Washington, USA, 11 March 2026 -/African Media Agency (AMA)/- The World Bank and the Government of Tunisia are deepening their partnership to strengthen the country’s social protection system, with the World Bank Board of Directors approving US$90 million in additional financing for the Tunisia Social Development Promotion Support Project. This support will help people build better opportunities for their lives and strengthen pathways to livelihoods.
The new financing builds on the strong results of the original $700 million project implemented over the past five years, which delivered emergency cash transfers to over 895,000 households, and expanded permanent cash transfers under the AMEN program, the country’s flagship social assistance initiative, to more than 386,000 beneficiary households while providing family allowances for over 150,000 children aged 0 to 5. The new financing will deepen these achievements, improving the effectiveness and long-term fiscal sustainability of Tunisia’s social protection system.
This support will also expand family allowances to approximately 450,000 children aged 6 to 18 from poor and low-income households, helping to reduce barriers to education and reduce school dropout rates. It will also support the establishment of a national disability fund, which will provide dedicated transfers and streamlined access to services for persons with disabilities.
“This additional financing reflects our continued commitment to supporting Tunisia in building a social protection system that is more comprehensive, adaptive, and resilient,” said Alexandre Arrobbio, World Bank Country Manager for Tunisia.“By expanding family allowances to school-age children and strengthening support for persons with disabilities, we are helping protect vulnerable households and support better opportunities for children across the country.”
Beyond expanding coverage, the new financing will accelerate the digitalization of Tunisia’s social protection system, including supporting the development of an Integrated Beneficiary Registry and broadening the use of digital payment tools. It will also pilot economic inclusion initiatives combining self-employment and wage-employment pathways, helping beneficiary households to better connect to job opportunities and achieve greater self-reliance.
“The reforms supported under this project go beyond cash transfers,” said Mohamed El Aziz Ben Ghachem, Senior Social Protection Specialist at the World Bank. “Modernizing the targeting system, building a unified beneficiary registry, piloting economic inclusion nitiatives, and advancing harmonization across Tunisia’s various social assistance and social insurance programs, will lay the foundations for a modern, data-driven and integrated social protection system in Tunisia.”
New York, USA, 13 March 2026 -/African Media Agency (AMA)/- Violence against women and girls in Africa demands urgent action. As of 2023, it is estimated that one in three women and girls between ages 15 and 49, have experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence in their lifetime. Last November, South Africa classified violence against women as a a national disaster.
When the African Union adopted its Convention on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls in early 2025, UN Women and several governments celebrated it as progress. But across the continent, women’s rights organizations are warning against premature optimism and calling for the treaty to be strengthened.
Indeed, the African Union needs to increase compliance with the existing legal framework, and strengthen the latest one, if it is to lead to tangible improvements for women and girls.
Africa already had one of the world’s most progressive regional frameworks addressing this crisis: the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, commonly known as the Maputo Protocol, adopted in 2003 (effective 2005). Maputo guarantees comprehensive protections; from generally obligating states to enact and enforce laws to prohibit all forms of violence against women to taking appropriate measures to prevent and eliminate such violence.
However, there have been significant setbacks to enforcing it, such as slow passage of national laws and enforcement, and reservations by some countries on key provisions—reproductive health and safe abortion, equality in marriage. The new convention will face similar obstacles if the AU doesn’t address the warnings that it may be used to water down protections already guaranteed under Maputo, burden governments with duplicate reporting requirements, and create confusion around enforcement because of the competing legal frameworks.
The AU Convention on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls includes some provisions that add to the Maputo Protocol: explicit protections against cyberviolence and femicide, stronger workplace harassment provisions, and attention to marginalized groups like women with disabilities and refugees. These are important provisions that align with international treaties including the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the International Labour Organization (ILO) Violence and Harassment Convention (C190) on violence in the world of work.
