Kenya to Be Linked to High-Speed Telecommunications Cable

The first undersea cable to bring high-speed internet access to East Africa has gone live.

An undersea telecommunications, fiber-optic cable operated by African-owned firm, Seacom, will link Kenya and other East African nations, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique, with each other and with parts of Europe and Asia.

The cable – which is 17,000km long – took two years to lay and cost more than $650 million.

According to Seacom, the cable marks the “dawn of a new era for communications” between Africa and the rest of the world. It hopes to significantly boost the prospects of the region’s industry and commerce.

The Kenyan government has been laying a network of cables to all of the country’s major towns and says the fiber-optic links will also enable schools nationwide to link into high-quality educational resources. Additionally, businesses will now pay considerably less as well – about $600 a month.

Opening ceremonies took place in the Kenyan port of Mombasa and the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam.

The West Indian Ocean Cable Co. already has plans to lay a competing undersea telecommunications cable linking Kenya to other African nations and Europe and Asia to become operational by next July.

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East Africa gets high-speed web

New cables could revolutionise communications in the region

The first undersea cable to bring high-speed internet access to East Africa has gone live.

The fibre-optic cable, operated by African-owned firm Seacom, connects South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Mozambique to Europe and Asia.

The firm says the cable will help to boost the prospects of the region’s industry and commerce.

The cable – which is 17,000km long – took two years to lay and cost more than $650m.

Seacom said in a statement the launch of the cable marked the “dawn of a new era for communications” between Africa and the rest of the world.

The services were unveiled in ceremonies in the Kenyan port of Mombasa and the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam.

School benefits

The cable was due to be launched in June but was delayed by pirate activity off the coast of Somalia.

It’s not good. It’s hanging and keeps wasting time and frustrating me Kenyan internet user Cable ushers in broadband era

The BBC’s Ben Mwangunda in Dar es Salaam says five institutions are already benefiting from the faster speeds – national electricity company Tanesco, communications company, TTCL, Tanzania Railways and the Universities of Dar es Salaam and Dodoma.

The BBC’s Will Ross in Nairobi says the internet revolution trumpeted by Seacom largely depends on how well the service is rolled out across the region.

To the disappointment of many consumers, our correspondent says some ISPs (internet service providers) are not planning to lower the cost of the internet, but instead will offer increased bandwidth.

But businesses, which have been paying around $3,000 a month for 1MB through a satellite link, will now pay considerably less – about $600 a month.

The Kenyan government has been laying a network of cables to all of the country’s major towns and says the fibre-optic links will also enable schools nationwide to link into high quality educational resources.

But our correspondent says it is not clear whether the internet revolution will reach the villages, many of which still struggle to access reliable electricity.

Send in to API by Lisa Mendelson

BANGLADESH: Biharis fight for their rights – Until recently, the Biharis were denied access to primary and secondary education

Photo: David Swanson/IRIN

Hasima, 85, is tired of waiting

DHAKA, – For 85-year-old Hasina, whose family emigrated from Calcutta to what was then East Pakistan after partition, the wait has been long enough. Together with more than 500 other Biharis, she lives in Mirpur, an impoverished district in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, where the stench of raw sewage permeates the air.

“I’m Bangladeshi. I’ve lived here all my life. But where are my rights?” Hasima asks, pointing to the 40 sqm area she shares with four other families.

It is a common complaint among the Biharis, most of whom live in squalid conditions in 116 ghettos around the country.

Despite a landmark high-court ruling reaffirming their longstanding claim for full citizenship in 2008, social integration and rehabilitation remain elusive.

Photo: David Swanson/IRIN

More than 500 Biharis live in what once housed East Pakistan’s Water and Power Development Authority

Background

There are more than 200,000 Muslim Biharis or Urdu speakers in Bangladesh today, many from the Indian state of Bihar, who moved to East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) both during and after partition in 1947.

The Biharis received preferential treatment from the West Pakistan-based government, while the majority of Bengali speakers were often marginalised in their access to government jobs, land, property and contracts.

A 1948 decision declaring Urdu the national language of Pakistan set the tone for further tensions between the two groups, as well as galvanizing the Bangladeshi national identity movement. An estimated three million people died in the 1971 war of liberation and much of the Bihari community sided with the Urdu-speaking Pakistan army.

While the 1972 Simla Accord, a tripartite agreement between Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, saw more than 100,000 Pakistani nationals relocate to Pakistan over the next 10 years, thousands more were left stateless.

Of these, a small number continued to demand repatriation, leading many to refer to them as “stranded Pakistanis”.

