RIPOTI YA UNHCR YAONESHA UWAPO WA WAKIMBIZI MARADUFU KATIKA HISTORIA YA BINADAMU

TAARIFA ya hali ya wakimbizi duniani kufikia mwaka 2015 inaonesha kwamba watu milioni 65.3 wanaishi kikimbizi ikilinganishwa na watu milioni 59.5 kwa mwaka 2014.

Ongezeko hilo la watu milioni 5.8 katika kipindi cha miezi kumi na mbili kimelezwa kuwa ni la kiwango cha juu tangu kuanzishwakwa Umoja wa Mataifa.

Katika taarifa yake kuadhimisha siku ya wakimbizi duniani (Global Trends) Shirika la Kuhudumia wakimbizi (UNHCR) limesema dunia kwa sasa inakabiliwa na kundi kubwa la watu waliolazimika kuyakimbia makazi yao kwa sababu mbalimbali ikiwamo migogoro ya kivita, ubaguzi na uvunjaji wa haki za binadamu.

“Takwimu zilizopo leo hii, aina ya migogoro iliyopo na ugumu wake kumesababisha kuwapo na wimbi kubwa la wakimbizi tangu kuanzishwa tangu kuanzishwa kwa Umoja wa Mataifa; watu milioni 60 wameondolewa katika makazi yao duniani hapa. Kila siku janga la wakimbizi linatangazwa katika vyombo vya habari ; watoto, wanawake na wanaume wakipoteza maisha yao katika jaribio la kukimbia vurugu zilizopo katika eneo lao" anasema Filippo Grandi, Mkuu wa UNHCR.

Kati ya wakimbizi milioni 65.3, wakimbizi milioni 3.2 wako katika nchi zenye viwanda wakisubiri kutambuliwa hadhi zao kama wakimbizi, milioni 21.3 wametawanyika duniani kote na milioni 40.8 wamelazimika kukimbia maeneo yao lakini wapo katika nchi zao.

Mwakilishi wa UNHCR Tanzania, Bi Chansa Kapaya akizungumza kwenye maadhimisho ya siku ya wakimbizi duniani yaliyofanyika katika kambi ya wakimbizi, wilayani Kasulu, mkoani Kigoma.

Imeelezwa kuwa kwa kuzingatia idadi ya watu waliopo duniani takribani bilioni 7.349 ina maana kwamba mtu mmoja kati ya watu 113 ama anatafuta hifadhi, amekimbia makazi yake lakini yupo katika nchi hiyo hiyo au ni mkimbizi.

Kimsingi duniani kwa sasa kuna watu wengi waliolazimishwa kuhama makazi ya kuliko idadi ya watu waliopo Uingereza, Ufaransa au Italia.

Miaka 10 iliyopita, mwishoni mwa mwaka 2005, UNHCR ilirekodi wastani wa watu sita kukosa makazi kila dakika duniani lakini sasa ni wa 24 kila dakika.

Watu milioni 1.8 walilazimika kukimbia nchi zao kwa mwaka 2015 ukilinganisha na watu milioni 2.9 mwaka 2014.

Uturuki iliorodhesha idadi kubwa ya wakimbizi wapya wakiwamo 946,800 kutoka Syria. Urusi walikuwa na wakimbizi 149,600 kutoka Ukraine. Na vurugu zilipoibuka Burundi mwezi Aprili, karibu watu 123,400 walikimbilia Tanzania.

Kwa idadi hiyo Tanzania inakuwa nchi ya tatu kwa kuhifadhi wakimbizi wengi duniani.

Wakati wakimbizi wapya wa Burundi wanaingia Tanzania,UNHCR ilikuwa katika operesheni ya kuwawezesha wakimbizi waliopo kuendelea na maisha yao ya kawaida. Aidha katika kipindi hiki Tanzania ilitoa uraia kwa wakimbizi wa Burundi walioingia nchini mwaka 1972 ambao walikuwa wakiishi Tabora na Katavi na Marekani iliwapokea wakimbizi 30,000 wa Kongo waliokuwa wakiishi Nyarugusu, Kigoma.

Tangu kuanza kwa wimbi jipya la wakimbizi kutoka Burundi zaidi ya watu 141,000 wamekimbilia Tanzania kutafuta hifadhi na kuifanya Tanzania kuwa nchi inayohifadhi wakimbizi wengi kutoka Burundi.

