African Studies Blog

A South African judge Navanethem Pillay has been appointed the UN Commissioner for Human Rights.  Read the story in the Washington Post.

Here is an article in the Washington Post about a posh resort to be built near Monrovia by Robert L Johnson (BET).  RLJ Kendeja Resorts & Villas will be an $8 million, 85-room, four-star resort on the Atlantic coast of Liberia.

The New York Times reports today that Mugabe and the opposition in Zimbabwe are set to sign an agreement to begin power sharing negotiations.

Here are some articles that might be of help to those of you taking this course this quarter.

Curriculum development and education for living together: conceptual and managerial challenges in Africa: Final Report . This is a report of a seminar organized by the International Bureau of Education in 2001. Has a section on curriculum and language.

 Mother-tongue based teaching and education for girls. Examines the issues surrounding marginalisation, language and girls; explores obstacles to girls education and strategies to address them, and looks at the benefits of mother tongue-based teaching and education for girls. It provides examples of how mother tongue-based learning can break down barriers to education for girls,.

Perspectives on educational language policy and its implementation in African classrooms: A comparative study of Botswana and Tanzania Compare 31 (3): 347-362, 2001

A paper from Edge Hill College, UK, examines the relationship between educational language policy and classroom practice in two post-colonial African societies, the Republics of Botswana and Tanzania. In both societies, English is one of the official languages of instruction but is being challenged by languages which are used far more widely.

African Economic Outlook 2008 - A collaborative project of ADB with OECD and the UNECA. The number of countries covered in this edition is 35, an increase of 4 on the previous edition. This seventh edition portrays positive economic trends and outlook for Africa.

It shows the continent continues to experience high economic growth with the rate of GDP growth averaging about 5.7 percent in 2007 and projected to rise to 5.9 percent in 2008 and 2009. Growth has been more broad-based, although the net oil exporters continue to outpace the net oil importing countries. The report also examines the theme of technical skill development and vocational training in Africa.

Below are selected links to some extracts from the current report:

Statistical Annex, Angola, Botswana, Cote D’Ivoire, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda.

Links to electronic issues in Alice.

Links to print issues in Alice

Below are the abstracts of two recent publications of the African Development Bank, prepared by the Economic and Social Statistics Division of its Statistics Department.

Gender, Poverty and Environmental Indicators on African countries 2008 - The publication provides some information on the broad development trends relating to gender, poverty and environmental issues in the 53 African countries.  This latest edition has a special feature article on “Energy, Gender and Development”.  It also provides information on the broad development trends relating to gender, poverty and environmental issues in Africa.

Full Text Document

Selected Statistics on African Countries 2008 - is an annual publication of the Bank, presenting data on major development indicators of African economies. Part one gives cross-country statistics on selected indicators. Part two provides country-specific time series data on all the countries in the continent.

Full Text Document

Read this posting by Sue Makin an American Presbyterian missionary doctor in Malawi on the blog of New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof.  She reports on the poor health conditions in Malawi specifically maternal health and how a 2007 study of global maternal mortality rates had shown that two thirds of deaths among Malawian women of reproductive age are related to pregnancy or childbirth.

Source: H-NET

The Historical Society of Nigeria, announces its 53rd Annual Congress. The Congress will be held from October 13th-15th, at Gombe State University, Gombe, Nigeria. The theme of this year’s conference is:
“Historicising National Security, Order and Rule of Law in Nigeria”. Sub-themes are as listed as follows;

• Theoretical and Conceptual issues
• Historiography of National Security and Rule of Law
• Multidisciplinary Perspectives
• Gender Perspectives
• Global Dimensions and Local Implications
• Scenarios, Futures Perspectives and Historical Lessons
• Political Economy of Security and Rule of Law

Announcement

Source: IRIN

 AIDS spending breaks records, but needs more focus is the title of an article reporting that a UNAIDS report states that HIV/AIDS funding to low- and middle-income countries reached a record level in 2007.

In the foreword to the report the minister of education writes that quality education is the fundamental right of all children irrespective of their socioeconomic background, hence the government’s interest and determination for fundamental reforms in the education system with emphasis on quality of education.   

Full Report