A major outcome of the summit was the adoption of the Declaration of the OAU/AU 50th anniversary, in which the leaders committed themselves to achieve the AU goals of an integrated and prosperous Africa, at peace with itself and with the world; an Africa whose development is driven by its own citizens and which is a significant player on the world stage. The leaders also pledged to translate the provisions of the declaration into action in their different countries.

The summit also adopted the strategic plan of the African Union Commission (AUC) for the years 2014 to 2017, and considered a report on alternative sources of funding which aims at ensuring that Africa takes ownership of its Pan African strategies.

The key decisions taken by the 21st Ordinary Summit of the African Union include a common position on a number of issues, including the post-2015 Development Agenda, Establishment of the High Level Committee of Heads of State and Government; Development of the African Union Commission Strategic Plan 2014-2017 and the AU Agenda 2063.

The full list and description of the decisions will be made available on the African Union Website.

A panel session on the recently launched 2013 Africa Progress Report said African policy makers have critical choices to make: they can either invest their natural resource revenue in people to generate jobs and opportunities for millions in present and future generations. Or they can squander this opportunity, allowing jobless growth and inequality to take root.

“It is very important that this self-confidence that we are seeing emerging is going to be put to good use,” said Carlos Lopes, Executive Secretary, UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). “And in order for it to be put to good use, we need very concrete rather than rhetorical questions to be addressed – and I think that is where the report becomes very timely not only because it can influence the G8 discussions, but also because it can influence the African discussions, including the shaping the agenda of 2063 which is the agenda that now the AU has put in front of us.”

He noted that Africa's leaders have adopted the Africa Mining Vision to try and clean up the industry and that an ongoing study by the ECA on illicit financial flows out of Africa shows the need for transparency and accountability. “It is a two-way street -we have to improve across the board,” he said.

President Johnson-Sirleaf, whose country Liberia exports iron and diamonds, said the 'resource rich vs poor human condition' paradox has long been exemplified by her country but that this changing. “Our experience in Liberia shows that we need to go an extra mile to improve extraction process audits,” she said.

“Africa, like the rest of the world, is suffering tremendous losses from the illicit and unwarranted outflow of wealth through tax avoidance, shell companies, tax havens, transfer pricing and others, that in a way leads them to avoid their fair share of taxes,” said Johnson-Sirleaf.

“This report shows very clearly that such outflows exceed the total amount of development assistance which the African continent receives ever year. This problem can only be resolved if all nations can work together, and the ball is in the court of our partners to close tax loopholes in the extractive sector,” she said.

International tax avoidance and evasion, corruption, and weak governance represent major challenges. The report therefore welcomes the commitment from the current G8 presidency, the United Kingdom, and other governments to put tax and transparency at the heart of this year's dialogue. International tax avoidance and evasion, corruption, and weak governance represent major challenges. The report therefore welcomes the commitment from the current G8 presidency, the United Kingdom, and other governments to put tax and transparency at the heart of this year's dialogue.

“This year we've seen enormous impact, and enormous interest from a wide range of people, it's incredible," says Caroline Kende-Robb, the Africa Progress Panel's Executive Director. “But I think it's because it's a global issue, and people care: people care that resources are not being made use of to the best that they should be; they care that in Africa, human development outcomes should be much better, considering the amount of wealth that's in Africa. And it can be done; many African countries are making good use of the wealth from natural resources. But this issue of tax avoidance, tax evasion, it affects people in Africa but it affects people in Europe and it affects people in the United States, so we see almost a global movement linked to the issues that we've raised in this report this year.”

According to estimates, Africa holds 30% of the world's mineral reserves, and its economies are growing faster than any other region of the world except for East Asia - growth in Sub-Saharan Africa has remained robust at over 5% per year for the past ten years.

But the report also suggests that Africa needs to better manage its vast natural resource wealth to improve the lives of the region's people by setting out bold national agendas for strengthening transparency and accountability.

Civil Society representative, Yao Graham from the Third World Network said Africa should focus on adding value to its commodities as it would be more beneficial. “Adding value reduces resource intensification, which is less burdensome on the environment and communities living in mining regions. He also said that public institutions in charge of regulations need to reverse their tardy responses to the community complaints resulting from mining. Managing impact could also help to change perceptions.

Some oil companies are also increasingly aiming to adhere to industry “best practice” standards, which include mitigating the environmental impact of their activity and investing in social projects to improve living standards in areas where they operate.

The session panelists included Executive Director of the Africa Progress Panel, Caroline Kende-Robb, the head of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, Carlos Lopes, Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and the head of Third World Network-Africa, Yao Graham.

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Document "Guardian Angels of the planet": http://www.apo-mail.org/Guardian_Angels_of_the_Planet_2013.pdf

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The Green Games project has won over the audience in every country visited on the promotional tour. The personalities who have accepted to sponsor the Green Games are subsequently named Guardian Angels of the Planet. Their role is to pass on to children their experience, knowledge and environmental awareness so that they too can dedicate themselves to the global environmental protection project.

This world tour has resulted in 100 Guardian Angels across 5 continents being recruited. Thanks to the support given by these prestigious sponsors, the Green Games are going to become a reality. The Founding Congress will be held at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris on June 3, 4 and 5 in partnership with the Global Conference. The shortlists will be done by internet and the Green Games finals will bring together children from across the world in June 2015.

The Green Games will be officially launched on June 4, 2013 at 17:00 at the UNESCO building in Paris in the presence of twenty or so Guardian Angels of the Planet, among which are the living legend Sylvia Earle, the first woman aquanaut; George Schaller, considered to be the father of wildlife conservation; Bindeshwar Pathak, considered to be the new Gandhi; Jean-Michel Cousteau, prince of the oceans; Phra Anil Sakya, descended from the Buddha; and philosopher Sheri Xiaoyi Liao, selected from among ten exceptional Chinese women.

Distributed by the African Press Organization on behalf of Ecologames.

Media contacts:

Clémence Errard

+33 (0)6 13552948

Clemence@Ecologames.org

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Twitter https://twitter.com/Ecologames

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Chaired by Hela Cheikhrouhou, ONEC Director, the seminar was attended by more than a hundred participants from the commercial banking, development finance, private equity, and project development entities. The event was also preceded by the official release of SEFA's 2012 Annual Report, the first full year of operations of this important initiative.

Cheikhrouhou applauded the valuable Denmark contribution without which the Fund could not exist, underscoring that “SEFA's goal is to bridge the gap of the missing middle” in energy projects.

Solomon Asamoah, Deputy CEO and Chief Investment Officer, Africa Finance Corporation, insisted on the challenges the projects developers face when seeking for financing, and added that “any support that can help them must be welcomed” as is the case of SEFA. Kevin Whitfield from Nedbank highlighted the need for more coordination among financiers as well as the opportunity to bundle the small projects into a programmatic approach. Agnes Dasewicz, Director of the Private Capital Group for Africa, USAID, made an appeal for support to smaller projects by stating that “in order to drive economic growth, we need to support off-grid projects and solutions in rural areas”. For his part, Tim Turner, OPSM Director, explained how the new partial risk guarantees can be instrumental in crowding-in private capital in small and medium renewable energy projects by covering the country and off-taker risk faced by private investors.

