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Malaysian journalist targeted by hate speech and racist attacks on Facebook · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Environment Minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man was interviewed by Malaysiakini journalist Kow Gah Chie about logging activities in Kelantan. Screenshot from KiniTV video uploaded on YouTube
A Malaysian journalist was subjected to racist and threatening comments on Facebook after reporting about a logging issue involving a government minister. Media groups urged authorities and Facebook to adopt measures aimed at protecting journalists.
On March 11, 2020, online news website Malaysiakini published an article written by Kow Gah Chie about logging operations in Kelantan, a state in northern peninsular Malaysia. The report has a quote from Environment Minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man in which he seems to be supporting a logging company.
Supporters of the Minister accused Kow of fabricating the quote since the statement was not mentioned in a live-streamed press conference of the government. The Ministry also said the report was inaccurate. But Kow got the quote from the Minister himself during a video interview after the press conference. KiniTV has an excerpt of the interview with English subtitle.
A Facebook post attacking Kow went viral. Comments in the post hurled racist and insulting statements against the reporter by citing her Chinese ancestry. Some threatened to physically harm her.
The post was briefly removed on Facebook for violating community standards but it was restored again. After several appeals, the post was finally removed but by that time it has already been shared by almost 3,000 users with more than 2,000 comments.
ARTICLE 19, a group advocating freedom of expression, criticized the attacks against Kow. Nalini Elumalai, ARTICLE 19’s Malaysia Programme Officer, highlighted the abuse faced by women journalists like Kow.
The harassment and abuse of journalists in online spaces constitutes a major threat to independent journalism and freedom of expression in Malaysia. Women journalists and those from minority groups are particularly vulnerable.
Wathshlah Naidu, executive director of the Malaysia-based Centre for Independent Journalism, advised Facebook to review its process in responding to online hate speech:
We hope Facebook will engage with civil society organisations and media actors to understand the local context and challenges. Timely action by Facebook and other social media platforms is crucial in curbing online attacks, which commonly include trolling and doxing.
Media scholar Gayathry S Venkiteswaran took Facebook to task for its slow response to the issue:
This is the problem when the global platform refuses to understand local contexts and ends up validating potentially inciteful content. This is clearly also a threat against the media. https://t.co/mxxoGe0C0Y
— Gayathry V (@gayathry) March 14, 2020
A similar point was made by former journalist Norman Goh who tweeted when Facebook initially refused to remove the post
Such threats and cyberbullying towards a journalist must stop and it's appalling that @Facebook did not take down the post. Journalists should be free report without fear or favour, abide by the ethics as well.@pressfreedom @cijournalism @cijournalism https://t.co/mFQ6F1HdRz
— Norman Goh (@imnormgoh) March 14, 2020
Aside from media groups, Kow got support from Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah who criticized the attacks against the reporter. The Environment Minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man also deplored the harassment against the reporter and insisted that the disagreement over the news article should be resolved in a ‘professional manner’.

author: Mong Palatino


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Nigeria enforces travel bans amid sloppy management of COVID-19 cases · Global Voices
Nwachukwu Egbunike

Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay. Used under a Pixabay license, public use.
Check out Global Voices’ special coverage of the global impact of COVID-19.
Nigeria has confirmed five new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of coronavirus patients to eight,  according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control:
@Fmohnigeria has announced 5 new cases of #COVID19 in Nigeria bringing the total number confirmed cases in Nigeria to 8
All 5 cases had a travel history to the UK/USA
We urge Nigerians to remain calm as public health response activities are intensified across the country pic.twitter.com/yoKLHXoxhq
— NCDC (@NCDCgov) March 18, 2020
The increase to eight patients came just 48 hours after Dr. E. Osagie Ehanire confirmed the third case of COVID-19, March 16, as a “Nigerian national in her 30s who returned from a short visit to the United Kingdom on March 13″:
There is a 3rd confirmed case of #COVID19 in Nigeria.
The new case is a Nigerian National who recently returned from the UK, self-isolated & contacted @NCDCGov when she developed symptoms. She is clinically stable. Read the press release below: pic.twitter.com/RqV1QASayX
— Dr. E. Osagie Ehanire MD, FWACS (@DrEOEhanire) March 17, 2020
The patient voluntarily began a 14-day self-isolation in Lagos, during which she developed symptoms of fever and cough. The patient is currently admitted to the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba, Lagos. She is clinically stable and responding to treatment.
As numbers of COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Nigeria, the government has yielded to public outcry on March 18 by placing travel restrictions on citizens from 13 countries with over 1,000 domestic cases of coronavirus: China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Japan, France, Germany, Norway, the United States, the United Kingdom, Netherlands and Switzerland.
Those who have already entered the country from these countries must go through a 14-day quarantine.
On February 27, an Italian national visiting Nigeria was confirmed as the index case for COVID-19 in the country.
The second confirmed case, according to the NCDC, is a contact of the index case who has now tested negative twice. Consequently, the second case was cleared of “the virus and was discharged to go home on 13th of March 2020,” states the NCDC.
Many Nigerian netizens have not been satisfied with the current response to COVID-19 and have called for tougher measures to prevent the spread of the pandemic in Nigeria.
Netizen Ayobami decried the slow response of the NCDC. He advised the agency to “stop the media parade and do some work!”
What we won’t do is to tell more lies, no one has attended to her since last night, she hasn’t been given medication and is not being treated! Stop the media parade and do some work! This isn’t about getting international accolades. https://t.co/OvpFgOa1mu
— Ayobami (@dondekojo) March 17, 2020
Gideon says it “should scare all of us” that COVID-19 testing is slow in Nigeria.
That the @dondekojo case has been confirmed as positive for Coronavirus should scare all of us. This person tried to get tested numerous times and was given the runaround by our healthcare providers and ministry of health. Had to shout on twitter before even testing.
— Gideon (@DondeonBeke) March 17, 2020
“Restrict travelers coming in especially from countries” affected by this virus, insists journalist Bayo Olupohunda:
Nobody is saying the FG [federal government] should ban flights outrightly. We cannot ban Nigerians from coming into the country. But they must be quarantined & released once cleared of the virus. But you must restrict travellers coming in especially from countries affect by this virus. https://t.co/1QrUTyJ13O
— Bayo Olupohunda (@BayoOlupohunda) March 17, 2020
Dr. Whitewalker insists that a travel ban is a normal epidemiological intervention in order to stem the tide of transmission during a pandemic like this:
The travel ban help buy time to enable strengthening response to nationwide outbreak.
— WhiteHawk Dr (@MakweCatherine) March 17, 2020
Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, head of NCDC, pleaded that they are “trying VERY hard to meet all urgent needs”:
We’re extremely busy. Our call handlers are taking hundreds of calls every day, 24/7 including weekends, from across Nigeria
Please be patient with us & help us by pulling together. The criticism distracts us from critical work
We are trying VERY hard to meet all urgent needs
— Chikwe Ihekweazu (@Chikwe_I) March 17, 2020
On March 17, the Senate, Nigeria's upper legislative house, initially called for a ban on flights from coronavirus high-risk countries like the United Kingdom and China, before extending the restrictions the following day.
All visitors from affected countries will undergo a “supervised self-isolation and testing for 14 days,” reports the Cable Nigeria. The government also temporarily suspended visas-on-arrival in Nigeria.
The travel ban comes into effect on Saturday, March 21, 2020, and will last four weeks, which is open to a possible extension upon review.
Several African countries have been implementing tough protocols to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus. These stringent measures include placing travel restrictions on nations with high numbers of COVID-19 cases.
There are reports about the inadequate and slipshod response by health officials to the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.
A 70-year-old woman who had spent five months in the United Kingdom returned to Nigeria, on March 11. Soon after, she presented with COVID-19 symptoms like cold and excessive mucous and on March 13, she was rushed to Enugu State Teaching Hospital (ESUTH) Colliery Parklane, in southeast Nigeria.
She was isolated in ESUTH Colliery Parklane while her samples were sent to NCDC for diagnosis on March 14. On March 15, the woman died after the NCDC had reported that she tested negative to COVID-19.
#COVID19Nigeria
The laboratory result of the patient in Enugu suspected to have #COVID19 is NEGATIVE
It is important to wait for confirmation from NCDC before spreading information on social media.
NCDC will continue to provide updates to the publichttps://t.co/zQrpNeOfet https://t.co/chldqET4Wz pic.twitter.com/SLS4Dw8Zyk
— NCDC (@NCDCgov) March 15, 2020
However, in a letter written to Enugu's state governor, the woman's daughter alleged that her mother was “stigmatized” by the hospital staff who placed her in a “dilapidated” isolation centre overgrown with “grass and debris”.
Another ill-managed COVID-19 case presented in Lagos, the commercial capital of Nigeria.
On March 17, David Hundeyin, a journalist with News Wire, reported the poor handling of a suspected COVID-19 case at Dangote Oil Refinery Company in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, which has precipitated panic among workers.
On March 12, an Indian pipefitter from Dangote Refinery flew into Nigeria from Mumbai, after a brief stopover in Cairo, Egypt. Hudeyin's investigation revealed that the pipefitter developed “a fever, a dry cough, a sore throat and significant breathing difficulty,” a day after his return from India. Yet, “it is unclear whether anyone at Dangote Refinery attempted to establish contact” with appropriate health officials.
Hudeyin further lamented that the firm took advantage of “the lax regulatory environment” in Nigeria “to put its own interests first,” which puts the life of staff as well as the general public at risk.
This report forced refinery management to release a report stating that the said patient has been moved to the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba, Lagos.

source: news-globalvoices

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Nwachukwu Egbunike


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Outrage as Zimbabwe’s military declares social media a ‘dangerous threat’ · Global Voices
Kudzai Chimhangwa

