The United Nations Childen’s Fund (UNICEF) welcomed the landmark move by Sudan’s transitional government this week to criminalize female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), with a three-year jail sentence for offenders. “This practice is not only a violation of every girl child’s rights, it is harmful and has serious consequences for a girl’s physical and mental health,” said Abdullah Fadil, UNICEF Representative in Sudan. Sometimes called ...

A new UN report finds that some 19 million children were displaced within their own countries due to conflict and violence in 2019, more than in any other year, making them among the most vulnerable to the global spread of COVID-19.  According to the “Lost at Home” report, published on Tuesday by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), there were 12 ...

Mr Abdourahamane Diallo, UNESCO Representative to Ghana, has lauded Ghana’s media for its efforts in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. “The world is confronting a pandemic, COVID 19. As we speak, countries around the world have introduced measures to contain the spread of coronavirus from strict lockdown, partial to social distancing directives,” Mr Diallo said on Monday in his address mark World Press ...

The Supreme Court is expected to deliver its verdict on the suit filed by Brogya Gyenfi, the Ashanti Regional Youth Organizer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), challenging government’s decision to sign the United States-Ghana Military Cooperation Agreement. On April 22, 2020, when the matter was initially fixed for judgment, it was deferred, with the Chief Justice, Chief Justice (CJ) ...

Deputy Information Minister, Pius Enam Hadzide says plans are far advanced to provide scholarships and other support for Journalists across the country who are willing to seek higher education. The World on Sunday May 3 celebrated World Press Freedom Day. In Ghana, Journalists regardless of the work they do are one of the poorly paid people in the country. There has been ...

A seven-member panel of the Supreme Court presided over by Chief Justice Anin Yeboah has unanimously dismissed the suit against the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, on the issuance of a $2.25 billion bond. The court said the suit is dismissed as without merit. The CJ said the reasons of the court would be filed by close of day at the registry ...

East Africa’s Lake Victoria, the continent’s largest freshwater lake, has seen its shores rise to record levels, submerging businesses, homes and threatening thousands of lives and livelihoods. In Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania the rising waters have forced families to abandon their flooded homes. In Budalangi, Western Kenya, dozens of families have been left stranded on the swollen shores. Rising water ...

Cameroonian journalists are marking World Press Freedom Day with protests against abuse from the government as well as from rebels fighting for an independent English-speaking state. Reporters Without Borders, in its 2020 World Press Freedom Index, ranks Cameroon 134th out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index. Some Cameroonian journalists have been detained for their reporting or are ...

More than 82 million Nigerians live on less than $1 a day, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Forty percent of people in Nigeria live in poverty, figures published by the statistics office on Monday showed, highlighting the low levels of wealth in a country that has Africa’s biggest economy. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in a report ...

Press freedom watchdogs say Zimbabwe’s government continues to stifle the media, despite promises by President Emmerson Mnangagwa to relax restrictions. Kudzanai Musengi was arrested recently as he tried to record police enforcing the lockdown rules imposed by the government to contain the coronavirus. Police said Musengi was filming them without a valid accreditation card. The government media commission has said ...