Tunisia: UTICA launches first Social Innovation Competition

The Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA) has announced the launch of the first social innovation competition dedicated to companies that have been in business for more than 2 years and to start-ups created around a social innovation. The UTICA Prize for Social Innovation aims to support and valorize innovative experiments, initiatives, or actions that are capable of bringing real added value, both to professional practice and to the results obtained from users.  These innovations relate to the product or service as well as the way in which…

Forgotten in Tunisia

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is currently providing medical and mental health care to migrants and refugees in Tunisia—in Sfax and Zarzis. Many of these patients arrive after a perilous journey through Libya, where migrants are often kidnapped, tortured, and held for ransom. In Sfax, MSF mainly sees patients from sub-Saharan Africa, among them undocumented migrants, victims of human trafficking, and other vulnerable people. For them, Tunisia is a transitional point between their conflict-torn homes and Europe, where they hope to find work and a better life. As time passes, however,…

Tunisia detains Egyptian fishermen for illegal fishing in territorial waters

The Tunisian Marine Forces have detained a number of Egyptian fishermen off the coast of Sfax for illegal fishing in Tunisia’s territorial waters, the Tunisian Ministry of National Defence said in a statement on Monday. Ibrahim Said, the boat’s mechanic, who is in detention along with the rest of the crew, told Ahram Online that 16 Egyptian fishermen from Rashid and Kafr El-Sheikh were on board. The boat’s captain, Youssef Mohamed Hassan El-Shazly, set sail 10 days ago from Egypt’s Mediterranean city of Rashid, according to Said, who added that…

Libyan navy detains 20 Filipinos for alleged smuggling

At least 20 Filipino crew members of an oil tanker have been arrested by the Libyan navy for suspected fuel smuggling, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Tuesday. The DFA said in a statement it is closely monitoring the case of the detained crewmen after their tanker was intercepted Sunday. “The DFA instructed our embassy to closely monitor the situation and extend all necessary assistance to our (countrymen),” it said in a statement, according to GMA News. The Philippine embassy in Libya has yet to report back, it…

Greenpeace Africa Welcomes Move to Ban Plastic Bags in Kenya

Greenpeace Africa has lauded Kenya’s move to ban plastic bags starting end of this month, according to a statement issued by Hellen Dena, Communication Officer of the environmental group. It said, Greenpeace Africa’s Executive Director, Njeri Kabeberi has reacted gleefully to the news that the ban will take effect on 28th August and that the government has ruled out extension of the order, “Greenpeace Africa welcomes the decision by the Kenyan government to implement the plastic bags ban. This is a beacon of hope in fostering an environmentally conscious society…