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Christian Elongué, CEO of Muna Kalati named 2021 Global literacy champions and visionaries by International Literacy Association

18, January 2021

Christian Elongué, CEO of Muna Kalati named 2021 Global literacy champions and visionaries by International Literacy Association 0

Christian Elongué, the executive Director of Muna Kalati, a nonprofit promoting reading and children literature in Africa, is one of 30 literacy leaders named to the International Literacy Association’s (ILA) 2021 30 Under 30 list. The global list celebrates rising innovators, disruptors and visionaries in the literacy field. The International Literacy Association (ILA) is a global advocacy and membership organization dedicated to advancing literacy for all through its network of more than 300,000 literacy educators, researchers and experts across 128 countries.

Christian Elongué is an author and researcher on children and young adult literature. Dismayed by a lack of black characters in books available to African children, Christian founded munakalati.org in 2017 with the goal of building international recognition for African children’s book authors and increasing access to African children books.

He was also recognized for publishing Muna Kalati magazine, which is becoming a reference for writers, publishers and illustrators of children’s and Young Adult books, as well as librarians, teachers, editors and parents. Christian has supported several researchers, or mentored Master & PhD students to undertake research on African Children literature in Cameroon, Benin, Togo and Burkina Faso. In 2019, he authored the book: An Introduction to Children Literature in Cameroon, the first scientific work with a holistic approach on the children book industry in Cameroon. Prior to that, he collaborated on children literature with the French National Centre for Children’s Literature. As a founding member of International Board of Book for Young People (IBBY-Cameroon), he spent several years developing literacy and educational initiatives as a means to empower children in West Africa.

Chrstian Elongué indicated that the goal of Muna Kalati’s work is to increase awareness and access to diverse and affordable books for children and young adult in Africa. They shape the future of literacy by increasing the culture of reading and it empowers kids and young adults to be lifelong learners and leaders.

According to him, “you can’t consistently be a great leader without being a great learner, you stop growing and maturing when you stop learning. As reading is one of the common and best ways of learning, all great leaders are also great readers. So empowering kids to cultivate a passion and genuine interest in reading, not for utilitarian or academic purpose, will definitely help them become the leaders and changemakers that our societies critically need.”

Reading shapes our thinking. Children’s books shape the way we see the world as we grow up. The stories we discover through books influence our mindset. And since childhood is a period of life where our identity is mostly defined, it’s very important for children to see themselves in characters and heroes they read. Therefore, when unable to see characters and settings that are similar to theirs, children may tend to believe that what they see in those books is the “norm”, the standards.

This might negatively affect their identity construction as they would sometimes try, to conform their attitude and behavior to what they see in their book’s characters and hero. Henceforth, a lack of diversity in children books could be a threat to international understanding and an obstacle to a fruitful dialogue of cultures and civilizations. However, I don’t want children to imagine a world with no differences, but I want them to value difference. Preparing them for a more just world does not mean teaching them to reject others. It means helping them learn to celebrate their identity and be proud of it.

Moreover, a lack of diversity in children is also influencing children’s love of reading and literacy, mostly at the level of motivation. Kids usually aren’t much excited to continue reading a story in which they do not recognize themselves nor their local environment. And through my experience working with kids and young adults, I noticed that they were more enthusiastic to continue reading books where characters, settings and dialogue were the reflection of their daily realities.

Representing 12 countries, this year’s list of honorees includes educators, nonprofit leaders, authors, volunteers, researchers and social entrepreneurs. “The start of 2021 is filled with much promise thanks to the work of this year’s class of honorees,” said ILA Executive Director Marcie Craig Post. “Their work—whether it’s research on multicultural literacy, helping young students find the power of their voice or dismantling systems of oppression in education—is impacting the lives of countless individuals and communities. Not only do these emerging leaders share in our mission of literacy for all, but also they are helping to ensure that the post-COVID era, when we get there, will be grounded in equity for all.”

