23 April 2021
Malaria vaccine: Early trials indicate that a new vaccine from Oxford University is 77% effective, significantly better than the 50% of the only currently available malaria vaccine. Results published in The Lancet are based on trials involving 450 children in Burkina Faso. Larger-scale trials will now involve 4,800 children in Burkina, Mali, Kenya and Tanzania. This could be excellent news, should the further trials be conclusive: malaria kills more than 400,000 people each year.
BBC Africa Live 23 April 2021. 7:59
Somalia/(Chad)/AU: After meeting yesterday, the AU’s Peace and Security Council condemned the recent two-year term extension for Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo and called “on all Somali political leaders to exercise maximum restraint and refrain from any actions that may lead to an escalation of tensions and further undermine the stability of Somalia, the Horn of Africa region and the continent”.
The meeting had also discussed the situation in Chad after the putsch following Idriss Déby Itno’s death but the African Union issued no resolution on the question.
BBC Africa Live 23 April 2021. 5:04
Chad: National media have reported scuffles over their father’s succession between transition president Mahamat Déby and his step-brother Zakaria Idriss Déby, at the presidential palace on 21 April. Those in power have denied there was any shoot-out or quarrel, no doubt trying to present a united front. But the rivalry in the presidential family has been public knowledge for some time. The tensions inside family & Zaghawa could easily spill over into the army, which is known to be deeply divided.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56850715
22 April 2021
Kenya/Gender-based violence: GBV – mainly physical assault, sexual violence and child neglect – have exploded during the pandemic, increasing by 92% according to official data. The first half of 2020 saw the worst rise, with 1.5 million losing their jobs because of corona restrictions
BBC Africa Live 22 April 2021. 17:44
Chad/France: Paris apparently has no problem with the un-constitutionality of the Military Council headed by the late president’s son that has taken power. Jean-Yves Le Drian spoke of “exceptional circumstances” and the priority being the ensuring of stability.
BBC Africa Live 22 April 2021. 11:36
Tchad: The article follows Idriss Déby Itno through his life, mostly the 30 years he spent in power, from promising beginnings to disillusionment, with little attention paid to the support he had from the French and other neo-colonial powers.
https://theconversation.com/idriss-deby-itno-offered-chadians-great-hope-but-ended-up-leaving-a-terrible-legacy-159443
Kenya: Under the guise of its fight against terrorism, Kenya wants – again, in 2017 the high court stopped it – to close the Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps in the northern part of the country that together hold more than 400,000 refugees. In disregarding the doctrine of non-refoulement (refoulement is the forced repatriation of refugees) Kenya blatantly goes against its international obligations and also its own laws – and puts its standing as a key host country for refugees at risk.
https://theconversation.com/why-kenya-is-on-thin-ice-in-its-justification-for-sending-somali-refugees-back-home-159356
Tanzania/Girls’ SRH: Looking for interventions that improve the sexual and reproductive health of girls and young women aged 11 to 22, the author’s research – not very surprisingly – found two essential interventions: “engaging with and inspiring adolescent boys and young men to make better choices around their sexual and reproductive health” and “empowering adolescent girls and young women”. The first was achieved by soccer-based health programmes for boys, the second by asking female adolescents to set two or three specific strategies to achieve the goal of staying healthy and free of sexually transmitted infections and HIV. Concerning the use of contraception, the study found that mere access to free contraceptives has no significant impact – what is needed instead is an altering of norms.
https://theconversation.com/study-from-tanzania-offers-lessons-on-how-to-improve-the-health-of-adolescent-girls-worldwide-156311
Great Britain/Racism: The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has found that at least 116,000 and possibly 350,000 WW1 victims, mostly Blacks and Asians, who were fighting for the British Empire have not been properly commemorated. The reason: “pervasive racism”.
Following the publication of the report, “Prime Minister Boris Johnson has offered an unreserved apology” and defence minister Ben Wallace “promised new commemorations and efforts to bring what he called this hidden history to life.”
BBC Africa Live 22 April 2021. 6:17 and BBC Africa Live 22 April 2021. 17:50
Mozambique/Cabo Delgado: With Mozambique unwilling to ask for other countries’ help, a military intervention from SADC or the African Union is unlikely. “A multi-dimensional approach is preferable to military action. It should include re-establishing the rule of law, good governance and upholding human rights, along with effective border policing and coastal patrols. Humanitarian efforts are essential to help alleviate poverty and neglect in Cabo Delgado in the short and long term.”
https://issafrica.org/iss-today/limited-legal-options-for-sadc-military-action-in-cabo-delgado
Nigeria: Now for the hospitals! In Idon (Kaduna State), a hospital has been attacked and two female nurses have been abducted by armed men. That a hospital is targeted is a first.
BBC Africa Live 22 April 2021. 17:59