First Lady Michelle Obama has hosted the first-ever Kids’ “State Dinner” at the White House, welcoming 54 budding chefs to a formal luncheon in the East Room. The guests, all between the ages of 8 and 12, represent all U.S. states, three territories and the District of Columbia.

Each of the guests, along with their parents, submitted a healthy recipe as part of the Healthy Lunchtime Challenge, which invited families to create an original lunchtime recipe that is healthy, affordable and delicious, and follows the nutritional guidelines of MyPlate

“Believe it or not, more than 1,200 kids submitted recipes for this challenge — 1,200.  It’s a big competition,” the First Lady said.  A panel of judges from the organizations that teamed up with Mrs. Obama on this initiative — Epicurious, the Department of Education and the Department of Agriculture—tasted each of the recipes that made it to the final round of the competition and picked their favorites from each state, as Mrs. Obama explained.

And they spent hours trying to decide which ones were the healthiest and the tastiest and the most fun to cook and eat.  And it wasn’t easy to choose one winner from every single state.  You were the winner in your state — the whole state.  You guys won!  Cool! 

But you’re here because your recipes truly stood out, right?  And that’s really saying something.  You came up with dishes that were packed with nutritious, delicious ingredients; dishes that are good for you, but more importantly, they taste good, too.  See?  It can happen — healthy and tasty at the same time.

The junior chefs and their parents enjoyed several of the judges’ selections at lunch, including a Quinoa, Black Bean, and Corn Salad created by 11-year-old Haile Thomas of Arizona, Yummy Cabbage Sloppy Joes, created by 12-year-old Rori Coyne of Kansas.  There was even dessert: a Strawberryana Smoothie, created by 11-year-old Stefani Shimomura-Sakamoto who came all the way from Hawaii.

Not one to be left out of all the fun, President Obama stopped by to surprise the guests, and told all the young people how proud he was of their hard work.

Look, let’s face it, I don’t cook that often these days. But I remember cooking and it’s not always easy to make something that people like to eat. Then for you guys to actually come up with recipes that are healthy and tasty, and to do it in a way that helps to contribute to spreading the word about healthy eating among your peers — that’s a really big deal. 

So we’re very proud of you.  We’re very impressed with everything that you’ve done. 

 

END

 

The future of many Europeans living in the Eurozone is very precarious. Countries like Spain, Italy, Greece and Portugal are hardest hit by the economic crisis. These has caused migration by many Europeans to Scandinavian countries seeking employment.

But some Europeans are looking for jobs and better economic opportunities out of Europe, they are moving to in Africa.

A country that has seen a significant increase in European migration to Africa is Mozambique. The Southeastern African country has in the last two to three years experienced drastic social dynamic changes as many Portuguese migrate there, escaping the uncertainty in their country.

Although Mozambique gained its independence from Portugal in 1975, and retains Portuguese as its national language, many in the African country continued until recently to see the former colonial power as a land of opportunity.

But now, with Portugal trapped in financial woes amid a worsening European debt crisis, that perception is increasingly being reversed.

The Portuguese ambassador Graca Pereira says she’s seen a rise in experienced, university-educated Portuguese migrating to Mozambique looking for a brighter future.

In addition to the common language, familiar architecture and rich culture, the main attraction for many Portuguese is Mozambique’s impressive economic performance in recent years.

According to the African Economic Outlook Mozambique’s economy grew by 7.2% in 2011. This has boosted the country’s first overseas export of coal, as well as strong performances by the transport, communications, construction and financial services sectors.

According to reports, locals in Maputo are calm and hardly moved by the sudden changes in their society. They also claim that there are new arrivals from Portugal into Mozambique nearly every day.

One of many new Portuguese immigrants in Maputo is Vanessa Souza. A 32-year-old who left Lisbon in January and is now working for a successful South African consumer goods company. She claims she’s earning more than she did back home, works shorter hours, can afford a car, cell phone and insurance. Things she was unable to provide for herself while she was in Portugal.

Now that the roles have been changed and the Portuguese are tapping into Mozambique’s growing and golden opportunity. Many locals say there has been little backlash to the return of the Portuguese to the country this time, however, under very different circumstances compared to the colonial era.

Economist Hipolito Hamela argues that the migration is a positive thing for his country.

“New businesses that are being set up will create jobs for local Mozambicans, while the influx of foreign skills will help the country’s development a great deal,” he stated.

He also added that the government quotas on the number of foreigners that a company can hire ensuring that local jobs are protected. Angola is also a Portuguese colony is experiencing an influx in the Portuguese migration.

By Elizabeth M.Koikai

Source: cnn/AFRICA

The Ethiopian Premier Meles Zenawi is dead. It has been reported that he developed an infection while undergoing treatment abroad.