However, the convention, with its narrower operational focus, doesn’t explicitly incorporate the comprehensive rights framework for preventing violence such as Maputo’s provisions for sexual and reproductive health rights, including access to safe abortion (article 14), and on equality in marriage, divorce, and inheritance (articles 6 and 7), and safeguards against child, early, and forced marriages.
Any regional framework that addresses violence without confronting the underlying inequality risks treating symptoms rather than root causes. At a minimum, the African Union should ensure that the Convention on Ending Violence is read together with the full scope of Maputo’s obligations to complement and enhance them and not to diminish them.
The document is riddled with vague language, such as “positive masculinity” and “African values and norms,” that could risk loopholes for enforceable rights, by arguing for cultural discretion.
We’ve already seen this play out with Cameroon’s and Uganda’s reservations to the Maputo Protocol, contending that some provisions are inconsistent with African ethical and moral values or principles, though Maputo also recognizes “the crucial role of women in the preservation of African values based on the principles of equality, peace, freedom, dignity, justice, solidarity and democracy.” Without clear definitions, the new convention could be used to open the door wider.
The new convention relies on the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to monitor its implementation—as it already does with the Maputo Protocol—rather than creating a new treaty body. The commission already faces significant challenges, primarily due to severe resource constraints and a heavy existing workload. For it to act as a monitoring body for the convention, and to prevent weakening the existing legal framework, the AU needs to provide clear guidance on the relationship between the two instruments and overlapping obligations, and standards to avoid complications in reporting and an increased strain on an enforcement system that already lacks adequate resources.
At the same time calls to “pause ratification” also require caution. In AU practice, prolonged ratification pauses have often led to political stagnation rather than substantive reform, allowing states to evade both existing and new obligations. Moreover, a pause without a clear AU-mandated review process risks creating uncertainty and fragmented obligations across governments, with some proceeding with ratification and others not, running counter to AU norms of requiring all countries to meet the same standards.
Once the AU has adopted a treaty, it has not traditionally suspended or paused ratification, even when important gaps existed, but instead it has favored progressive development that complements existing requirements.
Consistent with its treaty-making norms, as happened with the Malabo Protocol amending the African Court Statute, a mechanism to close the gaps could take the form of an amendment or interpretive protocol that clarifies the relationship between Maputo and the new convention and reinforces existing obligations, while avoiding creating parallel regimes, or interpretations that lower established standards.
The path to ending violence against women and girls in Africa requires first getting states to ratify the Maputo Protocol without reservations and to push for governments that have reservations to withdraw them. It means the AU should increase funding for robust implementation and monitoring mechanisms, including more resources allocated to the Commission to match the expansion of its mandates.
In the meantime, the AU should commit to addressing gaps in its new Convention on Ending Violence through inclusive consultations with civil society. Meaningful participation is not a courtesy; it is a foundational principle of the African Charter. A convention of this nature without robust consultation risks undermining its own legitimacy. We cannot afford to continue wasting time.
Once abundant along Africa’s coastlines, the African penguin is now critically endangered, facing extinction.
But there is hope. A collective of sustainable, purpose-driven brands is stepping up to support the fight to save the African Penguin, and through your purchases, you can help raise critical awareness and funds for their conservation.
The Fight
The statistics are staggering. Over the past decade, the African penguin population has plummeted by 97%. Fewer than 10,000 breeding pairs remain in the wild, their survival threatened primarily by human-driven pressures: overfishing, habitat destruction, pollution, and climate change.
These seabirds, instantly recognisable in their black-and-white “tuxedos,” are more than just charming coastal residents. They are icons of South Africa’s natural heritage and vital indicators of ocean health. Their recent reclassification to “critically endangered” is not just a change in status; it is a call for urgent, united action across conservationists, communities, businesses, and individuals.
How To Make a Difference
These products celebrate the beauty of the African penguin while directly contributing to conservation and community upliftment.
Sharon B
These design lifestyle products capture moments inspired by the beautiful abundance of South Africa’s natural fauna and flora, the African Penguin and our wild coastline waters.
