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Nine Challenges Facing Young People in Syria.

Thursday, 1 October 2020 8:00

For over nine years, violence and displacement have devastated opportunities for youth across the country. Here are nine of the most pressing challenges facing young people in Syria today.

1. Damaged schools. School buildings across Syria have not been shielded from the conflict. Many classrooms have been severely damaged and, in some cases, only rubble remains. The buildings which remain are often used for other purposes, such as shelters for displaced people. In addition, school staff have often been forced to flee themselves, and there is now a significant lack of qualified teachers. This makes it difficult for children and young people to access education or learn in an effective way. It has devastated the educational experience of millions of young people across Syria.

2. Lack of documentation. Many young people in Syria, including those who have been displaced, lack the required documentation required to prove their educational achievements and to re-enrol at the appropriate level. A significant proportion have had tochange curriculum during the conflict, and their previous studies are often not recognised in their new location. Even for students who have stayed within the same governorate or city suffer from changing curricula as lines of control shifted. Checkpoints regularly inhibit students from continuing their education or attending exams safely.

3. Cost of schooling. In areas where school buildings remain standing and the students have access to appropriate documentation, the cost of schooling is still a barrier. Families are often unable to afford school fees, uniforms or travel costs.

4. Young people having to work. The instability the Syrian people have felt over nine years of protracted conflict has led to crippling levels of poverty, only further exacerbated by the recent economic crisis. According to the United Nations, over 90 per cent of the population in Syria lives below the poverty line. This has forced many children and young people to drop out of education to assume adult responsibilities. They are compelled to work to help feed their families.

5. Child marriage.In conflict settings where poverty rates are high, child marriage tends to increase. It is often a desperate response to extreme circumstances. Prior to the conflict, child marriage existed in Syria, but to a much lesser degree. According to Girls Not Brides, 13 per cent of Syrian women aged 20 to 25 were married before the age of 18. New research by World Vision International revealed an alarming increase in child marriage; adolescent girls and boys as well as their families note that child marriage has become more common since the start of the conflict as families face added vulnerabilities brought by instability and economic hardship.

6. Trauma. Witnessing prolonged conflict can have significant consequences for mental health. Many young people in Syria suffer from the trauma of war, experiencing nightmares and struggling to focus in school. The period of late adolescence and early adulthood is a key stage for developing important life skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving and socialisation. Having to deal with trauma and insecurity at this crucial stage can cause significant psychological stress that affects young people’s development.

7. Conscription. Young men in Syria face the prospect of mandatory military conscription, which if avoided, can affect their ability to move freely in the country. Some drop out of education and miss work opportunities.

8. Unemployment. When young people are unable to complete their education, their future employment options and earning potential are compromised. Fifty-five per cent of the working population in Syria is unemployed, and youth unemployment is even higher. Female youth are suffering the highest rate of unemployment, with 84 per cent of girls aged 15 – 24 unemployed, according to The World Bank.

9. Lack of hope. Young people in Syria dream of a brighter future for themselves and their country. They have the commitment and drive to make this happen, but the barriers can often seem insurmountable. As many await peace to return to Syria, it is impossible to set goals for the future. In these circumstances, all hope can be lost.The young people of Syria need and want pathways that provide them with the knowledge, skills, and support required to build a new future. These pathways should help them prepare for the decades to come when they can stop focusing on day-to-day survival and start working towards fulfilling their hopes and dreams.

Rebecca Crombleholme
Norwegian Refugee Council

Pope Francis. Listen to the call to mission.

Thursday, 1 October 2020 8:00

This year World Mission Day will be celebrated on Sunday, 18 October. In his message, Pope Francis writes: “The missionary journey of the whole Church continues in light of the words found in the account of the calling of the prophet Isaiah: “Here am I, send me” (6:8), A synthesis of his message.

Il his message, Pope Francis said: “ In this year marked by the suffering and challenges created by the Covid-19 pandemic, the missionary journey of the whole Church continues in light of the words found in the account of the calling of the prophet Isaiah: “Here am I, send me” (6:8). This is the ever new response to the Lord’s question: “Whom shall I send?” (ibid.). This invitation from God’s merciful heart challenges both the Church and humanity as a whole in the current world crisis.”

Pope Francis continues: “We are indeed frightened, disoriented and afraid. Pain and death make us experience our human frailty, but at the same time remind us of our deep desire for life and liberation from evil. In this context, the call to mission, the invitation to step out of ourselves for love of God and neighbour presents itself as an opportunity for sharing, service and intercessory prayer.
The mission that God entrusts to each one of us leads us from fear and introspection to a renewed realization that we find ourselves precisely when we give ourselves to others.”
Once again Pope Francis reminded that “The mission, the ‘Church on the move’, is not a programme, an enterprise to be carried out by sheer force of will. It is Christ who makes the Church go out of herself. In the mission of evangelization, you move because the Holy Spirit pushes you, and carries you. God always loves us first and with this love comes to us and calls us. Our personal vocation comes from the fact that we are sons and daughters of God in the Church, his family, brothers and sisters in that love that Jesus has shown us. All, however, have a human dignity founded on the divine invitation to be children of God and to become, in the sacrament of Baptism and in the freedom of faith, what they have always been in the heart of God.”