Zenawi took over Ethiopia after driving out the former dictator Mengitsu Haile Mariam.

Zenawi was liked by some and hated by many who accused him of ethnic cleansing. The man encouraged ethnic federalism, which was often criticised by Human rights organizations.

During the last election 2010, he got 99 percent vote enabling him to embark on his third term in office.

The government of Ethiopia just reported that a new PM has taken over the leadership of the country

End

Photo: Jason Gutierrez/IRIN

A mother breastfeeds one of her twin babies at Jose Fabella Medical Hospital

MANILA,  – The Philippine government’s state-run breast milk bank is intensifying collection efforts to boost breastfeeding among the poor and help women return to work immediately after giving birth if they want to do so.

Hundreds of women come to have their babies at the Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital, the busiest maternity institution in Manila, the capital, where more than 12 million people live. Many women are barely able to afford even the minimal payment, and to help cover their costs some of them donate breast milk to the hospital’s milk bank, which is used to feed babies whose mothers have lactation problems.

Esmeraldo Ilem, head of the hospital’s family planning unit, said the milk is also sold at up to US$10 for four litres to other hospitals and individuals, with mothers as a first priority. “Even hospitals in far-flung areas or provinces come here to buy milk from us,” Ilem told IRIN. “[For instance,] when a mother dies in a hospital [where there is no milk bank, the family] comes here to source the milk.”

Nurses ask for donations to the hospital’s breast milk bank, where it is pasteurized and refrigerated. Ilem said milk from the Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital also helps working mothers give their babies breast milk after returning to work. The hospital started its bank in 2007, but since then at least two other facilities in the capital have opened milk banks.

A recent study by the government’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute showed that exclusive breastfeeding – giving babies only breast milk for the first six months of life, which boosts their immunity to childhood diseases – has risen from 36 percent in 2008 to 47 percent in 2011 in the Philippines. Breastfeeding a baby within one hour of being born, which has also been proven to reduce infant deaths, increased from 32 percent in 2008 to 52 percent in 2011.

However, there are “disparities in exclusive breastfeeding rates” in different parts of the country and further effort is needed to increase breastfeeding so as to reduce infant mortality. “Human milk or breast milk is the best way to make babies healthy in the early stages of life,” said Ilem. “Sadly… there are many mothers who need to go back to work or do not lactate very well, so this is where our milk comes in.”

Milk codes

A 2009 law on breastfeeding protects a woman’s right to breastfeed publicly, and requires private as well as public companies to allot time for breastfeeding. All public institutions have to provide lactation stations separate from bathrooms.

Since 1986, Executive Order 51, known locally as the “Milk Code“, has prohibited the advertising of infant formula for infants under two years old.

But these gains are at risk, according to the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), one of the country’s largest labour associations, which has warned that the infant formula lobby may have persuaded lawmakers to promote legislation seeking to reverse the breastfeeding law.

“If this happens then we may end up with more unhealthy babies,” warned TUCP spokesman Alan Tanjusay, who said his group is prepared to fight the proposed legislation. “This is where the importance of milk banks also comes in – they provide alternatives for sourcing human milk for all our babies.”

aag/pt/he
source www.irinnews.org

Photo: Steve Sanford/IRIN

Rebel and his five-year-old son after fleeing attacks in their village in Myanmar

CHIANG MAI,  – Two ethnic groups in Myanmar recently became the first rebel fighters to sign a “deed commitment” with Swiss-based rights group Geneva Call, pledging to eliminate underage soldiers and protect children in armed conflict.

As signatories the Karenni National Progressive Party/Karenni Army (KNPP/KA) and the New Mon State Party/Mon National Liberation Army (NMSP/MNLA) must ensure that children aged under 18 are not recruited into or used by their armed forces. They are also required to meet obligations related to the well-being and rights of children affected by armed conflict, such as education and assistance for children in areas under their control.

Signatories must ensure that children aged under 18 are not recruited into or used by their armed forces, and are also required to meet obligations related to the well-being and rights of children affected by armed conflict, such as education and assistance for children in areas under their control.

“Our policy is to respect international humanitarian law in a military operation,” New Mon State Party spokesman Hong Sa told IRIN. “We fully welcome international monitoring.” In 1995 the Mon party signed a cease-fire agreement with Myanmar’s military government but tension remains after the Mon refused to lay down their arms in 2010 to join the government’s Border Guard Force.

“The action that they took by signing on to the document is the right way to go and we want to encourage that other non-state groups do the same,” said Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s (HRW) Asia division.

“I think it’s significant, because it points in the right direction and re-emphasizes the commitment by some of the ethnic groups that, in fact, recognize that this is a problem that needs to be addressed,” Robertson noted.