Zimbabwe military tank. Photo by Tafadzwa Tarumbwa, used under CC BY 2.0 public domain.
In March 2020, Zimbabwe’s National Army Commander Edzai Chimonyo said that the military would soon start prying into private communications between citizens to “guard against subversion”.
Speaking at a military graduation course held at Zimbabwe Military Academy in Gweru, Chimonyo expressed satisfaction that the course had laid a proper foundation in the area of cybersecurity, telling senior officers:
Social media poses a dangerous threat to our national security. Social media is one of the tools that is being used for misinformation and I believe that your training has been an eye-opener to the rigors and realities of technological advancements.
This declaration by the military has sparked outrage among Zimbabweans, many of whom are concerned over the increasing deterioration of freedom of expression in the country.
Last year, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Cabinet gave the nod to the Cyber Crime, Security and Data Protection Bill and set it to be tabled for debate in parliament. The Bill, which was drafted in 2016, is designed to fight cybercrime — but if passed, it will also give the government the latitude to snoop on citizens’ private communication.
Early last year, the government also ordered an internet shutdown, after protests erupted over fuel price increases. Owen Ncube, the state security minister who ordered the shutdown, said social media was stoking the anger among citizens.
The bill contains a number of problematic provisions that would further restrict Zimbabweans’ right to freedom of expression online, if adopted. Section 17 prescribes a prison sentence of up to five years in jail against those convicted of speeding ”false” information with the with the intention  ”to  cause  psychological or  economic  harm.”
Harris Dakwa, a teacher by profession, suggested that if the Bill were to pass, it would prompt self-censorship on such a large scale that it would be tantamount to the nation regressing to a time before the concept of freedom of expression even existed. In an interview with Global Voices, he noted:
This [statement] instills unnecessary fear amongst the populace. I think the government needs to be clear on what constitutes a threat. […] Government and intelligence agencies need to be more transparent about surveillance and not abuse it and people’s rights, or use it to further their insidious activities.
Patrick Goteka told Global Voices that unfettered access to the internet and social media goes along with good governance:
The government of Zimbabwe […] wants to control the people in everything. […] The advent of social media alerts everybody to know exactly what is wrong and what is right. It [allows] people to be aware, to understand themselves, their society and to be able to fight for their rights. Once citizens are empowered through social media, they know where to go and who to confront should their rights be violated.
The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) expressed serious concern over the statement. Zimbabwe Director Tabani Moyo said in a tweet:
“…The language of the uniformed forces threatening to undertake surveillance on quite sweeping statements of trying to counter surveillance materials is quite shocking”.- @TabaniMoyo #HandsOffNetZW #digitalrightsZWhttps://t.co/9zgdLjmIf8
— MISAZimbabwe (@misazimbabwe) March 3, 2020
He also insisted that digital spaces should remain regulated through the Ministry of ICTs, not the military:
“…regulation of the digital space should be left to the civilian arm of the government through the Ministry of ICTs.”- @TabaniMoyo #HandsOffTheNetZW #digitalrightsZW pic.twitter.com/RhmX1tdx1c
— MISAZimbabwe (@misazimbabwe) March 3, 2020
While many netizens wrote scathing remarks, social media user Nobleman Runyanga had a more sympathetic take toward the military’s role in “peace and security’’:
The military, like other security services stakeholders, has a mandate to maintain national peace and security. If citizens like @hwendec @hwende & @JobWiwaSikala continue to abuse the social media they will be fished out and they will have no one to blame. pic.twitter.com/T8rpMzAJqF
— Nobleman Runyanga (@NobleRunyanga) March 5, 2020
Newsday, an independent daily, posited in an editorial that Zimbabwe may be “hurtling toward being a military state”:
[…] it is our sincerest hope that the military’s proposed monitoring of the social media space is not meant to silence citizens and target individuals who choose to freely express themselves on how they and their country are being governed […]
What is currently circulating on social media platforms are public secrets and citizens are largely debating, commenting and expressing their disgust as well as anger at the state of affairs in the country.
While the army has its own intelligence service, citizens hardly ever know what it does — and when the military comes out in the open on such issues, it is bone-chilling and vindicates assertions that the southern African nation is now hurtling toward being a military state.

author: Kudzai Chimhangwa


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‘Protecting forests is crucial to cure pandemics,’ indigenous leaders say · Global Voices
Melissa Vida

Levi Sucre Romero, BriBri indigenous person from Costa Rica and the Coordinator of the Mesoamerican Alliance of Peoples and Forests (AMPB). Photo of Joel Redman/If Not Us Then, used with permission.
Check out Global Voices’ special coverage of the global impact of COVID-19.
Indigenous leaders from Costa Rica, Brazil, and Indonesia who recently attended a conference in the United States have said that pandemics like COVID-19 will become increasingly common if forests are not preserved.
The leaders gave a press briefing in New York on March 13 organized by Covering Climate Now, a global journalism initiative co-founded by the Columbia Journalism Review and The Nation.
At least a quarter of medicine molecules derive from plants; 80 percent of people worldwide rely on botanical drugs, and biodiversity is crucial to finding new medicine. Yet, deforestation in the world's most biodiverse forests is advancing fast.
A growing body of scientific research suggests that indigenous peoples are key to protect forests, but those peoples are increasingly victimized by violent land conflict. In Costa Rica alone, two Bribri leaders have been killed in the past 12 months and so far no one has been prosecuted.
At the press briefing, the leaders also blamed large multinationals such as Cargill and Unilever for not respecting their land rights.
Melissa Vida (MV): What's the link between COVID-19 and our way of life?
Levi Sucre Romero (LSR): Reading about the origins of the coronavirus, we can see that human activities have invaded and reduced the space available for animals. Not only has it been reduced, but we are in such a predatory development model that humans are encroaching their space too much – that is what is happening with the soybean plans in the Amazon forest. All these animals are gathering in one place… and who knows what effects pollution and chemicals have on these species, which are vulnerable. It's a mismanagement of our so-called development.
MV: How can we recover from COVID-19?
LSR: The coronavirus, like the other pandemics that will increasingly occur, is a consequence of our planet's imbalance. There will be many other pandemics, such as the “fungus disease from Panama”, likely to attack all our banana production and have enormous consequences on our communities.
What is the alternative? Variety and diversification, but it is unlikely to happen because the market is concentrated on a single product. Diversifying is key and our traditional indigenous farms have medicine and all kinds of products. And I've been thinking: we in the indigenous territories can still sustain ourselves even when cities fall. We are returning to our capacities of self-sustainability.
Woman and child from the Rama Indian River community in Nicaragua, petting a wild boar. Photo by Melissa Vida, used with permission.
MV: So hope can be found in the forest?
LSR: Yes, but when the forests are cut down, where are we going to get medicine? We have said it over and over again but… So far decision makers haven't paid much attention to us. Imagine, countries have actually increased their number of mega-projects and monocultures, which accelerate deforestation, to fix their budget [by making profit]. They're going backwards.
MV: Do pharmaceutical companies come to see you for medicine?
LSR: That's another angle. We have always said that our knowledge is available for anyone wishing to help cure diseases created because of climate change, but we have never said: “Come exploit us, come and steal everything we have.” I find it hard to understand that economic powers can be so blind to certain things. Whenever they see an opportunity to plunder and make money, well, they'll do it. That is what we have always denounced, we must be careful [with these companies].
MV: Why isn't Costa Rica listening, according to you?
LSR: I believe that Costa Rica is a reflection of what is happening regionally: The governments have not been able to understand that the communities — that is, the people, the indigenous people, those of us who live with the forest — are a key factor in the protection of those resources and a key factor of human survival. Politicians just do not understand.
MV: Why has deforestation accelerated in Central America in the past ten years?
LSR: First, the economic situations in our countries are dire and big companies use that argument to say, “We are going to plant a monoculture and we are going to give you a job.” People think that that is [economic development], but it isn’t. They are taking advantage of the poor economic situation of rural people. Second, the legislation and enforcement of laws [to protect forests and our rights] are really weak in the region. Third, drug-trafficking is growing in the region, they are using our forests. Fourth, and that is my personal opinion, Central American countries are more focused on solving their budget deficit than on protecting the forests. They are more concerned about their revenues, about their taxes, about foreign investment.
Woman and child from the Rama Indian River community in Nicaragua. Photo by Melissa Vida, used with permission.
MV: So maybe the Coronavirus pandemic is an opportunity to think differently?
LSR: I do not see it as an opportunity, I see it as what we have been saying for a long time to the world and to politicians and which is evident today: we must take care of the forest, we must have our own development system, we must not accept these mega-projects… we have been saying this for years and nobody listens to us.
So, I believe that when pandemics like this happen, politicians may think to themselves: “These people are right”. We know what we are talking about. This is knowledge that has been passed down ancestrally and we know that any type of imbalance ends up deteriorating everything. The Earth is a living being like us. When she becomes unbalanced, there are consequences, and we are living them now.
MV: What gives you hope?
LSR: The fact that we, as indigenous peoples, are increasingly organized. We are gaining more and more knowledge. We have more communication tools. Also, we have successful experiences in the region, like in forest management, in organic production, in solar panels managed by women. We are returning to our roots, to our indigenous cultural knowledge in order to survive. Because now it is about survival.

author: Melissa Vida


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Refugees in Ethiopia’s camps raise privacy and exclusion concerns over UNHCR’s new digital registration · Global Voices
Guest Contributor

