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Ghana : Musical village for orphans and street children
The Brigitte & Bobby Sherman Children’s Foundation Announces Next Phase of Musical Village in Ghana for Orphans and Street Children to Launch in March
Los Angeles, CA (February 29, 2012) The Brigitte and Bobby Sherman Children’s Foundation, an international humanitarian and development organization dedicated to caring for children orphaned by AIDS, civil warfare, disease or other tragedy in developing countries around the world, will soon begin construction of a musical village in Ada, Ghana. The musical village will incorporate a school and medical clinic that will allow orphaned children to live in the village, grow their own food and sell surplus food to neighboring villages. All proceeds will go directly back into the BBSCF musical village, where the children will receive a classical education that includes a focus on African drumming, dancing, art, and tribal history.
- Ghana – Children at homeG-lish Foundation /Free Photos
Beginning in 2006, Brigitte Poublon and Bobby Sherman sponsored a daily musical workshop that teaches children the art of drum building, singing and tribal dance located in the poorest neighborhood in Accra, the capital of Ghana. That assistance eventually progressed into a desire to provide a shelter for these orphans and street children where they could fully have the benefit of art, music, education and health. Today the program includes a daily feeding and tutoring program for street children in Accra and Ada. In 2011, the Brigitte & Bobby Sherman Children’s Foundation was officially formed and plans to assemble the village were set in motion.
To realize the extraordinary vision, last year the Foundation committed to and succeeded in acquiring 5 acres of land in Ada, a rural village some 3 hours drive from the capital.The Foundations COO/CFO Kerry David and CEO Josh Roenitz, met with local chiefs to purchase the land and procure the support of the tribe to commence with the musical village. Two local Chiefs, Nene Tsatsu Pediator and Nene Ahaviatse, even performed a libation ceremony, a centuries old tradition to bring good fortune and peace to the land and its inhabitants, upon completion of the sale.
Over the past six years Bobby and I have watched this dream of ours come to life through the efforts of people worldwide. The progress that has already been made and continues everyday is encouraging beyond belief, said Brigitte Poublon, co-founder of The Brigitte and Bobby Sherman Children’s Foundation.
Additionally, over the past year BBSCF has opened an office in the USAID building in Accra, made it possible for over 2000 students across the U.S. at 7 schools to participate in drumming and Africa awareness programming, and provided orphans and street children in Ghana with mosquito nets to prevent malaria; toothbrushes along with dental hygiene instruction; shoes and clothing; and over 4000 meals as part of the daily feeding program. BBSCF has also covered fees to allow students in Ghana to take their final exams for High School.
Last month it was announced that GreenHouse Holdings, Inc. was selected to provide project development and program management for the musical village. GreenHouse Holdings, Inc. will help ensure that the village will be completely self-sustaining within 5 years and that power for the 5-acre facility will be generated from renewable resources using solar and wind. “We are honored to be a part of this project,” said Russ Earnshaw, President of GreenHouse Holdings, Inc. “Providing sustainable housing and energy solutions in austere regions has always been a focus of our company and we can’t think of a more worthy cause than supporting the Foundation’s goal to improve the lives of these amazing kids.”
Additionally, Perkins+Will has agreed to provide pro bono design expertise for the musical village. ”The architectural firm Perkins+Will is honored to donate design services to support the development of the BBSCF Musical Village in Ada, Ghana, said Perkins+Will Social Responsibility Initiative leader Kelly Schnell. “The project’s visionary goals align with the firm’s commitment to social responsibility, as Perkins+Will understands the power of the built environment to address pressing social needs. The donation of professional services will be provided by the international firm’s Seattle office.”
BBSCF is also pleased to announce that they have established partnerships with The Bobby Sherman EMT Foundation (BSEMT) and The Continuum Center for Health and Healing, an initiative of Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City.
To meet some of the children participating in the workshop and to find out more about The Brigitte and Bobby Sherman Children’s Foundation or make a donation please visit: www.bbscfoundation.org or visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bbscf.
