Pambazuka News 402: Thomas Sankara, revolution and the emancipation of women
Pambazuka News 402: Thomas Sankara, revolution and the emancipation of women
Elimu Yetu Coalition – Kenya’s National coalition(network) of Civil Society Organizations committed to the realization of Education For All goals (EFA) as spelt out in the Dakar framework for action – wishes to confirm to all that we will host CONFINTEA VI Africa’s Civil Society Summit on 3rd November 2008 at the Hilton Hotel, Nairobi Kenya. Find attached the registration form.
The Registration Form for the Doha Global Civil Society Forum (27 November 28 November 2008, Doha, Qatar) and the Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development to Review the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus (29 November 2 December 2008, Doha, Qatar) is now online.
Reflecting on his time spent in The Marcus Garvey Library in the London borough of Tottenham, Ronald Elly Wanda salutes the legacy of the library’s namesake and his seminal contribution to the pan-African movement. Following his discussion with a local librarian, the author suggests The Marcus Garvey Library to represent a redefinition of the library for the modern age.
From January 27th to February 1st 2009, the city of Belem will host the World Social Forum. During six days, the city assumes the position of being the center of planetary citizenship and a global reference for those who don't agree with inequality, injustice, intolerance, environment destruction and prejudice.
In a potent challenge to the Bush administration’s stated aim of increasing security on the African continent, Nunu Kidane argues the US’ sudden interest in the military AfriCOM initiative to reflect both unease over future control of natural resources and the increasing Chinese presence in Africa. As a means of actively opposing the initiative’s progress, the author urges readers to participate in the Resist AfriCOM campaign to say a clear and unequivocal ‘no’ to Washington’s AfriCOM programme.
The European Union is preparing to impose swingeing taxes on goods imported from Guyana as punishment for the Caribbean island's refusal to accept a free trade accord. Unlike 13 other governments in the Caribbean, Guyana has opted out of signing an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU.
Sokari Ekine interviews Tunji Buhari, an environmental campaigns worker for Environmental Rights Action (ERA), Friends of the Earth, Nigeria. Buhari is based in Lagos and has been working with ERA on their anti-tobacco campaign.
While exploring Rwanda’s alternative experience of women’s emancipation, Grace Kwinjeh outlines the potential conflict between nationalism and social liberation within many post-colonial African nations. Though post-colonial nationalisms have often amounted to the reinforcing of patriarchal systems of governance and the subordination of women, in Rwanda, the author argues, women’s experience of political representation in a post-genocide society has been more complicated, an experience essentially revealing the role of political systems in determining the levels of freedom and democracy that countries’ citizens enjoy.
Exploring the challenges and limitations to have faced Tanzania’s educational development, Salma Maoulidi assesses the progress of various educational initiatives and the prospects for the country’s population. Underlining the importance of the role of both state and non-state actors in Tanzania’s implementation of effective policies, the author argues that putting adult learning and education (ALE) back on the national development agenda will be critical for the country’s negotiation of an ever globalising world.
In the run-up to the third India-Brazil-South-Africa (IBSA) Summit to be held this month in Delhi, Sanusha Naidu considers the prospects for Chinese integration into a growing pillar of South-South cooperation. Emphasising the extent to which IBSA’s parts far from represent a unified force, the author argues that the bloc’s immediate future lies more in consolidating collaboration between its current members than in being concerned about capturing China’s global leverage.
In light of the current global economic downturn and bailout plan for the rich, Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem examines the hypocrisy and profound limitations of a neoliberal market orthodoxy ostensibly hostile to state intervention yet increasingly reliant on its restorative role. Berating the continued failure of Western institutions to provide adequate conditions and support for African development, the author urges African governments to turn their backs on foreign ‘aid’ and instead concentrate on their own course of action.
Following a review workshop in Kenya, the East African Community (EAC) deputy secretary general announced that national consultations on the proposed EAC political federation were on course in Rwanda and Burundi. In addition, military commanders from 13 Eastern Africa countries met in Kenya, under the patronage of the AU, to finalise preparations for the establishment of a ‘united force to deal with conflicts on the continent’ through the Rapid Deployment Unit and the East African Stand-By Brigade. Regarding the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the Institute for Security Studies is set to publish a monograph arguing that ‘regionalisation/integration have both an external and internal logic’ and going further to explain that ‘the inability of ECCAS to discharge its mandate on human security is a function of the perceived potential benefit and cost to domestic politicians with regards to their political security or future. Thus, a weak ECCAS is a reflection of its importance to the political calculus of member states’.
Former South African president Thabo Mbeki arrived in Zimbabwe on Monday in a bid to save the country’s power-sharing deal after the opposition party was denied key cabinet posts. Though the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai threatened to pull out of the deal, he said he still hoped the mediator would unlock the impasse so that the country may move forward. The African Union (AU), calling on its Member States not to accept the unconstitutional change of government in Mauritania, has reiterated the position of its Peace and Security Council (PSC) for restoration of the constitutional order and has welcomed the unanimous support of the international community. The AU, following a PSC meeting, called for urgent, flexible and sustainable funding for its peace operations on the continent.
