Jane Goodall chimpanzee conservation project in Tanzania hit by USAid cuts
The US government funding cuts will hit a chimpanzee conservation project nurtured by the primatologist Jane Goodall.
USAid has been subjected to swingeing cuts under Donald Trump, with global effects that are still unfolding. Now it has emerged that the agency will withdraw from the Hope Through Action project managed by the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI). USAid had pledged $29.5m (£22m) over five years to the project, which was designed to protect endangered chimpanzees and their habitats in western Tanzania.
Launched in November 2023, the project is intended to protect endangered chimpanzees through reforestation and 'community-led methodology' in order to conserve biodiversity conservation and improve local livelihoods.
Its work is built upon Jane Goodall's research.She 'redefined species conservation' by highlighting the importance of cooperation between local people and the natural environment to protect chimpanzees from extinction.
According to JGI figures, chimpanzees have become extinct in three African countries, and overall population numbers have fallen from millions to below 340,000.
Goodall criticised Trump during his first term in office when he signed an executive order dismantling Barack Obama's clean power plan. She called Trump's climate agenda 'immensely depressing'.
In collaboration with JGI Austria, Ecosia – a Berlin-based search engine that donates 100% of its profits to climate action – has offered $100,000 over the next three years to further TGI Tanzania's Gombe reforestation project. The donation far from covers the original funding amount, but it is intended to pay for the planting of 360,000 seedlings, work put at risk after the project was defunded.
The director of JGI Austria, Diana Leizinger, said: 'We refuse to abandon people and nature. Where hope could have been destroyed, we are helping it grow again.'
An analysis in April by Refugees International found that 98% of USAid's awards related to the climate had been discontinued.
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USAid was approached for comment.
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The Guardian
6 hours ago
- The Guardian
Jane Goodall chimpanzee conservation project in Tanzania hit by USAid cuts
The US government funding cuts will hit a chimpanzee conservation project nurtured by the primatologist Jane Goodall. USAid has been subjected to swingeing cuts under Donald Trump, with global effects that are still unfolding. Now it has emerged that the agency will withdraw from the Hope Through Action project managed by the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI). USAid had pledged $29.5m (£22m) over five years to the project, which was designed to protect endangered chimpanzees and their habitats in western Tanzania. Launched in November 2023, the project is intended to protect endangered chimpanzees through reforestation and 'community-led methodology' in order to conserve biodiversity conservation and improve local livelihoods. Its work is built upon Jane Goodall's 'redefined species conservation' by highlighting the importance of cooperation between local people and the natural environment to protect chimpanzees from extinction. According to JGI figures, chimpanzees have become extinct in three African countries, and overall population numbers have fallen from millions to below 340,000. Goodall criticised Trump during his first term in office when he signed an executive order dismantling Barack Obama's clean power plan. She called Trump's climate agenda 'immensely depressing'. In collaboration with JGI Austria, Ecosia – a Berlin-based search engine that donates 100% of its profits to climate action – has offered $100,000 over the next three years to further TGI Tanzania's Gombe reforestation project. The donation far from covers the original funding amount, but it is intended to pay for the planting of 360,000 seedlings, work put at risk after the project was defunded. The director of JGI Austria, Diana Leizinger, said: 'We refuse to abandon people and nature. Where hope could have been destroyed, we are helping it grow again.' An analysis in April by Refugees International found that 98% of USAid's awards related to the climate had been discontinued. Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion USAid was approached for comment.
