Home Blog Page 12

Modeling agency bemoans the effects of COVID-19

Staff Reporter
-
0

Staff Reporter – The Zimbabwe Daily

Harare, Zimbabwe – One of the country’s top modeling agencies, Harare Life Models, is now feeling the repercussions of COVID-19.

Due to the country’s state of emergency mode, fashion shows, beauty pageants and face to face training is no longer permitted which in turn has taken a ripple effect on the agency.

“Modeling is generally an in person activity. We are having troubles doing grooming in order to get the model ready for gigs, also because of the lockdown they are relatively no events happening such as fashion shows which means no gigs for models. So it’s really tough times,” said Batanai Santos, Creative Director of Harare Life Models.

However, the Creative Director said the modeling agency was now using online platforms as means of recruitment and conducting trainings.

“We have developed an online platform for models to submit their applications it’s at hlmodels.co.zw and in terms of training we are building courses for online consumption both on the web and also on WhatsApp.

However, we are still consulting our clients on the best ways to work with our models without putting them at risk of exposure to the Coronavirus epidemic,” said Santos.

Santos further highlighted that modeling was still economically viable, “modeling is indeed still viable, however we need to innovate, perhaps incorporate things like influencer marketing and building our models as brands so that they can get paid while endorsing products.

Moreso, with regards to the new normal, we think it’s only necessary to look at the way forward and it’s hard to tell if we will ever go back or we might be facing a new normal, what’s important is adoption and making it work.”

1.9 million get polio vaccination in Angola

Staff Reporter
-
0

Staff Reporter – The Zimbabwe Daily

Luanda, Angola – More than 1.9 million children have been vaccinated against polio in the past week.

To date, more than 13 000 people across the country’s 18 provinces have since launched vaccination campaigns aimed at targeting children under the age of 5.

However, although progress is being made in Angola, the World Health Organization (WHO) has bemoaned the COVID-19 pandemic which has made it difficult for children to be properly vaccinated.

“In many polio infected countries, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted polio surveillance to a varying extent, sometimes significantly, resulting in an unusual degree of uncertainty regarding the current true polio epidemiology. 

Furthermore, routine immunisation has also been adversely affected by the pandemic in many countries.  There is evidence that in some polio infected countries, the pandemic may yet to have peaked.  As international travel begins to return, there is unknown risk of exportation of polio viruses. 

Moreso, there are many other challenges ahead, such as the effect of COVID-19 on community trust and support for immunization, the possibility of other epidemics such as measles, the risks to front-line workers and how these can be managed, and the risk of immunization activities being associated with COVID-19 outbreaks, either truly or spuriously,” read part of the statement issued out by WHO.

According to WHO, Angola is amongst one of the 14 African countries that are facing rare outbreaks of a circulating vaccine derived polio virus

MDC Alliance to shut down Zimbabwe

Staff Reporter
-
0
MDC Alliance to shut down Zimbabwe

Staff Reporter – The Zimbabwe Daily

Harare, Zimbabwe – The MDC Alliance’s national Youth Assembly spokesperson, Stephen Chuma has vowed to shut down the country come the 31st of this month.

Last week, during a webinar, Nelson Chamisa, the MDC Alliance leader promised a nationwide demo against the rule of the country’s President, Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Although the police hasn’t yet given the MDC Alliance the green light to go ahead with their nationwide demo, plans are already at an advanced level.

“31 July is certainly going to mark the end of Emmerson Mnangagwa’s short but brutal dictatorship.

In his short spell as the President albeit through stealing elections, Mnangagwa has presided over untold suffering, repression and oppression that has never been witnessed before in this land.

It was under Mnangagwa when we first witnessed senseless butchering with live ammunition of defenseless citizens by rogue soldiers.

Moreso, it is by no coincidence that the people are going to take to the streets a day before the anniversary of the 1 August military killings.

The blood of those martyrs is crying for justice and the biggest form of justice those innocent civilians can ever have is removal of the man who deployed the military on the day in question.

That man is none other than Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, the people are going to stop at nothing to make sure he is gone.

Nothing, nothing and I repeat nothing at all is going to save this man whose corrupt and murderous regime is responsible for the worst economic crisis since the lapse of the GNU.

