Just Africa

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.

Worry over Women’s Dress or sense of Empowerment?

It seems like every time you open the paper to the world section there is Sudan; another speculation of the south Sudanese war uprising once again, and my favorite, the war in Darfur is over. Imagine my surprise when I opened the New York Times on the 6th September, it read “Sudan Court to Define Indecent Dress for Women”. In the article, journalist and ex-employee at the United Nations Mission in Sudan, Lubna Hussein was arrested in Sudan for violating the dress code. According to the article, Hussein was arrested because her clothes were in violation of Article 152 of Sudan’s penal code that states, if caught wearing clothing deemed to be “indecent,” the perpetrator faces a fine and 40 lashes.

One of the witnesses stated, “[Hussein] was wearing pants and a blouse and the pants were tight and flashy and shows from underneath it the thighs and the outline and the form of the underwear and the color of her panties that can clearly be seen which is beige in color and short shirt with sleeves up to her elbow and it is transparent and light reflecting everything inside it within such as the shape and form of the bra and that the start of her chest is showing because the blouse opening and it also has two holes on the side lengthwise from top to bottom, and there is a gap between the confluence of the shirt so that they appear able to view the navel and the underwear of the accused.”

This incident is an example of a strong-willed woman undeterred by Sudanese Government officials who consistently try to repress the freedom of expression by limiting fundamental individual rights. Women in Sudan can no longer be invisible. Any efforts to create a sustainable peace in Sudan must include women. The absence of sufficient participation by women leaders was one major flaw in the 2006 Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA).

It is not exclusively Sudan where women because victims of sex crimes, or gross violations of human rights. Everyday there are undocumented cases of repression, like Hussein and yet the international community is still far from taking the necessary steps to protect women. This is not about clothing alone; this is the need for people in power, most often men, to restrict the movement of women by silencing them. Violence against women can take the form of silencing them by telling them to dress a certain way, or by physical violence such as rape, torture, abduction, or even psychological violence- making them feel ashamed of being a woman, making them outlaws to their families because they have “dishonored” them when they were raped or have become victims of human trafficking.

One positive step in stopping gender-based-violence was the August 18th announcement made by the United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).  The UNAMID has set up a seven-member unit as a response to the alarming high rates of sexual and gender-based violence reported in Darfur over the last two years. This unit also seeks to encourage victims of violence to report incidents, reduce the stigmatization of sexual abuse victims and help to rehabilitate victims. This is a step in the right direction for the women of Darfur and all of Sudan, as they will investigate crimes against women such as child abuse, child abandonment, prostitution, human trafficking, domestic violence and sexual harassment. These women are the face and the future of Africa.

The U.S. government should support African efforts that address women’s empowerment and education. Secretary of State Clinton remarked in her New York Times interview on the empowerment of women in developing countries, “Democracy means nothing if half the people can’t vote, or if their vote doesn’t count, or if their literacy rate is so low that the exercise of their vote is in question. President Obama and I and the United States will not tolerate this continuation of wanton, senseless, brutal violence perpetrated against girls and women.”

While Clinton’s statement is encouraging and may attract people to become more interested in women’s rights in Africa, the Obama administration must fulfill these commitments and reflect more than just rhetoric.

"Pornographic" Maternal Mortality in Zambia

The news editor of Zambia’s largest independent newspaper is on trial for distributing obscene images. Pornography is illegal in Zambia, and Chansa Kabwela faces five years in prison if convicted.

The ‘obscene’ images? A mother in labor, the baby in breech, its entire body already outside the mother, but its head trapped. The baby eventually suffocated. Family members took the photographs as the woman lay on the grounds of Lusaka’s main hospital, unaided by any medical personnel as her child died. Outraged, Kabwela sent these photographs to Zambia’s vice-president, health minister and various rights groups to call attention to issues in the healthcare system as well as to call for an end to the nurses’ strike in the country. The Zambian president, Rupiah Banda, immediately labeled the pictures pornographic and the trial began.

Labeling the photographs pornographic is simply ludicrous, worthy of almost no discussion. The images, however, certainly are obscene. It is obscene that a woman should be left on the ground at a hospital without medical help. It is obscene that a child was allowed to die needlessly, when it could have been saved by a simple operation.  But it is a shameful travesty that those in the position to do something about a system that allowed this to happen choose to hide their heads in the sand. As if condemning reality will make it disappear.

These images have generated anger and repulsion; to have it be so misdirected as to prosecute the responsible disseminator of these on porn charges is a massive step backwards in the fight for maternal health and gender equality in Zambia. As New York Times writer Nicholas Kristof wrote in a July 2009 column, maternal mortality does not have to be an unfortunate given, a phenomenon that must be accepted. If men had uteruses and paternal mortality were a risk,“‘paternity wards’ would get resources, ambulances would transport pregnant men to hospitals free of charge, deliveries would be free, and the Group of 8 industrialized nations would make paternal mortality a top priority.”  Women are allowed to die in childbirth all around the world simply because they are women; disposable and voiceless as they are often forced to be, the political will simply does not extend to protecting them when their health is at its most vulnerable and precarious stage.