BBC News
6 hours ago
- BBC News
Sudan in danger of self-destructing as conflict and famine reign
Sudan's war is in strategic stalemate. Each side stakes its hopes on a new offensive, a new delivery of weapons, a new political alliance, but neither can gain a decisive losers are the Sudanese people. Every month there are more who are hungry, displaced, Sudan armed forces triumphantly announced the recapture of central Khartoum in broadcast pictures of its leader, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, walking through the ruins of the capital's Republican Palace, which had been controlled by the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), since the earliest days of the war in April army deployed weapons newly acquired from Egypt, Turkey and other Middle Eastern countries including Qatar and Iran. But its offensive quickly stalled. The RSF, headed by Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as "Hemedti", responded with a devastating drone attack on Port Sudan, which is both the interim capital of the military government and also the main entry point for humanitarian were long-range sophisticated drones, which the army accuses the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of supplying - a charge the UAE rejects, along with well-documented reports that it has been backing the RSF during the 27-month conflict.A simple guide to Sudan's warFear, loss and hope in Sudan's ruined capital after army victoryBurhan and Hemedti - the two generals at the heart of the conflictThe RSF has also expanded operations to the south of struck a deal with Abdel Aziz al-Hilu, the veteran rebel commander of the Sudan People's Liberation Army-North, which controls the Nuba Mountains near the border with South forces combined may be able to make a push to the border with Ethiopia, hoping to open new supply the RSF has been besieging the capital of North Darfur, el-Fasher, which is defended by a coalition of Darfurian former rebels, known as the Joint Forces, allied with the of the fighters are ethnic Zaghawa, who have been in fierce conflict with the Arab groups that form the core of the RSF. Month after month of blockade, bombardment and ground attacks have created famine among the residents, with the people of the displaced camp of Zamzam RSF and its allied Arab militias have a terrifying record of massacre, rape and ethnic cleansing. Human rights organisations have accused it of genocide against the Massalit people of West communities in el-Fasher fear that if the Joint Forces are defeated, they will suffer savage reprisals at the hands of the pressure on el-Fasher is growing. Last week the RSF captured desert garrisons on the border with Libya held by the Joint military has accused forces loyal to Libyan strongman Gen Khalifa Haftar, who controls the east of the country and is also a reported beneficiary of Emirati support, of joining in the civilians, who six years ago managed the extraordinary feat of overthrowing the country's long-time leader Omar al-Bashir through non-violent protests, are in groupings are aligned with Burhan, with Hemedti, or trying to stake out a neutral position. They are all active on social media, polarised, acrimonious and neighbourhood committees that were the driving force of the civic revolution are clinging to life. Most have kept their political heads down, focusing instead on essential humanitarian activities. Known as "Emergency Response Rooms", aid workers recognise that they are the most efficient channel for life-saving many lost their funding when the administration of US President Donald Trump closed down USAID, and other donors have not stepped into the army and RSF both see any form of civic activism as a threat. They are cracking down, arresting, torturing and killing national aid workers and human rights is no credible peace UN's chief diplomat assigned to Sudan, former Algerian Prime Minister Ramtane Lamamra, formulated a peace plan that was premised on the assumption that the army would achieve a military that would be left to negotiate would be the disarmament of the RSF and the reconstruction of the country. That is totally has a big diplomatic advantage over Hemedti because the UN has recognised the military side as the government of Sudan, even when it did not control the national attempt to launch a parallel administration for the vast territories controlled by the RSF has gained little credibility. Foreign ministers at a conference in London in April, hosted by British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, failed to agree a path to peace. The conference chairs had to settle for a statement that covered familiar this occasion, as before, progress was blocked because Saudi Arabia and the UAE could not acknowledge that Sudan's war is an African problem that needs an Arab road to peace in Khartoum runs through Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Egypt, the big question is whether Burhan is able to distance himself from Sudan's Bashir, the Islamist movement was in power for 30 years, and established a formidable and well-funded organisation, that still Islamists mobilised combat brigades that were key to the army's recent victory in President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi supports Burhan and wants him to sideline the Islamists, but knows that he cannot push the Sudanese general too question takes on added salience with Israel's attack on Iran and the Islamists' fear that they are facing an irreversible other big question is whether the UAE will step back from supporting the RSF lost Khartoum, some hoped that Abu Dhabi might seek a compromise - but within weeks the RSF was deploying drones that appear to have come from the UAE is also facing strategic challenges, as it is an outlier in the Arab world in its alignment with wants to see Sudan divided. But the reality of the war points towards a de facto partition between bitterly opposed warring camps. Meanwhile, the world's largest and deepest humanitarian emergency worsens with no end in than half of Sudan's 45 million people are displaced. Nearly a million are in sides continue to restrict aid agencies' access to the starving. The UN's appeal for $4.2bn (£3bn) for essential aid was only 13.3% funded in late and among the Arab world's powerbrokers, Sudan is no-one's priority, an orphan in a region that is is a country where the multilateral organisations - the United Nations and the African Union - could still be can remind all of their commitments to human rights and human life, and that it is in no-one's interest to see Sudan's catastrophe continue to long-suffering Sudanese people surely deserve that quantum of de Waal is the executive director of the World Peace Foundation at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in the US. Go to for more news from the African us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
