The Speaker Editors

JUBA – An estimated number of 400,000 are out of learning institutions in the country following the outbreak of last years’ political crisis.

The government and education partners working in the sector provided the figure following a joint stakeholders meeting held at the Juba Grand Hotel by Save the Children, UNICEF and the national Ministry of Education, DFID, USAID and EU.

The ministry and partners affirmed their commitment to providing quality education to all despite the current crisis.

Teachers in the rebel-controlled areas have not been able to get their monthly salaries as it is hard for the government to reach them due to insecurity.

“We cannot pay teachers in opposition controlled areas. It’s risky to me and whoever takes the money to the people supposed to be paid,” the undersecretary of the Ministry of Education, Michael Lopuke, told reporters in Juba.

He said the low salaries for teachers have been the problem of the past and the present since teachers in South Sudan have been complaining.

Lopuke said the war has also set them back but expressed commitments to focus on the challenges of the teachers as they look into the problems faced by learners.

The undersecretary announced that seven of the ten national teachers training institutes in the country are operational.

According to him, Malakal has been merged with Ranbul in Juba and Rumbek with Maridi to continue teacher training.

Statistics from the government show that only 60 percent of the teachers in the country are trained and only 13 percent of the primary teachers are female.

He also said with the current crisis, a number of schools are without teachers and others are only being assisted by volunteers.

UNICEF country representative in South Sudan, Jonathan Veitch, called education a national crisis despite the fragile gains made since independence in attendance, curriculum development and girls education.

“In terms of education in the conflict areas, it has gone to zero,” the UNICEF chief in South Sudan remarked.

“The right to quality and relevant education is fundamental to the holistic well-being of children, their families and the future of their communities. Education must be made a priority in humanitarian response and this is what we want in South Sudan.”

He commended Western Equatoria for welcoming the internally displaced persons (IDPS) and refugees adding the number of learners in a single class room went up to 150.

“We have not been able to get children in the conflict affected states due to displacement, teachers, destroyed buildings.”

He called for the need to focus on getting children back to schools as according to him, education reduces the effects of trauma, conflict resolution, peace and tolerance among rival tribes.

Veitch pointed out that the government and the opposition has signed a recommitment not to recruit children into armed groups and not to occupy schools, as many were occupied when the crisis began not only by armed groups, but by IDPs.

The country representative added that it was not good to throw out IDPs in learning institutions, saying SPLA have identified some schools to vacate mentioning one in Bentiu, the capital of oil-rich Unity state.

Asked about the number of schools vacated by armed groups, he said that they have no evidence but have been receiving commitments to leave.

According to him, less than 100 schools in the country have been occupied by armed forces from both sides of the conflict.

Commenting on the payment of teachers, Save the Children CEO, Jasmine Whitebread, said there should be ways of addressing it as it is a responsibility of the Government.

She also said they are looking for donors to support them in the area of the payment of teachers.

The CEO added that education should be prioritized, especially in the conflict-affected areas. “One priority is education because it helps to keep children safe, secondly it is the way for children to have a future and of the country,” she said.

“Again and again, we find that children and families prioritize education even in crisis situations. They say that without education, there is no future and as humanitarian actors we must listen and respond to the priorities of affected population.”

Whitebread told the displaced that there are still ways for them to continue with education, “Education can be delivered even in emergency.”

In a new survey undertaken by Save the Children, children, parents and community leaders affected by the violence say education is a number one priority.

Education is key to helping children establish a sense of structure and normalcy during crises. It lowers their risk of being exposed to violence and exploitation as well as to early marriage, and allows them to develop healthy coping strategies, according to Save the Children.

In South Sudan, an adolescent girl is three times more likely to die during childbirth than complete the primary school cycle.

Only 1.6 percent of secondary school-going age are females are enrolled in secondary school and 35.4 percent are enrolled in primary school.

With only 1 in 3 school age children across the country currently enrolled in school, the Ministry of Education, Save the children and UNICEF affirmed their commitment.

Moi Peter Julius

JUBA – A returnee poultry group called South Farmers is urging communities and individual farmers to become poultry out-growers to enable them meet peoples’ demands.

“Since we started processing our grown up broilers we have witnessed a shift from consumer taste demanding more of locally produced broiler chicken, deviating away from the imported frozen chicken this demand makes it difficult for us to meet the needs of our customers,” James Nyikole the manager of the group said.

“Therefore, we are reaching out and calling for the potential poultry farmers in and around Juba to join our out-grower scheme where they grow the broiler chicken for us at agreeable price and weight.”

