Fadimatou Noutchemo Simo, is the founder of the Young African Aviation Professional Organisation(YAAPA) which supports girls and underprivileged children in rural areas forge careers in aviation. Founded in 2014, YAAPA has helped over ten thousand young people, hosting career events, visits and mentorship programmes where young people can meet professionals in the industry. YAAPA’s Heleta Aviation Scholarship Programme has supported more than 500 children to continue their education and they are also planning a programme to build community centres in rural locations to provide access to libraries and computers.

As part of the legacy of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London 2018, Her Majesty The Queen – as Head of the Commonwealth – is thanking inspirational volunteers across the 53 Commonwealth nations for the difference they are making in their communities and beyond, by recognising one volunteer from each Commonwealth country each week in the two years following the summit.

By sharing these stories of service, the Commonwealth Points of Light awardscelebrate inspirational acts of volunteering across the Commonwealth and help inspire others to make their own contribution to tackling some of the greatest social challenges of our time.

Fadimatou Noutchemo Simo said:

I am so happy to have won this award as it comes as a great and pleasant surprise for me. The work I have been doing in promoting aviation, travel and tourism has become my passion as inspiring the next generations and mostly giving to the underprivileged youths the opportunity to see what the world offers is my determination. Some years ago,I was moved with discovering the important role aviation has in developing all economies and realised how many especially in the rural areas could not think about a career in aviation. I started with a team of volunteers to raise awareness throught youth events and building brideges with other African countries to share best practices and partner to promote both our countries and hare our experiences.

We launched the Youth Aviation Forum for Africa in 2016, and as we found out the needs in schools in these rural areas and the underprivileged, we initiated programs to support them; the Heleta Avioation scholarship that provides school bags to kids with a good average, The YAAPA Act for Change that supports the construction and furnishing of classrooms from local materials in the villages, the YAAPA 54 Exchange program to encourage professional vacations within Africa for on the job experience.

With the growing number of youths interested with no facilities we are working on launching community centers with the launch of the Youth Aviation Tech Africa program. We want these youths to learn about aviation and ICT for them to use their creativity on impacting the change we would like to see.

Receiving this award makes my team of volunteers and myself proud and determined to do more outreach and raise more awareness to youths for no one to be left behind. A great thank to her Majesty the Queen of England for this great initiative.

Rowan Laxton, UK High Commissioner to Cameroon said:

Fadimatou’s ceaseless efforts to support young women and underprivileged children have helped hundreds of individuals, drawn fresh talent into the aviation industry and served as an inspiration to thousands of others. Her work is a shining example of the impact that dedicated and skilled volunteers can make to brighten people’s lives

The Commonwealth is a diverse community of 53 nations that work together to promote prosperity, democracy and peace. The Heads of Government meeting brought together leaders from all the 53 Member countries to reaffirm common values, address shared global challenges and agree how to work to create a better future for all citizens, especially young people. Voluntary service is a vital part of this agenda, which is why Her Majesty The Queen has chosen to recognise outstanding volunteers across the Commonwealth in this special way.

He met with the Prime Minister and head of government, the Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic of Cameroon, the Minister Delegate at the Ministry of External Relations in charge of Relations with The Commonwealth, Ambassadors and Heads of Missions, civil society and the business community with whom he engaged in a comprehensive array of subjects of mutual interest.

The PUS also gave an update on UK’s departure from the EU and the future relations between UK and Cameroon post BREXIT.

Speaking about relationship between UK and Cameroon, Sir Simon McDonald said:

In 36 hours, colleagues at the British High commission in Yaounde opened a window on to Cameroon for me. The packed programme was informative and insightful. I got a feeling for the historic background to the Anglophone crisis and understand better the passion and suspicion of all sides as they approach the national dialogue. I could not have asked more from local and UK based colleagues in Cameroon.

This is the first ever visit by a Permanent Under-Secretary to Cameroon. It was also an opportunity for Sir McDonald to hand out six long service certificates to local staff of the British High Commission.

Published 23 September 2019

Milan is a Trainee Solicitor in the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Litigation Group. Here he discusses his experiences as a legal trainee in the CMA.

“Each day in a litigation seat at the CMA is different and the work can often be high profile. Recent cases have included defending judicial review challenges (Sainsbury’s/Asda), pursuing director disqualifications (estate agents) and issuing court proceedings in a consumer case (secondary tickets).

