it was discovered that Brittany Ann Brock Miller of 860 Hurricane Ridge Road in DeKalb County to her parents Bridget Annette Green Brock and Rodna Wayne Brock Brittany was a Christian and a faithful member of the Indian Creek Memorial Baptist Church She was always willing to help with things that needed to be done who went to great lengths to see that the girls were cared for She cared for her household by helping tend a garden and then harvesting it and preserving the fruits of her labor She would don work clothes and go mow yards She worked at various jobs to bring money into the household She was last employed part time with Walmart Brittany was very close to her mother and talked to her or visited every day her brothers loved her very much and looked up to her she leaves to mourn her passing her daughters Samantha Willow Miller and Chloe Mae Miller; her mother Brittany claimed these comforting words from Job when he had lost everything: “For I know that my redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body yet in my flesh shall I see God: Job 19:25-26 A Memorial service celebrating Brittany’s life will be held on Saturday at the Indian Creek Memorial Baptist Church Visitation with the family will begin at 12:30 p.m and extend until time for the service at 2:00 p.m The family thanks Love-Cantrell Funeral Home for their loving and gracious assistance News Feed Only on the Day of Bravery and Holiday of the Bulgarian Army (May 6) we will provide our visitors with the opportunity to enter three of perhaps the most interesting machines from our outdoor exhibition Dozens of enthusiasts and nature lovers will kick off the 44th edition of the Move and Win campaign with a spring hike to Bozhur Hut The meeting point will be the Vladishki Bridge in Veliko Tarnovo The third edition of the Samardala Festival will be held on 3 May in the central square of Nova Zagora is used as a spice and is harvested at the peak of its flowering in May we will provide our visitors with the opportunity to enter three. english@bnr.bg It’s just possible that Rodna Metz Bordner should have been born with fins The Bowling Green woman finds peace and healing in water – and for 55 years she has been sharing those benefits with young children through elderly adults “I’ve just always loved the water dearly.” Bordner was recently inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame for her contributions to the field of adaptive aquatics for people with disabilities she developed programs for children with special needs.  For years Bordner worked at the Wood County Board of Developmental Disabilities pool located behind Wood Lane School.  she can be found at the Wood County Hospital therapy pool working with adults searching for safe activity and strengthening Bordner has been lured by the healing properties of water so Bordner always had her toes in the water she was on both competitive and synchronized swimming teams Bordner became a water safety instructor and lifeguard Bordner was always drawn to working with young children in the pool especially those with physical or cognitive disabilities She received her bachelor’s degree in special education from BGSU in 1974 and went on to be a classroom teacher at Wood Lane she became an occupational therapist in school-based therapy so she began to blend her aquatic skills with her occupational therapy career She then began providing occupational therapy to children with multiple disabilities.  she attended her first Aquatic Therapy and Rehab Institute event and in 2001 she received the ATRI Tsunami Award (aquatics award for innovation in the aquatic industry) for her work with individuals with autism and sensory processing challenges.  Bordner retired from school-based practice in 2005 and began working in the rehab setting as a pediatric occupational therapist Bordner began classes at the hospital therapy pool in 2006 teaching basic water safety,  sensory classes for children with autism Her students now at the hospital therapy pool range from their early 40s and late 90s “We’re working on those skills that we lose as we age,” she said The benefit of working in water is that lack of balance is not a problem.  That’s the beauty of water – it puts everyone on a level playing field,” she said the senior students had smiles on their faces as they walked into the pool – or in one case “It’s amazing how each class has their own community “It’s a healing place,” Bordner said of the water Click typewriter to read opinions from readers or to learn how to submit one of your own Interested in advertising here on the sidebar of BG Independent News, or in becoming an annual sponsor? Contact Elizabeth Roberts-Zibbel at elizabeth.lrz@gmail.com or click image below for the Advertise page also accessible from the Main Menu heading above Please select what you would like included for printing: Copy the text below and then paste that into your favorite email application Charlotte Leigh Fondren was born on October 28 She had a brother Michael and sisters Cecilia (Jan) and Rodna Charlotte was called to her eternal home on Tuesday Charlotte was preceded in death by her parents She is survived by her sister Rodna (Mark) two nephews Stephen (Julie) and James (Sara) and two great nephews Josiah and Daniel She is also survived by a special long time friend Dan O'Connell Charlotte participated in the Special Olympics as a child She received a Special Education diploma from Woodlawn High School in 1981 and was a big fan of the Andy Griffith Show Charlotte was a longtime member of First Baptist Church of Center Point and more recently Clearview Baptist Church her health prevented her from church attendance which greatly saddened her She enjoyed going to church and was very faithful even though she could not drive in recent years Enter your phone number above to have directions sent via text This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page BALTIMORE — Payment apps make it easy to send friends money but they’ve also become a breeding ground for scams Rodna Thompson was recently baited into calling Cash App customer support he stole nearly a thousand dollars from her checking account “Somebody sent me a message that said somebody is giving you $300 in Cash App and I said Thompson didn’t see the deposit in her account so she googled the phone number for Cash App customer support how can I help you?’ And I said somebody is trying to send me $300 I said can you give me some type of assistance The man asked her to click on a link that said Cash App support team so he could better assist her “He was in my phone and I saw him writing $999 and he clicked on Zelle and I said My Zelle account has nothing to do with Cash App and I said oh my god you must be a scammer and I hurried up and hung up the phone,” said Thompson She called her bank and disputed the transfer This was money she couldn’t afford to lose “My family is so close they already said they were going to pitch in to give it back to me because I’m a retired teacher They were willing to all pitch in to give me back my money,” said Thompson and she said she learned that if someone sends you money “I guess I was just so excited to get that $300 I immediately called Cash App to let them know that I cannot retrieve this $300,” said Thompson Thompson added that it won’t happen again because she deleted all her apps any cash app because I really think there’s a scam out there for all of them if I want to give you money or owe you money that’s the only app I trust is writing a check,” said Thompson There are currently no phone numbers that you can call to speak with Cash Support Customers can call their main line for automated instructions If you speak with someone over the phone claiming to be a Cash App representative And never ever give out your sign-in code over the phone The Maryland Bankers Association said phishing attacks have increased in frequency and sophistication Gender equality is one of the European Union’s core values. Achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls is vital to building fair prosperous and peaceful societies everywhere.  Preventing and combating violence against women and girls is an important facet of this It is one of the preconditions for equitable and inclusive sustainable development as well as an important value and objective in itself We implement programmes around the world wherever assistance is needed We tailor our support to fit the region or country being helped Programmes with a global reach allow the EU to provide similar support to countries facing similar problems ACT to End Violence against Women (Advocacy Coalition Building and Transformative Feminist Action to End Violence Against Women) is a programme to accelerate efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women and World Bank Group will make gender equality and ending violence against women and girls a priority of their cooperation to advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York the EU and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced they are developing new financing mechanisms to accelerate access to health products effective and affordable contraceptive and maternal health medicines The European Union and partners launch the Women’s Leadership Initiative a component of the Women and Youth in Democracy Initiative (WYDE) in New York today during the 68th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women a woman leading a local organisation in Myanmar has been able to strengthen her knowledge on climate change She has used her newly acquired skills to educate communities by proposing collective actions and solutions to address these issues 240 young people have joined a municipal decision-making body to ensure that the ideas and needs of young people are incorporated into local policy The EU supports survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in Central African Republic to bring their perpetrators to justice The participating States have declared their commitment to gender equality in the 1999 Charter for European Security, the 2004 OSCE Action Plan for the Promotion of Gender Equality and related decisions.  The Secretariat’s Programme for Gender Issues, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and all other OSCE executive structures work to implement the OSCE’s commitments on gender equality The OSCE supports the implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions on Women, Peace and Security The organization works to ensure that peace agreements and security measures reflect the different perspectives and protect the human rights of both men and women The OSCE promotes the meaningful participation of women in peace efforts and security institutions thereby improving their effectiveness.  