GEM Sites Bi-Weekly Updates
July 15th - July 26th 2024
Kenya
Nearly a month after demonstrations first erupted against President William Ruto’s government, police were using tear gas, water cannons and live bullets. The city looked like a war zone. Wambua stood out because he was unafraid and unapologetic about why he was on the streets.
“A president should be empathetic with his people. He is here because of us, not because of anything else,” the recent university graduate in his early 20s told Al Jazeera. “Our parents back home worried about us. We are out here trying to fight for our own rights. “I’m a student. Where do I go from here? Some of the people demonstrating are depressed, because there seems to be no future prospects for them,” Wambua said. Four people were shot dead during the protests on July 16, allegedly by police. The number of casualties has been on the rise since demonstrations first started, with more than 50 people killed since June, according to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called for the protection of youth, civil society, and media voices amid ongoing protests in Kenya.
In a phone call on Thursday, July 25 with President William Ruto, Blinken asserted the need to uphold freedoms of assembly and expression as outlined in Kenya's Constitution.
“The Secretary highlighted the crucial role of youth and civil society organisations in fostering healthy democracies and urged respect for their contributions to Kenya’s development,” read part of a statement.Blinken also commended President Ruto for pledging to hold security forces accountable for alleged involvement in protest violence and the disappearance of demonstrators. Additionally, he lauded Ruto for Kenya’s multinational security support, including sending police officers to Haiti.
Rwanda
The Labour government has used flights scheduled to deport migrants under the Tories’ scrapped Rwanda scheme to return failed asylum seekers to Vietnam and Timor-Leste.
The Home Office has announced that a charter flight took 46 migrants to the Asian countries on Wednesday.Home secretary Yvette Cooper told MPs this week that flight planning for the scrapped Rwanda deportation scheme would be redirected to deport criminals and immigration offenders. She said: “We have immediately replaced the flight planning for Rwanda with actual flights to return people who have no right to stay to their home countries instead.” Wednesday’s flight is the UK’s first charter returns flight to Timor-Leste, and the first to Vietnam since 2022, the Home Office said.
Opportunities for youth may be somewhat limited, but they do exist. For Rwandan youth seeking to advance their education, professional skills, and creative talents, The New Times has compiled a list of valuable scholarships, grants, and fellowships.
Here are six diverse opportunities spanning the creative arts, business, and medicine to consider. The We Are Family Foundation (WAFF) has announced the 2024 Youth To The Front Fund: “The Creatives” Frontliners, an initiative to uplift and support artists and creative collectives dedicated to using their work to drive change and inspire hope. This program seeks to provide both funding and resources to those harnessing the power of creativity to address systemic injustices and shift narratives within their local or global communities.
Lebanon
The Italian Agency for Development Cooperation will provide 2 million euros (about 2.17 million U.S. dollars) to fund major rehabilitation works in at least three Lebanese public schools, the Italian Embassy in Beirut announced Thursday.
The Italian Ambassador to Lebanon Fabrizio Marcelli made the announcement during a joint visit to a public school with Lebanese Minister of Education and Higher Education Abbas Halabi and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) Deputy Representative in Lebanon Ettie Higgins. "Following its rehabilitation, the Aramoun Public Secondary School is now offering a better educational environment for students," Halabi said.
The family of three Syrian-Kurdish children killed in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon had tried to find safety elsewhere after the area became a conflict zone last year but returned five months ago as they could not afford the cost, the father of one of the victims told The National.
Brothers Jan, 9, and Mohammad Jarkas, 6, and their cousin Khalil Khalil, 11, were killed as they were playing outside their family home on a farm in the village of Umm Al Tut. Their funeral was held near the southern port city of Tyre on Wednesday.
South Africa
When South Africa brought a case against Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) late last year, its foreign ministry led the charge.
Then-minister of international relations and cooperation, Naledi Pandor, sat with lawyers and experts in The Hague in January as the ICJ announced provisional measures in the case accusing Israel of committing genocide in its war on Gaza. “We could not stand idly by and continue to observe the killing of thousands of Palestinian citizens who had no role in the awful act of hostage-taking and killing,” Pandor told reporters at the time, explaining the decision to approach the World Court. The 70-year-old veteran minister urged judges to get Israel to “end the massive level of harm” against civilians in Gaza, and has been resolute in her country’s commitment to standing up for the rights of Palestinians.
The Special Investigation Unit (SIU) is recovering R112 million from unqualified National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas) beneficiaries. 421 students from across five universities and four TVET colleges who did not qualify to be funded by Nsfas have signed acknowledgement of debt agreements (AoD) to pay back what was irregularly paid to them.According to the SIU, the total value of the AoDs amounts to R112 174 825, 97. The irregular payments are due to Nsfas’ inability to plan and execute controls that would guarantee an annual reconciliation between the amount of money given to the institutions and the amount given to the students. “The SIU is pleased with the cooperative attitude of parents and unqualified NSFAS beneficiaries who have signed AoDs agreeing to repay the money over some time. The SIU is urging unqualified NSFAS beneficiaries who have not been in contact with the unit to come forward and arrange for repayment,” SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said.
Malawi
In July 2005, I traveled a thoroughfare in Lilongwe, Malawi, past chicken farms, and then took dirt roads into Bowa village. Our SUV rocked side to side over the pocked roads, constantly sending my hand up to the grab bar. We passed pairs of schoolgirls in blue dresses that brightened the landscape of earth and sky.
Malawi is a largely rural country in southeastern Africa, known for rich traditions, strong community ties, and natural beauty. The economy is growing, and life expectancy has leaped over the past two decades to over 65 years. Still, more than half of its roughly 20 million people live in poverty. Yet despite facing challenges, Malawi is affectionately known as “the warm heart of Africa.”
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