Africa
Africa
Fair Observer provides insightful and informed analysis of important issues, events and trends on the African continent.
-
360° Analysis / anti-traficking laws in South Africa / Apartheid policies / Bernedette Muthien / Legalizing prostitution / Police corruption is South Africa / South Africa / Africa / CultureIn South Africa, sex trafficking is a problem of corruption and patriarchy. In an interview with Fair Observer's Africa Editor, Annika Schall, the Director of Engender, Bernedette Muthien, talks about problems surrounding human trafficking for sexual exploitation and suggest ways to combat the practice. Annika Schall: Where do victims of sexual trafficking in South Africa come from, and are some people more likely to become victims than others? Bernedette Muthien: Sex trafficking affects people from South Africa, as well as victims coming from outside the country. Inside South Africa, sex trafficking often occurs from rural areas to urban ones. And also within cities,...
-
anti-corruption strategies / Arab Spring / Brazil Protests / bribery / corruption / Egypt / Global corruption / John T. Noonan / malaysia / North America / Qatar / Robert Klitgaard / Singapore / Taksim Square / Europe / Focus Article / Middle East & North Africa / Global Change / Latin America / Africa / Central & South Asia / Asia PacificOne day, corruption will be as unthinkable as slavery. Corruption is the misuse of a trusted position for illicit private ends. Corruption ranges across phenomena, including bribery, extortion, fraud, nepotism, and outright theft. Corruption is difficult to measure, of course. In perceptions of people around the world, corruption is closely related to administrative efficiency, rule of law, and ethics in the private sector. We can spend days or even academic lifetimes debating definitions and the deeper causes of corruption and weak governance. Let’s instead focus on a separable, practical question: What can be done to reduce corruption? Here there is good news. Even in...
-
al-Shabab / Fair Observer / Golden Dawn / Human Trafficking / Iran / Kenya Attacks / Nairobi / North America / Obama UN General Assembly / Obama-Rouhani / Politics / Rachel Lloyd / Rouhani / Syria / Tariq Ramadan / United States / Europe / Focus Article / Middle East & North Africa / Latin America / Africa / Central & South Asia / Asia PacificPledge $1 to keep us going. Back in 1939, September was the month when World War II broke out. So in 2013, it is reassuring to see that the US and Iran might be beginning their first tentative steps to rest the ghosts of 1953 and 1979. The former scarred Iran because the CIA was influenced by the British to conduct a coup against a democratically elected Iranian government. The latter scarred the US because Ayatollah Khomeini came to power in a revolution and caused a hostage crisis that led to the fall of Jimmy Carter. After the saber rattling of the last few years, perhaps Barack Obama and Hassan Rouhani might give diplomacy a better shot to resolve their difference, leading...
-
African Union / al-Qaeda / al-Shabab / Annette Weber / Candida Splett / Ethiopia / Jihad / Kenya Somalia / Nairobi / Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik / Focus Article / International Security / AfricaWhat are the origins of Somalia's al-Shabab? Radical Islamists killed at least 67 people in Kenya, while dozens are still missing. Annette Weber talks about the history, structure and ideology of the al-Shabab militia, which is responsible for the terrorist attack in a shopping mall in Nairobi. Candida Splett: Somalia’s al-Shabab militia claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack in Nairobi. What is this group we are talking about? Annette Weber: The al-Shabab militia was founded in 2006. Back then, it was the military wing of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) that ruled Somalia from June to December 2006. The ICU’s regime had then been the reason for Somalia...
-
9/11 / Akunyili.Tochukwu / Basque Territory / Boko Haram / ecomomy / Foreign Direct Investment / Goodluck Jonathan / Maiduguri / Nigeria / terrorism / Economics / Focus Article / AfricaBoko Haram could have a disastrous impact on Nigeria’s economy. In May, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan suspended the constitution and declared a state of emergency in three states at the northeastern tip of Nigeria. On August 10-11, an attack on a mosque in the state of Maiduguri left 56 people dead — Boko Haram is largely believed to have been responsible. Boko Haram, the militant Islamist group, has made a mockery of peace and security in Nigeria, and its threat to regional security is well-known. So far, a lot has been written about the political consequences of the group. In fact, almost all that has been written on Boko Haram both in popular media and academic...
-
360° Analysis / Global Hunger / Lee-Roy Chetty / poverty / Poverty in Africa / Sub-Saharan Africa / United Nations / World Bank / World Poverty / Global Change / Africa / Central & South Asia / Asia Pacific"Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor" (James A. Baldwin). Poverty and hunger remain a global challenge. However, fewer people live in extreme poverty in the 21st century compared to previous generations. According to the World Bank, between 1981 and 2008, the proportion of people in the developing world living on less than $1.25 a day fell from 52 percent to 22 percent, and nearly 650 million people were lifted out of poverty. In addition, despite the 2008 financial crisis and food and fuel price increases, global poverty has continued to fall precipitously. Conversely however, progress has been uneven and more than a billion...
-
360° Analysis / Alex Siddall / climate change / Egypt-Ethiopia / Environment / Euphrates River / India-China / international security / North America / River Nile / Scarce Resources / Turkey-Syria / Water Scarcity / Water Security / International Security / Middle East & North Africa / Africa / Central & South Asia / Asia PacificBy Alex SiddallWater scarcity is a key threat to world peace. Within the last decade, climate change has become a hotly debated topic. Many people struggle to imagine what the effects of climate change will be and whether the danger is real. At the heart of climate change, however, there are some very real and imaginable effects that may be seen within the near future. Perhaps the most prevalent of these is a threat to the global supply of fresh water. Ban Ki Moon recently stated at the United Nation's International Day of Biological Diversity: “We live in an increasingly water insecure world where demand often outstrips supply and where water quality often fails to meet minimum standards....
-
Al-Bashir / Daniel Wagner / Eritrea / Giorgio Cafiero / Gulf Cooperation Council / Hassan Al-Turabi / INEGMA / Iran / Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps / Israel / Khartoum / Politics / Popular Arab and Islamic Congress / Popular Defense Forces / South Sudan / Sudan / Teheran / US / Focus Article / Middle East & North Africa / AfricaIran is determined to expand its influence in Africa, and Sudan has a unique role to play. Recent geopolitical developments across the Middle East and Africa have added momentum to Iran and Sudan’s strategic partnership, an alliance driven primarily by an interest in weakening the power of Israel, and by extension the US, throughout East Africa. Other objectives include Sudan’s fight against other forces that constitute existential threats to the Khartoum regime, and Iran’s interest in establishing an alternative weapons corridor to Gaza and Lebanon, particularly given that Syria will likely remain destabilized for the near-to-medium term. However, some of Sudan...
-
360° Analysis / African Union / corruption / drug trade / ECOWAS / European Union / Germany / Guinea-Bissau / Judith Vorrath / Mali / Organized Crime / Sahel / terrorism / West Africa / International Security / AfricaOrganized crime in West Africa is more than a problem of terrorism and law enforcement. The crisis in Mali has sharpened European awareness of the dangers posed by transnational organized crime in West Africa. The UN Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) set up in July 2013, will find itself confronted with the issue as well. But the problem of organized crime reaches far beyond the Sahel, and affects many coastal states in West Africa. Nor can it be reduced to the “crime-terror nexus” and the drug trade. Transnational criminal activities in the region are more diverse than that, the challenges more complex: from piracy in the Gulf of Guinea to illegal extraction of natural...