Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, said BRICS countries must make the most of the resources around them.
Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, said BRICS countries must make the most of the resources around them.
Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has encouraged delegates at the BRICS Youth Summit to pay particular attention to attaining gender mainstreaming and parity.
“Such a stance is not only in pursuit of social justice but several studies suggest a strong correlation between a country’s progress in closing the gender gap and its economic competitiveness,” Dlamini-Zuma said, alluding to United Nations Women stats which show that women get paid 23% less than men.
The BRICS Youth Summit was held under the theme ‘Radical Economic Transformation – Making the BRICS work for Youth’ in Bela Bela, Limpopo.
The Minister said BRICS countries must make the most of the resources around them.
“All our nations are surrounded by the oceans and seas and all have fertile waterways and rivers. However, very little has been said about this advantage. It is therefore imperative that our mooted skills revolution considers this and other areas, including the areas that will further equip our societies with capabilities in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) areas,” she said.
Dlamini-Zuma called on delegates to come up with concrete and time bound youth oriented actions towards a youth driven skills revolution, which will further equip the BRICS nations to take advantage of the fourth industrial revolution in the areas of our comparative and competitive advantages. – SAnews.gov.za
A Civil Society Organisation, Media Initiative against Injustice, Violence and Corruption-MIIVOC has warned that despite assenting to the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit Bill by Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, danger is yet to be averted for the country.
MIIVOC Executive Director, Dr. Walter Duru who gave the warning while addressing newsmen in Calabar, weekend however commended President Muhammadu Buhari for assenting to the Bill, even as he praised the National Assembly for passing same.
Speaking on what needs to be done urgently, Duru stressed that “assenting to the NFIU Bill is a good development, but, that is not enough. Sending the name of a fit and proper person as head of the Unit to the National Assembly for consideration requires extreme urgency.
The National Assembly may be going on recess in the last week of July and the President needs to act fast in the interest of the country. Setting up of a befitting office, with all structures, staffing and paraphernalia must be done without delay. Having a law in place without effective implementation does not do the country any good.”
Speaking on the implications of the new law, Duru described the development as amounting to rekindling of hope for Nigeria’s escape from looming international sanctions, while strengthening the country’s Anti-money Laundering and Counter financing of terrorism regime.
According to him, “the NFIU Act establishes a legal framework for a national center that will be responsible for the receipt of information from financial institutions and designated non-financial institutions, analysis of the financial information for the purpose of turning the information into financial intelligence and dissemination of the financial intelligence to all law enforcement agencies and other competent persons.
The Act ensures that the NFIU is not tied to any agency but will have adequate measures to build an independent financial intelligence system.”
Continuing, Duru called on the National Assembly to urgently pass the Proceeds of Crime, Mutual Assistance in criminal matters and Whistle Blowers/Witness Protection Bills, as well as an updated/amended version of the Money Laundering and Terrorism Prevention Acts, to brighten the country’s chances of escaping the hammer of the international community.
“Remember, Nigeria remains suspended from the Egmont Group of FIUs, meaning that the country has not been receiving external financial intelligence since July, 2017 and this will remain in force until the suspension is lifted. The above steps are the surest way out of the country’s present difficult situation,” he stressed.
A Chinese kitchen appliance maker is paying out up to 79 million yuan (£8.9 million) in refunds to its customers.
The company vowed last month that it would do so if France won the football World Cup competition.
Vatti Corp Ltd, based in China’s south-eastern province of Guangdong, said early on Monday on its official Weibo account that it would honour its pledge.
It also issued instructions on how customers could claim their refund.
The company is an official sponsor of the French national football team.
It had offered the deal to buyers of its “championship package” – which is valued up to 16,100 yuan and includes gas stoves, water heaters and dish washers.
The promo lasted from June 1 to July 3 as part of a marketing campaign.
France won the World Cup for the second time on Sunday, beating Croatia 4-2.
“Fees incurred are within our annual budget and will not have significant impact on our distribution system and profit,” Vatti said in a statement on July 4 ahead of France’s quarter-final match.
