Africa

Congo Ignored, Not Forgotten

The wars that have wracked the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 1996, killing well over 5 million people (International Rescue Committee, 1/08) in what may be the deadliest conflict since World War II, are officially over. A peace agreement was signed in 2002, and general elections were held in 2006.

Posted in journalism, Media, Africa, Congo

Women's Land Rights Can Help Battle Hunger in Africa

I pass a poster on my way to work in London every morning that never fails to surprise me. It's large, colorful, and cheerfully exhorts us to throw away less food. Apparently, even in the current economic climate, we waste so much food every year that we need a government-led campaign, complete with website and handy food-storage tips, to remind and encourage us to waste less.

Posted in land rights, women's rights, Africa

Making Peace or Fueling War in Africa

At the end of President Barack Obama's inauguration ceremony, civil rights leader Rev. Joseph Lowery invoked the hope of a day "when nation shall not lift up sword against nation, when tanks will be beaten into tractors." No one expects such a utopian vision to materialize any time soon. But both Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have spoken eloquently of the need to emphasize diplomacy over a narrow military agenda.

Posted in africom, foreign policy, Africa

Lifting of 'Gag Rule' Helps Restart Much-Needed Health Services in Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya - Nairobi's sprawling Kibera slum is far from America but not from America's battle over abortion.

Aid workers and experts say President Barack Obama's decision to allow aid money to flow again to international groups that offer abortion counseling will help restart programs desperately needed in Africa, the continent hardest hit by a so-called "gag rule."

Posted in after bush, Health, healthcare, reproductive rights, Africa

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 28, 2009
7:53 AM

CONTACT: Africa Action
Michael Stulman, (202) 546-7961

Africa Action Releases 'Africa Policy Outlook 2009'

WASHINGTON - January 28 - Today Africa Action released its Africa Policy Outlook for 2009. This annual publication was released one week after the historic inauguration of President Barack Obama and as millions across the African continent celebrate the new opportunities his presidency offers.

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Africa Action is a national organization that works for political, economic and social justice in Africa. Through the provision of accessible information and analysis combined with the mobilization of public pressure we work to change the policies and policy-making processes of U.S. and multinational institutions toward Africa. The work of Africa Action is grounded in the history and purpose of its predecessor organizations, the American Committee on Africa (ACOA), The Africa Fund, and the Africa Policy Information Center (APIC), which have fought for freedom and justice in Africa since 1953. Continuing this tradition, Africa Action seeks to re-shape U.S. policy toward African countries.

Africa Action Links:

Posted in foreign policy, Human Rights, obama, Africa

Land Rental Deal Collapses After Backlash Against 'Colonialism'

TOKYO and NAIROBI - Madagascar was poised to sign a 99-year agreement to rent 1.3 million hectares of land to South Korea's Daewoo Logistics Corporation to plant maize and palm oil for export.

Food-importing countries with little arable land, mainly in Asia and the Middle East, are increasingly looking overseas to secure food supplies after the prices of staple foods rocketed last year.

Posted in agriculture, food crisis, Africa

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 5, 2008
8:18 AM

CONTACT: Africa Action

Michael Stulman (202) 546-7961

Leading Zimbabwe Human Rights Activist Abducted

WASHINGTON - December 5 - Africa Action is concerned about the whereabouts and safety of coalition partner Jestina Mukoko, a prominent civil society leader in Zimbabwe, reportedly missing for over forty-eight hours. As the Director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, Jestina has been instrumental in keeping the world informed of human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. Africa Action unequivocally condemns this attempt to silence this heroine of Zimbabwe's struggle for democracy and demands that she be released immediately and returned to her family unharmed.

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Posted in Human Rights, Africa

Aid Agencies Launch Joint Congo Appeal

Urgent aid appeals for Congo are being made today as the extent of the humanitarian crisis is revealed.

Leading aid agencies are joining together to call on the public for cash to help ease the plight of those affected by the recent upsurge in violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

More than 250,000 people have been forced to flee their homes because of fighting in recent weeks, adding to more than 1 million people already displaced.

Posted in Africa, Congo

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 13, 2008
10:27 AM

CONTACT: Human Rights Watch (HRW)

Kenya: Protect Somali Refugees

Government and Donors Should Urgently Address Refugee Crisis

NAIROBI - November 13 - The Kenyan government, foreign donors, and United Nations agencies should rapidly increase their response to the worsening Somali refugee crisis in Kenya, Human Rights Watch said today.

More than 65,000 Somali refugees will have sought refuge in Kenya by the end of this year, up from 19,000 in 2007. New arrivals face extortion and abuses when trying to cross Kenya's officially closed border and are received in appalling conditions in overcrowded, underserviced refugee camps.

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Posted in Human Rights, Africa

'The Soldiers Didn't Ask Any Questions. They Just Shot Him'

KIWANGA - Jumy Kasereka told his mother the Tutsi rebel soldiers would not harm him. After all, he was a schoolteacher, not a fighter, and they would see he was too sick from malaria to move. Kasereka begged his mother to leave with the tens of thousands of others who Laurent Nkunda's rebels ordered out of the town of Kiwanga after they seized it from Hutu fighters. But Felista Maska refused to go. Hours later, one of Nkunda's soldiers arrived at the door of the small earth and wicker home, pushed his way in, and, without a word, dragged the 26-year-old teacher out.

Posted in Africa, Congo