Christian Elongué hence joins a growing cohort of leaders. Past honorees include Gerald Dessus, social justice teacher and curriculum developer in Pennsylvania; Shiza Shahid, cofounder of the Malala Fund; Allister Chang, founder of Civic Suds; and Freshta Karim, founder of mobile library Charmaghz in Afghanistan.

If you are interested in writing, blogging, vlogging about reading, child rights and literacy, children and young adult literature, diversity in books for kids, kindly email us at info@munakalati.org. There is an urgent need to increase the visibility and access to diverse and original children books and you can significantly contribute to that agenda, kindly follow us on social media to stay tuned and never forget to offer books with original stories to your kids or teen.

CAF and FIFA Mafia: Ahmad Ahmad is gone; Hayatou is back, Infantino supporting African football’s restart in Yaoundé

17, January 2021

CAF and FIFA Mafia: Ahmad Ahmad is gone; Hayatou is back, Infantino supporting African football’s restart in Yaoundé 0

FIFA President Gianni Infantino concluded a two-day trip to Cameroon, where he has met with dignitaries of the country and key officials from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the Cameroonian Football Association (Fecafoot). The trip coincided with the start of the African Nations Championship (CHAN), which is being hosted in three Cameroon cities from 16 January until 7 February 2021.

The FIFA President, who was received in a private audience by Paul Biya, the President of the Republic of Cameroon, at the Unity Palace in Yaounde on Friday, subsequently attended a ceremony which conferred the title of CAF Honorary President to Issa Hayatou, who presided over the confederation from 1988 to 2017.

“I had the pleasure of providing President Biya with an update in relation to FIFA’s role in supporting football, not only in Cameroon, but also across Africa and globally,” said the FIFA President, who was accompanied at the meeting by CAF President Constant Omari. The FIFA President would also later meet Cameroon Prime Minister Joseph Ngute during the visit to Yaounde.

“Equally, meeting with CAF and Fecafoot officials, it was important to show FIFA’s support to football in Cameroon and across the African continent, especially as the African Nations Championship just kicked off, the first international tournament being played in 2021, and spectators are attending matches according to the safety protocols which have been established,” the FIFA President added. “It sends an important message to have football restarting in Africa, particularly in an indisputable football country such as Cameroon.”

Prior to leaving the country, Gianni Infantino attended the opening ceremony and the opening match of the CHAN final tournament, where hosts Cameroon narrowly overcame Zimbabwe at the Ahmadou Ahidjo stadium in Yaounde. In total, 16 African national teams are participating in what is the sixth African Nations Championship, a biennial tournament which involves players from the respective domestic leagues.

He also presided over a controversial ceremony that installed Issa Hayatou on Friday in Yaoundé in a new football portfolio as honorary president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

Issa Hayatou was defeated in the elections in March 2017 by Ahmad Ahmad who replaced him. He reportedly left Cairo in anger and has ever since maintained a kind of deliberate silence.

CAF has been using FIFA’s COVID Relief Fund grant (USD 2 million) to restart their competitions, with the medical protocols, flights and accommodation for match officials at CHAN being subsidised through this funding.

Source: FIFA.com with additional reporting from Cameroon Concord News Group

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Court denies request to release opposition leaders

17, January 2021

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Court denies request to release opposition leaders 0

On January 12, an appeals court in Cameroon rejected legal efforts to secure the release of Olivier Bibou Nissack and Alain Fogue Tedom, two prominent members of the country’s main opposition party, Cameroon Renaissance Movement (Mouvement pour la renaissance du Cameroun, MRC), as well as twenty other MRC members. They were arrested in September 2020 while exercising their right to freedom of assembly and have been in custody since.

The court’s decision came after a lower court rejected a habeas corpus request filed by the defendants on November 5, 2020.