BBC News
13 hours ago
- BBC News
Kenya deputy police chief step aside over di death of Albert Ojwang for police custody
Kenya Deputy Police Chief, Eliud Lagat, don step aside to allow for investigation into di death of Albert Ojwang, wey die for police custody. Lagat, announce di decision on Monday, as protesters dey demand for accountability and im immediate removal from office for days. "In di good and conscious thought of my role and responsibilities as di Deputy Inspector General of Kenya Police Service, and in view of di ongoing investigation on di unfortunate incident of di death of Mr. Albert Ojwang. Today I don decide to step aside from di office of di Deputy Inspector General Kenya Police Service pending completion of investigations," e tok. Dem arrest di blogger and teacher, afta Lagat file formal complaint against am, accusing am of sharing defamatory content on di social media platform X. E die for police custody and autopsy don reveal say im die of from likely beatings. "Di cause of death dey very clear; head injury, neck compression and oda injuries spread all ova di body and dat dey point towards assault," state pathologist Bernard Midia tok. Dem detain di 31-year-old Ojwang afta di deputy police chief, accuse am say im tarnish im name on social media. Lagat don deny say im dey involved in di death but im tok say e go fully cooperate wit investigators. "I undertake to provide any support wey dey required of me during di investigations of di unfortunate incident," e tok. "I offer immense condolences to di family of Mr. Albert Ojwang for dia great loss." Until dem conclude di probe, Lagat no go get any access to im office, and na im deputy go handle im functions. Di move dey come as pressure dey, wit more demonstrations wey dey planned dis week by activists wey dey demand for independent and transparent investigation into di case. Kenya President Williams Ruto inside one statement on Wednesday tok say "di tragic occurrence for di hands of di police dey heart-breaking and unacceptable." "I strongly condemn di actions and omissions, wey include any negligence or outright criminality wey fit contribute to im untimely death," President Ruto tok. Di kontri leader call on di National Police Service to fully cooperate wit di Independent Policing Oversight Authority wey dey torchlight di mata, and make dem ensure transparent, and credible investigation into di death of Oga Ojwang. Di president assure say di truth about wetin really happun to Ojwang go come out soon, and justice go dey served. E also caution di public against making "premature judgments or drawing conclusions wey fit scata di process and its outcome". Wetin di autopsy show? Police arrest Oga Ojwang for Homa Bay, one town for western Kenya, on Friday, sake of one post e make on X wey allegedly dey critical of Deputy Inspector General of Police Eliud Lagat. Dem later transfer am go di capital, Nairobi, wey dey ova 350km (220 miles) from wia dem arrest am and book am for di Central Police Station on Saturday. Police tok say dem later find am unconscious for im cell wit injuries e do on imself (self-inflicted injuries). But one autopsy, wey five pathologists carry out and dem release unanimous report, reveal say Ojwang get severe head injuries and e suffer neck compression and multiple soft tissue trauma. Dr Midia, wey lead di team of pathologists, tok say Mr Ojwang no hit imself on di wall, as police bin tok for statement on Sunday. E say if Ojwang bin injure imsef, di pattern of injuries for dey different, and dem go see frontal bleeding on im head. "But di bleeds wey we see on di scalp… for di skin of di head no dey togeda, including on di face, sides of di head and for di back of di head," Dr Midia tok for one press conference. "Multiple soft tissue injuries also dey wey spread all ova di body, including for di head, neck, upper limbs plus di trunk and lower limbs... these na injuries from attack," e add. Di injuries dey consistent wit "external assault" and signs of struggle also dey, according to pathologists. Inside one initial statement, police tok say Ojwang "bin sustain head injuries afta e hit im head against one cell wall" for custody. However, Ojwang family lawyer, Julius Juma, tok say di body show signs of severe physical trauma, wey include swelling on di head, nose and ears. Oga Juma also say im see bruises on Ojwang shoulders and hands - injuries wey e say no dey consistent wit one single impact against a wall. Speaking at a press conference, Inspector General Douglas Kanja tok say di police go give di investigators all "necessary support" to solve di case. Dem find Ojwang unconscious during one routine inspection of di cells and dem "rush am go hospital, wia dem pronounce am dead on arrival", police tok. Di director of Amnesty International Kenya branch, Irungu Houghton, tell BBC say Ojwang death dey "very suspicious". Oga Houghton tok say e dey "quite shocking" say dem no book Ojwang for di local police station afta dem detain am, but instead dem carry am on long journey. On Sunday, 8 June, e call on independent investigators to secure wetin e describe as "di crime scene" for di police station for Nairobi. Ojwang death for detention dey come at a time of rising concern on top how dem dey treat some goment critics. Last week, software developer Rose Njeri, wey create one tool to help pipo oppose one goment finance bill, dem sama am charge wit accuse say she violate cybercrime law. She deny di charge.