African weaving by Christopher Roy
African weaving video
- Iseyin, Nigeria – Yoruba version of West African narrow-strip loom (1994)Knoxville Museum of Art /Free Photos
A new African video is announced by Christopher Roy titled “Men’s and Women’s Weaving in Africa.” This is an upgrade of his video titled, African Weaving. That video was quite detailed but it did not include any footage of women weaving on broad, single heddle, vertical looms. One of the advantages of editing your own videos is that you can update them. He says he has added extensive footage of womenweaving on single heddle, broad warp, vertical looms in the Igbo city of Akwete. He has also added a long segment of a male weaver from the Cape Verde islands weaving a very complex pattern using multiple heddles.
The URL is:
https://www.createspace.com/
This is a revised version of, African Weaving, that includes substantial footage of Igbo women weaving on vertical broadlooms in the town of Akwete, in Nigeria, and new footage of a man named Eric Sanchez weaving complex textiles called panos on Cape Verde island. There is extensive video of Mossi, Marka, Ewe and Asante weaving, as well as of spinniing and dyeing.
via H-AfrArts
H-Net Network for African Expressive Culture
E -Mail:Â H-AFRARTS@H-NET.MSU.EDU
http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~
Africa CFP : Art, Object and Artifact in 21st Century Africa
ART, OBJECT AND ARTIFACT IN 21ST-CENTURY AFRICA: EXCAVATION, ACADEMY, AND MUSEUM
- Northern Sudansdhaddow /Free Photos
A NEW CYCLE OF archaeological excavation has opened up recently in Africa, with renewed academic interest and an influx of new students, once again overturning many of our assumptions. New remote sensing techniques show evidence of previously unimagined numbers potential sites throughout the continent. A major inroad has been made in the protection of patrimony with the 1994 treaty between Mali and the United States under the UNESCO Convention. Active engagement of the people of Djenne in their artistic heritage has resulted in encouraging efforts to halt the illicit trade – and this experience has become a model for other African nations and, indeed, for the global effort. At long last, major excavations are being carried out in the Nok region, with material sent for laboratory examination to Frankfurt, rescuing one of the most egregious areas of the looting of buried antiquities. Nevertheless, rampant illicit and uncontrolled excavation and trade continues throughout the continent. Increasing unrest in some of the archaeologically richest countries of the Sahel, such as Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Sudan, and now across the Maghreb, threatens to curtail the recent advances.
Universities and museums have, for long, been involved in excavation on the continent of Africa, under varying arrangements with African governments, African institutions, and other Western institutions. New ways of sharing the tasks and the benefits of archaeological fieldwork and the dissemination of results are under exploration. Important issues remain unresolved in the roles that Western institutions, especially museums, should play in the acquisition, display, and publication of African archaeological materials. Emotions run high in the debate over patrimony, collecting, and repatriation. Universities are evaluating their responsibilities to host countries, donors, their own faculty, and students. Some exploratory research in the host countries with the looters, themselves, to restore some documentation to the enormous body of unprovenanced material has been proposed. Ties have been drawn between African and Western institutions to deepen the expertise of host country archaeologists and provide arenas for scholarly exchange.
We look for papers from archaeologists, art historians, and other scholars directly engaged with the field of African archaeology today, the examination of archaeological materials, and the involvement of the academy and museum in both Africa and the West. How do we meet the challenges of the 21st century in fieldwork, scholarship, trusteeship, and political engagement? The entire continent is under consideration, with preference given to the realms of antiquity and material culture to the premodern that bear upon issues of patrimony, the advancement of science, and the contribution of art history.
Panel Proposal for the African Studies Association Annual Meeting, 2012
Chairpersons: Roderick McIntosh and Frederick Lamp, Yale University
Please respond with a paper proposal by March 10 to frederick.lamp@yale.edu<mailto:frederick.lamp@yale.edu>
Via
H-AfrArts
H-Net Network for African Expressive Culture
E -Mail: H-AFRARTS@H-NET.MSU.EDU
http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~artsweb/
Somalia : Reaction to the London Somali conference
London Somali Conference
- Somali childexpertinfantry /Free Photos
The London Somali conference failed to mention the plight of seafarers and sidelined the issue of piracy, according to a spokesperson from SaveOurSeafers, the global campaign aimed at raising awareness of and ending Somali piracy.
The conference was attended by 55 delegations from Somalia and the international community including Ban Ki-moon Secretary-General of the United Nations, US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and UK Prime Minister David Cameron.
Although the campaign welcomed the conference, its coordinated support to Somalia and its determination to eradicate piracy using a comprehensive approach on land and at sea, some of the campign’s concerns were not addressed.
