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African Youth to promote Peace and Security.

Despite challenges of unemployment, corruption, entrenched political leadership, and political violence, many African youth have found constructive avenues to promote peace, effective governance
and reform.

Africa remains the world’s youngest continent with a median age of 19.7 years. By 2050, one in three young people will live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Still, 80-90 percent of African workers are still engaged in the informal sector. Each year, 10-12 million African youth enter the labour market but only three million formal jobs are created annually. Meanwhile, nearly half of all African countries rank in the bottom quartile of Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index. These trends underscore mounting social pressures.

Sixteen countries in Africa are currently engulfed in major armed conflicts while others face varying forms of violence and political instability that undermine the social fabric of African societies. These conflicts impede development and economic growth and place further strain on the ability of African youth to obtain jobs. Despite this array of challenges, African youth are engaged in a variety of activities aimed at resolving these conflicts and building greater social cohesion. These efforts have harnessed the talent and creativity of African youth and channelled them to rebuild social ties, encourage dialogue, and facilitate healing and reconciliation.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has faced decades of conflict and political instability, young people are at the forefront of efforts to mend social ties. The National Partnership of Children and Youth in Peacebuilding (NPCYP), a conglomerate of Congolese organizations based in Goma, is using arts to promote peace and coexistence. Located in the restive North Kivu Province, Goma has seen unrelenting levels of political violence since the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Despite this inhospitable environment, NPCYP has been harnessing arts not only to build peace and encourage healing but also to empower young people who have endured the bitterness of conflict and its associated trauma. The initiative involves musicians, poets, and artists to creatively express themselves, providing the basis for discourse. These efforts have fostered mutual trust and an attitude of coexistence among young people from different backgrounds. It has also opened a space for greater dialogue about their role in consolidating peace.

In South Sudan, young people are using sports to build peace and mutual trust among warring tribes engaged in cattle rustling. For decades, South Sudan has been ravaged by political conflicts as well as intercommunal violence related to cattle rustling and abduction of women and children. Through the Wrestling for Peace Initiative, South Sudan Wrestling Entertainment— a local organization founded and led by young South Sudanese—is using the indigenous sport of wrestling to promote peaceful coexistence across South Sudan’s many tribes, especially in restive Jonglei, Lakes, Eastern and Central Equatoria States.

The initiative mobilizes wrestlers from cattle camps and brings them to Juba for a month-long competition. Aside from the tournament itself, side-meetings are organized between youth leaders and chiefs from different communities. The spectators who come to watch the matches are charged ticket prices, which helps fund the initiative. Through engagement in this program, the youth from rival communities have forged long-lasting relationships that have contributed to conflict resolution and management at the local level.

In Nigeria, where ethnic and religious violence has embroiled parts of Africa’s most populous country, young people are working hard to promote peace through cultural exchanges and interfaith events. The Centre for Equality and Equity, a Nigerian civil society organization, provides online courses for youth and activists to engage in interfaith dialogue aimed at reducing inter-religious violence. This initiative, launched in 2019, has expanded the scope of peacebuilding efforts.

Organized virtually since COVID, the program targets youth between the ages of 18 and 29 and challenges them to understand cultures other than their own by learning about different languages and religions. The program aims to counter extremism that weaponizes religion as epitomized by Boko Haram, which has devasted parts of north-eastern Nigeria. The objective is to encourage religious tolerance and counter ethnic polarization by providing mutual understanding.

The inability of many African governments to perform and deliver services for their citizens has contributed significantly to the rising tensions between a reform-minded youth and an older generation of political actors who wield power through the politics of exclusion. This is reflected in the pattern of corruption that has plagued many African governments. Five out of the ten worst performers in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index hail from Africa.

In order to promote accountability and good governance, the Open Governance Institute, a Kenyan-based budget and policy research organization, is empowering youth, women, and civil society groups to directly participate at the local level in Kenya’s decentralized government. Open Governance Institute generates research and provides training opportunities for young people to contribute toward determining budget priorities and providing feedback in the use of resources toward stated objectives. This participation of youth has helped align resources to the priorities identified by citizens as well as empowered them to monitor the implementation of planned activities.

The Mandela Institute for Development Studies (MINDS), a continent-wide think-tank based in South Africa, is providing civic education focused on elections and governance to young people through regional education centres across Africa. The Youth Programme on Elections and Governance is one of the four core programs run by MINDS. It aims to help African youth understand the power of their numbers and how they can leverage this to bring about positive change.

Specifically, the program enables youth to understand how some political leaders use the politics of exclusion to subvert democracy on the continent. MINDS also encourages greater youth participation in electoral processes and cultivates ethical and adaptive leadership qualities in the next generation of African leaders. The undermining of democratic governance and accountability has not only provoked violence in many African countries but it has thwarted the interests of a majority of African citizens, including youth.

The Network Movement for Justice and Development and the Kenema District Youth Coalition use participatory videos to encourage dialogue among the youth of Sierra Leone on issues of governance. The initiative has resulted in greater dialogue between youth and local government representatives leading to improved governance outcomes.

Rising inequity from poor governance and abuse of power is especially impactful on youth. Their challenge is to use the tension between the old guard and new for constructive instead of destructive engagement. This tension, thus, provides an opportunity for young people to step up and engage directly and positively.

Despite the enormous challenges the continent faces, young people across Africa are finding avenues to contribute constructively. Through these initiatives, young people are not only learning and increasing their capabilities, they are effectively making things better for themselves and their communities.

The creativity and diversity of initiatives young Africans have engaged in to promote peacebuilding and good governance demonstrates the capacity of youth for innovation and problem-solving. Despite the general exclusion of youth in decision-making, other opportunities exist for them to have their voices heard and for them to drive change.
These opportunities can lead to meaningful engagement that contributes to improved governance and security even when a situation
may appear hopeless.

Peter Biar Ajak/Africa Centre for Strategic Studies

2021. The International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour.

It is estimated that there are 152 million children in the world who are compelled to work with 72.1 million of these in the African continent alone. Out of these, 31.5 million are engaged in heavy and dangerous work. Covid-19 has aggravated the situation.

Before sunrise, Jean Pierre sets out on the rough path that leads to the mine. On his way, he passes the school thinking how good it was to attend the lessons and playing with his friends in the care of their kind teacher. Jean Pierre is ten years old and one day is just like any other, as he works in the Alga goldmine located about 130 km north of Ouagadougou the capital of Burkina Faso. The mine is impressive. It consists of a barren slope covered in grey dust and pockmarked by dozens of pits, some covered by tumbledown shacks. Hundreds of people are busy working around those holes, their faces and clothes disguised by the dust.

Every morning, the ritual is repeated: the Alga miners descend on hand-operated winches into the pits more than 170 metres deep. They work twelve-hour shifts. First, they must dig a pit down to the level of the gold-bearing vein and then proceed horizontally following the veins. They use dynamite to extract the precious metal. The pieces of rock are collected in sacks and brought to the surface. There are many children to be seen crawling in the dust amidst the noise of the generators and other machinery. Some of them are less than ten years old. They break the rocks into small pieces or separate the gold using toxic mercury. Others go down into the pits. Many children take amphetamines to keep working, reduce anxiety and withstand hunger.

Today, it is calculated that there are 152 million children doing the most diversified jobs. Of these, 72.1 million are to be found in Africa (there are 62 million in Asia and the Pacific area). Anyone who has spent some time in Africa considers this number an underestimate.
In African countries, it is quite normal for children to work and this is no cause for scandal.
We are obviously speaking of light domestic work which, in rural areas, includes fetching water from the well or firewood in the bush. These tasks are seen as lessons in growing up, learning how to obey one’s elders and make that essential contribution required by very low-income families. There are also small jobs to be done helping in the fields or fishing for some hours of the day.
The problem arises when the work – sometimes heavy – occupies the whole day, depriving the child of the hope of personal and social betterment provided by attending school. Then there is the question of heavy and dangerous work. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that in Africa alone 31.5 million children work in mines, and on tobacco and tea estates.
Some children involved in recycling material are seriously exposed to substances that are dangerous due to their high toxicity.