Asilimia 77.9 ya wakimbizi hao wapya ni wanawake na watoto, Watoto wengi waliofika Tanzania ni wale waliozaliwa katika ardhi ya Tanzania (63,961) wamehifadhiwa katika kambi ya Nyarugusu, moja ya kambi kubwa duniani ikiwa na wakimbizi 131,733.Mazingira ya maisha yao yakiwa magumu. Moja ya vitu ambavyo vinafanywa na UNHCR ni kuwatawanya wakimbizi hao ili kuleta nafuu katika kambi hiyo.

Wakimbizi wengine wapo katika kambi za Nduta na Mtendeli zilizofunguliwa Oktoba 2015 na Januari 2016 kwa lengo la kupunguza msongamano katika kambi ya Nyarugusu na wakati huo huo kutoa nafasi kwa wakimbizi wapya.

Hata hivyo Nduta haraka sana ilifikia kiwango chake cha juu kinachopaswa kuwepo hapo Ilipofika Aprili mwaka huu; Kambi hiyo ina wakimbizi 55,000. Wakimbizi wapya kwa sasa wanapokelewa kambi ya Mtendeli ambapo wakazi wake waliongezeka kufikia 21,796.

Lipo eneo jingine linafikiriwa kufanywa kambi ya wakimbizi eneo la Karago, lakini eneo hili lina matatizo ya maji na haifikiriwi kwamba inaweza kubeba wakimbizi 50,000 wanaotarajiwa kuingia Tanzania kutoka Burundi.

“Wahisani wa kimataifa wameweza kuitikia wito wa kukabiliana na wimbi la wakimbizi wa Burundi na hivyo kuipunguzia mzigo serikali ya Tanzania,UNHCR na Mashirika mengine ya Umoja wa pamoja na taasisi zisizo za kiserikali. hata hivyo bado kunatakiwa raslimali nyingi zaidi ili kukabilina na wimbi hilo,” anasema Mwakilishi wa UNHCR Tanzania, Bi Chansa Kapaya.

UNHCR Tanzania imepata asilimia 40 ya mahitaji yake kusaidia wakimbizi wa Burundi mwaka kukiwa na pengo la dola za Marekani milioni 44.8 hadi kufikia Juni 19,2016.Kwa mantiki hiyo fedha kwa ajili ya kusaidia wakimbizi wa Burundi wanaotarajiwa kufikia 330,000 mwishoni mwa mwaka huu zipo kidogo sana.

HOW INTERNET CONNECTIVITY, YOUTUBE AND AMATEUR FOOTAGE IS CHANGING INTERNATIONAL JOURNALISM

By Caroline Lees

Internet connectivity, YouTube and amateur footage from citizen journalists have helped to create a new form of journalism that has enhanced international reporting, especially of the current conflict in Syria, according to Lindsey Hilsum, International Editor for Channel 4 News. However technology can never replace a journalists' primary role as an eyewitness, Hilsum said.

Connectivity has had a particularly significant impact: reshaping global communications and transcending national boundaries. “The world is being remapped in terms of connections,” Hilsum told an audience at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford last week. Quoting Parag Khanna, author of Connectography, Mapping the Future of Global Civilisation, she said there are less than 500,000 kilometres of borders across the world, but more than one million kilometres of internet cables.

More efficient international connectivity means that journalists can verify information, reach contacts and find potential sources very quickly, often instantly. It also means there is wider awareness of news and information nearly everywhere.

Hilsum said better access to information was evident when covering Europe's refugee crisis, both for journalists and refugees: "I spent last summer in the Balkans with refugees. Little dinghies would arrive on the beach and the first thing everyone would ask, often before they took off their lifejackets, was ‘where is the nearest wifi?’ They wanted to let people at home know they had arrived safely and to share information about their journey. It is this connectivity and flow of information that has made this refugee and migrant movement possible,” Hilsum said. “Everybody in Syria knows exactly what is going on with the refugees and Europe," she added.

Hilsum referred to a recent comment by Matteo Renzi, Italy's prime minister, about the refugee crisis. Renzi said he believes man-made borders are becoming irrelevant in a digital world: "How long do you think a wall might last in the internet age? How can you defend a border when terrorists are born and raised in our cities?"

“The point is that there is a digital caliphate, that is what governments are failing to understand," Hilsum said. "As journalists we have to understand and explain that. This flow is not going to stop - everyone knows everything now, because of connectivity….”

In another example she described how, while in Greece, she tweeted that she was boarding a ferry in Lesbos. “A friend on Twitter saw my post and at the same time noticed that a friend of his, a refugee from Erbil, had posted on social media that he was also getting on a ferry at Lesbos. He tweeted this information to us, as well as a picture of the refugee and within minutes we found him on the same ferry. It is extraordinary how you can make these connections instantly now,” she said.

