Just Africa

DRC Rainforests—Crucial to Combating Global Warming!

In Copenhagen this week, delegates from 160 countries are gathered to come up with a global plan for reversing global warming, and combating the effects of climate change.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC or Congo) is home to the world’s second largest rainforest, covering over 515,000 square miles, the greatest expanse of rainforest in all of Africa.  The rainforest covers roughly 60% of the country.

Deforestation in the DRC is driven by small-scale slash and burn agriculture, as well as mining and commercial logging.  From 1990-2005 the DRC lost more than 26,000 square miles of forest to logging, close to 5% of all the rainforest. However, between 2002 and 2005 the government of the DRC granted 15 million hectares, over 57,000 square miles of rainforest concessions to logging companies- or more than 9% of the total rainforest.  If the trend continues, by 2050 the DRC risks loss of 40% of its forests, and this loss will release 34.4 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.  Currently only 43,000 square miles of the rainforest has a protected status, safeguarding it from commercial uses.

The rainforest in the Congo directly affects weather and rainfall patterns both in the region, and in the North Atlantic.  Loss of forest has a direct and disastrous effect on global warming and will result in increased flooding, heat waves, droughts, and rising oceans. Deforestation effects climate change in two distinct ways. 

First, forests serve as reservoirs for carbon.  The forests in the DRC account for 8% of all global carbon stores, the 4th largest carbon reservoirs of any country in the world. According to Simon Lewis, a researcher at the University of Leeds,  "Tropical forest trees are absorbing about 18% of the CO2 added to the atmosphere each year from burning fossil fuels, substantially buffering the rate of climate change." 

Second, the process of cutting down the trees in the forest and plowing the earth itself releases carbon into the atmosphere.  Emissions from deforestation are about 25% of all global carbon dioxide emissions resulting from human activities.

Reversing the trend of deforestation in the DRC is essential to combating global climate change.

You can help reduce deforestation in the DRC and combat global warming by signing up for action alerts on Africa Action's website. Staying aware and active in the fight to reduce deforestation in the DRC is essential to ensuring that local populations are able to thrive in an ecologically sustainable way and benefit from their own resources. 

During the holiday season, shop responsibly! Make sure that any gifts that you purchase do not contain timber from the Congo rainforests. Learn more by visiting the Forest Stewardship Council at: http://www.fscus.org/faqs/fsc_products.php.

By Meryl M. Zendarski

Force Feeding is a Violation of Human Rights

Its name is “leblouh” or intensive force-feeding, and its victims are young girls. The price: her health, future, happiness and dreams. In the African country of Mauritania young girls are terrified of food because the more they are forced to eat, the closer they are to early marriage, young motherhood and deferring their ambitions of working in the professional world, as doctors, nurses, and teachers.

 

The process of “leblouh” entails placing young girls in a camp during school breaks where they are broken down and told that “thin women are inferior” and that men find skinny women revolting. In one camp, the girls are EACH fed 40 egg-size balls of oil foods in addition to 12 pints of goat’s milk and gruel. The total intake for the day equals 14, 000-16,000 calories, this  is 10,000-12,000 more calories than is recommended for a male body builder to intake in a day. If the girl refuses to eat she is beaten and tortured via the placement of two sticks around one toe, which is then squeezed. Even more disturbing: if she vomits the food, she must drink it.

Girls between the ages of 5-14 go through this fattening process. The aim of which is to make them more attractive to their male counter-parts. It is said that Mauritanian men like their women to be fat. Overweight women are sexy and erotic; the fatter the woman, the more beautiful and appealing she is to them. This preference for bigger women dates back to the ancient Moors (nomadic Muslims of the Arabic and Berber stock) who desired fatter wives, as it was a symbol of a man’s wealth. A fat wife meant that the man could afford to hire maids and servants to do the heavy housework, which left his wife plenty of time to lounge around and eat to her heart’s desire.

