Uganda: Congolese refugee scoops woman of the year award

http://www.inyenyerinews.org/amakuru-2/congolese-refugee-scoops-woman-of-the-year-award/

Congolese refugee scoops woman of the year award

June 21, 2013 by Rwema IT Webmaster Leave a Comment

Ten years ago, Marie Jeani Angeya's life was terribly disrupted and changed forever when her husband and one of their children were killed. Originally running a restaurant in Kasenyi in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angeya felt her life was insecure.
She had to seek safety, and so she escaped into Uganda with her six other children, ending up at Kyaka II Refugee Settlement.

Although the circumstances of her life have been difficult, the 50-year-old has not let them weigh her down, and her work and goodwill in the refugee camp have paid off – winning her the 2013 Refugee Woman of the Year award.

Angeya, known for her kindness, perseverance and helping others, especially the most vulnerable, has stood out among other women.
It is her outstanding campaign to promote safe deliveries and dealing with other health issues such as HIV and family planning that have earned her praise in Kyaka II refugee camp in Kamwenge District.

"If there is someone in need, I have to help her/him. I cannot turn them away. I leave all my duties and start helping them," Angeya says.

When she settled in Uganda, she was given a piece of land, where she dealt in charcoal to educate her children.
It was around that time that she discovered her talent in making crafts, so she started making table cloths for sale.
Because Angeya wanted to start teaching other refugees how to make crafts as well, she invested her profits in supporting small businesses.

"Marie is an exemplary woman who encourages refugees to help each other," Tarja-Saarela Kaonga, Resident Representative of FRC, says.
The award, which is part of celebrations to mark World Refugee Day, is a brainchild of the Finnish Refugee Council (FRC) in co-operation with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).
Accompanying the award is Shs3 million.

This is the second time the Refugee Woman of the Year Award has been awarded to a Ugandan. In Finland, a corresponding award has been granted to a refugee woman annually since 1997.
With the award, FRC, UNHCR and the OPM want to increase awareness on refugee issues, encourage refugee women to go forward and promote a positive image of skilled, resourceful women in Uganda.

snaturinda@ug.nationmedia.com

Filed Under: AMAKURU

Uganda: Congolese refugee scoops woman of the year award

http://www.inyenyerinews.org/amakuru-2/congolese-refugee-scoops-woman-of-the-year-award/

Congolese refugee scoops woman of the year award

June 21, 2013 by Rwema IT Webmaster Leave a Comment

Ten years ago, Marie Jeani Angeya's life was terribly disrupted and changed forever when her husband and one of their children were killed. Originally running a restaurant in Kasenyi in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angeya felt her life was insecure.
She had to seek safety, and so she escaped into Uganda with her six other children, ending up at Kyaka II Refugee Settlement.

Although the circumstances of her life have been difficult, the 50-year-old has not let them weigh her down, and her work and goodwill in the refugee camp have paid off – winning her the 2013 Refugee Woman of the Year award.

Angeya, known for her kindness, perseverance and helping others, especially the most vulnerable, has stood out among other women.
It is her outstanding campaign to promote safe deliveries and dealing with other health issues such as HIV and family planning that have earned her praise in Kyaka II refugee camp in Kamwenge District.

"If there is someone in need, I have to help her/him. I cannot turn them away. I leave all my duties and start helping them," Angeya says.

When she settled in Uganda, she was given a piece of land, where she dealt in charcoal to educate her children.
It was around that time that she discovered her talent in making crafts, so she started making table cloths for sale.
Because Angeya wanted to start teaching other refugees how to make crafts as well, she invested her profits in supporting small businesses.

"Marie is an exemplary woman who encourages refugees to help each other," Tarja-Saarela Kaonga, Resident Representative of FRC, says.
The award, which is part of celebrations to mark World Refugee Day, is a brainchild of the Finnish Refugee Council (FRC) in co-operation with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).
Accompanying the award is Shs3 million.

This is the second time the Refugee Woman of the Year Award has been awarded to a Ugandan. In Finland, a corresponding award has been granted to a refugee woman annually since 1997.
With the award, FRC, UNHCR and the OPM want to increase awareness on refugee issues, encourage refugee women to go forward and promote a positive image of skilled, resourceful women in Uganda.

snaturinda@ug.nationmedia.com

Filed Under: AMAKURU

US Special Envoy: No cozy relationships with Africa Great Lakes' heavy handed regimes

http://www.afjn.org/focus-campaigns/promote-peace-d-r-congo/30-commentary/1169-senator-russ-feingold-appointed-us-special-envoy-to-the-great-lakes.html

US Special Envoy: No cozy relationships with Africa Great Lakes' heavy handed regimes

 

Posted on June 18, 2013

by Jacques Bahati

Former Senator from Wisconsin, Russ Feingold, has been appointed US Special Representative for the African Great Lakes region and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. National and international organizations have been calling for this appointment since 2006. 

