Nigerian Times

28 Oct 2011 06:59 Africa/Lagos Countries resolve to cooperate against piracy in the Indian ocean region BRUSSELS, October 28, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton and The Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Kevin Rudd co-chaired a forum on piracy in the margins of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, Australia, attended by Indian Ocean Rim countries and stakeholders promoting security in Somalia and off the Horn of Africa. The forum underlined its deep concern at the threat posed by piracy and armed robbery against ships in the Indian Ocean. Somali piracy raised the costs of international trade and harmed the fishing and tourist industries of East African and Indian Ocean coastal and island states. Noting United Nations Security Council Resolution 2015 passed on 24 October 2011, the forum endorsed the international efforts to restore peace and stability in Somalia...

7 Jun 2011 16:46 Africa/Lagos Migrants Continue to be Vulnerable in Libyan Conflict GENEVA, June 7, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- IOM Press Briefing Notes The on-going conflict and political stalemate in Libya has left migrants in a situation of continued vulnerability, with large groups stranded across the country. During an assessment of the humanitarian needs in various parts of Libya, IOM staff reported on the plight of a large community of mostly African and Filipino migrant workers sheltering in two sites in the capital, Tripoli. Staff say some of the migrants have been without jobs since the beginning of the crisis as their employers had left the country. Feeling they have nothing to return to, they stay on in Libya in the vain hope that they may receive back pay from their employers or find another job. Others have been left to take care of employers' properties but have not been paid since February. The majority, from Ghana, Togo, Sudan, Nigeria, Cameroon and o...

15 Apr 2011 17:24 Africa/Lagos Africa opens another chapter in fight against human trafficking ADDIS ABABA, March 25, 2010/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- Africa has launched a new two-pronged campaign to operationalise its four-year old continental instrument to address the challenges of trafficking in persons, particularly women and children through regional workshops and the launching of the African Union's Initiative against Trafficking (AU.COMMIT) in the Regional Economic Communities (REC”s). The latest initiative, a joint programme of the African Union, ECOWAS, the International Organisation on Migration (IOM) and the UN Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC), would develop a road map for implementing the Ouagadougou Action Plan agreed by the African Union in 2006. “The workshop is of critical importance to countries of Africa and to the Regional Economic Communities (REC's) considering that it is the second in a series of planned launches of the COMMIT campaign that has...