The OSCE works to promote non-discriminatory laws and policies and increase women’s participation in politics and the electoral processes Women are equal members of society and have a strong role to play in public and political life The OSCE considers men and women's equal rights and opportunities as a cornerstone to build prosperous and cohesive societies It addresses imbalances by promoting gender-responsive socioeconomic and environmental policies while fostering men and women's equal participation in decision-making processes The aim is to ensure that men and women can contribute equally to a peaceful and stable OSCE region." The OSCE works with participating States to combat violence against women by collecting data assisting with the development of robust policies and providing information and legal assistance to potential victims and survivors and enhancing the capacities of law enforcement and service providers Violence against women and girls is a human rights violation and a threat to the life of communities The OSCE mainstreams gender into all of its programmes It is implementing measures to achieve gender parity in all levels of staff and management and has adopted a zero-tolerance policy on sexual discrimination and harassment within its executive structures View full profile the Bulgarian community in Las Vegas has been growing extremely dynamically and more and more Bulgarian families with small children choose to live there many of the children do not speak Bulgarian well a large number of them are from mixed marriages and use their native language less and less in their everyday life Influenced by the cultural environment in which their children grow up it becomes increasingly difficult for our compatriots abroad to maintain the Bulgarian language and traditions they rely extremely heavily on the teachers in the Bulgarian Sunday schools who awaken children's minds to knowledge related to Bulgarian history Observing all these dynamic processes and taking into account the need for a more modern education in order to satisfy all the needs and wishes in this area, Radostina Boyadzhieva takes an important step, which she has dreamed of for years, namely - to open her own Bulgarian school in the mecca of gambling. Thus, the Children's Academy "Rodna Rech" became a reality in August 2022.‎ "I'm a teacher at a local school here and I want to show and apply everything I've learned so far in action”,Radostina Boyadzhieva told Maria Samichkova a contributor of Radio Bulgaria in Las Vegas we teach nearly 50 pupils following curricula and textbooks approved by the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Culture Our main mission is to arouse curiosity and a desire in the students themselves to know their roots and learn the language What distinguishes us is that we build a creative classroom through individual and group classes we use muppet dolls and pictures to stimulate speaking and learning new words solve puzzles with the Bulgarian alphabet and cities Every morning we sing the Bulgarian national anthem and recite the poem “Az sam balgarche" (I am a Bulgarian child) And something oh very important – the Children's Academy "Rodna Rech" for the first time in Las Vegas also offers classes for learning Bulgarian as a foreign language We have a group where students come who do not speak or understand Bulgarian," says Radostina excitedly Reading books in Bulgarian facilitates the connection between the children of our compatriots across the Ocean and Bulgaria that it is easier for them and they prefer to read in English In order to support the process of communication with Bulgarian literature and language the school works on the initiative to invite inspiring Bulgarians every month to motivate the children to speak Bulgarian every day Their first special guest was the author of children's books Diana has been living in Las Vegas for years but dreams of turning writing into her main profession She wrote his first book in 2013: "I came up with the story of a little puppy named Tux who meets a lion in the zoo 11 more stories about the puppy's encounters follow".‎ The writer remembers her childhood in Bulgaria where in her grandmother's village animals were raised in the yard Diana enjoys the company of Sophie the dog and Ginger the cat and animals are a main character in the stories she writes.‎ children will enjoy reading and will instill a love of books in them books that I would love to read if I were a child which has also been translated into ‎ the Bulgarian language is "Too Cute to Spook" ("Малкото чудовище Лори" in Bulgarian) and the other very popular book in the USA is about fathers - "I will be there" which I hope will also be published on the Bulgarian market Two of my ten books so far have been translated into Bulgarian and published," adds the author.‎ Publishing quality books by an independent author in America is an expensive and complicated process but Diana proves that having a clear purpose gives wings The Bulgarian takes on the difficult task of learning everything about the publishing activity across the ocean - marketing which means I'm my own publisher - I have to find artists Marketing was the most difficult part for me because the market here is flooded with children's books," says Diana about the process Her books immediately impress with their beautiful illustrations she relies on artists from different countries - Ukraine but most often she works with the Bulgarian animation artist Svilen Dimitrov who lives in Sofia The connection with the homeland is alive and Diana likes to return every summer to her native Veliko Tarnovo about the time in the village and the beloved home-made stuffed peppers her grandmother used to make Read more about the life of the Bulgarian community in Las Vegas: Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time At Heavitree Gap in Alice Springs, a mountain range effectively snaps in half. To the gap’s east stretch the East MacDonnell