Social media helps reporters in other ways, Hilsum said. “It is a useful tool for checking things. We had some footage from Syria although we did not know much about it. I tweeted a question asking for help in verifying it. The answer came back straight away.”

But connectivity has also made reporting more difficult and sometimes more dangerous. “It works both ways, when I started in this game, you could fly into [a place like] South Sudan and you could write what you wanted, and get interviews because nobody knew what you were writing. Now everybody knows what western journalists and local journalists do. Now people are far more aware of how to manipulate journalists, or how to use their own propaganda instead of talking to journalists.”

YouTube and citizen journalism have also changed the way reporters cover international stories, especially conflicts. Few news organisations now send staff to Syria because of the risks, nor will they buy stories from freelancers working in the country. “It has been a disastrously dangerous war to report. YouTube has become an incredibly important part of how we report it," Hilsum said. She referred to a comment once made by Marie Colvin, the Sunday Times journalist who was killed while covering the siege of Homs, Syria in 2012. "Marie used to say sometimes she felt she was the only reporter left in a YouTube world."

YouTube and amateur footage helped in reporting the recent bombing of al-Quds hospital in Aleppo. “We all had to report the bombing without being there ourselves, but then a clip taken from a security camera at the hospital was released. It showed the very moment the bomb hit. It was extraordinary footage because it showed the last moments of the doctor who was killed. It illustrates the power of security cameras and YouTube in reporting,”

“Sometimes you cannot get over the border into a country, but now it is possible to get original footage to show what has happened.”

Hilsum acknowledged the danger of receiving and broadcasting film footage from unverified sources. “Sometimes a clip doesn't tell the whole story,” she said. “People putting footage out often have an agenda.” She explained that Channel 4 News has a staff member whose job is to verify footage received from external sources.

YouTube will never replace first-hand reporting, Hilsum added: “As a reporter, I am an eye witness. If I am not there I cannot smell it and I cannot feel it,” she said. “The most important role of a journalist is being there.”

Hilsum described a recent visit she made to to the ancient city of Palmyra, Syria. She was one of the first western journalists to visit the site, which had been largely destroyed by Isis. News of the murder of the Keeper of the Monuments, 82-year old Khaled al-Asaad, had already been widely reported, but Hilsum uncovered the story of another execution in the city by Isis.

A passing comment from a government minder led Hilsum to learn about Fatima, a young woman who had been tried by the Islamic Court set up by Isis in the basement of Palmyra’s museum. Fatima’s mother showed Hilsum a tattered piece of paper on which the court’s judgement was written. It read: “Sentenced for apostasy, all belongings to be confiscated. Death sentence, no appeal.”

Fatima was executed the same day as the Khaled al-Asaad. “The story became about a famous man and the unknown woman who both dared to defy the Islamic State. It is not the kind of story you find without being there,” Hilsum said. “I felt I made her live again for four minutes, for that very brief moment of time this unknown woman became famous. I feel that is part of what we do as journalists.”

Lindsey Hilsum, International Editor, Channel 4, was speaking at a Business and Practice of Journalism seminar at Green Templeton College on Wednesday May 18, 2016.

Bonded labourers, sex workers, forced beggars: India leads world in slavery

Faizan Haider, Hindustan Times, New Delhi | 

The Gallup survey was conducted across 15 states and covered nearly 80% of India’s population, the foundation said. (HT File Photo)

India has the largest population of modern slaves in the world with more than 18 million people trapped as bonded labourers, forced beggars, sex workers and child soldiers, a global survey report said on Monday.

The Global Slavery Index by human rights organisation Walk Free Foundation said the number was 1.4% of India’s population, the fourth highest among 167 countries with the largest proportion of slaves.

“Existing research suggests all forms of modern slavery continue to exist in India, including inter-generational bonded labour, forced child labour, commercial sexual exploitation, forced begging, forced recruitment into non-state armed groups and forced marriage,” said Grace Forrest, co-founder of the Australia-based foundation.

The survey said an estimated 45.8 million people are living in modern slavery globally and 58% of them are concentrated in India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Uzbekistan.

The Gallup survey was conducted across 15 states and covered nearly 80% of India’s population, the foundation said.

The report coincided with the Centre unveiling a draft bill that envisages punishment for gangs involved in human trafficking and scrutiny of placement agencies, many of which are accused of forcing children into bonded labour and prostitution.

The Cabinet recently cleared proposals to “address new forms of bondage such as organised begging rings, forced prostitution and child labour”. India abolished bonded labour in 1976 but gangs continue to trap people from poor rural areas with the promise of better jobs. Most of them are sold into domestic work, prostitution, or to brick kilns, textile units and farms.

