, oxygen, and mattresses for patients – are gone. Operating beds and incubators for babies have been broken and turned upside down. A doctor there told me “It had all the services a mother and baby needed. It was a life-saving place. There was no reason for forces to come here. They came here for vandalizing and looting.”

“According to assessments, violence and looting have left a majority of health care facilities in the region not functioning.

“The sanitation situation is another matter of grave concern. Conditions in many of the displacement sites are poor. They are overcrowded, unsanitary and unsafe .. as such they magnify risks of exploitation of children, and make it impossible for people to practice COVID-19 prevention measures.

“From a health perspective, the presence of large numbers of displaced people is a ticking time bomb, especially as the rainy season approaches – that’s next month – when there will be a grave risk of cholera and other water-borne diseases.

Protection and gender-based violence

“The personal statements I received from children who had been raped or testimonies of women who were victims of sexual violence were harrowing.

“You will all be aware that the President of Ethiopia, the Minister of Women, Children and Youth, the IASC Principals and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) have spoken against multiple cases of rape and sexual violence

“I heard traumatic stories from survivors, one as young as 14. I heard reports of gang rapes. The level of cruelty described in these attacks was bewildering.

“This year, from the 1st January to 16 April, just one centre that UNICEF supports has received an average of three reports of cases of gender-based violence per day.

Nutrition

“Fighting broke out just as people should have been harvesting.

“That’s their income for a year. Many also had cattle stolen. They have lost access to fertilisers and vaccines for their livestock.

“And now they should be planting. But more than 1 million people are displaced and as such cannot access their land.

“As such, we are seeing a spike in malnutrition in a region that had already seen steep year-on-year increases in malnourished children requiring life-saving treatment prior to this crisis.

“In response, since November last year, UNICEF has provided emergency supplies including drug kits, nutrition supplies, school-in-a-carton kits and early childhood development kits.

“In WASH, UNICEF is leading on efforts to rehabilitate damaged water schemes, supply of water through trucking, and the provision of hygiene supplies. Through these efforts, more than 640,000 people have received safe water for personal use.

“Our priority in the education sector is the reopening of schools while simultaneously working with implementing partners to establish temporary learning spaces for refugees, IDPs and host communities.

“We have supported partners to kick-start 22 mobile health and nutrition teams which are reaching tens of thousands of children and women in ten of the areas with the highest need. They distribute drug kits and support emergency health care and nutrition. They operate six days a week and use the seventh day to restock supplies.

“But again, even for these brave and frontline mobile health and nutrition teams, security remains an issue. I spoke with one team leader who explained how his team had their ambulance stolen, and had to walk three days back to their health clinic.

“And as of right before this briefing, UNICEF has received credible reports of at least 16 incidents that impacted the activities of these mobile health and nutrition teams … in just the last two weeks.

“Nine were reported in the Eastern Region where the health workers had to leave the location due to fighting and direct threat from armed forces.

“The staff members were denied access to the programme locations and in some cases were threatened with death. In three locations the teams were forcibly relocated to other locations.

“Survivors of sexual assault have been provided with medical assistance, psychosocial support and dignity kits at a centre that has been supported by UNICEF. We are also supporting partners to deploy more than 160 social workers to provide child protection case management for vulnerable children including unaccompanied and separated children; and psychosocial support in IDP and refugee camps in Tigray and affected neighbouring woredas in Afar and Amhara.

“UNICEF Ethiopia’s appeal for Tigray stands at US$47.6 million. More than half is unfunded.”

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Opinion: The Super League undressed one vital ingredient hidden in plain sight

The Dirty Dozen or the 12 clubs who was breaking away from the Football governing bodies and creating their own league on Sunday the 18th April 2021. Have shown the world their true character and reason for ownership in the sport in the first place. The clubs have been taken over by sports owners, businesses and financial backers who is in for a quick buck. This isn’t owners who cares about football, its traditions or the legacy of these clubs. No, they are a MEAN to an END.