Children pan for gold in a hinterland village in the Philippines. (photo credit: Mark Saludes)

The highest percentage of child workers (59%) belongs to the 5 to 11 years age group. In most cases, their work is not remunerated except with a plate of food. Already in 2015, the world leaders signed up to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The aim: ‘To eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025, end child labour in all its forms’.
Things have not followed this path and this was not due to the pandemic. The changing economy, demographic increases and other factors prevent government efforts from moving in the right direction. This is claimed by the technical overseers of the development plans. Doubtless, the time has come for the less fortunate to combat what is happening in some societies.Recently, the ILO sounded a new alarm: a world crisis in the world of work. The crisis is the direct consequence of the pandemic and is numerically quantifiable: during 2020, 255 million full-time jobs were abolished.

This is an alarming figure regarding the global situation and will impact especially the young generations and makes it less likely that jobs will be available for people with no particular qualifications. In such situations, the instinct to survive overpowers any moral questions or good resolutions by international agencies.
According to the Global Employment Trends for Youth, between 2018 and 2020 in Africa, the unemployment level amounted to a little over 40% just as the rate of extreme poverty also reached 40%. This is the situation in which not only children and youth who are now going to school will find themselves, but also those who ‘collaborate’ in the family economy.It is obvious that the goal of eliminating child labour must be concentrated on programmes involving states, work policies, vocational training programmes and even social programs with families. The obligation of sending children to school cannot be seen as a duty where a basic livelihood is lacking but also as a hope that things will improve through education.Covid-19 has certainly worsened the situation, especially for the weakest.

The World Health Organisation has sounded the alarm: about 66 million children will soon find themselves in a situation of extreme poverty as a result of the pandemic, a huge number that is to be added to the 386 million already in such a state.
The forced closure of schools, in some cases for 10 consecutive months, has left millions of children without education, with girls the worst affected. Many governments have not provided adequate assistance to attenuate the impact of the economic recession which has had a disproportionate impact on such vulnerable groups as migrants, minorities and low-paid workers and has worsened the present challenges such as child labour, poverty and inequality in Africa.
(Open Photo: Nasrin (11) fixes her tools for picking through garbage at a garbage dumping site in Dhaka, Bangladesh. © UNICEF/UNI123150/Khan)

John Mutesa

DR Congo. Towards a permanent state of siege in Eastern Congo.

As the security continues to deteriorate in Eastern Congo, President Tshisekedi declared a “State of Siege” on the 6 May and considers to expand it indefinitely as long as the situation does not improve.

Eighteen years after the official end of the war in Eastern Congo, and the presence since 1999 of over 20,000 UN troops, representing an annual cost of one billion dollars for the international community, the region is far from stabilised. The security has deteriorated so much that President Felix Tshisekedi declared on the 6 May the “state of siege” in the Ituri and North Kivu provinces. The state of siege is much stricter than a state of emergency. Civilian authorities were replaced by military and policemen in both provinces. Governors, provincial MPs and civilian courts were indeed suspended. New mayors were appointed in the capitals of both provinces, Goma and Bunia. A curfew was imposed. House searches are now authorised at any time, day and night. The authorities are allowed to ban any publication or rally which may represent a threat to public order, to restrict the movements of people as they please and to bring suspects to military courts.

Félix Antoine Tshilombo Tshisekedi, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

President Tshisekedi seems determined to end the current situation at any cost. It looks so desperate that he has even decided to call to rescue the Ugandan People Defence Force (UPDF) despite the dispute before the International Court Justice between both countries over the Congolese claims for compensations for the damages caused during the Ugandan occupation of Eastern Congo between 1998 and 2003.
On the 11 May, the commander in chief of the Ugandan armed forces, general David Muhoozi Rubakuba came to the city of Beni in North Kivu to set up a centre for the coordination of the operations of the UPDF and the Congolese FARDC forces against the Ugandan-born Allied Democratic Forces rebels (ADF) who have claimed allegiance to the Islamic state and are now operating under the name of Madinat Tawhid wa-l-Muwahidin (MTM, “The city of monotheism and monotheists”. In May 2019, a U.S. Africa Command spokesperson mentioned the existence of “meaningful ties” between IS and the ADF.
The ADF whose founders belong to the Muslim Indian-born tabliq sect are accused to have killed over 1,000 people in North Kivu since 2014, are now rated as the main terrorist threat in Eastern Congo. One of the challenges is that the group which was born from the merging of the Ugandan Muslim Freedom Fighters Movement, a Sudanese-backed militia, and of the National Army for The Liberation of Uganda (NALU), whose aim was to create the independent state of Rwenzururu in Western Uganda, has now strong Congolese connections. The proximity of the Bakonjo ethnic group of Uganda with the Nande and Talinga of the DRC has contributed to increase ADF’s influence in Congo. Nowadays, the ADF have more Congolese fighters than Ugandan ones.

Butembo City. Gavin Finnegan/ CC BY-SA 4.0

Yet, the ADF is not only an Islamist militant organisation. Racketeering, extorsion of property, blackmail or mere survival are other motivations for its fighters, says the New York-based Congo Research Group.
Unfortunately, the ADF whose main headquarters are in the Mount Ruwenzori area, are not the only threat. Further South, several Mai Mai groups from the Nande tribe are spread between the cities of Butembo and Lubero. Then, the area, North of Goma, between Rutshuru, Katale and Ishasha, is virtually a Hutuland, and is almost completely controlled by the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda created by the Hutu genocidaires in exile. Yet, their expulsion is not an option since most of these fighters who are sons of genocidaires are married to Congolese women. Then the Virunga National Park, has become a sanctuary for dozens of Mai Mai groups (Lafontaine, Jackson, Nguru, Charles, Nyatura, Dario Syaghuswa, etc…).
Many of these were born as self-defence organisations against Mobutu’s army who looted the local populations.

Congolese FARDC forces. (infocongo.net)

In this context, since the proclamation of the state of siege, the FARDC claimed that they have regained control of 12 villages in North Kivu, in the Walikale, Rutshuru and Masisi areas. On the 1 June, the Congolese army reported that 70 collaborators of the ADF were arrested during an operation called Sokola 1 while the Defence Ministry said a network of criminals who beheaded their victims in Ituri had been dismantled.
However, in early June, the Civil Society of North Kivu deplored that the first month of state of siege did not bear the expected results with still a very high toll of casualties amounting to 100 deaths in Ituri and 157 in North Kivu  “Few military operations have been carried out since the beginning of the state of siege and the security of civilians has deteriorated in the North Kivu and Ituri provinces”, said experts from  the Kivu Security Barometer, set up by Human Rights Watch
and Congo Research Group.