The foundation requested the Centre to frame a policy for private employers so that they keep a check on bonded labour in their supply chain, an issue repeatedly raised by Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi, who runs a campaign called Bachpan Bachao Andolan against child labour.

His organisation said on Monday the true test of the draft bill “will lie in ensuring time-bound prosecution and rehabilitation, and fixed accountability and stringent monitoring parameters for law enforcement agencies”.

The survey produced case studies to highlight individual cases, underpinning social and economic reasons behind this.

“This is an old disease in the village that if you are not able to pay off your debts you will have to work as a bonded labour in the field of a powerful person. My husband was employed far from the village so that he cannot run away,” the report quoted a woman as saying.

Another woman working as a domestic help said she was never paid wages and “in the name of debt, I was made a victim of sexual violence”. It said a skewed sex ratio in some parts of India “has fuelled trafficking of women for forced marriage”.

The report also highlighted the recruitment of child soldiers by militant groups active in several states, including Jammu and Kashmir, and Jharkhand, and the Northeast.

MAGAZETINI LEO JUMATANO

EU referendum: Football icon David Beckham backs Remain with Brexit isolation warning

By Ian Silvera

Embed FeedIn a related video, a video mashup of the great British Brexit debate IBTimes UK

England football legend David Beckham has revealed that he wants Remain to win at the EU referendum, with a last ditch plea to the British public ahead of the 23 June vote. The multi-millionaire sports icon stressed that he would be passionate about the UK whatever the result of the historic ballot, but argued he was backing Remain to avoid isolating Britain.

"I grew up with a core group of young British players that included Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and the Neville Brothers. Added to that was an experienced group of older British players such as Gary Pallister, Steve Bruce and Paul Ince," Beckham said.

"Now that team might have gone on to win trophies but we were a better and more successful team because of a Danish goalkeeper, Peter Schmeichel, the leadership of an Irishman Roy Keane and the skill of a Frenchman in Eric Cantona."

He added: "I was also privileged to play and live in Madrid, Milan and Paris with teammates from all around Europe and the world.

"Those great European cities and their passionate fans welcomed me and my family and gave us the opportunity to enjoy their unique and inspiring cultures and people.

"We live in a vibrant and connected world where together as a people we are strong. For our children and their children we should be facing the problems of the world together and not alone."

The endorsement comes after former England and Arsenal star Sol Campbell backed a Brexit. "If we want to see more British stars, we have to take back control," the Conservative campaigner wrote in the Mail on Sunday.

English cricket legend Sir Ian Botham has also thrown his support behind a Leave vote at the referendum, branding the EU as a "corrupt racket". "Cricket is a game where you achieve the greatest success when you are confident in your own ability to go out and stand proud. Britain has that spirit," he told The Sunday Times.

Beckham's intervention comes just two days before the referendum, with the latest online opinion from YouGov, of more than 1,600 people between 17 and 19 June, put Leave on 44% (+1) and Remain on 42% (-2). But a separate survey from NatCen, of more than 1,600 people between 16 May and 12 June, put Remain on 53% and Leave on 47%.

Lebanon is broken – is Hezbollah to blame?

By Orlando Crowcroft in Beirut 

Hezbollah members at the funeral of a Shia fighter killed in Syria in Qnarit village, southern Lebanon.REUTERS/Ali Hashisho

When news broke of a bombing in Verdun district on 12 June, many Beirutis feared the worse. It had been only six months since Islamic State (IS) hit the Shia suburb of Bourj el-Barajneh and killed 43 people, and just a few hours since an IS-inspired killer murdered 50 in Orlando, Florida.

But it soon became clear that the attack in Beirut's al-Hamra district did not have the hallmarks of IS. The attack took place when most Beirutis were at home breaking their Ramadan fast, and so nobody was killed - although two security guards were injured. The target, a Lebanese bank, did not fit the IS profile: the terrorist group prefers to inflict mass casualties by hitting markets or mosques.

Focus soon shifted to a group on the other side of the scale from IS, Hezbollah, which controls swathes of Lebanon and has 12 members in the Lebanese parliament.

The US recently announced a raft of new sanctions against the Shia terrorist group, stepping up pressure on Lebanese banks to block accounts linked to Hezbollah or its members or face blacklisting by the American authorities.

Banks threatened

Blom Bank, one of Lebanon's largest, has closed accounts of people with suspected links to Hezbollah since the new US regulations were signed into law by US President Barack Obama, Lebanese media has reported. Hezbollah has not claimed responsibility for the strike in Verdun, but two hours prior, Iranian state media reported that the group had threatened banks that comply with the new rules.

