Just Africa

August Brings Together Activists for Debt Cancellation

The global fight for debt cancellation was very active on the African continent this month, hosting two separate conferences to celebrate successes and put minds together to come with new ideas to continue the campaign to eliminate illegitimate debt.

In early August, organizations from across the continent came together in Nairobi for the Assembly of Africa Jubilee South. The focus of the conference was “to consolidate the potential for coordinated action in Africa, at both the national, subregional, and  continental levels and as part of the global South-North debt movement, contributing thusly to the strengthening of grass-roots mobilization against the debt and IFI policies and in favor of economic and ecological justice and sovereignty.” The Assembly examined the relationships between food sovereignty, climate change, trade and debt, looking particularly at their impacts on organizing on the continent. Nearly 20 countries were present at the assembly, whose aims were to provide a venue for updates, in-depth debt analysis, exchanging political insights on debt, and for those in and outside of Africa to share their ideas and solidarity with participants.

Jubilee USA, an organization that Africa Action frequently works with on this issue, were participants, and Jubilee's Neil Watkins shares some of his conversations and reflections on Blog the Debt. African debt campaigners and others he spoke with highlighted linkages between the debt burden and the skyrocketing prices of food and fuel, as well as climate change.

The Jubilee South Africa National conference, held in Brea, Johannesburg from the 21^st through the 24^th of August, met to discuss reparations from the Apartheid regime, their support those who are negatively affected by big mining companies, and the role Jubilee South Africa can play in the international Jubilee movements. At the end of the conference, they felt very successful at drawing attention to their issues. Believing that they “touched raw nerves” in the government and banks in regards to their work on reparations, they “have managed to weather these crises” and “are here to stay.” Jubilee South Africa intends to continue its efforts to campaign for reparations for Apartheid violence, solidarity with mining communities, and to expose the “interconnectedness of debt, macroeconomic policy and finance.”

GMOs or Organic Farming: What’s the Best Approach?

In approaching the food crisis facing Africa today, there is much support for a “green revolution” that involves the use of new technologies and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to substantially increase crop yields. This approach is advocated by both biotechnology industries in the United States and well-known philanthropists like Bill Gates, but has drawn criticism from some civil society groups and environmentalists.

As a follow up to Africa Action's new issue page on food sovereignty and the food crisis, this post examines this debate as well as the role of organic agriculture in feeding Africa.

Voices from Darfur: July 26 Africa Action Event

Songs, poetry, photographs, speeches and discussion are all ways to express sentiments, solidarity, and to educate. At the end of July, Africa Action hosted an event called Voices from Darfur, where we showcased local and Sudanese talents, provided a forum for discussion of the conflict in Sudan, and brought together great minds to come up with solutions. Performances and speakers from the event are now available for viewing on youtube as are photos on our Flickr page.

South Sudanese poet Apuk Ayuel connects the struggles of everyone in Sudan through her moving and creative rhymes.

Despite being forced into the Sudanese military, tortured in jail, and witnessing his friends' and family's murders, Angelos Agok is still able to motivate others to support democratic transition of power in order to unite Sudan peacefully.

Nuraddin Abdulmannan of the Rescue Nubia Committee draws attention to the plight of the Nubian people, which often goes overlooked when examining conflicts in Sudan.

The event was successful in educating others about the holistic lens necessary to look through when examining the conflicts in Sudan. Through this forum, Africa Action encouraged passionate people to further the struggle for peace in Sudan.

Terror Ties: Ten Years After Nairobi Bombing

The Washington Post has an interesting article today summing up reactions to a flurry of recent U.S.-led counterterrorism efforts in Kenya. August 7 was the 10-year anniversary of the terrorist bombings of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam that killed more than 250 people.  Kenyan authorities (and FBI agents) had hoped earlier this month to apprehend Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, considered by many the chief organizer of the Nairobi attack.  A series of raids by Kenyan officials failed, however, prompting criticism of  both the effectiveness and evenhandedness of the government's response to the threat of  international terrorism. Many of those in Kenya's 10% Muslim minority feel unfairly targeted by security measures.

Ali-Amin Kimathi, chairman of Kenya's Muslim Human Rights Forum, suggested that Kenyan counterterrorism officials exaggerated the recent threat to justify continued U.S. funding. "They want to create the impression that Fazul has a huge network in Kenya so they can merit more resources."

Other civil society leaders warned that the recent escalation in surveillance and targeted raids are part of a broader pattern of ineffective U.S.-driven counterterrorism policy that only excaerbates tension in the region. "The pursuit of these four suspects [Fazul and three others] has had a huge impact in the Horn of Africa," said Ali Said, director of the Center for Peace and Democracy, based in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. "They always say, 'We almost found him!' But then they don't find him. After a decade, they are still after these suspects, still bombing the wrong places, killing cows and camels and herders and arresting the wrong people. . . . The whole community is paying the price."

Profile: Kabissa.net

Kabissa is a non-profit organization dedicated to giving civil society in Africa a space for change. They are “passionate about the role of technology in social change, and believe that every organization has a right to make their voice heard in decisions that affect them.” The site is membership driven, providing members the means to connect to a community of thousands of civil society organizations, the opportunity to showcase activities, and access to workshops and resources for social change available on the Internet.

