Gender Equality
Economic empowerment of women good for all
Government staffer Souhayata Haidara enjoys talking about her life in a patriarchal society. Her career is a triumph of patience and perseverance, she tells Africa Renewal with a smile and a wink.
African music on a round trip—from cotonou to cuba and back
It’s Sunday night at Aba House, an open-air bar in Lomé, Togo’s capital, and stylish young men and women in modern African dress fill the dance floor as the bass guitarist pumps up the tempo. Powerful! Soulful!
No real development in africa without regional integration - Interview: Ahunna Eziakonwa
United Nations Assistant Secretary-General Ahunna Eziakonwa is the new Director of the Regional Bureau for Africa of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Ms. Eziakonwa had served as the UN Resident Coordinator in Ethiopia, Uganda and Lesotho. In this interview with Africa Renewal’s Kingsley Ighobor, she discusses key issues pertaining to Africa’s socioeconomic development, including the empowerment of women and youth and Africa’s free trade area, which entered into force in April. These are excerpts.
Young people can capably lead africa into the future - Interview: Aya Chebbi, African Union Youth Envoy
Aya Chebbi of Tunisia is the first-ever youth envoy of the African Union. Her appointment in November 2018 boosts the AU’s efforts to include the talents and skills of the continent’s bulging youth population in achieving its Agenda 2063, a framework for Africa’s socioeconomic transformation. Ms. Chebbi is expected to promote, among other issues, youth leadership and participation in governance, gender equality, safe migration, employment and climate change action. Raphael Obonyo, a youth activist, interviewed Ms. Chebbi for Africa Renewal on a range of issues affecting Africa’s young people. These are excerpts.
Youthful minister opening doors for women and girls
Bogolo Kenewendo describes herself as having been “an ordinary Botswana child with an ordinary upbringing.” Ms. Kenewendo, poised and focused beyond her years, is being modest. At 32 she is Botswana’s youngest minister, in charge of investment, trade and industry.
Mechanizing agricultureis key to food security
An African woman with hoe in hand is the default symbol of agriculture in Africa, according to the late Calestous Juma, African academic and former Harvard Kennedy School professor. Mr. Juma used that image to convey the drudgery-filled farming that women on the continent face.
Countries propose a treaty to end corporate impunity
When Ecuadorian diplomat Luis Gallegos first proposed a “Binding Treaty on Business and Human Rights,” many countries and environmental activists welcomed the idea with open arms.
Good education is the foundation for effective female leadership
African women’s restricted access to quality education, knowledge and resources is preventing them from gaining leadership positions on the continent, says Kafui Adjamagbo-Johnson, a veteran West African women’s rights activist. Another problem is that women—especially rural women—are allowed only limited control over finances, means of production and land.
Paying a high price for skin bleaching
“I’ve been dark skinned for many years and I wanted to experience the other side. I wanted to see what it would be like to be white and I’m happy,” says South African singer Mshoza, whose real name is Nomasonto Mnisi.
African women in politics: Miles to go before parity is achieved
In the fight for gender equality, women around the world have advanced in small and large ways. Yet for women in Africa, progress is measured in micro steps, and the struggle has a long way to go.
Technology is a liberating force for african women
As ride-hailing apps proliferate the globe, the year-old An Nisa Taxi in Kenya is one of the standouts in Africa.
Zimbabwe’s beef industry stampedes back to life
Zimbabwe’s famed beef industry, which collapsed in the 2000s following outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease, is now rebounding.
Africa’s megacities a magnet for investors
Megacities, cities with a population of at least 10 million, are sprouting everywhere in Africa. Cairo in Egypt, Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Lagos in Nigeria are already megacities, while Luanda in Angola, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Johannesburg in South Africa will attain the status by 2030, according the United Nations.
Preparing africa’s graduates for today’s
Many Africans with advanced qualifications are finding their university degrees are just not enough to land a job in the current market.
“Women are the unsung heroes of this crisis”
The health crisis, and the subsequent widespread lockdowns worldwide, have led to a surge in violence against women. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women, warns that women’s rights could be diminished as a result of the pandemic.
Women’s writing: Illuminating the darkness
The world after the pandemic will be different from the one that we’ve always known. It will be more benevolent towards the unknown, and more respectful towards living species, predicts one of China’s best-known contemporary poets.
Ideas: The microbes and viruses that made history
Epidemics and pandemics are not new phenomena. Leprosy, plague, cholera and smallpox have all left their deadly mark on human history. They have also led humans to question themselves, and often result in positive change.
Zoom: Lockdown travel diaries
Isolation, loss of income, crushing domestic burdens – women photographers have been hit hard by the lockdown imposed to curb the COVID-19 pandemic. Faced with this unprecedented situation, more than 400 women photographers have come together in a unique collaborative project, The Journal – which started spontaneously in mid-March 2020, following a call on Facebook by the Women Photograph community.
Sapere Aude: A social mentorship project which uses education to promote social justice for children and young people living in the public care system
With the adoption of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its relevant Goals (SDGs) in 2015, the United Nations with Goal 4 renewed its mission for better education of children and young people worldwide. While the earlier Millennium Development Goals focused on access to primary education, the 2030 Agenda goes beyond this. With Goal 4 and its focus on quality education, the international community recognizes that learning goals in themselves are not enough – it is important to aim for both the quality of education as well as the social and emotional well-being of students, in order to achieve substantial learning outcomes.
Youth: International law on the recruitment of children
The recruitment of children raises many important questions, the most important being whether children should be recruited at all and what is the definition of a child. The most internationally accepted definition for a child soldier is established in the Cape Town Principles 1997 by UNICEF: “any person under 18 years of age who is part of any kind of regular or irregular armed force or armed group in any capacity.”1 However, this is not a legal definition.