“The Norwegian Government condemns in the strongest terms today’s attack on a UN compound in Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan, in which a Norwegian UN worker was among those who were killed,” said Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

“Today’s attack on the UN compound is not only an attack on the UN and the international community, but also on the future of the Afghan people,” said Minister of Defence Grete Faremo.

The defence authorities have confirmed that it was Lieutenant Colonel Siri Skare (53) who was killed in the attack on the UN compound in Mazar-e-Sharif. “Our thoughts and sympathy go to the families of those who were killed,” said Ms Faremo.

UN and international aid workers are increasingly the target of assaults, and the humanitarian aid effort has become increasingly more difficult in the past few years. The Afghan authorities are to assume more and more responsibility for governance and development in the country in the years ahead and will continue to have a great need for international development assistance.

“The UN is in Afghanistan to help rebuild the country. It is completely meaningless that UN workers should be killed while carrying out their humanitarian mission. This is a brutal assault on the basic principles of humanity and compassion,” said Mr Støre.

“It is important that the international community now stand united with our Afghan partner against the destructive forces responsible for today’s attack,” said Mr Støre.

By the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway
Duty Press Officer: Date:   April 1 2010

ZIMBABWE: Desperate measures in times of hunger

Photo: Flickr

The staple maize

HARARE, 29 March 2011 (IRIN) – A mother of four in Zimbabwe’s rural Midlands Province gave her husband custody of her children, after divorcing him three years ago, because the failing crops on her two-acre plot meant she would be unable to feed them.

“I had no choice but to bring the children to their father [in the capital, Harare]… There is so much hunger in Shurugwi, and getting food for them is a real struggle,” said Tariro Moyo, 38, who lives with her parents in the village about 85km southeast of Gweru, provincial capital of Midlands.

The father of the children, all of school-going age, has since remarried and earns a small salary as a mechanic at a struggling company in Chitungwiza, a dormitory town about 30km south of Harare, where he lives in a two-roomed cottage. His new wife is not  keen on having the children.

“I know life will be difficult for my children but they could have died if I had remained with them. The father will see what he can do to ensure that his children get food and attend school,” Moyo said.

The husband’s salary will not stretch to pay for school fees and the children will be expected to sell sweets and vegetables to contribute to the household income.

Moyo was allocated the two-acre plot by her father after the divorce, but a prolonged dry spell has put paid to any maize harvest this year.

Like hundreds of others in her community, she relied on monthly supplies of barley, millet and cooking oil from an NGO, but distributions stopped in early March 2011 because the budget had been exhausted.

The US-based Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET) has forecast that about 1.7 million people will need food assistance ahead of the main harvest, which usually begins in late March.

Moyo has only been able to produce a small amount of maize in the past two years and has survived on piecemeal jobs.

“Like the other villagers, I have totally become dependent on buying food from local shops because we have not been harvesting much from the fields. It is raising the money that is difficult. The lucky ones have relatives in urban areas, who are working and can send them money every month-end,” she said.

The children often went to school on empty stomachs and had a single evening meal of sadza (thick porridge made from maize-meal) and some vegetables. She said most households in her area were in the same position – there was no cash, and most people survived on barter.

A joint report by UNICEF and the government, A Situational Analysis on the State of Women’s and Children’s Rights in Zimbabwe: 2005-2010, “indicates that between 220,000 and 250,000 rural households in Zimbabwe live in extreme poverty and are food insecure. These households include between 620,000 and 700,000 vulnerable children.”

Nationwide about 3.5 million children were living below the poverty line.

A ZANU-PF card gets food

Samuel Tabvure, 52, lives in Nharira village in Chivu district, about 180km southeast of Harare, where he looks after his ailing elderly mother and a sister who was diagnosed with HIV last year.

You have to register your name with the local village head. After that, you should show the ZANU-PF leaders your party card and wait for your turn, which for some of us seems to be taking forever because we are suspected of supporting the opposition

“Both of them need good food but they are surviving on sadza and vegetables most of the time. Whenever I take them to the clinic, I am advised to buy them nutritious food but I am not working and can therefore not buy the required foodstuffs, not even cooking oil,” he told IRIN.

The family of nine requires 50kg of maize-meal each week costing US$18, or US$72 every month.

The Grain Marketing Board (GMB), a state-run cereal distribution monopoly, has been moving grain to the local depot and is selling maize-meal and grain more cheaply.

“The process of buying from the GMB is too long and tiresome. You have to register your name with the local village head. After that, you should show the ZANU-PF leaders your party card and wait for your turn, which for some of us seems to be taking forever because we are suspected of supporting the opposition,” said Tabvure.

There have been allegations that ZANU-PF – the ruling party since independence from Britain in 1980 until a coalition government was formed in 2009 – has excluded supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change from accessing maize at GMB depots, and has been hampering efforts by humanitarian organizations to provide food assistance.

“The plight of children makes my heart bleed. Their performance at school is clearly affected because they attend school hungry, and over the past four years there have not been any free food handouts in this district,” Tabvure said.

“Poor harvests are bad news, particularly for rural people,” Innocent Makwiramiti, a Harare-based economist and former chief executive officer of the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC), told IRIN.