 

While the end result is aesthetically pleasing to men, the women pay a hefty price for this beauty ideal. Mauritanian women are literally DYING to be beautiful. These young girls are prone to diabetes, heart disease, depression, hypertension, and low self-esteem. The extra fat creates the illusion of a physically more mature girl, a 14 year-old can look 30 with the added fat, this makes it easier for her to marry at a younger age, giving her ambitions an earlier deferral. Marie Claire Magazine reported Dr. Mohammed Ould Madene, an emergency specialist saying, “The fat ideal is a grave matter of public health” he continued to describe a case where a 14-year-old girl was rushed to the hospital because her heart had collapsed under the enormous weight of her body. Sadly this is becoming all too common.  Older married women, desperate to maintain their weight and keep their husbands, go to the black market to purchase drugs to aid in their weight gain. As MC reported, one woman bought weight gain pills that can cause low blood pressure, kidney failure, and blurred vision if she were to misuse it. The woman did this in response to her husband telling her that he “didn’t like sleeping with a bag of bones”. In another case, a pregnant woman died after taking animal hormones in an attempt to give birth to a fat baby.

 

Before the military coup in August 2008, the practice of “leblouh” was declining in Mauritania; there were even some claims that “leblouh” was extinct. However, after the coup, which replaced the democratic government with a Junta (it became official after the July 2009 election) traditional rules became law. When this happened there was a push for women to revert back to traditional roles, hence “leblouh” became the standard for young girls. According to the Mauritanian Government, before the coup, 20-30 % of girls in the urban areas practiced “leblouh” while in the rural areas 50-60% of girls went through the process of “leblouh”. Now however, approximately 80% of girls undergo “leblouh” regardless of their location.

 

While the Mauritanian government has not legalized this deplorable practice, it has made attempts to stop it by implementing information campaigns about the dangers of diabetes and heart disease, one of which included ballads condemning fattening. In 2010, the Mauritanian government plans to launch a program along with the UN Population Fund that is aimed at eliminating harmful practices, including force-feeding to women.

Cote d'Ivoire watches election date roll by

    Last week Côte d’Ivoire declared a “slight change” of the Nov. 29 election date. It is the latest in a long series of delays and at a glance really just seems to be more of the same in the frustratingly cumbersome progress of democratization across the continent. The announcement came from CI’s independent electoral commission president, Robert Mambe who said that the delay was a result of the length of time taken to compile the provisional voter list.
    So what’s the deal in Cote d’Ivoire? Following the introduction of multiparty elections in the early 90s and then the death of its first president in soon after the country struggled with squabbling between the political parties. When the economic situation worsened in the late 90s political tensions rose and the blame game turned along divisive ethnic lines. This led to a 1999 coup and eventually outright civil war in 2002 which has left the country divided between the north and south. Eventually an integrated transitional government was agreed upon.
    Original plans to hold elections in October 2005 failed after local parties and political leaders were unable to cooperate with rebels in the north, claiming that the government would rig any elections. Thanks to a U.N. backed peace agreement the current president remained in power for another year in order to facilitate elections. In November 2006 there were still no elections or concrete plans for them and the U.N. voted to extend the transitional government until Oct 31, 2007, the new date for elections.  After this date comes and goes President Gbagbo announces in April 2008 that elections will be held on Nov 30 2008. One month before that the election is postponed to Dec. 31st after failures to progress in voter registration and military disarmament. Elections are reset to Nov 29.
    Truthfully, the latest delay can hardly be seen as surprising. Like so many other conflicts in Africa, the rebels once unified have splintered as the crisis has dragged on. Disarmament however has not been the most pressing problem. The most politically sensitive issue remains that of nationality and who is eligible to vote. The divisive debate harkens back to the days of Houphouet’s successor Henri Konan Bédié’s political feud with northern rival Alassan Outarra whom he tried do disqualify from presidential eligibility by questioning his nationality. The U.N. has called for accelerating the remaining technical steps, such as the printing and distribution of national identity and voter cards. However official papers dispersion has been poor even before the first coup in 1999.
    The on-going crisis in Cote d’Ivoire is only one of the latest to strike the region of West Africa, which has accounted for 60% of Africa’s military interventions since the 1970s. The case of Côte d’Ivoire is especially troubling, as it had once been hailed as a model of both political stability and economic success. Successful polls would, according to a Reuters report earlier this year, “lure investors back to a nation that was the economic and political powerhouse of West Africa but has seen poverty rates rise to almost 50 percent from 38 percent since 2002, according to government figures.” However, so far, leaders on both sides of the conflict seem more interested in maintaining their own success (however limited) than ensuring the ability for citizens to take back control of their nation.