“Life itself, as a gift freely received, is implicitly an invitation to this gift of self: it is a seed which, in the baptized, will blossom as a response of love in marriage or in virginity for the kingdom of God. Human life is born of the love of God, grows in love and tends towards love. No one is excluded from the love of God, “The Pope pointed out.
Pope Francis asked: “Are we prepared to welcome the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, to listen to the call to mission, whether in our life as married couples or as consecrated persons or those called to the ordained ministry, and in all the everyday events of life? Are we willing to be sent forth at any time or place to witness to our faith in God the merciful Father, to proclaim the Gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ, to share the divine life of the Holy Spirit by building up the Church?”

In his message, Pope Francis said that: “Understanding what God is saying to us at this time of pandemic also represents a challenge for the Church’s mission. Illness, suffering, fear and isolation challenge us. The poverty of those who die alone, the abandoned, those who have lost their jobs and income, the homeless and those who lack food challenge us. Being forced to observe social distancing and to stay at home invites us to rediscover that we need social relationships as well as our communal relationship with God. Far from increasing mistrust and indifference, this situation should make us even more attentive to our way of relating to others. And prayer, in which God touches and moves our hearts, should make us ever more open to the need of our brothers and sisters for dignity and freedom, as well as our responsibility to care for all creation. The impossibility of gathering as a Church to celebrate the Eucharist has led us to share the experience of the many Christian communities that cannot celebrate Mass every Sunday.

“In all of this, God’s question: “Whom shall I send?” is addressed once more to us and awaits a generous and convincing response: “Here am I, send me!” (Is 6:8). God continues to look for those whom he can send forth into the world and to the nations to bear witness to his love, his deliverance from sin and death, his liberation from evil (cf. Mt 9:35-38; Lk 10:1-12).”
Francis concluded: “The celebration of World Mission Day is also an occasion for reaffirming how prayer, reflection and the material help of your offerings are so many opportunities to participate actively in the mission of Jesus in his Church.”

Cameroon. Football versus alcohol.

Thursday, 1 October 2020 8:00

A soccer championship is useful in order to keep hundreds of young people of the Baka ethnic group in Cameroon far away from alcohol consumption.

The sun is going down in the town of Mintom, in southern Cameroon, one of the regions of Central Africa with the highest concentration of pygmy population.
The sky is turning orange and red and dozens of boys and girls have come together to play several simultaneous games, sharing a small soccer field next to the town’s Primary School.
The first day of the Baka Alcohol Free Championship has just ended, a football tournament that serves as a background for a project that aims to young people of the Baka Pygmy ethnicity to the dangers of alcohol consumption and offer them a healthy alternative for their leisure time.

Alcohol has become a serious problem among young Baka people. And even more serious since, a few years ago, small plastic bags containing 5 ml doses of whiskey, gin or vodka popped up on the market. Their low price, equivalent to € 0.15 per dose, makes them very accessible and widely used among the members of this community, who have replaced their traditional drinks with alcohol in sachets.
In 2014, the Cameroonian Government passed a law prohibiting the importation, production and sale of alcohol sachets as they contributed to serious health problems. The reasons for the ban followed the observation that the drink contained in sachets was not produced according to norms, as producers were using methanol instead of ethanol, hence the alcoholic content was very high and detrimental to the human system, causing even death due to respiratory failure. The Cameroonian Government’s decision included a moratorium of 24 months (which would expire on 12 September 2016), in order to enable the distillers sell their old stocks and ensure their production too should comply with the new standard.

But the reality is that the sale of alcohol sachets on the street has not stopped. “The government knows who produces the alcohol sachets and where they are sold, but it does nothing to prevent it”, says a local seller, adding that “in practice, after the ban, nothing has changed”.
The production of affordable alcohol in sachets was well received in Cameroon, since it opened to many the consumption of a product until then reserved to those who had the means to afford it. Its availability and cheap nature often led to carefree intake. The consumption of these products became a real social scourge, a danger to the population’s health especially among young Baka people, who, by drinking, find an accessible way to escape from reality and forget their problems. This high consumption of alcohol leads them, in many cases, to suffer serious health problems, school drop-out, or unwanted pregnancies.
Alcohol addiction also reduces their ambition to improve their personal and collective situation.