Whimsical Collection
Reduce, reuse, and recycle with environmentally friendly shopper bags made from PET bottles into recycled fabric. This proudly SA company celebrates everything fun and whimsical about our African wildlife.
Envirokid
Support local handmade toys like classic wooden pull-along African Penguin toys by Envirokid. All handmade in Cape Town, they strive to use raw, environmentally conscious materials – their ethos is all about fun, education, and promoting learning about nature, development of skills, and new traditions.
Recycled Flip Flop Studio
Sustainable Art through innovation is showcased by a Cape Town-based studio Recycled Flip Flop Studio, founded by Davis Ndungu, who recycles discarded flip flops into African Penguin sculptures.
Waddle On
Socks hatched in Cape Town- by Waddle On Socks are the ultimate gift for penguin lovers and funky sock collectors alike. Lovingly designed and inspired by founder Martine Viljoen’s years of working with their real-life waddling counterparts, a portion of all proceeds is donated to SANCCOB.
Birdlife SA
Shop for the Birds! These bracelets are all handmade by members of the Ocean View Association for Persons with Disabilities. For every bracelet sold, a portion of the proceeds goes to the Save our Penguins Fund.
Relate
Each beaded bracelet by Relate is hand-beaded by seniors in South African townships, providing vital income for artisans while raising funds to protect the African Penguin.
African Creative
When you purchase an African Penguin plush toy from the African Creative range, a portion of the proceeds directly supports seabird rehabilitation at SANCCOB. This critical work aims to reverse the penguins’ decline and protect the broader biodiversity essential for our planet’s future.
NAIROBI, Kenya, 10 December 2025-/African Media Agency(AMA)/-There is a $130 billion annual investment gap hindering the world’s mission to achieve universal access to climate-resilient water and sanitation services by the year 2030, Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) reports. In Africa, the gap is estimated at no less than an additional $30 billion annually.
In October 2025, nearly 50 ministerial level delegates worldwide gathered in Madrid at the 2025 Sector Ministers’ Meeting to discuss ways to better integrate water, sanitation, and climate action goals at a governmental level.
For participating African delegates, this was an opportunity to include African perspectives on the global stage ahead of COP30 and the UN 2026 Water Conference. It was also essential to help establish the globe’s five-pillar guidelines.
5 critical Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Climate statistics in Africa calling for critical measures
Priority #1: Embed water, sanitation, hygiene, and climate priorities into national adaptation plans, climate commitments, and development strategies.
In 2018, 71% of African countries were in the medium-low to very low categories of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) implementation, according to a report by UNEP. Fast forward to 2024 and UNEP’s “Progress on implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management” report revealed that none of the African sub-regions are on track to achieve the aspirational global SDG 6.5 target of ‘Very High’ (91-100%) IWRM implementation by 2030.
There lies a critical gap in governance due to these stagnations that isolated sector projects cannot fix. It’s time for nations to move beyond fragmented management and operationalize political and institutional integration.
Ministers must work to embed water, sanitation, and hygiene mandates directly into central national adaptation plans and broader development strategies. Governments have the power to secure the political leverage and institutional coherence required to turn these IWRM metrics around, to accelerate progress and reach the SDG targets.
Inclusive, Rights-Based Services
Priority #2: Use data to identify and reach the most vulnerable populations, children, women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and displaced communities, while promoting transparency and community participation.
As women, girls, and children remain the most vulnerable, these stats are concerning for Africa.
The failure to achieve universal access is a clear indication that broad, generalized interventions are not sufficient. To close this gap and prioritize those suffering most, governments must immediately implement inclusive and rights-based services.
The only way to move beyond these alarming statistics is to use high-quality, disaggregated data to accurately identify, locate, and track the concerned underserved communities and groups of people. This should ensure that future WASH investments are precisely targeted, transparent, and driven by the needs of the most vulnerable.
Resilient Systems and Risk Management
Priority #3: Incorporate climate and environmental risk assessments into planning, and promote nature-based solutions and ecosystem restoration.