Nissack and Fogue face politically motivated charges including attempted revolution, rebellion, and unlawful assembly. They were first held in police custody for over a month at the Secrétariat d’Etat à la Défense (SED), in Yaoundé, before being transferred to Yaoundé central prison on November 3 for a six-month pretrial detention period. At SED, they were kept in total isolation, deprived of any reading materials, and frequently denied access to their lawyers.

Nissack and Fogue were arrested as part of a massive government crackdown on peaceful demonstrations organized by the MRC on September 22 across Cameroon, which included the arrest of over 500 people, mainly MRC members and supporters.

Many peaceful protesters were beaten while being arrested and in detention. “The police beat me with truncheons,” a 39-year-old MRC member arrested in Douala told Human Rights Watch. “I spent nine days at the judicial police jail, sleeping on the floor and without access to my lawyers.”

Of the over 500 arrested, at least 136 remain in detention, 20 of whom have been convicted and sentenced to prison by civilian courts, according to the MRC’s lawyers.

“In Cameroon’s criminal justice system, habeas corpus requests appear to have lost their value as individuals who are presumed innocent are systematically deprived of their liberty,” Menkem Sother, a lawyer for Nissack said.

MRC leader Maurice Kamto continues to dispute the 2018 presidential election results which confirmed the victory of President Paul Biya, who has been in power for 38 years.

Cameroonian authorities should respect people’s right to demonstrate peacefully, immediately release those wrongfully held, and investigate law enforcement’s conduct in the 2020 crackdown and treatment of detainees.

Source: Human Rights Watch

UN says nations are failing to fund climate adaptation

17, January 2021

UN says nations are failing to fund climate adaptation 0

The world is falling short of promises made under the Paris climate deal to help the most vulnerable nations deal with the increasingly devastating impacts of climate change, according to the United Nations.

Adaptation — reducing the fallout among communities and increasing their capacity to deal with climate-related disasters such as floods and drought — is a pillar of the landmark 2015 accord, which aims to chart a path away from catastrophic warming.

The deal requires signatories to implement adaptation measures through national planning, but also through funding to at-risk countries.

The UN Environment Programme Adaptation Gap report found that the current finance levels of around $30 billion annually for adaptation fell far short of the annual cost in developing nations of $70 billion.

It said the true cost of adapting to climate impacts in these nations could be as high as $300 billion every year by the end of the decade and $500 billion by mid-century.

“The hard truth is that climate change is upon us,” said Inger Andersen, UNEP executive director.

“Its impacts will intensify and hit vulnerable countries and communities the hardest — even if we meet the Paris Agreement goals of holding global warming this century to well below 2C.”

UNEP called for a drastic scale-up of public and private finance for adaptation, as well as increased investment in nature-based solutions such as protecting and sustainably restoring ecosystems.

– Limit losses –

With just over 1C of warming since the start of the industrial era, Earth is already experiencing more intense and frequent extreme weather such as droughts and flooding, as well as storms supercharged by rising seas.

Much of the devastation wrought by climate-linked disasters falls on developing nations, and despite promises to help out financially, richer countries still aren’t hitting their adaptation funding targets.

UNEP said funding for adaptation currently represented just five percent of all climate finance.

With the cost of natural disasters set to skyrocket this century, hard-hit nations are finding it difficult to secure the finance to rebuild after extreme events.

Mozambique, which was battered by twin cyclones in early 2019, said that one year since the disasters it had received less than a quarter of the estimated $3 billion it needed to recover.

The UN report found that cutting greenhouse gas emissions will provide a long-term economic benefit by reducing the costs associated with climate change.

Achieving the 2C Paris Agreement temperature rise limit could curb losses in annual growth to 1.6 percent, compared with 2.2 percent for 3C of warming — the current trajectory if nations’ current Paris pledges are upheld.

Under the deal’s “ratchet” mechanism, countries are supposed to file new emissions reduction plans — known as nationally determined contributions, or NDCs — every five years.

The deadline for the first round of new NDC submissions was December 31, 2020. However just 71 countries representing under a third of global emissions have done so.