According to Nyikole, “It means farmers will have to focus on production of broilers at the farms’ level and once the chicken have reach a particular weight which has to be agreed prior we will then buy the chicken for our processing facility and we can then supply the consumer market.”

He said it is the only way to reduce the imported frozen chicken dramatically and promote local production leading to the growth of the gross domestic products.

“No single country can grow by importing products but rather engaging on local production has a larger multiplier effect on the economy.”

Nyikole added that South Sudan is the only country in the region that imports frozen chicken.

The group leader mentioned countries in the region such as Uganda and Kenya do not allow imported frozen chicken into their countries because they are protective of their local and infant poultry sectors.

“We also urge the government to follow suit and offer the poultry sector level playing ground for the benefits of our farmers. The support of the government is very crucial in developing entrepreneurial spirit in this country,” said Nyikole.

He also called on the government to join them in sensitizing the population to encourage local production and increase duties on imported frozen chicken to offer level playing field.

In addition Nyikole appealed to the government to help remove custom duties on chicken feeds and other agricultural inputs so that these goods once imported are cheaper to the farmers and they would be encouraged in their efforts.

Recently, national government officials visited the facility which is located west of Juba.

The first was on the Oct. 5–the Minister of Defence and SPLA Affairs, Kuol Manyang.

Manyang was impressed to see the facility in the country and he offered his interest to lead by example by becoming a poultry farmer at his personal level.

He also said it is important for the government to incorporate poultry farming into the demobilization commission to assist demobilized men and women in uniform get engaged in income generation activities through poultry farms which have a shorter maturity.

“This is very interesting if our leaders can lead by example, it will encourage our people to get involved in farming to fight food insecurity,” said Auditor General Steven Wondu at the facility.

South Farmers is the production of One Day Old Chicks through their hatchery facility and in supply of feeds, and other poultry inputs, managing broiler farms and slaughtering facility.

Since the project started in April this year, they have seen a number of youth and women got involved in poultry farming and this has created direct employment.

“In addition local production of poultry by the citizens will also offer an opportunity to solve the problem of insecurity in the country and the fear in consumers mind that the imported frozen chicken have healthy concerns in human body and indeed these fears are real,” said Nyikole.

According to him, some of these imported chickens are grown on feed that came from genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), having lots of hormones to make them grower faster (3-4 weeks).

“No one knows when they were slaughtered, time in high seas and the time they arrive into South Sudan so the risk is greater on human health.”

He further said, “Now we have offered the alternatives for consumers in the country now to eat fresh chicken right from the farm. Either from our own farm or smallholder farmers themselves the offer them to the consumers,”

Moi Julius

Juba – The Ministry of Interior is to campaign against the trade in the uniforms of military and other organized forces in the country, Aleu Ayeng Aleu of the Interior Ministry told Parliament prior to its recess Friday.

Aleu’s statements follow urgent information raised by Joseph Ngere, MP from Western Equatoria, who said some companies have advertised the items on the local media.

According to the advert, Ngere said, “We are making all types of uniforms for police, military and national security.”

He said, “This is an issue of sovereignty and national security. If these people are producing military garments and we have the menace of seeing military garments all over the town and in the country. Who is doing this without control and do we not know who has given them the responsibility to produce these?” Ngere asked.

Ngere added that these traders will expose the parade of the national army in the country if any contract is signed with the traders.

The minister said this is an issue which is a problem in the country though he was not aware but further said it is not only in Kololo but in Jebel one can find all kinds of uniforms being sold.

“Even a regular person sewing in Buluk hangs these up for everybody to buy. We are fighting this.”

Aleu added that it is the source of crimes as people with illicit guns buy these uniforms and use them at night, pretending to be members of the police or national security.

“We have clashed with many of them but sometimes they go unnoticed. I even came across some of them at 11 p.m. while for a dinner in Davinci with the German ambassador.”

According to Aleu, a group of people who were seven in number stopped cars claiming that a driver had knocked a person out near the University of Juba and ran away.

In an earlier interview with the New Nation in 2013, police spokesperson Col. James Monday said they had arrested some members of the organized forces for committing crimes and being prosecuted.

He also said criminals acquire uniforms to use them at night for committing crimes as they pretend to be police officers.

The minister further said the police officers who patrol at night bear labels which allow them to be identified easily.

By Moi Peter Julius

Juba – South Sudanese women have been told to expose Gender Based Violence (GBV) by reporting cases to the public, especially law enforcement agencies and community leaders.

The call was made during the launch of a social norms marketing campaign by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) at Nyokuron Cultural Centre, attended by civil society organizations, women, and national and state government officials.