HIV Tests in South Africa and the Fight Against Stigma!

I entered the room with two concerns in mind… 

The main concern was not that I would be HIV positive.  I had been preparing myself to hear such news, facilitated by South Africa, a country where there is a serious movement from civil society in the region to destroy the stigma around getting tested for HIV.  I’ve spent enough time in the country to know that one can live a normal life while being HIV positive.   As a result, that morning at the clinic in Pimville, South Africa, although I was concerned about having HIV, my main concern was actually that I would faint as they gave me the test!

The last time I was tested was at a clinic in Harrisonburg, Virginia.  There, the nurse used a small vial with a needle at the end to draw blood from vein in my arm.  That day I was ok, but there was another time when I had blood drawn and I became very light-headed.  The nurse made me prop my feet up on a desk to keep me from fainting.  I had been told that they use a pinprick to draw blood from one’s fingertip at the clinic in Pimville, but I was afraid there might be some mistake and they would draw blood from my arm.

I had been called into the room by a woman.  She asked me to sit in a chair.  She then sat down in a chair herself, facing me.  She reached up and pulled a curtain closed to form a small space in which she and I were then alone.  She introduced herself and said, “I am the HIV/AIDS councillor at this clinic.”  She was calming and comforting; motherly, sisterly, and professional.  She didn’t say much, though.  She let her vibration speak for her.  I felt quite at ease at knowing that this extremely focused African woman might soon tell me that I am now carrying the HIV virus.

 

She then opened the curtains and asked me to sit in another chair for the test.  Still focused, still comforting, she busily put on some laytex gloves and prepared a cotton ball with some rubbing alcohol.  The feeling of ease suddenly disappeared. Thank goodness she took a little piece of orange plastic from a box. This was the needle.  She took hold of the index finger of my left hand and placed the little needle against my fingertip.  Since I had nearly passed out once before, I decided not to watch. 

 

She pierced my finger, squeezed it to make the blood come out, and then she put the drop of blood onto some small plastic thing which looked similar to an at-home pregnancy test.  I understand that this method of testing for HIV is accurate and quick.  In fact, I told the nurse about the test that I’d had in the States.  She said that they didn’t use that method because they got the results right there at the clinic. She said it was very expensive to draw the blood and send it to a lab.  She then put the alcohol-saturated cotton ball over my fingertip and told me the results would be ready in about 15 minutes.

 

I walked out of the room and returned to my seat next to my friend who had come with me.  Now all that was left was a few minutes of suspense before I learned my status.  My friend and I talked with each other to pass the time, and soon the door opened and my name was called.  I stood up and walked into the office.

 

Once inside, the councillor asked me to return to the same seat where she had asked me to sit the first time.  She also sat in her original seat and drew the curtains so we were alone again.  She had the plastic testing device in her hand, which she showed to me.  There was a tiny window showing a whitish surface.  On that surface was a greyish-blue line. 

 

“How many lines do you see?”  she asked me.

I answered with the truth,  “One.”

“That means you are HIV negative.  You should come back in three months.” 

“Kea leboha haholo, mme oa ka,” I said to her, which is Sesotho for “Thank you very much, my mother.” 

 

I did not smile when I walked out of the room.  I tried to keep a straight face because I didn’t want to seem rude to anyone in the clinic who was HIV positive.  But I was quite relieved to have the experience overwith.  I told my friend the news as we walked into the lobby of the clinic, and then we walked out the door into the hot Soweto morning.

Spotlight on Ugandan Pregnant Women

Maternity in Uganda

In Uganda, there is a saying that goes, “Every pregnant woman has one foot in the grave”. Citizens say this because according to the statistics:

• Uganda’s maternal mortality ratio is 435 deaths per 100,000 live births
• Uganda loses 16 mothers to pregnancy and childbirth everyday; that’s 6,000 deaths annually
• 47% of pregnant Ugandan women go for antenatal check-ups
• 24% of women in their reproductive age use contraceptives
• The four leading causes of maternal death are: bleeding, sepsis, obstructed labor, and abortion.
• For every woman every woman who dies from childbirth and pregnancy, six women survive but with injuries such as obstetric fistula and chronic health problems.