Ranges, while the more popular West MacDonnell Ranges unfurl to the west. They are mountains made familiar to many by their gorges – Ormiston Gorge, Standley Chasm, Simpsons Gap – and the presence of the Larapinta Trail one of Australia’s headline multi-day hikes But peer beyond the known and there are new and intriguing ways to see this spectacular line of mountains across Australia’s heart Benji Kenny knows the West MacDonnell Ranges’ gorges intimately but there’s one gorge that’s closest to his heart “This is my favourite part of the world right here,” he says as we stand beside a waterhole in Rodna its angular red cliffs rising overhead like the rusted hull of an enormous ocean liner Rodna is little more than two kilometres from one of the West MacDonnells’ best-known gorges Secret spot – the Gorge at Rodna.Credit: Andrew Bain hopes to change that as he opens the area to visitors on tours with his 100% Finke River Culture and Adventures company or Alice Springs Expeditions we’ve bumped along rough bush tracks for an hour through desert coloured with the brief Our first stop is one of immense significance – a tin shed at Rodna Bore one of the earliest meetings in the movement towards the Aboriginal Land Rights Act was held in the late 1960s Benji Kenny of 100% Finke River Culture and Adventures The journey into Rodna’s gorge is along the banks of the Finke River flowing 650 kilometres from its headwaters in the West MacDonnell Ranges before fading out ingloriously into the sands of the Simpson Desert Along the river’s largely dry course through Rodna we pass waterholes that form part of a dog Dreaming story (“Rodna” translates as dog’s jawbone) with the souls of dogs from around the country said to come to this place Rodna’s immense beauty is truly revealed as the track heads down onto the Finke’s stony riverbed and the cliffs of the gorge close in green waterhole stretches from cliff to cliff and I can see the back of the famous gorge that but I think it’s really rich and it’s rare to see a gorge that’s so nice and quiet and peaceful,” Kenny says “What me and my family want to do is put Rodna back on the map It’s a really important place and we want more and more people to come and see it.” but tourism is so new that no infrastructure yet exists – overnight tours lay out tents in the soft sand beside the waterhole knowing that the hubbub of tourism is just two kilometres and yet world’s away is the purest form of luxury and privilege Hiking out from Jessie Gap on the Yeperenye Trail and flocks of zebra finches swoop past like tiny Roulettes The dry creek bed through the gorge is as wide as a dual-lane highway but on a trail across the arid slopes of the East MacDonnell Ranges The largest-ever investment in infrastructure by an Aboriginal group in Central Australia the 8.2-kilometre Yeperenye Trail was constructed by the Eastern Arrernte traditional owners in 2021 They are gorges that carry a degree of anonymity overshadowed by the more popular chasms in the West MacDonnells guaranteeing that I’m almost alone on the well-designed trail I’m quickly peering down onto lands coloured like an ochre mural and so neatly vegetated with saltbush that they resemble a cultivated garden the tails of planes at Alice Springs Airport’s storage facility rise above the mulga scrub like shark fins Tjoritja / West MacDonnell Ranges – just west of Alice Springs far from the life-sustaining waterholes at each end of the trail Cliffs rise overhead and colourful jump-ups break the uniformity of the valley below as the trail briefly steps away from the range rising over a low knoll to provide a wider perspective on the mountains seemingly chiselled into the mountains ahead that signs of desert life return: a sand goanna scuttling through the bush bloodwood trees weighed down with bush coconuts like Christmas baubles which interpretive signs along the trail have told me used to be eaten by the Arrernte people and The view from above – hot-air ballooning and the spectacular dawn colours of the MacDonnell Ranges there’s barely a bump as a 12-storey-high balloon lifts lightly off the desert sand in a clearing south of Alice Springs and the MacDonnell Ranges though it’s the long line of the ranges that forms the biggest part of the view It’s usually hard work to gain elevated views in the MacDonnells with Alice Springs visible through Heavitree Gap only as streetlights at this early hour broken only by the intermittent blast of the balloon’s burner With the winds blowing at around 30 kilometres per hour prolonging our flight as the mountains draw ever nearer the vast stretch of land we can see south of the ranges constitutes just two massive outback cattle stations which is topped by the Opera House-like figure of Mount Undoolya in the East MacDonnells we’re skimming low over the sparse treetops as the balloon comes into land in a paddock As we brace our backs against the basket’s edge the balloon skids briefly across the sand and gently tips over the rocky slopes of the MacDonnell Ranges demand our attention glowing brightly with the first red rays of the morning Another fine day in the MacDonnell Ranges has begun VisitRodna can only be visited on tours with 100% Finke River Culture and Adventures and Alice Springs Expeditions. See 100adventure.com.au; alicespringsexpeditions.com.au Balloon flights are operated by Outback Ballooning. See outbackballooning.com.au StayThirty minutes’ drive outside of Alice Springs, Ooraminna Station Homestead provides a classic outback stay in remote cabins, with restaurant, bar and pool among spectacular