Catalyzing private sector investment is the cornerstone of SEFA intervention in order to increase access to sustainable energy on the continent while promoting local economic development and job creation.

Distributed by the African Press Organization on behalf of the African Development Bank (AfDB).

About SEFA: SEFA is a joint initiative between the African Development Bank and the government of Denmark comprising of resources of up to USD 56 million. It operates through two components: (i) project preparation grants to facilitate the preparation of small and medium-scale renewable energy generation and energy efficiency projects and (ii) equity investments to bridge the financing gap for small and medium scale renewable energy generation projects. SEFA is structured to be used as a flexible multi-donor/multi-purpose platform to support the access to sustainable energy agenda in Africa, and one of Africa's potential instruments under the UN-championed Sustainable Energy for All Initiative.

Media contact: Penelope Pontet. +216 24 66 36 96 - p.pontetdefouquieres@afdb.org

Technical contact: Joao Duarte Cunha . +216 7110 3819 - j.cunha@afdb.org

For more information on our activities, please visit the AfDB website : http://bit.ly/VS6IoY

"Austria is actively seeking to improve the living conditions of deprived people and has for years supported access to clean energy for everyone", Spindelegger said. "Austrian Development Cooperation promotes numerous sustainable energy projects in Western Africa, Southern Africa, Central America and Bhutan."

Sharing knowledge and promoting investment

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) contributes an important share to ensuring sustainable energy in its 15 member states with its Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) on Cape Verde. The Energy Centre has been working on alternative energy solutions, transferring knowledge, developing strategies and promoting investment with the support of Austria and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) since 2010. "By signing the contract today, Austria is granting an additional two million euros for the next operative phase of the Centre up to 2016", Spindelegger said.

An energy centre catches on

The East African Community, EAC, and the South African Development Community, SADC are also planning to establish regional centres based on the model of the ECREEE. Austria, EAC and UNIDO signed a memorandum of understanding to this effect today; an agreement for SADC is being prepared. All these efforts aim to initiate regional activities in terms of capacity development, political consulting, awareness creation, investment and business promotion to step up the use of sustainable energy technologies. "We would like to support East and Southern Africa in developing affordable and clean energy. Energy needs to be climate-friendly and must not pose any risks to health. Transfer of technology and knowledge is an important aspect in this process and Austrian businesses have a lot of expertise to offer in these fields. Together with Austrian experts, UNIDO has, for example, organised a training seminar for the operation of small hydropower stations for African experts on the sidelines of the Vienna Energy Forum", Spindelegger concluded.

In Zimbabwe, hailstorms which occurred from the first week to the third week of April caused serious damage including destruction of household property. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Zimbabwe reported, as of May 22, three people were dead and approximately 25,000 people were evacuated to the shelter.

In response to the request from the Government of Zimbabwe, the Government of Japan has decided to provide emergency assistance from a humanitarian point of view for the victims as well as in light of friendly relations between Japan and Zimbabwe.

“Canada has taken steps to expel (declare persona non grata) Mr. Semere Ghebremariam O. Micael, consul and head of the Eritrean Consulate General in Toronto, effective immediately. Mr. O. Micael must leave Canada no later than noon Eastern time on June 5, 2013.

“Today's actions speak for themselves.”

Canada has repeatedly made clear to Eritrea to respect international sanctions and Canadian law. The Eritrean government is welcome to propose another candidate to represent it in Canada, but that person must be prepared to play by the rules. Our resolve on this matter should not be further tested.

As part of the seminar, experts will also validate a report produced by ECA in preparation for the Fourth Global Review of Aid for Trade, to be held in Geneva from the 8th to 10th July 2013.

In addition to an analysis of Aid for Trade flows to the region, the report will present the result of a survey conducted by African Union (AU) and ECA, on how Aid for Trade can best support the AU Action Plan to boost intra-African trade.

Senior State Department Official

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

May 24, 2013

MODERATOR: And this is just to – as always, but just so you know, on background as a Senior State Department Official.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Yeah. All right, so thank you. Drink a lot of water. You're at 8,500 feet. If you go to the Embassy, it's 9,000 feet up. The other thing, too, is if you want to protect yourself on health, I wouldn't eat raw vegetables.

MODERATOR: We had a thorough briefing.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Yeah.

MODERATOR: Very thorough. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: Do you speak from experience?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Yes. I served here for three years (inaudible). And if you have a chance off (inaudible) to see the – and everyone is looking at Lucy (ph). I think (inaudible) is much better, (inaudible) and it's on display at the museum.

MODERATOR: Oh. All right.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: So anyway, just a couple things that we're working on. As far as – number one, of course, this is the 50th anniversary. It really kind of highlights what the African Union has done over the last 50 years. And I think if you take the African Union at snapshots from 50 years ago to 20 to 10 to five to now, the developments and the progress has been dramatic. We now have a lot of peacekeeping operations organized by the African Union, et cetera. We have a lot of efforts that we're doing jointly with the UN as well as the United States.

The second issue, of course, is to highlight Ethiopia as a host for the African Union and everything that it's doing to support the African Union. And in that context, Ethiopia has done a lot of work for us in the African Union in Abyei, which has been a crisis area, Darfur, the Congo, Libya, Burundi issues, et cetera. So they've been a very part and parcel part of the African Union experience.

The third theme, of course, is to highlight what the United States is doing throughout Africa. And that is, of course, good governance, emphasizing holding governments accountable to the people. The other issue is economic development, and also peace and security. And also it's a prelude to the President's trip, so that means highlighting women issues as well as youth.

And as kind of background information, 70 – over 70 percent of Africa, 850 million population, is under the age of 30. And in many countries, two-thirds are under the age of 15. So it's a very young, dynamic continent.

So with that, tomorrow the schedule is very chockablock jam-packed. And so what we're trying to do as far as getting bilats for Secretary Kerry – the main area, of course, is Sudan. That means trying to meet with the Foreign Minister Karti, who was supposed to have come to the United States, but because the Secretary was on travel, we couldn't arrange those meetings. So we're going to do it here at the African Union.

And then the other side is Salva Kiir from Southern Sudan. The reason why is because of the challenges between North and South Sudan on the recent oil problems. The stoppage of the oil is restarted. The second area, too, is just the border issue challenges. And another area, too, is to work with Southern Sudan on their economic development program.

Another area that we're going to try to arrange a meeting is with Goodluck Jonathan from Nigeria. As you know, before we left Washington we did issue a statement on the offensive that Nigeria had launched into the north against Boko Haram. We, of course, in that statement said we do not deny or oppose a country's right for security or its effort to secure its border and the sovereign rights to do so, but also our concerns on human rights issues in the north. And that's something of great concern, and growing concern actually.

The other area, too, that we're going to try to meet is with the African Union leadership, and that's Madam Zuma, and also Hailemariam, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia. Ethiopia is the president for the African Union. So it's really a dual role for Prime Minister Hailemariam, not only as the President of the AU but also as Prime Minister of Ethiopia, and a discussion of bilateral issues.