The chairman of Blom Bank has ruled out a link between new US regulations and the bombing, but Lebanon's interior minister, Nouhad al-Mashnouq, told Bloomberg following the attack that the bank was the target. The bomb had been left in a flower pot outside of the bank's headquarters in Beirut. "The bomb was right by the bank's wall, so there is no question about it," Mashnouq said.

"We are waiting for a green light from Iran to have a president."

The latest attack notwithstanding, Hezbollah presents a challenge for the Lebanese state in 2016 as it wrestles with an acute economic downturn, political paralysis and a crippling refugee crisis that has seen over 1.1 million refugees pour into the country from neighbouring Syria. In their own way, the Shia terrorist group led by Hassan Nasrallah has a role in all three.

In two of these cases, that role is more indirect. The group has been fighting alongside the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria since early on in the war and while some see their bolstering of a murderous dictator as prolonging the conflict, others point out that they have largely secured the Lebanese border and prevented IS fighters from pouring into Lebanon.

Policemen and civilians inspect the site of an explosion at the headquarters of the Lebanese Blom Bank in Beirut, Lebanon June 12, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamed AzakirREUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Likewise, while the new bank restrictions imposed by the US are undoubtedly adding to Lebanon's economic woes - hitting not only the group but by extension many of Lebanon's Shia community - the war in Syria has cut the country off from its largest trading partner and one of its few export routes to the wider Arab world. Hezbollah alone cannot be blamed for Lebanon's economic turmoil.

That said, Hezbollah's involvement in Syria is believed to be behind the decision of Saudi Arabia to put $4bn of aid into the Lebanese army, which relies on support from both Riyadh and the US. Hezbollah is backed by Iran, Saudi Arabia's biggest regional rival, and the spat has seen tourism from the Gulf drop off almost entirely at a time when Lebanon needs tourist dollars more than ever.

Blame for the political stalemate, which has seen Lebanon without a president for over two years, is being laid firmly at the feet of Hezbollah and its allies. The parliament needs a two thirds quorum in order to elect a president and Hezbollah and other affiliated parties have been able to sabotage the process, say critics, by removing themselves from the chamber every time it comes to a vote.

"We are waiting for a green light from Iran to have a president," Nabil de Friege, Lebanon's minister of state for administrative reform and a Future Party MP, told IBTimesUK in Beirut, alluding to Tehran's funding and support for the Shia group.

As a result of this stalemate, Lebanon has been governing as "a presidency of 128" since 2014, with the result that nothing can be done. Lebanon has not had a budget for 12 years because Hezbollah object to a small portion of the Ministry of Justice funds that are contributed to the investigation of the assassination of Rafik Hariri in 2005 – widely believed to have been carried out by Hezbollah on the order of Assad.

For de Friege, it is a source of frustration that political bodies in the West, such as the EU, distinguish between dealing with Hezbollah's military wing and dealing with its politicians. He said to treat the group as a sort of Lebanese Sinn Fein (the political wing of the IRA) is a fiction. "There's no military branch [versus] a political branch of Hezbollah: there is just Hezbollah," he said.

But it is telling how much members of the parliament, indeed, even fellow ministers, disagree. Asked who he thought was responsible for the 12 June bombing in Beirut, Hisham Jaber - an independent Shia MP - said: "To me it is a little convenient. [I think] they were framed." Pressed on who would frame Hezbollah, he urged reporters to read a recent Jerusalem Post. "So you mean Israel?" we asked: "Probably," Jaber replied.

A man watches Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah speaking on television inside an electronics shop in the port city of Sidon, southern Lebanon December 21, 2015.REUTERS/Ali Hashisho

On the Lebanese street, opinions vary widely, but a surprising number of non-Shia (but non-Sunni) Lebanese still talk fondly of Hezbollah because of its willingness to fight Israel in the south. Although the 2006 war caused catastrophic destruction to the country, Hezbollah is considered to have won. Likewise, many Lebanese appreciate that the Shia militia is a useful bastion against IS.

Others point out that in the Shia communities and Hezbollah strongholds in southern Beirut, patience for the group is wearing thin. Assad's war in Syria has seen many young Lebanese fighters killed and while the group is keen to present these men as shuhada (martyrs) akin to those lost fighting Israel in 2006, Hezbollah's role in the Syrian war more difficult to see as a war of resistance.

A local journalist told IBTimes UK that while in the past Hezbollah would invite journalists to interview the families of its martyrs, the group recently banned parents of young fighters killed in Syria from talking to the press. Hezbollah knows it is fighting a public relations war as well as a military one and local media in Lebanon claim that the group is massively understating its casualties in Syria.