A spokesperson for SOS SaveOurSeafarers campaign, said:
We’re disappointed that the conference’s phrase ‘hostages in Somalia’ failed to acknowledge the world’s seafarers and the difficulty they go through in order to keep world trade moving through this area. For example one former pirate hostage, Capt Miro Alibasic, was held for three and a half months last year on the crude oil tanker, Zirku. He describes his captivity and that of his crew as ‘hell on earth’.
We’re also concerned by some of the comments Hilary Clinton and David Cameron made about creating an international task force to discourage the payment of ransoms to pirates and other groups to eliminate the profit motive. This is deeply alarming as it may hinder the payment of ransoms for ships and seafarers, which is currently the only way ship owners can ensure the ultimate safety of hijacked seafarers.
http://www.saveourseafarers.com
About SaveOurSeafarers
SOS SaveOurSeafarers is the biggest ever grouping of the international maritime industry with 30 organisations joined together to raise awareness of the human and economic cost of piracy, using approaches to politicians and industrial leader at the highest level.
It started operation in March 2011.
Its main aims are to resolve the piracy problem off Somalia, to see piracy deterred, defeated and eradicated and to stop seafarers being tortured and murdered.
Senegal : Violence in Casamance continues
I’d rather lost touch with events in the Casamance region of Senegal, but an article on IRIN NEWS brings the sad news that violence is increasing again. This conflict has been going on for 30 years. It seems hard to realise this is the same area where my kids went to school, and where we spent many happy times. The article makes grim reading.
- Fishermen in Casamance, Senegalcigronetpetit /Free Photos
SENEGAL: No end in sight to Casamance conflict
ZIGUINCHOR, 17 February (IRIN) – As the body count rises from the conflict between members of the separatist Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC) and the Senegalese army, Casamancais are starting to lose hope that they will ever see a path to peace.
The latest in a string of killings by rebels took place on 14 and 15 February in Sindian (near the Gambian border 100km north of the Casamance capital Ziguinchor), when four Senegalese soldiers were killed and nine wounded in clashes with the MFDC during a Senegalese army search mission for MFDC fighters and bases. Casualty numbers on the MFDC side are unknown.
Many civilians have fled the area as a result of the violence, though how many is not yet clear, say local NGOs.
This brings the number of soldiers dead in the past two weeks to seven, while in recent months MFDC rebels have also reportedly killed 22 soldiers, wounded dozens of others, and killed 14 civilians.
Meanwhile, on 14 February some 50 armed men, claiming to be part of the MFDC, allegedly looted all the businesses in the village of Baghagha, 25km east of Ziguinchor, and forced local men to help them carry their haul across the border to Guinea-Bissau. Residents demonstrated the next day, calling for a return of the Senegalese army camp which had been installed in the area until a month ago.
MFDC has been battling mainly for the independence of the region, but partly for more proactive efforts to boost development, since 1982.
Some say support among many Casamance residents for the separatist group is dwindling with the rise in violence. “The rebels must stop creating violence in the region; they must understand that it is their parents who have suffered now, for 30 years. They shouldn’t fight for the independence of Casamance and at the same time make people suffer in Casamance,” Moussa Sagna, a trader and resident of Ziguinchor, told IRIN.
While many say the spike in violence is linked to upcoming presidential elections, it is clear that separatists operating in the north, with a base across the border in Gambia, are increasingly “radicalizing” under their leader Salif Sadio, said Demba Keita, Secretary-General of local NGO APRAN-SDP, which has long served as an intermediary between the Senegalese government and the MFDC.
“Most of the extreme violence is with this faction, and they are turning to new tactics which are clearly copied by other groups,” he said, referring to the spike in killings, and the hostage-taking of six Senegalese soldiers in December (who are still being held).
Civilians also targeted
Civilians are also increasingly coming under direct attack, with a dozen civilians reportedly killed in November 2011 when they were collecting firewood in a forest in northern Casamance.
The collection of firewood is a key revenue source for MFDC factions as, allegedly, are other illicit activities such as the growing and selling of drugs, and drug-trafficking, said Keita and an analyst who preferred anonymity. While some groups may also be getting institutional support, this has not as yet been proven, Keita said.
MFDC is split into several rival factions – some with bases in France, one based in Germany, and at least five with representation in Casamance. Three faction leaders have formed an MFDC “contact group” in Ziguinchor.