In other news, the AU-EU Ministerial meeting called upon the African and European Commissions to further contribute to the new Africa-Europe relations framework, characterised by a consensus on values and a shared vision, and based on a more open and mature dialogue addressing global issues as well as to share experiences, best practices, and to develop joint initiatives. More than 200 civil society organisations are meeting for the ‘Second Euro-African Non-governmental Conference on Migration and development’. In addition, to mark ten years after the United Nations issued the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, a high-level conference entitled ‘Ten Years of Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement - Achievements and Future Challenges’ will take place in Oslo. Further, the Korean Strategy and Finance Ministry and the Import-Export Bank of Korea, in collaboration with the African Development Bank are organising the 2008 Ministerial Conference on Economic Cooperation between Korea and Africa under the theme ‘Promoting Synergies between Africa and Korea’.
Pambazuka News 413: Zimbabwe on the edge of the precipice
Pambazuka News 413: Zimbabwe on the edge of the precipice
The Human Rights Advocates Program (HRAP) at Columbia University is designed to prepare proven human rights leaders from the Global South and marginalized communities in the U.S. to participate in national and international policy debates on globalization by building their skills, knowledge, and contacts. The Program features a four-month residency at Columbia University in New York City with a structured curriculum of advocacy, networking, skills-building, and academic coursework.
Pambazuka News 401: Mbeki, Zuma: a political earthquake
Pambazuka News 401: Mbeki, Zuma: a political earthquake
The ICASO network of networks operates globally, regionally and locally, and supports community advocates in over 100 countries. ICASO operates from its International Secretariat in Canada and through Regional Secretariats based on five continents. Recently, the ICASO Board created two new Board positions specifically dedicated to representatives of people living with HIV. By doing this, ICASO aims to ensure that the voices of people living with HIV are an integral part of ICASO’s strategic decision-making plans and processes.
On Saturday 4th afternoon, the Symphony Way community was once again invaded by about 15 police officers from the city's notorious Land Invasions Unit. This time, they attempted to illegally destroy a resident's home without a court order and without the permission of the City.
The Documentary Filmmakers Association will be presenting weekly documentary screenings at the Labia Cinema. We will be launching these DOCLOVE nights with a selection of films produced by FILMAKERS AGAINST RACISM - an initiative launched on 23rd May 2008 in response to the shocking wave of xenophobic violence hitting South Africa.
Community leaders from across Gauteng will meet with newly elected Ekurhuleni Mayor Ntombi Mekgwe to show her the devastating impact of government policy in the informal settlement of Makause on the east of Johannesburg. The visit will take place on the 16th October, the eve of the United Nations' International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
October the 15th is Blog Action Day 2008. Blog Action Day is a nonprofit, grassroots movement of thousands of individual bloggers coming together for one cause. This year's theme for Blog Action Day is Poverty. We have registered the Sokwanele blog - This is Zimbabwe - to participate in the action, and we are inviting YOU to send us items written by you that we will publish throughout the day on our blog.
ANLoc, the African Network for Localization, has started an initiative to build locales for over 100 African languages. The project is now ready to line up volunteers. We are NOT quite ready to begin the technical work for the specific languages, but we ARE in the process of finding volunteers to help out for each language.
According to this 2007 report focused on Swaziland, drought and a high incidence of HIV/AIDS are both long-term crises that create vicious cycles of vulnerability, poverty, and food insecurity. The livelihoods approach was used in this study to highlight the linkages between the impact of HIV/AIDS and drought on human, financial, and social capital.
This paper addresses the role of rural radio in Africa and explores how researchers can improve communication with farmers via radio. It also discusses research relationships among civil society where media is an influential but often underestimated institutional partner. According to the report, radio remains a vital part of development in Africa.
This 2006 Bachelor Degree thesis discusses the use of mobile phones in Africa for economic support and livelihood, using the study of fishermen in Tanzania as its core case. From the Abstract: "Mobile phones have had a tremendous diffusion rate in Africa in recent years. This has brought access to telecommunication to new user groups, among them Tanzanian fishermen.
This project aims to alleviate economic poverty, promote sustainable development, and empower women's self-help groups in coastal areas of Kenya through the use of ICTs. Women's groups are assisted with ICT training and facilities to engage in alternative livelihood activities and improve productivity. The self-help groups include Mwamlongo, Karoyo, Wakunga, Lolarako, and Gazi Women Mangrove Boardwalk.
Launched in March 2008, this international fundraising and awareness initiative is designed to benefit hungry schoolchildren worldwide. "Fill the Cup" draws on the involvement of high-profile actors and athletes to educate people about the problem of hunger, and to encourage them to donate online in order to "fill a cup" with porridge, rice, or beans. The ultimate goal is to increase the chances of hungry schoolchildren to enjoy better health and education, and a promising future.