The firm’s stock jumped by close to its 10 per cent daily limit on Monday after a steady decline shortly before the promo.
Vatti’s refund situation was one of the most frequently mentioned topics on Weibo on Monday.
Users are commenting that the publicity the relatively unknown company was receiving was worth far more than the amount it had to pay in refunds.
“This is the most successful marketing campaign. Almost all media outlets were giving them free exposure after France won,” said one Weibo user. (Reuters/NAN)
Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi welcomed ethnic armed groups previously shunned from ceasefire negotiations on Monday as she wrapped up a landmark peace conference in the capital, Naypyitaw.
“The groups, some of whom have clashed with the Myanmar army in recent months, had open and friendly meetings with the government and military,’’ the one-time democracy icon said in her closing speech.
Suu Kyi hosted five days of talks attended by the military and representatives from Myanmar’s myriad ethnic armed groups, only some of whom have signed the government-led nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA).
Suu Kyi’s handling of the peace process has been widely criticised with talks delayed for months and a number of groups continuing to clash with the military, causing the death and displacement of civilians.
In May, two ethnic armed groups joined eight other groups that had signed the NCA, launched under the previous military government, but a powerful “northern alliance” of other armed groups had rejected the NCA and regularly clashed with government forces.
According to executive director of the Myanmar Institute for Peace and Security, Min Zaw Oo, the inclusion of these previously shunned rebels in this session of the peace conference shows the military is willing to find peace with these groups. (dpa/NAN)
President Beji Essebsi of Tunisia has called on Prime Minister Youssef Chahed to step down or seek a confidence vote amid a political crisis in the North African country.
“The prime minister has two options in case the crisis with political and national powers continues, either resign or ask for a parliament confidence vote,” Essebsi said.
There is infighting in the coalition government, appointed in 2016, and with the Tunisian General Labour Union over ongoing reforms.
Chahed’s government, the eighth since a political transition started in 2011, has embarked on a reform programme, but has failed to solve economic problems including a budget deficit and unemployment.
Two ministers have left the government in recent weeks.
On Sunday, the minister of relations with the constitutional authorities resigned, while the interior minister was sacked in June days after a deadly shipwreck.
Tunisia is widely seen as the sole democratic success story of the 2010 to 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.
The country has been in the grip of an economic slowdown, resulting from the unrest that followed the revolt against long-time dictator Ben Ali and ensuing attacks by insurgents. (dpa/NAN)
Nickolay Mladenov, the UN Special Coordinator on the Middle East Peace Process
Nickolay Mladenov, the UN Special Coordinator on the Middle East Peace Process
UN envoy on the Middle East Peace Process, Mr Nickolay Mladenov, has urged Israelis and Palestinians to pull back from the brink of a confrontation “that nobody wants and everybody will lose’’.
The UN Special Coordinator on the Middle East Peace Process, told a press conference in the Gaza Strip earlier on Sunday, with a ceasefire largely holding after a day-long flare-up in fighting between Gaza and Israel Gaza militants.
“Yesterday we were on the brink of war and it has taken the concerted efforts of everyone to make sure that we step back from confrontation,’’ Mladenov warned.
He told Palestinians in Gaza that he knew the difficult conditions they lived in and how hard it was to believe anyone who tells them that their lives would be improved.
He appealed to all Palestinian parents and children in Gaza today to step back and keep the protests peaceful.
The envoy also appealed to the Palestinian factions to not provoke incidents at the fence, to stop the firing of rockets and mortars, to stop the incendiary kites and to “give peace a chance”.
“I appeal to Israel to be very restrained in its responses to the situation in Gaza.
“I appeal to snipers not to shoot children,’’ he said adding: “I appeal to everybody to step back from the brink’’.
Mladenov laid out in detail the grim series of events that had led to the most recent face-off between Israel and Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip.
He cited the rapid deterioration in the humanitarian situation with the collapse of the economy and ongoing water and electricity shortages.
The envoy also noted the stalled Palestinian reconciliation process and the dire security situation in the wake of Israel’s deadly response to the recent series of Palestinian protests that began at the Gaza border fence in March.