Famara Pape Goudiaby, a member of this “contact group”, told IRIN weapons continue to flow thick and fast through Casamance, and “even as we speak” more were being brought up to the north.
President Abdoulaye Wade, who is campaigning for a controversial third term in elections on 26 February, announced a new “peace proposal” for Casamance while on the campaign trail in the region on 12-13 February.
However, on 14 February MFDC leaders in the “contact group” rejected the peace plan, demanding “frank and sincere” negotiations in a neutral setting and brokered by a neutral third party as their precondition for working towards peace. They said the proposal, given its timing, was merely an example of cynical politicking.
Landmines
Basic services and infrastructure in many conflict-affected areas continue to deteriorate, and many villages remain abandoned due to landmines. LINK
“Whether it’s in the border areas with Gambia or Guinea-Bissau or in other mined areas, the population are suffering. Even up to now, there are no wells, no roofs, buildings are falling down because they are inaccessible. It creates many innocent victims, and. Senegal needs to do something,” said Keita.
Landmines have killed up to 800 people since 1988, [ http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=93932 ] and government efforts to demine have flagged, leaving much of the work to NGOs such as Handicap International. As of late 2011 just eight villages had been declared mine-free.
However, while the continuation of conflict in the south is tiring tiresome for the president, even the upturn in violence has not persuaded him or his entourage to devise a more direct, political solution to the problem, said the analyst.
In his plan, Wade offered a “DDP” programme – disarmament, demining and “projects” – which would include investing in five agricultural projects across the region.
Failed peace initiatives
But this is the latest in a string of peace initiatives, all of which have failed, including one in 2004 which also stressed demining, and another Wade brought forward when he came to power in 2000.
A political rather than a military or development solution is what some MFDC factions are after, said Goudiaby. “We didn’t take up arms to push for development projects. The Casamance issue is purely political.” The president’s plan is “putting the cart before the horse,” he said, as he had announced it before any negotiations had taken place.
For some time now, several MFDC factions have been calling for independently-brokered peace negotiations to be held outside Senegal.
But negotiations will not work without the engagement of the governments of Guinea-Bissau and Gambia, stressed Keita. “Everyone knows that many of the fighters come from these countries. [Negotiators need] to get them to support initiatives in the country.”
Thus far, what the president has put on the table is in no way new, said Keita. “Talking about disarmament, about reintegration projects – that is not new,” he said. Many have blamed the president for being politically aloof from the problem.
Most residents of Ziguinchor IRIN spoke to, agree. “Wade has never succeeded despite spending millions of CFA francs on this, so he must realize these are not the right solutions. I think he isn’t prepared to seriously address the Casamance question,” said Albert Ndecky.
“People need to stop attacking us and stealing our things. We are tired of the attacks that we have had to put up with on our roads and in our villages,” said Ziguinchor resident Sagna.
Recent incidents in Casamance:
14 and 15 February
Four Senegalese soldiers killed in Sindian, 100km north of Ziguinchor, on the Gambian border.
30 January
The government launches a search operation for MFDC rebel bases in Sindian.
Early January
MFDC rebels attacked a Senegalese army brigade in Affiniam, 10km northwest of Ziguinchor, two days in a row, killing one soldier, wounding seven, and taking two hostage.
18 December 2011
MFDC killed 10 people, including a reported nine soldiers – one of them a captain – and left many wounded in an attack at Digoune, 45km west of Ziguinchor. Two secondary school students were also killed during the attack when an army vehicle drove into a civilian’s house. As a result of this and the 13 December attacks, six soldiers were allegedly taken hostage, one of whom reportedly escaped.
13 December
MFDC attack Senegalese army barracks in Kabeumb, 15km from the Gambian border, killing four soldiers and injuring six others.
21 November
MFDC killed 10 young civilian men as they collected firewood in Daignon forest, 40km east of Ziguinchor.