Liberia and Senegal have become the latest African countries to ban Chinese milk products following the tainted milk scandal that left tens of thousands of children ill in the Asian country. "In September we received reports that these products made lot of victims in China, and that a good quantity has been shipped towards Africa. On October 2 the same report was reiterated," Liberian Minister of Commerce Frederick Nuckeh told state radio on Tuesday.
From household solar panels to thermal generators big enough to power a town, sun power has enjoyed explosive growth around the world. Everywhere, that is, except on the sun-drenched continent of Africa. With an average daily dose of five to seven kilowatts per hour (kWh) for every square metre, Africa has more potential for producing energy from the sun than almost anywhere on Earth, with the possible exception of northern Australia or the Arabian peninsula.
The Centre for Sociological Research seeks applications for up to four post-doctoral fellowships. The PDFs are tenable for two years and successful applicants will be paid R160,000 in the first year. The CSR's PDFs will be expected to publish a book and/or a series of articles based on their doctoral research; begin a new research project; and participate in the intellectual life of the centre.
This paper by William Easterly argues that the MDGs are poorly and arbitrarily designed to measure progress against poverty and deprivation, and that their design makes Africa look worse than it really is. The paper does not argue that Africa’s performance is good in all areas, only that its relative performance looks worse because of the particular way in which the MDG targets are set.
On 20th October 2008 Heads of State from three sub-regional economic organizations COMESA, EAC and SADC will come together in a first historic tripartite summit in Kampala to “decide on matters related to enhancing cooperation among EAC, COMESA and SADC, including deepening trade, investments, and infrastructure, linking transport corridors, promoting joint projects to boost of industrialization agriculture and food security as well as enabling free movement of people between the three RECs”.
Will a new US president with ancestry from Kenya mean a better deal for the people of Africa? Join us and discuss this online on Tuseday the 21st of October 2008. The Cyber Seminar is a virtual seminar – a forum for participants all over the world to engage with each other and with panellists from academia, politics and civil society on issues of current interest to Africa.
In the coming weeks and months we will see ground breaking activities taking place in over 15 countries as part of HungerFree Women. Women in each of these countries are coming together at local, district, regional and national level to discuss, strategise, mobilize, and demand their rights and needs as women farmers in the face of the food crisis, and in the face of discrimination against them in terms of accessing land, natural resources, and ways of earning a living. This campaign push will be brought together internationally through a media push around World Food Day and through the new revamped website which will go live on 15th October.
The literature on world cities has had an enormous influence on urban theory and practice, with academics and policy makers attempting to understand, and often strive for, world city status. In this new work, McDonald explores Cape Town’s position in this network of global cities and critically investigates the conceptual value of the world city hypothesis.
As we become more technologically advanced, we produce materials that can withstand extreme temperatures, are durable and easy to use. Plastic bags, synthetics, plastic bottles, tin cans, and computer hardware- these are some of the things that make life easy for us. But what we forget is that these advanced products do not break down naturally. When we dispose them in a garbage pile, the air, moisture, climate, or soil cannot break them down naturally to be dissolved with the surrounding land.
Fifteen-year-old Taboni's parents are in a bind. Their daughter has been raped by the commandant of the squalid internally-displaced persons camp they call home, and they do not know what to do. The implications of reporting the camp commandant, M R Otim, to the police could be grave. Like the 1.4 million other internally displaced persons, Taboni's parents have been impoverished, displaced, and disempowered by 20 years of conflict in northern Uganda. The camp commandant wields enormous power over their lives.
More than 100 people in South Africa are under medical observation after coming into contact with people who died from suspected haemorrhagic fever. Doctors have tried to calm fears that the disease could spread throughout the wider population in Johannesburg.
The City Wide Shack Fire Summit called by Abahlali baseMjondolo was initially scheduled to be held in the Foreman Road settlement. It had to be moved to the Kennedy Road settlement after the Foreman Road settlement burnt down on 13 September leaving thousands destitute and homeless and Thembelani Khweshube dead. The Summit was attended by shack dwellers from all over Durban and from various organisations.
EISA hereby launches its election observer mission to the forthcoming Presidential Elections in Zambia which will be held on 30 October 2008. Leading the delegation is Mr Abel Leshele Thoahlane, Chairperson of the EISA Board of Directors and Former Chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission of Lesotho. The mission will consist of 20 members drawn from civil society organisations in all regions of Africa.
As the current global financial turmoil deepens, Zimbabwe's chances of garnering a much-needed financial aid injection for its shattered economy hangs in the balance. With major world economic powers - the US and the EU - bogged down in a desperate effort to save their economies from slipping into a recession or, even worse, a depression, the Zimbabwean economic quandary is the last thing on their minds.
The ABM Western Cape has created a website for Khayelitsha Struggles as part of its project. The website is created and managed by people that are living at Khayelitsha, most people that are currently working at this project does not even have metric and some of them are still at high school. The website will not only focus at housing struggle only but will at broader social, economic and environmental issues and will focus on internal(khayelitsha) struggles.