A September 2025 publication by the Sudanese American Physicians Association (SAPA) underlined the direct link between climate change, water scarcity, and displacement on the continent.
The study asserts that 2 million people in East Africa have been displaced due to drought and conflicts, with migration into urban areas straining cities like Nairobi.
In 2024, Earth.org warned that climate change could displace up to 700 million people in Africaby 2030 due to increasing water scarcity and related shocks. With the figure currently standing at 400 million, the High-Level Leaders Compact priority for resilient systems and risk management is legitimately high on the agenda.
To build true resilience against these shocks, leaders must move beyond reactive measures and proactively incorporate climate and environmental risk assessments into all levels of urban planning. Investing in nature-based solutions and ecosystem restoration is essential to stabilizing these vulnerable regions.
The approach is straightforward: Address the root environmental degradation driving these migration crises.
Sustainable and Innovative Financing
Priority #4: Mobilize domestic and international resources through green and blue bonds, results-based financing, and public-private partnerships.
According to the World Bank, public-private partnerships account for only 3 percent of total water sector investment in Africa, with state-owned enterprises and public entities providing the remaining 97 percent of investment. This is far below private participation in other infrastructure sectors, underscoring the need for stronger mechanisms to attract and sustain investment in water.
Unlocking greater resources will require improving incentives for investors, strengthening project pipelines, and deploying targeted de-risking instruments that reduce uncertainty while safeguarding public value. Ensuring coherence with the High-Level Leaders Compact on Water Security and Resilience will further help align public and private action.
With these conditions in place, tools such as green and blue bonds, results-based financing, and well-structured public-private partnerships can more effectively expand financing for water security and sanitation systems.
Political Leadership and Accountability
Priority #5: Ensure that water and sanitation remain at the top of global and national policy agendas, including through mutual accountability frameworks such as those facilitated by Sanitation and Water for All (SWA).
Sub-Saharan Africa losesan estimated 5% of its annual GDP due to poor sanitation, lack of water or its contamination. Highlighting the seriousness of the matter and the responsibility of ministers, a preamble statement from the High-Level Leaders Compact on Water Security & Resilience declares:
“We acknowledge that fragmented policies, weak coordination, and insufficient and inefficient financing continue to challenge progress. Addressing these barriers requires strengthened political leadership, inclusive whole-of-government collaboration, inclusive governance, and more predictable and efficient investments that meet the needs of all people, particularly the most vulnerable.”
In the aftermath of the Madrid Commitment on Water Security, Sanitation & Climate Resilience
As the rest of the world, African ministers have pledged to “collaborate with Sanitation and Water for All partnership to track progress through systematic monitoring, aligned with national systems and global frameworks like SDG 6 indicators, broad multi-stakeholder collaboration, and continual adaptive learning.”
The compact produced at the 2025 Sector Ministers’ Meeting has been endorsed by 29 states, more than half of which are African.
Indeed, Burundi, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Ghana, Uganda and The Gambia joined the African Civil Society Network on Water and Sanitation (ANEW), the Ghana Coalition of NGOs in the Water and Sanitation Sector (CONIWAS), UNICEF and 14 other organizations in endorsing and pushing for the implementation of the five global priorities identified in the High-Level Leaders Compact on Water Security & Resilience.
The door remains open for more governments to join this compact and express their serious intention to achieve sanitation and water security as well as resilience which is needed for healthy populations, economic development, and environmental sustainability
For 15 years, the Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) partnership, hosted by UNICEF, has united governments, civil society, private sector actors, and development partners to advance the human rights to water and sanitation for all. With over 500 partners worldwide, SWA drives political commitment, strengthens institutions, and promotes accountability to achieve lasting results.
LUSAKA, Zambia, 18 August 2025 -/African Media Agency (AMA)/-The largest annual climate adaptation event has concluded in Lusaka, Zambia, with an urgent call for scaled up investment to save lives, lift living standards and boost economic growth.