Gender based violence is considered a serious crime which according to Moses Majok, a police officer with the national police service, is against the rights of women.

“It breads conflicts in homes. The South Sudan National Police Service will try its best to aggressively respond to GBV and child trafficking, to bring equal rights to all.”

He announced the establishment of a special unit at the national police service and encouraged women not to suffer in silence but report abuses to the unit for prosecutions to take place.

Majok also called for communities to shun certain harmful traditional practices like the early child marriages common in most societies, as well as female genital mutilation (FGM).

Most communities in South Sudan tend to marry off their younger daughters to wealthy people regardless of their approval.

Almost half of all South Sudanese women and girls between ages 15 and 19 are married, some as young as age 12, according to Human Rights Watch in 2014.

Many families in South Sudan see child marriage as a means of accessing cattle, money, and other gifts by transferring wealth through the traditional payment of dowries.

Considered by the UN and others to be an egregious violation of women and girls’ human rights, child marriage in South Sudan is held to exacerbate the country’s high levels of poverty, low levels of literacy, pronounced gender gaps in education, and soaring rates of maternal mortality—currently among the highest in the world.

The director general of gender and child welfare at the National Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare, Regina Ossa Lullo, said the days of activism against GBV in the country should continue beyond those globally set aside.

She said that the women who make up 49 percent of the population of the country are marginalized in their social and economic situation and are unable to contribute to socio-economic development of South Sudan.

Ossa told women not to give up but to fight for their rights, calling for the eradication of social injustices suffered by women.

“No woman should give up fighting for her rights. We must do more to combat violence, brutality against women wherever and whenever it occurs,” said Ossa.

According to her, one in three women nationwide experiences violence in her life. “Violence knows no religion. Family, community and the entire country suffers. Preventing, showing respect and responsibility is the only way for peace and prosperity.”

She said the ministry is developing a standard operating procedure which is still in draft form, and once passed it will be rolled out to the states in order to mitigate GBV.

Ossa added that prevention of violence against women requires an integrated approach by all in the society, including government institutions.

The director cited an example of a young girl of 14 who was sent to a shop at 8 p.m. by her parents and was brutally raped by an adult and three young men.

She added that especially during the war time women experience physical violence which she said amounts to violation of human rights, stating, “Sexual violence will not be tolerated now and forever.”

IRC Women’s Empowerment and Protection Senior Manager Pamela Tuiyott said the campaign targets the police, elders, and aims for survivors of violence to speak up.

Tuiyott also said the campaign targets behavioral and social change in communities and is aimed at ending violence against women.

By Moi Julius

Link

Child Marriage

With green space losing out to several large public infrastructure projects, local residents are worried about the future of Ho Chi Minh City’s urban environment. Michael Tatarski looks into one group’s conservation efforts and asks whether the city can develop without giving in to environmental tradeoffs.

When news broke in November that the city would clear 84 mahogany trees from Ton Duc Thang Street to make way for construction of another bridge from District 1 to the Thu Thiem area across the Saigon River in District 2, Nguyen Phuong Thao felt she could no longer stand by. “Someone needed to speak up, and I decided I would be the first to do it,” she says through a translator.

The announcement came on the heels of another story that 200 trees would also be felled in District 2, while part of Le Loi and all of Nguyen Hue, two major downtown thoroughfares, had already been denuded for work on a pedestrian boulevard and the metro system. According to Thao, who owns a coffee shop and works for a company that builds brands, many residents felt depressed by the news because they couldn’t do anything, as the plans were already approved when they were released to the public. In response she created a website, HappyTreeInSaigon.com, to give voice to those concerned by the removal of so much green space.

“The purpose of the website was to collect signatures and send them to the agencies and organisations [in charge of the bridge and other projects] so the government will know about the expectations of the citizens and consider more carefully before they conduct something that may harm the environment,” Thao says.

So far, Thao and her team have collected around 3,000 signatures, about half of which are from students. “The final purpose is to get the attention of people who have authority because I don’t want to do this alone,” she says. “I want someone who actually has power and can make an impact.”

Happy Tree in Saigon, the group born from the website, made headlines late last year when members gathered on Ton Duc Thang and held banners explaining the importance of the doomed trees. However, the group does not plan any repeat actions, since the police were concerned about traffic jams related to the group’s presence. “We will focus more on digital media and when we have enough funds we will focus on one spot, like having an event in one place, not on the street,” Thao stresses.