People displaced by drought in Somalia arrive at the Dolo Ado camp in neighboring Ethiopia and queue to be registered by the aid agencies running the camp. Photo by the Department for International Development in the United Kingdom, via Flickr, CC.BY.2.0.
Editor's note: This piece was written by Tesfa-Alem Tekle, a  journalist and researcher based in Ethiopia. It is part of our series on digital ID systems, produced in partnership with The Engine Room. Visit the Digital ID microsite to read a full research report on this global trend, and case studies on five countries that have deployed digital ID systems, including Ethiopia.
In 2010, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) officially announced a new digital identification (ID) program for refugees.
The new program, known as the Biometric Identity Management System (BIMS), was later introduced to dozens of countries — including Ethiopia — in 2017.
Biometric registration enables refugees to secure a digital ID that gives them access to a range of aid services and rights. Although digital IDs have potential benefits in terms of boosting humanitarian response, their use has raised concerns about privacy and exclusion among refugees.
The UNHCR office in Ethiopia explained to Global Voices in an interview that the BIMS system is an additional feature of refugee registration that aims to enhance the profiling of refugees, as well as collect information to enhance self-reliance and eventual inclusion.
“The system was integrated into the comprehensive individual registration exercise to ensure data integrity and data quality,” said Kisut Gebregzabiher, UNHCR spokesperson in Ethiopia.
This is vital for refugees, as the government-recognized identity documentation can constitute proof of legal identity, which is key for the legal, socio-economic and digital inclusion of refugees within host communities. … The system also removes the risk of multiple registrations or identity theft.
BIMS is currently implemented in all 26 refugee camps across Ethiopia as well as urban and other centers where refugees are sheltered.
Several refugees at Jewi camp, located in the western Gambella region and Hitsats, in the northern region of Tigray, told Global Voices that the UNHCR staff never mentioned the drawbacks of biometric technology.
The digital registration process captures multiple characteristics including fingerprints, iris recognition, facial structure and voice. The process, therefore, has led to concerns among refugees over privacy infringement (when data is shared with third parties) and exclusion from essential services upon refusal.
When the technology was first introduced, most refugees were not aware of the potential risks of digital registration until some of the more educated people in the camps started talking about its implications.
One South Sudanese refugee in Jewi camp who did not want his name revealed due to security concerns told Global Voices that they were briefed about the biometric registration without any explanation by camp authorities of these risks.
Digital registration could lead to serious repercussions for those refugees who do not want their information shared with either their host country or country of origin for fears of discrimination, forced repatriation or retaliation, some refugees told Global Voices.
In Hitsat camp, Eritrean refugees who were in the military fear that the Ethiopian government might share their data with the Eritrean government.
Eritrean refugees became especially concerned after the recent rapprochement of Ethiopia and Eritrea, who restored diplomatic ties in July 2018, ending two decades of hostility. The two neighbors fought a bloody border war from 1998 to 2000, which killed approximately 70,000 people.
Biometric and personal data collected by UNHCR are reportedly shared with third parties, a claim that Gebregzabiher, the UNHCR official, rejected: “Refugee data are not shared with any external parties. The UNHCR data protection policies govern the data protection for all data owned by UNHCR.”
What also makes the digital ID registration risky is the fact that Ethiopia does not have laws specifically designed to deal with privacy and data protection issues — except a few sets of rules contained in various pieces of legislation that guarantee the right to privacy.
“UNHCR must respect the rights of every person going through the registration process,’’ one Eritrean refugee told Global Voices, also emphasizing the need “to understand why biometric data is being collected and how it will be used as well as the potential risks.”
Gebregzabiher, the UNHCR spokesperson in Ethiopia, denied the refugees’ claims. He told Global Voices that they do provide refugees with explanations on the “benefits and implications” of the new system before embarking on the exercise. When Global Voices asked Gebregzabiher to clarify what he meant by “implications,” he said: “the disadvantages of not implementing the digital system.”
“It was clarified to the refugees that the higher standard of registration means better protection, better-targeted programming, enhanced data integrity and protection of data fraud,” Gebregzabiher told Global Voices.
Refugees who spoke to Global Voices said that frustrations are rising at camps over the potential risks of the digital ID and as a result, there is growing defiance toward the unpopular digital identification system. One refugee at Hitsats camp, who also wished to remain anonymous, said:
At first, we had no knowledge of the risks of recognition. Most of us completed the biometric registration out of honesty and due to the trust we have for UNHCR and Ethiopia.
This person told Global Voices that they were not asked for consent before their biometric data was collected.
Another refugee who also asked for anonymity due to security concerns said:
The registration process doesn’t embrace consent. Being asked for consent is seen as a luxury right. We get registered as a means of force because we don’t have any other option to get food or protection.
Refugees have been told that those who refuse to participate in the digital registration are excluded from receiving UNHCR aid such as food rations or any other assistance, essentially giving them no choice but to oblige the exercise.
Several refugees in Hitsats and Jewi camps who spoke with Global Voices by phone said they are not comfortable with the newly introduced digital registration system and question its benefits.
A former Eritrean soldier who wished to remain anonymous due to security concerns said:
Unlike what the UNHCR staff is saying, the new digital registration system didn’t initiate any new special benefits package. We are getting the same usual assistance like food rations and other non-food items we used to get. … I doubt if the new system would at all bring any extra aid benefits.
For one Eritrean refugee, a mother of one who also requested anonymity, the obligation of digital registration is seen as a precondition to receiving the basic services from the UN refugee agency:
It is appalling to see UNHCR using digital registration as an obligation for survival. … I felt like I was held hostage for food and shelter by the one UN agency trusted to lean on.
Gebregzabiher, the UNHCR spokesman, noted that he had not yet seen anyone refuse registration.
“The launch of the exercise was preceded by a massive awareness-raising campaign so that refugees have a proper understanding of the benefits of the new registration system and collaborate with the experts doing the registration. As such, there was no resistance from refugees whatsoever,” Gebregzabiher said.
However, the refugees whom Global Voices spoke to in Ethiopia said several refugees who refused to register had to leave the camps
One South Sudanese refugee who wished to remain anonymous said that the “majority of those who refuse registration is out of the camp since they were told to do so. Some of them stay partially in the camp and others have integrated themselves to host communities in Gambella while others had to return back to South Sudan.”
Global Voices further learned that at Jewi refugee camp, followers of certain Christian groups such as Protestants, the Messianic Jewish Church of God and Congregation of Yawuhe, also refused the registration process on religious grounds.

author: Guest Contributor


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St Petersburg firm creates online bar for self-isolating Russians · Global Voices
Maxim Edwards

Screenshot of the landing page of the Stay The Fuck Home Bar, created by the Shishki Collective.
Check out Global Voices’ special coverage of the global impact of COVID-19.
A resourceful Russian firm has launched a bar to allow lonely extroverts some relief from self-isolation — online.
Increasing numbers of Russians are opting for self-isolation after confirmed coronavirus cases rise steeply. At the time of writing, they stand at nearly 200. Today, the Russian authorities confirmed the country's first death: that of a 79-year-old woman with underlying health issues. Healthcare staff are going online to express their concerns about the preparedness of hospitals across the country, where wards are filling up with pneumonia cases — a symptom of COVID-19.
The Russian government has taken strict measures to prevent contagion. As of March 7, all travellers from affected countries have had to self-quarantine for 14 days upon arrival. Punishments for breaking this isolation could include lengthy prison terms; to enforce it, affected people in Moscow are now subject to the city's controversial facial recognition camera system. This week, the country closed all its borders to foreign citizens until May.
Just like almost everybody else, Russians are panic-buying in supermarkets and preparing for a long stretch behind closed doors. They're going online and sharing their tips and experiences in videoblogs and Facebook posts under the hashtag #яостаюсьдома (I stay at home). In short, they're following the example of Stay the Fuck Home, an international campaign which encourages people of all ages to remain indoors in a desperate bid to “flatten the curve.” By reducing social contact, the risk of contagion decreases, thereby avoiding a spike in hospitalisations and a collapse of healthcare systems.
The Stay The Fuck Home Bar went online on March 14. It is the creation of the Shishki Collective, a St Petersburg based startup, and its goal is, “with borders closed and hearts open,” to help self-isolating people around the world connect with others over a beer or glass of wine. Users can access one of the 24 hour chatrooms hosted on the Whereby videoconferencing platform using only their internet browser, activating their webcam if they choose. The four “bars,” each of which can each host twelve people, have a distinct theme: for example, one brings together lovers of design and art, and another allows users to practice their English.
According to the Calvert Journal, over 30,000 users visited the website in the 24 hours since its launch. Creative director Mikhail Shishkin, told online magazine The Village that the idea for the bar arose during the closure of the Shishki Collective's offices, thanks to which employees searched for new ways to stay connected socially:
«Устроено все просто: наливаешь бокал пива, заходишь в онлайн, там сидят какие-то ребята — кто-то из Лос-Анжелеса, кто-то из Таллина, кто-то из Харькова, из Москвы. Парень из Испании, к примеру, показывает, что за окном чудесная солнечная погода, но на улицах никого. Так что это такое живое общение, все знакомятся, разные темы обсуждают».
It's all set up very simply. You pour a beer, go online, and some guys are sitting there. Somebody from Los Angeles, somebody from Tallinn, from Kharkiv, from Moscow. For example, a guy from Spain could show what beautiful sunny weather he can see from the window, although there's nobody on the street. So it's real-time communication, everybody can get to know each other and discuss different topics.
Shishkin hopes that, if and when real bars close in coming weeks, their clientele can nonetheless continue to socialise in dedicated online chatrooms. He states that he and his colleagues are helping several St Petersburg establishments open their own “digital branches” on the website.
RuNet users seem enamoured with the project. One can only hope that their enthusiasm online reflects an equally strong commitment to staying home in real life. When this author logged on to the bar earlier today, he found the chatrooms nearly full, though signs of digital regulars building friendships and connections across borders and perhaps political divides.
“I'm so fucking sick of all this,” sighed Anton, a forty-something sitting at his kitchen table. The other three men nodded in pained agreement. “Oh, somebody from Kyiv has joined us,” they smiled.

author: Maxim Edwards


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Tanzania tackles COVID-19 with strict measures to slow the spread · Global Voices
Pernille Baerendtsen

