Day: October 27, 2022

FOREWORD
The Guidelines on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances in Africa were adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights during its 71st Ordinary Session held virtually from 21 April to 13 May 2022. The Guidelines are developed pursuant to Article 45(1)(b) of the African Charter, which mandates the African Commission to formulate standards, principles and rules on which African governments can base their legislation.
The goal of these Guidelines is to provide guidance and support to Member States of the African Union on the effective implementation of their commitments and contributions to eradicate enforced disappearances throughout the African continent. The Guidelines are complementary, and do not aim to replace or limit in any way the standards and obligations contained in relevant international treaties and instruments, such as the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which are the main international legal instruments that deal with enforced disappearance as a grave human rights violation and a violation of international humanitarian law respectively. The Guidelines intend to reinforce those international treaties and instruments and encourage African Union Member States to ratify them as a positive measure to prevent enforced disappearances on the continent.
The Guidelines build upon existing legal obligations of African States pursuant to regional treaties and documents, including (among others) the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the “Maputo Protocol”), the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa and the Protocol on the Prevention and Suppression of Sexual Violence against Women and Children of the International Conference of the Great Lakes. It also adds to the standards developed by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights through its jurisprudence and commentary, including (among others) the Guidelines on Human and Peoples’ Rights while Countering Terrorism, the Guidelines on the Conditions of Arrest, Police Custody and Pre-Trial Detention in Africa (the “Luanda Guidelines”), General Comment No. 3 on the Right to Life and the Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Fair Trial and Legal Assistance in Africa (Fair Trial Principles).
On the African continent, the practice of enforced disappearances is widespread. However, the available data does not accurately reflect the magnitude of the problem as many cases are not reported or officially registered. The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances noted in its 2021 report that of 46,490 cases of enforced disappearances under consideration, only 4,765 relate to African countries. The lack of awareness about the crime, rule of law challenges, lack of political will and reprisals against the victims and their relatives when reporting the crime all contribute to a lack of systematised official data on the prevalence of the crime. Without being prescriptive, the Guidelines reflect the most prevalent contexts in which enforced disappearances take place in Africa, including in armed conflicts, civil unrest, situations of emergency, counter-terrorism, in the context of migration and as a tool to suppress dissent.
To eradicate enforced disappearances from the continent, it is necessary to strengthen collaboration and efforts at regional level. Yet, the primary responsibility lies with individual States. In recent years, some African States have taken important steps to combat enforced disappearances, including by ratifying the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance and the Rome Statute, adopting the Malabo Protocol, criminalising enforced disappearances and adopting other legal and policy reforms to prevent this crime. However, these efforts are insufficient, and there are still significant gaps in the framework for the protection against enforced disappearances on our continent.
Enforced disappearances have terrible and long-lasting impacts, both physical and psychological, for those who are disappeared as well as their relatives, friends, communities and peoples. Many victims live in anguish for years, not knowing the fate and whereabouts of relatives who were disappeared, and lacking access to redress. These Guidelines acknowledge the full range of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights that are often breached by an enforced disappearance and the resulting harms on victims. The Guidelines recognise the central role that victims play in the fight against this heinous crime in Africa.
I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the development of the Guidelines. I am grateful to the numerous experts who contributed to this process, including distinguished members of the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances, and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance, with whom the African Commission wishes to continue collaborating. I would like to thank civil society organisations, particularly the REDRESS Trust, academics, practitioners and others for their collaboration in the development of this tool.
I am also grateful to the following eminent African dignitaries who have long fought against enforced disappearances in Africa, and who have made great contributions to drafting these Guidelines: Aua Balde, member of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance; the late Christof Heyns, former member of the UN Human Rights Committee; Houria ElSlami, former member of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance; and Matar Diop, member of the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances.
Last but not least, I would like to acknowledge the contribution of the late Hon. Ndiame Gaye, my predecessor as Chair of the African Commission Working Group on Death Penalty, Extra-Judicial, Summary or Arbitrary Killings and Enforced Disappearances in Africa, for having the vision and wisdom to initiate the process of drafting these Guidelines.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights calls on all stakeholders to promote and use these Guidelines to inform their work in strengthening the protection against enforced disappearances, including African Union Member States, domestic human rights institutions, lawyers, magistrates and jurists, civil society organisations and victims’ groups, and the media, among others. The African Commission remains committed to combating enforced disappearances through the exercise of its mandate to promote and protect human and peoples’ rights on the continent.
Honourable Commissioner Idrissa Sow Chairperson of the Working Group on Death Penalty,
Extra-Judicial, Summary or Arbitrary Killings and Enforced Disappearances in Africa