Virunga National Park. Guy Debonnet /CC BY-SA 3.0

On the 25 May, 17 villages of the Ruwenzori area were abandoned by their inhabitants following attacks from the ADF rebels. Other attacks were reported on the 7 June against the displaced camps of Boga and Tchiabi, during which the hospital of Boga was destroyed by fire and 50 people died in the incident. The ADF are recruiting well beyond their stronghold as showed the arrest by the Congolese army South Kivu youths at Eringeti. To make things more complex, a Nandé MP, Jean-Paul Paluku Ngahagondi, explains that the nature of the conflict in North Kivu is not a “holy war” but rather a conflict for land between Nandés and Hutus. Accordingly, no message of Muslim predication has been heard in the region. Moderate Muslims are also paying a heavy toll; The imam of the Mavivi Mosque near Bunia, Cheikh Moussa Djamali who spoke against the jihadists and one of his colleagues were killed by the ADF in May. There are also clashes between ADF and Mai Mai militias around Mount Ruwenzori and between two different Mai Mai groups in the Lubero territory of North Kivu, the Nduma Defence of Congo led by a warlord called Guidon Cirimwami and the Front of Patriots for People/People’s Army. Eventually, in front of this situation, the Congolese authorities decided to extend the duration of the state of siege for 15 days on the 3 June. And President Tshisekedi said in a press conference in Goma on the 14 June that it would remain in vigour for an unlimited period of time, as a necessary measure to eradicate the violence of the 120-armed groups which are active in Eastern Congo.

Yet, people in Kivu express doubts about the possibility of a victory. Despite considerable funding, the UN, the Congolese army have shown unable so far to stop violence in the region. One of the explanations is that General Muhindi Akili Mundos, now under US sanctions who was appointed by former President Joseph Kabila, as head of operations in 2014 and 2015 has been accused of cooperating with the rebels and making business with them instead of fighting them.
According to the manager of a coffee estate of North Kivu, it is an open secret that the DFLR and the Congolese army are working hand in hand. The officers of the Congolese police and of the FARDC are often seen in the company of Hutu rebels’ officers. Sometimes, the UN Mission for the Stabilisation of Congo (MONUSCO) blue helmets or the FARDC organise military operations against the rebels. But curiously, the rebels and almost everyone in the area are warned that the operation will take place, three days in advance. At the end of the day, the DFLR or other rebel militias leave their camps before the operation and only a few elders or injured fighters remain there and get arrested. Beside unconfirmed allegations of corruption concerning some Congolese army officers or UN military, a current explanation of such attitude is that warning the rebels means avoiding major clashes. “Neither the UN or the Congolese troops are really keen to risk their lives” says our source.

Other provinces of Eastern Congo are facing similar problems. President Tshisekedi has been urged by the civil society of the Upper and Lower Uélé provinces, close to the border of the Central African Republic, to impose also the “state of siege” to allow army operations against the Mbororo cattle herders from Chad and the Central African Republic who are equipped with AK47.
In South Kivu, the situation is also volatile. The Congolese army detained in June a former military officer, now leader of an armed group who claims to defend the rights of the Banyamulenge shepherds in the Itombwe Highlands against militias from other ethnic groups. But tensions remain. Simultaneously, a large exodus is taking place from the President’s Kasai region towards the much richer Katanga area. The migration which is triggered by hunger could spark ethnic violence in the destination area. The Katanguese who perpetrated pogroms in the 1990s against the Kasaians fear that they could be “ invaded” by their neighbours. In addition, since Kabila is no longer in office, Katanguese are frustrated not to hold anymore the key jobs in the government. Difficult times are ahead.

François Misser

 

Mali “A coup within a coup” in an increasingly fragile country.

The 24 May coup against an attempt to reduce the influence of the military has increasee tensions between the authorities and their main supporter in the war against the jihadists that could be lost since France and its Sahelian allies do not appear to share any longer the same strategy. Meanwhile, the jihadists are making progress.

On the last 24 May, a communiqué announced the dissolution of the government on the national TV and a government reshuffle. Two or the five colonels of the ruling junta formed after the 18 August 2020 coup which overthrew the civilian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita (IBK), accused of corruption, the Defence Minister Sadio Camara and the Minister of Security, Modibo Kane, were sacked by the transition President, the 70 years old retired colonel, Bah N’Daw. The latter was seeking to reduce the influence of the military in the interim government, following popular protests and strikes against the growing militarization of the institutions and also against their lack of efficiency.

However, the reshuffle prompted a third officer, Colonel Assimi Goïta, the commander of the special forces and the Vice-President of the transition government, who is considered as the master mind of the August coup, to stage what has been dubbed in Bamako as “a coup within the coup”. A few hours after the broadcast of the communiqué announcing the government reshuffle, Goïta retaliated with another communiqué which stated that he had been forced to act in order to “rectify the transition”. Later on, he told religious leaders in Bamako that Bah N’Daw’s decision had been a dangerous one since he had excluded from the government, two commanders of the national guard and therefore was threatening to create divisions within the army in a situation which is already very fragile, in front of the jihadist military expansion. On the same day, the transition President and Prime Minister were arrested at their homes and brought to the Kati military camp, at 15 km from Bamako and forced to resign. Four days later, on the 28 May, Goïta was proclaimed by the Constitutional Court.

Colonel Assimi Goita. The new transition President.

The 30 May, in an interview published by the Paris-based weekly Journal du dimanche (JDD), the French President, Emmanuel Macron disapproved the coup and threatened to pull out the 5,100 troops of the French anti-jihadist “Barkhane” operation in Sahel, Macron wanted to show his irritation in front of alleged plans by the authors of the coup to strike a deal with the Al Qaida and Islamic State related groups, which would have undermined seriously the Barkhane operation. Macron’s narrative is that there is no point for France fighting the jihadists if the Malian authorities (like those of Burkina-Faso) are simultaneously holding openly talks with the enemy and giving him a kind of political recognition and credibility. This is particularly the case of the authors of the 24 May coup who consider the Great Imam of Bamako, Mahmoud Dicko, as their spiritual guide. It is an open secret that negotiations between the authorities and the jihadists have the imam’s blessing. Yet, this trend is not a new one. Before IBK was overthrown last August, such negotiations had started.
In the event of such deal, the continuation of Barkhane would become meaningless, considers the French establishment. “We do not have a vocation to stay there forever”, told Macron to the French paper.
Another source of irritation for Paris, is the new Malian President’s decision to appoint as Prime Minister, Chogué Maïga, a former minister considered as pro-Russian.

ECOWAS headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria.

Macron’s warning was aiming at putting pressure on the regional leaders of the Economic Community of West-African States (ECOWAS) who met on the 31 May in a special summit to find a common response against the authors of the coup, with the hope they could persuade them to come back to the constitutional order.
But off the record, French analysts doubt that the threat of a withdrawal of French troops will materialize in the near future.
Three days after Colonel Goita was sworn in as Mali’s transitional president on the 7 June, Macron announced during a press conference that France’s Barkhane counter-terrorism operation would come to an end and be merged into a broader international mission. Accordingly, the details of such withdrawal should be finalized by the end of June after consultations with African and European partners.
Yet, the withdrawal will not be immediate and would even take years. Half of the 5,100 troops of Barkhane should be pulled out during the first quarter of 2023. The plan is to keep later a reduced number of special forces of some hundred troops and provide support to the armies of the G5 member states, alongside with European partners, within the European “Takuba” operation. The problem however is that France’s EU partners are not very enthusiastic about participating to it.
The problem is that the mission is challenging. Macron says that France cannot go on working with governments in the Sahel who negotiate with Islamist militants. At the same time, France suspended its joint military operations with Malian forces. Finally, eight years after its launch in 2013, Operation Barkhane has not been a success. It has not been able to stop the jihadist expansion in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
At least 50 French troops died in combat, over 8,000 Africans mainly civilians have been killed, about two million people have been displaced, stress French media.

French troops in Mali.

Meanwhile, at the regional level, the reaction is cautious. The Accra summit of the 31 May called for a return to the constitutional order and suspended Mali from participating to the ECOWAS institutions. The ECOWAS called for the creation of an inclusive government with a much strong civilian component. One of the consequences is that Mali will not access anymore to certain loans but altogether ECOWAS did not adopt a package of severe sanctions like in 2012, when it decided to close the borders with Mali and applied economic sanctions. Altogether, considers the political scientist Niagale Bagayoko, one can consider that the package or regional sanctions is a “minimalist” one. On the 3 June, the African Union also announced Mali’s suspension. But critics find this kind of measure as a toothless one.