Street scene in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, a major transport hub. Tanzania braces itself as COVID-19 may require major lifestyle changes in society. Photo by Pernille Bærendtsen, used with permission.
Check out Global Voices’ special coverage of the global impact of COVID-19.
Tanzania braces for COVID-19 as the nation confirmed its first patient on March 16, 2020, with five subsequent cases.
The index case is 46-year-old Tanzanian, Isabel Mwambapa, who traveled to Belgium, Sweden, Denmark and Germany, before returning to Tanzania via Rwanda Air on March 15. She fell ill after arrival and currently remains in isolation in Arusha.
Tanzania joins several African nations that have taken a wide range of strong actions to slow the spread of the disease, through travel restrictions and bans, tracing contacts, handwashing and social distancing recommendations. Yet, citizens are still struggling to wade through an onslaught of communication around the virus.
The health minister tweeted an urgent message to the public “not to panic”:
#covid-19 Tusipanic
Ili kujikinga na maambukizi ya Virusi ya Corona, ni muhimu kuzingatia Maelekezo ya Wataalam. pic.twitter.com/WOSxAICFK8
— Ummy Mwalimu, MP (@umwalimu) March 18, 2020
#covid-19 Let's not panic. Yet, in order to protect yourself from coronavirus, it is important to comply with experts’ instructions.
This may also be the reason for the news conference held at the regional commissioner’s office in Arusha on March 18, where Mwalimu put Mwambapa on a loudspeaker for her to confirm improvement, while she also apologized “for having been the first victim of the virus in the country.”
As of March 19, a total of six cases are confirmed in Tanzania, of which details are known for a 24-year-old German national in Zanzibar, a 61-year-old American in Dar es Salaam, and two Tanzanians who had traveled respectively to Denmark and France, and South Africa. The latter is a popular rapper, Mwana FA, according to the BBC.
The highly contagious coronavirus has spread throughout Africa over the last weeks. As of March 19, there are at least 635 cases of COVID-19, with at least 15 confirmed deaths. There is no known cure for the disease, and though it is not necessarily deadly for healthy people, it is particularly dangerous for people with weak immune systems.
World health leaders have urged citizens to take extreme precautions as numbers continue to climb exponentially in Europe — the current epicenter of the virus.
In Tanzania, the government had already taken some steps before the reported index case, but this week's uptick in cases has seen a speedy surge in preventive actions which suggests a radical change to Tanzanian citizens’ daily routines.
On March 17, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa issued a statement extending a 30-day ban on public gatherings to include schools, football leagues, sports, music events, political meetings and community events.
To show the gravitas of the situation, on March 16, President John Magufuli canceled the esteemed Mbio wa Mwenge wa Uhuru (Freedom Torch Race) ceremony that was set to take place in April in Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania.
The same day, President Magufuli also stopped his motorcade in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s largest city, to face a huge crowd that had gathered. Ironically, at the end of his speech, he urged the crowd to “avoid large gatherings.”
Zanzibar — a popular tourist destination particularly for Italians — decided on March 7 to ban all charter flights from Italy, which currently has 35,713 reported cases of the virus and 2,978 deaths as of March 19. Moreover, several local businesses on Zanzibar’s southeast and northern coasts (Unguja) — popular with tourists — have taken steps to slow the spread of the virus with temporary closures.
On March 13, President Magufuli had also spoken about the coronavirus for seven minutes at an official event, calling on media houses and religious leaders to help spread messages of prevention.
“If your journey is not absolutely necessary, don’t travel,” he said in his speech, a mandate for civil servants but remained advisory for all others.
Ministries and institutes have now been directed to postpone meetings and conferences that involve individuals from countries with high numbers of COVID-19 cases, and Tanzanians have been told officially to avoid “unnecessary travel” to affected countries.
Until March 13, COVID-19 had not been addressed in a direct manner from the level of the president or government, which is something this netizen pointed out:
Tanzania, why aren't we talking more about Corona? Where are the public health advisories telling people not to congregate or shake hands and to wash their hands with soap. How to self-isolate and report. Are we advising mosques and church goers?
— Said Muhammed (@saidmuhammed) March 14, 2020
At Kigoma Airport, in northwestern Tanzania, the regular health check for Ebola was extended on March 14, with requests for “social distance” between passengers in line for check-in, and registration of personal traveling details.
On the peninsula, a wealthy area of Dar es Salaam, hand sanitizer was introduced when entering restaurants, and hand sanitizer sales were restricted:
Village Market, a supermarket in the privileged part of Dar es Salaam #Tanzania restricts sale of hand sanitiser to 2 per person pic.twitter.com/yDD88Wc3wn
— Pernille Bærendtsen (@Dunia_Duara) March 15, 2020
As of March 17, Health Minister Ummy Mwalimu announced the establishment of a National Task Force to be jointly chaired by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) country representative and chief medical officer.
Kufuatia Taarifa yangu ya tar 16/March 2020 kuhusu kuwepo kwa mgonjwa mmoja wa Virusi vya Corona (COVID19) nchini, Serikali inaendelea kuchukua hatua za kuhakikisha ugonjwa huu unadhibitiwa haraka ili usienee kwenye jamii. Nitoe rai Kila mmoja wetu kuchukua hatua ili kujikinga. pic.twitter.com/iFROug5rmr
— Ummy Mwalimu, MP (@umwalimu) March 17, 2020
Following my 16/March 2020 statement on the presence of one coronavirus (COVID19) patient in the country, the government continues to take steps to ensure the disease is quickly controlled so that it does not spread to the community. Give me the promise that each of us can take steps to protect ourselves.
In the weeks ahead of the index case, citizens had been talking about the virus within their own circles. Official authorities had not yet provided details regarding preventive measures, and the absence of an index case created a perceived exemption from the crisis among some.
On March 14, a video clip circulated on WhatsApp that encapsulated this denial, simply by rejecting its existence in Tanzania:
Adapting popular #Swahili proverb “Hakuna Matata” to “Karibuni Tanzania. Hakuna Corona” – “Welcome to Tanzania. Here's no Corona”. Unknown origin – sourced via WhatsApp. NB. #Tanzania hasn't reported any Corona cases, but has in recent days implemented diff. preventive actions pic.twitter.com/HZBD4ba64f
— Pernille Bærendtsen (@Dunia_Duara) March 15, 2020
Other examples of disturbing communication circulated in the same genre: Pastor Josephat Gwajima preached that Tanzanians will not be affected by the virus, claiming they are protected by Jesus:
Gwajima Katoka kwenye Uchaguzi kwa UBAGUZI kaingia kwenye PUBLIC HEALTH ANNOUNCEMENTS za CORONA! Anasema TZ Hakuna na haitaingia na kuna watu wanamuamini. pic.twitter.com/oYxPRjtuk2
— fatma karume aka Shangazi (@fatma_karume) March 16, 2020
Gwajima from the “Election of Discrimination” enters the PUBLIC HEALTH ANNOUNCEMENTS OF CORONA! He says TZ doesn't have corona and it won't enter and there are people who believe him.
The emergence of the virus in Tanzania has led to a flurry of reactions on social media, where netizens have expressed fear along with practical information.
On March 16, Mohammed Dewji, a Tanzanian former member of parliament, businessman and philanthropist tweeted a photo of himself with a mask, though it is unlikely to be fully preventive — nor a solution for the many:
Kesho napoingia ofisini na hand sanitzers na mask ? #CoronaReady wewe je? #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/wYeEiU4zNF
— Mohammed Dewji MO (@moodewji) March 16, 2020
Tomorrow when I walk into the office with hand sanitzers and mask ? #CoronaReady are you?
On March 17, Elsie Eyakuze repeated the advice provided by the Ministry of Health given on WhatsApp:
Habari za #Corona na jinsi ya kuepuka maambukizi zimetolewa na Wizara ya Afya, nimepata taarifa kupitia WhatsApp siwezi kuziweka zote hapa kwa mpigo. Cha Muhimu:
1. Nenda kwenye kituo cha afya chochote kile. Daktari atakayekuona ndiye atajua kama 1/?
— Elsie Eyakuze (@MikocheniReport) March 16, 2020
#Corona news and how to avoid infection has been provided by the Ministry of Health, I have received information via WhatsApp I cannot put them all here. Important: 1. Go to any health center. The doctor who will see you will then know if… 1 /?
Despite the government's calls for strict social distancing, this poster circulating on social media advertises a “mask night” party in Arusha, Tanzania, to “united against corona.”
Creating awareness while at the same time providing citizens with realistic solutions is, however, a tremendous challenge — especially how to communicate WHO's advice for tackling the virus via handwashing and social distancing.
The Citizen, on March 18, pointed out the major challenge of telling people to avoid crowds in Dar es Salaam as they commute to and from work.
How can citizens practice social distancing and handwashing in places where the majority live in areas with congested housing and poor sanitation?
These questions remain unanswered.
Editor's note: Thanks to Peter Bofin for contributing to this reporting.

author: Pernille Baerendtsen


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COVID-19 pandemic lays bare the political leadership deficit in Nigeria · Global Voices
Guest Contributor

Left to Right: Bill Clinton, US president (1993-2001); William H. Gates III, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Thabo Mbeki, South Africa president (1999–2008); Tony Blair, UK Prime Minister (1997 to 2007); Bono, musician; and Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria president (1999-2007), World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland, January 27, 2005. Image by Remy Steinegger (CC BY-SA 3.0).
This essay, written by Temitayo Fagbule and first published in Business Day, was lightly edited and re-published here with permission from the author. Check out Global Voices’ special coverage of the global impact of COVID-19.
March 22, 2018, will make it exactly two years since Bill Gates stood in the banquet hall at Aso Rock, Nigeria's seat of power, with President Muhammadu Buhari, members of the Federal Executive Council and other government officials, and told them to face facts: Nigeria’s potential to become an economic powerhouse is as strong as the sickest Nigerian.
The following month, Bill Gates was the guest speaker at a yearly lecture organised by the Massachusetts Medical Society and New England Journal of Medicine. He delivered a speech: “Epidemics Going Viral: Innovation vs Nature,” where he said the world was unprepared for a pandemic because “the health infrastructure we have for normal times breaks down very rapidly during major infectious disease outbreaks. This is especially true in poor countries.”
Countries with poor leadership are even more vulnerable.
Both events are playing out as COVID-19 upends social and economic lives and governments and scientists grapple its impact. No country saw the novel coronavirus coming, though experts had warned that an unknown pandemic from a virus was possible.
Bungled responses by countries and international organisations to swine flu (H1N1) in 2009 and Ebola in 2014, showed how unprepared local and global health systems were. Over 21 months, Ebola spread rapidly across West Africa ravaging 11,315 lives. Countries that lacked the leadership and health systems were hit hardest. Nigeria was spared, fortunately.
Health has never been a concern of past and present governments. Nigeria is one of the most dangerous places to give birth, Gates has said.
In Abuja that Thursday in March 2018, Gates told Nigerian leaders in the room to invest in the health and education of the greatest resource of the country: human capital. He warned that their choices could make or mar the ambition for growth.
Specifically, Gates noted that one of the three strategic objectives of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, designed to revive the Nigerian economy after the recession in 2016, was unmatched by the projects it prioritized.
Gates said they “don’t fully reflect people’s needs, prioritizing physical capital over human capital.” Bridges, roads and ports are useless without healthy and skilled people. We all applauded him for speaking bluntly but soon forgot and moved on.
At his lecture on epidemics, Gates shared with his audience the likely outcome of a simulated scenario of an airborne virus outbreak originating from South East Asia. The model assumed there was no immunity, that health systems were unprepared and there was no vaccine – 33 million people die in six months.
Gates funded this research initially to help his foundation better understand and tackle polio but applied it to see how a pandemic like the Spanish flu, the 1915 pandemic, would spread in our time; it showed the disease could spread to all cities in the world in 60 days.
Why? We live in global, fast-moving times. Our world today is the perfect environment for such a disaster. We are witnessing the onslaught of COVID-19 has it upends the social and economic lives. And its laying bare different shades of leadership.
In the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, for instance, Donald Trump, Justin Trudeau, Boris Johnson and Mohamed Ibn Zayed have accepted the reality and reached out to their citizens on TV and social media. Trump and Johnson now give daily press briefings daily on the contagion. Emmanuel Macron, the President of France, has said his country is at war.
President Buhari is yet to speak. His spokespersons have even scolded the National Assembly for daring to ask him to address the country.
In times of uncertainty, fear and doubt, in a country with a shambolic health infrastructure that the president and his family do not rely on, at a time when the country is divided because of distrust, the president has chosen to be absent — to sit and not be counted.
Goodluck Jonathan, his predecessor, delayed taking the lead during the Ebola outbreak, too.
Both their responses in the face of crisis reveal Nigeria’s unique brand of democracy. Here the elected government acts in its own best interest not that of the electorate. Nigerians are an afterthought, undeserving of leadership in trying times whether it is a war against Boko Haram, the Islamic militant group, or a deadly contagious disease.
This attitude will undermine the ability of Nigeria to cope with the COVID-19 contagion — which is no ordinary crisis.
The central bank in the US is pumping $850 billion United States dollars into the economy to forestall a recession. In Nigeria, a paltry 50 billion naira fund (about $163 million US ) – small change that independent oil companies can cough up as a coronavirus donation — was announced on March 16, before bolder reforms of 1 trillion naira ($2.7 billion US) were made public two days later.
How rapidly and responsibly a government responds matters.
Doctors walk past women with lying in the ward of the Lagos Island Maternity Hospital in Lagos, Nigeria. Flicker image by Sunday Alamba/Commonwealth Secretariat. (CC BY-NC 2.0)
Epidemiologists and scientists describe the speed with which a virus spreads by an R-rate —the higher the rate, the faster the contagion. COVID-19 spreads from one person to two or three on average which makes it more contagious than other viruses. It is also more lethal than the common cold. Chances of survival depend a lot on the quality of one's personal health in addition to the quality of a nation's health care system.
More worrying than the rate of reproduction of an infectious disease is the unpreparedness of rapidly urbanizing countries with poor health care systems like Nigeria. A country that devotes little or nothing to health is a risk to itself and other countries.
As COVID-19 has shown, viruses can even elude countries with modern laboratories, testing equipment, and medical personnel. Italy, with over 3,000 dead from COVID-19, has overtaken China.
Pandemics are deadlier than wars – it is believed that infectious diseases like the Influenza Pandemic of 1918, which killed more than 50 million people have taken more lives than all the wars and non-infectious diseases and natural disasters in the world put together.
Pandemics, one of the oldest enemies of humanity, are to a large extent predictable because they happen again and in history (e.g. Ebola, Zika, SARS, MERS). Yet the time it takes to understand a new outbreak, how it spreads, and the measures required to stop it such as competent medical personnel, a functioning health system and trusted leadership are factors that determine whether governments will win the fight against COVID-19.
We did not need Bill Gates to remind us that the primary health care system in Nigeria is broken and inadequately funded. Neither do we need an existential threat like coronavirus to remind us that Nigeria lacks leadership and is the feudal republic of “anyhow-ness.”
Thousands of unnecessary and avoidable deaths of children at birth every year and thousands more possibly from COVID-19 this year are both painful reminders that investment in health and education are the best bet the leaders of Nigeria can make if it is to achieve its potential.