Struggling to make an impact on your target audience? Are issues unresolved despite your best efforts? Do the internet, mobile phones or information design present exciting possibilities in advocacy but difficult to take advantage of? The Info Activism camp, to be held in Bangalore, India from February 19 to 25, offers rights advocates the chance to make a greater impact in their work.
Fahari Afrika is a community based youth organization of performing artists and was formed in the year 2004 through a strong network of Dancers and singers.At this home of theater we boast of young teams of youths with a lot of potential and energy with high discipline who can work and have managed to work both locally and internationally with a professional approach
Solidarity for African Women's Rights (SOAWR) is proud to announce the launch of its new website. SOAWR is a coalition of 30 civil society organizations across the continent working to ensure that the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa remains on the agenda of policy makers and to urge all African leaders to safeguard the rights of women through ratification and implementation of the Protocol.
The international farmers movement La Via Campesina is holding its Vth International Conference in Maputo, Mozambique, from October 16 to 23, 2008. This congress will gather more than 500 men and women farmers (OMIT 's' in farmers) leaders from more than 70 countries, at a time when the food crisis is at the top of the global agenda. This event is starting with the Rural Youth Assembly on October 16, while the world is celebrating World Food Day.
Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said Thursday that power-sharing talks with President Robert Mugabe's government had stalled and outside mediation was needed to break the deadlock. But he insisted the deal to form a joint unity government could work, saying: "We are confident about the potential of the deal. There is nothing wrong with the deal."
Zimbabwe's annual inflation surged to a record 231 million percent in July up from 11.2 million percent in June, state run daily Herald reported Thursday. The ever rising cost of food has been cited as the main driver of inflation according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO) statement quoted in the Herald. "The month on month rate rose 1760,9-percentage points on the June rate of 893,3 percent to 2600,2 percent. Bread and Cereals were the main drivers," the Herald reported.
About 100 migrants are feared to have drowned after being thrown overboard by smugglers in the Gulf of Aden, the UN refugee agency says. The migrants were attempting to flee to Yemen from war-torn Somalia but were forced off the boat about 5km (3 miles) from the coast, a UN official said.
Rwanda's parliament has decided that all education will be taught in English instead of French. Officially the Rwandan decision is a result of joining the English-speaking East African Community. But relations between Rwanda and France have been frosty following the 1994 genocide, when France was accused of supporting Hutu militias.
The leader of South Africa's official opposition, Helen Zille, says she would welcome a split in the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party. She was responding to former Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota's threat on Wednesday to form anew party. "We're seeing a non-racial alignment... on the basis of principles and that's a very good thing," she told the BBC.
With the start of the rainy season in Uganda, Livingstone Chinyenya should be tending to the farm which he says his family has lived on for four generations. Instead, the 64-year-old now lives as a squatter along the edge of the land where he was born and raised. He is one of more than 17,000 people who were evicted from their farms in Kayunga District, about 200km (124 miles) north-west of the capital, Kampala.
The trial of nine people in Ivory Coast accused of involvement in the dumping of 500 tons of chemical waste around the port of Abidjan has been suspended. Five defence lawyers walked out in protest at the fact that no one from the Dutch firm Trafigura which transported the waste was in court.
South Sudan's government has expressed outrage after police in the capital, Juba, arrested more than 30 women for wearing tight trousers or short skirts. Police said local officials had issued an order banning "bad behaviour and the importation of illicit cultures".
Crowds of Egyptians have attacked police with clubs and stones in a town south of Cairo after a pregnant woman died during a police raid on her home. The woman was pushed to the ground by officers when she would not let them enter her home to look for her brother, a suspected thief, police said.
For 40 years, the French government has been fighting a secret war in Africa, hidden not only from its people, but from the world. It has led the French to slaughter democrats, install dictator after dictator – and to fund and fuel the most vicious genocide since the Nazis. Today, this war is so violent that thousands are fleeing across the border from the Central African Republic into Darfur – seeking sanctuary in the world’s most notorious killing fields.
A group of software experts, technical specialists and telecommunications entrepreneurs in South Africa is working to develop an inexpensive system to provide rural and under-served area with affordable telephone communication.
A pilot project to introduce payphones, connected to satellite networks, is providing telephone services to remote communities and helping to develop the telecoms market in Zambia. The unprecedented success of mobile phones across Africa is well documented and clear for anyone to see. But leave the cities and main roads, and the mobile phone is quickly transformed from an economic success-making tool into an interesting but essentially useless accessory.
With no fixed-line service and mobile phone operators reluctant to invest in rural areas, the Fantsuam Foundation decided to provide VoIP to customers on its wireless network in northern Nigeria.
Under a new law signed by US President George W. Bush, leaders of military forces and armed groups who have recruited child soldiers may be arrested and prosecuted in the United States, Human Rights Watch has said. The law could apply to leaders of dozens of forces that have recruited and used child soldiers in over 20 armed conflicts.
Community-based policing (CBP) is an approach to policing that brings together the police, civil society and local communities to develop local solutions to safety and security concerns. This paper, published by Saferworld, assesses outcomes of and lessons learned from two CBP pilot-sites supported by Saferworld as part of its broader programme of police reform in Kenya.