“Prices of maize-meal and other foodstuffs will go up,” he said, ‘but these people don’t have dependable sources of income, yet they will not have options but to go to the shops for their food.”

fm/go/he

source http://www.irinnews.org

BY   Dickens Wasonga.

The 3 billion shillings Kisumu International Airport upgrading project whose construction attracted a lot of controversy three years ago when it was launched will now be officially operational by the end of May this year.

This follows the successful completion of the upgrading works carried out by the China Overseas Engineering Company COVEC, which won the tender in October 2008 to do the project funded by the government of Kenya and the World Bank. It was expected to last just 22 months.

Giving highlights of the progress of the project so far to journalists in Kisumu the Airport manager Mr. Joseph Okumu said the project delayed by a few months after the initial works which included extension of the current runway by just a kilometer to two was changed to 3.3 kilometers by 45 meters wide.

Mr. Okumu said even the terminal building which was originally designed to have just the ground floor  was modified to include  mezzanine floor  in order to accommodate more passengers and give room for additional commercial opportunities that will come with the new facility.

According to him, a lot of improvement works was undertaken alongside the main project. He gave the example of the improved navigation facilities which saw a state of the art very high Omni directional Radio Range facility installed.

In order to fit into its new international status, the airport administration has been organizing a lot of training of the personnel at the facility.

Recently   over ten of its crew drawn from the fire and rescue departments were taken through a course on diving skills.
Procedures have also  been enhanced to meet set standards  and the facility  now have a marine rescue committee and not long ago it put to test its emergency procedures by holding an emergency drill where all the relevant  agencies participated.

The manager added that all the airport staff have also undertaken a cause on safety and security awareness and were now better prepared to handle safety and security concerns of the passengers whose numbers are expected to rise soon.

The airport has a capacity to handle 3000,000 passengers per year at the moment but it will handle additional 2million passengers for a similar period upon upgrading.

When complete the new terminal will be handling both domestic and international passengers of an estimated 700 per hour.

Growth in number of  passenger has been witnessed since the upgrading began at the airport  and today it has  daily flights to Mwanza and Entebbe together with an increased chartered operator flights.

Jet link, Fly 540 operating in conjunction with East Africa Safaris Express and national carrier Kenya Airways currently has scheduled fights.

They have all increased their frequency with Jet link operating 6 flights daily, KQ 4 and  Fly 540 doing 3, said Okumu.
Amongst other facilities the new terminal will have dedicated water and power supply system and a state of the art stand by generators.

Modern safety and security equipment, modern passenger processing facilities, business class lounges, and self-service customer kiosks for departing clients will be available.

Aircraft hanger for maintenance of aircraft which was previously lacking will also be included and taxi operators and other motorists will now enjoy automated car park facilities.

Air craft such as Boeng 767 or Airbus 300 and 310 will now be able to land or take off at the upgraded facility.

There will be several business and rental opportunities which will be offered to interested business people in competitive tenders. The Kenya Airports Authority will soon advertise the opportunities to the public through the local dailies.

The opportunities will include ground handling cargo transit sheds, fuel firms, car park management, airport advertising and flying schools.  Others will include duty-free shops, restaurants amongst others.

A lot of jobs will therefore be created directly or indirectly to several jobless people not only in Kisumu but throughout the region.

The manager disclosed that more airport staff will be hired by KAA.  Some will be absorbed to work as customer service personnel, safety and security staff, operational and maintenance staff, etc.

We expect to have more  airline staff, more taxi operators while parastatal and  other government ministries  or agencies such as KRA, immigration, KEBS will now have to post their teams here. Horticultural companies, additional health staff and medical personnel, more caterers and ground handling staff will be required; he added.

People have already reaping huge benefits from the airport project which initially faced a stiff opposition from the members of Kogony clan on whose land the upgrading work were to be done.

Many have since been compensated for the land acquired by the project and some now live in permanent houses constructed from the proceeds of the sale of land.

Locals also enjoy enhanced security while value for land adjacent to the facility has appreciated tremendously. Several construction projects have also sprung up around the facility while numerous hotels have been built or are under construction within and around the lake side city.

Even the sate light towns as far as Ahero are now feeling the growth ahead of the commissioning of the new facility which will greatly open up the region for serious business undertakings with the rest of the world. Fish, horticultural products will now be exported directly to Europe and other world markets.

Other beneficiaries are those currently residing in sprawling Kisumu slum areas of Bandani, Riat, Obunga and Otonglo which neighbor the airport which are currently under slum upgrading program.

A modern school is being established at Usoma. The modern primary school with a capacity of 500 pupils is near completion and was built at a cost of KSH 20 million from KAA.  Its second phase will cost slightly more.

Access road is also under construction to link the airport and the Kisian junction and will help to rehabilitate the now dilapidated section between Kisian and Otonglo.

This facility will be an added advantage in several fronts. It will be a major economic boost not only to the people around here but even into the national economy.

Tourism will get a boost as well as more international  visitors land to sample the local culture and tour some of the numerous attraction sites within the western Kenya tourism circuit; Said Okumu.

ENDS.