Day: February 27, 2022

Manama, The Supreme Council for Women (SCW) and the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) have participated in a webinar organised by the US-based Wilson Centre, on women and financing.

During the webinar, Bahrain’s advanced experience in the field of women’s advancement and gender balance was highlighted.

SCW member, Dr. Huda Hussain Al-Maskati, shed light on the efforts of Bahrain, through the SCW, to integrate women’s needs and achieve gender balance in the financial and entrepreneurship fields, affirming the kingdom’s deep-rooted experience in this field.

Al-Makati gave a presentation about the supportive environment for women have easy access sources of funding and participation in the national development march, highlighting CBB’s issuance of circulars emphasising non-discrimination based on gender when benefiting from banking service. She also affirmed Bahrain’s endeavours to ensure the sustainability of women’s presence in executive positions and increase their proportion in the boards of directors.

Executive Director of Banking Operations at the Central Bank of Bahrain Hessa Al-Sada, presented some indicators of women’s participation in the banking sector and their benefit from banking services.

She also referred to the existing cooperation between the Supreme Council for Women, the Central Bank of Bahrain and the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism to enhance governance standards in boards of directors.

Director of the Middle East Programme at the Wilson Centre, Merissa Khurma, lauded Bahrain’s experience in the fields of women advancement and gender balance, describing it as a success story at the level of the region, stressing the importance of exchanging expertise and knowledge to disseminate the best experiences to neighbouring countries.

A wide range of experts from the Middle East, North Africa and the United States of America participated in the webinar.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

NAIROBI, KENYA — Decreasing the usage of plastic and increasing its recycling is the aim of a resolution being presented at a United Nations Environment Program conference that opens Monday in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. According to the UNEP, 300,000 tons of plastic are produced yearly, and only 10 percent recycled, contributing to environmental pollution that, according to the UNEP, is reaching critical levels.

On the Dandora dumping site in Nairobi, visitors can see a hilly landscape full of decades of garbage and plastics generated from the city. People are sifting through the smelly waste with their bare hands, looking for something to sell or eat.

On this particular day, the site gets a visit from Inger Andersen, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, along with the UNEP assembly president, Espen Barth Eide. They are inspecting piles of blue and transparent plastics that are baking in the sun. According to the UNEP, only 10 percent of global plastic production is recycled, while the rest risks polluting the environment. The UNEP says plastics even enter the human body. Espen Barth Eide took a blood test.

“We found nano plastic traces and also phthalates, a chemical product that we use to soften plastic, in my blood, and I don’t think my blood is unique and I think this is true for all of us on the planet,” said Eide.

The UNEP is looking for a solution to the issue of increased plastic waste collection, preventing it from ending up in nature or on dumping sites.

Twenty-year-old Isaac is a garbage picker on the Dandora dumping site. He collects a lot of plastic here for selling, like bottles, known here as chupas.

“Even bottles, chupas of soda. These plastic papers and plastic chupas like water, Omo, yogurt, all of it,” he said.

The UNEP’s Andersen says a lot more plastic will have to be collected for recycling purposes to keep the environment clean.

“We understand we need plastic. We take it from the belly of the Earth with hydrocarbon, said Andersen. “We make it into plastic. But once it is in the economy, let us not put it back into the environment; let us keep it in the economy.”

At a recycling plant in Nairobi, plastic waste is turned into polythene bags and bricks which are offered on the market. It can be seen as a sign that the process has started, but for the UNEP, it must be accelerated for a cleaner world.

Source: Voice of America

Madrid, Brazilian defender Renan Lodi scored two goals for Atletico Madrid in a convincing 2-0 home win over Celta Vigo on Saturday, lifting the LaLiga champions to fourth place in the standings.

Lodi opened the scoring in the 36th minute with a cross-shot that snuck in between the goalkeeper and his right post after a long pass from Geoffrey Kondogbia, Reuters reports.

The same combination led to Atletico’s second on the hour mark as Central African Republic captain Kondogbia set up Lodi to score from close range for the first brace of his career.

The win meant leapfrogged Barcelona to fourth place in the standings, with 45 points, one behind Real Betis, six from second-placed Sevilla and 15 behind leaders Real Madrid.