The clubs in question are useful tools for a cash-grab and a huge profit margin in sports where there isn’t to much investments for supporters and consumers world-wide to buy the product. If that is TV-Licensing deals, sponsorships or merchandise sale. It is all ways to sell the products and get the money flowing. Get the business from going from red to black in a heartbeat.

The 12 clubs and additions would have a financial wet-dream and be in a beneficial agreement. Where they would earn big money before even playing and just participating in the Super League. These teams would earn fortunes and they would just change the rules of the game. The pyramid of national leagues or even UEFA club coefficient wouldn’t matter. These twelve teams would get an advantage and be partners in their own system.

They wouldn’t have to care about the rules of FIFA, neither the tournaments of UEFA or the national association. The teams would be separate from the national leagues and cups. The 12 in question would live on their own island and on their own terms. Not playing in solidarity with others than themselves and gaining the perks of that.

That is why the Super League was so baffling. Yes, the UEFA and FIFA isn’t perfect. They are corrupt and have well known cronyism. The UEFA governing body is a greedy machine and the same is FIFA. So, the 12 clubs are just a mirror of their efforts, but in their own way. The 12 teams have been living in this greed and been building its prestige within these systems. That’s why breaking away would be a betrayal of the system they have grown big in.

Neither of the parties I have mentioned has clean hands. In the end its the supporters and fans who pays the price. The clubs are only being wealthy and rich, because of fans and supporters are willing to spend their dimes on them. They are buying tickets, subscription to Pay-Per-View and other things in connection with them. Not like the clubs can live or work without fans. They are the one reason for their existence in the first place.

The Super League was built on a shaky ground and would be a damned from the start. There would be so many left behind and leagues shattered because of the betrayal of these 12 teams. The owners of the teams might seek to find a way out. As their wet-dreams went south. The fans and the football bodies didn’t accept this. However, the teams still needs a reminder and they we’re close to making it happen. They had finalized the deal and went out with sort of collective statements. They we’re proud founding clubs of the Super League. These teams needs to be reminded and get a punishment. The Football Associations and others needs to react swiftly. It cannot just be water under the Stamford Bridge. It got to be something, drop of points and transfer embargoes. They need to feel.

The 12 teams are maybe not able to configure the league. As teams are ditching out the deals tonight. Sports directors and CEOs are resigning. We are seeing rumours of trading teams or trying to sell. All of that because they couldn’t bath in glory and swim in coins like Scrooge McDuck. However, the clubs was willing and was close to ditch everyone else. That got to have consequences. This cannot just conspire to happen over night, release it out of the bag and scare whole of Football Europe without any sanctions or punitive actions. The clubs who was willing to betray their national leagues and associations needs to be addressed. These has to be answered and they have to wonder why they wanted to leave the fold for their own game.

The owners underestimated the values, the reach and the general support for Football in Europe. These owners aren’t close in the alleys and streets around the stadiums on the day-to-day basis. They are only looking over the stock portfolio and the bottom-line on their investment. If it is yielding good money and great returns. Now, they are seeing the heart of the matter and possible the outreach of clubs. They didn’t just buy a Football Club, but also a local stakeholder and a part of a community. That cannot just be traded or sold as a loaf of bread. No, it got to be respected and honour the commitment of the fans it has.

The Dirty Dozens owners forgot this part. They forgot why they exist. Now, these clubs better face consequences and answer for the Super League. The resignations and possible sales of clubs isn’t saving it. That is just damage control after a failed enterprise. They we’re supposed to get a quick fix of money and run their own game. Now, they have lost without even playing a game. The PR is ghastly and the reputations is in tatters. The trust in the owners and the boards is at a all time low. These folks are willing to trade it all for a JP Morgan security of steady cash-flow.