The individuals, who the scientists say have powerful antibodies that neutralise the virus, stopping it from infecting new cells, have neither used any antiretroviral drugs nor been attacked by opportunistic infections despite living with the virus for over nine years. On being screened, the individuals were found to possess high CD4 count- immune cells used to fight infections- and very low viral loads-amount of HIV in the body-, which were uncharacteristic of an infected person.
Despite difficult security conditions, ICRC staff are pressing ahead with their activities aiming at addressing the needs of the people worst affected by armed conflict and other situations of violence in eastern Chad. The lack of security remains the primary factor impeding displaced people from returning to their homes, and the main challenge for the delivery of humanitarian aid. ICRC activities from July to September 2008
The influence of the World Bank was felt in Accra when developing countries and donors met at a resplendent conference centre for the recent High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness. The Bank, together with the OECD and the Ghanaian government, were the joint organisers of this event that hosted some 1,200 participants including 80 civil society representatives
Libyan prisoner of conscience Idriss Boufayed was released by the Libyan authorities on Wednesday 8 October.An outspoken critic of Mu’ammar al-Qadhafi and secretary general of the Libyan organisation National Union of Reform, Idriss Boufayed was arrested on 16 February 2007 for trying to organize a peaceful demonstration against the Libyan government.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has welcomed the provisional release of Moussa Kaka by authorities in Niger after the journalist spent more than a year in detention on charges that he was linked to rebels in the northern part of the country. "We believe that all accusations against Moussa Kaka are baseless and that he was targeted for his investigative reporting," said Gabriel Baglo, Director of the IFJ Africa Office. "
An $8.6 million grant to enhance agricultural production and provide food security for poor people in rural areas of the Republic of Congo was announced today by the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The initiative is part of a larger $18.7 million project in the Likouala, Pool and Sangha Departments, which aims to reach 250 villages and some 20,000 households, according to a news release issued by the Rome-based UN agency.
At least 5,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have arrived in South Sudan in the past two weeks after fleeing “ferocious” attacks by the notorious Ugandan rebel group, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), the United Nations refugee agency reported. Ron Redmond, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told reporters in Geneva that an estimated 150 Congolese are crossing every day into the villages of Sakure and Gangura, in the Yambio area of South Sudan.
At least one person was killed when police in Guinea cleared protesters from a railway carrying bauxite for Russian aluminium company RUSAL, police and industry sources said on Friday. The trains, which have been blocked since Monday, had still not restarted, the sources added.
The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) Southern Africa Regional Office is planning a consultation meeting to develop a CEDAW project document. This meeting is scheduled to be held in Johannesburg from 4 to 5 November 2008.
Although the focus will be on CEDAW, consideration will be given to incorporating activities regarding the Women’s Protocol and the SADC Protocol.
For over a month now Antonio Angelucci, an independent photographer from Italy, has been visiting the community and working with the children here on Symphony Way. The kids have had to opportunity learn how to take photographs with both film SLR cameras and digital cameras. At the same time, the children have been teaching Antonio a thing or two about their lives and what it is like to live in an informal settlement.
Patients starting antiretroviral therapy in sub-Saharan Africa have a high rate of mortality, according to a review article published in the October 1st edition of AIDS. Many of the deaths occurred in the first three months of treatment, and there was also notable mortality in the interval between joining a treatment programme and actually starting therapy.
A meta-analysis of studies of circumcision in gay men and men who have sex with men (MSM) has not found sufficient evidence to show that being circumcised reduced their risk of acquiring HIV. Although it finds a small reduction in the risk of HIV infection in circumcised men, this is not statistically significant - in other words it could just be a chance finding.
Review and sign on to the letter below urging the World Health Organization (WHO) to revise its guidelines to recommend full-course antiretroviral treatment for all expectant and breastfeeding mothers worldwide, in place of short-course therapy. With a united voice, we can save the lives of scores of mothers and infants, and prevent millions of orphans.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has published a harsh new report on the condition of press freedoms in Tunisia. The study, released September 23rd on the group's website, found that press freedom in the country is in bad shape.
Members of Parliament from the East African Community (EAC) and the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) overwhelmingly recommended to reject the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPAs) framework initiated between EAC and the European Union (EU). The legislators’ views are contained in a joint communiqué which sealed a three-day 4th inter-parliamentary seminar in Kigali, Rwanda. The event brought together EALA and National Assemblies from the member states of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi.
African farmers of the 21st century can decide what crops to plant by checking prices at local markets using their cell phones. Physicians can help nurses in rural clinics diagnose patients by “telemedicine.” In Nigeria, new subscribers are signing up with mobile phone services at a rate of almost one every second. In Kenya, they can transfer money, get exam results and even find dates using their phones.
The northern region of Diana is known for the beautiful beaches of the Nosy-Be district and the scent of fields of ylang-ylang flowers. But the political landscape of Diana is as extraordinary as its geography: the region's administrative head is a woman, Anjara Mantasara. Madagascar counts three women amongst its 22 regional heads, who are appointed by Cabinet and responsible for local development.