When it comes to funding, Thao is hopeful that NGOs working on environmental projects in Saigon will be willing to provide monetary support to her conservation efforts. If money comes through, Thao aims to create an education campaign centred on the environment. “Youths do not fully understand the environment … I want them to learn how to protect it in the correct way,” she explains.

Dr Michael Waibel, a professor in the Department of Human Geography at the University of Hamburg who has studied Vietnam since 1996, agrees that Saigon has a green space problem. According to statistics from the HCMC Park and Greenery Office, the city has just 0.8 square metres of green space per capita. This puts the city well below the World Health Organisation’s recommendation of a minimum eight square metres per capita. However, Waibel’s main concern is inequality in access to green space. “People in District 7 or on the outskirts have much better access,” he says. “The biggest problem is with the densely-populated inner city. It’s a socioeconomic question.”

He views the current situation with the trees in a more utilitarian way. “Regarding the trees on Le Loi, in this case it’s a tradeoff. You need a public transportation system to decrease individual traffic, so you make something that is good for sustainability but you have to cut the trees,” Waibel says from Hamburg. He is also positive about the future of green space in the city, something which may hearten Thao and the other members of Happy Tree in Saigon.

“One thing you can say is that the trees grow incredibly fast in Saigon,” the urban planner says. “Look at Phu My Hung [a new urban area south of the city], where the trees have become huge in just ten years.” If trees are replanted once the projects are completed, he reckons, the streets could look nearly normal in just a decade or two. The city government has also set a target of raising the provision of green space to four or five square metres per capita in the future.

However, these initiatives can’t come solely from authorities. “The people themselves have to realize and fight for more green space in their neighbourhoods,” Waibel says. He points to the verdant hems, or alleys, of the city, often full of potted plants and flowers. “This kind of bottom-up initiative to expand green space should be supported and people should be educated that they have their own responsibility,” he continues.

Thao understands this responsibility and hopes Happy Tree in Saigon can link decision-makers and the general public. “What we are perceiving wrong is that we develop our country first and protect the environment later,” she says.

The group plans to connect the people who work with trees and the environment with the architecture firms and urban planners who are building the future Saigon to get them to work as a team. “At the moment they work separately, and by bringing them together they can make a complete plan to build while preserving the environment.”

By Michael Tatarski

Thousands of Russians assembled for an unlawful protest in Moscow Tuesday night, shouting slogans such as, “Putin is a thief!” “Crimea is not ours!” and “No Putin, no war!” Hundreds were arrested.

Other chants included sentiments of solidarity with Ukrainians: “Russians! Ukrainians! Brothers forever!” “Putin is Russia’s shame!” “Russia doesn’t trust Putin!” besides the more topical, “Freedom for Navanly!”

The protest was organized around the abrupt sentencing of Russian opposition leader and blogger Alexei Navalry and his brother Oleg Navalny. Alexei Navalny has been for several years one of the most outspoken of Putin’s critics. He and his brother were charged with defrauding a French chocolate company for $520,000.

The sentence was expected to be handed down Jan. 15, but it was suddenly moved forward to Dec. 30, the date of one of the biggest holidays in Russia and the first of the Russian New Years holiday that lasts until Jan. 8.

Read more: Navalny given surprisingly light sentence, attempts to attend protest of conviction, rearrested

Also unexpectedly, Navalny received only a suspended sentence instead of the up to 10 years many expected. His brother received 3 years prison for the same charge. Both men were also fined 4.4 million rubles.

Alexei Navalny, however, was arrested hours later for attempting to make his way to Tuesday night’s protest.

Thousands of protesters gathered in front of the Kremlin at Manezh Square to demonstrate against the trial. Rock band Pussy Riot had released a video early Tuesday urging participation at the protest, and approximately 18,000 people indicated they would attend via a Facebook page.

 

Among those arrested were Aider Muzhdabaev, deputy editor in chief of Moskovsky Komsomolets and journalist Alexander Kolyandr, who was detained for reasons that have not yet been reported. 

Read more: Russians Are Protesting the War in Ukraine, and Are Being Arrested by Russian Police [with video]

Around 70 of those arrested were still being held as of Wednesday.

Protesters in Russia can be arrested if the assembly has not been authorized by the Russian government beforehand, although the Russian constitution guarantees, “Citizens of the Russian Federation shall have the right to gather peacefully, without weapons, and to hold meetings, rallies, demonstrations, marches and pickets.” (Art. 31.) In 2012, the Russian government stiffened penalties for protesters by raising fines for illegal protesters and criminalizing the use of masks, weapons or objects that may be used as weapons, and the organization of protests by citizens who have been convicted of certain crimes.

By James Haleavy

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