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Injunction grants Guyana’s election commission the freedom to declare a winner — but will it? · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Guyana's neoclassical parliament building, located in the capital, Georgetown, was completed in 1834. Photo by Dan Lundberg on Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
As the rest of the world wrestles with the COVID-19 pandemic, Guyana is also wrestling with an electoral crisis.
Ever since the country's general elections on March 2, 2020, there has been an ongoing battle to determine which of the two leading parties is the victor: the governing A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC), or the opposition People's Progressive Party (PPP).
Following a legal challenge by the PPP and the High Court's ruling that the results from the key electoral district of Region 4 — the main point of contention — were null and void, President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo jointly met with a contingent of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders on March 11 and agreed to uphold the law and engage in a verification process for the Region 4 ballots.
This began on March 13, but came to an abrupt halt since the results continued to be read from a contentious spreadsheet, in contravention of the court ruling. That same day, international observer missions pulled out of Guyana, citing lack of transparency in the recount process.
On March 14, certain members of the APNU+AFC held a press conference — with President Granger noticeably absent — during which the party's campaign manager Joseph Harmon said he was “satisfied with the decision which was made by the Returning Officer and countersigned by the agent as being the final declaration of the [original] count of the votes in Region 4.”
Harmon also accused the opposition of engaging in “delaying tactics.”
Not everyone in the party is as confident, however, most notably Dominic Gaskin, a former government minister and the president's son-in-law, who was “not sufficiently convinced” that the Region 4 results “accurately reflect the results recorded on the various statements of poll collected from the 879 polling stations.” The election verification process in Guyana is still predominantly a manual one.
When asked at the press conference about Gaskin's statements, Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman said, “I can say that the overwhelming majority of the AFC membership and leadership does not share [his] view.”
Guyanese columnist Freddie Kissoon has since put forward the theory that there is a power struggle between two factions in the governing coalition, one siding with with President Granger and the other with Minister Trotman. “What is actually taking place in Guyana right now,” Kissoon wrote, “is a putsch.”
Three days after the press conference, on March 17, Ulita Grace Moore, who ran as a candidate for the governing coalition in Guyana's 2018 local government elections, successfully filed an ex-parte injunction to block the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) from acting on the recount agreement made with CARICOM. At this point the recount had not yet begun. The ruling essentially means that GECOM has the green light to declare the election result in the government's favour.
Moore's name is also on the Region 4 candidate list for the regional elections, but the judgement did not state why this was not considered a conflict of interest.
A screenshot of the injunction order brought by Ulita Grace Moore on behalf of the government.
Though GECOM has not yet acted on the new ruling, it claims that no matter how well-intentioned, the agreement with CARICOM cannot override the law. Since the interim injunction was served ex-parte, meaning the other side was not present, arguments to the contrary are yet to be heard.
The judge will hear the arguments for both sides on March 20 at 9:00 a.m. local time.
Barbados Prime Minister and CARICOM Chair Mia Mottley withdrew her team, saying, “It is clear that there are forces that do not want to see the votes recounted for whatever reason. Any government which is sworn in without a credible and fully transparent vote count process would lack legitimacy.”
Former Commonwealth Secretary-General Sir Shridath Ramphal called it “utterly regrettable that […] the invited CARICOM team to oversee the recount of the votes has had to withdraw.”
The PPP, meanwhile, has filed contempt charges against GECOM officials.
Citizens are watching this scenario unfold with a mix of frustration and grave concern.
On social media, an open letter to the country's president penned by retired Major General Joseph Singh was making the rounds. In it, Singh, the former head of the Guyana Defence Force — and former chairman of GECOM — suggested that President Granger was “being manipulated by persons who do not have the best interests of our beloved Guyana at heart”:
[These people] are prepared to hold you hostage to their own evil intentions and to manipulate you and the Constitution of this country to achieve their own personal and collective goals, unbothered by the catastrophic impact their actions to date are having on national morale, on the fears and anxieties of all Guyanese, whether or not they are supporters of your political party. […]
What matters to me, and I am sure to all right thinking Guyanese, as well as the regional and international community, is that the electoral process reflects the will of the people.
Noting that “long-suffering Guyanese” are “hurting,” “embarrassed” and “angry,” Singh said that an independent recount would allow “whichever political party is finally declared to have the majority votes, [to] be acknowledged as legitimate and be allowed to form the government.”
A March 18 statement from the Commonwealth Observer Group to Guyana echoed this position:
It is the clear and considered view of the Group that the tabulation processes conducted by the Returning Officer for Region 4, Mr. Clairmont Mingo, were not credible, transparent and inclusive.
Speaking with Global Voices via WhatsApp, engineer Marcel Gaskin (Dominic Gaskin's brother), who in March 2019 filed criminal charges against GECOM over its failure to call elections in the time frame within which they were constitutionally due after a December 2018 no-confidence vote, said, “The rig is so transparent it's an insult to our intelligence.”
When asked if the government is concerned about social unrest and violence, Gaskin replied:
They don't seem worried about this. They are peddling so much misinformation to their supporters. If they succeed [in being declared the winner] the only way they can rule is by outright repression. I believe the main reason GECOM hasn't yet declared an election result is because of the pressure from international observers and threats of sanctions from the international community.
As Guyana sits on the threshold of an economic boom with its newly discovered oil and gas reserves, any such sanctions would certainly have a bearing on the country's reputation and ability to participate in key international organisations like the Commonwealth and the OAS.
United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has already fired a warning shot, saying:
Individuals who seek to benefit from electoral fraud and form illegitimate governments/regimes will be subject to a variety of serious consequences from the United States.
However, one senior APNU+AFC figure has responded to this threat by taking to social media to encourage Guyanese to lobby US legislators and politicians, including Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden, and journalists such as MSNBC's Rachel Maddow.
Meanwhile, the country's Private Sector Commission (PSC) has called on Guyana's Police Commissioner to ensure the professional conduct of his officers, amidst concerns that the police are being used as APNU+AFC election enforcers.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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With no confirmed cases of COVID-19, Mozambique prepares for looming outbreak · Global Voices
Dércio Tsandzana

