Mt number one - yasa n'irirenga

Ma Vie by Social Mula (Official Video) 2018

Dangerous - Nalingi Yo (Clip Officiel)

Agonizing choices of who to leave behind in flood-ravaged Mozambique

https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2019-03-24-agonising-choices-of-who-to-leave-behind-in-flood-ravaged-mozambique/

SXSW Startups: Leaf Supports Refugees

The Forrest Four-Cast: February 8, 2018

50 startups from around the world have been selected as finalists for the 2018 SXSW Accelerator Pitch Event on March 10 and 11. Winners in 10 categories will be honored at the Accelerator Award Ceremony at 7 pm Sunday, March 11, at the Hilton Austin. The SXSW Accelerator Pitch Event takes place within the Startup & Tech Sectors track of programming.

A finalist in the Payment and FinTech Technology category, Leaf offers a safe way for refugees to protect and transport savings while escaping conflict. It provides financial services to the stateless and excluded by creating a virtual bank through blockchain technology. Instead of using a multi-currency cash system that attracts the attention of thieves and corrupt border guards, refugees can utilize the security and convenience of a virtual currency through a mobile phone to secure assets while in flight. By facilitating the movement and storage of assets, Leaf reduces the risk of theft and creates economic identities.

From their home base in Nashville, Tenn., the Leaf team will travel to Austin to make their pitch at 11 am Sunday, March 11, in the Hilton Austin, Salon AB. Interview questions were answered by Nat Robinson (back row, farthest left), the CEO of this startup.

What is the competitive advantage of Leaf?We have an incredible team with experience across social entrepreneurship, financial services, technology, East Africa, and working with refugees. We uniquely understand the challenges and opportunities of our market and the need for technology to change how people save and move money around the world. We’re equipped to bring financial services to those who the formal banking system typically excludes.

What inspires your team to work harder?There are two billion people around the world without access to financial services and 165 million refugees and people who could become refugees at any point. That is a big problem with no easy solution. More information click here

The Trudeau Government’s Favourite African Dictator, Paul Kagame, Just Killed Unarmed Civilians — Again

Open Letter to The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, The Prime Minister Of Canada

February 24, 2018

Dear Prime Minister, I write this letter to inform you that your government’s favorite African dictator, Paul Kagame, has just performed what he is widely known for — killing unarmed civilians.

Prime Minister, before I address this latest round of violence by the Kagame regime, let me concede that I am still puzzled by what might have motivated your government to embrace this particular dictatorship in the first place.

The most embarrassing picture — when a Canadian defense minister hosted his Rwandan counterpart, James Kabarebe, who is indicted for crimes against humanity.

You will recall that your Minister of National Defence, Harjit Sajjan, gave his Rwandan counterpart, James Kabarebe, the red carpet on the Canadian soil on November 16, 2017. Kabarebe stands accused of massacring innocent Rwandan civilians as well as foreign nationals during the Rwandan Civil War of the 1990s. Kabarebe was also the chief architect of the invasion and occupation of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Under his command, an estimated 5 million people perished in DRC. The UN 2010 Mapping Report would later describe this episode as follows:

”The majority of the victims were children, women, elderly people and the sick, who were often undernourished and posed no threat to the attacking forces…Thus the apparent systematic and widespread attacks described in this report reveal a number of inculpatory elements that, if proven before a competent court, could be characterized as crimes of genocide.”

By hosting Kabarebe, Canada became the only Western democracy in which the Rwandan defense minister can set foot — the others would instead arrest him.

On November 20, 2017, Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Catherine McKenna, hosted the Rwandan minister of environment, Vincent Biruta. McKenna embarrassingly stated that “Canada and Rwanda have become great partners.” The two ministers signed a memorandum of understanding which, according to McKenna ”reaffirms our close friendship.”

Dear Prime Minister, if further evidence were needed for establishing the fact that Canada should not embrace Kagame’s regime, the latter just provided it. Between 20–23 February 2018, Rwanda’s security forces killed an unknown number of refugees who were protesting for better conditions. Here is how the United Nations High Commission for Refugees explained the situation:

”UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is urging authorities in Rwanda to ensure safety and protection for refugees after protests led to the tragic deaths of at least five refugees and the injury of many others…We are shocked and disturbed at loss of refugee lives…This tragedy should have been avoided and disproportionate use of force against desperate refugees is not acceptable. UNHCR calls on authorities to refrain from further use of force and to investigate the circumstances of this tragic incident.”

Prime Minister, I have no clue about your foreign policy towards Africa and what might be motivating your government to embrace a brutal regime that kills unarmed people. Perhaps your ministers were misled or are still learning on the job. Be that as it may, the behavior of the Kagame regime does not in any shape or form fit Canadian values.

For God’s sake, stop embracing a dictator who kills people. We call upon you to instead denounce the death of unarmed refugees.

Yours Sincerely,

David Himbara

Toronto, Canada

UNHCR shocked over reports of refugee deaths in Rwanda

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Cécile Pouilly – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is urging authorities in Rwanda to ensure safety and protection for refugees after protests led to the tragic deaths of at least five refugees and the injury of many others – including the members of the police force – on Thursday. We are shocked and disturbed at loss of refugee lives.

Around 700 Congolese refugees from Kiziba refugee camp were demonstrating outside the UNHCR field office in Karongi, in western Rwanda. The protests, ongoing since February 20, were related to food ration cuts that have added to the refugees’ sense of despair and lack of long-term prospective. Police was reported to have used tear gas to disperse the protestors, after attempts to resolve the situation had failed. Clashes were reported before the police fired shots at angry protestors.

We regret that our continued appeals for maintaining calm and restraint were not considered. This tragedy should have been avoided and disproportionate use of force against desperate refugees is not acceptable. UNHCR calls on authorities to refrain from further use of force and to investigate the circumstances of this tragic incident.

UNHCR appeals to refugee leaders to show a sense of responsibility to avoid further confrontation and again urges them to respect laws and seek solutions to all their grievances through peaceful negotiations.

Underfunding has severely affected humanitarian operations in Rwanda, now with deadly consequences. UNHCR’s 2018 appeal for US$98.8 million to support refugees in Rwanda is only is 2 percent funded.

Kiziba refugee camp hosts over 17,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Over 173,000 refugees from the DRC and Burundi live in six camps in Rwanda.

For more information on this topic, please contact:

• In Kigali, Daniela Ionita , ionita@unhcr.org , +250 78 831 0125
• In Geneva, Babar Baloch, baloch@unhcr.org, +41 79 513 95 49