MODERATOR: And the other two, just to add, of course, he's going to be meeting with Morsy tomorrow. The focus of that from our end will be urging action on, of course, putting reforms in place, economic reforms in place, so that they can shore the IMF loan agreement. Also they'll discuss Middle East peace. As you know, Egypt has played a role both with the Arab League in reaffirming API, and they've also had a historic role in that, so the Secretary will update the President on his talks in Jerusalem and Ramallah. And he'll also, of course, stress the importance of respecting human rights. And he'll also meet with Ban Ki-moon tomorrow to discuss the good work the UN and AU have done working together on a number of issues in Africa, but also in preparation for the Geneva conference. He'll update him on, of course, the events of the last couple of days and discuss plans moving forward.

With that --

QUESTION: Can I ask you a question about the – is it confirmed that the Secretary will meet with President Goodluck Jonathan from Nigeria, one? And then two, the statement that you issued was really extremely hard-hitting, as I recall. And one of the things that it talked about was deeply concerned by credible allegations that Nigerian security forces are committing gross human rights violations which internally exacerbate (inaudible) – have you seen any improvement since you issued the statement? Or is this partly just to try to drive home that this may be continuing and that you want it to stop?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: We're looking at our relationship in Nigeria as extremely important. I mean, kind of one background information is if you ask any leaders on West Africa, what is one area of the relationship that's really critical, and the issue is Nigeria. Why? Because Nigeria has such a – plays such a pivotal role in West Africa, not only in peacekeeping operations but the economy, its population. And the issue comes in as whatever happens in Nigeria affects the regional states. So Nigeria becomes very critical.

We've worked with Nigeria on a wide range of issues. And one of them, of course, is stability within its own country, and that is the – towards the north. When Johnnie Carson was the Assistant Secretary, he made the speech – I think it was at – is it CSIS or USIP, one of the two – and he articulated that in the north, if you have – the education rates was around 40 percent as opposed to 60 percent for the south, and you had a greater focus on southern development, and that more needed to be done in northern development. In other words, economic development, trade and investments, education and healthcare, the whole wide range of areas. And so with that in mind, what we want to say is that there has to be greater dialogue, greater interconnections between the two areas. And I think that would bring not only stability to Nigeria but also calmness in the hill region.

QUESTION: Right, but do you still believe that gross human rights violations are being perpetrated? Or do you still – there are continued allegations that gross human rights violations are being perpetrated by government forces in the north.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: When we issued the statement, it was based on information that we had been receiving that there was continued violation of human rights. And we continue to monitor the north. We're going to continue to monitor the north. More important is we continue to work with the Nigerians, their military and their security to address the situation in the northern area. And as human rights violations continue, and I think the concern is that because of our concern, it does continue.

QUESTION: Because of what?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Because of our concerns in the north that human rights violations still continue, that we will continue to monitor and work with the Nigerian Government to address those concerns.

QUESTION: And so, since your statement came out, is it continuing?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Again, as I say, we're monitoring the north. We're monitoring the north.

QUESTION: And this will be raised by the Secretary in the meeting?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Yes.

QUESTION: So you're not --

QUESTION: Wait. Can I just – it's either continuing or it's not continuing. It's a very simple question.

MODERATOR: It's continuing. It's continuing.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: It's continuing. And that becomes – it still remains a concern for us, is the peace, stability in the north and human rights issues. That remains --

QUESTION: I know, but what's continuing? Sorry, this – I don't want to belabor this, but human rights violations are continuing, correct?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Human rights violations, yes.

QUESTION: This is post-Baga?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Post-Baga.

QUESTION: And can you just – the first part of Arshad's question: Is this meeting with Jonathan Goodluck confirmed, or are you still working on it?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: We're still working on the – I think – the problem comes in is all the scheduling is just --

MODERATOR: We're going to get a schedule from upstairs, just to see where things are. This was something that's planned, so we'll get you guys that before the end of it.

QUESTION: Sorry. The Sudanese Foreign Minister, you said he was supposed to come to DC but he's not, and so they're meeting him here.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Right.

QUESTION: Does that mean that the Sudanese delegation, which, as you know, was a bit contentious, is not coming to Washington? Or is this separate?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: No, no, this is separate. This was an earlier meeting that was being arranged. We had it scheduled, but the Secretary had another trip overseas, and so we had to delay it. And we just couldn't get the schedule back on track, so we said we'll meet at the African Union Summit.

QUESTION: So the delegation, then, that is expected to include Mr. Nafie Ali Nafie, to your knowledge, is still on? That was announced.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Yeah, yeah. The meeting here is just with Foreign Minister Karti.

QUESTION: I understand.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Yeah. And the issue about Nafie Ali Nafie's visit, I think that would be discussed with Karti. But I think we will have to give you a briefing later about when that trip is and the details.

QUESTION: Right. No, I understand. Nobody really knows when that trip is, but --

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: That's right.

QUESTION: But the United States, at present, still intends to welcome a delegation that includes Mr. Nafie Ali Nafie?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: At this time.

QUESTION: Is that issue and his alleged involvement in human rights, will that be part of the conversation with the Sudanese Foreign Minister tomorrow?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Right now, I think the main topics for the Khartoum meeting is going to be the relationship with the southerners and the issue of the oil which came up. That, I think, raised a lot of concerns on our part about the relationship between north and south.

QUESTION: So could I ask you – obviously I know there's a lot of leaders here, but are there any plans for any meeting with the leaders of Rwanda or D.R. Congo to discuss the – and also Mali and the issues that are happening up there?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: The schedule is so tight. We've been doing everything from the lunches and dinners that are being arranged, who's sitting next to the Secretary at the table. I think that's still being finalized.

MODERATOR: There's still a lunch and a dinner. There's possibilities that there can be kind of pull-asides. So we'll keep you updated as we know of those, but this is what's on the schedule as of now.

QUESTION: Can you – is there any expectation that Secretary Kerry or are there any plans of Secretary Kerry to meet or have any interaction with President Ahmadinejad?

MODERATOR: No.

QUESTION: And can you rule out that they'll see him or deal with him?

MODERATOR: Yes. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: They'll be in the same room at some point?

MODERATOR: There is a – it is a conference, but there are no plans to see him or --

QUESTION: Do you know the proximity or is --

MODERATOR: I don't. I don't. I don't know that level of technical detail of the setup.

QUESTION: They won't be sitting at the same dinner table then?

QUESTION: He's short; Kerry's tall. He won't see Kerry. (Laughter.)

MODERATOR: I don't know how the dinner tables are set up, to be honest. True answer. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: You mentioned that there's a Dlamini Zuma meeting as well. Is that something you're working on or you know?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Oh, no, that's – because that's the chairperson for the African Union.

