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11 March 2016
News from HART
- This week, we have been celebrating Mother’s Day and International Women’s Day by publishing blog posts written by interns and HART Ambassadors on the themes of maternal health and gender equality. Click here to read the full blog series – more blogs to come at the weekend!
- As part of our Mother’s Day Campaign, we have been raising money for our maternal health projects as well as other projects HART works on. Support us by texting MUMS05 £5 to 70070 and donate £5 to HART.
- Check our Twitter page for more articles, infographics and blog posts on maternal health and gender equality.
Do something simple for #IWD2016 today – text MUMS05 £5 to 70070 and donate £5 to HART ❤ pic.twitter.com/Ti3VxBW2UR — HART-UK (@HARTnews) March 8, 2016
Burma
- There have been new developments in Burma’s presidential nominations: Aung San Suu Kyi will officially not be president of Burma as the NLD has formally nominated Htin Kyaw for the position.
- Htin Kyaw, is a “69-year-old economics graduate, writer and close adviser to the nation’s democracy icon”.
- Women’s organizations in Myanmar celebrated International Women’s Day on Tuesday with festivities in the capital and in towns across the country.
India
- A 15 year old girl has been raped and set on fire at her home near Delhi. This case highlights the ongoing issue of sexual harassment against women in India.
- An article published this week reveals that the Indian government is funding separate crematoriums for Dalits in Narendra Modi’s home state.
- A 9 year old Dalit boy was allegedly denied access by some of his teachers to a hand pump, and subsequently drowned in a well he tried drink from a nearby well instead.
Nagorno-Karabakh
- Heavy shelling has rocked the fragile ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh today, reports Reuters.
- Trend News has suggested that Russia may act as a major mediator in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Nigeria
- The state committee of President Muhammadu Buhari’s All Progressives Congress accused opposition leaders of hiring gangsters to kill and intimidate its members as 32 governing party members have been killed.
- Four cattle markets in northern Nigeria, where stolen animals were allegedly being sold to finance the Boko Haram Islamist insurgency, have been shut down.
- Records at the Federal Neuro Psychiatric Hospital, Maiduguri indicate that 1,417 people are suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Acute Stress Reaction (ASR) caused by the fear of violence such as the violent attacks on communities by insurgents in Borno State.
- Buhari has accused the mobile phone company, MTN, of fuelling the Islamist-led insurgency in Nigeria by failing to disconnect unregistered sim cards
- The United Nations says more than 50,000 people in northern Nigeria are in imminent danger of starvation, cut off from help in areas where it is too dangerous for aid workers to travel. Boko Haram’s raids have contributed to this as they have made farming areas barren of crops and livestock.
South Sudan
- Amnesty International has released a report documenting a mass killing by Government forces in a shipping container in Leer last year. The killings are described as war crimes and other violations of human rights including arbitrary detention, torture and wilful killing of civilians by government forces in Leer town.
- The UN Human Rights Office has published a report describing a multitude of horrendous human rights violations, including the deliberate targeting of civilians for killing, rape and pillage by the Government in particular.
- Journalist Joseph Afandi was found dumped near a graveyard in Juba on Tuesday, beaten and bearing marks of torture, according to press accounts.
- The government of Wau state has urged citizens not to take the law in their hands against members of the army who break the law following the lynching of a soldier who shot a woman.
Sudan
- More than four million Sudanese citizens will face crisis food insecurity conditions or worse in the coming months, according to a report by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET).
- The rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) Wednesday said its fighters repulsed a government attack near Alfarshia area, north of Dilling town in South Kordofan state. On Saturday, a Sudanese army field commander in the South Kordofan capital of Kadugli said that the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) are ready to start their ‘dry season’ military operations in South Kordofan State, after the arrival of a large contingent of paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
- The African Union has announced that Khartoum has agreed to participate in an consultative meeting in Addis Ababa between 16th and 18th March.
Uganda
- Uganda’s Supreme Court has rejected a request for a presidential vote recount.
- Efforts have been made to improve maternal, new-born and child health services in three of Uganda’s districts as the Korean International Cooperation Agency and UNICEF have today handed over three ambulances to improve patients’ access in remote areas.