The official launching ceremony of ECOFEST 2024 was held on Saturday 11 May 2024 at the Palais de la Culture in Abidjan in the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire. Organised by the Commissions of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), in partnership with the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, the first edition of ECOFEST will be held from 21 to 28 September 2024 in Abidjan, under the theme: “Culture, a catalyst for peace, diversity and economic and social integration in West Africa”.

The aim of this high-level cultural event is to promote the values and cultural identities of the peoples of the Community with a view to strengthening regional integration through the blending of the region’s populations. The festival also aims to usher in a new era in the celebration of West African cultural diversity and to reaffirm the role of culture as a driving force for integration, social cohesion and the socio-economic and cultural development of West Africa.

The 2024 edition of this regional festival was officially launched by H.E. Mrs Françoise REMARCK, Minister of Culture and Francophonie, representing H.E. Robert Beugre MAMBE, Prime Minister of Cote d’Ivoire, in the presence of H.E. Mrs Damtien L. TCHINTCHIBIDJA, Vice-President of the ECOWAS Commission, Professor Fatou SOW SARR, ECOWAS Commissioner for Human Development and Social Affairs, and Mr Mamadu Serifo JAQUITE, WAEMU Commissioner for Human Development. A number of distinguished guests and personalities from the West African artistic and cultural world took part in the colourful launch, which was marked by speeches, performances by artists and a choreographic display.

The choice of Abidjan to host the 1st edition of ECOFEST is only fair, according to the WAEMU Commissioner. According to him, the economic capital of Côte d’Ivoire was the city originally chosen by the initiators of this festival. “It was at the ECOWAS UEMOA technical secretariat meeting on June 4, 2018, in Abuja that we decided to join forces to bring to fruition this project, which has been on the ECOWAS agenda since 1987,” added Mr Mamadu JAQUITE about the origins of ECOFEST.

In her speech on behalf of H.E. Dr Omar Alieu TOURAY, President of the ECOWAS Commission, H.E. Madame Damtien L. TCHINTCHIBIDJA thanked His Excellency Alassane OUATTARA, President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, and the Ivorian authorities for accepting to host the first edition of ECOFEST. She also stressed the importance of this festival for the West African region in the following terms: “In a shared vision of bringing people together and creating wealth from the creative industries, the ECOWAS and UEMOA Commissions have chosen to co-organise ECOFEST to breathe new life into the event and strengthen exchanges between West African Member States. This event is intended to be a framework for multicultural and multidisciplinary exchange that will reinforce our desire to better conserve and promote West African heritage in accordance with the wishes of the Heads of State and Government.”

In launching the event on behalf of H.E. Robert Beugre MAMBE, Prime Minister of Côte d’Ivoire, Minister Françoise REMARCK recalled that the decision to host ECOFEST was taken by the President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, who attaches great importance to all initiatives that contribute to strengthening regional integration. For the people of Côte d’Ivoire,” she said, “it is a source of pride to welcome, in a few months’ time, the talents of the various countries with which Côte d’Ivoire shares the values of peace, social cohesion and tolerance, all of which contribute to greater regional integration in economic and social terms. “Culture is the mirror of our collective soul, the reflection of our traditions, our history and our identity. It is filled with symbolism and history, and today we are planting the seeds of a celebration of the diversity of our artistic expressions, the richness of our heritage and the vitality of our contemporary creations,” concluded Minister REMARCK.

ECOFEST, which will bring together the 15 ECOWAS Member States, including the eight from UEMOA, will be an opportunity to commit public authorities, public and private players in the cultural sector to promoting the cultural wealth of the West African region.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of U.S. Embassy in Tunisia.

The number of children in Burkina Faso facing emergency levels of hunger looks set to surge fivefold to about 210,000 by the middle of this year without an urgent injection of food assistance, said Save the Children.

Insecurity, the approaching lean season between harvests, and rising food prices mean many do not know where their next meal will come from. 

Latest figures from the Cadre Harmonisé – a regional framework to identify food and nutrition insecurity in the Sahel and West Africa – show that the number of children facing emergency levels of hunger (defined as IPC Phase 4) will more than quintuple from under 40,000 currently.

The report also forecast that 1.4 million children in Burkina Faso – or one in every seven children – will face at least crisis levels of hunger (defined as IPC Phase 3 and beyond) between June and August, the months between harvests when hunger typically peaks. This is an increase of 500,000 from current levels and includes almost 443,000 children aged under 5. 