Excitingly, the website is used by many organizations on the continent. A quick search of members from West Africa resulted in over 750 organizations. The blog on the site includes updates on technology in Africa (such as google’s recent addition of 12 African languages) and upcoming events revolving around technology, like the coverage of the “Annual Connecting Rural Communities Africa Forum.” Additionally, the blog covers opportunities for career advancement, describing fellowships and academic scholarships available to African professionals.

One of the most interesting aspects of Kabissa’s site is a link to their interactive wiki page, Time to Get Online. It has a six-step process to getting an organization online, establishing web presence, and advocating for the community. It is evident that Kabissa is dedicated to its belief that technology is a revolutionary force for change in Africa as they open the door for African activists to use the Internet as a tool of positive social change.

Blogging the International AIDS Conference, Mexico City 2008

As the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City wrapped up last week, there are many voices applauding activist and government efforts at eradicating the epidemic, while others express that there is still much more to be done.

The blog AIDS2008.com is a venue for participants to express their sentiments about the 17^th annual conference. Covering topics as diverse as HIV in prisons to color and flavor of female condoms, the blog does not veer from its purpose: to cover community blogger perspectives and ideas on the information that comes out of the conference as well as suggestions for solutions to the AIDS epidemic.

AFRICOM Overtaking African Priorities?

Since September 11th, the Bush administration has increasingly relied on the military to direct its engagements with international players.  Overstretched and underfunded civilian agencies are ceding more and more ground to the Pentagon, which outspends all these agencies combined by a factor of 17 to one.  Until recently, U.S. military engagement with Africa has been minimal; as recently as 1995 the Department of Defense reported "see[ing] very little traditional strategic interest in Africa."  But the Pentagon is in the process of assembling a centralized Africa Command (AFRICOM) to consolidate its military operations on the continent.  The command is expected to cost billions of dollars over the next few years. 

According to AFRICOM commanders, the operation's mission is to train and build up African security forces to allow Africans to handle their own conflicts.  While this goal is commendable, it is fair to ask whose interests the command best serves- African nations, or the U.S.?  The Department of Defense denies that AFRICOM was prompted by the war on terror, oil interests, and fears of growing Chinese influence in the region.  But these three factors undoubtedly played a role in the timing and scope of AFRICOM.  According to a Refugees International report, "the view remains widespread that AFRICOM is a tool to secure better access to Africa's natural resources, erode China's growing influence on the continent, and establish forward bases to hunt and destroy networks linked to al-Qaeda."  The voices of African leaders, who listed their own security concerns in a roundtable meeting as  "poverty, food shortages, inadequate educational opportunities, displaced persons, and HIV/AIDS,"  are conspicuously absent.

The U.S. State Department has also expressed apprehension that AFRICOM "could blur traditional boundaries among diplomacy, development, and defense, thereby militarizing U.S. foreign policy."  The world already views the U.S. military with some suspicion, and any move to plant military bases around the continent smacks of imperialism.

Zimbabwe's Parliamentary Election of 1980: A Personal Recollection

Posted on behalf of Tilden LeMelle. Written July 2008.

It was a beautiful Sunday morning as happens only in Southern Africa in the beginning of autumn. The sky was a deep blue canvas dotted with billowing white cumulus clouds floating lazily toward the horizon. The cool/warm Zimbabwean late morning air breezed zephyr-like as I sat in the back of the moving open military truck with rifles pointed at my head by obviously drunken Rhodesian Force soldiers. How did I get myself caught up in this incongruous situation I wondered--thousands of miles away from the comfort and security of home in New Rochelle, NY, and my academic administrative office at Hunter College.

The immediate answer was obvious. I had agreed to join George Houser, Executive Director of the American Committee on Africa and Director of the Committee’s tax exempt affiliate, The Africa Fund, as part of a UN approved unofficial delegation to Zimbabwe to monitor the 1980 parliamentary elections. Those elections had been scheduled as a result of the agreements reached at Lancaster House to resolve the crisis created by the so-called Internal Agreement which had resulted in a sham African majority government headed by Bishop Abel Muzorowea. The Muzorowea government had not been recognized by the international community and in the US efforts by Dixiecrats and other pro-white rule supporters had been defeated in Congress. President Jimmy Carter had vetoed the Senate’s vote to lift sanctions.

The crisis in Zimbabwe-Rhodesia could only be resolved through a negotiated agreement which included the formerly excluded representatives of the nationalist political parties that had taken up arms against continued minority white rule-ZAPU and ZANU. The election, scheduled for the last three days of February 1980, was the most important and final step in the long struggle to achieve democratic majority rule in what was to become the nation of Zimbabwe. As a member of the board of the American Committee on Africa (ACOA) and its interim president for several years and a member of the Board of The Africa Fund, when George Houser invited me to be a part of the ACOA delegation, I did not hesitate to accept. That is how I found myself on the back of a Rhodesian Force military truck with guns pointed at my head on one of the most beautiful Sunday mornings I had ever seen and felt in my lifetime.

Text Messages and Methane Gas: African Farmers Capitalize on Technology Advances

In a global society revolving around new technology, computers, and cell phones, African farmers and individuals have capitalized on technological advancements to attempt to alleviate the food crisis and improve their yields.   

 

How much more efficient could farming be if farmers were able to predict weather patterns, access future water table balances and analyze crop status? In South Africa, sugar cane farmers are doing just that with the help of a cell phone technology system called My Canesim. The system, developed by a South African agronomist, uses automatic weather stations, the Internet and cellular technology to update farmers on water deficits, soil content, crop statuses and yields in real time.