Although Africa Faith and Justice Network (AFJN) receives with optimism the appointment of the special envoy, we wait to see more constructive US policy in the region. Such policy would include unconditional support to democracy, rule of law, human rights promotion, civil society empowerment and conflict prevention and development. We oppose any policy that will nurture further cozy relationships with the Great Lakes' heavy handed regimes. "Africa doesn't need strongmen, it needs strong institutions" (Accra/Ghana Speech, President Obama July 11, 2009).

Working closely with Secretary of State Kerry, a special envoy has legal tools to achieve fair, creditable and just US policies in this region.Public Law 109-456 section 105 states that "The Secretary of State is authorized to withhold assistance made available under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.), other than humanitarian, peacekeeping, and counterterrorism assistance, for a foreign country if the Secretary determines that the government of the foreign country is taking actions to destabilize the Democratic Republic of the Congo."  We recall that in July 2012 in accordance with US Public law 112-74 the US withheld $200,000 from the Rwandan government over Rwanda's support to rebel group M23, but more has to be done.

It is our hope that the special envoy will help facilitate a much-needed change from the failed policies of the Clinton Administration era which emboldened Rwandan President Kagame to invade DRC in 1996 (with Ugandan President Museveni's support ). The ongoing proxy wars and friendly relationships with certain rebel groups in eastern DRC continue to challenge peacekeeping efforts in DRC's border provinces with these two nations.

In coordinating US diplomatic efforts in the region we hope that the special envoy will also give due attention to the implementation of other relevant US laws such as Section 1502 of Public Law 111-203, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and the Consumer Protection Act of 2010 which focuses on conflict mineral from the DRC and the region in general.

The appointment of a special envoy is required by the 2006 US public law 109-456, The Democratic Republic of Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act, the only bill the former junior Senator Barack Obama introduced in his time in the senate. Section 107 of this law requires that "Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President should appoint a Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region to help coordinate efforts to resolve the instability and insecurity in Eastern Congo."  President Obama has been reminded of this since he became President in 2008 and it has taken 5 years to deliver on a law he wrote.

US Special Envoy: No cozy relationships with Africa Great Lakes' heavy handed regimes

http://www.afjn.org/focus-campaigns/promote-peace-d-r-congo/30-commentary/1169-senator-russ-feingold-appointed-us-special-envoy-to-the-great-lakes.html

US Special Envoy: No cozy relationships with Africa Great Lakes' heavy handed regimes

 

Posted on June 18, 2013

by Jacques Bahati

Former Senator from Wisconsin, Russ Feingold, has been appointed US Special Representative for the African Great Lakes region and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. National and international organizations have been calling for this appointment since 2006. 

Although Africa Faith and Justice Network (AFJN) receives with optimism the appointment of the special envoy, we wait to see more constructive US policy in the region. Such policy would include unconditional support to democracy, rule of law, human rights promotion, civil society empowerment and conflict prevention and development. We oppose any policy that will nurture further cozy relationships with the Great Lakes' heavy handed regimes. "Africa doesn't need strongmen, it needs strong institutions" (Accra/Ghana Speech, President Obama July 11, 2009).

Working closely with Secretary of State Kerry, a special envoy has legal tools to achieve fair, creditable and just US policies in this region.Public Law 109-456 section 105 states that "The Secretary of State is authorized to withhold assistance made available under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.), other than humanitarian, peacekeeping, and counterterrorism assistance, for a foreign country if the Secretary determines that the government of the foreign country is taking actions to destabilize the Democratic Republic of the Congo."  We recall that in July 2012 in accordance with US Public law 112-74 the US withheld $200,000 from the Rwandan government over Rwanda's support to rebel group M23, but more has to be done.

It is our hope that the special envoy will help facilitate a much-needed change from the failed policies of the Clinton Administration era which emboldened Rwandan President Kagame to invade DRC in 1996 (with Ugandan President Museveni's support ). The ongoing proxy wars and friendly relationships with certain rebel groups in eastern DRC continue to challenge peacekeeping efforts in DRC's border provinces with these two nations.