Under the IPC scale, used by the Cadre Harmonisé framework, Phase 3 is a crisis, Phase 4 is an emergency, and Phase 5 is used when the situation is reaching famine-like conditions.

Almost two-thirds of the 210,000 children projected to be facing emergency levels of hunger (IPC Phase 4) live in the Sahel and Nord regions where ongoing conflict has prevented families from accessing their farms.

Attacks on education have prevented children from going to school where many would have otherwise been able to access a meal. As of the end of March, over 5,300 schools in Burkina Faso were closed due to insecurity.

Malnutrition rates across the country also remain alarmingly high with 480,000 children under five and around 131,500 pregnant and breastfeeding women likely to experience high levels of acute malnutrition, including over 113,000 cases of severe acute malnutrition (SAM). SAM is a condition that weakens the immune system and exposes children to other diseases – in some cases doing lifelong developmental harm.

Alima*, 18*, who was forced to flee her home, said:

“The food crisis affects everyone, but the sad reality is that it’s children who suffer most. We frequently see children forced to work hard, because their parents are unable to provide for their basic needs, including food. Many young girls and children are given away too early to men in the hope that they will help their households get through the food crisis and poverty in general.

“I’ve seen this kind of case in my neighbourhood. A 14-year-old girl whose parents wanted to give her away in marriage to a rich man who works in a gold mine, in the hope of earning enough to meet the family’s basic needs. Fortunately, their school principal objected. If the principal hadn’t intervened, this girl’s future, and perhaps even her life, would have been over.”

Benoit Delsarte, Save the Children’s Country Director for Burkina Faso, said:

“Around 1.4 million children in Burkina are facing a hunger crisis. About one of five them will face extreme levels of hunger as conflict and climate change drive children and families into a truly dire situation.

“As communities try to cope with rising rates of hunger, rising violence and the negative effects of climate change, children are bearing the brunt on all fronts. Families are resorting to extreme measures like pulling their children out of school, as well as child marriage.

“International donors must urgently step up their support for Burkina Faso to prevent an already dire situation from becoming a between June and September. We also need to see increased action on climate change globally which disproportionately affects children in some of the world’s poorest countries, like Burkina Faso.”

Burkina Faso has been wracked by years of conflict, extreme poverty and rising food insecurity. With temperatures in the Sahel rising 1.5 times faster than the global average, it is also at the forefront of the climate crisis, which is having a disastrous impact on crops, food production and the livelihoods of children and families.

Save the Children has been working in Burkina Faso since 1982, with programmes in child health, education, and protection. We work in eight of the country’s 13 regions and focus on addressing malnutrition and food insecurity, promoting school enrolment, particularly for girls, ending child marriage, keeping children safe, and raising awareness of children’s rights. 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Save the Children.

On May 7, 2024, Ambassador Zhao Weiping attended the Celebration of the 2024 International Chinese Language Day and “Chinese Bridge” Chinese-proficiency Competition for College and Secondary School Students at the University of Namibia (UNAM). Over 200 teachers and students from relevant schools, including Prof. Kenneth Matengu, Vice Chancellor of UNAM, Prof. Ellen Namhila, Pro Vice Chancellor of UNAM, principals of relevant primary and secondary schools in Namibia, and Dr. Liu Dianbo, Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute at UNAM, participated in the event. The Namibian branch of Xinhua News Agency and several mainstream local media covered the event.

Ambassador Zhao said in his speech that he is pleased to see that the International Chinese Language Day has become an annual event in Namibia on the compound of UNAM, which has played an important role in promoting Chinese language teaching as well as cultural exchanges between China and Namibia. The Chinese Embassy will work hard to get more resources for Chinese language teaching in Namibia so as to benefit more local people.

Prof. Matengu said that more and more young people in Namibia are learning Chinese as a result of China’s rapid development. As China is an important partner for Namibia, he hopes that Namibian students will learn Chinese hard to contribute to the nation building of Namibia and the development of Namibia-China friendship.

This event was hosted by the Chinese Embassy in Namibia and organized by the Confucius Institute at UNAM. 12 competitors delivered speeches in Chinese and presented talent shows. Attendees also participated in food tasting and traditional Chinese medicine culture experience on site.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of Namibia.