But most of the remaining Bihari population wished to stay, despite the fact that their status in terms of nationality remained in limbo.

Photo: David Swanson/IRIN

A group of Bihari boys in Mirpur District, Dhaka. More than 200,000 Biharis live in Bangladesh today

Because they lacked Bangladeshi nationality, Biharis were denied the right to primary and secondary education until 2000 and faced other discrimination, particularly in terms of access to housing.

Following the war, many Biharis, fearing retaliation, were forced from their homes and property and relocated to some 100 “colonies” or ghettos, many of which are on public property.

In some areas, the International Committee of the Red Cross provided temporary shelters while a durable solution to their status was sought.

However, that did not happen until a 2003 landmark High Court decision recognized the Biharis as Bangladeshi nationals.

And while the government agreed to implement the decision, public sentiment prevented it from moving ahead.

Landmark decision

Today the atmosphere in Bangladesh has changed significantly. There are few, if any, instances of inter-communal violence and in 2008, the decision was reaffirmed.

However, huge challenges remain.

“The court recognized our right to citizenship. This was the first step,” said Sedakat Khan of the Urdu-speaking People’s Youth Rehabilitation Movement.

“[But] now we need integration,” he said, referring to their need for education, shelter and access, as well as access to healthcare, and recognition as part of Bangladesh society with a distinct cultural and linguistic identity.

Photo: David Swanson/IRIN

A young Bihari boy in Dhaka. Until recently, the Biharis were denied access to primary and secondary education

Living on public property and struggling to make ends meet, many residents face possible eviction with nowhere to go. The government should not evict people until alternative arrangements had been made, said Khan.

According to Al Falah, the only registered NGO working with the Biharis, things are moving, but outside help is still needed. Only 6 percent are literate compared with a national average of 74 percent, limiting their ability to compete for jobs.

“This is the main barrier to their social integration,” said Ahmed Ilias, executive director of Al-Falah. “But the government of Bangladesh can’t do it alone,” he added, appealing to the UN and Muslim organizations to step into the breach.

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ETHIOPIA: Concern over rising malnutrition as UN provides $6m for aid

Photo: Jane Some/IRIN

A poor long rains season has contributed to food insecurity in Ethiopia, where four out of five regions have recorded increasing malnutrition (file photo)

ADDIS ABABA,  – Ethiopia is facing challenges in providing food, health, nutrition, water and sanitation, emergency shelter, agriculture and livelihoods, according to the UN Humanitarian Coordinator, Fidele Sarassoro.

To counter these challenges, the UN has allocated US$6 million from its Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).

“I have directed the humanitarian community jointly to agree on priority areas in which this new money can immediately be put to use,” Sarassoro said.

At the same time, the federal Disaster Risk Management and Food Security Sector (DRMFSS) has announced that rising malnutrition and food insecurity were a growing concern and likely to lead to 6.2 million Ethiopians relying on food aid, out of a population of approximately 77 million.

At present, 4.9 million people in the country benefit from relief food.

According to the DRMFSS, the country has a shortfall of 176,000T of food. However, this is likely to increase to 390,000T in the months up to December 2009.

“Because of the existing shortfall, only three of the six planned rounds of food allocations have been distributed to date,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said in a statement on 20 July.

Initial reports show that the UN CERF funding should prioritize five sectors in order to address growing malnutrition and food security, outbreaks of acute watery diarrhoea (AWD) and refugee needs.

Reports indicate that four out of five regions have recorded increasing malnutrition. A poor Belg (long rains) season, from mid-February to mid-May, contributed to food insecurity.

The below-normal Belg performance also left many vulnerable families in even more difficult conditions, according to OCHA, leading to an increase in the provision of therapeutic feeding programmes in Oromiya, Somali, Amhara and Southern regions.

The health bureaus of Oromiya, Amhara and Southern regions have already started implementing the national therapeutic feeding programme (TFP) roll-out plan, with support from NGOs.

“The aim is to achieve full coverage of hotspot woredas [districts] with out-patient therapeutic programmes [OTPs] and TFUs [therapeutic feeding units],” OCHA said.

To achieve full coverage, 28 TFUs and 457 OTPs will need to be opened in Oromiya and 15 TFUs and 502 OTPs in Southern region. Amhara region should also have 35 TFUs and 555 OTPs.

In addition to easing the growing malnutrition and food security problems, the CERF funding will be used to strengthen the fight against AWD outbreaks.