The President of the Republic of Mozambique's alert on the cover of the newspaper Público, on 9 March 2020. Photo by Dércio Tsandzana, CC-BY
Check out Global Voices’ special coverage of the global impact of COVID-19.
With over 30 countries in Africa with confirmed cases of COVID-19, Mozambique prepares for a likely outbreak of the new disease that has infected over 250,000 people worldwide and killed over 11,000.
While Mozambique has not yet detected any cases, four border countries have done so: Zambia (2), South Africa (202), Kingdom of Eswatini (1), and Tanzania (6).
The Mozambican government recently disclosed its plans for containment and mitigation. It includes, for example, the identification of possible isolation centers in all of its 11 provinces.
Although not closing any land borders yet, President Filipe Nyusi announced a few restrictive measures, including:
Quarentena obrigatória de 14 dias para pessoas que vem de países com transmissão activa considerada.
Proibição de organização e participação de todo tipo de eventos com mais de 300 pessoas.
Suspensão de todas deslocações de membros do Estado para fora do país.
Mandatory 14-day quarantine for people arriving from countries with considerable active transmission.
Prohibition of organization and participation in all types of events with more than 300 people.
Suspension of all overseas travel by government officials.
The largest opposition party, Renamo, called for the closure of the borders, to which Health Minister Armindo Tiago replied:
Encerrar fronteiras é medida extrema que só deve ser usada na perspectiva de um risco que possa eventualmente criar uma situação de calamidade, não é o caso. Mesmo neste momento a China não fechou as fronteiras, fez quarentena de algumas cidades.
Closing borders is an extreme measure that should only be used when there is a risk of calamity, which is not the case. Even now, China has not closed its borders, although they have quarantined some cities.
The Ministry of Health is also running a prevention campaign in schools:
Ministro da Saúde Armindo Tiago, co-orienta hoje na Escola Secundária Francisco Manyanga
#Maputo com a Ministra da Educação e Desenvolvimento Humano, Carmelita Namashulua e a Exma Sra. Representante da OMS, DJamila Cabral, uma Palestra sobre Medidas de Prevenção do #Coronavírus
—
Verdade Democracia (@DemocraciaMZ) March 9, 2020
Minister of Health Armindo Tiago co-supervises today at Escola Secundária Francisco Manyanga [in] Maputo, with the Minister of Education and Human Development Carmelita Namashulua and the Honorable WHO Representative, DJamila Cabral, a Lecture on Prevention Measures for #Coronavirus
But an SMS text was sent to several SIM cards in Mozambique with recommendations that many citizens found ineffective.
Vcs também receberam essas msg? pic.twitter.com/OKGbiawJQS
—
?Lazuli? (@Lerice_Betty) March 9, 2020
Did you also receive these messages?
First text in the photo: “Coronavirus belongs to a big family of viruses that cause respiratory diseases which vary from a common cold to more serious conditions such as pneumonia”
Second text: “Symptoms of coronavirus are similar to that of the common cold such as: fever, dry cough, stuffed nose, sore throat, headache, nausea and breathing difficulty.”
Historian and political analyst Egídio Vaz criticized the content of the texts:
Aqui está o dinheiro sendo gasto em campanhas ineficazes. Recebi este SMS, pago pelo MISAU a me ensinar o que é #coronavirus.
Este SMS é ineficaz pelas seguintes razões:
1. Linguagem técnica dispensável. Apesar da descrição ser genérica, pouco interessa ao cidadão. O cidadão precisa de mensagens que lhe ajude a tomar as necessárias medidas preventivas, necessárias atitudes ao se expôr perante situações de risco e por isso deve saber suspeitar com o mínimo de informação.
2. Decorrente do primeiro, o SMS podia simplesmente dizer que #coronavirus é uma doença que não tem cura e manifesta-se através de febres, problemas respiratórios ou gripe. Os médicos podem não concordar com a minha versão de descrição, mas o que eu gostaria com essa descrição é que as pessoas se dirijam ao hospital para o necessário despiste. Por isso, a segunda parte da mensagem seria “dirija-se ao posto de saúde mais próximo para o despiste”.
3. Tal como está o SMS, seguramente que deverei esperar pelo próximo, a me dizer o que devo fazer…
Estamos em emergência. Não é tempo para entretenimento.
Here is the money being spent on ineffective campaigns. I received this SMS, paid by the Ministry of Health, to teach me what is #coronavirus.
This SMS is ineffective for the following reasons:
1. Useless technical language. Although the description is generic, it's of little interest to the citizen. Citizens need messages that will help him to take the necessary precautions, the necessary attitudes if they're exposed to unsafe situations and for that reason he must know how to be suspicious with the minimum of information.
2. The SMS could simply say that coronavirus is a disease [SIC] that has no cure and manifests itself through fevers, respiratory problems or the flu. Doctors may not agree with my version of the description, but what I would like with that description is for people to go to the hospital for the necessary screening. Therefore, the second part of the message would be “go to the nearest health center for screening”.
3. As it is, surely I should wait for the next SMS telling me what to do…
We're in an emergency. It is not time for entertainment.
The health minister also clarified the myth that blacks are more resistant to COVID-19, a claim that has been made in social media but isn't backed by any available scientific evidence.
The authorities have also called on several international and diplomatic entities for support in the event of an outbreak of the disease in the country.
Meanwhile, President Filipe Nyusi himself urged Mozambicans to further mobilize to stop the outbreak on its tracks:
[A] COVID-19 é um assunto de segurança. Por isso, apelo para o redobrar de esforços na sua prevenção e vigilância.
The COVID-19 is a security issue. Therefore, I appeal to redouble efforts in its prevention and vigillance.
A message falsely attributed to UNICEF circulated on WhatsApp in Mozambique. The organization clarified the matter on Twitter:
O UNICEF não está a divulgar nenhum boletim sobre #coronavirus através do WhatsApp em #Moçambique.
Para obter informações sobre como evitar #COVID19, consulte GRÁTIS a Plataforma PENSA, digitando *660# ou ligue GRÁTIS para o Alô Vida, através de 800149, 82149 e 84146. pic.twitter.com/lnGrTxtTbI
— UNICEF Moçambique (@UNICEF_Moz) March 5, 2020
UNICEF is not circulating a bulletin on #coronavirus via WhatsApp in Mozambique. For information on how to avoid COVID19, consult the PENSA Platform for FREE by dialing *660# or call Alô Vida for FREE at 800149, 82149 and 84146.
The government of Mozambique, through its spokesperson, also debunked fake news of an existing outbreak that recently circulated on social networks:
#Atencao: Nao há nenhum caso confirmado de #Coronavírus em #Moçambique, segundo anunciou o porta-voz do governo no fim da sessão extraordinária do Conselho de Ministros. “Os relatos que circulam são falsos próprios de pessoas mal-intencionadas” disse Filimao Suaze #Mozambique
— Alexandre (@AllexandreMZ) March 12, 2020
Attention: There are no confirmed cases of Coronavirus in Mozambique, as announced by the government spokesman at the end of the extraordinary session of the Council of Ministers. “The reports that are circulating are false from ill-intentioned people”
Following these recommendations, the ruling party Frelimo decided to cancel a meeting that was scheduled for March 20-22:
Face as medidas anunciadas no âmbito do Coronavirus a Comissão Política do Partido decidiu ADIAR A SESSÃO DO COMITÉ CENTRAL marcada para os dias 20 a 22 de Março para data a anunciar. #COVID19 #Coronavirus #FRELIMO pic.twitter.com/rZShGjm6mF
— FRELIMO Moçambique (@FRELIMO_) March 15, 2020
To respect the measures announced in the context of the coronavirus, the Party's Political Commission decided to postpone the session of the Central Committee scheduled for the 20th to the 22nd of March, to be announced.
Meanwhile, journalist Rafael Machalela shared photos of a possible locally produced face mask:
Moçambicano a elevar isto a outro patamar. Gosto. pic.twitter.com/NqZDrXIe53
—
RAFAEL MACHALELA ?? (@rafaelmachalela) March 5, 2020
Mozambican to take this to another level. Like.

author: Dércio Tsandzana


text:
COVID-19 diaries from Wuhan: ‘…not only a city being locked down, but also our voices’ · Global Voices
Winston Chiu