The Super League shows how the Americans lives in their own world of Money-Ball. Where clubs are vehicle for printing money and securing favourable deals in Entertainment/Sports. That is all it is to them. They don’t value traditions, competitions or the rules of the game. No, it is money and that is what it all boils down too. They don’t care about Bushby, Shankly or Shearer. No, they only care about Pound Fucking Sterling and Euros. Peace.

Tchad: Front pour l’Aternance et la Concorde au Tchad (FACT) – Communique de Presse No. 011 – Declaration officielle du Haut Commandement des Forces de la Resistance Nationale (20.04.2021)

Tchad: Conseil de Commandement Militaire pour le Salut de la Republique (CCMSR) – Communique No. 023 (20.04.2021)

Tchad: Union des Forces pour le Changement (UFC) – Communique No. 002 (20.04.2021)

Kenya: Jubilee Party – Dissolution of Partial Coalition Agreement between Jubilee Party and PDR(now UDA) – (20.04.2021)

Tchad: A Transitional Military Council set-up with the son as “interim” President

Idriss Déby Itno has just had his last breath defending territorial integrity on the battlefield,” said army spokesman General Azem Bermandoa Agouna in a press release read on TV Tchad.

General Mahamat Kaka Déby Itno have been confirmed as the successor of his father Idriss who got battle wounds in the battlefield with rebels. The former President took power by a rebellion in December 1990 and the son takes over in similar fashion.

The son is the “Interim” President for Tchad on the Government page of the President. The Declaration of the new formation of government is explained by this:

In this regard, a Transitional Military Council (TMC) is set up to ensure the defence of our dear country in this situation of war against terrorism and the forces of evil in order to ensure the continuity of the State. As a result, the following steps are being taken from today on:

The Transitional Military Council guarantees national independence, territorial integrity, national unity, compliance with international treaties and agreements and ensures the transition for a period of 18 months;

A 14-day national mourning period is decreed throughout the territory;

Flags are flown at half-mast and national funerals will be held;

The National Assembly and the Government were dissolved;

A transitional charter will be promulgated by the President of the Transitional Military Council;

A curfew from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. is in place throughout the country;

Land and air borders are closed until further notice;

A Transitional Government will be set up;

New republican institutions will be established at the end of the transition by organizing free, democratic and transparent elections following the spirit of the sacrifice for which the Marshal of Chad fought throughout his life until his last breath;

A call for dialogue and peace is being made to all Chadians inside and outside to continue to build Chad together.

The Transitional Military Council reassures the Chadian people that all measures are being taken to ensure peace, security and the republican order” (Tchad, 20.04.2021).

General Kaka the son of the Previous President have gotten military training in France. He have held several of high ranking position in the army. In January 2013 he got to be the Commander of Chadian Special Forces within Mali who was fighting Malian rebels in Mali. The same time he got appointed by his father as the Brigadier General. Later he has also been the Commander of FATIM in Northern Tchad. Now, his taking over government and on “Interim” leadership.

Now the Chadian Republic will have an temporary and transitional military council. Just like it was in Sudan and it’s happening now in Chad. It is now run by the son who knows perfectly well how his father ran the government for years. The cronies and generals will be leveraged this way, but its still a junta in charge of the government. There is no direct change. It is a succession happening because of death and not because of universal suffrage.

Just like the father was set to be the President for his sixth term. Now, his son is taking over his sixth term. I would guess his trying to take over and will linger in power as well. He has the rank and power because of his father. General Kaka isn’t a giant because of his reputation or experience, but of family ties.

The FACT rebellion will maybe not stop here. Because, this is just the second generation of the cause that got them to the battlefield in the first place. It has changed the head of government, but it’s the same people running the game still. It is still rigged from the public and controlled by armed men. Peace.

Tchad: Conseil Militaire de Transition – Compte Rendu de Reunion (20.04.2021)

Tchad: Conseil Militaire de Transition (CMT) – Decret No. 001 (20.04.2021)