Year: 2017

Tunisia: UTICA launches first Social Innovation Competition

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The Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA) has announced the launch of the first social innovation competition dedicated to companies that have been in business for more than 2 years and to start-ups created around a social innovation. The UTICA Prize for Social Innovation aims to support and valorize innovative experiments, initiatives, or actions that are capable of bringing real added value, both to professional practice and to the results obtained from users.  These innovations relate to the product or service as well as the way in which…

Forgotten in Tunisia

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Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is currently providing medical and mental health care to migrants and refugees in Tunisia—in Sfax and Zarzis. Many of these patients arrive after a perilous journey through Libya, where migrants are often kidnapped, tortured, and held for ransom. In Sfax, MSF mainly sees patients from sub-Saharan Africa, among them undocumented migrants, victims of human trafficking, and other vulnerable people. For them, Tunisia is a transitional point between their conflict-torn homes and Europe, where they hope to find work and a better life. As time passes, however,…

Tunisia detains Egyptian fishermen for illegal fishing in territorial waters

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The Tunisian Marine Forces have detained a number of Egyptian fishermen off the coast of Sfax for illegal fishing in Tunisia’s territorial waters, the Tunisian Ministry of National Defence said in a statement on Monday. Ibrahim Said, the boat’s mechanic, who is in detention along with the rest of the crew, told Ahram Online that 16 Egyptian fishermen from Rashid and Kafr El-Sheikh were on board. The boat’s captain, Youssef Mohamed Hassan El-Shazly, set sail 10 days ago from Egypt’s Mediterranean city of Rashid, according to Said, who added that…

Libyan navy detains 20 Filipinos for alleged smuggling

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At least 20 Filipino crew members of an oil tanker have been arrested by the Libyan navy for suspected fuel smuggling, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Tuesday. The DFA said in a statement it is closely monitoring the case of the detained crewmen after their tanker was intercepted Sunday. “The DFA instructed our embassy to closely monitor the situation and extend all necessary assistance to our (countrymen),” it said in a statement, according to GMA News. The Philippine embassy in Libya has yet to report back, it…

Greenpeace Africa Welcomes Move to Ban Plastic Bags in Kenya

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Greenpeace Africa has lauded Kenya’s move to ban plastic bags starting end of this month, according to a statement issued by Hellen Dena, Communication Officer of the environmental group. It said, Greenpeace Africa’s Executive Director, Njeri Kabeberi has reacted gleefully to the news that the ban will take effect on 28th August and that the government has ruled out extension of the order, “Greenpeace Africa welcomes the decision by the Kenyan government to implement the plastic bags ban. This is a beacon of hope in fostering an environmentally conscious society…

Better use of scarce water key to Middle East’s future: World Bank

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Political stability and economic growth in the Middle East and North Africa could hinge on better management of scarce water resources, the World Bank said in a report released Tuesday. With poor access to water and poor sanitation, the region is suffering annual economic losses of as much as $21 billion, according to the report, published to coincide with the global ‘Water Week’ events which opened Monday in Stockholm focusing on innovative solutions for these issues. Water crisis may soon hit major Pakistan cities The estimate reflects costs from health care and lost productivity due…

UN envoy to Libya met HoR Speaker before his first Security Council report

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The UN envoy to Libya, Ghassan Salame, arrived on Monday in Gubba district in east Libya and met with the Speaker of the House of Representatives (HoR) Aqilah Saleh. According to the Facebook page of the UNSMIL, Salame met with Saleh for two hours and exchanged ideas about the most vital solutions to Libya’s political crisis. “It was very significant to meet Saleh before giving my first report to the UN Security Council Monday evening and to congratulate Libyans on the coming of Eid Al-Adha.” Salame indicated. In the last…

Perenco takes half of Serept, Ashtart off Tunisia from OMV

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Austria-based OMV has divested its 50 per cent stake in the offshore Ashtart oil field, located in the Gulf of Gabes in Tunisia, and another 50 per cent stake in the Tunisian oil and gas company Serept to the Anglo-French petroleum company Perenco. With the move, Perenco will be jointly holding its stakes with the Tunisian national oil company, ETAP, who owns the remaining 50 per cent stake in Serept and Ashtart. OMV’s decision of divestment of Ashtart and Serept comes in line with the company’s strategy to optimise its…

After Morocco, Tunisia Looks to Join ECOWAS

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Tunisia is following in the footsteps of Morocco, setting its sights on joining the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The announcement was made on August 22 by the Tunisian Head of Government Youssef Chahed during the Tunisian africain empowerment. According to the French magazine Jeune Afrique, ECOWAS is due to decide on whether to accept Tunisia’s membership during the organization’s conference in Lomé, Togo, scheduled for December. The event will mark the participation of Tunisian president Beji Caid Essebsi. During the regional African bloc’s recent conference in Monrovia,…

Joint anti Xylella plan bears first fruit

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The technical cooperation programme launched in Tunisia in 2016 to combat the introduction and spread of the fatal Xylella fastidiosa bacteria affecting olive trees in North Africa and the Middle East is bearing fruit, but more needs to be done. Specifically, cooperation needs to be improved among affected countries and laws regulating imports of plant species and products need to be more strictly applied, according to a seminar organised in Tunis by the secretariat of the International Convention for the protection of plant species and the FAO regional office. Tunisia,…