Uganda has been ranked 7^th most influential country in Africa, with the army, the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) lauded for its efforts in peacekeeping.

“Uganda army may not be the most advanced in Africa but it is the most courageous and it has proved itself better than most force (sic) from the rest of Africa from 1993 when it (participated) in stopping the Rwanda genocide, protected Kenyans in 2008, fought the Rwandan rebel in Congo up to date, when its keeping peace in southern Sudan and largely in Somalia which was abandoned by most Africa great powers like the South Africa and the African Arab countries,’ How Africa states in a blog released October 29.

According to How Africa, Uganda was also able to maintain GDP growth at between 6.5 and 7 percent during the period 1990s up to 2010.

‘Uganda was among the first sub Saharan countries to embrace market reforms in the late 1990s and graduated as a mature reformer in 2006 with sound economic fundamentals and much improved governance. Real GDP growth accelerated from an average of 6.5 percent year-on-year in the 1990s to over 7 per cent during the 10 years leading up to 2009-10. Not surprisingly, Uganda qualifies as one of the few durable African success stories,’ Africa How states.

Top on the list released October 29, South Africa is ranked No.1 on the continent, followed by Ethiopia, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco and Nigeria. Others are (Uganda), Rwanda, Zimbabwe and Algeria.

‘South Africa is the only African country that is a member of the G20 and BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa grouping) and the only country of of the EU’s 10 global strategic partners,’ How Africa says of South Africa, the continent’s top ranked country.

Surprise package Zimbabwe, ranked No.9 is credited for standing up to the western powers.

‘The only that has not followed the conventional development strategies as directed by the western countries… the advantage is localization of the vast economic wealth/dividends moving forward as opposed to recording good GDP when in actual fact the country is nothing but a western resource extraction ground,’ How Africa says of the country that has been ruled by one man, President Robert Gabriel Mugabe, since Independence in 1980.

Neighbouring Kenya at No.4 has been singled out for educational prowess, while Rwanda at No.8 is credited for its UN peace keeping efforts among other credentials.

‘Kenya is a powerhouse in human resource capital. With the most educated population on the continent it also (has) the fastest growing ICT hub on the continent,’ Africa How says of Uganda’s neighbor to the east, Kenya.

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African warlord Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army rebels in Congo are killing elephants for their ivory, which they trade for supplies in Sudanese-controlled territory.

According to a new report released Monday by the watchdog group Enough Project, the ivory is trafficked from Congo’s Garamba National Park, where the animals are poached, to Kafia Kingi, an enclave controlled by Sudan. “The rebels deal with Sudanese merchants to get food, uniforms and ammunition,” says the Enough Project report. The findings are based on interviews with defectors from the rebels.

One group of rebels based in the park poaches elephants and secures the ivory, and then another group transports the ivory from northeastern Congo through Central African Republic to Kafia Kingi, the report charges.

“The tusks are likely trafficked to Nyala, South Darfur, and on to Khartoum for export abroad, primarily to Asia,” it said.

The report adds that rebel commanders, under direct orders from Kony, have also traded with Sudanese military officers.

Sudan has faced persistent accusations that it is aiding Kony’s group, charges the Khartoum government denies.

Kony is being hunted by a joint African force of troops from Uganda and Congo. U.S. advisers are also deployed to the jungles of central Africa to help the force trying to capture or kill Kony and his rebels.

Last week President Barack Obama reauthorized U.S. support for the mission against Kony.

Kony himself is believed to be hiding in Kafia Kingi, where he has eluded the international forces searching for him. His rebel group originated in Uganda in the 1980s as a tribal uprising against the government, eventually gaining notoriety for the sexual enslavement of girls and the recruitment of boys. By 2006, a Ugandan military assault had forced all the rebels to flee to Congo and to other parts of central Africa.

According to Enough Project, only about 120 Lord’s Resistance Army rebels remain in the bush.

AP

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The head of Operations at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, John Ging, has called for more help for people and communities who have faced years of crisis in Sudan, South Sudan and Somalia.

“Each of these countries faces a unique set of challenges. But in each country, I spoke with people who have had to run from their homes again and again, fleeing successive waves of violence. I met children who have grown up never knowing peace and stability,” said Mr. Ging

According to the UNOCHA official, those in need of assistance have ‘simple demands’.

“These people had simple demands: they wanted support in rebuilding their livelihoods, educating their children and accessing medical care,” said Mr. Ging. “But above all they told me they were exhausted, and desperately wanted an end to conflict,” he said.

Mr. Ging travelled to the three countries from 18 to 25 October with representatives from the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and the Netherlands.

“The challenges faced by these countries are overwhelming,” said Mr. Ging. “But in each we saw reasons for hope. In Sudan, the Government indicated a new willingness to allow humanitarian workers to access those in need of assistance. In South Sudan, the signing of a new peace agreement provides a prospect for an end to the violence which has engulfed the country. And in Somalia, we saw progress that many described as the best chance the country has had in 25 years to build lasting peace.”

In South Sudan, worsening violence has swept across the central region of the country over the past months, systematically targeting civilians. In Southern Unity state alone, some 1,600 women have been forcibly abducted since May, more than 1,000 civilians killed, 1,300 women and girls have been raped and more than 15,000 children have been recruited into armed groups.