UNEP says global emissions must fall 7.6 percent annually this decade to keep the more ambitious Paris temperature target of 1.5C in play.

Source: AFP

UN peacekeepers retake control of Central African Republic city from armed rebels

17, January 2021

UN peacekeepers retake control of Central African Republic city from armed rebels 0

United Nations peacekeeping troops have retaken control of a city in the south eastern Central African Republic (CAR), which was captured by armed rebels two weeks ago.

A spokesman for the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) told AFP that the peacekeeping forces were in control of Bangassou, lying on the north bank of the Mbomou River.

The spokesman said that the rebels had abandoned their positions following a UN ultimatum on Friday.

Bangassou was captured early this month by armed groups waging an offensive against troops loyal to President Faustin Archange Touadera.

Touadera, who gained power following the December presidential election, accuses former president Francois Bozize of leading the armed rebellion wreaking havoc in CAR.

Bozize, who had gained power in a coup in 2003, recently returned after years in exile. He was barred from running in the election by the country’s top court and faces charges of murder, arbitrary arrest, and torture.

The African country with a population of 4.7 million has endured waves of violence since Bozize, 74, was toppled in 2013.

The violence has left thousands of people dead and forced more than a million from their homes. 

UN peacekeepers, who have been deployed to restore peace and stability to CAR, come from about a dozen countries and consist of some 11,650 blue-cap troops, 150 military observers, 300 staff officers, 2,000 police officers and 1,400 civilian personnel, in addition to about 200 UN volunteers.

Since 2014, 82 members of MINUSCA have lost their lives during their mission in CAR.

The former European colony is landlocked between Cameroon, Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo.

Despite being rich in energy and mineral resources, CAR is one of the world’s most impoverished countries.

Source: Presstv

Yaounde: Issa Hayatou installed as Honorary President of CAF

17, January 2021

Yaounde: Issa Hayatou installed as Honorary President of CAF 0

Issa Hayatou was installed Friday in Yaoundé in his new football portfolio as honorary president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) which he headed from 1988 to March 2017.

The ceremony took place in the presence of Gianni Infantino President of FIFA and Constant Omari, the interim president of CAF and many presidents of soccer federations on the continent.

According to popular opinion in Cameroon, CAF is trying to rehabilitate Issa Hayatou who led the institution for nearly 30 years and whose demise at the head of the African football governing body came as a surprise.

Issa Hayatou was defeated in the elections in March 2017 by Ahmad Ahmad who replaced him. He reportedly left Cairo in anger and has ever since maintained a kind of deliberate silence.

Speaking during the event, Hayatou expressed his gratitude and pride before the audience of personalities gathered for the ceremony, “My first feeling is one of sincere and deep gratitude. Today, it is a serene and proud man at home, who stands before you,” he said.

Since his departure from CAF, Issa Hayatou who hails from a royal family in the north of Cameroon returned to his native Garoua city where he was born and grew up.

By Oke Akombi Ayukepi Akap in Glasgow with files from Rita Akana in Yaounde

Beti-Ewondo politics and money: Minister Ngoh Ngoh takes charge of Camair-Co privatization

16, January 2021

Beti-Ewondo politics and money: Minister Ngoh Ngoh takes charge of Camair-Co privatization 0

French Cameroun Beti Ewondo political dinosaurs have been in the way of realizing La Republique du Cameroun’s dream of economic prosperity.

For 38 years, Biya and his Beti Ewondo kinsmen and women have spent the resources of the two Cameroons not on development but antidemocratic means to stay in power.

Correspondingly, the new chairman of the Camair-Co board is Mauger Ayem, who is currently a technical advisor at the presidency of the republic. He is very close to the omnipotent minister secretary-general Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh.

Mauger Ayem’s appointment is a pointer to the fact that despite huge deficits in education, gender equality, health care, security and economic competitiveness in the two Cameroons, the majority of French Cameroun political elites remain preoccupied not with formulating genuine plans for improvement but strategizing antidemocratic ways to ensure their perennial hold on power.

