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African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson received H.E. Dr. Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi, President of Interpol

African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson received H.E. Dr. Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi, President of Interpol

Zawya4 days ago
Chairperson of the AU Commission, H.E. @ymahmoudali, received H.E. Dr. Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi, President of @INTERPOL_HQ. The Chairperson commended INTERPOL's vital role in promoting global security and law enforcement cooperation, and thanked Dr. Al-Raisi for his support to AFRIPOL.
The Chairperson&Dr. Raisi reaffirmed their commitment to deepening AU–INTERPOL collaboration to combat transnational crime and enhance the rule of law across Africa.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Union (AU).
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Building Resilient Food Systems in Sierra Leone: Sustainable Agriculture, Community Empowerment, and Strategic Partnerships for Long-Term Food Security
Building Resilient Food Systems in Sierra Leone: Sustainable Agriculture, Community Empowerment, and Strategic Partnerships for Long-Term Food Security

Zawya

time3 hours ago

  • Zawya

Building Resilient Food Systems in Sierra Leone: Sustainable Agriculture, Community Empowerment, and Strategic Partnerships for Long-Term Food Security

The Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL), through the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS) working with its development partners, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Bank, is implementing a Food Systems Resilience Programme. This programme seeks to reduce food and nutrition insecurity and enhance the resilience of food systems for vulnerable communities in Sierra Leone. It focuses on rehabilitating Inland Valley Swamps (IVS) and on restocking livestock. Global Context: Impact of the Russia-Ukraine Conflict on Food Supply Chains and the Lasting Effects of COVID-19 The Russia-Ukraine conflict has significantly disrupted production and supply chains, impacting much of Africa and beyond as the two countries are major global producers of commodities such as oil, gas, cereals, oil grains, and fertilizer. Commodity prices for fuel, wheat, oil palm, and fertilizer have soared. This comes on the back of increases in shipping costs and disruption in the global food supply chain due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, which has kept global food prices higher than pre-pandemic levels. The government developed a Quick Action Food Security Response Plan (QA-FSRP) outlining the much-needed interventions to support the government's ability to respond to potential food security threats from the Russia-Ukraine crisis. It focuses on short-term measures, as well as lays the foundation for medium to long-term investment to boost agriculture productivity. This plan outlines both immediate interventions and lays the foundation for medium- to long-term investments to boost agricultural productivity. Empowering Farmers through Critical Support and Capacity Building The primary objective of this component is to strengthen the legacy Inland Valley Swamps developed by sister projects that are not being properly utilized to intensify rice and vegetable production by rehabilitation. One of the key achievements is the provision of critical agricultural inputs coupled with capacity building to all beneficiaries with technical support from the MAFS Agricultural Engineering division to actualize the rehabilitation and cultivation of 850 ha of Inland Valley Swamp across the six districts in Sierra Leone. This approach warranted the timely completion of cultivation across all the beneficiary farming groups with a huge prospect of high yield during harvest. Another key success story is the introduction of cash-based support to for targeted farmers based on measured work. This approach has empowered farmers to make choices based on their priorities, needs, and preferences, to exercise greater control over their own lives. Lessons learned and Solutions One of the programme's key achievements is the provision of critical agricultural inputs, paired with capacity-building support for all beneficiaries, facilitated by technical assistance from the Agricultural Engineering division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. This support enabled the successful rehabilitation and cultivation of 850 hectares of Inland Valley Swamp across six districts in Sierra Leone. The intervention has resulted in timely planting across all beneficiary groups, with promising high yields anticipated during harvest. Additionally, the IVS intervention in peri-urban areas like Bo has mitigated the effects of flooding, thanks to reconstructed waterways and drainage canals. Empowering Farmers with Cash-Based Support A key component of the programme is the conditional cash transfer model, which gave farmers the freedom to buy what they needed most, whether it is medicine, food, schoolbooks, clothes, or many other things. For instance, in one of the IVS sites in the Daru community after the disbursement of cash to farmers, qualitative evidence showed that farmers who successfully received their cash support used some of it to purchase food, pay school fees, buy mobile phones, and pay hospital bills for their children. Community Involvement and Stakeholder Engagement for Sustainable Impact The active involvement of community and chiefdom stakeholders makes it easier to organize and establish any structure and create ownership and sustainability. When community members are given the space to act and are involved in the design of the activity, they bring innovative ideas and demonstrate willingness and commitment to see it through. This is visible in this project through the involvement of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, local community members, and district stakeholders in the formal handing over of agricultural inputs, collaboration in project implementation, and involvement in key decision-making platforms such as the project stakeholder engagement and inception workshops. Women and youth have also demonstrated a strong willingness to learn skills and accept changes. Recommendations to Peers Providing training alongside inputs can promote the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices, leading to long-term environmental benefits. Additionally, the involvement of government technical staff in monitoring and training beneficiaries during the IVS rehabilitation and cultivation exercise proved highly valuable. These staff members are expected to maintain a consistent presence in the communities for ongoing monitoring after the project concludes, ensuring continuity. Furthermore, the use of a community-based model, in which beneficiary farming groups were actively involved in the rehabilitation and cultivation of IVS paddy fields is a clear testament to the sustainability of the project. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO): Regional Office for Africa.