According to the World Health Organization, 579 new cases of AWD have been reported in Addis Ababa, Somali, Oromiya, Harari and Southern regions. The disease has so far claimed 11 lives in these regions.

tw/js/mw source.www.irinnews.org

SUDAN: Malakal minefields still a challenge

Photo: Stevie Mann/UNICEF

Mines affect 19 out of the 25 states in Southern Sudan (file photo)

MALAKAL,  – Hundreds of mines have been destroyed in Malakal, Upper Nile State of Southern Sudan, but more than half the town’s minefields have yet to be cleared, says an official.

“The town is in the minefield,” Doep du Plessis, UN Mine Action (UNMAO) officer in Malakal, said. “We find mines inside the houses… many people are not aware that they have a mine on their doorstep.”

Two demining teams are working in the town and expect to complete the job by June 2010. About 1.3 million sqm of mined land has been cleared but another 1.5 million remain. A Cambodian team has just arrived to boost operations.

“Malakal is the highest priority, especially the Malakal minefield,” Du Plessis told IRIN. At least 526 anti-personnel mines of 44 types have so far been destroyed in the town. The work is made more tedious because the mines are plastic and cannot be detected easily.

Demining in Upper Nile is done for eight months, and then temporarily suspended during rainy season. While the rains restrict demining activity, they soften the soil and make it easy for the mines to be triggered.

“In the dry season the soil is so compacted that you cannot activate a mine,” the UNMAO official said. “During the wet season, you step on it and pop, it goes.”

Malakal County, like many areas of Upper Nile State, was a key battlefield during the war, which ended with the signing of the 2005 peace agreement. The agreement triggered the return to Southern Sudan of thousands of refugees and internally displaced people from the North.

The mines and other ordnance were planted by the Southern Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and the Sudan national army – the latter mainly in areas bordering Malakal and the former in other Upper Nile counties such as Baliet and Nassir.

UNMAO was also concerned about Nassir town in Upper Nile, where 250kg of aircraft bombs were dropped during the war. The bombs, including one in a petrol station, sank into the mud but could be triggered by a fire.

Other areas include Malut, Renk and Akobo in Jonglei State. “In Akobo, there are UXOs [unexploded ordnance] lying around,” Du Plessis told IRIN. Efforts to clear Akobo have, however, been hampered by a June attack on boats on the Sobat River, which has temporarily stopped water traffic.

“We cannot cross the Sobat River with our machines because of that attack,” Du Plessis added.

Demining in Sudan is critical in facilitating mobility, the return of populations, deployment of peacekeeping assets and delivery of humanitarian assistance. The problem affects 19 out of the 25 states in Southern Sudan.

According to UNMAO, the true extent of Sudan’s mine problem is unknown, but since 2002 more than 29,000km of roads have been opened. About 45 million sqm of land have also been cleared and over 16,000 anti-personnel and anti-tank mines destroyed.

eo/mw source.www.irinnews.org

Sudan leaders trade blame after Abyei ruling

A Sudanese woman celebrates the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague in Abyei, central Sudan, July 22, 2009. REUTERS

KHARTOUM, Monday (Reuters)

North and south Sudanese leaders have traded accusations over the roll-out of an international ruling on the disputed Abyei oil region, raising fears of a fresh dispute between the former civil war foes.

The accusations — about control of oilfields and a referendum on Abyei’s future — came less than a week after both sides accepted the judgment on the boundaries of Abyei by a tribunal at The Hague’s Permanent Court of Arbitration.

The United Nations, the United States and other governments had earlier hailed the ruling as a historic resolution to a bitter quarrel over the central Sudanese territory.

North and south Sudan have argued and fought for decades over Abyei, which is surrounded by oilfields.

The issues of its borders and ownership were so sensitive they were left undecided in the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended a 22-year civil war between Sudan’s Muslim north and its mostly Christian south.

Both sides, which have clashed over Abyei since 2005, agreed last year to refer the matter to the Hague for a final ruling.

The Hague tribunal on Wednesday re-drew the area’s boundaries, producing new maps that ceded the key Heglig and Bamboo oilfields to north Sudan’s Southern Kordofan region while leaving huge tracts of fertile land inside Abyei.

The positions of the borders are particularly important because the residents of the newly defined Abyei area have been promised a referendum on whether to join north or south Sudan in January 2011. That same day, southerners are also due to vote on whether to split off as a separate country.

Hague ruling

Both north and south leaders promised to respect the Hague ruling whichever way it fell.

But senior members of each side have released antagonistic statements to local media since the judgement, over the control of the re-zoned oilfields and voting rights in the referendum.

The state Sudan Vision newspaper on Sunday reported Khartoum would stop paying a proportion of Heglig’s oil revenues to the south after the ruling.