I learnt a lot during my seat in litigation. Not only did I see how litigation is conducted, but also how much work is needed to pull cases together before litigation begins.

I have been fortunate enough to be involved with several projects at various stages of the litigation process. I have worked with many approachable and experienced colleagues across the CMA who are keen to help trainees develop. For example, through offering opportunities to attend events and court proceedings or to get involved in delivering training sessions.

Trainees in the Litigation Group will typically work on a small number of cases with their supervisor. This will involve close working with the relevant case teams. The cases could be at any stage including from where litigation is at a pre-action stage to where a hearing is imminent.

During my litigation seat I worked on interesting and challenging competition and consumer cases. This allowed me to develop my skills in a number of ways including through attending a range of meetings with external parties.

I have also drafted instructions to counsel and other documents such as conferences notes, interview plans and an affidavit. In addition, I’ve had the opportunity to interact with court staff and legal representatives to develop a greater understanding of court proceedings.

A typical day could involve attending an update meeting with the case team to discuss recent developments on a particular case. Taking a note of a meeting with external parties or counsel and drafting updates or papers for senior staff. There may also be a need to review evidence and research various areas of law.

A variety of learning events are available to CMA staff and trainees are encouraged to attend and participate. These include regular talks looking at lessons learnt from cases and projects.

As a trainee at the CMA you are unlikely to be short of work or learning opportunities. You will also have a chance to meet colleagues in the Legal Service team and across CMA. To help achieve this there are lunch time and evening social events as well as team events to celebrate milestones in a project.

Lastly, the CMA has trainees in different seats, such as competition law, mergers and information law who regularly meet and update each other on developments.”

Law fairs are a good opportunity for students to find out more about the work of government lawyers and the legal trainee scheme.

Please contact the universities listed below for further details about their law fairs.

University	Date
Manchester	Tuesday 8 October
Newcastle	Monday 14 October
City	Wednesday 16 October
Leeds	Thursday 17 October
Nottingham	Monday 21 October
Sheffield	Monday 21 October
Warwick	Tuesday 22 October
Queen Mary, University of London	Tuesday 22 October
Sussex	Wednesday 23 October
Cambridge	Thursday 24 October
Bar Pupillage Fair	Saturday 26 October
University College London	Tuesday 29 October
Cardiff	Tuesday 29 October
Hull	Wednesday 30 October
Reading	Wednesday 30 October
West London	Thursday 31 October
Oxford	Saturday 9 November
Birmingham	Wednesday 13 November
Urban Lawyers Conference	Saturday 16 November
London Law Fair	Wednesday 27 November
Nottingham Trent	Tuesday 21 January 2020

Published 23 September 2019

The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into Human Aid UK (1138111), due to mismanagement and/or misconduct at the charity.

The charity was previously under inquiry in 2014 due to concerns regarding its governance and finances.

On 9 July 2019 charitable funds were seized by the police during a port stop from individuals carrying cash on behalf of the charity. The charity reported a serious incident to the Commission following this.

Cash couriering is a live risk in the wider charity sector and of regulatory interest to the Commission. The Commission’s regulatory advice, issued in 2017, cautions against cash couriering.

As a result of regulatory concerns the Commission opened a statutory inquiry into Human Aid UK on 2 August 2019. As a temporary and protective measure, the inquiry has exercised its power to restrict the trustees from certain cash transactions in order to protect the charity’s property.

The inquiry is examining:

• the trustees’ management and administration of the charity, including their compliance with both charity law and the law as it relates to the charity and its administration; and
• the charity’s governance, adherence to policies and procedures, use of partners and monitoring and verification of overseas expenditure.

It is the Commission’s policy, after it has concluded an inquiry, to publish a report detailing what issues the inquiry looked at, what actions were undertaken as part of the inquiry and what the outcomes were.

Reports of previous inquiries by the Commission are available on GOV.UK

Ends

Notes to Editors

1. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales; our role is to regulate charity trustees’ compliance with the charity law framework.
2. Section 76(3)(f) of the Charities Act gives the Commission power to restrict certain transactions that the trustees can enter into. This is a temporary and protective measure.
3. The Commission’s advice cautioning against cash couriering can be found here.
4. The seizure of funds is a matter for the police.