Sudan: Brutal, targeted attacks on civilians must stop

"HUMANITARIAN organizations can no longer tolerate being prevented from responding to the immense needs in Sudan. International humanitarian law requires all parties to facilitate humanitarian operations. The people of Sudan have suffered enough. The time has come to guarantee a neutral, impartial humanitarian environment, and to provide aid that will truly meet people’s needs. History has shown that if belligerents comply with the laws of war, there is more hope of peace and reconciliation". Read more.

News Release from The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
Dated Tuesday, 21 November 2023 SUDAN - here is a copy in full:

Sudan: Brutal, targeted attacks on civilians must stop

Patrick Youssef is regional director for Africa at the International Committee of the Red Cross. He has just returned from Sudan, where he met representatives of the government and of the Rapid Support Forces. As the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate, he is sounding the alarm

Despair and violence have taken over in Sudan. Recent discussions in Jeddah have not resulted in a ceasefire – quite the opposite. Military activity is increasing in many parts of the country. A devastating humanitarian crisis is developing right in front of our eyes.

Weapons bring power. But that power imposes a responsibility on the warring parties – indeed, an obligation – to respect and protect the civilian population, as required by international humanitarian law.

This war has resulted in countless deaths and forced almost seven million people to flee the fighting. ICRC and Sudanese Red Crescent teams receive daily calls for help. Families are asking us to help them evacuate the sick, the wounded or members of their families, because they fear they will be arrested if they move on their own. Some report that members of their families have disappeared. Others describe desperate shortages of food and water. The price of a standard food basket has risen by 60% since April 2023, leaving some 20 million people facing acute food insecurity.

In Darfur, western Sudan, fighting has reached critical levels, affecting the populated areas of the main towns: Al Jeneina, Zalingei and Nyala. Military operations are seriously affecting the functioning of hospitals and depriving people of electricity and telecommunications.

Despite the dangers, we are making every effort to ensure that no-one is abandoned in the areas where we are operating. This week, we sent a surgical team and medical supplies to Al Jeneina University Hospital, where war-wounded patients are in urgent need of treatment.

We are constantly reminding all parties that they must allow the sick and injured to obtain medical care. In particular, this means refraining from harming people who are not participating in the fighting and allowing enemy wounded to receive treatment.

Today, at the request of the parties to the conflict, we have returned over 60 prisoners to their families in Nyala, southern Darfur. We are grateful that we could help reunite those families after months of separation. All these operations underline the importance of the ICRC’s neutrality and of its ability to work with all parties.

But the response is still very limited. Humanitarian organizations can no longer tolerate being prevented from responding to the immense needs in Sudan. International humanitarian law requires all parties to facilitate humanitarian operations. 

Simplifying the administrative formalities would be a first step towards this. We therefore reiterate our appeal to all sides, to take concrete, practical steps in line with the commitments they made during the talks in Jeddah.

The people of Sudan have suffered enough. The time has come to guarantee a neutral, impartial humanitarian environment, and to provide aid that will truly meet people’s needs. History has shown that if belligerents comply with the laws of war, there is more hope of peace and reconciliation.

About the ICRC

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a neutral, impartial and independent organization with an exclusively humanitarian mandate that stems from the Geneva Conventions of 1949. It helps people around the world affected by armed conflict and other violence, doing everything it can to protect their lives and dignity and to relieve their suffering, often alongside its Red Cross and Red Crescent partners.

 

For more information, please contact:

Germain Mwehu, ICRC Wad Madani, +249 912 150 735, gemwehu@icrc.org

Florian Seriex, ICRC Nairobi, +254 110 938 077, fseriex@icrc.org

Halimatou Amadou, ICRC Geneva, +41 79 868 55 83, hamadou@icrc.org

View original: https://www.icrc.org/en/document/sudan-brutal-targeted-attacks-on-civilians-must-stop

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Over 91,500 people enter Ethiopia from Sudan: UN

NOTE, this news of 91,500 people entering Ethiopia from Sudan says, according to UNOCHA, Ethiopian returnees represent the greater percentage of arrivals, currently standing at 43 percent, followed by Sudanese nationals at 39 percent, and third-country nationals at 18 percent.

Read more in a report by Xinhua via Big News Network
Dated Tuesday, 21 November 2023, 04:44 GMT+11 - here is a copy in full:

Over 91,500 people enter Ethiopia from conflict-hit Sudan: UN

ADDIS ABABA, Nov 20 (Xinhua) - The number of people arriving in Ethiopia owing to the conflict in Sudan has surpassed 91,500, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) has said.