Government responsiveness and democracy are important drivers of citizen engagement in Africa, new Afrobarometer flagship report reveals
Government responsiveness and democracy are important drivers of citizen engagement in Africa, new Afrobarometer flagship report reveals

Zawya

time5 hours ago

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Government responsiveness and democracy are important drivers of citizen engagement in Africa, new Afrobarometer flagship report reveals

Government responsiveness and democratic performance, along with unmet socioeconomic needs, are important drivers of citizen engagement in Africa, a new Afrobarometer flagship report ( reveals. Citizens are more likely to participate in political and civic activities if they are satisfied with the way their democracy works, believe that their elections are free and fair, and see their local elected officials as responsive to their needs. And contrary to theories and findings from the Global North, Africa's least-wealthy citizens, and least-wealthy countries, report higher rates of engagement than their better-off counterparts. The report, the second in an annual series on high-priority topics, draws on data spanning the past decade, including the latest round of nationally representative surveys in 39 countries, representing the views of more than three-fourths of the continent's population. The analysis focuses on key indicators of citizen engagement: voting, political party affiliation, political discussion, attending community meetings, joining with others to raise an issue, contacting leaders, and protesting. The findings, based on 53,444 face-to-face interviews, show that most Africans participate in multiple political and civic activities, with voting being the predominant form of engagement and protesting being the least common. But gaps exist, especially among youth and women. Poorer, less educated, and rural Africans tend to participate more in political and civic activities than their wealthier, more educated, and urban counterparts. The report also shows that across 30 countries surveyed consistently over the past decade, participation levels are declining for attending community meetings, raising issues, and identifying with a political party, but they are increasing for contacting leaders. The new flagship report is accompanied by country scorecards ( on citizen engagement that provide an at-a-glance snapshot of the key indicators of citizen participation at the national level for each of the surveyed countries. Afrobarometer survey Afrobarometer is a pan-African, non-partisan survey research network that provides reliable data on African experiences and evaluations of democracy, governance, and quality of life. Nine survey rounds in up to 42 countries have been completed since 1999. Round 9 surveys (2021/2023) cover 39 countries. Afrobarometer's national partners conduct face-to-face interviews in the language of the respondent's choice. National samples of 1,200-2,400 yield country-level results with margins of error of +/-2 to +/-3 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. Key findings The scope of political and civic participation Nearly three-quarters (72%) of Africans voted in their country's last national election preceding the Afrobarometer Round 9 survey (Figure 1). Four in 10 (41%) 'feel close to' a political party. More than six in 10 (62%) 'occasionally' or 'frequently' discuss politics with family or friends. Almost half (47%) attended a community meeting at least once during the previous year, ranging from 11% in Tunisia to 85% in Madagascar. More than four in 10 (42%) joined with others to raise an issue during the previous year. More than one-third (37%) contacted a traditional leader, 28% a local government councillor, 15% a member of Parliament (MP), and 20% a political party official during the previous year. About one in 10 respondents (9%) participated in a protest or demonstration during the previous year. Who participates? The poorest citizens are more likely than the well-off to identify with a political party, attend a community meeting, join with others to raise an issue, and contact traditional leaders, local government councillors, and political party officials, and are about equally likely to vote, protest, discuss politics, and contact MPs (Figure 2). Women continue to engage at substantially lower rates than men across all indicators included in the survey. Youth (aged 18-35) are less engaged than older generations on all types of political and civic participation except protest; the disparity is largest for voting, where an 18-percentage-point gap separates youth from elders. Compared to citizens with post-secondary education, those with no formal schooling are more likely to vote, to identify with a political party, to attend community meetings, and to contact traditional leaders, and are about equally likely to contact an MP, local government councillor, or political party official. Drivers of democratic attitudes Rates of participation, particularly in attending community meetings and joining with others to raise an issue, are higher in countries with lower levels of economic well-being (Figure 3). Countries where citizens perceive local government councillors as responsive to their needs generally have higher rates of contact with these officials. However, this pattern does not hold for national legislators, who are less accessible to ordinary citizens. Electoral participation is higher in countries where citizens are satisfied with the way democracy works; believe that elections are free, fair, and effective; and feel free to cast their ballots as they wish. In contrast, when these conditions are not present, protests are more common (Figure 4). Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Afrobarometer. For more information, please contact: Josephine Appiah-Nyamekye Sanny Director of Communications Email: jappiah@ Telephone: +233 243240933 Social Media: Facebook X LinkedIn YouTube Instagram WhatsApp Visit us online at Follow our releases on #VoicesAfrica.