When you are dealing with somebody who has an army behind them - you cannot forget that.

For de Friege, Lebanon cannot move forward on any of its various challenges while Hezbollah acts unilaterally. Just like its war with Israel in 2006, Hezbollah took the decision to enter the Syrian war on the side of Assad without a thought of consequences for Lebanon: the 2006 war with Israel cost the government an estimated $5bn in damages and lost income as well as killing 1,200 people.

"It is not for [Hezbollah] as a party to be making that decision - it is the whole country. We were not prepared for it. They are now going to Syria without dealing with the government. We are [left] in the middle," he said.

He added that while Hezbollah is part of the government, its huge, well-armed militia gives it significantly more clout in the Lebanese political system: "When you are dealing with somebody who has an army behind them - you cannot forget that."

Orlando Crowcroft was in Lebanon courtesy of the European Journalism Centre.

Sheikh Abri:The society must help people who are in need

Across-section Muslims believers sitting around iftar during the exercise of offering iftar to the fasting Muslims in Iringa region. (Photo by Friday Simbaya)

Executive Chairman of the Dhi Nureyn Islamic Foundation of Iringa Tanzania Sheikh Said Abri (left) giving ifatr to an old man during the exercise of offering iftari to the fasting Muslims in Iringa region. (Photo by Friday Simbaya)

An old man sitting behind his iftari.

By Friday Simbaya, Iringa

The society has been urged to come forward to help people in need especially in this holy month of Ramadan where by some believers who do not have ability to run their own lives particularly in access to necessities of Iftar.

The call was made yesterday by the Executive Chairman of the Dhi Nureyn Islamic Foundation of Iringa Tanzania Sheikh Said Abri during the ceremony of distributing food stuffs to various groups of Muslims in Iringa region who are fasting but they cannot afford to buy iftar.

Sheikh Said Abri said that the Holy Month of Ramadan is the month of compassion so communities and people are required to give tender eye to elderly, orphans and widows.

He said that the Dhi Nureyn Islamic Foundation of Iringa, Tanzania in collaboration with the Sheikh Thani Bin Abdullah for Humanitarian Foundation Services (Raf) have offered Iftar to Muslims of six regions in Tanzania worth Tshs.44.6 million.

On his part, Dhi Nureyn Islamic Foundation Iringa, Tanzania General Secretary Shams Elmi spoke about the importance of offering Iftar, while urging other institutions to come forward and help people in need, especially in this period of fasting of Ramadan.

Elmi said that a total of 1,700 Muslims from Singida, Manyara, Arusha, Njombe, Dar es Salaam and Iringa regions have benefited from the offering of Iftar.

He said that some food stuffs including rice, sugar, tea and beans were also distributed to various mosques so that believers can fast without problems.

On the part of government, Iringa Regional Administrative Secretary (RAS), Wamoja Ayubu officiated during the exercise of offering Iftar to the need Muslim believers and pepole.

The Sheikh Thani Bin Abdullah for Humanitarian Foundation Services (Raf) is one of the foundations in Qatar concerned with humanitarian work for relief and social development, both locally and internationally. 

In all its humanitarian interventions and developmental initiatives, it has a clear vision and a noble message that does not discriminate between people whatever their differences in gender, nationality or culture. 

To ensure the success of its message, Raf has adopted the values of humanity, quality, neutrality and universality. 

Raf also establishes humanitarian partnerships with different active foundations who share the same goal, as a formative and executive mechanism to achieve its local and international programs and projects.

Watanzania wapata fursa ya kushiriki mafunzo kuhusu Tsunami

Kutokana na kuwa na athari kubwa ambazo zimekuwa zikisababisha majanga makubwa, Shirika la Umoja wa Mataifa linaloshughulikia Elimu, Sayansi na Utamaduni (UNESCO) limeandaa mafunzo ya siku tano ambayo yatashirikisha watu mbalimbali nchini ili kuwapa elimu kuhusiana na majanga.

Akizungumzia Mafunzo hayo, Mkuu wa Ofisi na Mwakilishi wa UNESCO nchini, Zulmira Rodrigues alisema kupitia mafunzo hayo yatawasaidia washiriki kupata elimu kuhusiana na Tsunami ikiwa ni pamoja na madhara ambayo yanasababishwa na hivyo ni matarajio yao watakuwa mawakala wazuri kwa kusambaza elimu hiyo kwa Watanzania wengine.

