Africa

Photo: Some 53,000 Nigerians displaced by conflict are living in the Minawao refugee camp in north-east Cameroon. (February 2019). Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

Forced Displacement in Africa Not Just a Tale of Human Tragedy

By Sean Buchanan

NEW YORK (IDN) – The estimated 24 million and more Africans who have been forced from their homes in recent years is placing a growing burden on the continent’s economy, environment and communities hosting those displaced.

This was the backdrop to a May 21-23 event held at UN headquarters as part of the Africa Dialogue Series (ADS) focused on finding durable solution for displaced person in Africa. It brought together a wide range of actors with a stake in finding ways to deal with the issue, including representatives of national governments, the African Union, civil society, the private sector and the United Nations.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Africa; 26 May 2019

Child Hunger Threatens Africa’s Social and Economic Future

By Ronald Joshua

ADDIS ABABA (IDN) – Africa’s future economic and social progress is under threat from alarmingly high levels of child hunger, and the severity and scale of the problem is such that it requires nothing short of a radical and transformative political and economic agenda, according to a new study released at the Eighth International Policy Conference on the African Child.

The report pleads among others for: (i) political commitment at the highest political level; (ii) a constitutional or legal commitment to ensure that no child goes hungry and to make it obligatory for governments to provide universal access to a minimum acceptable amount of food for all children; and (iii) provision of targeted social safety nets and school-feeding programmes across regions and communities.

: Ronald Joshua; THE WORLD; Africa; 23 May 2019

The Controversy about Massive Ebola Outbreak in DR Congo

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – The risk of Ebola spreading in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) remains “very high”, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on May 20. This warning follows a recent spike in the number of infections due to the virus in the unstable north-east of the country.

Since January, there have been dozens of attacks on health facilities in North Kivu, and on April 19, 42-year-old Dr. Richard Valery from Cameroon was killed in Butembo.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 21 May 2019

Photo: Women from all ethnic groups in Gao and the surrounding villages come together in the Peace Hut. Credit: UN Women/Sandra Kreutzer

Women's Peace Hut Develops into a Driver of Economic Growth

A UN Women News Feature

This feature first appeared on May 7, 2019 with the headline A place of peace, reconciliation and growth.

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – The air is dry and hot in Gao. Here, in the north of Mali, the temperatures rarely fall below 30 degrees even in colder months. Around 1 million people live in the largest northern city, who have suffered tremendously as a result of the violent conflict through 2012 and 2013 and the occupation by militant Islamist groups.

Thousands have been displaced, the economy had almost collapsed and is now recovering slowly. Much has been destroyed during the fighting – the airport, markets and public buildings – infrastructure and services that make life normal. Gao is still one of the most dangerous places in Mali.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 20 May 2019

Photo: Prof. van Reisen addressing the Pan African Parliament. Credit: EEPA.

Europe Must Begin to Recognise the Dark Side of Its History

Viewpoint by Prof Dr Mirjam van Reisen

The following are extensive extracts from Prof Dr Mirjam van Reisen's presentation to the Pan African Parliament, Midrand, part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan, South Africa on May 13, 2019. She is Tilburg University's Chair ‘International Relations, Innovation and care’, Leiden University's Chair ‘Computing for Society’, Coordinator Research Network ‘Globalisation, Accessibility, Innovation and Care’, Member of the Advisory Council on International Affairs, The Netherlands, and Director and Secretary General of EEPA (Brussels).

JOHANNESBURG (IDN) – The courageous founders of the liberated African continent had a dream for a united Africa, from which the scars of European colonisation could be erased.

: Mirjam van Reisen; OPINION; 19 May 2019

Photo: Rejoicing at Ex-President Omar al-Bashir's arrest. Source: Internet

Ex-President of Sudan Faces Formal Charges of Murder

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – From the presidency to prisoner behind bars, former President Omar al-Bashir now faces formal charges of murder in the latest development to spring from a massive turnout of Sudanese people demanding civilian rule.

"Omar al-Bashir and others have been charged for inciting and participating in the killing of demonstrators," the office of Sudan's acting prosecutor general, Al-Waleed Sayyed Ahmed, announced on May 13.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 14 May 2019

Photo: Poster of Julius Malema of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

South African National Congress Wins 57.5 Percent of Vote

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Frustrated with the failures of the ruling African National Congress, South Africans gave the ANC its lowest turnout since 2004 when it took a record 69 percent of the vote. The ANC won a sixth straight term but with the worst ever electoral showing for the iconic party. Voter turnout was low. Thousands of youth did not even bother to register.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 14 May 2019

Finding Solutions to Forced Displacement in Africa

By Caroline Mwanga

NEW YORK (IDN) – 'Towards durable solutions for forcibly displaced persons in Africa' is the overarching theme of the African Dialogue Series (ADS 2019) being organized by the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA) from May 21 to 23, 2019 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

The three-day ADS will coincide with the celebration of Africa Day on May 24, 2019, organized by the AU Permanent Mission to the UN, and the events will feature Member States, the African Union, The United Nations System Entities, Members of the Diaspora, Civil Society (including women and youth groups), Private Sector, Media and Academia as well as development partners.

: Jaya Ramachandran; THE WORLD; Africa; 12 May 2019

Photo: Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, with President Paul Biya of the Cameroon.

Move Fast on Cameroon Before a Window of Opportunity Closes

Viewpoint by Rene Wadlow, President, Association of World Citizens

GENEVA (IDN) – On May 8, 2019, Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, after a three-day mission to the Cameroon, welcomed the Cameroon government's willingness to cooperate over finding workable solutions to what she called "major human rights and humanitarian crises" caused by months of serious unrest and violence across the southwest and north of the country.

She said: "I believe that there is a clear – if possibly short – window of opportunity to arrest the crises that have led to hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people as well as the killings and brutal human rights violations and abuses... It will take significant actions on the part of the Government and substantial and sustained support from the international community."

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 12 May 2019

Photo: Most of Eritrea’s population are disenfranchised due to forced conscriptions and a life below the poverty line. Source: face2faceafrica.com

Exodus of Eritreans in Post-Peace Era Continues

By Kristina Melicherová

BRUSSELS (IDN) – Hope for change in Eritrea after the July 2018 Ethiopia-Eritrea peace agreement has faded. Nearly a year after Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced his country would accept the Algiers Agreement of 2000 and make peace with Eritrea, the flow of refugees fleeing the repressive regime continues unabated.

A senior official from Ethiopia’s refugee agency recently confirmed that the situation in the border area between Ethiopia and Eritrea has not changed since the official closing of all border crossings for vehicles in April 2019. He confirmed that the number of refugees from Eritrea to Ethiopia continues to increase, with as many as 250 people being processed every day.