As of Nov. 14, over 91,500 people entered Ethiopia since the onset of the ongoing crisis in neighboring Sudan in April, the UNOCHA said in its latest situation update about the impact of the situation in Sudan on Ethiopia issued Monday.

According to the UNOCHA, crossings have been made through various border points of entry, but mainly at the Metema and Kurmuk areas in the Amhara and Benishangul Gumz regions, respectively.

Ethiopian returnees represent the greater percentage of arrivals, currently standing at 43 percent, followed by Sudanese nationals at 39 percent, and third-country nationals at 18 percent, it said.

Deadly clashes have been going on between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Khartoum and other areas since April 15, killing up to 9,000 people by October, forcing more than 6 million displaced and leaving 25 million in need of aid, according to the Sudan situation report released on Nov. 12 by the UNOCHA.

View original: https://www.bignewsnetwork.com/news/274039790/over-91500-people-enter-ethiopia-from-conflict-hit-sudan-un

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Related reports

Sudan Watch - November 12, 2023

Sudan: Humanitarian Update (12 November 2023)

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2023/11/sudan-humanitarian-update-12-november.html

For previous UN OCHA Sudan humanitarian updates:

• Sudan Humanitarian Update, 2 November 2023

• Sudan Humanitarian Update, 26 October 2023

• Sudan Humanitarian Update, 19 October 2023

• Sudan Humanitarian Update, 13 October 2023

• Sudan Humanitarian Update, 7 October 2023

• Sudan Humanitarian Update, 28 September 2023

• Sudan Humanitarian Update, 22 September 2023

• Sudan Humanitarian Update, 14 September 2023

• Sudan Humanitarian Update, 7 September 2023

• Sudan Humanitarian Update, 31 August 2023

• Sudan Humanitarian Update, 23 August 2023

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488 cases of dengue fever in North Darfur, Sudan

Report at Radio Tamazuj - radiotamazuj.org/en
Dated Sunday, 19 November 2023 - excerpts:

488 cases of dengue fever reported in North Darfur

The North Darfur State Health Ministry last week revealed that 488 cases of dengue fever were reported in the last two weeks amid scarcity and complete lack of some essential drugs.

A report by the State Health Emergency Committee seen by Radio Tamazuj indicated that the total number of suspected cases of dengue fever reached 7,075 out of which 488 were confirmed. […]

The renewed clashes between the Sudanese army and the RSF at the beginning of November forced some hospitals and health centers to close in addition to forcing others to work half a day. Only Al-Fasher South Hospital has been operating full-time since the outbreak of the war in mid-April.

        

View original: https://radiotamazuj.org/en/news/article/488-cases-of-dengue-fever-reported-in-north-darfur

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Related reports

Sudan Watch - October 31, 2023

Chad's first dengue outbreak: what you should know

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2023/10/chads-first-dengue-outbreak-what-you.html

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SpaceX is advertising a position for growth manager of its Starlink Internet service in Sub-Saharan Africa

ACCORDING to the following article, SpaceX is advertising a job vacancy for a manager to boost Starlink growth in Africa. The role will be based in Nairobi, Kenya, from where the growth manager will report to a team at Starlink’s Hawthorne, California headquarters. It would prioritise applicants with a current right to work in Kenya. Also:

"Starlink’s estimated rollout date in South Africa has remained “unknown”, whereas the service has already been available in Kenya for four months. Six other Sub-Saharan African countries — Benin, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Zambia — have also launched Starlink. In addition, the company has given estimated rollout dates for the vast majority of the other countries in the region before the end of 2024. Aside from South Africa, the only four countries that don’t yet have a planned launch date are Central African Republic, Eritrea, Mali, and South Sudan". 

Read more in report from MyBroadband - mybroadband.co.za/news/
By Hanno Labuschagne
Dated Monday, 20 November 2023 - here is a copy in full:

SpaceX hiring manager to boost Starlink growth in Africa

SpaceX is advertising a position for growth manager of its Starlink Internet service in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The role — first reported by Space in Africa — is open for applications on the Greenhouse recruitment website.

SpaceX explained that it was looking for someone to join the Starlink Growth team, which is responsible for launching, growing, and improving the service.

The successful candidate will be accountable for Starlink’s growth and success in the region, identifying and removing barriers to growth, championing user experience, and driving initiatives to accelerate adoption.