These Zambian politicians feel very self-righteous about ignoring the tragedy of inadequate maternal healthcare that is staring them in the face in graphic detail. One wonders what the reaction would have been if that woman had been a man instead; would the anger finally become a constructive force for the improvement of healthcare in Zambia?

 

 

The Double Lens of Development: Gendered Development and Rape

 A lot is said about advancing the cause of women worldwide, and it just makes sense. Studies have shown that when women are educated, given the right to make their own family planning choices and given economic opportunities, the fate of a country can be turned around. Sadly, no matter the economic, political, social and moral benefits that could come from treating women as equals, women are treated as expendable second-class citizens who nevertheless are expected to support families and communities. This is especially true in developing countries, where the role of the community and the family is intrinsically important to success, and survival in some cases.

This case for women’s equality is nothing new and has been made, almost ad nauseum, for decades. What is so disturbing is that no matter what is said, no matter what is shown, no matter how convincing the argument seems to be, the status of women worldwide remains untouched. This is not a concern uniquely placed onto the shoulders of developing countries; even the wealthiest and most educated countries have failed to protect women to the extent possible. Whether cultural relativism provides a facile argument for oppressive male leaders, an argument that will not often be challenged for fear of appearing politically incorrect, or the collective global political will has simply not caught up with the times and the facts, women are still caught in an ongoing struggle against their oppression.

Nothing symbolizes the unequal power dynamics of the genders more than the very manifestation of oppression and power: rape and sexual violence against women. A new study conducted by South Africa’s Medical Research Council provides a striking and horrifying case study of sexual violence within a population.

This was a study of 1,738 men in Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal Provinces in South Africa; they were men of all racial groups from both rural and urban areas. The shocking findings were that one in four men said they had raped someone; nearly half admitted to more than one attack. The first assault was before the age of 20 for 73% of the respondents. One in 20 men surveyed said that they had raped a woman or girl in the past year. Gang rape is reportedly common; it is seen as a form of male bonding.

South Africa has one of the highest numbers of reported rapes in the world; a child is being raped in South Africa every three minutes, though the vast majority of the cases go unreported.

Rape is a manifestation of a need for power more than it is of sexual desire; it makes sense that men who may feel powerless in an economy that does not provide enough opportunities for them to support themselves or their families or in a political system that stifles their voices and prevents them from living lives of dignity may be more prone to unleashing their frustrations on the even less powerful women around them. Providing more economic opportunities and offering men a voice could potentially be an avenue for improvement that could help spare women in an indirect way. But will women really have to wait until the male condition is improved before they are free of the risk of being raped and abused?

Projects that make an economy more sustainable and governance more efficient are great, but are at their core a generic response. A country that is in a state of transition or development can be a country that can rewrite not only its formal laws, but also its cultural mores and social priorities. For reasons that have been presented countless times, women’s equality falls just short of being a silver bullet for the ills that ail, especially in countries that are already struggling; falling just short is a lot better than what we currently have up our sleeves.

Giving men power in healthy ways can help in protecting women from becoming the countless victims of frustrations and can even help those countries that are developing their economies and governance structures. However, taking away some of the “reasons” for the high rates of rape by enabling and empowering men is not doing much for women. Their safety and sexual choices will forever be at the whims of the men around them if development does not have a gendered approach. Poverty affects men and women differently; development projects can be successful if and when those differences are evaluated and considered during the course of implementation. Women in developing countries are often not necessarily the heads of household, but are certainly the caretakers of the family. Enabling women to make a living that does not involve begging or prostitution, sustainable and safe work that can pay for their children’s education, birth control methods and put food on the table is a step towards empowerment. Education opportunities that allow women to know their rights and defend them when necessary and health care systems that ensure safe pregnancies and deliveries while providing everyday preventative care lead to empowerment.

Every aspect of development must be seen through the double lens of gender; what can be done for education so that it is the best it can be for both girls and boys? What can be done within the health care system so both men and women are protected and offered the care and information they need? How can governance systems adequately represent both men and women’s interests while advancing the development of the country as a whole?

Gendered development cannot be the side note or the supplementary report to umbrella development projects. The development of men and the development of women can happen simultaneously and in a parallel fashion, in hopes that this empowerment of both will meet at some point in a future egalitarian and human rights observant state. Developing countries have their struggles and their challenges to achieving success and stability; there is also a blank slate intrinsic to the development process that could change the future of the populations, and most importantly, of its women. Development can never guarantee the end of sexual violence, but the empowerment that comes with gendered development will do wonders to decrease its frequency. 

South African activist and popular singer, Miriam Makeba has died

Miriam Makeba, aka Mama Africa, a renowned international singer-songwriter and activist who spoke out against Apartheid and lived in exile for almost three decades, died this past Sunday after a performance in Italy. Africa Action's Gerald LeMelle talks about her life and legacy on KPFK's Uprising Radio here. Below is a clip from her address to the UN in 1964.