QUESTION: Right. What are the highlights expected there?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Again, it's to highlight the great progress made by the African Union. The other issue, too, is our continued support and assistance for the African Union. As you know, the United States is the first non-African country to assign an ambassador to the African Union. And I happened to be one of the acting ambassadors during that period, too, so --

QUESTION: But maybe we – maybe there's some Mali in there? I mean, is that --

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Yes. It's going to be – when you talk to the African Union, it's a wide range of issues. And that goes into what the African Union is doing on the Mali issue, on Sudan, on Somalia, and the Great Lakes, the careful coordination with the United Nations. Just for your information, we had a meeting today with – or lunch with the deputy chair to kind of go over a lot of the issues that will be raised tomorrow. But our relationship with the African Union is very wide-ranging. So --

QUESTION: On Mali, I mean, apart from Secretary Kerry's meetings, what's the discussion here about the eventual African force? And where does all that stand? How big a part of the conversation is that here, and how do you assess where they are?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: I think if you talk about AFISMA, the African force, it really has to be in a context of our major goal and objective, and that's elections on July 28th and --

QUESTION: It has to be in the context of what?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: -- of the – I'm sorry, of the elections, the presidential elections in July 28th. The reason why is because really the elections are critical. Without a credible, transparent election – and we're doing everything we can, from supporting the registration of refugees in other countries to working on the registration of the Tuaregs in Gao and other areas, as well as the other minorities such as the Songhais and the Peuls is that without the elections, really that becomes a basis for a lot of the other crises that we're trying to address. That is the dialogue between the north and the south.

The second thing is the humanitarian relief efforts, and of course the addressing of the issue of extremism in the north, and that's posed by Ansar al-Dine and AQIM.

QUESTION: So --

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: And so in that context, then you look at the African Forces. And the issue is that if you look at the African force, you have, I mean, over a dozen countries, three different languages that are being spoken, the different – the capacity and capability of the African forces that are different levels, not all the forces can operate in the north. And then I think it's still a work in progress to see how you can integrate the interoperability of these African forces.

And so it's going to take time. And in that issue is that we are very thankful and appreciative of the French forces playing such a significant role in northern Mali. The other issue, too, is trying to get the right force structure, massive transitions from AFISMA to MINUSMA – UN operations. And so those are a lot of things that have to be addressed. But the right questions are being asked by ECOWAS, the African Union, and the United Nations. And as you know, the – a new UN Special Envoy is being assigned from Cote d'Ivoire, the Dutch person, Albert – was it Gerard Koenders?

QUESTION: You mentioned AQIM in the context of Mali. Is that going – is al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb going to be perhaps one of the topics across the board for the Union, or is it going to be contained country by country?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: It's – One background note is you have, on the Mali crisis, it is one of the – an African issue which galvanized and attracted all these African countries in ECOWAS. In other words, from Cote d'Ivoire to non-ECOWAS countries like Chad, to Algiers, to all these countries that are affected by not only extremism, but also by the flow of different ethnic groups and tribes such as the Tuaregs, which are really in multiple countries. And then the other issue, too, is the flows of refugees. You're talking 400,000 – over 400,000 people in North Mali who are displaced, either internally or are refugees. So that affects the entire region. And so because of that, it's really attracted the attention of the entire African area in that region.

QUESTION: So would it be fair to say it's a point on the agenda that --

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: That's right. AQIM, has to be looked at in a context that there's four interconnected, simultaneous ongoing crises that are taking place. And AQIM or extremism is only one of those four crises. And so it's not the – like the main one, but it's in a context of the four.

QUESTION: And the –

QUESTION: There are just four?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: The four crises are, again, reestablishing democratic governance, because that's going to be key to a lot of resolving the other crises. The other one is a dialogue between Bamako and the minority tribes in the north. That's the Peul, the Songhais, the Arabs and the Tuaregs. The third is the humanitarian crisis. Not only do you have 400,000 displaced in northern Mali, but if you look at the trans-Sahel, because of the drought and weather and climactic problems, you have – at one point it was 13 million people food insecure. It's been eased up because of our USAID efforts. And then the fourth issue, of course, is the issue of extremism.

QUESITON: Wait. How many refugees did you say? How many are without food?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Of the 400,000 displaced, what is it? It's – I thought was about even, but a little less than 200,000 – 177,000 in refugee camps in the areas and the rest are internally displaced in Mali.

QUESTION: And then – great. And then – well, not great, but thank you for clarifying that. And then – (laughter) – you said that at one point there were 13 million --

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: That's across --

QUESTION: -- food insecure.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: -- across the Sahel.

QUESTION: And you said USAID efforts had helped bring that down. How many do you think now are food insecure?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: I would defer to AID, but it's – we're addressing the needs. It's not --

QUESTION: It's still millions, though?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Oh yes, of course.

QUESTION: One question on that food insecurity talk. I mean, you mention these four, but how much do they interact? I mean, this food insecurity, the jobs, the problems like that, how much does that interact with other problems, including extremism?

SENIOR STATEDEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: I mean, if you have already a problem with drought, and then on top of it you start adding the insecurity or the instability in northern Mali contributing or exacerbating those people who are at risk of food insecurity, that danger remains there.

The other issue, too, is if you have one country or one area that's insecure that also compounds and exacerbates the problems that we're trying to address and makes it more complex.

QUESTION: Can you go back to Mali? You were starting to say something about without credible elections there's going to be problems basically. Can you say what that's going to mean from the U.S. and what you want the African countries to bring in terms of consequences, in terms of pressure to make sure that you get something that resembles a democracy story?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: When you – I think if you look at December it was – I think the United States was really pushing for credible, open elections, and there's a couple of reasons for that. Number one is in a coup situation, we have to impose 7008 sanctions. In order to raise those sanctions, you have to have elections – national elections and the election of a government. So that's one.

The second issue, too, is that looking at how to resolve the problems in Mali is that if you don't have a government that is – that people can talk to, discuss, or has the authority to negotiate or to do the dialogue with the North, then that becomes a hindrance to your efforts to dialogue and the address a lot of those things in the North. So things on those two issues – I think the change event from January to now that elections become really the priority.

QUESTION: But are you going to do? What are you – if – what are you and the other African – the African countries going to say to Mali to make sure this happens? It may be in their best interest, but how are you going to tell them, “Look, if you don't do this, you're not going to get as much military support. You're not going to get as much political support. You're not going to get help at all with dealing with the Tuaregs going across borders.” What specifically are you going to tell them so that they actually do what's good for them?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: I think – look at the Brussels meeting that took place on was it May 15th? There the Tuareg and President Hollande of France articulated that elections were important in the resolution of the crisis in Mali. And really that kind of underscores that this becomes one of the major focuses for resolving the Mali crisis.

Now what are we doing? We have all the countries that – African countries that are providing troops for AFISMA, which will become MINUSMA. Those countries have bought in that elections are important. The other issues, too, is that on the donor conference that part of the electoral process – I mean, part of the donation deals with governments and democracy, which is elections. For the United States, we're putting in --

QUESTION: Part of the donation – I'm sorry, what?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Part of the donation is for --

QUESTION: Donation of what? I couldn't hear.

QUESTION: Money.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Donations of money in Brussels.

QUESTION: Right. Brussels. Okay.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: So in other words, the United States is putting in a little less than 7 million for the elections, but then other countries, too, will be putting money into it, and part of that money collected is also going to go for elections and electoral processes.