The situation has gotten so bad that the country will not be able to reach two of the MDGs goals which are to reduce the maternal morality rate by three quarters and reduce the mortality rate among children under five by two thirds by 2015.

 These statistics are so high because of several issues:

• Women live very long distances from hospitals and have no access to transportation to take them there.
• Women cannot afford to pay for health-care to get the adequate medical attention they need while pregnant. 
• Some women are afraid/uninformed about hospitals, medical procedures and their benefits. 
• Women and their husbands are not aware of contraceptives and their benefits and how to use them properly.

 What is being done to improve this situation?

§         Poor expectant mothers are now being offered an option to obtain "baby vouchers" Provided through the German Development Bank and the Global Partnership on Output Based Aid (managed trust fund by the World Bank), the “baby voucher” is part of a three-year Reproductive Health Voucher project that is aimed improving the management of STIs and providing safe deliveries in the Ugandan districts of Mbarara, Kiruhura, Isingiro, and Ibanda. This voucher costs sh35, 000 – sh50, 000 and gives the expectant mother access to four antenatal visits, STI and HIV testing, delivery (includes C-section), screenings for malaria and prophylaxis, transportation for referral in case of emergency, and post-natal care (up to six weeks after delivery).

§         The Ugandan Ministry of Health has implemented pilot projects that use the drug, Misoprostol to reduce maternal deaths.

§         The Ugandan Ministry of Health has also acknowledged the need for more trained midwives especially in the rural areas of the country.

 

The Irony:

§         Most poor women can not afford the sh35, 000-sh50, 000 fee for the “baby voucher”

§         The drug, Misoprostol that the Ugandan Minister of Health is suggesting to use because it is “effective and relatively cheap” is, according to the FDA, very unsafe for pregnant women. The FDA states, “Misoprostol administration to women who are pregnant can cause abortion, premature birth, or birth defects. Uterine rupture has been reported when Misoprostol was administered in pregnant women to induce labor or to induce abortion beyond the eighth week of pregnancy.”

§         Women still live far away from hospitals and because they can not afford the health card, they will become part of the statistics

§         Men do not want their wives utilizing contraceptives or talking about family planning

 

What SHOULD BE done:

§         There is an urgent need to train more midwives and place them within rural areas

§         Poor pregnant women need access to health care; the “baby voucher” is a great idea and has had a positive effect with the women who are ABLE to obtain the card. Therefore, the rate for the card should either be reduced or given to these women for free. When this is done, more women will be able to obtain transportation to the hospital where they will receive the adequate care they need to have a safe delivery.

§         Both women and men need to be educated about contraceptives and their benefits and how to use them properly.

§         Women need to be educated about the different forms of delivery possible, such as C-sections. This type of education will help prevent cases such as an expectant mother who was already the mother of 12, came into the hospital for a delivery but left after she was referred for a C-section out of fear of being operated on. When she came back to the hospital, it was an emergency patient; she ended up losing one of the twins she was carrying.

 

2010 World Cup and the Ubuntu Culture

For the past few days I’ve been visiting good friends in Pimville, a township in Soweto, South Africa.  Yesterday my South African mother and I went to the next street over to get airtime for her phone and for the phone of her mother.

When we arrived, we went around to the back door, which is the culturally correct way to approach someone’s house here in Pimville.  There was a large shack back there, and inside was our friend.  We greeted her and sat with her while she was drinking a beer. 

The three of us sat and talked. At first we talked about language.  Most Sowetans I’ve met normally speak several languages.  We also talked about culture, and how when someone comes to a new country they must adopt the culture of that place.  Eventually, the conversation turned to one of the main topics in South Africa today:  2010.

As most people know, the FIFA World Cup is coming to South Africa in June 2010.  A huge influx of people is expected for the event.  Out conversation concerned one of the housing ideas for the coming soccer fans.  As it turned out, the woman who we met is going to be hosting some soccer fans at her home here in the township. 

