DR Congo: Children Return to School in M23-Controlled Goma Amidst Conflict

Back to School in Eastern DR Congo

• 🎒 Children in Goma, eastern DR Congo, are returning to school for the first academic year since M23 rebels seized control of the city and surrounding areas.
• 🏫 Despite fears that classrooms might remain closed, students are attending, marking a return to normalcy in a conflict-affected region.
• 📚 The Congolese national curriculum will continue to be taught, and teachers have reported for duty, with assurances that their salaries will be paid by the state.
• 🕊️ For many families, the return to school represents a hope for lasting peace and a chance for the younger generation to receive an education away from the realities of war.

Leadership Changes and Funding Challenges

• 🏦 Sidiki Ulta has officially taken over as the head of the African Development Bank, pledging to foster a robust and prosperous Africa.
• 📉 Ulta faces significant challenges, including a planned $500 million US aid cut and existing issues of debt, climate change, and development gaps on the continent.
• 🌍 He emphasized the urgency of action, stating that Africa's youth are waiting and that the time for transformative change is now.

Global Displacement and Budget Cuts

• 🌍 The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) plans to significantly slash its budget by nearly a fifth, despite record levels of global displacement.
• 📉 This budget reduction will lead to approximately 4,000 job cuts and the closure of its regional bureau in Pretoria, South Africa.
• ⚠️ The UNHCR warns that the number of forcibly displaced and stateless people could reach a new global record of 136 million by next year, exacerbated by funding cuts from major donors.

Justice and Blasphemy Accusations in Nigeria

• 🔥 A woman in northern Nigeria was burned to death by a mob after being accused of blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad.
• ⚖️ The incident highlights the dangers of