In 2011 HRW documented the continued recruitment and use of child soldiers by all parties to Myanmar’s conflicts, in violation of international law.

Next steps

Observers are waiting to see if larger ethnic groups like the Karen, the Wa and the Kachin follow the example of the Karenni and the Mon.

“Regarding child soldiers, we have already signed deeds of commitment in 2007 with UN agencies and we no longer have any child soldiers among our troops,” said Karen National Union vice-president David Thakrabaw.

The Karen elder – who was a soldier at the age of 14, when the Karen conflict began in 1949 – commended Geneva Call’s initiative, but is sceptical about the military’s recent pledge to stop recruiting and using child soldiers. “We are interested in this process [of pledging not have children in the army] because the government side is still using child soldiers.”

Child soldiers refers not only to those who take up arms, but also children under 18 years who are a part of an armed force in any capacity, including cook, porter or messenger.

In June a group of UN agencies, headed by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), signed a joint plan with Myanmar’s Defence Ministry that set a timetable and actions needed to release and reintegrate children associated with government forces, as well as prevent any further recruitment.

“I would hope that the Tatmadaw [Myanmar Armed Forces] will recognize that there can be a mutual immobilization of child soldiers on both sides of these armed conflicts,” Robertson said.

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source www.irinnews.org

Photo: UNHCR

Za’atari camp for Syrian refugees in Jordan

DUBAI,  – Nearly a year and a half after the start of the Syrian uprising, tens of thousands of people have fled the country. Until recently, most found shelter in homes with friends, relatives and even strangers. But as the numbers increase, several neighbouring countries are opening new camps to accommodate them.

IRIN tallies the latest figures, humanitarian needs and political fallout of the mounting Syrian refugee crisis.

How many refugees are there?

From April to August, the number of Syrians registered with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq nearly quadrupled, from 40,000 to more than 155,000, with recent marked increases in Jordan and Iraq. About 75 percent are believed to be women and children.

Community-based organizations say there are many more who have not registered, either because they are afraid, they are far from the registration centres, or they do not see any benefit to doing so. UNHCR is currently scaling up its ability to register refugees.

The numbers have been a point of contention. The Jordanian government, for example, says 150,000 Syrians are on its territory, but observers question whether they are all refugees or if some are simply migrants or businessmen who regularly cross the border. In Lebanon, observers say the opposite, that the government is downplaying the numbers to avoid upsetting the unstable political balance in the country.

Syrians are increasingly seeking refuge beyond the region. Sources close to the Algerian Ministry of Interior have estimated that 12,000 Syrians have entered the country, with other estimates as high as 25,000. Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, reported that an average of 1,000 Syrian asylum seekers have arrived in Europe per month so far this year.

What are the policies at the borders?

Since the beginning of the unrest in Syria, the neighbouring countries of Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq have kept their borders open for Syrians, and according to UNHCR, refugees do not need visas whether they enter these countries through official or unofficial border crossings.

But the reality is a bit more complicated.

Fleeing Syrians have reported that the Syrian government has at times refused to let them leave legally, forcing many of them to cross borders illegally.

Lebanese borders are open to refugees, but some Syrian refugees have complained of a lack of protection once they reach Lebanon. On 1 August, the Lebanese newspaper the Daily Star reported the deportations of 14 anti-regime activists back to Syria on allegations they had committed theft, attacked the house of an army officer, insulted the military establishment and used forged documents. 

Mines along the Turkish and Lebanese borders may also make it harder for Syrians enter those countries.

Photo: Heba Aly/IRIN

UNHCR is expanding Domiz Camp to accommodate more refugees

At the Rabi’a border crossing in northern Iraq, Syrian Kurds are automatically considered refugees, according to an order issued by the Kurdistan Council of Ministers, and are given documentation and humanitarian assistance by the Iraqi Kurdish authorities. But the al-Qa’im crossing further south has twice been closed by the Iraqi authorities, most recently on 13 August. Syrian Kurdish refugees have reported instances of asylum seekers being detained or turned back by Iraqi authorities. Some Syrians have also entered Iraq legally, mostly by air to Baghdad, and then gone underground when their visas expired.

Turkey’s open border policy has been consistent. The closure of borders to commercial traffic has not affected access for refugees.

Where are the refugees staying?

Syrians who have fled to the Lebanese capital appear to be aided by personal networks and are unlikely to require additional assistance. But the majority of refugees are staying in private houses in the poorer areas of the country near the border, and some have sought refuge in public shelters like schools and mosques. Various UN aid agencies and NGOs are helping them.