"Watu wengi wamepoteza maisha tukumbuke Tsunami la Japan zaidi ya watu 20,000 walipoteza maisha kwahiyo tunataka mafunzo haya yasaidie kufahamu ni kwa kiasi gani Tsunami linakuwa na madhara hata kama limetokea mbali na hapa," alisema Bi. Rodrigues.

Nae Katibu Mkuu wa Wizara ya Ujenzi, Uchukuzi na Mawasiliano, Dk. Leonard Chamuriho alisema ni vyema kwa watanzania kupata elimu hiyo kutokana na madhara ambayo yamekuwa yakitokea ikiwemo Tsunami la mwaka 2004 ambalo lilitokea eneo lililombali na bahari ya Hindi lakini lilisababisha athari nchini na kusababisha vifo vya waogeleaji watano.

"Mafunzo haya yanatakiwa kufanyika kwa wananchi wote na mwezi Septemba yatafanyika mengine na yatahusisha watu wengi lengo kila Mtanzania ajue nini cha kufanya siku athari zikitokea wajue nini wanafanya ni muhimu kwa kila mtu kujua athari za Tsunami hata likitokea mbali," alisema Dk. Chamuriho.

Mwakilishi wa Shirika la Umoja wa Mataifa linaloshughulikia Elimu, Sayansi na Utamaduni (UNESCO) kitengo kinachoshughulikia Tsunami, Ardito Kodijat akifungua mafunzo hayo kwa kuwaeleza washiriki aina ya mafunzo ambayo watapatiwa. (Picha na Rabi Hume, MO Blog)

2. Mkuu wa Ofisi na Mwakilishi wa Shirika la Umoja wa Mataifa linaloshughulikia Elimu, Sayansi na Utamaduni (UNESCO), Bi. Zulmira Rodrigues akitoa neno la ufunguzi kwa niaba ya UNESCO Tanzania na kueleza sababu ya kufanyika mafunzo hayo.

3. Mkuu wa Utafiti na Matumizi ya Hali ya Hewa kutoka Mamlaka ya Hewa nchini (TMA, Dk. Ladislauds Chang`a akizungumza jinsi TMA imejipanga kuendeleza kutoa elimu kwa wananchi kuhusu Tsunami na kuwataka Watanzania kuwa na utaratibu wa kufatilia hali ya hewa nchini hasa katika kipindi hiki ambacho ni kuna mabadiliko ya tabia ya nchi.

4. Baadhi ya washiriki ambao wameshiriki katika mafunzo hayo ambayo yanataraji kufanyika kwa siku tano.

5. Katibu Mkuu wa Wizara ya Ujenzi, Uchukuzi na Mawasiliano, Dk. Leonard Chamuriho akizungumza katika ufunguzi wa mafunzo yanayohusu kuwapa elimu washiriki ya kuhusu Tsunami. (Picha na Rabi Hume, MO Blog)

6. Washiriki wakiwa katika picha ya pamoja. (Picha na Rabi Hume, MO Blog)

Tanzania yatajwa katika nchi zinazoongoza kwa unyanyasaji kwa watu wenye Ualbino

Mratibu Mkazi wa Mashirika ya Umoja wa Mataifa nchini (UN), Alvaro Rodriguez akielezea jinsi UN waevyojipanga kuwasaidia watu wenye ualbino. Kushoto ni Mtaalam Huru wa Umoja wa Mataifa kuhusu Ulemavu wa Ngozi, Ikponwosa Ero.

Tanzania yatajwa katika nchi zinazoongoza kwa unyanyasaji kwa watu wenye Ualbino.

Pamoja na juhudi ambazo serikali imekuwa ikizifanya ili kuhakikisha Watanzania wenye ualbino wanakuwa salama na amani lakini bado Tanzania inaendelea kuwa nchi ya hatari kwa watu hao kwa kuwa katika orodha ya nchi ambazo zina kiwango kikubwa cha unyanyasaji.

Akizungumza na waandishi wa habari katika kilele cha kongamano la kikanda kwa ajili ya hatua kuhusu ulemavu wa ngozi Afrika lililofanyika Dar es Salaam, Mtaalam Huru wa Umoja wa Mataifa kuhusu Ulemavu wa Ngozi, Ikponwosa Ero alisema kuwa kwa ripoti ambazo wamekuwa wakizipokea inaonyesha Tanzania ni moja ya nchi ambazo zina unyanyasaji kwa watu wenye ualbino.

"Tangu nimeingia sijawahi kufanya uchunguzi hata katika matokeo ya uchunguzi wa nchi 29 sijaujua sana lakini kwa taarifa ambazo nimekuwa nikipata kutoka kwa taasisi mbalimbali inaonyesha Tanzania ni unyanyasaji wa hali ya juu kwa watu walio na uablino," alisema Ero.