rock formations. See ooraminna.com.au The writer travelled courtesy of Tourism NT. See northernterritory.com Sign up for the Traveller Deals newsletter Get exclusive travel deals delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up now a mountain range effectively snaps in half To the gap\\u2019s east stretch the East MacDonnell Ranges while the more popular West MacDonnell Ranges unfurl to the west They are mountains made familiar to many by their gorges \\u2013 Ormiston Gorge Simpsons Gap \\u2013 and the presence of the one of Australia\\u2019s headline multi-day hikes But peer beyond the known and there are new and intriguing ways to see this spectacular line of mountains across Australia\\u2019s heart Benji Kenny knows the West MacDonnell Ranges\\u2019 gorges intimately but there\\u2019s one gorge that\\u2019s closest to his heart \\u201CThis is my favourite part of the world right here,\\u201D he says as we stand beside a waterhole in Rodna Rodna is little more than two kilometres from one of the West MacDonnells\\u2019 best-known gorges we\\u2019ve bumped along rough bush tracks for an hour through desert coloured with the brief Our first stop is one of immense significance \\u2013 a tin shed at Rodna Bore The journey into Rodna\\u2019s gorge is along the banks of the Finke River said to be the world\\u2019s oldest waterway Along the river\\u2019s largely dry course through Rodna we pass waterholes that form part of a dog Dreaming story (\\u201CRodna\\u201D translates as dog\\u2019s jawbone) with the souls of dogs from around the country said to come to this place Rodna\\u2019s immense beauty is truly revealed as the track heads down onto the Finke\\u2019s stony riverbed and the cliffs of the gorge close in but I think it\\u2019s really rich and it\\u2019s rare to see a gorge that\\u2019s so nice and quiet and peaceful,\\u201D Kenny says \\u201CWhat me and my family want to do is put Rodna back on the map It\\u2019s a really important place and we want more and more people to come and see it.\\u201D Kenny\\u2019s vision for Rodna includes camps but tourism is so new that no infrastructure yet exists \\u2013 overnight tours lay out tents in the soft sand beside the waterhole But to sit here at the waterhole\\u2019s edge knowing that the hubbub of tourism is just two kilometres and yet world\\u2019s away guaranteeing that I\\u2019m almost alone on the well-designed trail I\\u2019m quickly peering down onto lands coloured like an ochre mural and so neatly vegetated with saltbush that they resemble a cultivated garden the tails of planes at Alice Springs Airport\\u2019s storage facility rise above the mulga scrub like shark fins there\\u2019s barely a bump as a 12-storey-high balloon lifts lightly off the desert sand in a clearing south of Alice Springs and the MacDonnell Ranges though it\\u2019s the long line of the ranges that forms the biggest part of the view It\\u2019s usually hard work to gain elevated views in the MacDonnells broken only by the intermittent blast of the balloon\\u2019s burner we\\u2019re skimming low over the sparse treetops as the balloon comes into land in a paddock As we brace our backs against the basket\\u2019s edge VisitRodna can only be visited on tours with 100% Finke River Culture and Adventures and Alice Springs Expeditions Balloon flights are operated by Outback Ballooning StayThirty minutes\\u2019 drive outside of Alice Springs Ooraminna Station Homestead provides a classic outback stay in remote cabins bar and pool among spectacular rock formations The writer travelled courtesy of Tourism NT Do you remember the impatience that you would hand over the book with fairytales to you mom in order for the latter to read fascinating stories for faraway lands The pupils of Zheni Popova see Bulgaria as this faraway land where the hero rides his horse with a star on his forehead and Clever Peter uses his tricks to get out of any complicated situation Zheni has lived with her husband in Toronto That was where her own child was born and that was where the Rodna Stryaha /Motherland Eaves/ Knowledge Academy appeared This is Zheni’s contribution to Toronto Bulgarian kids’ inclusion as far as the Bulgarian culture is concerned Now the children are thrilled to prepare for the welcoming of May 24 – the Day of Slavonic Alphabet organized by the academy staging of Bulgarian folklore fairytales to their Romanian The stories have been translated into English under an exclusive project – a contest for the translation of Bulgarian folk stories and those will be all published into a book Thus the children not only get acquainted with Bulgarian folklore Zheni tells us more on her academy: “Rodna Stryaha is a project Our school calendar follows the traditional Bulgarian one Our goal is to get them acquainted with the customs culture and religion of our motherland within workshops The parents’ workshops tackle subjects such ‘how to help our multilingual children to develop their skills in Canada’ The official language of our province is English but many children attend classes in French as well We see it as our duty to assist the parents in maintaining the Bulgarian within the family.” The academy is now popular among the Bulgarian community in Toronto and its suburbs This justifies the huge love and energy that Zheni puts into her deed Some of the children even travel more time than the duration of the attended class The decision on the project was not a coincidence: I used to be a speech therapist in Bulgaria When I came here there was no other option for me but to do something with children – this is who I am” “This job teaches the adult to see the kid as a personality jumping back into his or her own childhood At the same time these children are really curious about our Bulgarian culture and some of them haven’t even stepped into Bulgaria due to the huge distance they are looking for that connection with their motherland.” The European Day of Languages has been marked in Canada for years Last year Zheni’s academy joined the initiative for the first time and this year the participation will be even boosted this year the academy has been invited to a joint events organized by the Goethe-Institut in Toronto There will be 20-minute-long training sessions in Bulgarian for Canadians within the frames of our participation the level will be basic: ‘Hello!’; ‘How are you?’ etc These are role games for adults which will teach them interesting things about our culture The Bulgarian language will be presented alongside the Romanian and Macedonian ones as our neighbors have attended the event for years This will be our first year of lessons,” Zheni Popova says in conclusion The European Union (EU) is making available grant financing to Uganda to the tune of EUR 152 million (UGX 624 billion) in new funding to support education for adolescent girls promote sexual and reproductive health as well as develop strategies for sustainable development and management of forests in Uganda The grant-financing announcement was made during the occasion of the high-level visit to Uganda by Myriam Ferran Deputy Director General of the EU’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships Ms Ferran launched the new programme Gender for Development Uganda (G4DU) a EUR 112 million programme co-financed by the EU reduce gender-based violence and promote sexual and reproductive health  “The action is essentially about girls and women about empowering them and about protecting them from violence so that they can realise their full potential and contribute fully to Uganda’s development and the country’s vision to become a modern and prosperous country There have recently been reports of child abuse including in schools and as parents we are all very much concerned the EU is concretely demonstrating its support and commitment to protect children in Uganda,” said Deputy Director General Ferran Deputy Director General Ferran also met Uganda’s Minister for Water and Environment Sam Cheptoris and congratulated Uganda for being amongst the first five countries in the world to sign a Forest Partnership Agreement with the EU at the COP 27 in Sharm El-Sheikh has unlocked EUR 40million in EU financing to Uganda to contribute to the shared objectives to fight against climate change and protect biodiversity The programme is co-funded by Italy and will look at forests in all its aspects strengthening protection and restoration and improving livelihoods “The Forest Partnership is a demonstration of common aspirations to enable forests to fulfil their economic and environmental roles and a common responsibility posed to forests by human These programmes are part of a broader Team Europe approach and concrete examples of the EU’s Global Gateway strategy which seeks to promote sustainable connectivity and infrastructure in Africa and has education and environment as core priorities The first component of Gender for Development Uganda (G4DU) project will address some of the key determinants for adolescent girls’ education (e.g WASH facilities in schools and communities improved school management) and for their transition from primary to secondary school and the re-entry into school of girls who have dropped out including during pregnancy and after childbirth G4DU will consider the specific challenges for girls while contributing to improving the education system more broadly for both boys and girls The Action will focus on the transition from upper primary to lower secondary building on the EU-UN Spotlight initiative will aim at reducing SGBV and promoting SRHR at national and sub-national levels through enhanced coordination and support to institutional strengthening for the implementation of laws and policies engagement of civil society and institutions for equitable social norms and enhanced capacities for the delivery of integrated and multi-sectoral prevention and response services Interlinkages between the two components will be fostered including through age and culturally appropriate sexuality education in and out schools the reduction of SGBV in and around schools and SGBV prevention through education The Government of Uganda and the EU enjoy a long-standing collaboration in natural resources management (forestry climate change) for over 30 years but most recently in the past 15 years this collaboration has mainly been in the field of commercial forestry The overall objective (Impact) of the EU Forest Partnership with Uganda is to enhance the sustainable contribution of Uganda’s forest resources to national inclusive economic growth and to global efforts to address climate change and loss of biodiversity The specific objective/outcomes of this action are: To increase inclusive investments and decent job opportunities for women and men in sustainable forestry and forest-based value chains; To increase forest cover by both decreasing deforestation & forest degradation and promoting forest restoration and community support to preservation efforts;  To enhance effectiveness of forest resources governance please contact EU Delegation Press and Information Officer: Emmanuel Davies Gyezaho : Emmanuel-Davies.Gyezaho@eeas.europa.eu +256 756 719882