In coordinating US diplomatic efforts in the region we hope that the special envoy will also give due attention to the implementation of other relevant US laws such as Section 1502 of Public Law 111-203, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and the Consumer Protection Act of 2010 which focuses on conflict mineral from the DRC and the region in general.

The appointment of a special envoy is required by the 2006 US public law 109-456, The Democratic Republic of Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act, the only bill the former junior Senator Barack Obama introduced in his time in the senate. Section 107 of this law requires that "Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President should appoint a Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region to help coordinate efforts to resolve the instability and insecurity in Eastern Congo."  President Obama has been reminded of this since he became President in 2008 and it has taken 5 years to deliver on a law he wrote.

"Nanyura ikuzimu, nanyura mu ijuru, ngomba gusubira i Rwanda"- Faustin Twagiramungu

http://www.umuryango.com/spip.php?article7554

"Nanyura ikuzimu, nanyura mu ijuru, ngomba gusubira i Rwanda"- Faustin Twagiramungu

Intego yo gutahuka akaza gukorera mu Rwanda kuri Twagiramungu Faustin umunyapolitiki w'umunyarwanda wigeze kuba Minisitiri w'Intebe ntiyabashije kugerwaho kubera kubura uburenganzira bwo gukandagira ku butaka bw'u Rwanda (Visa), ariko ngo uko byagenda kose azataha.

Byari biteganyijwe ko Faustin Twagiramungu agera mu Rwanda kuri uyu wa 21 Kamena hamwe na mugenzi we Gérard Karangwa Semushi w'ishyaka rya PDP Imanzi, ariko Twagiramungu nta bwo yafashe indege kuko atarabona Visa.

Twagiramungu (iburyo) yifuriza urugendo ruhire Karangwa/Foto : Internet

Faustin Twagiramungu yatangarije BBC ati : "Nzakomeza ngerageze nshakishe uburyo nzasubira mu Rwanda. Igihugu cy'u rwanda ni iguhugu navukiyemo, nakoreyemo Politiki. Niba banyimye Visa ntago bazanyima Uruhushya rw'inzira (Passport) rwo kunyinjiza mu gihugu mvukamo, kereka nibansha mu gihugu."

Faustin Twagiramungu yari yatangaje ko azatahuka akaza gukorera Politiki ye mu Rwanda bitarenze tariki ya 21 Kamena 2013.

Twagiramungu w'imyaka 68, we yatangarije BBC ko yasabye Visa akoresheje Passport y'u Bubiligi, ngo kuko Passport ye y'u Rwanda yari yararengeje igihe.

Twagiramungu yakomeje abwira BBC ko atazi impamvu yatumye atabona visa, ngo kuko n'abandi banyarwanda bose baba mu mahanga banafite ubwenegihugu bwa ho bakoresha impushya z'inzira (Passports) z'ibyo bihugu.

Yatanze urugero kuri mugenzi we Gérard Karangwa Semushi, wasabye visa akoreshe passport y'u Buholandi ngo agahita ayihabwa nyuma y'iminsi 3 gusa.

Twagiramungu ngo ntazi ibyo bakiri kumwigaho cyangwa kumupererezaho, ngo kuko nta cyaha yishinja. Ngo si umujura, ngo si umwicanyi ngo nta n'ikindi cyaha yishinja, maze yongeraho ati : "Jyewe ngomba gusubira mu Rwanda. Nanyura ikuzimu, nanyura mu ijuru, Ngomba kujya mu Rwanda."

Uyu munyapoliti ushaka gutaha mu Rwanda, ngo aje kwandikisha ishyaka rye RDI-Rwanda Rwiza (Initiative pour le rêve rwandais) rikaza rigakora nk'indi mitwe ya Politiki yemewe n'amategeko.

Twagiramungu yeguye ku mwanya wa Minisitiri w'Intebe mu mwaka w'1995, akaba yarakunze kurangwa n'ibitekerezo binyuranye n'iby'abo bakoranye mu buyobozi bukuru bw'igihugu.

Mu kwezi kwa gatatu yatangaje ko ataje kwiyamamaza mu matora y'abadepite ateganyijwe muri Nzeri, ngo kuko yegereje ngo ndetse igihe kikaba cyarabarenganye cyo kwitegura.

Mu ntangiriro z'uku kwezi, abazwa icyo atekereza ku itaha rya Twagiramungu, Tito Rutaremara Umuvugizi w'umutwe wa Politiki FPR Inkotanyi yari yatangaje ko ahawe ikaze kimwe n'izindu mpunzi zose zishaka gutahuka.