QUESTION: Can I ask one about – back on Nigeria? In just simple terms that an ordinary person can understand, what is Secretary Kerry going to say to the President about the human rights abuses that you believe continue to (inaudible)?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: As you know, the Secretary met with Nigerian Foreign Minister Ashiru in Washington, and remember, Nigeria is a very complex – relationship issues that are very important to Nigeria as well as to us, and it's not – it's a whole wide range of issues that we're discussing with Nigeria from economies to economic development to securities to what Nigeria's contributing to Malian forces, AFISMA, and also to peacekeeping operations. Nigeria plays a critical role well beyond its own borders in all parts of Africa, just because of its not only peacekeeping operations but because it plays a role in peacekeeping and security around Africa, just as South Africa does. It's an important continent-wide country. And so our discussions with Nigeria encompasses a wide range of issues, and human rights in the north is just one of those issues.

MODERATOR: Is it fair to say that he'll reaffirm our concerns about human rights --

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Right. That's right.

MODERATOR: -- abuses in the north?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Yes. And as we did with –

MODERATOR: That we've expressed before and to the Foreign Minister last meeting?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: And as stated in our public statement.

QUESTION: Can I ask –

MODERATOR: One thing just – oh, sorry. I just wanted to make sure on the schedule that you guys know, so I didn't forget, these are the confirmed meetings, and this is still being worked through. And just remember that the African leaders who are participating have sessions in the morning and afternoon, so some of this is pulling them out of things, so it's possible there could be more added.

QUESTION: But this is for sure?

MODERATOR: This is for sure.

QUESTION: Good.

PARTICIPANT: And --

MODERATOR: Oh, go ahead.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: I'm sorry. And then going to back to Nigeria, we have a Bi-National Commission, so we have strategic talks with South Africa, Angola, and Nigeria. And Nigeria Bi-National Commission discussions have really been very wide-ranging, progressive in the areas that we're discussing. So when we talk about security in Nigeria, it's just not military or intel; it entails the entire security (inaudible), finances, economy, et cetera. Because those are also security issues.

QUESTION: I guess what I was asking for it in simple terms. I was hoping you would say something just like he's going to urge the Nigerian Government to ensure that its military ceases such abuses.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Yes.

QUESTION: Thank you. (Laughter.)

MODERATOR: Correct.

QUESTION: We have a deal.

MODERATOR: Get up here, Arshad.

QUESTION: What are the meetings?

MODERATOR: Ethiopian Foreign Minister, Sudanese Foreign Minister --

QUESTION: Foreign Minister or Prime Minister?

MODERATOR: Sorry. Prime Minister. Sorry, long day.

QUESTION: Which one, Ethiopian or --

MODERATOR: Ethiopian Prime Minister.

QUESTION: Right.

MODERATOR: That's one we're doing an avail, after that one, joint avail. Sudanese Foreign Minister, AU Chairperson, Ban Ki-moon, South Sudan President, and Egyptian President. Those are the confirmed. There are others we're still working on.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) Goodluck Jonathan confirmed or no?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: No. Not yet.

MODERATOR: Not yet.

QUESTION: Can I just ask – I'm not an expert on Sudan and South Sudan issues. You mentioned the oil. What is going to be the content of this discussion tomorrow on South Sudan - Sudan oil? What are you going to try to accomplish?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: I think the oil issue I think has strained trust between the North and the South and really it's restoration of trust. That's really the basic – one basic thing is to restore trust between North and South to work together to resolve common, shared problems, which is the border issue, it's the wealth issue, it's the oil issue.

MODERATOR: Do you want him to explain what the oil issue is?

QUESTION: Yes.

QUESTION: Yeah.

QUESTION: Well, where it stands. I mean, you guys –

MODERATOR: -- talk about it.

QUESTION: -- talk about it, and you issued a statement some weeks or months ago cheering the agreement. And what's happened since?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Well, right now, as you know, the oil pipes are operating now. They're flowing again. So you don't have the prospect of the pipes, where it's coagulating and the oil breaking the pipes or leaking into the (inaudible). So no it's flowing again. But again, it's – I think what the North and South have to do is discuss what gave rise to the North putting restrictions on the oil, what is it that – further discussions need to take place between the North and the South. And as you know, ongoing discussions take place between the North and the South here in Addis Ababa. You have the African Union High-Level discussions. And I think when we get back to Washington is – and I defer you to our Special Envoy's Office on Sudan to give you really a good in-depth discussion and briefing on Sudan.

QUESTION: Who's the special envoy now?

QUESTION: It was Princeton Lyman.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Special Envoy's Office.

QUESTION: Oh, okay.

QUESTION: For Michael's sake and certainly also for mine, because I haven't written about this in a long, long, long time, can you explain in real simple terms? The issue, as I understand, is the South has the oil, the North has not been – has at times not been willing to allow it to be transported, and it's all because of the issues over how the revenue gets shared?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Right. Yes. That's the bottom line is revenue sharing.

QUESTION: Did they solve the revenue issue or did they just get --

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: I think it's – the issue is – I mean, in simple terms, it is revenue. But in larger terms, its – it goes into the relationship between the North and the South, how they're going to address the whole wide range of issues. And unfortunately, how they express those issues is expressed, let's say, in this instance, is the blockage of the oil by the North. So now what we're trying to do is they build trust and find good (inaudible) for them to resolve their problems on the whole wide range of issues from the borders to wealth-sharing to citizenship to nationality, et cetera.

QUESTION: And how – really stupid question, but two questions. One, how long were the shipments, or more precisely I guess the flow, through the pipelines cut off? And secondly, how did the North do that? Did they have like a giant spigot, or did they just refuse to allow it to be transported along?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Yeah. We have to get back to you on how long. (inaudible)

QUESTION: Days or weeks?

QUESTION: It was January of '12 to --

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Off and on. But I mean, this most recent one, because we had an agreement for the oil, oils to flow – I'd have to get back to you on the exact dates.

QUESTION: Right. But it included this year though?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Yes.

QUESTION: Okay. And then how do they stop it? Just by refusing it to be shipped?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: That's right. Because the oil – as you know, the pipes go through up to the Port of Sudan and other, which is Khartoum controlled.

QUESTION: Yeah. Okay. And so in other words, by refusing to let it ship on things get filled up and then you can't --

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Right.

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: [Moderator], can I just ask, I know you're going to send out a schedule at some point, but just what time you think you'll have that joint press avail?

QUESTION: 8:40 a.m., right?

MODERATOR: Yeah. It's 8:40 a.m.

QUESTION: 8:40 a.m.

QUESTION: They sent it already.

MODERATOR: Yeah, we sent you where --

QUESTION: Well, maybe I'm not getting emails.

MODERATOR: Well, you're not getting emails here.

QUESTION: Okay.

MODERATOR: We sent you a tentative, which may have had all of the meetings I went through. It may have had others that are still being worked through.

QUESTION: Okay. 8:40 a.m. Okay. That's great. Thank you. I just wanted to --

QUESTION: I feel a little silly about the Nigeria thing, but it's not even for sure that you'll meet – that he will meet with President Jonathan Goodluck --

MODERATOR: In a bilat.

QUESTION: In a bilat. Right. But he should raise those issues in a bilat. So you're basically seeking a meeting at which you would raise these issues.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Yes.

QUESTION: Great.