NAP Expo 2025 focused on strengthening countries’ capacity to advance National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) ahead of COP30 in Brazil, and closing the financing gaps that threaten effective climate adaptation.
The Expo also launched updated adaptation guidelines, and helped countries to make use of new AI tools to build climate resilience, in many countries for the first time, among other key developments.
“Adaptation isn’t a bill we can skip. If we don’t fund it, the poorest pay in lost harvests, poorer health, and – at worst – with their lives,” said Youssef Nassef, Director of Adaptation at UN Climate Change.
“Around USD 300 billion is needed annually for climate adaptation by 2030. Governments will spend this amount and much more, whether they like it or not, in rebuilding infrastructure destroyed by climate disasters, and importing food due to ruined crops,” said Nassef.
“Much smarter and cheaper is investing in resilience up-front, because this not only saves lives and money, it delivers massive dividends across every sector and every community, transforming lives and economies for the better.”
Zambia’s Minister of Green Economy and Environment, Mike Elton Mposha, said: “We must transform NAPs into investable and bankable plans attractive for investment, including by the private sector. It is also imperative to enhance horizontal and vertical coordination to ensure effective participation of various stakeholders – including women, children and youth, persons with disabilities, local communities and the private sector – in the design and execution of NAPs.”
“Climate change is a matter of life and death for our people. The 2023-2024 drought reduced crop yields by about half, and similarly reduced electricity generation by more than half. This requires a multi-pronged approach across multiple sectors and scales, centred around the critical role of water,” added Douty Chibamba, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Green Economy and Environment of Zambia.
The Expo, attended by around 400 participants from 80 countries, launched updated technical guidelines, welcomed by least developed countries and others as a strong basis to help nations in designing and implementing their NAPs by 2025, in line with the latest science and the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA).
Adaptation plans are vital to ensuring that vulnerable communities have access to the funding and support they need to build resilience to worsening droughts, floods and other climate disasters.
Key outputs from the Expo include:
Over six technical sessions focused on promoting mobilization and access to financing for NAPs: (i) maximizing access to existing sources and modalities under the UNFCCC Financial Mechanism; (ii) exploring new sources and modalities of adaptation finance and how countries can mobilize or engage.
Five sessions aiming to accelerate the uptake and use of frontier and digital technologies in the NAP process, including big data, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning.
For many participants, it was the first time using AI in supporting the formulation and implementation of NAPs, and the guided sessions provided an introduction to several powerful resources.
The AI session was so successful that participants requested an additional one, which was offered on the next day and focused on co-producing a sample open NAP to showcase concepts relevant to adaptation assessment, planning and implementation.
Various sessions strengthened inclusive stakeholder engagement in the NAP process by promoting the incorporation of diverse values and worldviews of Indigenous Peoples and the experiences of local communities, as well as private sector involvement, with a strong focus on vulnerable communities, gender-responsiveness and youth participation.
Fumukazi Zilanie Kamgundanga Gondwe, traditional leader of the Phoka people, Rumphi, Malawi, said: “What we refer to as innovation is often rooted in long-standing Indigenous practices such as seed sovereignty, sacred forest protection, and cultural rituals for ecological balance.”
Ana Toni, CEO of the upcoming COP30 climate conference in Brazil, called on the global community to “transcend outdated mindsets whilst preserving shared values and innovating towards a new planetary renaissance, where humankind regenerates its relationship with itself and with the nature it belongs to.”
“COP30 will serve as a turning point for adaptation, and NAPs must lead the way, building capacity and securing funding to strengthen our efforts. In Belém, adaptation must be elevated to the same level of importance as mitigation on the global agenda, especially as the impacts of climate change have already infiltrated our homes. Together, we have the power to implement meaningful change and safeguard our communities for a more resilient and sustainable future,” Toni added.
Attended by government officials, technical experts, Indigenous leaders, private sector representatives, and development partners, the Expo from 11-15 August was marked by a focus on implementation – how to help countries meet the 2025 NAP submission target.