Even after the arrest of Minister Edgar Alain Mebo Ngo’o, Cameroon Intelligence Report can now reveal that the Biya family dynasty is still dominating in Yaoundé.

By Chi Prudence Asong with files from Soter Agbaw-Ebai

Ugandan thug wins sixth term as vote rigging alleged

16, January 2021

Ugandan thug wins sixth term as vote rigging alleged 0

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni won a decisive re-election victory on Saturday, elections officials said, but his main rival Bobi Wine alleged widespread fraud and said citizens should reject the result.

Museveni won 5.85 million votes, or 58.6%, while main opposition candidate Wine had 3.48 million votes (34.8%), the Electoral Commission said at a news conference on the final results from Thursday’s election.

Earlier, Wine accused Museveni of fabricating the results and called the poll “the most fraudulent election in the history of Uganda”. In a phone interview before the final results were announced, he urged citizens to reject the results.

Wine, a singer-turned-lawmaker, also said his home in the capital, Kampala, was surrounded by hundreds of soldiers and that the military was not allowing him to leave.

The army’s deputy spokesman, Deo Akiiki, told Reuters that security officers at Wine’s house were assessing threats he could face by going out: “So they might be preventing him in the interest of his own safety.”

Soldiers and police were out in force patrolling Kampala on Saturday.

Museveni, 76 and in power for 35 years, campaigned for another term arguing his long experience in office makes him a good leader and promising to keep delivering stability and progress.

Wine, 38, galvanised young Ugandans with his calls for political change and pledged to end what he calls dictatorship and widespread corruption.

Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, said on Friday he had video proof of voting fraud, and would share the videos as soon as internet connections were restored. The government ordered the internet shut down the day before the election, and the blackout was still in place.

Electoral Commission Chairman Simon Byabakama said on Friday that under Ugandan law, the burden of proof rested with Wine.

Reuters has not independently verified Wine’s claims.

No international observers

The United States and the European Union did not deploy observer teams, but the U.S. State Department’s top diplomat for Africa, Tibor Nagy, said in a tweet early on Saturday that the “electoral process has been fundamentally flawed”.

He cited fraud reports, denial of accreditation to observers, violence and harassment of opposition members, and the arrest of civil society activists.

The African Union and East African Community sent observer teams to the election, but neither group of officials responded to requests for comment about possible irregularities.

Police recorded 42 election-related offences nationwide during voting and tallying so far, police spokesman Fred Enanga said on Friday night on local NBS TV. Offences included assaults, voter bribery, and theft and damage of electoral materials, he said.

The run-up to Thursday’s election was more violent than in previous polls. Security forces cracked down on opposition candidates and their supporters during the campaign, and more than 50 people died in protests in November on one of the multiple occasions when Wine was arrested.

Parliamentary wins

In addition to the internet blackout, the government on Tuesday banned all social media and messaging apps. Wine and his supporters often used Facebook to relay live coverage of his campaign.

In the parliamentary election, where candidates were vying for 529 seats, results were still coming in but Ugandan media reported that 56 candidates from Wine’s National Unity Platform (NUP) had won their races, while the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), previously the largest opposition party, has so far won 34 seats.

The country’s vice president, Edward Ssekandi, was one of a number of senior ruling party MPs who lost their seats, according to broadcaster NTV Uganda.

The FDC won 35 seats in the 2016 election, but the NUP had no seats in the previous parliament – Wine was elected as an independent and joined the party last year.

(REUTERS)

Iran test-fires ballistic missiles on targets at sea

16, January 2021

Iran test-fires ballistic missiles on targets at sea 0

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards test-fired ballistic missiles against targets in the Indian Ocean as they wrapped up a two-day exercise, their official website reported Saturday.

The missiles of “various classes” targeted “the enemy’s battleships and destroyed them from 1,800 kilometres (1,125 miles) away,” according to the Sepahnews website.

