On May 14, 2024, Assistant Foreign Minister Miao Deyu and Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Sierra Leone Victoria Mangay Sulimani held consultations on UN Security Council issues in Beijing.

The two sides had an in-depth exchange of views on the current international situation, the work of the Security Council, the UN Summit of the Future, and international and regional hotspot issues, and agreed to further strengthen coordination and cooperation, jointly practice true multilateralism, and promote the better fulfillment of the duties mandated by the UN Charter on the Security Council, and play a positive and constructive role in maintaining international peace and security.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China.

Kenya must develop a tea brand that will fetch the best prices for farmers, President William Ruto has said.

The President said Kenya’s tea should be branded to increase its visibility in the global market and labelling it with a mark of origin.

Saying Kenya’s tea industry is a significant contributor to the economy, the President pointed out that brand sustainability is very crucial in a competitive business environment.

Speaking at State House Nairobi when he met Kenya Tea Development Agency factory chairmen and directors on Tuesday, President Ruto expressed dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs, saying Kenya continues to sell unprocessed tea and denying farmers the best prices in the market.

“We are the largest tea producer in the world, yet we don’t have a Kenyan tea brand and, therefore, our product gets lower prices than countries that produce less than we do,” said President Ruto.

He told the leaders of tea factories to set up common user facilities and told them he expects the country to be exporting at least 60 per cent of processed and branded tea in between three and five years.

“Last year, we did away with taxes on packaging materials for tea. We, therefore, have to expand common user facilities and add value to our tea,” President Ruto said.

He added: “We cannot continue exporting our tea in sacks. In three years, we must export 60 per cent of value-added and branded tea. KTDA and the Tea Board of Kenya must work together in branding our tea.”

Responding to issues raised by the leaders, the President promised to operationalise the Tea Tribunal within three months.

President Ruto agreed with the leaders that tea factories which have invested in hydro- power stations must be paid for the power they sell Kenya Power and Lighting Company.

He also said the Kenya Forest Service and KTDA will sign an agreement through which tea factories will take part in the country’s 15 billion tree-planting programme, and also be able to harvest trees in various forests for their wood fule.

He said KTDA cannot continue to charge farmers a management fee of 2.5 per cent and directed that it be reduced to 1.5 per cent.

“We will meet here in three months to assess the progress in resolving all the issues you have raised,” he told the tea leaders.

The Head of State asked KTDA to hold free and fair elections, and emphasised that the government has no preferred candidates.

Present at the meeting were Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot (Kericho), Senator Kamau Murango (Kirinyaga) and MPs GG Kagombe (Gatundu South), Gitonga Mukunji (Manyatta), Brighton Yegon (Konoin) and Zaheer Jhanda (Nyaribari Chache), among others.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of President of the Republic of Kenya.

With a deteriorating food security and nutrition crisis in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY) states this lean season*(May to September), the Government of Nigeria, national and international partners today launched an appeal seeking US$306 million to fast-track food assistance, nutrition supplies and services, clean water, healthcare, and protection support to people in severe need during the period.

In the BAY states, some 4.8 million people are estimated to be facing severe food insecurity, the highest levels in seven years, according to the Government-led Cadre Harmonisé analysis released in March this year. Children, pregnant and lactating women, older persons, and people living with disabilities are among those who are most vulnerable. The appeal, the lean season food security and nutrition crisis multisector plan, is targeting 2.8 million of these people for urgent interventions.

This food and nutrition crisis, which has been compounded by soaring food prices, is primarily due to continued conflict and insecurity in the BAY states, alongside climate change impacts. It threatens to become catastrophic without immediate and coordinated intervention. The prices of staple foods like beans and maize have increased by 300 to 400 per cent over the past year following the removal of the fuel subsidy and the depreciation of the naira. Inflation is outpacing the ability of families to cope, making essential food items unaffordable.