It was sweet redemption for Lodi who was not being picked by coach Diego Simeone earlier in the season. He burst into tears when the crowd in the Metropolitano stadium gave him a standing ovation as he was substituted late in the second half.

He was also one of Atletico’s best players in their 1-1 draw against Manchester United in the Champions League last 16 first leg last Wednesday.

“Lodi is a hard-working, humble player who deserves all the praise and support,” Simeone told reporters.

The Brazilian was grateful to the coach for giving him a chance to shine in a more attacking position on the pitch.

“I’m really happy for the opportunity that the coach gave me to play out of my position,” Lodi said.

“I’m a left back, that’s what I do best, but if I’m needed up-front like the last two matches, I’ll do my best to contribute. I’m delighted that I finally had the chance to show what I’m worth.”

The result meant back-to-back wins for Atletico in the league, either side of their impressive showing against United in Europe, giving them hope of rescuing their season after a disappointing start.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Somalia’s ambassador to China has condemned talks between Taiwan and a separatist region of Somalia. That was in an exclusive interview with CGTN. Somaliland is not recognized by any sovereign state, and Taiwan is a region of China.

The ambassador said their communications were undermining peace and stability in Africa. In 2020, Somalia also expressed anger over Taiwan’s move to open a representative office in Somaliland.

DONG XUE CGTN Reporter “Relations have gotten closer between the Somaliland region in the northwest of your country and the Chinese region of Taiwan. In 2020, Somaliland opened a ‘Taiwan Representative Office.’ Recently, an official visited Taiwan and said that no country can dictate Somaliland’s diplomatic relations. What’s your take on this matter?”

AWALE ALI KULLANE Somali Ambassador to China “We condemn Taiwan’s approach to Somaliland and we will always protect Somalia’s national sovereignty and territory integrity whether from Taiwan or any other entity. Taiwan’s approach is really appalling in some sense because it creates instability in northern Somalia, Somaliland in the rest of Somalia and instability in the region by making a diplomatic relations with separatist militias and non state actors will further create insecurity in our region and really undo what the world has worked towards improving security in that area.

whether it was the united nations and the African union and the regional countries which have invested greatly into the peace and security of the region and the unity of Somalia. So I think Taiwan’s approach is very unproductive, unhelpful, to Somalia, horn of Africa and Africa in general, it undermines the peace and security of the continent and we will not allow this to continue.

Secondly, the agreement they made on the resources on Somali, Somali will not allow, we consider these agreements absolutely not involved, Somali natural resources and officially belong to the Somali people, and the Somali states speak for it, and we’ll not allow Taiwan or any other entity to plunder the resources under fake agreements. These are not protected by international law, both of them are not members of international organizations, so this approach really creates further insecurity, instability and we hope Taiwan to refrain from such actions.”

DONG XUE CGTN Reporter “Early this year, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi put forward the ‘Initiative of Peaceful Development in the Horn of Africa.’ He said China is willing to support regional countries in addressing the triple challenges of security, development and governance. What do you make of this initiative, and how does Somalia plan to take part?”

AWALE ALI KULLANE Somali Ambassador to China “This is a very promising initiative and I think it’s one of the most pillars and productive initiatives that I have come across in over a decade that I’ve been in diplomacy.

First of all, to create space for security dialogue is giving the leadership the space to resolve challenges and platforms within ourselves. Horn of Africa, although being in a global strategic geopolitical position, but also was keep on having hot spots that require to be resolved.

Somalia unfortunately was one of the countries that were left out in the first phase of China’s infrastructure development in the region’s investment and we hope to catch up with that. And also the two access being the Nairobi Mombasa railway as well as the Addis Ababa and Djibouti railway. Expanding that to neighboring countries really gives us the opportunity to develop and build our infrastructure and the coastal development.

The third point of the initiative of Governance is really institutionalizing the first two and make it more our own and building the Somali institutions, the regional institutions to work together so that we can have on horn of Africa characteristics of development and as well as our own nationalistic ways of developing.

I think one lesson most of us learn from the Chinese development was that you could not take models as they are. You have to make it your own.”

Source: Somali National News Agency