Taban Deng Gai, governor of the south’s Unity State for the south’s dominant Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), told Reuters the north had been premature in claiming the Heglig oilfield after the ruling, because the drill site was still up for grabs under a separate border dispute.

Gai said officials had documentary proof showing Heglig was part of Unity not Kordofan, and would present their case to a separate commission on demarcating Sudan’s entire north-south border.

“This decision to stop the payments is wrong,” he said, adding the south might have to go back to the Hague for a decision on Heglig.

Sudan’s president Omar Hassan al-Bashir made a speech soon after the Hague ruling saying all Abyei residents — including Arab Misseriya nomads, associated with the north — would have the right to vote in the referendum.

The SPLM head of Abyei’s administration Arop Mayok told Reuters the speech amounted to an invitation for nomads to register as settled Abyei residents to influence the vote.

“I hope that there will be a change of heart from those who are releasing such a statement. It doesn’t help in the peace process,” he told Reuters on Sunday.

The north’s lead official on Abyei, Didiri Mohamed Ahmed, said the SPLM’s recent statements on Heglig and the referendum had left him with “misgivings” about the south’s motives.

“We have heard them make statements that have raised concerns about their commitment to the ruling,” he told Reuters.

source.nation.ke

NEPAL: Agencies urge rehabilitation for former child soldiers – 2,973 minors of the former Maoist army are being discharged

Photo: Naresh Newar/IRIN

A recent report said 2,973 minors of the former Maoist army are being discharged (file photo)

KATHMANDU,  – A proper rehabilitation programme for thousands of former child soldiers – now young men – is needed in Nepal, say specialists.

“Unless there is a good rehabilitation package, there is less chance of them being released and this should be done soon before they lose their childhood years again,” Tarak Dhital, from Child Workers in Nepal (CWIN), a national NGO, told IRIN.

According to a report released this month by the UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) 2,973 minors of the former Maoist army, also known as the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), are being discharged.

The boys, aged between 16 and 18, are among 30,000 former Maoist combatants staying in seven cantonment sites around the country since the November 2006 peace agreement was signed.

However, they have yet to receive the rehabilitation and reintegration assistance they need.

The Maoists reportedly recruited thousands of children during their decade-long conflict with the Nepalese state, which resulted in more than 14,000 deaths.

But more than two years since the agreement was reached, the plight of these young men remains unresolved, with many fearing time for their proper reintegration into society is running out.

Eligibility

Since 2006, many of the minors under 18 have since been classified as adults and Dhital is concerned that many of the underage soldiers are losing years waiting for the government to come up with a proper rehabilitation package.

But according to the UN, even if they are now adults, they will still be entitled to rehabilitation services once they are released.

“All disqualified minors are eligible for the reintegration services to be provided by the government. Even those who are no longer minors still have to go through the official discharge and reintegration process and, just like other minors, are entitled to the reintegration services of their choice,” Jacques Boyer, deputy representative of the UN Children’s Agency (UNICEF), told IRIN.

UNICEF, UN Development Programme (UNDP), UNMIN and UN Population Fund (UNFPA) have been providing technical assistance to the government to facilitate the boys’ early release, including guidance to the government in maintaining minimum standards during release and reintegration processes, as well as links to organizations involved in vocational training and psycho-social services.

Photo: Naresh Newar/IRIN

Social workers speak to former child soldiers (file photo)

Rehabilitation package

Child rights experts, however, say there is still no clarity as to what kind of rehabilitation package will be introduced or when.

Until now, there has only been a consensus between the Maoist leaders and the government to release the child soldiers, they said.

The Maoists are no longer in government after their leader, Prime Minister Puspa Kamal Dahal quit in May.

According to officials, a high-level team from the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction has visited the cantonment sites where the Maoist combatants are confined to interview the soldiers about their rehabilitation needs.

But while the government intends to release all the former child soldiers within three months, child rights activists and other specialists say more time will be needed.

Only two weeks have passed since the government team went to the cantonments, and it will take another few months to build a complete rehabilitation package, according to Children Associated with Armed Forces and Groups, a coalition of local and international agencies advocating for the release and rehabilitation of child soldiers.

In addition, it might take a long time to reach a consensus between the Maoists and the government on the reintegration services.

UNICEF says it is ready to support their rehabilitation, and that education support should be provided.

“If minors are unable to continue school because of their families’ expectations for them to contribute to family earnings, then the families should be provided with income-generating support so as to allow those minors to continue education,” explained Boyer.

Boyner expressed concern over the delayed release of the minors, as well as linking their release to the overall security-sector reform process.

nn/ds/mw source.www.irinnews.org