More on Casamance:
Tackling trauma in Casamance [ http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=89196]
Confronting aid challenges in Casamance [ http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=86644 ]
Closer to war than to peace? [ http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=86217 ]
This report on line: http://www.IRINnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=94895
© IRIN. All rights reserved. More humanitarian news and analysis: http://www.irinnews.org/
[This item comes to you via IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations or its Member States. Reposting or reproduction, with attribution, for non-commercial purposes is permitted. Terms and conditions: http://www.irinnews.org/copyright.aspx]
Suggested Books & DVD
Against The Tide of History: Landmines in the Casamance (Home Use) (PAL)
Against The Tide of History: Landmines in the Casamance (Home Use)(NTSC)
Against the Tide of History: Landmines in the Casamance calls for national and international assistance to landmine victims in Senegal and urges the Senegalese government to meet its obligations under the Mine Ban Treaty.
Masquerades of Modernity: Power and Secrecy in Casamance, Senegal
In this provocative and compelling book, Ferdinand de Jong shows that secrecy provides a powerful means of asserting locality against the forces of globalism. Focusing on initiation rituals and masked performances, de Jong shows how the people of the Casamance region of Senegal have used these practices to incorporate Islam, colonialism, capitalism, and contemporary politics into their world.Failed peace initiativesa href=”http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=94895″ target=”_blank”
Free resource, Online Bibliography of Chadic and Hausa Linguistics
This free resource, The ”Online Bibliography of Chadic and Hausa Linguistics”, compiled by Professor Paul Newman of Indiana University, is a comprehensive, open access bibliography containing more than 2500 entries. The initial edition (Version 01) is now available as a searchable pdf file on the website of DEVA, Institute of African Studies, University of Bayreuth (http://deva-research.uni-bayreuth.de). To access the bibliography, find the baobab tree thumbnail at the bottom of the page and click on the Chadic Hausa link. Scholars using the bibliography will have the opportunity to contribute to its completeness and accuracy by submitting additions and corrections to be incorporated in subsequent editions.
Africa and the renewable energy path to reduce poverty
Africa and Renewable energy
Should Africa take the renewable energy path? By F. Denton, Arid Lands Information Network (2011)
Modern energy services are essential for reducing poverty. Countries need energy to increase economic production, which improves livelihood options for women and men. Energy is also needed to increase agricultural productivity, provide clean water and improve human health, and energy enables girls and boys to go to school.
The briefing discusses how climate change is complicating the energy situation in many parts of Africa. For example, changing rainfall patterns have led to droughts, affecting hydropower generation in many countries. And climate change is likely to worsen desertification, reducing tree cover that is already threatened by deforestation in many places; communities that rely on traditional fuels such as charcoal and wood will face an increased burden as forests become scarcer. A further challenge is that fossil fuel energy is a major emitter of the greenhouse gases that cause climate change. Global efforts to reduce fossil fuel use reinforce the need for wider energy options in Africa.
The editor notes that one alternative is renewable energy. Renewable technologies give countries more freedom around their energy choices and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. But renewables in Africa do not always provide energy security. For instance:
- renewable energy resources are abundant but unevenly distributed, causing supply issues for some communities
- the underdeveloped nature of energy sectors, many of which are inherited from colonial times, and the slow pace of reform have inhibited the uptake and institutionalisation of renewables.
- scale is a problem; many renewable energy options are pilot experiences, but renewables such as small mini-hydro and biogas digesters need to spread in ways that will reach energy-poor people.
Development priorities are closely associated with the uptake of renewables especially when these are linked to productive end uses and the welfare and wellbeing of energy-poor communities. The articles in this Joto Afrika present how renewable energy can serve multiple functions and how energy-poor communities are benefitting from biogas digesters in Uganda to solar power in Malawi. Other articles in this issue include:
- the spread of biofuels in Zambia
- hydropower in East Africa
- making fuel briquettes to save trees
- Africa’s National Adaptation Programmes of Action.
Available online at: http://www.eldis.org/vfile/upload/1/document/1110/JotoAfrika_8.pdf
Symposium : Language & the UN, May 2012
LANGUAGE AND THE UNITED NATIONS
This symposium on Language and the United Nations will be held on May 1, 2012, 10:00-5:00 at 777 United Nations Plaza, New York City with a view to improving understanding of the ways in which the UN uses languages and the challenges of working in a multilingual environment. It seeks contributions that consider the role of language in the operations of the United Nations and the ways in which linguistic concerns intersect with United Nations programs. Among possible topics for consideration are:
- Language services at the UN: translation and interpretation
- Language training at the UN
- The informal use of language in multilingual settings
- Indigenous languages and indigenous peoples
- Mother tongue education
- Language and human development
The sponsors welcome proposals for papers on any of these or related topics to be presented at the spring symposium. It is anticipated that twenty minutes will be allotted for each paper. Proposals should be submitted to tonkin@hartford.edu. They should include title, a brief biography of the author, and a summary of no more than 300 words. Review of proposals will begin on March 15.
