Category: General

The Palestinian cause will be high on the agenda of the 9th Medenine International Documentary and Short Films Festival (FIFDOC). Indonesia is the guest of honour at this 2023 edition, organised on November 29-December 3, without the festive aspect. Tunisian actor and director Foued Litaiem has been appointed honorary president of this exceptional edition of FIFDOC. The Festival is organised by the Association "visions pour la culture et le développement" in Médenine, with the support of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and several other partners. In the run-up to the official kick-off on December 1, Wednesday will see the launch of a "my film in 72 hours" competition. The line-up includes a selection of 24 films, including 11 documentaries and 13 short fiction films on the Palestinian resistance. These films by nominated Arab directors represent 13 countries: Algeria, Morocco, Libya, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, France, the Netherlands and Tunisia with 5 films. Tun isian actress Mariem ben Chaabane is on the jury for this year's event, which also includes Giusy Buemi (artistic director, Italy), Sofia Aghilas (producer, Morocco), Hasanain Hani (director, Iraq) and Sam Lahoud (producer, Lebanon). Three prizes will be awarded in each competition: The Golden, Silver or Bronze Khlel. This prize, in the form of a fibula, represents the traditional 'Khlel' jewellery used to fasten the ends of women's traditional costumes. Documentary films will compete for the best film prize (gold), the best script prize (silver) and the jury prize for the best documentary (bronze). In the short fiction competition, the festival will award a first prize for best direction (gold), a second prize for best short fiction (silver) and the jury prize for best short (bronze). All the festive aspects and workshops will be skipped at this year's festival, which will be limited to screenings and conferences in tribute to the Palestinian resistance. The official opening ceremony, on Friday, will fea ture a performance of politically committed songs by the Tunisian group "Ouled al manajem." A remote presentation will be made by Palestinian director of the Al Quds International Film Festival Ezzedine Shallah. A series of tributes to leading figures in Arab cinema and theatre, including Ola Hamad (Syria), Ramadan Mezdaoui and Ali Ahmed Salem (Libya) and Mariem ben Chaabane, Wahida Dridi, Dalila Meftahi and Khaled Bouzid (Tunisia) are also scheduled. Two documentaries from the official competition will be screened, "Mostamerroun" by Ibrahim Khaled Moslim (32', Palestine) and "El Gotra" by Younes ben Hajria (26', Tunisia). All the films in the competition will be screened on Saturday. The closing evening will see the announcement of the official awards and the screening of the first prize-winning films in the two competitions, documentary and fiction, in addition to the competition film, my film in 72 hours. A theatre performance entitled Gaza ramz al izza (literally Gaza, a symbol of pride) is also on t he agenda. The Medenine Institute for Arid Regions (IRA), where the festival was launched at its first and second sessions, will host a scientific conference on "the role of cinema in preserving heritage" on Friday morning. A master class, scheduled for December 3 at the Espace des Associations, will be devoted to the issue of "the use of multimedia supports, photo and video, in support of the Palestinian cause." Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

The Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR) has directed the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to sanctions recalcitrant waste collection firms who fail to collect and dispose them on stipulated time. This is an unacceptable and bad practice that causes public nuisance in the environment, thereby exposing neighbourhoods and the local communities to health hazards. Dr Freda Prempeh, the Sector Minister, said it was the responsibility of the MMDAs to promote environmental cleanliness to avert outbreak of communicable diseases, saying 'you have signed contracts with the waste collection firms and have the right to impose sanctions on them.' She gave the directive, in an interview with the media on the sidelines of the opening session of a training workshop on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Sector Information Systems (SIS), held at Goaso in the Ahafo region. With support from its partners, the three-day training brought together sector systems, including the Dist rict Monitoring and Evaluation System (DiMES) and Basic Sanitation Information System (SIS). Other stakeholder systems, including Education Management Information System (EMIS) and District Health Information System (DHIMS) also attended for harmonised reporting and decision-making. Dr Prempeh, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tano North in the region, noted that though the MMDAs had entered into agreements with the refuse collection firms for collection and disposal of waste, there were widespread heaps of refuse left unattended to in many of the local communities. These unhygienic environments not only lead to communicable disease outbreaks, but also expose communities to serious health hazards, including breeding grounds for mosquitoes, rodents and reptiles. Dr Prempeh said the nation had achieved some successes in the WASH sector with access to basic sanitation facilities increasing from 66 per cent in 2017 to 80.8 per cent in 2021, while access to basic drinking water services increased from 78.0 per cent in 2017 to 87.7 per cent in the same period. Nonetheless, the sector lacked a single-shot information system that brings together all efforts being made by various WASH actors, for evidence-based decision-making. Thus, efforts being made in the sector had been tracked and reported in a fragmented manner, thereby making harmonisation a serious challenge, she said. In a speech read on his behalf, Mr George Yaw Boakye, the Ahafo Regional Minister, commended MSWR and its partners for improving WASH systems in the region. Through the Ministry, the region with support from IRC, an international organisation operating in the WASH sector and its partners commenced their partnership with the Asutifi North District to prepare and implement a 13-year WASH Master Plan (2017-2030). The initiative, Mr Boakye explained, sought to promote universal access to safe water, basic sanitation, and hygiene services to about 84,420 people by 2030. Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr. Silver Ojakol, the Chief of Staff of the AfCFTA Secretariat, has called on producers on the African continent to consider the prospects of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA). He said the vast resources of the Continent alongside its large human population should encourage producers to come onboard the single market being offered by the AfCFTA, Africa's most ambitious continent-wide trade consolidation initiative in modern times. Mr. Ojakol, who was delivering the keynote address at the opening of the 6th Volta Trade and Investment Fair in Ho said the AfCFTA was to drive the development of the continent and that its seven protocols covered all areas of trade facilitation. 'The single market means local producers should up their game. They must scale up their trading game if they want to take advantage. 'Producers should look at a wider single market with a predictable trade regime,' he said. Mr. Ojakol said the free trade area had the opportunity of the estimated 1.5 billion p opulation with a GDP of US$3.4 billion and expected to hit 7 trillion by 2035. Presently, only about 274 million hectares of its 874 million hectares of arable lands are being utilised and the Chief of Staff counted 'large sums of strategic minerals.' He said the strength of human resource adding to the other natural resources on the continent should drive a sustainable development agenda for Africa, noting that 80 per cent of the continent's entrepreneurs were SMEs, which contributed a 40 per cent of cross border trade. Mr. Ojakol added that the AfCFTA remained a catalyst for infrastructure development and had the efficiency to attract investors with resources in Africa to 'drive the continental agenda.' He said trade facilitation infrastructures such as the ambitious Abidjan-Lagos Highway project was a priority and that other initiatives, including harmonising standards and the conformity of local products to help facilitate cross border trade, were being undertaken. The top official said programmes su ch as the Pan African Payment system being implemented would eventually eliminate dependence on foreign currencies for international trade, and that the AfCFTA Secretariat was working to get banks to support financial programmes curated for SMEs. He said the AfCFTA focused on developing four industrial sectors, which include the automobile, pharmaceutical, transport and logistics, and agro processing, and that SMEs should consider that the 'ideal value chain and tap into it.' He commended the Volta Regional Coordinating Council and the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) together with their partners for organising the fair and said SMEs should use the opportunity to create business linkages. 'The AfCFTA has been a major development of our time, and we must together harness the opportunities that it creates. 'We might not get such an opportunity again. We must implement the agreement as it will contribute to lifting more than 100 million people out of poverty,' the Chief of Staff stated. This year's Vol ta Fair is on the theme 'Leveraging the African Continental Free Trade Area for Economic Development,' and more than 400 exhibitors and about 20,000 visitors are expected. Dr. Archibald Yao Letsa, Volta Regional Minister, who had revived the fair in recent times, said, 'these are times to showcase the strong investment potentials in Volta,' and that stakeholders were looking forward to providing export routes for businesses in Volta. He said Volta was promoting a 'one district one export product' initiative under the AfCFTA, and that all must work together to promote investments that would protect the ecosystem of a richly endowed Region. 'Sustainable industrialisation must be the next stage of our industrialisation. The vision is to become a production and exporting economy and we can turn our economic potential in Volta around.' Present at the opening ceremony were high level dignitaries such as the national leadership of the Association of Ghana Industries, several envoys from various African continent s, and Africa's youngest MP and Minister from Namibia. Ms. Emma Theofulus, the Namibian top official, who is Deputy Minister for Information, Communication and Technology, and was a special guest, said Africa should be able to leverage its resources to develop, and called for structures to drive trade and integration across the continent. Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Brian Acheampong, the Minister for Food and Agriculture, says the country must stop importing basic food items, including vegetables like tomatoes and onions, describing it as embarrassing. He said this after visiting the exhibition stands of farmers and stakeholders in the agricultural value chain in the 2023 Agrifest as part of the 2023 National Farmers Week celebration. The Minister said Government was not happy about the situation and that strategic plans had been put in place to change the narrative and called for support of all stakeholders. Mr Acheampong said with government's funding of the planting season in the Northern Region, a bag of maize had reduced at the farm gate from 315 to 160 Cedis. He, therefore, called on traders to let the price reflect in what they sold directly to consumers. With poultry products importation, Mr Acheampong said Ghana produced only 15,000 metric tonnes, but consumed 325,000, a situation which made it difficult for the local poultry business to develop. Gover nment, he said, was going to support the industry with 18 million Cedis next year to revive the sector. He said government's food security plan would also increase metric tonnes of poultry and food crops production from 15,000 to over 75,000 and to 150,000 by 2028. Mr Ken Ofori Atta, the Finance Minister, said government was also allotting one billion Cedis to support the initiative, including planting for food and jobs. He said about 10 billion would be invested in the sector to stop importation and as well create jobs. '2024 will see a deliberate approach for agriculture to make it attractive for people to venture into,' he added. Mr Ofori-Atta condemned the over -pricing by some traders, who charged high prices after buying foodstuff cheap at farm gates, saying 'that has to change'. Source: Ghana News Agency

The Sunyani West Municipal branch of the Ghana Blind Union (GBU) has appealed for 'white canes' to aid the movements of members. According to the Union, they required 70 'white canes', costing about GHC9,000, for some of the members, as Ghana joins the rest of the World to mark the 2023 commemoration of the White Cane Safety Day. White Cane Safety Day, celebrated October 15, was established in 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson to raise awareness of people who carry a white cane. In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani, Mr George Addai, the President of the Sunyani West branch of the GBU, regretted majority of the members did not have the canes because they could not afford to buy, and thereby making it difficult for them walk. 'In fact, this has prevented them from attaining the level of independence they desire,' he stated, adding the branch union intended to hold an event on December 15 to commemorate the Day. 'We need the canes for our members so that they can attend and make th e commemoration of the Day a success,' Mr Addai stated. Source: Ghana News Agency