At the same time, observers point out that the 24 May coup was received with much indifference in the streets of Bamako. Such apathy or fear from repression by the military does not give much incentive to fellow African leaders to be more “papists than the pope”.
In fact, the only demonstration which was reported was one of the military junta supporters with some of them, waving Russian flags.
The problem with adopting sanctions against Bamako’s new military regime is that they might further weaken the already fragile Malian army, which despite, the French and UN presence, has lost a lot of ground to the jihadists. In the centre of Mali, around the city of Mopti, the jihadists are now controlling the countryside, with the fighters of the Fulani preacher, Amadou Kouffa’s Macina “Katiba” (brigade) striking deals with the village chiefs of the Niger Delta and even of the Dogon mountains. For years now, the jihadist presence is no longer restricted to the Tuaregs’ Northern area but has expanded deep to the South.

Less than a week after the coup, the Malian army showed again its tremendous vulnerability, when a group of jihadists attacked a road checkpoint in the South of the country, at Bougouni, on the strategic road between Bamako and the border of Cote d’Ivoire, killing one policeman and four civilians. This is the first time, the jihadist carried out an attack in this area, which had been considered as safe until then.
United States already cut their military support to the Malian army. It is likely that the coup may deter other European states to get more involved in the “Takuba” mission of training and advisory to the Malian combat troops. An additional problem is that the authors of the coup claim say that the implementation of the 18 months roadmap of the transition and the return to constitutional normality which includes free and fair elections, will be delayed, which causes irritation among Mali’s international partners. But attempts to strangulate or coerce the ruling military risk to undermine them at the very moment they face enormous difficulties against an enemy who knows the fields and operates in mobile motorbike units, like a sort of modern cavalry and is increasingly ruling large areas of the country, imposing the sharia law.

François Misser

 

 

 

 

Central African Republic. Giving Hope.

A country broken by years of civil war. The difficult journey towards reconstruction. The need for reconciliation and forgiveness. Comments by Mons. Jesús Ruiz, the new bishop of Mbaiki, in the southwest of the country.

For eight and a half years, we have been immersed in brutal armed conflict. As the Church, we live this suffering with the people, not only with the Christians but with the entire people of Central Africa. The Church is a moral beacon for the country, one of its reference points. Despite the war, we have remained at our post, unable to do much, by the side of the suffering people.
The people of Central Africa understand this as is shown in Bangui, the capital, where the number of people applying to join the catechumenate and be baptised has increased three times over.

Mons. Jesús Ruiz, the new bishop of Mbaiki.

As the Episcopal Conference of Central Africa, we have spoken clearly on three aspects. The first is the reconstruction of the social fabric. This does not involve rebuilding the hospitals that were destroyed or the schools that were burned down – all that will come later; now is the time to rebuild hearts, to heal wounds and dry tears since every family is forever mourning the loss of members who were killed. We have a country full of common graves and a terrible hatred has been created. Nor should we forget the 1.5 million internally displaced people and refugees who must return to their homes. All of this will demand immense pastoral commitment.
Secondly, there is the question of justice. There can be no real peace without justice and at this time, there is total impunity in the CAR. Assassins of thousands have been appointed ministers, some of whom are being prosecuted by the International Court of Justice (CPI). Justice is not revenge; victims need to be heard, otherwise we shall have a peace that cohabits with lacerated hearts.

Then we are faced with the need for mercy which must lead us to reconciliation and forgiveness but will need time to heal all the wounds. The Church has always maintained that Central African Muslims have the right to live in their own country and this has made us unpopular. Cardinal Dieudonné Nzapalainga was even insulted for preaching reconciliation and that Christians and Muslims can learn to live together. I recall how people in my parish of Mongoumba used to call me ‘The Chadian’ because I defended the Muslims.
When, in 2017, I celebrated a Mass of thanksgiving for my episcopal ordination, people of my very own community whistled at me during the homily for having said that, until the Muslims who had fled the country came back, we would never be the people God wants. This is why reconciliation is fundamental to the universal fraternity that the Church has always preached and which is proper to it.

Mbaiki, the diocese entrusted to me, has an area of 20,000 km2 and about 300,000 inhabitants, 20% of whom are Catholic. We have ten parishes, seven diocesan priests and a dozen religious priests as well as about thirty Sisters, almost all of whom are Congolese. We are very short of personnel but we are helped by many committed catechists and lay people. Together, we shall have to implement reconstruction, justice and mercy in the diocese. Not one Muslim is left in Mbaiki; all of them have disappeared and all the mosques have been destroyed. We cannot ignore this situation and we have to do all we can to get them to return.

One area in question that touches my heart is that of the Pygmies who are present in all the parishes of the diocese. Despite being between 15,000 and 20,000, they are a minority oppressed by the rest of the population. Our diocese, too, must respond positively to these brothers and sisters of ours. We have already started some schools and other initiatives specifically for them but I dream of a special pastoral plan for these people. Of course, we must not forget the ecological question either. Our territory lies within the basin of the River Congo and is the victim of large-scale deforestation – uncontrolled deforestation goes on night and day – that is destroying the forest. This is all connected with the exploitation of mineral resources. The Russian company Lobaye is mining gold regardless of the pollution of the entire environment, leaving aside its effects on the local population. Our little Church is not very powerful and I am not yet sure how to tackle all this, but we must network and condemn these situations. We must also empower our catechetical in-training in Justice and Peace. For now, I am following my episcopal motto: ‘He loved me and gave himself for me’, because the missionary experience comes from knowing one is loved by Our Lord and so, if I manage to love my people, no sacrifice will have been in vain.

An International Court of Justice to end Impunity for Transnational Companies.

The purpose of private companies is to develop activities that report on economic benefits to their shareholders or owners. Few private companies, apart from seeking economic performance, have in their statutes an altruistic purpose that seeks the integral development of people or the protection of the environment.

The legal regulation of companies is always in conflict with their economic interests and ethical self-regulation of companies is erroneously associated with diminishing profits. It is considered that the more regulations a company must comply with, the greater its obligations, dedicating more material and human resources to it, and therefore it is assumed that the company receives a lower profit margin.

So far, transnational companies (TNCs), regarding human rights and the environment, are subject to the national legislation of the country in which they carry out their activities and in which they have their registered office. In the same way, international treaties or conventions that promote human rights and protect communities, oblige companies if the country has signed and ratified the said treaties.

States oversee making international treaties effective and applying them. Only in some issues are there International Courts of Justice with the capacity to judge certain crimes against humanity. However, there is no common human rights and environmental mandatory legislation for all transnationals regardless of the country in which they operate. Moreover, in the case of multinationals, when operating in different countries, they know how to avoid their civil or criminal liability. Until now, with few exceptions, the parent company of a European business group considered itself not responsible for the behaviour of its subsidiaries when they operate in Africa.

There are countless known cases in Africa of large transnationals (SHELL, TOTAL, GLENCORE, SOCFIN, FERONIA, etc.) that have systematically violated human rights with total impunity or breached international legislation on the environment without the states having the capacity to end such impunity.
But not only large transnational companies maintain this attitude, many other international small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) take advantage of the weak democratic institutions and corruption in developing countries to maintain behaviours that evade their obligation to respect fundamental rights of people and communities.