It was a sad occasion, and an occasion to rejoice. Sad, said Dr Ludeki Chweya, introducing Flora Terah's new book, because her heart-wrenching story shows that physical abuse and torture are a weapon of choice to deter wo
This report gathers together learning from primary research undertaken in thirteen developing countries and from other available national level research and international synthesis reports concerning the human resource aspects of quality education and in particular the role of teachers. The headline message of the report is that the quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers.
With a focus on Ethiopia, this paper identifies and analyses the types, prevalence, major causes and effects of violence against girls in schools. It also aims to assess the availability and effectiveness of policies, rules and regulations and concludes with recommendations on ways to reduce violence against school girls.
The LGBTI community can, in future, expect to see key decision makers such as government officials in the annual Johannesburg Pride Parade. Its Marketing and Communications Officer and board member Luiz De Barros implied this after Behind the Mask questioned if the Pride Board is not inviting the already empowered gay community, instead of decision makers, service providers, and straight members of society who should be targets for anti hate messages.
The Ugandan government said Saturday it would strengthen anti-gay laws and step up police operations against homosexuals amid concern over the "mushrooming" number of gays and lesbians in the East African nation. "The state of moral health in our nation is challenging and we are concerned about the mushrooming of lesbianism and homosexuality," Ethics and Integrity Minister James Nsaba Buturo told a news conference.
The number of Ethiopians needing emergency food assistance has jumped to 6.4 million from 4.6 million in June, the aid agency Oxfam said on Friday. Drought and high food prices have both contributed to the worsening crisis in Ethiopia and other parts of the Horn of Africa like Somalia and north Kenya, aid workers say.
The United Nations will do everything possible to stop Congo's eastern conflict from becoming a wider war after the government accused Rwanda of sending troops over the border, a U.N. official said on Friday. Democratic Republic of Congo has asked the U.N Security Council to hold an emergency meeting on what it says was a Rwandan military incursion this week into eastern North Kivu province in support of Congolese Tutsi rebels.
Somali pirates have accused European firms of dumping toxic waste off the Somali coast and are demanding an $8m ransom for the return of a Ukranian ship they captured, saying the money will go towards cleaning up the waste. The ransom demand is a means of "reacting to the toxic waste that has been continually dumped on the shores of our country for nearly 20 years", Januna Ali Jama, a spokesman for the pirates, based in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, said.
Reporters Without Borders is relieved to learn that former journalist Andrew Mwangura, the Seafarers Assistance Programme’s representative in Kenya, was finally released on bail in Mombasa after being held for nine days. Mwangura said he was “happy” with the court’s decision and was ready to go back to work and to continue trying to combat piracy in the region.
Should Uganda care about how the Internet is "governed"? Should we be on the same page with much of the world which has placed issues such as Openness, Security, Diversity and Access among those that need to be addressed by the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), and by respective national and regional bodies? Or should we have a set of other issues that should be a priority for Uganda?
Charges against one of the five men accused of killing and raping a Banyana Banyana player Eudy Simelane were withdrawn in the Springs Regional Court on Tuesday. The case against the remaining four men was then transferred to the Delmas High Court for trial due to the nature of the offences committed.
“Black cloud”, a mass of polluted air which darkens the skies of the Egyptian capital in October-November, is less severe this year, but efforts to reduce the pollution that leads to this phenomenon should continue if a disaster is to be avoided, an environment official said. “Last year the cloud appeared for 20 hours [in October-November] compared with more than 100 hours in 1999.
Sexual exploitation in African schools has become so widespread that children have come up with their own terms to refer to sexual relations with their teachers. From ‘Sexually Transmitted Grades’ to ‘BF’, or bordel fatigue, which refers to exhaustion from multiple sexual activities with teachers, this slang hints at the prevalence of exploitation in Africa’s learning environments.
The International Organization for Migration estimates that up to 35,000 sub-Saharan clandestine migrants leave for North Africa and Europe every year. But researchers concede the near impossibility to track what is carried out in secrecy, facilitated by family connections and favours, bribes and beatings. Despite increased security crackdowns and forced mass expulsions by North African security forces, thousands of West African migrants still attempt the desert crossing from northern Niger through the gateway town of Agadez.
Health facilities in Nyanza Province in western Kenya are struggling to meet the demand for medical male circumcisions since politicians threw their weight behind efforts to promote the procedure as a way of reducing HIV infections. The campaign initially faced opposition by community elders of the ethnic Luo community that makes up the bulk of the province's inhabitants and does not traditionally practice circumcision.
Grassroots AIDS organisations in Malawi are facing uncertainty as the National AIDS Commission (NAC) ends its dependence on international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for dispersing grants. The responsibility for channelling funds to more than 3,000 AIDS organisations working to alleviate the impacts of HIV and AIDS in Malawi has now shifted to local government authorities known as district assemblies.
