Help our local partners realise their vision of hope for their communities
26 August 2016
News From HART:
- We are recruiting! We are looking for a Finance and Administration Intern to begin September 2016. Deadline for applications 31st August. For details and application form please see here.
Burma
- A powerful 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck Burma on Wednesday morning, killing at least three people and damaging temples in the ancient temple city of Bagan. The full extent of the damage is yet to be realised.
- Human Rights Watch have called for the Burmese government and ethnic armed groups to ensure that women meaningfully participate in efforts to end the country’s longstanding armed conflicts.
India
- A court in India has overturned a ban on women entering the inner sanctum of Mumbai’s Haji Ali mosque claiming that it was discriminatory to women. In recent months India has seen a number of campaigns to allow women into religious shrines that bar their entry.
- The Indian government has unveiled draft legislation to ban commercial surrogacy in the apparent attempt to tackle an industry that exploits impoverished young women. However the law has been criticized as a removal of women’s rights.
Nigeria
- President Buhari has pledged not to use force against militants in the Niger Delta unless constrained to do so. The move has been applauded by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta as a key condition for ongoing talks with agitators in the region.
- In a visit to Nigeria this week, US Secretary of State John Kerry promised that the US government would help Nigeria diversify its economy. The Nigerian economy has greatly suffered from the ravages of instability as well as the reduction in the global price of oil.
South Sudan
- About 280 people have been reported to have been killed in fighting between government troops and rebels in Jonglei state last week. The deaths include 10 civilians.
- The South Sudanese government has struck a deal with the US over the immediate deployment of an additional regional protection force. The government will be given a time period to expedite the implementation of the peace agreement and cease hostilities.
- Allies of former vice-president Riek Machar have claimed that they are rethinking their role under the August 2015 peace agreement reporting that Machar wished to review SPLM-IO involvement in the transitional government. These statements pose an increased threat to the stability of the country.
- US Secretary of State, John Kerry has highlighted that the peace agreement legally allows for the replacement of Riek Machar as First Vice President. Machar has consistently been denouncing his replacement as illegal.
- South Sudan’s cabinet wants to triple spending in the next budget in an effort to stabilize the country. However the dire condition of the economy makes it unclear how the government could finance the increase.
Sudan
- The UN has claimed that 50,000 South Sudanese have fled into the troubled Darfur region in Sudan so far this year.
- Sudan’s President, Omar El-Bashir is expected to visit Juba soon to encourage parties to implement the peace agreement, the Presidential Advisor on Security Affairs has said.
Uganda
- Uganda’s opposition leader Kizza Besigye is urging the country’s diaspora to continue to push for democracy in Uganda. In the next month he will meet members of the diaspora in the US and Britain.
- According to Save the Children, since early July, nearly 1,500 unaccompanied minors or children separated from their parents have arrived in Uganda.
90% of refugees from #SouthSudan arriving in #Uganda are women and children pic.twitter.com/M4UBeKD2Bf
— UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency (@Refugees) August 26, 2016