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Senegalese music icon, Baaba Maal named UN Ambassador

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Senegalese music icon and activist on climate change and refugees, Baaba Maal, was on Monday named a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

Maal, a prolific singer-songwriter and producer in the West African country, has been a long-time climate change activist who has been committed to various development challenges in Africa, working with different family organizations, according to the U.N, and was named for his immense contributions to the cause.

Maal runs a foundation called the NANN-K Trust which recently opened a solar-powered irrigation project in Senegal to fight desertification, which is one of the main drivers of people leaving the country on dangerous migration routes, the U.N said in a statement.

“The project will train people to start similar projects in their own communities.”

Maal who recently spoke about project in a interview, said he was a believer in putting power in the hands of young people and women.

“We are tackling climate change impact, but also fighting desertification on the African continent, especially in my region where we are just not far away from the desert and we see it coming to us,” he had said.

“And it had an impact because people who don’t get more opportunities to do agriculture, fishing and many more, will have to run away from their places, go to the big cities where nothing is planned for them there.

“And then later on, some of the young ones will just take the boats to go to Spain or some of these places or just try to cross the desert and it’s really dangerous. We did lose a lot of lives,” he added.

Brought up in the small town of Podor in north Senegal, a fishing community, Maal was born into a fisherman caste and was expected to follow that career path.

But he said his path in life was changed when he befriended storyteller and musician Mansour Seck, and has spent his life performing, travelling and raising awareness about the issues his homeland faces.

“Our role is first to give news about what’s going on, because sometimes the local people, they don’t know what’s happening to them is the impact of climate change.

They don’t know how to stand up against that. But at the same time, when they know about it, they will say what to do,” he said in the interview.

Culture

African men run away from single mothers— Joselyn Dumas

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Veteran Ghanaian actress and media personality, Joselyn Dumas, has lamented the fact that most African men shy away from getting married to single mothers due to the added responsibilities they will be saddled with.

The actress who made the assertion in her recent podcast, “Keeping it Real with Joselyn Dumas, The Perfect Picture”, opened up on the challenges of many single mothers who are struggling to find a partner because of societal biases.

In the podcast, Dumas who shared a personal story of a male friend whom she said refused to settle down with a lady because she had a child.

According to her, the friend named Anthony, firmly stated that it wasn’t his thing to be with a ‘born one’ or ‘born two’.

“He said B1, B2, I’m not in and I said to myself, ‘this is the reason why a lot of single mothers are single with their children.

“Now his reason was, why am I going to raise somebody’s child? That’s not my bloodline. He doesn’t have my DNA in him. Why am I now going to help someone’s bloodline grow? What about mine?” she said.

Dumas who is a single mother, noted that Anthony’s mindset is a “reflection of the views of a larger majority of people who don’t want to have meaningful relationship with single mothers.”

She also criticised what she termed as the double standard in society’s views on raising non-biological children, arguing that it should not be seen differently from adoption.

“I have a child but these men won’t even ask you, they don’t even care why you have a child. You’ve had seven miscarriages when you got married. You meet a guy, you were dating and you got pregnant, are you going to abort the baby because you aren’t married?

“He doesn’t want the child, are you going to throw the child away? No! You can raise the child. It takes a village to raise the child, so even if you don’t have a job, you will get support. This is part of the sacrifice you have to make regardless of what has happened,” she said.

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Namibia govt condemns tourists posing naked on Big Daddy Dune

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The Namibian authorities have frowned at tourists who posed naked at the Big Daddy Dune, the country’s top tourist attraction located in the Namibian desert.

Reports in the country’s media say locals were shocked to sight the tourists posing naked on the Dune during a safari and have demanded for action against them from authorities.

According to local media, actions that could be taken against the tourists include being blacklisted from entering any of Namibia’s parks.

A spokesperson from the country’s Tourism Ministry told local media that photos and a video from of the naked tourists have been widely shared, sparking sharp reactions.

Vice Chairperson of the Federation of Namibian Tourism Associations, Kenneth Nependa, who condemned the act, told journalists that the behaviour risked attracting tourists “who think anything goes in Namibia.”

“It is very sickening and it really creates a bad image for Namibia,” Nependa said, adding that the Big Daddy Dune was not just a relaxing place for tourists but for families too.

Though it is not clear who took the photos and the video of the three male tourists who were seen stark naked in the sandy dune, next to their clothes, authorities say a stern action will be taken against them.

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, Romeo Muyunda, described the behaviour as “extremely shocking,” saying it was public indecency punishable by Namibian law.

“We appeal to that section of tourists to summon the conscience so that they do the right things,” Muyunda said.

He appealed to Namibians to report violations of park regulations immediately for swift action.

The Big Daddy dune is one of the three largest dunes in Namibia’s enormous Namib-Naukluft National Park, one of the largest in the world and are popular with tourists who hike to the top to have a stunning view across the crests.

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