Even though international mechanisms on the behaviour of companies are increasingly demanding, these principles or guidelines are voluntary and leave their implementation to the discretion of the companies themselves. International conventions on human rights and the environment are often ignored and local populations and communities are left unprotected. National legal systems are insufficient to protect the fundamental rights and the environment, making it almost impossible for victims to access justice or request reparation for the damage caused by TNCs.
For this reason, international binding mechanisms are necessary requiring appropriated behaviour and control of transnationals.

Some transnationals flaunt the implementation of voluntary guidelines for Business and human rights as an advertisement for ethical behaviour that makes companies attractive to investors and shareholders. But there are also many cases discovered in which this advertising does not obey reality and the projected image is invented or falsified.

The United Nation legally binding treaty on Business and human rights is an opportunity to transform the voluntary mechanisms of respect for human rights and the environment into direct obligations of companies to which they must be accountable to society. Voluntary mechanisms are clearly insufficient and the treaty need to be united to the creation of an International Court of Justice established to judge non-compliance with direct obligations by companies. With such courts a multiple benefit would be achieved:

First, the creation of an international court of Justice for TNCs reinforces the task of States in the guarantee of human rights and the environment. It is a proactive policy on the part of companies that would no longer limit itself to avoiding certain conflicts but to acting proactively in favour of people’s rights, local communities, and the environment.

Second, the creation of an international court of Justice for TNCs would make it possible to reinforce the effectiveness of human rights. The UN binding treaty on Business and Human Rights must define which are the exact obligations of the companies and would help to classify for what actions and omissions of the companies, these could be judged, sanctioned and punished.

Third, an International Court of Justice for TNCs would guarantee access to justice for the victims and it would provide adequate compensation to those affected by human rights violations caused by transnational corporations. The obligations of the TNCs would not be simply an observance of legal measures but an action to defend and protect the workers’ rights and the health of the communities.

Finally, the International Court of Justice for TNCs would enhance the protection of the environment with concrete obligations. The companies would be obliged to repair the environmental damage caused by their economic activity, as well as the restoration of the environment once their business activity has ended.

The binding treaty must therefore include in its articles the creation of an International Court of Justice for TNCs with clear and concise powers that allow the implementation of the requirements of the treaty. Otherwise, we will be fighting for a clawless treaty in which states can continue to act without the zeal necessary to end the impunity of TNCs.

The International Court of Justice for transnationals is not a substitute for national justice but one more mechanism that helps nations to protect human dignity.

José Luis Gutiérrez Aranda,
Trade Policy Officer,
Africa Europe Faith and Justice Network (AEFJN)

Child Migrants. Alone with their destiny.

They travel alone. They may fall into the hands of human traffickers. They often end up in detention centres without knowing why or for how long. The mental health repercussions may be irreparable.

Maria Lourdes is just seven years old and is travelling with some people she does not know. Together with others she has crossed the Rio Grande. She looks around, not knowing what to do next.  Her story is that she travelled by bus to Mexico with her father for twenty-two days but he then went back to Honduras, leaving her in the hands of a young man who was supposed to help her cross the Rio Grande into Texas. “He told me to go on ahead and to look after myself “, she says. It is not known what became of the man who was meant to look after her but the girl joined up with a group heading to the border and travelled with them. They walked across the Rio Grande Valley (Rio Grande in the United States) one Sunday night when the temperature was as low as 10 degrees Celsius and the girl was wearing a yellow jacket with pictures of cartoon trains and a black mask to protect her from the Coronavirus. Seeing her crying, hungry and thirsty, some other migrants took charge of her. They continued their journey on foot to a country where they knew nobody apart from a relative living in South Carolina. “She is a very brave girl”, said Magali, the woman who took care of her.

In the month of March alone, more than 19,000 minors crossed the frontier and there are today around 22,500 of them being held by agents of the frontier police.
Children are kept for months in detention centres where conditions are deplorable. Without their fathers and mothers, the children sleep alone and have lost count of the days. They are disoriented and do not know either where they are or what they are doing there. They do not understand the laws that separate them from their families. The damage caused to their mental health may be irreparable.
Four out of every five of the migrants are from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Most of those from other Central American countries say they are trying to escape from the poverty and violence of their own countries; they intend to seek asylum in the United States.

President Biden has given his Vice President Kamala Harris the task of negotiating with the leaders of those countries to reduce the flow of migrants to the north. The US administration has, however, admitted that it will take a long time to tackle the root causes of migration, poverty and violence.
Father Franciscus Asisi Eka Yuantoro, parish priest of Donna, Texas, the only parish on the border between the United States and Mexico, believes that, with the present situation on the border, his first concern must be for the non-accompanied minors trying to enter the United States.
“It is very important to protect the children as the cartels are involved in the situation. Another serious problem here is human trafficking. Children need to be protected as they are not familiar with the process or do not know how to adapt to this new situation. We need to create a programme that will really help and guide the children”.
Fr Yuantoro is head of the Catholic church of St Joseph which serves 3,000 Catholic families – the total population is around 16,500 – in Donna parish in the south of Texas.
It is located about fifteen miles from the border. He says he also has a chapel in the southern part of the parish about four miles from the border which provides them with ‘direct contact’.

The parish of Donna is part of the Rio Grande Valley, one of the border sections where migrants most frequently try to cross over into Texas.
The priest continues: “The only problem at present is that we need volunteers to protect the children and assist them. The government must have someone in charge of protecting them as they themselves do not know what they can do as migrants with such a difficult process and all the other obstacles. Secondly, the children need protection before they cross the border and the bridge as some of them are in vulnerable situations and need to be protected from the cartels. We have to assist them. I have also seen that the cartels abuse the children and use them for their own ends, so it is essential that we protect the children from these dangers”, he added.

The frontiers of Europe
The problem concerns not only the Mexico-United States border but also those of Europe. An increasing number of minors are boarding boats to cross the Mediterranean or to take the Balkan route.
According to the Lost in Europe association, many of these are small boys and girls who end up in the network of human traffickers as victims of sexual and occupational exploitation.

Even the younger children are not exempt. What they all have in common is that they are foreigners and unaccompanied, forced to leave their countries for such calamitous reasons that vary from war to economic problems.  The number of foreign non-accompanied minors who disappear in Europe is truly frightening.
It is said that, in all of Europe, between 2018 and 2020, there were 18,292 disappearances. The association condemns the various governments of Europe that avoid the question.  “The question is certainly underestimated – explains one of the leaders of Lost in Europe – often these minors flee from the reception centres, and so become one problem less, especially economically, for the countries that should really have to take care of them”. Europe, the association points out, has failed in one of its most important duties, that of protecting and assisting anyone who is a minor in the continent, as indicated in the Charter of Fundamental Human Rights of the European Union as well as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
According to data gathered by the 27 EU countries, as well as Norway, Moldova, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, the majority of minors who disappear are male and over fifteen, almost all from Morocco, Algeria, Eritrea, Guinea and Afghanistan. Some disappearances are due to children going to look for relatives living in various European countries but many are connected to the criminal network. “We are talking about human trafficking – the association continues– boys and girls who end up in the network of small crime in the large cities, exploited by their fellow countrymen for a little money, both sexually and occupationally”.

There is, however, another point that is often forgotten: the dangers that minors encounter when in search of their families. These dangers involve winter crossings of the mountains between Spain and France close to Bardonecchia in Italy, when the minors place themselves in the hands of ‘passeurs’ (those who lead the children across the borders), paying organised crime that by now “pervades the whole of Europe”. A number of international NGOs seek to help these children, making contact with them, even with great difficulty, including having to gain their trust. What is lacking, and this must be concluded, is certainly the interest and commitment on the part of the investigative system that underestimates the question and fails to thoroughly investigate the organisations that exploit these children.
According to Save the Children, there are more than 200,000 foreign unaccompanied minors fleeing from conflicts, persecution or violence, who have sought asylum in Europe in the past five years, but it is probable that the number of boys and girls who have come in is much greater. Many of them, in fact, are forced to live a hidden life in Europe, in danger of exploitation and abuse. This has been affirmed in the new report ‘Protection Beyond Reach’ of Save the Children.  More than 700 minors, new-born infants included, have lost their lives attempting to reach the coasts of Europe during dangerous sea voyages.