While I listened to the woman talk, I began to imagine a scenario when a soccer fan comes to South Africa for the very first time and is staying in Pimville.  The person will need to be able to get from the township to the stadium in Town (Johannesburg).  There could be problems because the taxi system can be quite confusing.  I’ve been in South Africa several times but I still don’t understand how to get from Soweto to a specific location in Town.  There is also a new bus system called Rea Vaya, but I’ve never used it so I can’t comment on it.  With these things in mind, I imagined that this soccer fan would really need to get good information about how to get around while in South Africa.

Also there will be increased security during the World Cup.  The South African Police now have what people have described as a “shoot-to-kill” mandate.  In the local paper, The Sowetan, Police Commissioner Bheke Cele has said he has told his police that if they encounter, “. . . anybody who has a gun in his hand and is threatening you with a gun then you must use yours.”  That article appeared on Thursday, November 12, 2009.  The very night before, on the TV news there was a story about a three-year old who had been shot dead by police because they thought they saw a gun and ended up firing.  Both SA police and private security will be increased at taxi ranks and in the streets during the World Cup.

Now, I tend to feel relatively safe in Pimville, although I know I could get robbed or even beat up or killed.  But there are good people here who know me and who I know. I’ve become part of a family here.  I listen to them and heed their advice as well as that of other people who have accepted me into their families and lives.

Back to the aforementioned soccer fan . . . when that person arrives, he or she will be a stranger in a strange land.  I can see such a person, out of carelessness, getting involved in a situation they might regret.  If this person is staying in a township like the one I am staying in, the very best thing this soccer fan could do to have a good time in South Africa is to make friends with people in the community where he or she is staying.  They must bua le boahisane ba hao, which is Sesotho for “talk with their neighbours.”  They must also be humble and very respectful to people, especially elders.  You need to learn the basics of the culture.  Period.  And be careful who you trust.

I have experienced unfathomable lover and spiritual growth because of the ubuntu culture of my dear friends, mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers in South Africa.  I’ve also heard gunshots in a residential area as my friends and I walked one night from one township to another, gunshots that probably put bullets into somebody’s body. 

If you come to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup, make friends with the good people in the community where you might be staying.  This will not only increase your safety but you will really experience much more than a few soccer matches.  In fact, you might find that the matches end up being among your least significant memories, thoroughly overshadowed by the interaction with South Africa’s beautiful diverse people and cultures.  Don’t come just for the soccer.  Come with your heart open to South Africa and . . . well, if you’re like me, you’ll never want to leave!

Author: Nicholas Carl

Guinea : A Month and a Day Later

It has been a month and a day since the brutal stadium attacks in Conakry claimed the lives of a reported 157 people and injured 1,253 more. Only 3,000 of a 97,000 labor force reported to work yesterday with thousands staying at home to memorialize the violence experienced and to make a stand for stability in the nation. A Human Rights Watch report published recently claimed that the violence perpetrated by the “Red Beret” elite Presidential Guard of current President Captain Moussa Dadis Camara was premeditated, rather than spontaneous.

The extent of the violence that occurred on the 28th and continues to occur daily today in Guinea is still unknown, though the effects of these gross human rights infractions will be felt by the country in the years to come. A Human Rights Watch report has claimed that the stadium attacks were premeditated. They might also have possibly been fueled by ethnic tensions against the Peuhl people according to firsthand accounts. Soldiers were reported to have shouted, “You say you don’t want us, that you prefer Cellou [the leading Peuhl opposition candidate, Cellou Dalein Diallo]… we’re going to kill all of you. We will stay in power.”

The composition of the army and its link to Captain Camara remains unclear. It has been speculated that some soldiers were speaking English during the attacks, indicating that the Red Beret force might not solely be composed of Guineans, but have been gradually joined by soldiers from the surrounding nations of Liberia and Sierra Leone. In the weeks following the stadium attacks, probes into Captain Camara’s involvement orchestrating the terror at the stadium has brought the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Haile Menkerios, to Conakry. Though Captain Camara was not physically present at the protest, the head of his personal bodyguard, Lieutenant Abubakar “Toumba” Diakité, was. Mr. Menkerios and Mr. Ban Ki-Moon will be setting up trials to bring the perpetrators of the violence to justice, supporting efforts by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The assembled crowd at the stadium attempted to use nonviolent means to pressure Captain Camara to announce that he would not be running in scheduled fair and free elections next year. The violence experienced, particularly by the women, in response to nonviolence was shocking to survivors of the attacks. Rapes have started to be reported by victims and witnesses and their stories indicate a despicable level of brutality seen in the light of day. A report by NPR on October 20th cited Corinne Dufka, senior West Africa researcher with Human Rights Watch, saying,  "What was new about the sexual violence on Sept. 28 and in the days after has been the public nature of it — the stripping of women, raping them, putting the barrels of guns inside their vaginas. This type of thing has been extremely shocking to Guineans — a very, very conservative society that have simply never seen this type of thing before." Many women were captured by the Red Beret and gang raped over a period of several days before being released. With peace  and stability still not restored in the country, there is no way of telling the extent to which HIV/AIDS has spread as a result of the rapes