People lined up in a pharmacy in Wuhan. (Photo credit: Guo Jing)
Wuhan, China as the epicenter and origin of COVID-19, has been locked down by the Chinese government since January 23, 2020. The city holds 11 million people and during the outbreak, about 6 million people were put under quarantine, and approximately 5 million left the city during a holiday break.
Many Wuhan people began keeping diaries during the lockdown. However, negative depictions of daily life in Wuhan are often subjected to censorship on Weibo, the popular social media platform in China. On WeChat, another popular social media platform, the diaries mostly circulate among friends.
However, Ai Xiaoming, an independent filmmaker and feminist scholar, and feminist activist Guo Jing, have shared their diaries on Matters News. Their diaries vividly reflect the emotions among common people during the sudden lockdown.
China's control over the pandemic has been described as a “victory” or “success” by Chinese authorities and the World Health Organization, but ordinary peoples’ lives under such top-down control and surveillance measures should not be ignored — how people are atomized and reduced into a collective, as Guo Jing described in her diary.
Since December 8, with the index case, Chinese authorities insisted that the epidemic outbreak was under control. By January 20, it admitted to the human-to-human transmission of the virus. Ai and Guo's diaries express how Wuhan residents were kept in the dark and unprepared when the government proclaimed the lockdown of the city.
Global Voices will publish Ai and Guo's diaries from Wuhan in a series. The following words were written in the first week of the lockdown between January 23-28, 2020.
我算是一个遇事冷静和淡定的人，直到1月20日武汉新增病例过百，别的省市出现病例，我开始感到不知所措。此前公布的消息显然存在瞒报的情况。也是从那天起，武汉街头戴口罩的人突增，好多药店的医用口罩都卖光了，还有很多人在买防治感冒的药。
这几天我一直处于焦虑中，从各地更新的消息来看，大部分确诊的都是在15日前过武汉的。武汉是全球大学生人数最多的城市，而1月中旬是大学放假的时间。现在又正值春运，车站人流量必然很大。然而，武汉火车站也并没有严格的监管。我春节本来就不回家，留在原地是最安全的。今天一早醒来看到封城的消息就不知所措，无法预料这意味着什么，会封多久，要做什么准备。
朋友们让我赶快囤点东西，我本不想出门，看到X了吗还在接单就先下了单，但又担心外卖也随时会停。我也抱着看看外面的情况的心情出了门，外面基本上都是中老年人，年轻人比较少。到了附近的超市，很多人都在排队结帐，米面这些保命的食物已经所剩无几啦，慌乱之中我随便拿了一些。有个男的卖了很多盐，有人说你买那么多盐干啥，他说万一封个一年呢.
屯完食物后，我依然处于震惊中。今天路上的车辆和行人越来越少，一个城市就这样一下子停了下来。它什么时候再活过来？
I am a calm person, but I started to feel panic on Jan. 20 when we had more than 100 confirmed cases in Wuhan, and when confirmed cases kept emerging in other cities and provinces. It is obvious that the spread of this infectious disease has been covered up in previous news. The number of people wearing face masks has increased dramatically since that day, and medical masks were sold out. Many are also buying cold remedies.
I have been anxious for several days. Based on the update, most confirmed cases in other places had visited Wuhan before Jan. 15. Wuhan is the city with the largest number of college students in the world, and the university holiday started in mid-Jan. Recently, many people are going home for Chinese New Year, so there must be a lot of people in the train stations. However, the train station in Wuhan has not been monitored carefully. I did not plan to go home in Chinese New Year. It should be safest to stay where I am. This morning, I saw the announcement of city lockdown, and I felt panic. I do not know the implication of such lockdown and how long this lockdown will be, and I do not know what I have to prepare.
My friends asked me to stock some necessities. At first, I did not want to go out, so I made some orders online. However, I was worried that these delivery services will be stopped at any moment. I also wanted to see what happened outside, so I went out. Most people outside were middle-aged or above, and there were few young people. When I went to the supermarket nearby, I saw many people lined up at the cash registers. There was not much survival food left, such as rice and noodles. I was shocked, and I quickly grabbed some. A man bought a lot of salt. Someone asked him what for with that amount of salt. He said just in case the lockdown lasts for one year.
After I bought some food, I was still in a shock. There are fewer and fewer cars and pedestrians on streets. A city is suddenly shut down. When will it be alive again?
今夜除夕，武汉空前冷寂。这本是团年的日子，无数家庭的年夜饭取消了。昨天看到封城的照片，一边是铁面军人和武警，一边是无奈的旅客。画外音是武汉口音，说：看啊，汉口站，百年以来第一次关闭了。听得人不禁心头一紧，仿佛历史在此敲了一个响点。
我住在江夏区，离汉口站大约四十公里…我能想象到年前无法返乡的旅客内心的焦虑，他们怎么办呢？政府一夜之间决定封城，他们去哪里居住，怎么过年？
我觉得那些握有权力的人有种好消息综合症，就是无论如何，不管真实与否，只听好消息，没有也要编一个。你要说那不是真的，他能跟你拼命。
你们知道我说的是什么，那只小小的蝙蝠，汤菜卤煮，照片视频到处在传；但是房间里的大象，悠游晃荡，那是不能说破的魔障。
This is the Chinese New Year's Eve. Wuhan has never been so quiet. Today should be the day that families can get together. Numerous family gathering dinners have been cancelled. I saw the photos of the city locked down yesterday: The military personnel and the police stood on one side, and the disappointing travelers stood on another side. Outside the camera, someone said in Wuhan’s accent, “Look at it, the Hankou station was locked down at the first time in hundreds of years.” Something in my heart was squeezed suddenly, as if the bell of a historical moment had rang.
I live in the Jiangxia district, and it is around 40 kilometers away from the Hankou station…I could imagine the anxiety of those travelers who are forbidden to go home before Chinese New Year. What should they do? The government locked down the city overnight. Where can they find a place to stay? What can they do in this Chinese New Year?
I think those powerful people have “good-news syndrome”: whatever happens, they only want to hear good news, and they do not care whether those good news are true or fake. If there is none, they will make one. If you say this is not true, they will fight to the death for it.
You know what I am talking about. That little bat, that bat soup. The photos and videos of it are circulated widely. However, the elephant in the room is still walking around leisurely. That is the evil that no one dares to point at.
Soon after the lockdown in Wuhan, a video went viral on Chinese social media. A large number of media outlets in China suggested that Chinese bat eaters had caused the problem. However, bat was not a cuisine in Wuhan at all. Later, it was revealed that the video was filmed in a Pacific Island.
Viral bat soup photo captured from a viral video suggesting that Chinese bat eaters should be blamed for the epidemic.
世界安静得可怕。
我是独居，偶尔听到楼道里的声音才能确定还有其他人在。
我有很多时间思考我怎么活着下。我没有任何体制内的资源和人脉，如果我生病，必然跟很多普通人一样无法得到救治。因此，我的目标之一是尽量不让自己生病，我要坚持锻炼。
目前，政府没有说要封城多久，也没有告诉我们封城后怎么保证城市的运转。而有人根据目前干扰的人数预测过可能封城到5月。
这场战争里，大多个体都只能靠自己，没有体制的保障。我相对年轻，很难想象那些独居老人、残障人士等更弱势的个体要怎么打赢这场仗。
The world is stunningly quiet.
I live alone. I only feel that someone else exists in the world with me when I hear some sounds from people in the same building.
I have a lot of time thinking about how to survive. I do not have any resource or social network in the organized system. If I wer sick, I would [be] like those who could not receive medical treatment. Therefore, one of my goals is to stay away from any disease. I must keep training my body.
The government has not announced exactly how long this lockdown will be, and they did not tell us how this city will keep working after the lockdown. Some people said the lockdown might last until May, based on the current number of confirmed cases.
这两天做饭的时候我已经开始控制菜量，每顿炒菜的菜量是平时的一半，希望不要那么快过只吃咸菜的生活。
吃饭的时候跟一些朋友视频，我们无法逃过肺炎的话题，其实各地的人都多多少少受到一些影响。
疑病可能是现在最大的心理障碍。我早上擤鼻涕的时候看到有血丝，着实吓了一跳。丢掉纸巾后对生病的担忧就在脑子里挥之不去。
I started to control the amount of vegetables when I made my meals in these two days. Compared to what I used to cook, I only cook half the amount of vegetables now. Hopefully I will not need to eat preserved vegetables that soon.
When I was eating, I had a group video chat with some friends. We could not escape from the topic of Wuhan Pneumonia. In fact, people all over China are more or less influenced by it.
Suspected infection might be the most serious psychological stress that I have now. I was shocked when I sneezed and saw some blood in the snot this morning. After I threw away that tissue paper, I could not stop thinking the possibility of me getting sick.
正在被封锁的不只是一个个城市，还有人们的声音。
我第一天把笔记发微博的时候图片就上传不了，文字也发不出去，我只得把文字转成图片发。昨天，我把文字转成图片也无法在朋友圈发，微博发出来之后明显被限流。1月24日的微博有近5000人转发，而昨天的微博只有45人转发。有一瞬间我还怀疑是不是我写得不好。互联网的审查和限制不是现在才有，可在这个时候却显得更加残忍。很多封城的人被困在家里，大家靠互联网获取信息，保持和家人朋友的联系，让我们不用真的是孤岛。
Here is not only a city being locked down, but also our voices.
I could not upload the photos when I tried to upload my diary to Weibo on Day 1. I could not submit the text, either. I need to make the text into photos to submit them. Yesterday, I could not send those photos converted from the text to my friends’ circle. After I published on Weibo, it is obvious that the amount of viewing has been restricted. My article was forwarded by almost 5,000 people in Weibo on Jan 24, but my other article was forwarded by only 45 people on Weibo yesterday. At some moment, I thought maybe I did not write it well. Today is not the first day that we have internet monitoring and restriction, but these measures become much crueler than ever at this moment. A lot of people are restricted to stay at home, and we need internet to gather information and keep the connection with our family and our friends. Otherwise, we will be an isolated island, cut off from the world.
Somewhere in Wuhan during the lockdown. Photo credit: Guo Jing.
整个城市都被沉重的氛围笼罩着，身处其中，我不自觉地小心翼翼起来，不敢随意去和人沟通。封锁让人们的生活进入原子化的状态，失去和他人的联系。
然而人们并不甘于现状。昨晚八点左右，窗外响起呼喊声，大家一起开窗喊“武汉加油”。这个集体的呐喊是一种自我赋权，人们从中寻找联结，从中获取力量。
The whole city has been shrouded by the heavy atmosphere. As one member in the city, I cannot help but becoming more and more careful. I do not dare to talk to others. The lockdown turns our lives into the atomic status, losing connection with others. However, people are not willing to yield to the current situation. Yesterday at around 8 p.m., there were people yelling outside my window. Many people opened their windows and shouted, “Keep walking, Wuhan” This action is a kind of self-empowerment. People try to find connection with others, and people try to find power by shouting together.
Since January 27, Wuhan residents have been chanting “Wuhan add oil” at around 8 p.m. A similar practice happened during last year's anti-extradition protests in Hong Kong, when protest supporters yelled out “Hong Kong add oil” each night at 10 p.m.
Below is a South China Morning Post's video about Wuhan's residents’ “yelling out” at night:

author: Winston Chiu


text:
Quarantine woes in Bangladesh amid coronavirus fears · Global Voices
Rezwan

Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay. Free for commercial use.
Check out Global Voices’ special coverage of the global impact of COVID-19.
On March 2, 2020, Bangladesh confirmed its first three COVID-19 cases, and at the time of reporting, the tally has reached 24 active cases and two deaths.
However, many fear that the actual number may be much higher as questionable quarantine measures coupled with a lack of testing facilities and testing kits may spell disaster for one of the most densely populated countries in the world.
Dr. Poonam Khetrapal Singh, the regional director of the World Health Organisation (WHO), warned that a number of South and Southeast Asian countries including Bangladesh are clearly heading toward community transmission of coronavirus unless “urgent and aggressive measures” are taken.
Only 200 beds have been allocated to treat COVID-19 patients at the Kuwait-Bangladesh Friendship Government Hospital, and many private hospitals in Dhaka have said they lack the infrastructure to treat coronavirus cases at their facilities.
Private health facilities are not permitted to perform the tests to ensure that the process can be monitored by the government and also to prevent any institution from taking monetary advantage of the crises. As a result, only one entity — the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) —  is allowed to test and diagnose COVID-19 cases in Bangladesh.
The Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) #HOTLINE numbers.
IEDCR said that if contacted and according to necessity, their special medical teams would visit suspected coronavirus patients’ homes and collect samples for testing.#COVID19#STAY_CAREFUL pic.twitter.com/BX4euYGvxN
— Human For Human (@humanforhumanbd) March 17, 2020
However, the IEDCR started out with a stock of only 2,000 COVID-19 test kits and with only one testing facility.
Reports claim that patients with a fever, cold symptoms and breathing problems are not being tested by both private hospitals or IEDCR unless they have a history of travel.
I just called IEDCR hotline to learn about Coronavirus testing since this is the ONLY place that is authorised to test (which is obviously done so that test patients are monitored and marked)
They ask 2 questions: 1. Have you traveled outside the country in the last 14 days?
— Nazia Tariq (@naziatr) March 16, 2020
According to records, only 351 people have been officially tested by IEDCR although 631,538 people have entered Bangladesh since the COVID-19 outbreak on January 21.
Beginning on March 16, The country imposed a 16-day ban on travelers from most European countries (excluding the United Kingdom). The government also imposed a 14-day compulsory quarantine on Bangladeshis who are allowed to return.
Before the travel ban measures, the government had attempted to bring returnees from a flight originating in Italy — where cases of the virus are the highest in Europe — to a quarantine site on March 15. The move was criticized and many protested the lack of arrangements at the site. They were then allowed to go home on the condition that they self-isolate for 14 days.
Since then, hundreds of expatriates who returned from COVID-19-affected countries have been seen out of their houses — traveling to tourist sites and celebrating wedding ceremonies among other banned activities.
Look at the situation.
Bangladesh government give them 14 days vacation to stay safe at home for #coronavirus. But they are utilising this time by gathering Patenga Sea beach Chittagong.
This is called Bangladeshi. pic.twitter.com/dkQmMOoHqj
— Jabed Ahmed (@MjAhmed27) March 18, 2020
On March 19, the army was deployed to supervise two quarantine facilities in Dhaka – one at Ashkona Hajj Camp near Shahjalal International Airport and the other at Rajuk Apartment Project at Diabari.
Starting the first week of March, Bangladesh began postponing or canceling public events such as the birth centenary event of its founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. On March 16, all schools and public universities were declared closed until March 31 as a preventive measure against the spread of the coronavirus.
Despite these measures, over 25,000 people gathered in Raipur Upazila of Laksmipur District on March 18, for a special prayer session to prevent coronavirus outbreak.
Tens of thousands of people gathered in Bangladesh for a mass prayer session on Wednesday, despite fears it posed a risk of spreading the new #coronavirus_19_bangladesh pic.twitter.com/wKoXwUpDXr
— Ahmed Shamim (@AhmedSh19594953) March 20, 2020
After the incident, the government said that all political, social, cultural and religious rallies would be banned from March 20, 2020.
The Center for Disease Control of the Directorate General of Health Services demanded the health ministry to seek out 100,000 COVID-19 test kits and 500,000 surgical masks, but it will take some time to import them.
China has offered to provide Bangladesh with about 10,000 coronavirus testing kits, 10,000 pieces of medical protective clothing, and masks and infrared thermometers to deal with testing people for the virus.
Meanwhile, Ganashystha Kendra, a local health institution in Bangladesh, claims that it had developed a cheap “rapid dot blot” testing kit after two months of research which can detect COVID-19 in 15 minutes. The unit, if mass-produced, would cost around  $4.5 United States dollars per kit. Ganashystha Kendra has reportedly obtained government approval to import the materials to produce this.
On March 19, 2020, authorities locked down the whole of Shibchar Upazila in Madaripur district as a number of new COVID-19 patients were detected in the area. The government has also indicated that more areas would be put under lockdown if the situation worsens.
As the situation escalates, many are looking to see how Bangladesh will navigate the crisis, especially because the country hosts over 1 million Rohingya refugees, most of them housed in densely populated refugee camps.
As social distancing goes into full effect to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Rohingya refugees living in camps in Bangladesh don’t hold such a luxury. What happens if the virus takes hold in the world’s most vulnerable communities?https://t.co/CxALewzSmK
— ☔ (@brownaandlovely) March 19, 2020