Francis Jouan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fascinating mystery of migrations in the African skies.

Hundreds of species of bird migrate seasonally, covering enormous distances, urged on by irresistible instinct. Scientists have discovered the origin of this behaviour and the surprising ability of birds to ‘learn’ from their journeys.

The African skies are full of migrating species of birds that move, according to the season, from one specific place to another to mate, build their nests and reproduce and then return to where they came from. Storks, hawks, cuckoos, kingfishers and dozens of other species yearly set out on their epic journeys, regardless of the enormous distances and dangers.
When summer comes in the southern hemisphere bringing its rains, the trees echo with the call of the cuckoo: the usual call of the red-chested cuckoo (Cuculus solitarius) or the shrill call of the large-beaked cuckoo (Pachycoccyx audeberti), while the grasslands are coloured by the black and white plumage of the Abdim storks (Ciconia abdimii).

Red-chested Cuckoo.

Some of them simply move to different altitudes (altitude migrators), while others migrate across the African continent (intra-African migration), such as the woodland kingfisher (Halcyon senegalensis) which moves from northern to southern Africa, arriving in Zimbabwe in October/November where its peculiar song is to be heard all along the Zambesi valley.
Others instead make longer journeys, starting from the southernmost regions of Africa, all the way to the northernmost regions of Europe or Asia (Palearctic migrators). Among these are the cuckoo and some eagles and buzzards like the common buzzard of the steppes (Buteo buteo vulpinus), or the better-known storks such as the white stork (Ciconia ciconia) that fly thousands of kilometres from one continent to another, across the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea. Some Palearctic migrators constantly travel around seven thousand kilometres while others, like the long-tailed partridge (Sterna Paradisaea), accomplish an exceptionally long journey of fifty thousand kilometres!

Lilac-breasted Roller. (Max Pixel)

The migratory instinct of birds is irresistible, released by complex physiological changes induced by changes in the length of the day, the climate and the temperature, including, in some cases, the increase of predators or parasites, or the reduction of resources such as the availability of food. The physiological causes are mainly attributable to hyperactivity of the reproductive glands which stimulates the production of hormones, preparing the birds for the long journey. Hormonal hyperactivity stimulates hyperfagia which increases food intake and an increase of up to 50% in weight in the form of fat (though not so much as to hamper flying ability) in the smaller species.

Following airstreams
During migration, some bird species fly by the usual beating of their wings: these are generally the smaller species such as sparrows and swallows. Others, of larger dimensions, tend to use thermal updraughts created by the heating of the air by solar radiation and reflection of heat from the ground.

Southern yellowbilled hornbill’s; tockus leucomelas © Can Stock Photo / Byelikova

This particular technique results in a remarkable degree of energy saving, as much as 75%, when the bird, following the updraught, flies using its wings like sails, without having to flap them to keep moving: something like freewheeling on a bicycle. However, this method forces the migrators to follow overland routes (updraughts are created over the continents) that are much longer and more complicated than those of the smaller migrating birds. Furthermore, migration is confined to daytime when the sun warms the air. The small birds, on the contrary, despite their energy-intensive method of flying, travel more direct, shorter routes, travelling overseas and deserts.

Flight plans
Generally speaking, migratory birds land regularly to rest or to feed but here too they differ according to their species, size, their diet and their flying technique. The large sailing birds take off in the morning when the sun rises and starts to warm the land and the air, creating thermal updraughts, using the currents throughout the day and landing at night. The small birds, instead, prefer to fly by night when the temperature is lower and there is less dehydration. Small insect-eating birds manage to feed during flight while the seed-eaters, the storks and birds of prey have to land. But how do migratory birds find their way and every year manage to reach the place where they reproduce, returning home without ever getting lost? To us humans, who sometimes get lost, even in a city, this represents the most mysterious and fascinating aspect of bird migration.

The experience of the journey
Just as with all the more evolved animals, behaviour is the result of two components: instinct and learning, characteristics that are also seen in the migratory activity: the birds follow an inborn instinct but also learn from their elders. For guidance, they use the position of the sun, the stars, the prevailing winds, geomagnetism and inertial forces as well as topographical references, smells and sounds. Some of these elements are determined by instinct but others, such as land references, are learned by the older individuals that guide migrations they have accomplished dozens of times already.

One aspect of migratory birds is their ‘internal clock’, which enables them to know the exact time of day and the right direction from the constantly changing position of the sun and stars. This ability, together with their ability to feel the earth’s magnetism, provides the migrators with a natural ‘compass’ which they use to find the right direction. Practically, we may say that instinct, their innate ability to use the earth’s magnetic field and their sense of time enable the migratory birds to know the right direction, but geographical references and experience enable them to know the right path and so unerringly navigate to and from their destinations.
These are fascinating creatures that we ought to look upon with more respect, looking forward to the day when we are again able to journey to our customary goals or indeed to new destinations.

Gianni Bauce/Africa
Open Photo/ © Can Stock Photo / francovolpato

 

 

The puppies of Islamic State.

Born in the Caliphate and indoctrinated to believe
in a ‘different world’.

The images are few and taken from a distance. They show boys from 9 to 15 years old with Kalashnikovs in their hands, shooting as they run. They throw themselves to the ground and immediately rise again, shooting all the time. Behind them, an officer of the Islamic State shouts the command to advance and not to be afraid. The guns are heavy and are hard to carry. These are the puppies of IS. The term is used in ISIS propaganda:  the males are called puppies and the girls are called ‘the flowers and pearls of the Caliphate’.

They may be married at the age of nine and have the task of building up the community of believers by giving birth to men and sending them to war. UNICEF estimates that they number between 700 and 1,000 children who were born in the surrounding areas of Syria and Iraq and therefore come under the Caliphate of Daesh. However, it is obvious that this estimate is only approximate since it does not take into account the local families. There are three important differences between the child soldier of Sub-Saharan Africa and the puppies of the IS: recruiting, schooling and religion. In Africa, child soldiers are recruited by force by armed groups but the Jihadists never recruit by force. In 90% of the cases, this comes about at the desire of the parents, many of whom are themselves Jihadists.

Once recruited by force, the African children never again go to school. They are trained to shoot, carry ammunition and carry out military tasks. ISIS instead opens the schools: the child Jihadists go to school and have textbooks in which the subjects studied are all filtered through fundamentalist eyes.  There is a process of strict indoctrination. The ISIS schools use more than forty different textbooks. Then there is the matter of religion: the child soldiers in Africa undergo brainwashing using some deformed and extreme religious input that is gathered randomly from different religions to which the children belong. In the case of ISIS, everything is based upon the theological, social, juridical and moral study of Islam. In the evenings, before going to bed, the mothers tell the children stories of Islamic martyrs. In the schools, such subjects as music, design and philosophy have made way for exclusively religious subjects such as memorising the Koran, elements of theology and Islamic law. History is restricted to Islamic history; physical education is transformed into ‘Jihadist training’ and includes lessons in shooting, swimming and hand-to-hand combat.

The duties of the puppies
The IS puppies have five tasks based upon the personal characteristics acquired during training. The spy group is a sort of preparatory grade for all before they are called to become specialised in a sector. The families and friends look on and have the duty to report those who do not respect the IS rules. Those who show communicative skills are engaged as preachers to spread the ideology of Islamic State and enrol future combatants.  The third level is that of the soldiers who are deployed on the front and also as guards at the headquarters. Then, there are the ‘executioners’ who carry out executions; in this way, acts of atrocity are normalised and power over the children is increased.

