June 16, 2023 – L' Observateur Burundi

June 16, 2023

Cameroon government hands over 667M to councils for children’s birth certificate

Reports from the National Institute of Statistics as of 2021 revealed that 30 percent of children under the age of 5 are not registered at birth and more than 1.6 million children attended school without a birth certificate. An undesirable situation the convention between the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and the Family and the 21 selected councils seeks to address.

The signing ceremony of the terms of the agreement between the two parties took place on Friday, June 15, 2023, at the Yaounde town hall.

About 26000 children in Cameroon living without birth certificates will soon have the identification document thanks to government support of over 667 million FCFA to the 21 councils in seven regions, to facilitate their enrolment in the civil registry.

Birth certificates in Cameroon are legal proof of identity that helps protect children from violence, abuse, and exploitation.

This government support will help speed up the process of registering ghost children in their respective constituencies free of charge.

The Minister of Women’s Empowerment and the Family, Marie-Thérèse Abena Ondoa in the presence of other members of government instructed the mayors present to ensure that these documents be produced before the start of the new school year.

“It is extremely important to sensitize the parents to do the birth certificates of their children before it becomes financially heavy. We have a lot of children without birth certificates. As the Ministry of Woman Empowerment and the Family, we have to make sure that every child born within a family has legal existence and we want to support those councils because without a birth certificate, a child cannot take an official exam,” Minister Marie-Thérèse stated.

The agreement is part of the commemoration of the 33rd day of the African Child on June 16, 2023

Source: Cameroon News Agency

June 16, 2023

ANGOP, Brazil Communication firm interested in partnership

Angola Press Agency (ANGOP) and Brazilian Communication Company (EBC) have expressed interest in establishing a partnership in the field of exchange of information and training of staff.

The intention was expressed by the head of Assistant to the Presidency Office of EBC, Ricardo Taffner, during his visit to ANGOP on Friday in Luanda.

The visit is meant to learn of the work of this state-run media outlet (ANGOP) and exploring possible areas of contact, as the previous cooperation that existed in the past had been interrupted due to several factors.

He expressed his company’s available to resume the partnership with Angolan media house in order to broaden its coverage base.

In his turn, the executive director for the Multimedia of ANGOP, Emanuel Catumbela, expressed the desire of the ANGOP to establish a partnership in the field of training of staff, to increase its communication strategy via multimedia.

The EBC is a federal public company with a media conglomerate. It was created in

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)

June 16, 2023

Convert COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy into PHEF- Prof Fred Binka

Professor Fred Binka, a Clinical Epidemiologist, School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, has called for the conversion of the COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy into a Public Health Emergency Fund (PHEF).

In an interview, he told the Ghana News Agency that there was no need to keep the COVID-19 health levy, as the government had declared that coronavirus was no longer a public health threat.

‘What will be nice is for the levy to be used to create a Public Health Emergency Fund to support the country’s preparation for the next pandemic,’ he said.

Prof Binka advised that the management of the PHEF when created, should be left to a constituted board of trustees and not to the Ministry of Finance.

‘If the Ministry of Finance wants to help, then they should be part of the committee, but they should not be left to manage the funds,’ he said.

The COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy Act, 2021, (Act 1068), imposes a one per cent special levy on the supply of goods, services, and imports, to raise revenue to support COVID-19 expenditure and to provide for related matters.

The rate is calculated on the value of the taxable supply of goods, and services, or the value of imports.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in his 29th televised address to the nation on measures taken to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, announced that the disease was no longer a public health emergency of global concern.

‘The emergency is over, and we can safely lift many of the oppressive restrictions we have had to endure, we can shake hands, we can hug, we can visit, and we no longer have to wear masks,’ the President had said.

Commenting on the Levy, the President had stated that, ‘the COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy that was introduced to help fill some of the expenditure holes might not be the most popular tax, but I entreat all of you to bear with us’.

The Clinical Epidemiologist said the PHEF was urgently needed to ensure that the health systems were fit to respond and contain health emergencies.

Prof. Binka, who was the Coordinator of the WHO Emergency Response to Artemisinin Resistance in the Greater Mekong sub-region of Asia, also called for the establishment of a Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention to lead emergency preparedness in Ghana.

He said the CDC should be an agency outside the Ministry of Health (MOH), to bring together health training and research institutions, veterinary services, and academia to explore potential partnerships in epidemic preparedness.

‘The CDC when established, would partner with the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to access the strengths and weaknesses of the health systems in preparing and responding to public health threats, by collecting data and training,’ he said.

Prof Binka said in preparing for health emergencies, Ghana needs to ensure that facts about health emergencies are clear, with frontline health workers well-trained on how to screen and detect disease.

‘Medical emergencies are like going to war and your preparedness determines whether you are going to succeed or not, in preparing for public health threats, we need to ensure that laboratories are working with good information systems and rumour detection skills in communities and rural areas,’ he said.

The Clinical Epidemiologist said a CDC establishes information systems, collects information, follows up, creates scenarios, and gets stakeholders to work together to standardise protocols before that lab could be certified to work with other CDCs globally.

Source: Ghana News Agency

June 16, 2023

Parliament to pass draft law on statute of former Presidents

National Assembly (NA) will discuss and vote for Draft Law on the Statute of the Former Presidents of the Republic on June 22, the Parliament Bureau’s first secretary Manuel Lopes Dembo announced Friday in Luanda.

Manuel Dembo made the announcement at the end of the Conference of the leaders of the Parliamentary Groups, which aimed to set the agenda of the 7th Ordinary Plenary Meeting of the National Assembly.

The legislative initiative of the proposal under consideration aims to adjust the rights, duties and immunities of former Presidents and their singular auxiliary body in the exercise of Executive Power.