QUESTION: Does he want to meet the Secretary?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Oh, yes. I mean, we – this is a – yeah, we do.

QUESTION: So you expect this to happen, it's just --

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: We hope it happens.

QUESTION: Yeah.

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Again, you know our relationship is so robust and as complex that we're going to meet whatever happens. We will meet.

QUESTION: Yeah. Here?

SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Yeah. And it's not just Goodluck Jonathan. It's the previous presidents as well also play a tremendous role – Obasanjo and others – in the process.

MODERATOR: Anything else?

QUESTION: Thank you. Thank you very much.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you very much.

"Having silenced news outlets for coverage of a critical public issue, Ugandan authorities are now trying to suppress protesters who want to call attention to the censorship," said CPJ East Africa Consultant Tom Rhodes. "The indefinite closure of these media outlets serves as a daily reminder that the government wants to deny its citizens important sources of news and information."

About 100 journalists and civil society members protested in Kampala in connection with the May 20 suspension of the Daily Monitor and Red Pepper newspapers and two radio stations affiliated with the Monitor on Tuesday. The protesters demanded that police end the suspension of the dailies and stop occupying the offices, the journalists said.

Police dispersed Tuesday's protest using batons and tear gas, and beat several television journalists. WBS reporters Mulindwa Mukasa and William Ntege, NBS reporter Bahati Remmy, and NTV reporter Sudhir Byaruhanga were among the journalists attacked, but no serious injuries were reported. Several journalists said their equipment was also damaged in the attack.

Police briefly detained three members of the Uganda Human Rights Journalist Network who organized the protest, news reports said. Geoffrey Ssebaggala, the group's national coordinator, told CPJ he was released without charge, but that two of his colleagues, William Ntege and Mulindwa Mukasa, were charged with unlawful assembly and inciting violence. No court date has been set, he said.

Police shut down the radio stations and the two newspapers, the Monitor and Red Pepper, after the Monitor covered a letter written by top security official Gen. David Sejusa to the director general of Uganda's Internal Security Organisation about an alleged plot for the president's son to succeed him. The letter, which Sejusa confirmed writing, called for an investigation into an alleged plot to assassinate senior government officials who were opposed to Brigadier Muhoozi Kainerugaba, son of President Yoweri Museveni, assuming the presidency in 2016, the Monitor reported.

News accounts reported at the time that police had a search warrant to find the original letter written by Sejusa as well as other unspecified documents. The Inspector General of Police General Kale Kayihura said Tuesday that the Monitor would remain closed until the letter attributed to Sejusa was found, according to news reports.

Lawyers for the Monitor have filed a complaint in court challenging the legality of the police search, James Nangwala, one of the paper's lawyers, said. The case will be heard on Thursday. Journalists and civil society activists plan to begin protesting outside the courtroom and then march to the Monitor'spremises, local journalists said.

Outgoing Interior Minister Hilary Onek, who will continue to head the police department until his successor takes the position, told parliament last week that security agencies need to investigate how the Monitor got the letter and "possible violations of the law that may have been committed," given the letter's security classification, according to news reports. Onek also set tough conditions for the Monitor to reopen, including a ban on negative reporting about the army and the first family, the reports said.

Red Pepper was suspended after the paper published a May 15 press release said to have been written by Sejusa's lawyer about the general's letter, according to a statement by the paper. Police had raided the office looking for the press release, the reports said.

The suspensions of the outlets have continued despite a court order last week instructing the police to allow both the Monitor and Red Pepper to resume operations, Monitor lawyer James Nangwala told CPJ. Police said they were appealing, according to local journalists.

Monitor Managing Director Alex Asiimwe has told his staff that they were continuing to negotiatewith authorities over the closure, local journalists told CPJ.

Monitor Editor Charles Mwanguhya told CPJ that there were no attacks on journalists during protests that were held outside the Monitor's premises today.

Abdulkadir Abdirisak Jama nicknamed “Jiijiile”, who works for Royal Television and Mustaqbal Radio survived from an assassination attempt after unknown assailants armed with pistols shot and wounded him at the face on Wednesday evening between 6 – 7:00pm at Farjano neighborhood and survived from the assassination attempt. He was rushed to Hospital for treatment. A suspect has been caught in connection with the shooting and it is not clear the reason behind the attack.

“He was wounded this evening and a suspect has been caught by the Kismayo administration.” Aweis Haji Nor, Director of Mustaqbal Media Inc. in Mogadishu told NUSOJ.

The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) outraged about the shooting incident calls prompt investigations into the shooting incident and called for greater protection for the journalists in Kismayo.

“We condemn the shooting of our colleague in the strongest terms possible and call for prompt investigations into the shooting incident against.” Mohamed Ibrahim, Secretary General of the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) said, “Journalists should be given enough protection and secure environment where they can exercise their freedom of expression granted by the constitution.”

Abdulkadir Jiijiile was among five journalists arrested by the Raskamboni militias two weeks ago. The journalists were later released after brief detentions.

Serious press freedom violations have been reported including arbitrary arrests, threats, censorship and other violations in Kismayo forcing the journalists to report with fear.

In January this year, Raskamboni militias imposed draconian orders on the journalists and the media in Kismayo. Abdinasir Seeraar, spokesperson for the Raskamboni militias ordered the journalists to come to his office in order to ensure they send the news only favors for them and threatened to take action any journalist who dares to report any news critical to their administration.

The situation in Kismayo worsened following the recent emergence of several rival clan warlords each calling himself as the Jubbaland state president.

The Breeding Task Force comprises international and national rice breeders from 30 African countries and operates as part of the Japan-funded project “Developing the Next Generation of New Rice Varieties for Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia.”

“We are excited to announce the selection of the first five ARICA varieties,” said Dr Papa Seck, Director General of the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), which coordinates the Breeding Task Force.

“The ARICA varieties offer promising opportunities to Africa's rice sector and can make a difference to the lives of Africa's rice farmers, who do not have access to new varieties that are better adapted to their growing environment and likely to sell well,” Dr Seck added.

Selection Criteria of ARICA Varieties

The five ARICA varieties were selected based on a rigorous evaluation of elite rice lines across the African continent. All these ARICAs outyielded the most popular check varieties in the trials.

ARICA varieties suitable for rainfed lowland ecology

• ARICA 1: About 30% higher yield compared to NERICA-L19. ARICA 1 is in the variety release process in Mali.

• ARICA 2: More than 50% higher yield compared to NERICA-L19. ARICA 2 is in the variety release process in Mali and Nigeria.

• ARICA 3: About 30% higher yield compared to NERICA-L19, with good grain quality, high milling recovery, low chalkiness, shorter cooking time. ARICA 3 is in the variety release process in Mali and Nigeria.

ARICA varieties suitable for upland ecology

• ARICA 4: About 15% higher yield compared to NERICA 4. ARICA 4 has just been released in Uganda.

• ARICA 5: About 15% higher yield compared to NERICA 4. ARICA 5 has just been released in Uganda.

“The ARICA varieties can be considered as the next generation of rice varieties for Africa, after the success of many improved rice varieties – notably the NERICAs, the Sahels, the WABs and the WITAs – developed by AfricaRice and its partners over the last 25 years,” stated AfricaRice Deputy Director General Dr Marco Wopereis.