Malnutrition rates are of great concern. Approximately 700,000 children under five are projected to be acutely malnourished over the next six months, including 230,000 who are expected to be severely acutely malnourished and at risk of death if they do not receive timely treatment and nutrition support.

Speaking at the launch of the plan, the Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency, Zubaida Umar said: “The mobilization of funding and resources to address this lean season food security and nutrition crisis envisaged in the north-eastern part of the country is a step in the right direction in complementing the Federal Government’s efforts to prevent the deaths of people as a result of malnutrition-related complications, adoption of negative coping mechanisms and other health related issues among others.”

Announcing the release of $11 million from the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund to jumpstart the emergency response, United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Mohamed Malick Fall said, “I am confident that we have the capacity to address these increased needs in support of Government efforts, what we need now are resources. Joining hands together, pooling resources, to save lives and stop the suffering”.

“UNICEF is deeply concerned about the escalating food security and nutrition crisis in the BAY states. The alarming rise in severe acute malnutrition among children underscores the urgent need for immediate action. This year alone, we have seen around 120,000 admissions for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition with complications, far exceeding our estimated target of 90,000. We must ensure that lifesaving nutrition commodities reach every child in need. This is not just a call to action; it is a race against time to save lives and protect the future of millions of vulnerable children,” said Dr Rownak Khan, the Acting Representative of UNICEF Nigeria.

While highlighting that immediate actions need to be taken for longer term results, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Representative ad interim in Nigeria, Dominique Koffy Kouacou, said, “given the urgent situation, urgent interventions are required to support short-, medium- and long-term needs of vulnerable populationsTOThe focus therefore needs to be on building resilience supported by emergency agriculture, including seeds, fertilizer, livestock and technical training, and developing agribusiness for better production and better nutrition”.

The World Food Programme (WFP) Country Director, David Stevenson, said: “We need to get out of conflict into solutions, and the solution is peace and production. Meanwhile, there remains a conflict in the north-east that requires our collective urgent assistance. We are prioritizing access to nutritious foods by providing cash-based transfers, specialized nutritious foods, and by supporting local food solutions.”

With the lean season coinciding with the rainy season, there is a need for collective efforts to improve access to drinking water, sanitation facilities, and hygiene to combat the spread of infectious diseases, particularly among the more than 2 million internally displaced persons in camps and overcrowded settlements in the BAY states. This is crucial to help break the vicious cycle of disease and malnutrition that threatens the lives of young children and other vulnerable people.

Alongside efforts to protect lives, there is also a need to strengthen people’s resilience by supporting agricultural livelihoods which sustain over 80 per cent of the vulnerable people across the BAY states. Limited funding for agricultural livelihoods continues to perpetuate cyclical food insecurity.

This is the fourth time that the UN and humanitarian partners are launching an operational plan for the BAY states pointing to the need to address the root causes of hunger and malnutrition. This includes but is not limited to advancing peace-building efforts, improving access to essential health care services, supporting food production systems, enhancing social protection services, and mitigating climate change shocks.

The lean season food security and nutrition crisis multisector plan is part of the 2024 UN-coordinated Humanitarian Response Plan for Nigeria.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

The Secretary-General is gravely concerned by the outbreak of fighting in El Fasher, which puts over 800,000 civilians at risk.  He is alarmed by reports of the use of heavy weaponry in densely populated areas, resulting in dozens of civilian casualties, significant displacement and the destruction of civilian infrastructure.  He recalls that civilians in the area are already facing a looming famine and the consequences of over a year of war.

The Secretary-General reminds all parties of their obligation under international humanitarian law to protect civilians and calls on them to allow the civilian population to move to safer areas.  He also requests that all parties facilitate safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access to all civilians in need in El Fasher, across Darfur and the Sudan.  Intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population and wilfully impeding humanitarian relief for civilians in need may constitute war crimes.

The Secretary-General urges the parties to immediately stop the fighting and resume ceasefire negotiations without further delay.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Secretary-General.