It is only under Mnangagwa’s watch that we have witnessed a sharp increase abductions of civil society leaders, trade unionists and political activists.

From Tatenda Mombeyarara to Cecilia Chimbiri, Netsai Marova and Joanna Mamombe, the growing list of abductees is inexhaustible.

In his fake new dispensation, Mnangagwa did set a new for every wrong reason. Citizens recall with anger and aghast the shock events of January 2019 where a sizeable number was raped and killed.

For the first time post independence, we witnessed a total blackout of internet connectivity in January 2019.

It is under Mnangagwa that a new phenomenon called catch and release mushroomed to habour corrupt cabinet criminals like his clansman Obadiah Moyo.

The season of people power is ripe and time to take stalk is now, not even the abuse of COVID-19 lockdown is going to save Mnangagwa from protests.

We, the citizens have run out of patience and we just can not afford another day with Emmerson Mnangagwa as the President.

31 July must be the last straw for Mnangagwa, let us do it for ourselves and future generations,” said Chuma.

Angola feeling the brunt of COVID-19

Staff Reporter
-
0

Staff Reporter – The Zimbabwe Daily

Luanda, Angola – Africa’s second largest oil producer has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic which has seen a global decrease in the demand for crude.

Projects which were in the pipeline have now been delayed and exploration plans are being shelved due to the current market situation.

According to Siva Prasad, senior upstream analyst at Rystad Energy, the COVID-19 induced capital spending cuts may have thrown a wrench into the country’s plan for a bright oil and gas future.

“Angola desperately needs to accelerate its new developments to reduce its declining production and must undertake more exploration to replace its depleted reserves.

Despite the government’s efforts to make operations in the country more operator friendly, investors may quit Angola unless the government acts swiftly,” said  Prasad.

Only around 10 cargoes of Angolan crude remain to be sold for export in August, but lack of Chinese demand has seen some grades slip around 50 cents from a little over a week ago. Chinese buying of Angolan crude is amongst the lowest of any recent trading cycle.

Former Big Brother Africa winner Idris Sultan faces jail time

Staff Reporter
-
0

Staff Reporter – The Zimbabwe Daily

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – Idris Sultan, the winner of the 2014 Big Brother Africa (BBA) Hotshots is facing a three months prison sentence for allegedly using an unregistered SIM card.

The 27 year old comedian was first arrested in May after he posted a video on the internet making fun of President John Magufuli.

Although he was released on a court bond of US$6 550 pending his trial, the reasons of his arrest remained unknown until yesterday when he was standing trial for using an unregistered SIM card and not for making fun of President Magufuli.

However, the former BBA winner denied the charges and the trial has since been moved to the 5th of next month following an argument brought in by the Prosecutor who cited that there were 15 witnesses that were going to testify as well as  substantial evidence.

Nevertheless, Deprose Muchena, director for Amnesty International’s east and southern Africa region said the charges were politically motivated.

“These charges are politically motivated and must be immediately dropped. It is evident that the Tanzanian authorities do not have a case against Idris Sultan and are simply out to harass him.The court must throw out the trumped-up charges against him,” said Muchena.

Libya gets $0.5 million emergency relief assistance for PPE protection against COVID-19 from African Development Bank grants

Staff Reporter
-
0

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast –  The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) have approved a grant of $480,000 to Libya under the Special Relief Fund (SRF) for the procurement of much-needed personal protective equipment (PPE) intended for treatment of cases of infection of the novel Coronavirus.

The Bank’s funding will contribute to supporting the country’s national Response Plan for COVID-19. The assistance is intended to focus on infection prevention and control and to shield communities, particularly  those most vulnerable including the health workers.

The $480,000 grant, is considered the first granted to the North African nation under the SRF since 2014. It was approved following a request from the Libyan government. The operation is a result of close coordination with the Finance and Health ministries.

Bank support will focus on the supply of PPE intended for use in ICUs and during treatment of cases of infection, easing the concerns of the medical staff, while enabling authorities to strengthen their readiness plan for an expected surge in cases. The PPE equipment to be procured will be distributed to hospitals across the country designated for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

The intervention will complement the ongoing humanitarian activities of UN agencies and international organizations to mitigate the negative effects of the virus pandemic on the population living in Libya. Accordingly, the Bank support will be implemented by the World Health Organization (WHO) operating in Libya.