The role will be based in Nairobi, Kenya, from where the growth manager will report to a team at Starlink’s Hawthorne, California headquarters.

The growth manager’s responsibilities will entail the following:

• Own growth of active consumer subscriber base in the region, identifying blockers and prioritising levers for growth
• Set vision, develop strategy, and manage a budget around consumer growth initiative strategies, and tactics to meet company goals in the region
• Deeply understand the customer experience in a country, elevating insights to drive localised improvements
• Develop dashboards to track progress, drive improvements to growth and operational metrics, work with the operations team to create forecasts, and communicate to the broader Starlink team and senior leadership
• Engage with local partners to drive efforts catered to the market, understand what’s working and what’s not, and drive continuous improvement
• Champion key strategic consumer-focused projects end-to-end by collaborating and working cross-functionally with Operations, Engineering, Marketing, Sales, and Support teams

The basic qualifications required to be considered for the position include a Bachelor’s degree, five or more years of experience in consulting or project management, and three or more years of experience in Excel and SQL.

In addition, SpaceX demands two or more years of leading in interdisciplinary projects. The candidate must also have residency and work authorisation in Africa.

Skyline of Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya

Other preferred skills and experience that will benefit applicants include:

• Bachelor’s degree in business, supply chain, management information systems, computer science, engineering, or economics disciplines
• 8+ years of relevant work experience in go-to-market, growth, international operations, consulting, software, Internet, and/or media industries, or early-stage companies
• Proven ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment
• Experience leading complex operational and strategic initiatives
• Demonstrated track record of cross-functional stakeholder management and leadership through influence
• Distinctive project management, problem-solving, and analysis skills, combined with business judgment and top communication skills
• Experience working in broadband Internet or other consumer product industries
• Master’s degree in management, engineering, or supply chain

SpaceX added it would prioritise applicants with a current right to work in Kenya.

They must also be willing to travel approximately 50% of the time and work extended hours and over weekends as needed.

It also stressed it does not have regional offices everywhere in the world and the candidate might not work from a SpaceX office.

No clarity on South African rollout

Many tech companies operate their Sub-Saharan Africa offices out of South Africa because the country is among the most well-developed on the continent.

However, Starlink’s estimated rollout date in South Africa has remained “unknown”, whereas the service has already been available in Kenya for four months.

Six other Sub-Saharan African countries — Benin, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Zambia — have also launched Starlink.

In addition, the company has given estimated rollout dates for the vast majority of the other countries in the region before the end of 2024.

Aside from South Africa, the only four countries that don’t yet have a planned launch date are Central African Republic, Eritrea, Mali, and South Sudan.

SpaceX’s enterprise director Phillip van Essen previously told Mining Weekly that the company prioritised countries that made it easy to get approval for Starlink.

It is possible that the role of the growth manager could include expanding the service into countries where Starlink has not passed the necessary legal hurdles.

In South Africa, Starlink requires an electronic communications services (ECS) licence to sell its service directly to customers.

It would also need an electronic communications network services (ECNS) licence to roll out ground stations to improve the service’s performance.

Starlink Gateway on Unalaska

To acquire these licences, the Electronic Communications Act determines that SpaceX — or its local subsidiary or partner — must be 30% owned by historically disadvantaged groups — including black people, women, youth, or disabled people.

Complicating matters further is that the licence will have to be acquired “second hand” from a willing seller, as South Africa’s telecoms regulator — Icasa — is not currently accepting applications for new licences.

It recently emerged that even government-owned fibre network operator Broadband Infraco cannot apply for an ECS  licence.

Icasa has not explained why it has not published a new invitation to apply for these licences in more than a decade.

Alternatively, SpaceX could work with a local partner that already meets the requirements.

However, this could make its subscription more expensive as the partner would have to take a cut to make such an arrangement financially sensible.

Although several companies have already confirmed distribution agreements with SpaceX, they have shied away from mentioning availability in South Africa in the near future.

Despite no official local rollout, over 4,000 South Africans are using imported Starlink kits with a regional or global roaming subscription to access the Internet.

Two Internet service providers (ISPs) that specialise in importing and managing Starlink on behalf of end-users — Starsat Africa and IcasaSePush — recently reduced their subscription prices substantially.

View original: https://mybroadband.co.za/news/broadband/515921-spacex-hiring-manager-to-boost-starlink-growth-in-africa.html

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