Terror financing investigations have 'significant holes' globally, report says
Terror financing investigations have 'significant holes' globally, report says

The National

time7 hours ago

  • The National

Terror financing investigations have 'significant holes' globally, report says

A majority of countries have significant holes in how they investigate terrorism financing cases, a report has found. The report from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global money laundering watchdog, said that 69 per cent of the 194 countries assessed also had deficiencies in the prosecution of terrorism financing cases. The report is the first published by the task force since 2015. 'Over the past decade, terrorists have demonstrated a persistent ability to exploit the international financial system to support their activities and carry out attacks,' the report said. 'This continued abuse of the financial system poses a serious threat to global security and undermines international peace.' The FATF identifies countries that have weak measures against terrorism financing and money laundering. Those on its 'blacklist' – considered high risk – include North Korea, Iran and Myanmar. Lebanon, Syria and Yemen are part of a list of two dozen countries the FATF has placed under increased monitoring – its 'grey list' – and are working to address their deficiencies. The report said sub-Saharan Africa has become the global epicentre of terrorism, while the impact of terrorism financing-related flows in Syria also require monitoring. While countries have made improvements in transparency, the report said terrorists continue to use formal financial services such as wire transfers and prepaid cards. At the same time, digital payments are becoming more popular, especially if they offer a payment service that can get around 'due diligence'. 'Although the level of abuse of virtual assets (VAs) by terrorists remains difficult to measure precisely, their use is increasing, with some groups systematically leveraging VAs and employing obfuscation techniques and/or shifting towards alternatives VAs promoted as more private and secure,' the report said. Social media and crowdfunding are also becoming ways in which terrorism financing is conducted, with the former allowing for the evasion of regulatory frameworks. 'Crowdfunding, while a legitimate activity, has been exploited by various terrorist groups to raise money for [terrorism financing] purposes,' the report said. Donation-based crowdfunding is the method most likely to be abused within terrorism financing, its added. Armed conflicts, terrorist propaganda and the potential for the diversion of humanitarian aid are among the challenges, according to the report. Food insecurity could also potentially expose vulnerability to exploitation by terrorism. The FATF said countries must protect humanitarian activity, enhance support for counter-terrorist financing efforts in the private sector and expand their outreach to uncovered areas. It also said countries must address the evolving risks through multilateral responses. 'The global nature of [terrorism financing] necessitates concerted international action,' it said.

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