Mtaalam Huru wa Umoja wa Mataifa kuhusu Ulemavu wa Ngozi, Ikponwosa Ero akizungumza na waandishi wa habari. Kushoto ni Shirika la Kimataifa la Under The Same Sun, Vicky Ntetema na kulia ni Mkuu wa Mawasiliano wa Shirika la Standing Voice, Sam Clarke.

Nae Mwenyekiti wa Tume ya Haki za Binadamu na Utawala Bora, Bahame Nyanguga alisema katika kongamano hilo wametoka na maazimio ambayo wanaiomba serikali iweze kuyafanya ili kuwezesha watu wenye ualbino kuwa na usalama wa uhakika.

Mwenyekiti wa Tume ya Taifa ya Haki za Binadamu na Utawala Bora, Bahame Nyanduga. Kushoto ni Mtaalam Huru wa Umoja wa Mataifa kuhusu Ulemavu wa Ngozi, Ikponwosa Ero na kulia ni Mratibu Mkazi wa Mashirika ya Umoja wa Mataifa nchini (UN), Alvaro Rodriguez.

"Tumejadili mambo mengi lakini tunaiomba serikali ihusike moja kwa moja kupinga unyanyasaji, ukatili na ubaguzi nia tunaiona kwahiyo tunaomba waendelee kuwa hivyo na pia waongeze bajeti na zaidi katika matibabu kwa watu wenye ualbino," alisema Nyanduga.

Kwa upande wa Shirika la Umoja wa Mataifa kupitia Mratibu Mkazi wa mashirika hayo, Alvaro Rodriguez alisema ni wataendelea kuwasaidia watu wenye ualbino ili kuwezesha kupunguza changamoto ambazo zinawakabili.

The African Union is introducing a single passport to make travel on the continent easier for Africans

BORDERLESS

WRITTEN BYLily Kuo

When heads of state from across Africa arrive in Kigali, Rwanda next month for the African Union (AU) Summit, they will be among the first Africans issued the new electronic African Union passport. The passport is meant to make travel on the continent much easier for Africans.

“The scene seems to be set to realize the dream of visa-free travel for African citizens within their own continent by 2020,” the AU said in a statement announcing the launch.

Travel in Africa is difficult for most Africans. They are required to have visas for over half of the countries on the continent. Only 13 African countries (pdf) allow other Africans to enter without a visa or give visas on arrival. In contrast, Americans can travel to 20 African countrieswithout visas or with visas on arrival.

African travelers say they feel the same suspicion at immigration counters within the continent as they do outside of it. Aliko Dangote, a Nigerian businessman and Africa’s wealthiest man, was himself onceturned away by South African immigration officials as he struggled to locate his passport. Meanwhile his American staff sailed through border control.

Intra-African trade also costs more than any other region—as much as 50% higher than East Asia, for example. A truck serving supermarkets in southern Africa needs to carry as many as 1,600 documents, including permits and licenses, in order to cross borders, according to Anabel Gonzalez, senior director of a World Bank group on trade and global competitiveness.

The goal of the African Union passport, which Dangote said he is applying for, is to help turn Africa into a “continent with seamless borders” modeled after the European Union’s Schengen Area. Giving the passports to state leaders is a “symbolic and significant” step, according to Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, chair of the African Union Commission. The goal of the African Union passport is to help turn Africa into a “continent with seamless borders.” 

Officials have been pushing for increased freedom of movement ever since the Organization of African Unity, a precursor to the AU, was established in the 1960s. The idea has gained traction over the last few years, however, due to the continent’s improving economic fortunes and population growth. The AU wants to abolish visa requirements for all African citizens visiting African countries by 2018, and establish a free trade area across the continent by 2017.

Skeptics point out that creating a truly borderless Africa will likely be quite challenging. The continent hosts many refugees from conflict areas, not to mention militant groups like al-Shabaab or Boko Haram. Then there are public health crises like the Ebola outbreak, and questions posed by the nationality of those who have been deemed stateless.

The Seychelles, Rwanda, Mauritius, and most recently Ghana have all loosened travel restrictions on their fellow Africans, allowing visas on arrivals or entry without the permit. But the process remains slow. Currently, only AU heads of state and government, ministers of foreign affairs, and other AU officials can apply for the passport, which will be recognized in all 54 countries belonging to the organization.

“Countries have said that they are going back to look at the practicality of doing their immigration regulation,” says African Union Commission chair Dlamini-Zuma. “But there is a decision and it is up to all of us to hold our countries to that decision so that indeed Africans can move freely amongst other African countries.”