Australian High Commission News

Australian High Commission

Kenya

High Commission address: Riverside Drive , (400 mtrs off Chiromo Road) - Telephone: (254-20) 427 7100 - Fax: (254-20) 427 7139

February 2013 - Launch of the Kenyan Film 'Ni Sisi' at the High Commissioner's Residence

The Australian High Commission hosted and funded the launch of the Kenyan film, Ni Sisi, at the High Commissioner's residence on Thursday, 21 February 2013. The film is produced by S.A.F.E Kenya and tells the story of a community ravaged by the post-election violence. Read the High Commissioner's speech.

Australian High Commissioner H.E. Geoff Tooth with guests at the film launch - (from right) Mr Nick Reding, Executive Director of S.A.F.E Kenya and Producer of Ni Sisi; Joseph 'Babu' Wairimu, the star actor of the film; Mr Bob Collymore, Managing Director of Safaricom; and Paul Kades an actor of the film.

February 2013 - Launch of the Kenya Forgiveness Project at the Tribe Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya

Under the Direct Aid Program (DAP), the Australian High Commission funded the Kenya Forgiveness Project, a travelling exhibition of stories and photographs from people from all over Kenya telling their story of the post-election violence of 2007-2008 and the impact it had on their lives. Read the High Commissioner's speech and view some photos from the launch of the project.

February 2013 - IP Australia signs a Memorandum of Understanding with the Kenya Industrial Property Institute

IP Australia and the Kenya Industrial Property Institute (KIPI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 14 February 2013 at KIPI's offices in Nairobi. The MoU allows KIPI staff to benefit from intensive training under the guidance of experienced IP Australia examiners, as part of IP Australia's Regional Patent Examination Training (RPET) Programme. RPET has been made possible through the support of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand FTA Economic Cooperation Support Programme (AANZFTA).

"IP Australia is excited about this opportunity to build a stronger relationship with KIPI - a well-established IP office in a dynamic part of the world", commented Mr. Philip Noonan, Director-General of IP Australia.

Dr Henry Mutai, Managing Director of KIPI, welcomed the partnership with IP Australia "as part of our strategy to boost our human resource capacity in order to support our country's entrepreneurs and researchers to fully exploit their IP assets potential".

The RPET programme aims to build the patent examination capabilities of KIPI by improving the competency of examiners to conduct search and examination of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Standards. The first beneficiary of the partnership will be Mr Cleophas Ojode, a patent examiner in the biochemistry field.

First Secretary Mr Simon Anderson (right) signs a Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of IP Australia with the Managing Director of the Kenya Industrial Property Institute (KIPI), Dr. Henry Mutai at the Institute's offices in Nairobi

January 2013 - Former Australian Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs Hon Richard Marles MP visits Kenya and South Sudan

Former Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs Hon Richard Marles visited Kenya on 22 and 23 January and South Sudan on 25-27 January where he held high-level meetings to promote and strengthen bilateral relations, and visited the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya and the Yida refugee camp on the South Sudan-Sudan border. During the visits Mr Marles announced Australian financial assistance to the World Food Program (WFP) and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to provide humanitarian assistance refugees fleeing war and conflict in the region. For more photos on these visits, please click here. Click here for a story from UNHCR on Mr Marles' visit to the Dadaab refugee camp.

Former Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs Hon Richard Marles MP with students of IFO Camp Primary School in the Dadaab refugee camp

Hon Richard Marles MP with the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management of South Sudan, Hon. Joseph Lual Acuil at the Yida refugee camp at the South Sudan-Sudan border

November 2012 - Ambassador Geoff Tooth's Visit to Somalia

Australian Ambassador H.E. Geoff Tooth visited Somalia on 20 November 2012 where he presented credentials to the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, H.E. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, becoming the first Australian Ambassador to Somalia. For more information on this visit, please click here. For more photos on the visit, please click here.

September 2012 - Ambassador Geoff Tooth's Visit to Burundi

Australian Ambassador Geoff Tooth visited Burundi from 19 to 20 September 2012. He presented a letter of introduction to become a Friend of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and visited a food security project on edible mushrooms being supported by Australia (implemented by the University of Burundi in cooperation with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and Biosciences Eastern and Central Africa (BecA)). “We hope that this project can contribute to diversified nutrition sources, increased income for women, and an export product in the future”, Ambassador Tooth said.