On 24 September, almost six months after his arrest and detention, Mbanga (51) was found guilty of taking part in riots against the high cost of living in Cameroon in February and sentenced to three years in prison. The songwriter was convicted of three of the six charges against him: "complicity in looting, destruction of property, arson, obstructing streets, degrading the public or classified property, and forming illegal gatherings".
The Mmegi newspaper of 9 October 2008 has reported that the state owned media is being given editorial directives to advance government positions on civic issues such as its fight against alcohol abuse. The newspaper quotes 'reliable sources' saying the government has marshalled the state media to cover positively and extensively it's anti alcohol abuse. The directive was issued this week.
Kenya's Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, on Thursday blasted African leaders' fear of criticising each other, saying it was stifling the continent's progress towards democracy. "The African Union has fallen short, failing to condemn brutal regimes and sham elections, including the second round of elections in Zimbabwe. This has now become the norm.
Huge congratulations, to the entire Pambazuka team, and the larger Pambazuka community. Even while we reflect on the challenges facing Africa, these are both extraordinary achievements, absolutely worthy of celebration.
I am thrilled to have shared a tiny part of Pambazuka's journey. I look forward to the next 400 issues - and to adding my voice to the ever-growing and ever-deepening conversation.
When I think of Pambazuka, what comes to mind is a favourite poem, OPTIMISM, by a favourite poet,
More and more I have come to admire resilience.
Not the simple resistance of a pillow, whose foam
returns over and over to the same shape, but the sinuous
tenacity of a tree: finding the light newly blocked on one side,
it turns in another. A blind intelligence, true.
But out of such persistence arose turtles, rivers,
mitochondria, figs--all this resinous, unretractable earth.
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My Haven expresses his disappointment at a statement by Rev Desmond Tutu, condoning voter abstention as a way of protest the political climate in South Africa. For Matuba, not voting is not an option and an insult to those who died for freedom in South Africa.
“Archbishop Tutu says the rifts in the ANC left citizens insecure. I have said it before and I am going to shout once more; YOU DON'T LIKE THE ANC? THEN GO TO THE POLLS NEXT YEAR AND EXPRESS IT BY VOTING FOR ANOTHER PARTY. It is that simple.”
Harowo comments on the recent seajacking of an arms ship by Somali pirates stating they could not have known the ship was full of tankers nor that it was probably part of an illegal arms deal sending tanks to the Sudan from the Ukraine. Harowo describes the Somali pirates as the equivalent of pickpockets stealing a mafia suitcase.
“Ali’s small-time gangsters, in their sneakers, have climbed up onto a world stage normally reserved for bigger players. In the ensuing drama, the boundaries between the good guys and the villains have become difficult to discern, primarily because there may not in fact be any good guys. In this production, the pirates are the equivalent of pickpockets who had the bad luck of stealing a mafia godfather’s briefcase. In reality, the incident is about much more than a hijacking and Ali’s demand for $20 million (€13.8 million) in ransom money. It is also about anarchy in a failed state like Somalia, and about the interests of the United States, Russia and the European Union, as it gradually takes on a new role on the world stage.”
Who are the other criminals in this saga – the Ukraine government, Sudan, possibly China who may have if only indirectly provided the funding for the tanks and the international community who are failing to challenge all of the above.
Ethiopia Watch wonders if the Ethiopian famine has really been averted. He refers to an article by Rob Crilly on his blog “from the frontline” who suggests the original story was more of a “fabrication” based on the desire of some journalists “putting their critical faculties to one side in favour of reporting a worst-case scenario peddled by NGOs with an interest in collecting cash? Did we jump when they cried wolf?”
White African calls for a reframing of “Brand Africa” , that is the way we Africans think about technology in Africa. What White African is saying is that as Africans need to have the confidence to export our technology explaining it’s uniqueness and advantage in the global context.
“Most people outside of Africa don’t align any type of technological edge to what we do here on the continent. In fact, most are surprised when a developer from Africa pops up on the international stage at all. Though there are fewer software developers in Africa per capita relative to their Western counterparts, what most don’t realize is that those few are really quite talented.
This means the South Africans as well as their counter parts in Ghana, Uganda and Senegal. We’re all in this together, whether we like it or not. Remember, to outsiders we’re one homogeneous landmass. What we each do reflects on everyone, whether we’re creating for local or global markets.”
Stories from Malawi publishes some good news from Malawi where this year’s tobacco crop has earned the country “US$461 million” an annual increase of $196million. The even better news is that the income of local farmers has also increased. The bad or rather sad news is all this money being made from something which kills! Blacklooks is critical of the Ugandan government over its continued harassment of LGBTI activists, along with the threats to publish names of sexworkers and to punish women for wearing mini skirts : “Instead of focusing on violence against women, child labour and sexual abuse the government’s latest assault is a misogynist attack on women which blames them for causing car accidents. All of these attacks, against the LGBTI community, sexworkers and women show a government and religious leadership in a state of crisis and fear of loosing control over women’s bodies and in particular a fear of sexuality. All of this is underpinned by this thing they call “our culture”. Culture is not viewed as a construct, in constant change or for that matter static. It is not even historical but rather something constructed on a subjective set of myths from the past which bear little meaning in the present except to oppress women and anyone who dares express difference in terms of their sexuality, dress and ideas.” * Sokari Ekine blogs at www.blacklooks.org * Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/
The article, , provokes audience to analyze the current situation by re-thinking the post-colonial history in a broader spectrum of the whole of Southern Africa. I would like to add the same is to be found in the history of other countries of Tiers Mond. One point is that many countries are affected by the unconcious heritage of the "revolutionary movement", or the effect of double-edged sword.