Countries also showcased practical solutions to the Global Goal on Adaptation targets:
Water security: nature-based solutions for urban rainwater harvesting, climate-smart agricultural practices, and restoration of rivers and streams.
Food security: climate-smart agriculture techniques improving soil health and yields without expanding land use.
Secure Livelihoods: diversified income and strengthened resilience through sustainable resource management.
Resilient infrastructure: coastal protection projects rooted in nature-based solutions.
Youssef Nassef expressed deep gratitude to the Government and people of Zambia for their gracious hospitality in hosting this important global event, noting how the Zambian spirit of solidarity, of hope, of collectivism and harmony helped underpin a successful Expo.
As the Expo closed, participants pointed to next month’s Climate Week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (1-6 September) convened by UN Climate Change, as another key moment to advance adaptation and resilience, including financing needs, along with other key issues.
By bringing together negotiators with implementers in government and the real economy, along with key financiers including development banks, Climate Week will help lay a foundation for progress on finance, adaptation, mitigation and a Just Transition, in Belém and beyond.
The NAP Expo is an annual outreach event organized by the Least Developed Countries Expert Group (LEG) under the UNFCCC. It serves as a platform for exchanging experiences, fostering partnerships and mobilizing support to advance the formulation and implementation of NAPs in developing countries.
About the UNFCCC
With 198 Parties, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has near universal membership and is the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement. The Paris Agreement aims to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level which will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system, and to protect all people from worsening climate impacts now and in the future. Through multilateral cooperation under the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement, and national efforts, projected temperature increase has been reduced from up to 5 degrees Celsius, to around 3 degrees Celsius now, if pledges are implemented. Efforts continue to lower projected temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, as all countries in the UNFCCC have agreed, as well as to build more climate-resilient economies and societies, and to spread the vast benefits of climate action across all nations and peoples.
The ultimate objective of all agreements under the UNFCCC is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system, in a time frame which allows ecosystems to adapt naturally and enables sustainable development.
In the Central African Republic, disability carries a deep-rooted stigma, and persons with disabilities often find themselves excluded from almost every avenue of life. Zénabou, who is deaf and non-speaking, has suffered from prejudice, but a UN-backed educational programme offers a glimmer of hope.
Today, the Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality, Industry, and the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority teams were in the City of Kings and Queens for the Bulawayo Metropolitan Province’s Cookout competitions. Thirty four (34) Kings and Queens were battling against each other showcasing their culinary expertise, inorder to qualify for the national event which will be held on the 25th of May in Matabeleland South Province. Amazing recipes and dish presentation of their local dishes such as isitshwala samabele le sophoko, inhloko yembuzi,umbhida wendumba, amatshakada,amacimbi, ulude, uxakuxaku, umkhemeswane were exhibited. Among the 34 contestants, 14 were under the community category, 5 PWDs, 5 professional chefs and 10 students drawn from NUST, Hillside,United College of Education and School of Hospitality and Tourism.
The inclusion and high participation of persons with disabilities in this year’s competitions is amazing!, an indication that disability is not inability.
Speaking at the 2025 Bulawayo Province Cookout competitions, Hon. Minister Barbara Rwodzi explicitly explained President Mnangagwa’s vision 2030 in relation to the UN 2063 agenda. She also alluded how the First Lady’s various initiatives such as gastronomy tourism, Nhanga/ Gota/ Ixhiba, Agric for She among others contribute to the attainment of the national vision. Honorable Rwodzi revealed that the First Lady, Dr. Auxillia Mnangagwa continue being recognized by international organisations due to her efforts of promoting our culture and heritage. The First Lady Dr. Auxillia Mnangagwa has been invited to go and speak about the Zimbabwean culture and heritage at UNESCO in France next month. #ExperienceZimbabwe #ZimBho #GrastronomyTourism # BulawayoMetProvince
The 2025 Provincial Traditional Cookout Competitions are ongoing. Today Minister, Hon Barbara Rwodzi presided over the Masvingo province event at Masvingo Polytechnic College. Forty four (44) contestants classified under professional chefs, students, community including men and persons with disabilities were vying for the first prize. The breakdown were as follows: *ProffessionioalChefs* 8 *Students* 9 *Community* 20 *PWDs* 7 The contestants were drawn across the Province,from as far as Mwenezi, Gutu, Chibi, Bikita and Gutu districts. The students were from Masvingo Polytechnic and Teachers College, Great Zimbabwe University, Reformed Church University,Mushagashe among others. Various local traditional dishes were prepared including the Zimbabwean signature dish known as “Hiyifiridzi” and unique Masvingo Province dishes that resemble the Province’s natural resources and heritage such as runinga, rupiza, nhopi, mukumbi, hwakwa, makosvo, nhunguru,mawuyu among others.