Describing the ARICA varieties in his blog “Welcoming the ‘ARICAs': the next generation of rice varieties for Africa,” Dr Wopereis said that unlike the NERICA varieties, the ARICAs are not restricted to interspecific crosses. Any line that shows promise, regardless of its origin can become an ARICA variety as long as the data that are collected are convincing.

Confirming this, Dr Takashi Kumashiro, Leader of the AfricaRice Genetic Diversity and Improvement Program, said, “The ARICA brand stands for quality, because the ARICA varieties are evaluated through rigorous procedures and backed by solid data.”

In order to be nominated as ARICA, a breeding line must prove to have a significant advantage over the best check varieties in a region for 3 seasons. “The trial results must emphasize at least one particular strong trait that makes this line perform better than existing varieties,” remarked Dr Kumashiro.

Systematic and Multi-environment Testing Approach

Since the process of selection of promising breeding lines is time- consuming, the Africa Rice Breeding Task Force, which was set up in 2010, has adopted a systematic and multi-environment testing approach to increase its efficiency and efficacy. In addition to rice breeders, farmers, members of national variety release committees and other stakeholders participate in the evaluation.

The breeding lines that enter the Task Force are provided by many institutes – including AfricaRice, the national agricultural research systems in Africa, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD) and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) – who are all partners in the CGIAR Research Program on Rice, known as the Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP).

“This will contribute to faster, better documented and better targeted releases of new climate-resilient and stress-resistant rice varieties for major production systems in Africa,” said Dr Moussa Sié, Africa Rice Breeding Task Force Coordinator. Dr Sié is a senior rice breeder who developed the lowland NERICAs for which he received the Japan International Koshihikari Rice Prize in 2006.

He added that the Task Force helps strengthen breeding capacity and ensures that national breeders can use the materials from the Task Force not just to evaluate, but also to develop or improve their own varieties to get a better fit with their consumers' preferences and ecologies.

Strong Support from Partners and Donors

Dr Seck gratefully acknowledged the strong support of the national agricultural research systems of AfricaRice member countries and the solid backing of visionary donors, notably the Government and people of Japan, for the achievements of the Task Force.

“The NERICA varieties are a huge success. But, it is also good to know that we have new products, such as the ARICAs for Africa's rice producers and consumers, who continue to face an enormous challenge,” he said.

AfricaRice is one of the 15 international agricultural research Centers that are members of the CGIAR Consortium. It is also an intergovernmental association of African member countries.

The programme in El Fasher, North Darfur, opened with a military and police parade and a solemn wreath-laying ceremony. It also included cultural activities by UNAMID's contingents and local groups.

Joint Special Representative (JSR) Mohamed Ibn Chambas used the occasion to convey a message by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: “To meet emerging threats and rise to new challenges, United Nations peacekeeping is adapting its policies to better fulfil its mandates to bring lasting peace to war-torn countries.”

“On this International Day, let us pay solemn tribute to those who have fallen, support the more than 111,000 serving soldiers and police from 116 countries, and continue adapting our operations to better help civilians who need protection and support,” read Mr. Chambas.

The event was attended by North Darfur Governor Osman Kibir, representatives from the local community and non-governmental organizations, as well as UNAMID staff. Governor Kibir expressed his condolences “for those who lost their lives serving peace in Darfur.”

Since the inception of UNAMID in December 2007, 44 peacekeepers have lost their lives in the line of duty. UNAMID's peacekeepers, totalling 24,441 military, police and civilians staff come from more than 130 nations. These peacekeepers continue to contribute to the peace and stability of Darfur.

The event, organized by the African Union - United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), brought together more than 40 participants representing the North Darfur State Mediation Council (Ajaweed) and the North Darfur State Committee on UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women in an effort to raise awareness on the importance of women's participation in communities.

“Currently, Darfur tribal traditions do not allow for women to be at the same level as men when it comes to traditional mediation,” said Eltiganni Mohamad Salih, Rapporteur of North Darfur State Executive Council of Civil Administration. “Women's contribution will only be achieved gradually,” he added.

Among recommendation made by those in attendance were the strengthening of the civil administration system and raising awareness on women's participation in the mediation process.

Similar workshops are being planned for other parts of Darfur as part of the Mission's effort to integrate a gender perspective within the peace process.

The medical check-up, held at El Fasher's men and women prisons and juvenile home, aimed at controlling common diseases and infections often causes due to a lack of water sanitation and poor hygiene in the prisons.

The campaign was organized by the State Ministry of Health and World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and facilitated by African Union – United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). A similar activity was conducted last year at these facilities.

Ambassador Wu Sike, China's Special Envoy on the Middle East issue, will pay visits to Jordan, Egypt and the Arab League Headquarters from May 28 to June 6. He will discuss issues like the Middle East peace process with parties concerned.

Ewa Björling, Minister for Trade

Speech

Check against delivery

Minister, your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

I am very pleased to be back here in Luanda, and to be able to welcome you all to this important seminar on information and communication technology.

In Sweden, I notice a growing interest in Africa on a daily basis. I see it in the political, cultural and business communities.

Angola, being among other things one of the countries in Africa with the highest level of economic growth, is certainly of special interest to a lot of people.

Sweden and Angola have developed an excellent relationship over the years, and created close ties in several areas. I would very much like us to strengthen and develop these ties even further.

There is a number of interesting areas to explore, ranging from improved trade relations, knowledge transfer and increased foreign direct investments, to institutional partnerships, student exchanges and research cooperation.

Promoting commercial exchange with Africa is already a policy priority for Sweden. And although comparatively small, our trade with Africa is on the rise.

Swedish exports to Africa have increased by 200 per cent over the last ten years. But there is no doubt in my mind that there is a potential to rapidly increase both exports and imports in the years ahead.

I believe that sharing our Swedish experiences and transferring our technology can improve the possibilities for a sustainable development in many parts of the world - especially in countries such as Angola, that have an ambitious development agenda.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The subject of today's presentations and discussions is ICT, information and communication technology, and I´m proud that Sweden is one of the leading nations globally in this area. This is something that is shown in a lot of ways:

Sweden was, for example, the birthplace of wireless technologies such as GSM, LTE and Bluetooth.

Today, networks manufactured by Ericsson handle almost half of the world's mobile traffic, and many smaller Swedish companies have broken through on the world ICT stage during the last years.

Eighty-nine per cent of the swedes have internet access at home. And there are more than 12 million mobile phone subscriptions registered in Sweden - not bad for a country with around 9 million residents&

Virtually all - 99 percent - of Swedes aged under 30 go online every day, and 78 percent of the population as a whole.

People, businesses and public authorities in Sweden are among the quickest to adopt new technologies, applications and services, and technology companies from around the world often use our country as a test market for new products.

Many foreign companies also conducts research and development in Sweden.

Ladies and gentlemen,

ICT is an essential tool for finding solutions to many challenges facing a modern society. One such area, that I know is of great importance for both Angola and Sweden, is the construction and developing of sustainable cities.

