Day: March 11, 2023

A delegation from the two Houses of the Somali Parliament, led by the 2nd Deputy Speaker of the Lower House, arrived in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, where they are attending the General Assembly of the World Parliament.

The senators and representatives, together with the Secretary General of the Upper House of the Parliament of the Federal Republic of Somalia, Mr. Abdinasir Ibrahim Guled, today participated in preliminary meetings at the headquarters of the General Assembly of the World Parliament which will be held in the capital of Bahrain this year.

Source: Somali National News Agency

Seychelles and Japan will continue to work together in varying areas over the coming years, with relations between the two nations commemorated during a reception to honour Japanese Emperor Naruhito on Friday.

Emperor Naruhito, who turned 63 on February 23, acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne on May 1, 2019, beginning the Reiwa era, following the abdication of his father, Akihito. He is the 126th monarch according to Japan’s traditional order of succession.

Held at Eden Bleu Hotel, the event was a celebration of Emperor Naruhito’s birthday and saw the presence of the government ministers, government officials, diplomats and representatives of the private sector.

“I am grateful that so many of you have joined us today, to celebrate this occasion with us. It is a true reflection of the goodwill and friendship that exists between our two countries,” said Ken Okaniwa, the Japanese Ambassador to Seychelles, during his address.

The ambassador spoke of the relationship that exists between Seychelles and Japan, where he shared that Japan has maintained excellent relations with Seychelles since 1976, with both nations sharing common values such as the rule of law, human rights and democracy.

“Our cooperation is not limited to the government level. A Japanese trading firm, Itochu, has begun shipping discarded fishnets from the Seychelles to be exported and recycled,” added Ambassador Okaniwa, saying that the project will contribute towards environmental protection.

Furthermore, on Thursday, Japan donated medical equipment amounting to $769,789 (SCR10 million) to the Ministry of Health in Seychelles.

Meanwhile, in the absence of Seychelles’ President Wavel Ramkalawan, the Designated Minister, Jean-Francois Ferrari, sent his birthday wishes to the Emperor on behalf of the President and expressed his thanks for the year of support Japan has given to Seychelles.

“We are grateful to Japan for its past and continuing support in such vital sectors as capacity building and training, health, maritime security, fisheries, disaster risk management, Blue Economy and others,” said Ferrari.

He also expressed his thanks to Japan for approving a grant of $7.6 million (SCR100 million) for financing the construction of a new Marine Police and Anti Narcotic Centre in Seychelles.

Source: Seychelles News Agency

Tripoli, The Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to Libya, “Abdullah Batili,” said in the press conference held today in Tripoli, “that the initiative he presented in his briefing to the Security Council aims to bring together the Libyan parties to enable them to work to resolve the current crisis, and lead the country towards elections”.

He added, “Temporary arrangements, ongoing transitional governments, and outgoing legislative bodies endanger the Libyan situation and will ultimately undermine Libya’s territorial integrity and the unity of its people.”

Batili called for giving the Libyan people the opportunity to choose their leaders through elections, which is the way to peace, prosperity and building public and legitimate institutions.

Batili stressed that the postponement of the elections was a disappointment to the Libyans, and the international community should help the Libyans in holding them, pointing out that the current political bodies are the cause of the crisis.

Source: Libyan News Agency

Ouagadougou, Burkinabe and African psychiatrists reflected from March 8 to 11, 2023 on psychotraumas, which are mental disorders that individuals develop after escaping death or after traumatic events such as terrorist attacks .

“Psychotraumas are mental disorders that develop after people have been exposed to death. Psychotrauma comes at a time when the person found themselves alone without an escape route in the face of a traumatic event that brought them very close to death. So he escaped death. After this confrontation, it can follow the development of mental disorders which can be immediate or deferred”, explained the titular professor in Psychiatry, member of the Burkinabè Society of mental health and the African Society of mental health, Kapoune Karfo.

Kapoune Karfo was speaking on Wednesday at the opening of the 6th Congress of the Burkinabè Mental Health Society (SOBUSAM) and the 4th Congress of the African Mental Health Society.

According to him, the health crisis linked to the Coronavirus disease and the terrorist attacks are causing fear and above all disruptions in the social functioning of African countries, leaving traces that are sources of human suffering.

“This congress offers us the opportunity not only to promote the exchange of knowledge and know-how in psychotraumatology, but also to strengthen international scientific cooperation, as well as sub-regional and national exchanges, in the field of training and research in psychotrauma”, according to Professor Karfo.

The Minister in charge of Health, Dr Robert Lucien Jean Claude Kargougou chaired the congress, organized under the theme: “Psychotrauma in the context of health crisis”.

Minister Kargougou reassured the Burkinabé mental health society that the government will step up appropriate measures to ensure better care for psychotrauma victims of the security crisis in the country.

Source: Burkina Information Agency