“I want to begin by expressing deepest condolences to the parents of all the children, whose lives have been lost in the past few weeks; to all journalists and to all medical professionals, who have lost their lives in the line of duty,’’ Mladenov said.
For any progress to be made in tackling the challenges and easing the current flaring tensions, he called for concerted efforts by all to pull back from “a confrontation that nobody wants, nobody needs and in which everyone will lose’’.
“Further, the international community has the responsibility to act immediately and meet the expectations not only of providing aid to the people of Gaza but of designing a political path to move forward,” he said.
The envoy added that key allies in this effort would be the Palestinian people in Gaza themselves.
According to him, getting the reconciliation process back on track was vitally important.
He appealed to the leadership of both Hamas and Fatah and all Palestinian factions, to take Egypt’s initiatives very seriously.
“The only realistic perspective today is this: avoid war, fix the humanitarian problems of Gaza and get back to the reconciliation process.
“If we are able to do this, we can achieve a lot.
“But we need and I hope we will have the full cooperation of all Palestinians and all Israelis who are sick and tired of war and conflict, who want to live in peace, and who want to see their lives not constantly threatened by rockets or air strikes,’’ Mladenov underscored. (NAN)
Senate President Bukola Saraki has congratulated the Ekiti Governor-elect, Dr Kayode Fayemi, on his victory in the just-concluded gubernatorial election.
Saraki, in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Yusuph Olaniyonu in Abuja on Sunday, urged Fayemi to use his second-coming to continue the people-centered policies and programmes of his first term.
“I urge Fayemi to also work to grow the state’s economy to leave behind a sustainable legacy.
“This victory is a sign that the people of Ekiti still has confidence in your ability to provide good governance and render efficient service to the state and its people.
“I want to advise you to maintain your focus on how to bring more development to the state and improve the living standard of the people.”
The senate president also urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies, governments and the electorate to learn some lessons from the Ekiti gubernatorial election as it is a fore-runner to the 2019 general elections.
“I urge INEC to ensure that all areas of complaints and inadequacies are corrected before a similar election in Osun and the 2019 general elections.
“To ensure that Nigerians have continued trust and faith in our electoral system, we must continue to work to improve our electoral policies and practices.
“We must look into the issues that have been identified in this last election to ensure that they are not repeated in the upcoming Osun gubernatorial election and during the 2019 elections.
“Definitely, the 2019 elections must be better in all ramifications than the 2015 polls.’’
Saraki prayed God to bless and guide the governor-elect as he prepares to assume office and called for a smooth transition between the outgoing government and the incoming one.
The convoy of Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State was on Saturday attacked by displaced persons living at Internally Displaced Persons Camp in Jos, north central Nigeria.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the incident occurred when he visited one of the IDPs at Zawan to give relief materials to the IDPs.
Stones were thrown at the governor’s car and the vehicles of his entourage that included his Deputy, Sonni Tyoden.
Windscreen of many cars were smashed but the governor escaped unhurt as stones could not penetrate his bullet proof car.
When Governor Lalong arrived at the IDP camp, the displaced persons started murmuring: ‘We don’t want relief materials, we want to go back to our ancestral homes’.
Lalong in an address before the stoning, assured the people that the State Government would do what it could to address challenges being faced by the Internally Displaced Persons.
The governor said he visited the IDP camp to see for himself the condition of the displaced persons and ensure that they received the relief materials released by government.
He urged them to be patient as government was working hard to ensure that their security is guaranteed before they are relocated to their homes.
Governor Lalong who said government will hunt and arrest their attackers, reiterated that he would not allow their ancestral land to be grabbed.
Earlier, a representative of the National Emergency Management Agency NEMA, Mr. Eugene Nyelong commended government and other people who have been supportive of the IDPs.
He appealed to relevant ministries and agencies to give more attention to the camps, especially in the area of hygiene.
Mr Francis Chong, the Camp Coordinator, urged the governor to stand by his word of protecting their land from being grabbed by the invaders.
Chong also appealed to the state government to provide more security to the displaced persons.
He also appealed to government to assist with medication, those suffering from various health conditions.