Source: African Commission on Human and People’s Rights

We the Ministers responsible for Environment, Migration, Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation from AU Member States meeting in Kigali, Rwanda; during the Ministerial Session of the 7th Pan African Forum on Migration (PAFOM) on 21 October 2021 under the Chairpersonship of Hon. Judith UWIZEYE, Minister in the Office of the President, the Republic of Rwanda; under the theme “Addressing the Impact of Climate Change on Migration and human mobility in Africa: Building Adaptation Strategies and Resilient Communities.
1. Express their appreciation to the Government of Senegal for hosting the PAFOM 6 in Dakar, Senegal in 2021 and further congratulated the Republic of Rwanda for assuming the PAFOM 7 Chairmanship and successfully hosting the Forum in Kigali, Rwanda.
2. Further appreciate the Commission as the Secretariat of the Forum for successfully working with the Republic of Rwanda to host the meeting and expressed profound gratitude to IOM and IFRC and all partners; for providing necessary support for hosting the meeting.
3. Commend the leadership of the AU Commission, closely collaborating with UN in supporting Member States and RECs in addressing the agenda of climate change and human mobility in the continent; especially in the implementation of the Africa Climate Mobility Initiative (ACMI).
4. Express deep concern that the adverse dynamics of climate change coupled with rapid changes in demographics with their intricate relationship with development, were amongst the most pressing challenges that dominated the continent’s socio-economic development and has an impact to the continental developmental gains, aspirations of the AU Agenda 2063 and realization of the UN Sustainable Goals.
5. Note with concern that drought, floods, cyclones and extreme temperatures have caused extensive damage to infrastructure, disrupted economic activity and affected livelihoods of African citizens thereby causing people to move or to be uprooted from their communities in search of opportunities for better livelihoods;

Source: African Union

Tuberculosis (TB) deaths and infections rose during the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted access to treatment and support services, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Thursday.
An estimated 10.6 million people fell ill with TB last year, an increase of 4.5 per cent over 2020, and 1.6 million people died from the disease, including 187,000 who were HIV-positive.
The burden of drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) also increased by three per cent during the same period, with some 450,000 new cases of a type that is resistant to the antibiotic rifampicin, or RR-TB.
This marked the first time in many years that the number of people falling ill with TB and drug-resistant TB, both increased.
Learning from the pandemic
“If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that with solidarity, determination, innovation and the equitable use of tools, we can overcome severe health threats. Let’s apply those lessons to tuberculosis. It is time to put a stop to this long-time killer. Working together, we can end TB,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director-General.
TB is the world’s second deadliest infectious killer, after COVID-19.
The disease is caused by bacteria that most often affect the lungs, but is both preventable and curable.
Health services overall were hard hit during the pandemic, but its impact on TB response has been particularly severe – a situation that has been worsened by ongoing conflicts in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Continued challenges with providing and accessing essential TB services have meant that many people with the disease were not diagnosed and treated.
Diagnosis and treatment decline
The number of people newly diagnosed fell from 7.1 million in 2019 to 5.8 million in 2020, according to the latest Global TB report. Although there was a partial recovery to 6.4 million last year, this was still well below pre-pandemic levels.
These reductions suggest that the number of people with undiagnosed or untreated TB has grown, WHO said, resulting first in an increase in deaths and more community transmission, and eventually more people developing the disease.
The number of people receiving treatment for RR-TB and multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) also dropped between 2019 and 2020. Some 161,746 people started treatment for RR-TB in 2021, or only around a third of those in need.
Global spending on essential TB services also took a downward turn, from $6 billion in 2019 to $5.4 billion in 2021, representing less than half the global target of $13 billion annually by this year.
Urgent measures needed
However, there has been some good news amid the stalled progress as the report also documents several small gains.
Worldwide, 26.3 million people were treated for TB between 2018 and 2021, though again, still far short of the 40 million target set four years ago.
TB preventive treatment for people living with HIV also far surpassed the global target of six million, reaching more than 10 million in the same period. 
The report underscores the need for countries to implement urgent measures to restore access to essential TB services.
It also calls for increased investments, and action, to address the broader determinants that influence TB epidemics and their socioeconomic impact as well as the need for new diagnostics, drugs and vaccines.
WHO will convene a high-level summit in early 2023 to intensify vaccine development, building on lessons from the pandemic.

Source: United Nations