Jordan’s first official camp at Za’atari is now operational. At full capacity, its 9sqkm of desert land can host up to 130,000 refugees. But conditions there are difficult: tents are not adapted to the desert environment and more than 2,500 mobile homes are needed. Food, generators, coolers, water tanks, and waste disposal are lacking.

In Turkey, humanitarian conditions in seven refugee camps managed by the Turkish Red Crescent are comparatively better than those in neighbouring countries. But protests have occurred in several of the camps because of unreliable running water and poor sanitation. These conditions have reportedly improved, at least in Kilis camp in the south of the country.

In Iraq, UNHCR and the Iraq Red Crescent are setting up a new camp in al-Qa’im. This is in addition to Domiz camp in Iraqi Kurdistan, where shelter, education and healthcare are provided to 2,500 Syrian Kurds. The pre-existing Palestinian refugee camp in al-Waleed is being refurbished to accommodate 300 Syrians. UNHCR is also planning to erect 200 tents in Al-Kasik area, 50km from the Rabi’a crossing. Medical staff and ambulances have been dispatched to several of the refugee sites.

Do they have freedom of movement?

Refugees in Turkey were previously confined to government-run border camps, but are now allowed to travel freely in Turkey. Most do not have the resources to leave the camps, however. Access to camps by non-refugees is limited and strictly regulated.

In Lebanon, Syrian refugees lack circulation permits. Previously, a Jordanian citizen could sponsor a refugee, allowing him or her to move freely in the country, but this system has recently changed, with the Jordanian government now limiting Syrian refugees to border locations.

What are the gaps in humanitarian coverage?

In Lebanon, most refugees are located in the north and in the eastern Beqa’a valley, two of the poorest regions of the country. There, one of the main humanitarian gaps is education: the school enrolment rate among refugees remains extremely low, with less than 13 percent of refugee children attending primary school. Some school principals have refused to accept refugee students because it was unclear if the government would cover the costs.

Photo: Heba Aly/IRIN

A Syrian refugee comes back from school at Domiz Camp, Iraqi Kurdistan

The medical needs of the refugees are also a major concern for UNHCR. Lebanon’s Higher Relief Council announced last month it would stop covering “any medical expenses for any wounded or other Syrian refugees in Lebanon”. Donors from the Gulf have stepped in to close the gaps in primary healthcare, but secondary health care remains a challenge.

A joint needs assessment by the Jordanian Government and humanitarian agencies identified food, water and sanitation systems as major and increasing priority needs. The growing numbers of displaced Syrians living in communities have increased pressure on local capacities to provide basic public services.

In Iraq, gaps were mostly identified within the health sector, such as need for medicines. Household items, water networks/tanks, generators with fuel, tents, healthcare and cash, and, eventually, employment are also needed in locations set to receive Syrian refugees in Al-Qa’im and Al-Waleed.

At the Domiz camp, the Fayda Water Department continues to deliver potable water by tanker, but as the camp expands, a more sustainable water system will be required.

Many refugees are concerned about safety; those in Jordan and Lebanon say they fear being hunted down by Syrian intelligence. Several incidents of attacks, kidnappings or intimidation of refugees by regime agents have been reported in recent months.

What about funding?

At the beginning of the crisis, the UN Central Emergency Response Fund allocated US$9.7 million to UN agencies and NGOs to assist Syrians.

The Syria Regional Refugee Response Plan, revised in June to include the needs of 185,000 Syrian refugees anticipated by the year’s end, is currently 40 percent funded, with $193 million requested. The United States and the European Commission are the biggest donors.

Some priority projects in key sectors such as health, water and sanitation remain on hold due to the lack of funding, as Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos recently pointed out.

What has been the political impact of the refugee crisis?

Of the four neighbouring countries, only Turkey is a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention; Lebanon and Jordan refer to the Syrians as “guests” not “refugees”.

The refugees are a particularly sensitive issue in Lebanon, which has several pro-Syrian factions in parliament. The government has been averse to setting up refugee camps for the Syrians out of fear such camps would become volatile, as has been the case with the country’s Palestinian refugee camps. Reports that rebels have used areas within Lebanon as staging grounds for attacks on Syrian forces further these anxieties.

Fears of spill-over violence can be found elsewhere, as well. According to the New York Times, the Jordanian authorities are more actively restraining anti-regime Syrian activists who have fled to Jordan, reflecting concerns about violence extending into the country.

In Iraqi Kurdistan, some Syrian refugees are receiving military training from the Kurdistan Regional Government, causing alarm. The government contends the trained refugees would only be sent back to Syria if the fall of regime causes a security vacuum. Other refugees may sympathize with the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), the militant separatist group, raising the possibility of inflaming tensions with Turkey.

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source www.irinnews.org