The missiles were fired from central Iran with the targets located in the “northern Indian Ocean,” the Guards said.

A video released by state television showed two missiles being launched and targets being hit at sea.

Iran’s armed forces chief of staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri was present on the second day of the drill, alongside Guards chief Major General Hossein Salami and aerospace commander Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh.

Using “long-range missiles for maritime targets indicates that if the enemies … show any ill will towards our national interests, maritime trade routes or territory, they will be targeted and destroyed by our missiles,” Sepahnews quoted Bagheri as saying.

“We do not intend to carry out any attack,” he said, adding that the exercise showed Iran’s readiness to defend itself “with all its strength” against any aggressor.

Dubbed Great Prophet 15, the exercise also featured a drone attack on a missile defence system followed by the launch of a barrage of “new generation” surface-to-surface ballistic missiles.

The war games come at a time of rising tensions with the United States in the final days of President Donald Trump’s administration.

It was Iran’s third military exercise in less than two weeks after a naval exercise in the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday and Thursday, and an army drone drill on January 5-6.

The exercises started two days after Iran marked the anniversary of the assassination of revered Guards commander Qasem Soleimani, killed in a US drone strike in Iraq in January last year.

Source: AFP

Football: PSG coach Pochettino positive for Covid-19 after just two weeks in job

15, January 2021

Football: PSG coach Pochettino positive for Covid-19 after just two weeks in job 0

Paris Saint-Germain boss Mauricio Pochettino has tested positive for Covid-19, the French champions said Friday, just two weeks after taking up his job.

The 48-year-old Argentine will “respect isolation and is subject to the appropriate health protocols”, PSG said on Twitter.

His assistants Jesus Perez and Miguel D’Agostino will take charge of the team for Saturday’s trip to Angers.

Three PSG players had already tested positive for the virus in the last week — Brazilian Rafinha, Germany’s Thilo Kehrer and French youth international Colin Dagba.

Former Tottenham coach Pochettino has overseen three PSG games so far, notably winning the Champions Trophy in Lens on Wednesday thanks to a 2-1 win over bitter rivals Marseille.

Pochettino took over from Thomas Tuchel and signed a contract until June 30, 2022 with an option for an additional year.

Tuchel was sacked on December 24, reportedly for comments viewed as critical of the Qatari owners despite having led the team to a maiden appearance in the Champions League final last season.

Pochettino also played for the Parisians from 2001 to 2003.

France has reeled from more than 2.8 million Covid-19 infections and 69,313 deaths, according to official figures.

From Saturday, a nationwide curfew, starting at 6pm, will be introduced.

Meanwhile, relegation threatened Lorient’s home game against fellow strugglers Dijon was cancelled on Friday after a virus outbreak in the Breton side.

The postponement of Sunday’s game is the first in Ligue 1 since Marseille’s meeting with Nice on November 17 was called off.

“Following advice from the national Covid commission, it was decided to postpone the match due to the absence of more than 10 of 30 Lorient players after positive RT-PCR tests,” the French Football Federation announced.

Under protocols agreed at the beginning of September, matches are postponed if a team does not have 20 players with negative tests available.

Lorient also confirmed their training centre would close for a minimum of 10 days after positive tests from youth players and management.

There are fears the virus may have spread after the Lorient youngsters played a recent friendly against Nantes.

Lorient sit 19th in Ligue 1, are winless in five games, and are two points and one place behind Dijon.

Strasbourg’s match with Saint-Etienne, scheduled for Sunday at the same time as the Lorient v Dijon game, is also under threat of postponement.

Several players and members of the management team at Saint-Etienne have tested positive, said the club.

“The PCR tests carried out Tuesday and Thursday revealed many positive cases for Covid-19 among the players and members of the management of the squad,” said the club in a statement.

Saint-Etienne are currently in 16th place in the table, five points off the drop zone with Strasbourg a place and a point better off.

Source: AFP

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