APO International

 Ahead of the 10-year anniversary of the enforced disappearance of Zimbabwean journalist and pro-democracy activist Itai Peace Dzamara, Amnesty International calls on authorities to urgently establish an independent, impartial and transparent investigation into his whereabouts.  On the morning of 9 March 2015, five men abducted Dzamara from a barber shop in the capital Harare’s Glen View suburb. The men accused him of stealing cattle before handcuffing him and driving off with him […]

 Fatima Ibrahim (name changed) was just a child when her world was torn apart. At age 10, she was abducted during a violent raid on her village in Bama, Borno State. What followed was a decade of unimaginable hardship and suffering. Now 20 and a mother of one, Fatima is taking the first steps toward reclaiming her life.  A decade of darkness Fatima’s years in captivity were marked by fear, […]

 South Sudan is the world’s newest country, and among the least developed. After nearly five years of working with fruit and vegetable growers and sellers, the International Trade Centre (ITC) has shown how to create thousands of jobs and to grow small businesses. The Jobs creation and Trade Development programme focused on the provinces of Central Equatoria, which includes the capital Juba, and neighbouring Western Equatoria. Producers and traders learned how to access […]

 The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warns that life-saving food and nutrition assistance in Central Sahel and Nigeria will halt in April 2025 without urgent funding. This warning comes as the lean season - the period between harvests when hunger peaks - is anticipated to arrive earlier than usual this year across the Sahel region. Millions, including refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), still rely on WFP’s food assistance […]

 The Portfolio Committee on Social Development welcomes the arrest of three South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) officials suspected of fraud at the Idutywa Local Office in the Eastern Cape. The officials were arrested after SASSA’s Eastern Cape Regional Executive Manager, Mr Bandile Maqetuka, visited the Idutywa Local Office on Tuesday, 4 March 2025, unannounced. Several unaccounted-for documents, such as birth certificates, affidavits, bank cards, identity documents, and stamped municipal […]

 The Portfolio Committee on Electricity and Energy was briefed by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) on the reasons for its decision on Eskom’s Multi-Year Price Determination 6 (MYPD6) Revenue Application. Briefing the committee, NERSA outlined the rationale behind its decisions, emphasising the need to balance Eskom’s financial sustainability with the economic pressures facing consumers. The presentation highlighted that Eskom originally requested a staggering 57% increase in tariffs […]

 SPARK (https://SPARK.Ngo/), in partnership with EYouth and with support from  Google.org, has launched the Maharat for Tourism E-Learning Hub in Egypt -  a pioneering platform designed to equip 25,000 individuals across the MENA region with essential skills for the tourism industry (Maharat.SPARK.Ngo/). The launch event, held at the Triumph Plaza Hotel in Cairo, welcomed over 100 stakeholders, including representatives from  Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism, industry leaders, and digital learning experts. […]

 Government is urged to engage the Burundi Government in order to establish a centre for the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) there. This recommendation is contained in a report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs which stated that, Uganda’s education curriculum is being taught in schools in Burundi, with learners expected to sit for UNEB exams within Uganda. The report presented by Hon. Gabriel Okumu (NRM, Okoro County) during the […]

 Government has unveiled a pilot programme to introduce electric vehicles for police patrols as part of efforts to combat climate change. The initiative was announced by the State Minister for Water and Environment, Hon. Beatrice Anywar, while responding to MPs’ concerns during the plenary sitting chaired by Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa on Thursday 6 March 2025. During the previous day’s sitting, the Chairperson of the Committee on Climate Change, Hon. […]