North Africa is leading in the number of COVID infections in Africa (around 45,000 confirmed cases) and deaths (around 1,500) since the virus arrived on the continent in March, and while the reported number of infections in Libya is still manageable – 156 confirmed cases and five deaths as of June 1, 2020 –  the health service in the country suffers from severe shortages of staff, medicines, supplies and equipment.

The COVID-19 pandemic occurs at a time when the Libyan economy is dramatically affected by a sharp drop in oil production in addition to the global drop in oil prices. The country is also facing social and political disruptions, which threaten the entire population.

The Bank’s support intends to ensure that amidst the prevailing circumstances, needed relief and assistance are provided to the Libyan people, with a particular focus on the prevention of infection of doctors, nurses and health workers who are at the forefront of the pandemic and are critical for the success of pandemic prevention and control efforts.

Alight’s COVID-19 Health Messaging Campaign IN OUR HANDS Reaches 100 Million People Worldwide

Staff Reporter
-
0

Minneapolis – Alight, formerly known as the American Refugee Committee, is proud to share that the IN OUR HANDS campaign has officially reached 100 million people worldwide. The campaign, which was created in conjunction with IDEO.org, launched in mid-April as COVID-19 was surging globally and millions of people still hadn’t heard of the virus. IN OUR HANDS was developed to share bite-sized, positive health messaging and prevention techniques, while also dismantling prevalent myths and misinformation about COVID-19. What started as an effort in the 19 countries that Alight serves has since been translated into over 40 languages and expanded to get lifesaving information to marginalized and remote communities in 86 different countries.

“We are extremely pleased by the reach and impact we’ve been able to achieve with the IN OUR HANDS campaign – from dense cities to rural farmlands – especially being able to help so many organizations and communities missed by other outreach efforts,” says Daniel Wordsworth, Alight CEO. “Especially impactful has been all the translations into regional languages, removing barriers to communication and unlocking information for so many people.”

The campaign utilized social media as one of the main communication platforms, working with 170+ influencers from over 10 countries. Alight’s agency partner, Kepler, executed a highly targeted digital advertising campaign, amplifying the message of the program.

“In-house automation tools allowed us to deploy the campaigns quickly, in under a week, and test multiple rounds of creative to understand what was driving the most impact,” says Johnny Bachrach, Kepler’s Altruism project lead. “This resulted in a reach of over 26 million people in both rural and urban areas of Kenya, Pakistan, Somalia, South Sudan, and Uganda.”

As the campaign picked up momentum, additional grassroots approaches for reaching more people were employed and customized for each country. Efforts including radio and television broadcasts, billboard installations, door-to-door sensitization and message broadcasts from vehicles were leveraged in varying ways to ensure that accurate information was received by as many people as possible.

“Our aim was to develop an uplifting and informative campaign that was contextually relevant and resonant for a wide range of communities,” adds Jocelyn Wyatt, CEO, IDEO.org. “By listening to the unique needs and concerns of various communities, and translating those considerations into campaign language, visuals, and modes of communication that are responsive to each setting, we created a unified global campaign that speaks to Alight’s values.”

To learn more about the IN OUR HANDS campaign, please visit @we.are.alight on Instagram or @WeAreAlight on Facebook, and to show your support, please visit www.wearealight.org/covid19response.

ABOUT ALIGHT
Established in 1978 by founder Neal Ball, Alight, formerly known as American Refugee Committee, provides health care, clean water, shelter, protection and economic opportunities to more than 3.5 million people in 17 countries each year. Alight believes in the incredible creativity, potential, and ingenuity of the displaced and works to shine a light on their humanity, the tremendous amount of good that’s already happening and the possibilities to do more. The organization exists to see and help every person make meaningful change in the world – from displaced and marginalized communities in Africa, Asia and the Americas to…anyone, anywhere. Learn more about Alight at www.wearealight.org.

Mozambique to reopen schools

Staff Reporter
-
0
Mozambique to reopen schools

Staff Reporter – The Zimbabwe Daily

Pemba, Mozambique – Mozambique will on the 27th of this month reopen 171 schools for grade 12 learners and 19 teachers’ training institutions.

The government and UNICEF have been working hand in glove in making sure the schools and institutions are ready to welcome back students.