Weather data for all, an aid for development
Weather data for all
JOHANNESBURG, 1 February (IRIN) – Disaster risk reduction officials planning emergency responses now have the option to consult a new online international weather, climate and water system operated by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
The system contains raw weather data and is aimed at professionals who have some familiarity with it, says Stephen Foreman, head of data representation, metadata and monitoring for the new WMO tool. “Weather information [collated by WMO from the various national meteorological services] at the moment is shared by a closed club – we all seem to be working in our silos.”
The new resource is designed to help professionals working on climate change forecasts; speed up collation and interpretation of global weather data; and provide information on when weather information for any global location will be available. Researchers and experts on food security, water management, disaster risk reduction and health could benefit by exploiting the new tool.
Separate servers and data collection centres in China, Japan and Germany give the system greater robustness – and the network of these global portals is set to grow.
This report on line: http://www.IRINnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=94774
© IRIN. All rights reserved. More humanitarian news and analysis: http://www.irinnews.org/
[This item comes via IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations or its Member States. Reposting or reproduction, with attribution, for non-commercial purposes is permitted. Terms and conditions:Â http://www.irinnews.org/copyright.aspx]
Suggested Books
- The Weather in Africa
- Meteorology & Climate of Tropical Africa (With CD-ROM) (Springer Praxis Books / Environmental Sciences)
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Ghana : Memories of Africa textile workshop 2012
Ghana workshop
Cross Cultural Collaborative is sponsoring the ”Memories of Africa textile workshop” at their cultural center in Ghana from July 8 -July 21, 2012.
This is an opportunity to live and work with indigenous Ghanaian artisans, sharing ideas and learning African textile techniques.
Signup deadline is April 5. For a detailed brochure contact: aba@culturalcollaborative.org
http://www.culturalcollaborative.org
http://crossculturalcollaborative.blogspot.com
via H-AfrArts
H-Net Network for African Expressive Culture
E -Mail:Â H-AFRARTS@H-NET.MSU.EDU
http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~artsweb/
Ethiopia : Climate change adaptation lessons
Pastoral pathways: climate change adaptation lessons from Ethiopia
Authors: Eriksen,S.; Marin,A.
Produced by: Noragric, Department of International Environment and Development Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (2011)
A key aim of the Norwegian Development Fund is to increase the adaptive capacity of marginalised rural poor farmers and pastoralists in the South. The focus country of this project study, Ethiopia, has a legacy of variable and unpredictable rainfall, causing frequent droughts and heavy floods, undermining local as well as national food and water security. The analysis in this paper is based mainly on interview data collected in two sites in Afar as well as insights from past studies in the region as documented in published literature. Some of the key issues identified for Afar are followed up with a smaller number of interviews in another pastoral area, the neighbouring Somali region.
The report aims to:
- increase the knowledge and understanding of key themes of the program and policy work of the Development Fund and its collaborating partner organisations in pastoral and agro-pastoral rural areas of Ethiopia, and to give guidance for future program planning in these areas
- raise awareness among planners and policy makers and strengthen understanding of the critical situation the pastoralists are facing today, and to provide recommendations for sustainable pastoral adaptation pathways in the future
Four normative principles are presented that can guide policies and interventions towards achieving development pathways to strengthen social equity and environmental integrity:
- recognize the context for vulnerability, including multiple stressors
- acknowledge that different values and interests affect adaptation outcomes
- integrate local knowledge into adaptation responses
- consider potential feedbacks between local and global processes
via Eldis.org. Available online at: http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/?doc=59111
Suggested Books
- Experiences of Climate Change Adaptation in Africa (Climate Change Management)
- Climate Change and Africa
Related articles
- ETHIOPIA: Drought, floods hit education (irinnews.org)
- ‘Five tourists dead’ in Ethiopia (bbc.co.uk)
CAMEROON: Anglophones Feel Like a Subjugated People
Cameroon Anglophones
YAOUNDE, Cameroon, Jan 26 (IPS) When Cameroon’s President Paul Biya announced that the 50th anniversary of the reunification of French and British Cameroon will take place later this year, it resurrected bitter feelings among Anglophone Cameroonians who say they do not feel like equal partners with their Francophone counterparts.