This savage brutality came two days before Secretary Clinton’s signing of a UN resolution protecting women against sexual violence in conflict. The timing of the legislation seemed fortunate in focusing the world’s attention on the situation in Guinea. However, the call for humanitarian action was largely ignored by the international community and continues to be a second priority to securing political stability and launching judicial hearings to find those responsible. Though those imperatives are important for the healing of Guinean society, the immediate health of the population cannot be overlooked. More must be done for the victims of the massacre and for the victims of ongoing crime still perpetrated by the Red Berets daily in frequent car jacking and theft.
By Martine Randolph

What's in a day?

    This blog hits the web just after last week’s International day for the Eradication of Poverty, and the weekend’s U.N. day, and World development information day. But in case you are worried about having missed October’s other gems including World Animal day (Oct 4), World Post day (Oct 9) and World Food Day, (Oct 16), November offers some important U.N. recognized days: World Freedom Day (Nov 9), International Day for Tolerance (Nov 16), Africa Industrialization Day (Nov 20), World Television Day (Nov 21).
    The number of International and World days of is wide and varied. Once the realm of witty agendas and planners, the internet has provided an explosion of quirky calendars with everything from days of World Peace, to International talk like a Pirate Day. I admit to being a skeptic, and in this vein I’ve often looked at the innumerable number of days of this or that as a kind of white noise, water cooler talk for those seeking to add additional meaning to the everyday. Even those “important” days on topics like international peace, or refugees seemed an all too convenient podium for rhetoric, like a nice easy lob over the plate in the world press softball league so that anyone can get a hit and look good. Simply put, they represented more words and talk, when what is always needed is more action.
Since beginning my internship my views on the matter have changed radically.
    The world of international news and the District especially is always a flutter with memos, documents, and press releases. In the deluge of competing interests and headline news these days provide they are both a small podium above the fray and an important incentive with which to pressure administrations to take positions. Words may be just words, but in the advocacy world they are fodder for accountability campaigns. Many organizations took advantage of World Food Day to mobilize letter-writing campaigns to Senators and Congressman regarding Congresses’ Global Food Security Act of 2009, introduced to the Senate last spring by Senators Lugar and Casey.
    This is another important aspect of the international days of awareness. They offer the opportunity to carve out time to discuss, educate, inform and reflect on the issues they represent. After all, in our busy world, what’s in the agenda is law right?
So if the weekend’s international U.N. day remains at the very least the subject of water cooler talk, this week, this is still a good thing. The U.N. needs to be discussed. What of its role in Africa? How effective are its missions in Sudan and the DRC? What is the U.S.’s role as chair of the Security Council? If you do find an interested audience or an opportunity to debate these important issues, be sure to take advantage of the resources available on the web. Just as important as taking advantage of the opportunities to educate and advocate provided by these days is the responsibility to be informed in order to act. Africa Action’s L.E.A.D. campaign follows this very premise by providing a number of resources and opportunities to take action in learning, educating, and acting daily. These resources are available at http://www.africaaction.org/campaign_new/index.php. So when the next day of whatever comes across, let it be more than that day’s trivia fact. When someone asks you “What’s in a day?” take time to L.E.A.D.

Vital Voices: Civil Society in Guinea

In the mid 1950s, Martin Luther King, Jr. pushed for a substitution of  “tired feet for tired souls” to spur the Montgomery boycotts. With the brutality of the September 28th attacks in Guinea already behind us, it is difficult to take the focus off of the exhaustion of our souls in the fight for peace and fair governance.