Sweden has created a platform towards this goal, based on holistic and integrated methods. We call it SymbioCity. This platform brings together government agencies and Swedish enterprises with environmentally friendly methods and experience in sustainable urban development.

The foundation of this work can be traced back to the 1970s. At that time, decades of heavy industrialisation had taken their toll on Sweden, and we were the most oil-dependent country in the industrialised world.

This situation triggered political action and tougher legislation. It spurred cooperation between local, regional and national authorities and the private industry.

Gradually, companies began to turn sustainable ideas into reality - finding new ways to treat water, insulate buildings and develop automatic energy-saving systems and alternative fuels.

A new insight was that these innovations turned out to be really profitable.

Another insight was that the results could hardly have been achieved without highly developed and constantly improved technology.

SymbioCity builds on these experiences, and identifies the links between - among other things - land-use planning, waste management, architecture, urban functions, industry and buildings, energy, traffic and transport, water supply and sanitation.

With first class ICT systems, it is possible to unlock the synergies between different urban systems and units of public administration.

To name a few examples:

• Smart logistics can save transportation fuel as well as storage space, electricity and heating.

• Digitalized communications reduces the need for some transport altogether.

• Smart power grids avoid peak loads, save electricity, and make use of multiple energy sources.

• Smart monitoring makes buildings and factories highly energy efficient.

• And not to forget: good ICT solutions make it possible to maintain an open dialogue with stakeholders about public projects before and after implementation, something that contributes to involvement and responsibility.

This is just some of the reasons why ICT is an important part of our Symbio City platform. It's all about easily accessing, analyzing and sharing vital information in and between urban systems and parties - including the public.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Sub-Saharan Africa is the fastest growing ICT market in the world, and Angola is one of the largest in the region.

There are, of course, a lot of benefits to be had from developing a well-functioning ICT sector.

In Sweden, our experiences has shown that ICT helps to diversify the economy and make it grow faster.

ICT is currently one of our most important industries, a sector that generates many new companies and jobs through new innovations and ideas.

ICT also makes both the Government and the private sector more efficient. It makes it easier for the Government to communicate with citizens, and for companies to communicate with consumers.

As I just indicated, Sweden is one of the most mature ICT countries in the world today. And there are a lot of Swedish companies with cutting-edge know-how in mobile IT, network solutions, eGovernance, eLearning, eHealth, and other areas. Some of them, I am glad to say, are represented here today.

The Swedish Government's push for wide-spread broadband roll-out and use of computers has contributed in creating a platform for the digitalisation of our entire society. And in the Swedish private sector, ICT is estimated to account for a 33-per-cent productivity increase.

Close collaboration between the Government and the private sector has been key to our positive development, and there is a lot to be learned from both our successes, and our mistakes.

I´m certain that Angola have the opportunity to undertake the same fantastic journey that we have made (most probably a lot faster though), and we are, of course, more than willing to contribute with our expertise and know-how.

Ladies and gentlemen,

This seminar is intended as a platform for government officials and Angolan and Swedish businesses to come together and discuss how we can work together to meet the challenges ahead, and strengthen our commercial links.

I am hoping that we can establish new long-term partnerships, and that we, together, can develop a strong ICT sector in Angola, a sector that creates jobs and improves the standard of living for your people.

ICT is certainly an asset and opportunity for nations and society - but perhaps most of all, a dynamic tool for each and every one of us in our everyday lives.

Thank you.

Logo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/african-development-bank-2.png

The Massinger Dam is located inthe Limpopo National Park and is part of the Great Limpopo Trans frontier Park, a breeding ground for Nile crocodiles. Its rehabilitation will directly benefit the communities living in the project area and help improve food production.

When completed and fully operational, the upgraded dam will also contribute to poverty reduction in the region by supplying water for irrigation to towns and villages further away. Rehabilitation of the dam will also increase its hydropower generation.

Signing the agreement, the Bank's Vice President for Sector Operations, Aly Abou-Sabaa, said the rehabilitation of the dam fell within the Bank's strategy to support Africa's development through the funding of sustainable energy infrastructure. He said the project was a milestone in the collaboration between Mozambique and the AfDB.

Mozambique Minister of Planning and Development, Aiuba Cuerencia, expressed his country's gratitude to the Bank for its support to his country's development in general and in its infrastructure sector, in particular. Cuerencia is also a Governor of the African Development Bank.

Distributed by the African Press Organization on behalf of the African Development Bank (AfDB).

Members of the configuration express deep concern about the deterioration of the situation in the Central African Republic, reflected in the lack of public safety and security, human rights violations and abuses, increased sexual violence, recruitment of child soldiers and severe humanitarian conditions. They also note the risk of the instability in Central African Republic spreading to the rest of the sub-region. In this context, they welcome the efforts by Heads of State and Governments of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), with the support of the African Union, in developing a political framework and roadmap for resolving the political crisis in Central African Republic through the adoption of the communiqués at their summits in Libreville, Ndjamena and Brazzaville.

The configuration emphasises the need to ensure that the transition process is inclusive, in particular within the National Transitional Council and its Bureau, following the various accords reached under the auspices of ECCAS. The configuration underlines that restoring rule of law and re-establishing constitutional order are the immediate priorities which condition further progress on the transition process and delivery of assistance to alleviate humanitarian and socio-economic conditions in the Central Africa Republic. In particular, the configuration calls for international support for the transition and for urgent assistance to ensure the restoration of public safety and security, thus allowing the revitalisation of economic and social livelihoods.

The configuration calls upon the international community to provide technical and financial support to assist the transitional authorities in refining and implementing the roadmap for the restoration of constitutional order in CAR. The configuration also suggests the possibility of conducting a joint needs assessment mission by the United Nations, the European Union and the World Bank, as soon as the security situation in the country permits.

Members of the configuration recognise the need for the Peacebuilding Commission to play a major role in political accompaniment and mobilising international support for the post conflict peacebuilding efforts in the Central African Republic and to elect a Chair of the configuration as soon as possible.

The members of the configuration express their appreciation to and support for the United Nations, including the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and her team for the efforts they have made in supporting the peace process during this difficult period in the Central African Republic.

The proposed Swedish force of approximately 70 persons in all will include a transport aircraft with an in-flight security team, an air transport unit and a national support unit, together with staff officers. Capacity to augment the force at short notice if the need arises is required, and the maximum number of personnel requested is therefore set at 160.

The United Nations Security Council has established MINUSMA to contribute to improving the security situation in Mali, to restore the country s constitutional and democratic order and to create a secure environment for humanitarian assistance. It is to begin its mission on 1 July 2013. The mission will include military personnel, police officers and other civilian personnel and will be deployed for a period initially set at 12 months.

The intention is to coordinate Swedish participation in MINUSMA with other Nordic countries.

"The objective of Sweden s contribution is to help stabilise the situation in Mali. Swedish participation is also an expression of our support for the United Nations and its peacekeeping activities," says Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt.

Sweden is already contributing training staff to the EU military training mission in Mali and has extensive bilateral long-term development cooperation with the country. In addition, Sweden is one of the largest humanitarian donors to Mali and the Sahel region.

Sweden's participation is also in line with its overarching commitment to peace and development in Africa.