author: Rezwan


text:
‘The bars will spill over to songs of you’: A Caribbean farewell to Kenny Rogers · Global Voices
Shivanee Ramlochan

Image by Yatheesh Gowda from Pixabay
Editor's note: Country and western music enjoys great popularity in parts of the English-speaking Caribbean. Judging from the hundreds of reggae covers of country classics, festivals like St. Lucia's Pure Country Fest, and the high percentage of country music tracks on jukeboxes and playlists in rural watering holes, there's something about the themes and stories of country music with which some Caribbean people strongly identify. The original version of the piece below was published on the author's Facebook page.
Oh gosh boy, Kenny Rogers. If Trinidad had her way right now, “The Gambler” would be blasting from every tinny tweeter and mega-speaker from Icacos to Matelot. They'd ease into it with the grooving, percussive Busy Signal version — a Caribbean testimony to how much you're loved — and wind up with your mellow croon, and not a voice would be silent in the singing of your held spades and folded diamonds, your spurned jacks and squabbling clubs sprayed out like seafoam on the rough, rough rocks of life. Who told you to die during these hard pandemic times, sir? How can the great bars and small hawk-and-spits of our 868 mourn you appropriately, with no recourse to congregate and take a nip, crack open a new White Oak rum and spill for you?
Leaving this world like you did on the cusp of a weekend means that the now-banned river limes and beach parties would have been blasting you to the high heavens, comforted by curry duck bubbling and pepper lashing in the chow, ice rustling in the bucket matching the rhythm of your country tunes. Though it's not only local men who love off your lyrics (few written by you, but who's paying attention, when they come traipsing off your tongue?), the odds are good that any girl-child growing up learned about you, listened to you first via the radio and raucously off-key rendition of her father, grandfather, uncle, turning up the volume and slapping on the bass when you took over the easy listening afternoon drive home from school.
Was it because you were a man's man, Kenny? I admit to not knowing much about you, personally, and I'm a little afraid to Google you in case I find out something I can't unknow. Was it because men living on my island, men who I otherwise wouldn't dare look at twice for worry of endangering myself, loved you and were softened by you in all the ways they could permit — a consensual gruffness, honeyed and whiskeyed and rugged enough to still be a man, but one with feelings he could, if only for the combined length of “The Gambler”, “Islands in the Stream” and “Coward of the County”, allow himself to have?
I've watched bar patrons form a convivial half-circle, arms linked around their spilling special-offer-big-lime bottles of Carib and Stag, or their Supligen-tinged-Mackesons, wailing out your music long past the point of propriety, faces red, beer bellies wobbling with feeling, car and truck doors flung open till the vehicular bass rattled every window, prompted every curse from neighbours needing sleep for work the next morning. I've heard them, and hated them sometimes, been curious about them at others, still feared and mistrusted and been cautious of myself around them — but Kenny. Kenny, what's just as true is that one night, far away from any kind of bar, years ago I put one of your songs on (I don't even have to tell you which one) and let it loop on YouTube, and I just. I. I wept without cease, into the night.
Depend on it, Kenny Rogers, when coronavirus leaves the long gambling-table of life, having taken too many of us with it, the bars will spill over to songs of you. Prakash and Forbes, Ramdial and Chan, Rishi and Salty Bag and Harry son, and the doubles man from Quito, and not me (though I will be listening) will play your music, real damn loud, because nobody does take on noise pollution control rules in this place, and in this place, bookended and barricaded by crime, corruption, a six-century passport wait, bobol, buss up mash up pothole-heavy road, no water in pipe, too hot sun, stink traffic, and people tiefing yuh mango, you offered the wisdom of *knowing*. Knowing when to hold them. Fold them. Walk away. Run.
And sometimes, despite how very stupid and stubborn and heartbroken we all were (myself and the bar men included), we listened to your advice.

author: Shivanee Ramlochan


text:
As Ebola outbreak ends, coronavirus begins in DR Congo · Global Voices
Guest Contributor

UNICEF provided hundreds of hand-wash tanks like the one being used here by the national Minister of Public Health, Dr. Félix Kabange Numbi, in DR Congo. Photo MONUSCO/Dominique Wolombi via Flickr.
This post is written by guest contributor Esdras Tsongo, a Congolese reporter and journalist based in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Check out Global Voices’ special coverage of the global impact of COVID-19.
Democratic Republic of Congo has officially declared no more Ebola patients. On Tuesday, March 3, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the last patient was discharged in good health from a treatment center in Beni, North Kivu, eastern DR Congo.
This is not yet the end of the epidemic, but it is a victory: Beni used to be the epicenter of Ebola in DR Congo.
But while DR Congo has proclaimed the end of Ebola, it faced its first case of COVID-19 — the potentially deadly disease caused by a novel coronavirus — on March 8, 2020,and confirmed by WHO on March 10.
The first case was reported in Kinshasa, the capital. The patient is Congolese, 52, who returned to DR Congo from France. Upon arrival, he showed no symptoms. However, he was taken to a clinic in the Commune of Ndji'li, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Health, who added that health services are working to trace and identify all persons who have been in contact with the patient since March 8, 2020.
There are now at least 23 confirmed cases in DR Congo, as of March 22, according to WHO, including one virus-related death.
Hier l'INRB a confirmé 5 nouveaux cas. Tous sont congolais. Les équipes de prise en charge s'occupent d'eux. Également hier, nous avons connu le premier cas de décès suite au COVID19.
— Dr. Eteni Longondo (@EteniLongondo) March 21, 2020
Yesterday the INRB [Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale] confirmed 5 new cases. All are Congolese. The care teams take care of them. Also yesterday, we experienced the first case of death following COVID19.
DR Congo has banned large gatherings, ordered school and university closures for four weeks and closed its border with Rwanda, all measures taken to stem the spread of the virus. The government also suspended all international flights from countries with a high number of cases of COVID-19.
Mory Keita, the WHO coordinator who works in Ebola-affected regions, said the keyword is continued vigilance when it comes to containing any infectious disease. He points out that vaccination so that people can prevent themselves from getting any case of the virus.
In North Kivu province, the Ebola virus killed more than 2,000 people. There were 3,400 cases, and 1,169 were cured since August 1, 2018.
Nzanzu Carly Kasivita, governor of North Kivu, took decisive measures to fight Ebola in his region. Kasivita told Global Voices:
As governor, I organized support marches so that the population of North Kivu can adopt the best attitudes to fight against Ebola and I managed to mobilize the population, I am happy to announce that there are now more than 21 days without cases of Ebola virus.
On July 17, 2019, WHO proclaimed Ebola as a public health emergency of international concern, which quickly mobilized more resources and support to combat Ebola in three provinces of eastern DR Congo: North Kivu, South Kivu and Uturi.
Jean-Jacques Muyembe, technical secretary of response in DR Congo, told Global Voices by phone that since March 2, 2020, the last patients have been cured and have been released from the Ebola Treatment Center.
However, according to WHO, it takes 42 days from the confirmation of the last case for the virus to be declared completely eradicated: April 12, 2020.
Muyembe said that the same population that fought against Ebola can also avoid coronavirus, using the lessons learned from prior Ebola outbreaks.
Coronavirus is bad news for the region so strongly affected by Ebola. However, the two highly infectious diseases have several commonalities, albeit Ebola was much more contagious than COVID-19.
According to Muyembe, most Congolese are aware of and prepared for COVID-19 after living with the Ebola epidemic. Health workers will use similar measures in terms of contact tracing and social and physical distancing to fight the coronavirus.
“DRC was the 11th African country affected by COVID-2019, but the same protective attitudes that fought against Ebola must be maintained in the phase of this new virus,” Muyembe told Global Voices.
Muyembe explained that the council of ministers finally decided that anyone coming from France, Germany, Italy, Iran, Iraq and China, even “without any signs of fever, cough, cold, headache, intense fatigue will be isolated for 14 days at home and followed for 14 days by the medical team taking into account the information collected in the health cards of travelers.”
In addition, Muyembe told Global Voices that any person “presenting [coronavirus] symptoms on arrival and considered a suspect case will be transferred to the isolation site and treated by the Ministry of Health.”
Meanwhile, experts with WHO say they plan to conduct a study called “Solidarity” modeled after a 2018 Ebola study, to test drugs already used to tackle other viruses.
The study will likely need to enroll thousands of patients, which could prove difficult depending on government efficacy to manage the collaboration with WHO. But the results could save many lives.