“UNICEF has supported the training of 73 community health workers on COVID-1 and continuity of services benefiting 15 000 children under the age of 5 years.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) for health care workers donated by UNICEF has been dispatched by the Ministry of Health (MoH) to all provinces.

Moreover, approximately 8 million people have been reached by 111 community radios supported by UNICEF with COVID-19 preventive measures,” read a statement from UNICEF.

To date, Mozambique has recorded 1 071 COVID-19 cases and 6 COVID-19 fatalities. Local markets have been identified as areas with a high risk of contamination and the country is undertaking markets re-qualification exercise in order to ensure physical distance between sellers and buyers as part of the COVI-19 pandemic prevention strategy.

‘E-voting not feasible in Zimbabwe’

Staff Reporter
-
0
‘E-voting not feasible in Zimbabwe’

Staff Reporter – The Zimbabwe Daily

Harare, Zimbabwe – With the rate Artificial Intelligence (AI) is moving across the world, it’s now an adapt or abort situation.

However, some members of the country’s political divide still think AI’s penetration into the country is still a milestone especially when it comes to elections.

“While e-voting may be a noble idea to address issues of convenience, like all innovations that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) may introduce, e-voting needs to be piloted fully. This is against the backdrop that the majority of Zimbabweans are in rural areas so issues of accessibility and affordability of technology come into question hence, there arises a need for comprehensive voter education to ensure eligible voters keep abreast with technological advancements,” said Emilia Bundo, Media and Information Officer at the Zimbabwe Election Support Network.

Dr. Maxwell Shumba Rusike, president of ZimFirst also alluded to the fact that the country was yet to embrace such an innovation.

“Introduction of e-voting and election technologies might not be feasible for 2023 but in the following election the country has to strive for that. There are two fundamental issues that need to be addressed for Zimbabwe to be ready to implement e-voting.

Firstly, Zimbabwe does not have the financial muscle that is needed to purchase the equipment for e-voting and election related technologies. There are also other cost factors like the induction, training and piloting that need to be factored in.

Secondly, e-voting has a legal and constitutional implication thus, the country’s constitution has to make provisions for this,” said the ZimFirst leader.

LEAD president, Linda Masarira also acknowledged the need of having e-voting but also queried the issue of funds and AI penetration.

“Funds permitting, I think it would be a wise idea though the biggest challenge would be on how to get the 70 percent rural electorate to vote. Zimbabwe is not that technologically advanced. There would be need for a feasibility study using by-elections to determine if Zimbabwe is indeed ready for online voting.

However, e-voting is the way to go to achieve world class, efficient  and smart voting. Online voting helps maintain ballot secrecy and  reduces costs through simple and efficient election management. I firmly believe that e-voting will help us receive legally valid results and conduct online elections according to democratic principles.

Moreso, this will assist Zimbabwe to get out of the rigging mantra and disputed elections every electoral year,” said Masarira.

Air Namibia fails to take off

Staff Reporter
-
0
Air Namibia fails to take off

Staff Reporter – The Zimbabwe Daily

Windhoek, Namibia

State owned Air Namibia’s 11 planes have been grounded as the state owned carrier is now insolvent.

“Taking all the factors into consideration and the requirements of the Air Services Act, namely that an operator must be financially able to provide a safe, satisfactory and reliable air service, the Commission has resolved to suspend Air Namibia’s Schedules Air Services Licence No 00012 again with effect from 23h59 on Wednesday, 8 July 2020,” read part of the letter from the  Transportation Commission of Namibia.

However, Air Namibia’s non-scheduled Air Services Licence will remain valid for the duration of the state of emergency in order to allow the airline to undertake humanitarian evacuation and repatriation flight this will however, only apply during the state of emergency, after which the suspension will also be extended to these flights.

Air Namibia is in urgent need of US$469 million. The state owned airline’s financial woes pre-date the COVID-19 pandemic which has ravaged air travel around the world due to the stand-still in tourism.

Moreso, it has failed to produce financial statements in recent years, a requirement of Namibia’s Air Services Act.

In January it faced serious allegations around safety operations and its finances contained in an audit report published by German airline Lufthansae which it is yet to resolve.

1...111213...333Page 12 of 333