First Lady, Dr. Auxillia Mnangagwa in 2019, in a bid to promote our own signature as a nation. Hon Rwodzi applauded First Lady for hosting the first Gastronomy forum in Africa in 2024 after her efforts were recognised and appreciated by the UN Tourism.Honorable Rwodzi indicated that Tourism has become the highest contributor to the growth of Zimbabwe GDP in 2024. She revealed that since the beginning of this year to date, the country has received more than one million international tourists which is an indication of the positive results from the endorsement of Destination Zimbabwe by UN Tourism since they hosted the first ever African Gastronomy Forum in Victoria Falls in July 2024.
The Minister also indicated that the Ministry of Tourism is making significant strides to promote domestic tourism through promoting religious, rural and medical tourism. In light of promoting medical tourism, Mogenster hospital will be supported and enhanced to accommodate patients and their companions. Honourable B Rwodzi also added that in line with the Decentralisation and Devolution agenda, the 2026 Sanganani/ Hlanganani Edition will be held in Masvingo province. Today’s event had a huge turnout showing the acceptance of government programs by citizens.
KARONGA-(MaraviPost)-Persons living with disabilities in Karonga have cried foul over the continued side-lining of people with disabilities by authorities in COVID-19 related committees and activities in the district.
The concern follows revelations from Federation for Disability Organizations of Malawi (FEDOMA (Karonga Chapter and Karonga for the Blind who claimed that their members are yet to receive any formal orientations on COVID-19 prevention measures by stakeholders fighting Coronavirus in the district.
Speaking in an interview Noah Simwaka FEDOMA Chairperson for Karonga, said it is unfortunate that despite Malawi being in amidst the Pandemic people with disabilities are yet to be reached with information on how they can protect themselves from catching the deadly virus.
“As much as we are aware that the virus has affected all of society and their livelihood but we people living with disabilities have it worse as our lives have completely ground to a halt as due to our disabilities we are stationed home unable to go out to conduct our businesses as people are afraid to assist us to hold our hands or help to push our wheel chairs due to fear of contracting the virus,” he lamented.
Furthermore Simwaka, bemoaned the continued lack of representation of persons with disabilities in COVID-19 committees saying the vice is retrogressive in the fight for equality and inclusion of persons with disabilities in decision-making positions.
John Mwambiyale chairperson for karonga for the blind, said it was disheartening to note that able bodied persons had undergone formal orientations on how they can protect themselves from catching the virus but persons with disabilities had not.
“Most of our members reside in the rural areas and have no form of a radio thus miss out on COVID-19 information and messages hence our appeal to Government and other stakeholders for formal training to our members because they are also Malawian and deserve access to information on how they can protect themselves during this pandemic,” he said.
Reacting to the outcries District Environmental Health Officer (DEHO) for Karonga, Lewis Tukula, said while there was no special program arranged to include persons with disabilities in the outreach programs of COVID-19 however it came out as a need in the comprehensive planning in the next phase.
Adding, that despite there not being a time scale on when they will reach out to persons with disabilities but plans are already in motion for the activities.
As of June 4, 2020, Malawi had 393 Corona Virus cases with 41 recoveries and four fatalities.
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