The 7th Plenary Meeting of the 1st Legislative Session of the 5th Legislature will also hold the final overall vote for the Draft Law on Labour Procedure Code and for the three diplomas that authorise the President of the Republic, as Head of the Government, to legislate on the amendment of the Fiscal Regime of the Concession of Blocks 30, 44 and 45.

The Parliament will also vote, in generality, for the Proposed Amendments to the Laws on the Statute of Journalists and on the Organic Law of the Media Regulatory Authority as well as for two draft resolutions on the requests for authorisation for the double adoption, international, of minors Kiary André and Eduardo Suculenta

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)

June 16, 2023

MOH to support the National Blood Service address challenges

The Ministry of Health (MOH) has pledged to support the National Blood Service (NBS) to address the challenges affecting its operations.

Dr Ignatius Awinibuno, Director of Allied Health, MOH, said being aware of the critical problems affecting the service, the Ministry was prepared to mobilise national and global efforts in strengthening and sustaining blood supply programmes in the country.

Dr. Awinibuno made the pledge at a ceremony to commemorate World Blood Donor Day in Accra on the theme: ‘Give blood, give plasma, share life, share often.’

The event is to recognise and celebrate the effort of blood donors in saving lives in the country, particularly, voluntary donors.

The Director of Allied Health said blood was an essential aspect in the management and treatment of diseases, adding that the demand for blood continued to grow faster than supply, hence, the need for all to donate to save a life.

He said: ‘there is no way we can achieve targets for the sustainable development goals and universal health coverage without having timely accessible blood.’

Dr Francis Kasolo, Country Representative to Ghana, World Health Organisation (WHO), expressed worry as Ghana’s donation rate stood at 5.8, falling short of the country’s target of 10 donations per 1000 people.

He said despite the significant progress made, many countries, including Ghana still faced the challenge of making sufficient blood available, while ensuring its quality and safety.

He urged the Government and its stakeholders to build a sustainable and resilient national blood systems infrastructure to increase the collection of blood from voluntary donors.

Dr. Hannah Ayettey, Senior Specialist, Radiation and Clinical Oncologist at Korle- Bu Teaching Hospital, told the GNA that the significant shortage in the country was worrying.

She said: ‘ I lost a child years ago as a House Officer, because that particular type of blood needed was not available in the hospital, so we had to go round the major hospitals in Accra but unfortunately none of them had that type, so it is a major problem.’

She said the theme for the event would go a long way to encourage people to donate blood to save lives. She noted that with the 5.8 collection rate of blood in the country, ‘we are nowhere near and need to actively do more with the support from stakeholders to create awareness.’

Dr Shirley Owusu-Ofori, Chief Executive Officer, National Blood Service, said the Service and the Ministry needed the concerted efforts of the media, Civil Society Organisations and Faith-Based Organisations to support the drive.

‘ I am glad to state that we have made significant progress with our engagement so far with our stakeholders though a lot more work is needed to make desirable impact,’ she added.

Madam Noeline Kumor, a 45th time blood donor, told the GNA that she was happy to be part of a lifesaving mission in the country, indicating that she was always motivated to donate blood due to its health benefits.

The NBS in conjunction with the Global Blood Fund (a United Kingdom Charity) as part of this year’s blood donor day celebration launched a story contest dubbed: ‘ how blood has touched my life’.

The contest is to enable individuals share captivating stories accompanied by pictures and videos about how blood has touched their lives.

The contest which ends on the August 31, 2023, would attract prizes for first three winners.

Source: Ghana News Agency

June 16, 2023

Ministry of Finance recommends commitment to electronic public procurement

Contracting public entities should adopt the Electronic Public Procurement tender mechanism and the statistical disclosure of its procedures, as part of transparency and governance, recommended this Friday the Secretary of State for Budget and Public Investment, Juciene de Sousa.

Of the 125 tender procedures carried out by the National Service for Public Procurement (SNCP) over the last five years, only 2.5 percent were accordingly with Electronic Public Procurement.

According to the Secretary of State, the 125 procedures generated 197 contracts signed with Micro, Small and Medium-sized Companies, in a business volume of more than 367 billion Kwanzas.

“The challenge goes to contracting public entities to adhere to Electronic Public Procurement, in addition to their duty of cooperation with the National Public Procurement Service in the field of transparency and adequate statistical disclosure of their procedures”, said the official.

In the view of the secretary of the Ministry of Finance, it is necessary to make public procurement a privileged instrument for boosting the interest of the community, making the citizens’ needs, their real aspirations, always underlying any public contract.

During a seminar on the National Week of Public Procurement, which ended Friday, Juciene de Sousa said that contracting entities should make public spending increasingly efficient, with emphasis on mechanisms to combat corruption, which is a permanent threat.

“The entities would be creating conditions for a better business environment and promoting economic diversification, making hiring a true instrument of opportunities for economic operators”, she considered.

As for the main objectives of the Public Contracting Week, the Secretary of State for the Budget and Public Investment said that it aims to stimulate the debate around the continuous improvement of the quality of public contracts.

Juciane de Sousa stressed that the Public Contracts Law intends to prioritize national production, allowing Public Contracting Entities to establish a margin of preference for the proposed prices, for competitors that are Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

This margin of preference, according to her, must be explained, when defining the award criteria, in the tender programme or in the letter of invitation to submit a proposal.

“However, notwithstanding the actions taken to publicize the National Service for Public Procurement, the adherence of Public Contracting Entities to Electronic Procurement is still inexpressive – both in terms of the number of procedures and the volume of purchases. We may be talking about only 2.5% of the total number of procedures”, she noted.

A cooperation protocol was signed between the SNCP and the Angolan Association of Designers and Consultants.

Among the themes of the seminar, there was the Quality of the public investment project for an excellent contract, the State of the art and the Impact of works contracts at local level

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)