Secondly, as the generation growing up in post-revolutionary age, we should learn how to read "patriotic form of writing history" which has turned the independence struggle into a myth, such as Zimbabwe's Chimulenga, such as China's socialist mainstream.
Thirdly, more importantly and more explicitly, winners turned to criminalize the loser, as the recent Angolan hisotry has revealed. Yet for long-term reconciliation, all these seemingly critical conclusions at that historical time need a second thought, will be or are being questioned, such as in China's case as China's peaceful talking across the Taiwan Strait is going on faster than ever in recent years.
Andile Mngxitama's piece, , is supposed to hold a mirror up to the struggles of Nelson Mandela and the nature of his statesmanship on the African continent - and the world at large, but rather than do that, it foreshadows an antinomy of a sort: what is wrong with the present crop of African leaders. Though a good piece, it does not point a flambeau to the way of moving South Africa from the doldrums of national asphyxiation, which Mandela's essence epitomises.
Wole Soyinka's reference to Mandela's statue as evident in the article, as ''soulless'', adumbrates the mess made of his fight to have a new South Africa - filled with the bliss of post-Apartheid as well as inter-racial brotherhood. The realities effulgent in today's South Africa, are a far cry from what Mandela and his comerades figured out.
Also, the writer's friend who reckoned in the wake of world's celebration of Mandela phenomenon, that we should sing ''Free Nelson Mandela Campaign'', should rather spare a thought for what I call ''Free African Leaders's Campaign''. African leaders serve as a foil to Mandela's statesmanship. The sqandering of Africa's bounties and the mortgaging of its future by African leaders in the marketplace of global one-upmanship and continental malaise, are a disturbing pattern that sends shivers down my spine as I reflect on our journey so far as a continent. For me, a more fitting title for Mngxitama's piece should be ''Mandela as South Afrca's Foil''. This titular reconstruction, would underscore more pointedly the meat of his preoccupation in the article.
In an interview which Mandela granted on his last visit to the United Kingdom - as a run-up to his 90th birthday celebration, he was asked what was his reading preference: the sort of books he reads. His answer was strikig. On top of the list was Tolstoy's ''War and Peace''. No doubt, African leaders would prefer Machiavelli's ''The Prince''. The logic of this book, underwrites their inhuman activities on the continent. I make haste to suggest Henry Kissinger's ''Diplomacy'' to African leaders. Its proemal gambit distils a road map to the philosophy of statesmanship. There is a lot to gather from Bill Clinton's ''Between Hope and History'' as well as other books that deepen the debate on moving humanity (Africa) from the margin to the centre. Mandela's senility and possible departure will mark a watershed in (South)Africa's liberation from the menacle of neocolonialism, class attrition and prebendalism.
Mandela is no metaphor for South Africa; he is rather a sheer irony of today's South Africa - a spooky antinomy that haunts South Africa, nay, the continent of Africa.
I really admire the Pambazuka website for giving and entertaining valuable information and analysis towards the good well-being of Africans.
As we know this days, the world media are controlled and manipulated by the super powers and particularly the United States. Therefore, the African continet as a whole and the Africans specifically become voiceless. In order to give a voice to the voiceless we Africans should have to work together and show the real truth to the imperialism imposed on the continent in order to loot its wealth in the name of democracy and human rights.
In exposing this all things Pambazuka should have to work deligently but its articles and comments are only in the Southern and Western Africa what about the Horn of Africa and North Africa. Please try to present these two important locations of the continent in fair and balanced reporting.
In response to, , I would like to say that as an outsider, an African American who has more than an affinity with Africa and its politics, I believe a synthesis of "Nkrumah’s vision of continental political unity" and Nyerere's gradual approach to that vision can be realised.
Further, I do not think we Africans should dismiss Muammar Gaddafi so quickly. Rather, we should hear him out and look for common ground in his messages. The author rightly points out that "Pan-Africanism was rooted in anti-imperialist politics. It was a political and not an economic, cultural, or racial project."
In my view, the next step in the development of Pan-Africanism and the quest for continental unity of Africans is to arrive at a concensus that transcends political, economic, cultural and racial lines. What is needed at this juncture is a "People's Movement" that leaves petty politics at the door. We have started such a movement in the United States. It is a movement of people who have a passionate love for Africa and its people. We call it the Order of Kush.
To learn more, please go to our website at http://www.orderofkush.org