Though the public health facilities reported the death toll at 56, official reports cite that 151 people were killed and at least another 1,200 were injured in stadium protests in Conakry led by the opposition. Brewing ethnic tensions may be keeping many away from hospitals, leaving additional wounded still uncounted. Women who have been victims of rape are in most need of counseling, which is currently underprovided. The renewed global commitment to protecting these women was made tangible by a unanimous vote on a UN resolution on sexual violence in conflict zones that occurred two days after the stadium attacks. The urgency for the implementation of this resolution is clear.

International schools in Conakry closed their doors on the 27th of September and most non-essential personnel of the diplomatic corps and international organizations have left Conkry. Guinean schools were re-scheduled to begin their academic year on October 15th, though it is not likely that they will open their doors in such a political climate

Yesterday marked the end of a two-day strike in the country called by trade unions to protest Camara’s leadership and successfully and nonviolently brought Conakry to a standstill as citizens stayed indoors and brought mining production, a major source of income, to a halt.

Politically, the situation continues to be difficult to navigate. Celou Dalein Diallo is the leader of the main opposition party and is currently in France recovering from injuries sustained at the stadium protests. Sidya Toure, a former prime minister, is the head of another opposition party, the Union of Republic Forces. The URF rejected Camara’s call for unity at the beginning of the month. Camara continues to express that though he is uncertain of whether he will stand for re-election, that his natural rights as a Guinean citizen should not obstruct such a decision. Given the outbreak of violence on the 28th, Toure and Guinean civil society find this to be an unacceptable possibility.

Pressure from the international community, though slightly late on the uptake, needs to grow from here with only four days left before the opposition’s deadline for Camara to announce his commitment to not be involved in the upcoming election cycle in January 2010. The EU’s development commissioner, Karel de Gucht has already begun calls for Camara to be held accountable for crimes against humanity.

My soul’s exhaustion is mostly caused by the anxiety of what may happen if actions taken to secure Guineans’ right to freely choose their own representation do not begin to gain more decisive momentum before Saturday. With my mother poised behind blue helmets but with little concern for self when faced with others’ suffering, the anxiety is heightened. With the prospect of the breakout of ethnic tensions—though quite unlikely—given how her Tutsi features translate in an environment hostile to the Fulani, my mind is all the more occupied. But the call for stable governance precedes this. The argument for civil society’s right to hold leaders accountable to promises made as they ascended to power is worth fighting for. After his successful coup in December, Camara promised to not stand for re-election stating, "We are patriots, not hungry for power. We don't intend to stay in power forever." The international community must show its respect for Guinean civil society through “tired feet” supporting humanitarian efforts in the country and by looking towards Saturday as a strict deadline.

By Martine Randolph, Africa Action

A Step in the Right Direction for Sudan?

On September 29th, 2009, the Associated Press reported that women and girls who escaped from the fighting in Darfur have become victims of rape within refugee camps, a disturbing trend found in countries torn apart by war. Refugee camps that should symbolized hope, freedom, and peace have become Darfari women’s nightmare. Getting water and firewood outside of the refugee camps in Chad is a known risk factor for women. When confronted with reports of rape within the Chad refugee camps, U.N. officials refused to comment. The next day, UN officials, led by Secretary of State Clinton, signed a resolution that condemned sexual violence in war zones.

Clinton stated,  “The United Nations had a special obligation to protect women and children, war's most vulnerable and violated victims." Yet, officials still refuse to acknowledge incidents in the Chad refugee camps.   The UN is not only to blame. The government spokesperson for Chad, Mahmat Hissene, stated, "Before the refugees came, we did not have rape cases in Chad; rape cases started when the Sudanese came. If there are cases of rape in the camps we cannot prevent them. The government is not responsible for security in the camps."  

In addition, through a lack of UN support, the United States is also complicit.

Therefore, the UN is posed with a difficult situation:  The Chadian government, the host of the majority of refugees in the region, blames the victims of violence. And while it is noble the U.S. signed a resolution that condemns sexual violence, more actual action is necessary to provide security for women in the region. Rape should not be an expected occurrence in one’s daily routine. 