Jannette Ngum, a primary school teacher from the English-speaking Northwest Province, said she would love to never have anything more to do with Francophones in Cameroon. In this West African nation, Anglophones make up a minority, about 20 percent of the country’s 20 million people, and most live in the country’s two English-speaking regions, Southwest and Northwest Provinces.
Ngum’s frustration comes after the shabby treatment she received at the Ministry of Public Service and Administrative Reform when she went to Yaounde to follow up on her job application to the public service.
“When I spoke in English the lady frowned and said ‘Je ne connais pas votre patois’, which literary translates into ‘I don’t understand that dialect of yours’.
“Instead of serving me, she continued playing cards on her computer. But when a colleague of mine came in and spoke in French, he got what he wanted in seconds. Yet the constitution clearly states that English and French are the official languages in Cameroon, and therefore equal in status,” she told IPS.
But Ngum’s experience is a common one among Anglophone Cameroonians. Michael Ndobegang, a history lecturer in the University of Yaounde, said that Anglophones in Cameroon feel “reduced from partners of equal status to a subjugated people.”
According to Ndobegang, Anglophones have been systematically removed from the centres of power, with unwritten laws making it impossible for them to hold certain key government positions. Since independence, no Anglophone has ever been a Minister of Defense, Finance, Education or even Foreign Affairs.
“Anglophones have been appointed mainly into subordinate positions to assist Francophones, even where the latter have been less qualified or incompetent. This is the dilemma of the Anglophone in Cameroon”, Ndobegang told IPS.
In June 1990, J.N.Foncha, the main architect of the federal state, resigned from government saying that “the constitutional provisions which protected the Anglophone minority have been suppressed, their voice drowned…”
Economically, Anglophones also feel exploited. “Cameroon’s oil comes from the Southwest Provincce. How come the road network in the region has been abandoned?” Fru Ndi, the Anglophone opposition leader of the Social Democratic Front (SDF), asked during a rally in Buea, in the run-up to the October 2011 presidential election in Cameroon.
He also blasted successive Francophone administrations for killing the vibrant economy of the British Cameroons. “Small- and medium-sized enterprises in the region, such as the West Cameroon Development Agency, Power CAM, and the West Cameroon Marketing Board have been destroyed,” he told his supporters during the rally.
Ndi, initially opposed to the idea of secession from Francophone Cameroon, seems to have changed his mind. “If the SDF is again denied victory during this year’s parliamentary elections, then I will be left with no other option than to join the SCNC,” Ndi told members of the SDF’s National Executive Committee on Jan. 19. The SCNC or Southern Cameroons National Council is a secessionist movement.
Anglophones are also at odds with what they perceive as discriminatory practices when it comes to recruitment into the civil service.
The historians, Nantang Jua and Piet Konnings, said that in “February 2003, it was announced that there were only 57 Anglophone youths among the more than 5,000 new recruits into police academies. The next month, records show that there were only 12 Anglophones among the 172 recruits into the customs department.”
Years later, not much has changed. Statistics from the Ministry of Public Service and Administration Reform indicate that of the 25,000 young certificate holders recruited into the public service last year, less than 2,000 were Anglophones.
This, the authors say, has created an Anglophone consciousness of “the feeling of being re-colonised and marginalised in all spheres of public life and thus being second-class citizens in their own country.” Government though denies the fact that there is an Anglophone problem in Cameroon. Instead, its strategy has been to use state violence against secessionist groups. And some of the Anglophone elite have been co-opted into government to down play the existence of a problem.
But Cameroon’s scholar and political scientist, Emmanuel Tatah Mentan, has described such elite as “impostors, unrecognised leaders and emissaries of “La Republique du Cameroun.”
Suggested Books
- The Challenges of Nongovernmental Organizations in Anglophone Cameroon (Studies in Ngos and Rural Development Series)
- Negotiating an Anglophone Identity: A Study of the Politics of Recognition and Representation in Cameroon (Afrika-Studiecentrum Series)
Related articles
- Accelerated Bible Translation in Cameroon (wycliffeusa.wordpress.com)
- How Five Colonial Powers Battled for Cameroon (ecocbnn.com)