Ambassador Tooth also met with Second-Vice President Rufyikiri, and discussed strengthened bilateral relations, particularly in agriculture and building human resource capacity through scholarships. Ambassador Tooth congratulated Burundi for the important and longstanding contribution by its troops in building peace in Somalia. (see http://www.presidence.bi/spip.php?article3038).

To view more photos from the visit, please click here.

September 2012 - Ambassador Geoff Tooth's Visit to South Sudan

His Excellency Geoff Tooth travelled to South Sudan from 17 to 18 September 2012 where he presented his credentials to the President of South Sudan, His Excellency Salva Kiir Mayardit, becoming Australia's first Ambassador to South Sudan. During their meeting, President Kiir and Ambassador Tooth discussed the strong people-to-people links between South Sudan and Australia, as well as Australia's development assistance to the world's newest nation.

To view more photos from the visit, please click here.

August 2012 - Africa Down Under Conference

The Africa Down Under Conference was held from 29 August to 31 August 2012 in Perth, Western Australia. Attended by African Ministers, business leaders and executives from the Australian mining industry, the conference proved to be the premier networking opportunity for Australian mining companies looking to invest in Africa. In his address to the conference Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Bob Carr, highlighted the role Africa would play over the next century in global economic growth and the strong contribution Australia can make to this growth, particularly through the mining sector.

Mr Peterson Thiong'o, a business journalist with the EastAfrican newspaper, travelled to Perth as an accredited journalist to cover the proceedings of the conference. He, along with other journalists from the continent, are seen here meeting Senator Bob Carr during the conference.

Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Bob Carr, greets Mr Peterson Thiong'o, a Kenyan business journalist from the EastAfrican newspaper.

The accredited African journalists who travelled to Australia for the Africa Down Under conference pose for a photo with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Bob Carr

August 2012 - Special Envoy Bob McMullan's Visit to Rwanda

Special Envoy of the Australian Prime Minister Mr Bob McMullan visited Rwanda from 18 to 21 August 2012 where he held high-level meetings with the President H.E. Paul Kagame, the Foreign Minister Hon. Louise Mushikiwabo, and other senior government officials. The meetings focused on strengthening the current bilateral relationship between Rwanda and Australia, securing Rwanda’s support for Australia’s candidature to the United Nations Security Council, and the MDG Advocacy Group which is co-chaired by President Kagame and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard. During the visit, Mr McMullan expressed hope that Australia will work closely with Rwanda on the Security Council if both are successful in securing non-permanent seats.

Mr McMullan visited the Kigali Institute for Science and Technology (KIST) where he met with the Minister for Natural Resources, Hon. Stanislas Kamanzi, and officially launched Australia's mining assistance to Rwanda through special skills training and education initiatives to improve income, employment and enterprise opportunities in the mining sector. The support includes developing appropriate curriculum in mining and drilling, scholarship opportunities for diploma and Masters courses, opportunities for study tours, and vocational skills training. Mr McMullan announced that the Australian government is working with KIST to prepare a curriculum for a Diploma in Mining Engineering which will be available to students in September 2012.

Mr McMullan also visited the Village of Hope, a self-sustaining community of 28 homes that provides for the needs of children, women and the larger community through counselling services, skills training, and work opportunities. It was established by Australian Darlene Zschech in 2000.

For photos on Mr McMullan’s visit, click here. For more information on the visit, please click on the below links.

President Kagame Receives Special Envoy Bob McMullan

Rwanda's Mining Sector Gets Boost from Australia

Australia, Rwanda strengthen ties

August 2012 - Visit to Kenya by Curtin University

Officials from Australia's Curtin University visited Nairobi from 6 to 8 August 2012. Led by Professor David Wood, they held meetings with various institutions including the University of Nairobi, and the Kenya Chamber of Mines. They also awarded scholarships to students who will shortly be attending Curtin. The delegation helped plant 500 trees (representing two for every Kenyan student currently studying at the university) in the Nairobi National Park, and visited the Ewangan Night School, the first night school set up for Maasai herders. Click here for photos of the tree planting ceremony and the visit to the night school.

For more information on the visit to the Ewangan Night School, click here.

Note: To view archived news and media from the High Commission, please click here.