Volunteers provide guidance and direction in water quality, food safety, hygiene, agriculture, conservation and education. One of the most sensitive areas of education in Africa today is the teaching of safety and health with HIV/AIDS. Of course one of the reasons the populous of Africa is so diminished is due to high deaths of young adults and parents. Frequently, the average longevity in Africa is about 55 years old or less.
Today Africa cannot progress, especially Sub-Sahara Africa, without educators and caregivers. The ratio of children to adults is vastly different than the rest of the world and without NGOs and Peace Corp volunteers the young people of Africa will grow up understanding ony violence and poverty. The loss of even one volunteer is intolerable.
continued...
Robert Wood
Acting Department Spokesman, Office of the Spokesman
Bureau of Public Affairs
Washington, DC
March 12, 2009
The State Department was saddened by the news of the death of a Peace Corps Volunteer stationed in Benin, West Africa. Peace Corps Headquarters in Washington has notified the volunteer’s next of kin. The U.S. Embassy in Cotonou has dispatched the Regional Security Officer and other personnel to the village where the volunteer was stationed, located several hours away from the capital. The Government of Benin has expressed condolences to the U.S. government and pledged full cooperation and support in this matter.The State Department expresses our deepest condolences to the family of the volunteer and the Peace Corps.
Peace Corps Volunteer Murdered in Africa (click here)
March 12, 2009 4:18 PM
ABC News' Kirit Radia Reports: A Peace Corps volunteer was found dead early this morning in the West African nation of Benin, the State Department said today. The victim's name and age were not provided. A State Department official said she had been stationed about six hours north of the capital."
The female volunteer was found outside her home and identified by colleagues and friends at the school where she worked as a teacher," acting State Department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters.
A senior State Department official later said it is believed she had been murdered, but offered no details on the circumstances of her death....
7-year-old son of Edo council boss kidnapped (click here)
By TONY OSAUZO, Benin
Friday, March 13, 2009
The seven-year-old son of the Chairman of Ovia South-West Local Government Council of Edo State, Master Etinosa Aighobahi, was yesterday kidnapped by gunmen as he was being dropped-off in school along Siluko Road, Benin City by his father’s driver.
The primary two pupil of Auntie Marie School was in the company of his two elder siblings when the gunmen struck. The elder siblings were said to have entered the school premises and Master Etinosa was about coming out of the car when the kidnappers got hold of him after firing several gun shots to scare away intruders.
At press time, the whereabouts of the little boy was unknown but the state Police Commissioner, Mr. Danlami Yar’Adua, who confirmed that the matter was reported at the Ogida Police Station, said investigation into the incident was on.
In a related development, Mr. Yar’Adua announced yesterday that operatives of the state police command have arrested a Dentistry student of the University of Benin who attempted to kidnap a prominent transporter in Benin yesterday morning....
It may be that some of this violence in Benin is related to the economic impact of oil and its current management that has lead to pollution and degradation of the environment for communities. We have witnessed violence in Niger when the countries people were literally murdered for the purpose of oil companies. They were murdered by government sactioned militias/police in the name of prosperity. The struggle in Niger (click here) went on for a long time before the people finally were able to overcome the pressures of both the oil companies and the government that supported them over the best interests of the Niger populous. The circumstanes in Benin might be taking on the same characteristics.
Devt of oil producing communities to take front burner—Oshiomhole (click here)
Written by GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE
Friday, 13 March 2009
...The governor, who spoke at a one-day forum on the repositioning of Edo State Oil & Gas Producing Areas Development Commission (EDSOPADEC) in Benin yesterday, lamented that for too long, oil producing communities have suffered obvious neglect as evidenced by environmental degradation, gas flaring and lack of basic amenities.
Stressing that developing oil-producing communities in the state must remain the concern of all, the governor enjoined agencies saddled with the responsibilities of developing the communities and oil companies to work in tandem with the host communities to address the problems....
Of course in the case of Benin, Niger is at one of the borders of that country and one has to wonder if much of the same element is causing issues resulting in violence against 'any' authority and especially Americans. Americans can be 'more disposable' and an easy excuse for violence when the 'excuse' is the opposition to teaching HIV/AIDS. In other words, what might be going on, taking example from Sudan, is an increase in violence to escalate the removal of NGOs and volunteers that would inhibit extraction of oil.