Across East Africa, one of the most severe El Nino events on record is set to have a devastating impact in the next few months, causing an estimated 83 per cent increase in food insecurity by the start of 2016. The number in need of food assistance across the region is forecast to increase from 12 million at the start of 2015 to 22.1 million at the start of 2016, with flooding set to affect up to 3.5 million people.

These countries are some of the most dangerous in the world for humanitarian workers, with at least 10 aid workers killed in Somalia so far in 2015 and at least 34 killed in South Sudan since December 2013. Despite this, humanitarian workers continue to reach millions of people every month with lifesaving assistance.

“It is inspiring to witness the efforts our colleagues are making on the front line,” said Mr. Ging. “The international community must continue to support these efforts, and stand in solidarity with those who have been the victims of conflict for far too long.”

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First Lady and Karamoja Affairs Minister Janet Kataha Museveni, and Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) boss Allen Catherine Kagina have been awarded Masters Degrees.

The two prominent ladies in the country were awarded Masters of Arts in Organisational Leadership and Management in the third batch at the 16th graduation ceremony that took place at Uganda Christian University (UCU) Mukono today.

Also awarded a Masters of Arts in Organisational Leadership and Management was Ms. Susan Muhwezi Kabonero, wife to the Minister of Information Maj Gen Jim Muhwezi.

Over 1600 students graduated today with Diplomas, Bachelors and Masters Degrees at a ceremony presided over by Dr. David S. Dockery,President of Trinity International College in Chicago.

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China has decided to end its decades-long one-child policy, the state-run Xinhua news agency reports.

Couples will now be allowed to have two children, it said, citing a statement from the Communist Party.

The controversial policy was introduced nationally in 1979, to slow the population growth rate.

It is estimated to have prevented about 400 million births. However concerns at China’s ageing population led to pressure for change.

Couples who violated the one-child policy faced a variety of punishments, from fines and the loss of employment to forced abortions.

Over time, the policy has been relaxed in some provinces, as demographers and

Introduced in 1979, the policy meant that many Chinese citizens – around a third, China claimed in 2007 – could not have a second child without incurring a fine

In rural areas, families were allowed to have two children if the first was a girl

Other exceptions included ethnic minorities and – since 2013 – couples where at least one was a single child

Campaigners say the policy led to forced abortions, female infanticide, and the under-reporting of female births

It was also implicated as a cause of China’s gender imbalance

What was China’s one-child policy?

The decision to allow families to have two children was designed “to improve the balanced development of population” and to deal with an aging population, according to the statement from the Community Party’s Central Committee carried by the official Xinhua News Agency (in Chinese) on Thursday.

Xuefei Zheng in the UK emails

Great news! I am a Chinese national married to an English man. I am an only child myself. My parents loved kids but they could only have me because of the threat of losing their jobs if they had more.

I felt lonely growing up by myself. My parents tried their best by having my cousins over and sending me to my cousins for a day but I always wished I had sisters and brothers.

Now my parents are over 50 and my grandparents are living with them. I want to be able to help my parents too but it will be hard to make them move all the way to the UK and give up their life and friends in China.

My husband is very understanding of the Chinese culture and we are working hard now to save money to begin our own family. If we are blessed, I will definitely have more than one child.

Read more experiences and reaction

Critics say that even a two-child policy will not boost the birth rate enough, the BBC’s John Sudworth reports.

And for those women who want more than two children, nor will it end the state’s insistence on the right to control their fertility, he adds.

“As long as the quotas and system of surveillance remains, women still do not enjoy reproductive rights,” Maya Wang of Human Rights Watch told AFP.

The announcement comes on the final day of a summit of the Chinese Communist Party’s policy-making Central Committee, known as the fifth plenum.

The party is also set to announce growth targets and its next five year plan.

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President Yoweri Museveni has urged Indian entrepreneurs and business executives to come and invest in Uganda, saying it is more profitable than in India or many other countries.

Addressing the India-Africa Business Forum at the Le Meridien Hotel, New Delhi, the President said prosperity could be done through trade and investment as a strategic goal for India to promote partnerships with Africa.

Museveni is in India on a four-day working visit during which he will also address the 3^rd India – Africa Forum Summit currently underway at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex.

President Museveni identified trade, infrastructural development, tourism and collaboration in scientific cooperation and research as areas that can be exploited to create prosperity sustainably through production.

He said the first stimulus for prosperity is trade because the producer, and the buyer mutually support each other.

He however pointed out that whereas Uganda has been supporting the prosperity of India by buying Indian products, India has, over the years not reciprocated in equal measure, thus the trade imbalance between the two countries. He explained that India’s exports to Uganda are worth US $1.6 billion, but only imports Uganda’s unprocessed coffee worth US $16million only; thus creating unbalanced prosperity through trade.

He invited them to come and invest in the agricultural processing sector to add value to agricultural products for export.

He also identified other areas as mineral processing, fresh water products, oil, gas and energy.

President Museveni called for ‘the elimination of trade barriers so that Uganda’s products such as textiles, tea and dairy products can gain access to the Indian market’ but only blocked by consumer action. “It was trade not aid that leads to sustainable prosperity,” he said.

The President had earlier met a number of investors who included those from the Confederation of Indian Industry, the Hinduja Group, and the Tata Group Chairman Cyrus P Mistry, who called on him at his hotel residence.

The meetings were attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sam Kutesa, Uganda’s High Commissioner to India Elizabeth Paula Napeyok and Uganda’s Ambassador to Ethiopia and African Union Mull Katende.

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