They are taught that to be an executioner who kills people by decapitation or by cutting their throats is a privilege and an honour. The highest level is occupied by those called ‘suicides’ who are used in martyr operations. The children are used for this as they usually are less afraid than adults: blindly and loyally, they volunteer for martyrdom, strong in the ideology of those who trained them. Those chosen for this role firmly believe that death on a suicide mission is the greatest of honours. Today, a fourth and new level of Jihadism has been reached, a dimension that involves not only mediated content but really builds up a ‘different’ vision which, by opposing reality, prevents any understanding of it. This is the background against which the phenomenon of child Jihadism moves.

A parallel world
Even though it has been defeated territorially, ISIS has inculcated into its adepts a representation of reality that is so invasive that it continues to survive in the parallel world in which they have been indoctrinated.  Nourished by the milk of extremism and having grown up in training camps, the children have been formed in such a way as to leave them dehumanised. The work of ‘de–radicalization’ is difficult since the seed of the Caliphate has been sown in their minds and their world is permeated by a Jihadist view that makes them tend completely
towards Jihadism.

Where do they live after Daesh has been dismantled? Some of them live in confined areas within refugee camps on the border between Syria and Iraq, others live as orphans in some Syrian cities while others are children of foreign fighters who have returned to Europe.
Today, many of these children are held in special sections set apart for them within the refugee camps of Middle Eastern countries. Their being kept apart is understandable given the atrocities perpetrated by Daesh. It is also true that, without a deep and specific de-radicalization, the Jihadist groups of the future will only increase. In this complex situation, the children are the real victims. In fact – as stated by Georges Abou Khazen, Vicar Apostolic of Latin Catholics in Syria –  “they exist and do not exist since they are not to be found in the registry of births and, without being registered, they cannot enrol in a school […] and so it is necessary to give a name and a future to these children to help them have a life to which they can look forward”.

Stefano Luca

 

 

 

 

 

 

Justice during COVID and climate change.

The impacts from the coronavirus pandemic and climate change manifest longstanding injustices that continue to put corporate profits over and above the benefit of all people.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted a longstanding chasm of inequality as deaths have numbered thousands and millions have lost their jobs, healthcare, and meagre life savings. Our broken world’s economic and social system has come clearly into view, along with the ways it prioritizes corporate profits for the few over the health and wellbeing of the many.

The world’s vulnerability to COVID-19 in many ways mirrors our vulnerability to the climate crisis, another global emergency that’s playing out over a longer horizon, but manifesting in equally unjust ways. There is a better way forward. Through visionary, concrete actions that ensure social, racial, and economic justice for everyone, we can protect ourselves, as well as the only planet we will ever have.

Covid and climate change public health experts have warned for years that a pandemic was coming, that we weren’t prepared, and that too many were excluded from the healthcare system. While coronavirus vaccines are slowly distributed, millions continue to shelter arduously from the global pandemic. People’s ability to socially distance themselves, however, reveals vast inequalities.

Some can work from home, but some have no homes at all to shelter in. Others are on the verge of losing the roof over their heads due to sudden unemployment. There are many who must choose between going out to the front lines of this emergency- sometimes even when sick –  or risk losing their livelihoods, including delivery drivers, grocery store clerks, farmworkers, warehouse employees, health care workers, nurses and home health aides. They do so often without proper protective gear and among crowded conditions. They are primarily blue-collar workers who are often paid low wages, and likely to be women and black.

Many of the members of these communities are also on the frontlines of the climate crisis, bearing the brunt of devastating storms, wildfires, and crop failure. They are also most likely to experience food and water shortages, disease, and poverty.
The decisions being made around both the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate crisis reveal who is listened to most in our society—and who suffers the consequences of government inaction.

COVID-19 reveals two fundamental things about our world: a lack of a strong social safety net, and the lack of a commitment to equity for all. Both have roots in an economic exclusion. Segregation, isolation, exclusion. For black people, indigenous communities, and tribal nations, social distancing from their communities is an all too familiar concept.

These systemic injustices also impact other vulnerable communities, including migrant communities, de-industrialized communities, depopulated rural areas, the poor, low-income workers, women, the elderly, the unhoused, the incarcerated, people with disabilities
and youth.

Both COVID-19 and climate change underscore a fundamental concept about justice that frontline communities have known and felt for all too long. One cannot separate racial justice, social justice, economic justice, or environmental justice from one another. It’s all justice; both crises can only truly be addressed through broad-based, holistic solutions that tackle the systemic injustices within our society that allowed them to thrive in the first place.

Completely retooling our society is no easy feat, but the key to change is collective action, as history has shown and as we’re seeing yet again. Farmers in India are protesting the dire inequality that has existed across much of the country for decades and has only been exacerbated by COVID-19.

We must rebuild our global economy sustainably and equitably—to lead to a future we all want to see for our families and communities, and particularly for those that have borne the brunt of a historically unjust system that puts profit over people and the planet.

Keith Rushing & Jessica A. Knoblauch/earthjustice.org
© Can Stock Photo / focalpoint

 

Uganda. The art of dance.

For the Karimojong, a pastoral and semi-nomadic tribe living in the north-eastern regions of Uganda, dancing is part of life.
An artistic expression to be found in the various situations and events of the community.

Loud hand-clapping in time with the singing sustains the dance. A young man and woman enter the circle as they move, looking at each other and coming close but never touching. Rhythmically, they try to jump as high as they can. This is the art of the dance!
The Karimojong often dance, both in the villages and the temporary enclosures (nawi) they build when they take their flocks to pasture. They also dance in all circumstances, whether joyful or sad. All they need is a piece of clean, level ground; singing and clapping are used instead of the various musical instruments. Karimojong dancing has a natural simplicity and, at the same time, has an artistic quality.

Karimojong girls. C. C. A/TASHOBYA

When a suitable place is found, the young people take their places according to a plan that has stood the test of time. The men occupy two thirds of the perimeter of the dancing area, leaning slightly forward with their ever-present batons (ebela) under their arms, loudly clapping their hands in time with the singing, and thus directing and sustaining the dance. The rest of the perimeter is occupied by the girls who, one or more, enter the circle and compete ‘artistically’ with one of the youths. The two dancers, now leading the dance, perform their dancing without touching, trying to jump as high as possible. When, usually after two or three minutes, their performance ends, the girl thanks her partner with a gracious curtsy and smiling they move aside, giving way to another couple. The circle will not be left empty for long. Another young man will immediately dash into the centre of the group intoning his song and starting to leap as high as he can into the air; he is immediately joined and imitated by another girl.
Each young man who enters the circle to start a new dance intones his song with which he sings the praises of his favourite ox, and his girl, recalls some important event or lists the characteristics of his totem. In fact, at every singing festival of any standing, a real poetry and music repertoire is performed, following a traditional model. In the world of the Karimojong, the words and melodies of all these sung performances constitute a rich cultural heritage.

The great dance
Dancing is not confined to any particular time. The Karimojong will dance at any time of the year. However, when the community is busy cultivating the fields, they take a break from dancing. However, they will abundantly make up for lost time after the harvest (adaun akilem), towards mid-September. That is when they begin the new ‘lyrical dancing season’, akiwalakin edonga. The ‘great dance’ that will last from evening until dawn the following day. It is also the time, between one dance and another, for arranging one’s matrimony.
During this special season, the dances are held without interruption, in one village after another, preferably in the evening. The young men spend entire nights at them and prepare themselves carefully, showing off the most beautiful hairstyles and ornaments. Their bodies, smeared with butter, emanate a fascinating ebony colour.
The group organising the dance goes around informing, first of all, the people of the area. On the morning before the dance, the girls grind the durra necessary to make the polenta they will serve to the young men and guests from nearby villages. Those invited, their heads decorated with large coloured feathers, start to arrive around four in the afternoon, starting the dance.