The United Nations knows full well that much of the violence that occurs in Africa surrounds issues of power as achieved by money as achieved through the exploitation of natural resources. In the case of the Sudan, the NGOs were displaced because the World Court charging human rights abuses in Darfur. The ability of a leader charged with such abuses to actually extricate NGOs is enough example for other entities throughout Africa to begin a movement that will spread like wildfire across the continent and old 'wars' will begin again. Especially of concern with Madagascar are the 'elements' in Somalia. It makes sense that threats have occurred in Madagascar following an escalation in authority in Sudan. It is all muscle flexing by terrorist elements trying to win their positions and secure their wealth in these regions.
Peace Corps remains in contact with all Volunteers in Madagascar (click here)
Peace Corps staff in Madagascar is working closely with the U.S. Embassy to carefully monitor the situation. They will, if necessary, take appropriate actions under the Peace Corps/Madagascar Emergency Action Plan. The safety and security of Volunteers is the number one priority of the Peace Corps.
...Each Peace Corps program has an Emergency Action Plan specific to that country and developed in cooperation with Peace Corps Washington and the local U.S. Embassy. The plans are evaluated and tested frequently and information is updated constantly. Volunteers are thoroughly trained in their roles and responsibilities, and posts are prepared for all emergencies.
Families may contact the Peace Corps/Madagascar Desk with any questions or concerns they may have at 202-692-2324 during business hours, and the Office of Special Services after hours. The Office of Special Services maintains a 24-hour, 7 days a week duty system. The telephone number during standard office hours is 1-800-424-8580, Extension 1470; the after hours number is 202-692-1470. The Office of Special Services can also be contacted via e-mail at ossdutyofficer@peacecorps.gov....
There has to be a return of NGOs to Darfur and their safety has to be enforced by the Sudan government. The NGOs are not responsible for the human rights abuses of President Al-bashir and their removal only speaks to the 'proof' of the Sudan's President willingness to neglect and enforce suffering on the populous there.
Sudan: Nigeria Supports AU's Position on Al-Bashir's Arrest Warrant (click here)
Aisha Umar
13 March 2009
Sudan Minister of International Cooperation Eltigani Fedail said Nigeria confirmed its support for the position of African Union on the warrant of arrest on President Al-bashir of Sudan by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Briefing journalists after meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs Chief Ojo Madukwe in Abuja yesterday, Mr Fedail said Nigeria is committed to having peace in Sudan and that it support for the ICC warrant of arrest on President Al-bashir will not help to restore peace in the country.
He said Sudan government under President Al-bashir has allocated $1 billion on infrastructural development in Darfur, stressing that Al-bashir is the only president in Sudan that was able to sign peace agreement on conflict of over 20 years in Darfur.
He stated t "80 percent of the peace agreement has been implemented and the remaining 20 percent is on process but we cannot do more unless we have peace."...
The sad truth is that once there is a successful power play by an African leader it validates the ability of others to escalate their violence and win a war against civilized societies that have long worked within Africa to better the circumstances of the continent. The longer the Sudan President is able to displace benevolent efforts with impunity the greater the violence will become and the more it will spread. The arrest has to be made and the elements that are causing violence and kidnappings in Benin and Madagascar have to be thwarted to stop any escalation in Africa. Easy to write all this, it is far different to actually have it happen. Oddly, I would think the African Union and people from countries such as Rwanda would demand the removal of Al-Bashir while advancing the purpose of freedom and human rights for the entire continent.
Three aid workers kidnapped in Darfur as relief crisis deepens (click here)
Xan Rice in Nairobi
The Guardian, Friday 13 March 2009
...A Canadian nurse, an Italian doctor and a French project co-ordinator were still being held last night. "We have no information about the missing workers' whereabouts or the motives for the abduction," an MSF spokesperson said in Nairobi.
The agency said later that it would withdraw all medical teams from projects in Darfur and would leave only an essential skeleton team, who would try to secure the freedom of the staff being held hostage. "MSF is extremely worried both for our abducted colleagues and for the populations that MSF teams had been providing medical aid to," the agency said in a statement....