The U.S. should take decisive action against sexual violence in refugee camps and support UNAMID so that the peacekeeping force can fulfill its mandate and those perpetrators of violence are held accountable. It is imperative that the United States keeps its promise, and protects these women.

W.A. Flooding and Climate Change in Africa

      It has been a wet summer in West Africa as severe flooding has taken a huge toll on the region. The Horn of Africa underwent a similar situation in 2006 when extreme droughts through the end of 2005 were followed by unseasonably heavy rains, which resulted in widespread flooding. At the time, Simon Mechale, the head of Ethiopia’s disaster agency, characterized the devastating flood problem as "the worst that has been observed in a generation." 1 This year, U.N. officials estimate some 600,000 people across West Africa have been hit by heavy flooding, killing at least 25 in Ghana and seven in Burkina Faso. Africa is already infamous for its natural flood and drought cycles 2. The effects and degree of these natural disasters has grown over the decades due largely to the effects of global warming and continued poor land use. This imbalance will make subsistence farming, upon which millions of Africans depend, even more precarious. It will also exacerbate famine and disease.  Oxfam and Christian Aid relief estimate climate change is increasingly hampering the efforts of millions to escape poverty and that 182 million people in Africa are at risk of dying as a consequence of climate change by the end of the century 3.
    Although a number of relief organizations have brought to the fore the effects of global warming and climate change on Africa, the dire situation has largely been ignored. This cannot continue. World leaders should not only work to address the underlying causes (as demonstrated in the G-20’s commitment to end Fossil-Fuel subsidies by 2020) 4 but continue working toward helping poor countries that are struggling to mitigate the effects of global warming. African Governments face difficult decisions regarding balancing job creation with environmental conservation. The international debate over conservation is often a touchy one for developing nations, largely because they feel that the developed world benefited from a time of unbridled carbon-fueled industrial development. As the world’s leading nations and the U.N. work to fight global warming, they must reach out to include leaders of the developing world, especially Africa which is suffering the harshest consequences with the least ability to withstand it. Embracing the input of third-world leaders offers not only a more consolidated approach to the issue but offers a much stronger chance of actual reform.
    Unfortunately Africa’s problems with global warming cannot only be attributed to the actions and attitudes of the West. The overwhelming numbers of those affected are unfortunately part of the problem itself. According to the UN the continent is losing forest twice as fast as the rest of the world. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, only 7.5% of the rural population has access to electricity.5 The overwhelming alternative is charcoal. In fact an enormous and often lucrative charcoal industry has emerged. Roads throughout the countryside all over Africa are replete with makeshift lean-tos holding charcoal cut and burned from the local forests and bagged for sale to the city. Where Africa once boasted seven million square kilometers of forest, a third of that has been lost - most of it to charcoal. Wood and its by-product charcoal, unless radical steps are taken, are likely to remain the primary energy source for decades.
    What is needed are comprehensive education plans. Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan Nobel peace laureate, has worked hard to educate and engage citizens in her homeland through the Greenbelt movement. "One adaptation option for Africa is to keep her forests standing so that they provide essential environmental services such as carbon sinks," she said. The Greenbelt movement works to promote the planting of indigenous trees in forest catchment areas, private farms and public spaces so as to preserve local biological diversity, enhance natural beauty, and prevent soil erosion. Sensitization and mobilization seminars are held to disseminate information on the importance of tree planting6.
    Despite the success of the Greenbelt movement and others, the argument is a notoriously tough sell. For years many efforts to stall the growth of the Sahara by planting trees at its edges have been undercut (literally) by people seeking fuel for food and shelter. The long-term solutions to Africa’s plight are difficult in a region of the world where today’s considerations are of paramount importance over next year’s or even next week’s.
    The untold cost of the devastating floods in West Africa remains to be seen. Beyond the loss of property and the cases of loss of life, the flooding has ruined large amounts of food crops and land, risking food shortages and even starvation. Furthermore, flooding severely damages infrastructure in the areas affected, spoiling clean water supplies and inviting disease. Unfortunately the desperate times risk inviting more desperate measures and the cycle of extremes will continue.



1 http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=87&art_id=qw1156502520623A162

2
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/09/08/west.africa.flooding/

3 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8272603.stm

4 http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=1678

5 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8272603.stm

6 http://gbmna.org/w.php?id=13