Karimojong village

The girls show off all their ornamental beads and, intentionally and gracefully, shake and flap the goatskins they are wearing. The young men use all their physical prowess to show themselves off as they perform the acrobatic jumps required by the rules of the dance.
Towards sunset, some of the girls leave the group and return to the villages to see to the proper preparation of the polenta. The others remain at the dancing area. It is not unusual, however, for the mothers to take the place of their daughters in preparing the polenta that is cooked in a pot containing water and milk. When it is ready, it is put into gourds (ngadere-kai) and seasoned with butter and roast cucumber seeds (ngkolil). The girls from one of the villages pour the polenta into one or more basins (nga-tubae) and season it once more. They then take it to the meeting place where, towards ten in the evening, at their invitation, the young men suspend the dance and take their places to consume the meal. The basins of polenta are placed in front of the dancing area; the girls sit on one side and the young men on the other, happily dipping into the same food. The young men and women of the place — the organisers – do not eat but see to it that all goes well.

Goodwill Speeches
Once the meal is over and the vessels removed, the gathering of young people meets for a brief ceremony of a socio-sacral character: the inaugural invocation of wellbeing for all, especially the young girls. The president, or the one making the speech, having repeated the traditional invocations, focuses them on those present. ‘Ngikosidwe ngulu sapa ka ngapesur adwarum. Pa adwarut a?’ (Our young men and girls are developed (sacred) and mature for marriage. Are they not?). All those present reply: ‘Adwarut ’, (They are developed!). And again: ‘Ngikosidwe ngulu sapa ka ngapesur akiitar. Pa eitasi a?’, (Our young men and girls are ready for marriage. Are they not?). The assembly replies: ‘Eita-si ’, (They are ready!). The verb, however, is used in the past tense, as if the action were already complete: ‘they are sacred, mature, already married’.

The speeches are followed by a special dance, the akimomwor and then the general dancing is resumed with greater enthusiasm and vigour, until morning. The celebration of the akiwalakin edonga is attended almost exclusively by the young men and grown-up girls. The young men use the occasion to seek out a future spouse. Towards evening, while the dancing is going on as usual, a young man may courteously take the hand of a girl, call her to one side and greet her (akiting). The Karimojong say: ‘Erai inges akimal, erai inges akiting apese’, (It is just to greet her and ask her to be his fiancée). In fact, the behaviour of the couple is limited to the exchange of a few words. If they find each other likeable, they will follow the matter up later on, not that evening.

Seeking Pledge
In the morning, the girls of the area return to the villages to grind some more durra and prepare a second meal for those present. The girls who are guests, instead, stay in the dancing area and continue dancing. When the polenta is ready, the dancers are invited to enter a cattle compound (atamanawi) in the nearest village.
The meal is consumed and followed by another ritual dance. At this point something surprising happens. Without warning, the girls who prepared the polenta stand close together and block the exit of the compound, preventing anyone from leaving. Then the young men are forced to push the girls out of the way to open a way out.

Karimojong traditional dance. C. C. A/TASHOBYA

In the chaos that follows, the girls try their best to gain possession of a pledge of some sort: a feather, a sandal or any item belonging to the young men. If the young man from whom the pledge is taken is poor, he will not return to ask for it back. If, instead, he is rich, having many cattle, he returns to the girl and asks for the pledge. The girl will do so only after being promised something, often an animal. After a few days, the young man returns to her bringing the promised animal, killing it with his own spear. The meat of the animal is eaten only by the elders and the young men; the women are excluded.
The invited dancers, having left the cattle compound, no longer mix with the young men of the place. They again dance and then leave for their respective villages. The others continue dancing until late.
At sunset, the girls collect the remaining polenta in a single vessel, season it again and take it to the elders. This polenta is called napuwa, the dust, in memory of the dust raised by the dancing. This marks the close of the akiwalakin edonga. (A.P.)
Open Photo Credit: Uganda High Commission, London

Avoiding the Suez Canal.

A single ship lodged in the Suez Canal halted maritime commerce and caused a rise in oil prices. Many countries are looking for alternatives.

All it took was for the container ship Evergreen to become stuck in the Suez Canal, on 23 March 2021, for the global economy to suffer severe repercussions (Bloomberg estimates a loss of 9.6 billion dollars). A sandstorm in Suez produced an earthquake (financial) on Wall Street.
The Suez Canal receives 12% of world goods: 30% of container ships, 10% of goods and 4.4% of world crude. When the accident occurred, the price of crude jumped considerably, almost 6% on the first day after the blockage. During the epidemic, the abundance of supplies, the poor economic outlook, and the decrease in production in line with demand, kept oil prices down.

The cargo ship MV Ever Given stuck in the Suez Canal near Suez, Egypt, March 23, 2021.

The fact remains that the Suez Canal, and other narrow straits used by merchant ships, are a source of enormous profits for those who manage them, and the countries where they are located. Toll fees from ships transiting the Panama Canal in 2018 reached a record high of 3.3 billion dollars, constituting the chief source of income of the Central American country. However, at the same time, these passageways are fragile and delicate bottlenecks. Benefits and risks are leading half the countries of the world to seek alternatives.

Container train from China to Europe

There are two railway alternatives to maritime transport. The first involves a journey of 11,000 km from China to the Atlantic, a journey that would take only 15 days while the sea journey takes 60.
However, trains would carry a much smaller amount of goods than container ships.The second alternative would be a high-speed line that would bypass the Suez Canal, running from the Egyptian port of Ain Sokhna, in the south, to El Alamein, on the Mediterranean, in the north, a journey of 500 km that would take but a few hours (though it would be necessary to take into account the time necessary for loading and unloading goods from the ships).

Many countries are working on the problem: Thailand, China…
In the geo-strategic field, other Asian countries are considering new modes of transport. Thailand is working on a project to build two ports on each side of the narrowest part of the country, connected by a railway. This would facilitate the transport of goods from the Gulf of Thailand to the Sea of Andaman, from the western Pacific towards the Middle East. The aim is to avoid one of the narrowest and most congested and dangerous straits in the world: that of Malacca, facing Singapore. More than any other country, China is hard at work to ensure itself alternatives to sea transport for its goods. The more prominent initiative, launched by President Xi Jinping in 2013, is the Belt and Road Initiative. It consists of an impressive series of railways connecting the country to South-East Asia, Central Asia, Pakistan, and Europe.

Arctic shipping routes. Northwest Passage and Northern Sea Route. Maritime paths, used by vessels to navigate through the Arctic.

The main railway will connect China to Europe, passing through Kazakhstan, Russia, and Belorussia. Others will connect Xinjiang to Turkey and also to Russia through Mongolia. At present, the railways connecting China to Europe are unable to transport any more than 10% of the total exports of the Chinese colossus.
The Arctic maritime route, which Xi Jinping also supports within the Belt and Road Initiative, promises to take on increasing importance with the advance of global warming which will facilitate navigation from Shanghai to Bergen in Norway, in collaboration with Russia. Nevertheless, the danger of accidents leading to the spillage of oil into the sea and the consequent environmental catastrophes, are not to be underestimated.
Part of this strategy to develop new commercial roads to become less dependent upon the Suez Canal is the agreement between China and Iran to create a land corridor between Central Asia and the Middle East.
Open photo:  Suez Canal. ©Byvalet/123RF.COM

Simone Siliani/CgP

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