Bad people commit all sorts of crimes such as theft and assault. The moment campaigns set off, such crimes will then involve victims and perpetrators. Some people have become innocent victims.
This is attributed either to lack of knowledge on how to secure themselves or to poor planning by campaign facilitators. As a way of keeping safe, one needs to stay aware from congregations. Voters should know that at the end of the day, it is one vote. If by all means one has to go to the campaign venue, please do so while maintaining the ministry of Health standard operating procedures.
Avoid confrontation with security agencies. Security works on orders. And this is by both training and practice. Campaign teams should have an ambulance with first aid equipment on them.
It is possible to have cases that may require first aid or quick evacuation. One of the ways to be security conscious during election time is to always stay abreast with issues. Listen to the news always. News hour alerts on areas with possible chaos. If you have plans to move around with huge amount of cash during election, now is the time to have second thoughts.
Finally, we need to remember that there is life after the elections. Elections should not rob us of life and other valuables. Elections come and go but humanity lives on.
Samson Tinka,
Kampala
Stop funding fossil fuels
Africa-based environmentalists have come out to strongly criticize and call out developed countries to stop backing dirty energy projects in Africa that undermine the Paris agreement and jeopardize efforts to curb global warming.
These projects, which are in most cases made feasible by government-backed loans and guarantees, end up violating human rights of local host communities, destroy the environment and leave local communities disenfranchised. The activists want energy firms to funnel funding and steer financial flows towards cleaner energy projects that are low-carbon and neither harm the environment nor citizens.
In a recent report, the group from Ghana, Nigeria, Togo and Uganda, in cooperation with Friends of the Earth Netherlands and Both ENDS, reveals that since the signing of the Paris Climate Agreement, rich countries have provided almost 50 times as much support through export credit agencies.
The report titled “A Just Energy Transition for Africa? Mapping the impacts of Export Credit Agencies active in the energy sector in Ghana, Nigeria, Togo and Uganda,” reveals that rich countries insured energy projects with a total value of $11 billion and more than half of this export support is related to fossil fuels.
Only one per cent went to sustainable renewable energy. Export credit agencies provide insurances and guarantees to companies doing business abroad.
“Climate change is already having significant impact on the lives of Africans. There is no excuse for carrying on with business as usual. It’s time to stop funding fossil fuel projects. These countries are busy decarbonizing their economies while driving the climate crisis in Africa,” says Samuel Aede, a researcher from the Ugandan-based Environmental Governance Institute.
The report reads in part: “Many industrialized nations are advocating a switch to renewables at home. But while they commit to phasing out fossil fuel energy domestically, these commitments are abandoned as soon as their companies cross international borders, where they continue to push dirty energy, and as such contribute to climate change.This is happening in Africa, a region that is being hit particularly hard by the impacts of climate change.”
John Peter Okwi,
jpokwi@egiuganda.org
Journalism deserve training in Nutrition
Have you ever thought of the power of the media?
Do you ever imagine what the media is capable of changing or not changing? In 2014, the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2), held in Rome, received extensive media coverage, revealing deep nutrition issues that stirred the world.
The media played an important role in ensuring articles from leading newspapers worldwide as well as reports from televisions and radios focused on the conference. Social media was awash with activities too. Mario Lubetkin, the then director of Corporate Communications, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said “Nutrition has achieved visibility as an issue on the global agenda, primarily because of its serious social ramifications in developing and developed countries alike.”
But media has to report more. A report released in September by Civil Society Alliance for Nutrition Uganda (CIANU) on a survey it conducted, ‘Journalists’ Nutrition Reporting Skills’ revealed that close to 70 per cent of journalists in Uganda have not been exposed to any form of training in nutrition reporting, much as they broadcast and publish nutrition stories.
The report also indicated that over 90 per cent of journalists are willing and interested in undertaking training in nutrition reporting. From these findings, media has a powerful role to play when it comes to disseminating and communicating information around nutrition.
Thus more attention needs to be given to the media by government, civil society, development partners as well as private sector in ensuring they are well informed. With frequent trainings, the media will be able to inform and educate the public about nutrition issues from an informed point of view.
A well-informed population in regards to nutrition issues, combined with good policies/ programs and proper food systems is a healthy productive population that is capable of fostering development.
Malnutrition is still a challenge in Uganda with the common forms being wasting, stunting, micro-nutrient deficiencies. The Covid-19 pandemic is likely to increase malnutrition cases beyond what it initially was. This is because measures put in place to contain the spread of the disease are having devastating effects on access to quality nutritious food.
Georgine Obwana,
georginemarine@gmail.com