However, “Football has become a catalyst, a way to reach young people and raise awareness of how harmful alcohol can be in their lives”, says Hippolyte Akono, president of the organizing committee, head of the NGO Near and Far and promoter of the Baka Alcohol Free Championship. “Thanks to football we have been able to get in touch with this sector of the population, which is usually very difficult to reach”.
For a week, 120 boys and girls from different villages in the region, divided into eight teams, participate in the tournament, which this year celebrates its fifth edition. The objective is to be able to carry out an in-depth work with young people by analysing the causes and consequences of alcohol consumption. This is done in a sports setting characterized by the experience of living with other ethnic groups and the sense of sharing and participation.

In the mornings, soccer players attend conferences and workshops in which various topics regarding the promotion of health and the problems caused by alcoholism are discussed, and in the afternoon, girls’ and boys’ teams participate in the soccer competition. For years, this tournament has become a benchmark in the area, and hundreds of people attend the event, singing and dancing to cheer their teams.
“Things are changing little by little”, says Mirabelle Assampele, player of the Ax-Dja team, “in the first edition you could see the spectators themselves consuming alcohol while watching the games. Today everyone is sober and enjoying football matches”.
The championship, after the first two editions, has started to draw the attention of local authorities and the country’s media to the Baka community and their young people’s consumption of alcohol, a reality that was unknown in the large cities of Cameroon.
“Quitting drinking alcohol has been one of the most important decisions of my life”, says Romeo Kombo, player of Ax-Congo, who has participated in all previous editions, “I can work better and be more helpful for my family now, and besides, I have stopped being a troublemaker at home”. For several years now, Romeo has been working to help young people in Akom, his hometown, to give up alcohol and fight to build a better future for the young people of the Baka group. He adds smiling, “The situation will change, if we carry on with our initiative: promoting healthy leisure activities as an alternative to drinking”.

Xavi González Rodrigo

Cote d’Ivoire. A clash of dinosaurs dominates the presidential election race.

Tuesday, 1 September 2020 8:00

After the crisis that followed the presidential election of 2010, the country is facing another duel of dinosaurs during a campaign where ethnic and nationality issues might spoil the debate.

The death, on the last 8 July of Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly has completely changed the political game in Cote d’Ivoire. Indeed, ten years after the presidential election of 2010, won Alassane Ouattara (now 78 year old) against 75 year old Laurent Gbagbo, the elections of the next 31 October might again be focussed on the vexed issue of “ivoirité” or national preference, promoted by his rival.
At the time, the fights which followed Gbagbo’s proclamation of victory, after a massive fraud, caused some 3,000 deaths during clashes between the national army and the “new forces” rebels who were supporting Ouattara and ethnic cleansing operations by pro-Gbagbo forces against Northerners and Muslim civilians. This prompted The Hague-based International Criminal Court to prosecute Gbagbo for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Ivory Coast’s President Alassane Ouattara.

Despite his promise not to run for a third presidential mandate, President Ouattara announced he would again be candidate, on the last 6 August. The decision was not apparently easy to take since it could provoke diplomatic tensions. On the one hand, it ignores the Economic Community of West African States’ recommendation to set a limit of a maximum two mandates. Then, it came at the moment, France and United States are urging President Alpha Conde of Guinea, not to run for a third mandate. It embarrasses particularly President Emmanuel Macron of France who paid tribute last March to Ouattara’s ‘historical decision’ not to run again. It seems however that Gon Coulibaly’s death left Ouattara with no other choice than run himself to fill the vacuum. Both men were very close.
They both belong to families of Northern chiefs who have been allied for generations: Gon Coulibaly’s family from Korhogo and Ouattara’s family who founded the Kong empire. They both represent the Muslim vote and are supported by the Senoufo and Dioula tribes. The problem was that except Hamed Bakayoko, the Defence Minister who was appointed Prime Minister to replace Gon Coulibaly, on the last 30 July, there were not other potential candidates to win the Northern vote, whom Guillaume Soro, the former leader of the New Forces, who split with Ouattara a few years ago was threatening to capture.

Former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo. Under house arrest in Belgium.

Yet, Bakayoko lacks Ouattara’s charisma, say many Ivorians. Besides, Ouattara’s party, the Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP) wanted to avoid a succession war which might have weakened it in front of the big rival, Henri Konan Bédié, the leader of the Democratic Party of Cote d’Ivoire (PDCI) founded by the Independence hero and first president of the nation, Félix Houphouët Boigny, who comes from the same central Baoulé region.This time, the competition looks harder for Ouattara than in 2010 and 2015, when he won with the PDCI’s support. Indeed, the former allies, RHDP and PDCI split in 2018, when Bédié considered that Ouattara had not respected a deal consisting in supporting his own candidacy in 2020, in exchange for his support to Ouattara on the previous elections.
Moreover, there could even be a shift of alliances. According to Gbagbo supporters, there is an agreement between the pro-Gbagbo faction of his party, the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) and the PDCI to support Bédié during the presidential campaign.
Gbagbo who was acquitted by the ICC in 2019 has asked formally the Abidjan government to be allowed to return home. His supporters want him to run. But it is unlikely he will come back before the election and register as candidate. Until end June 2020, he was still living under house arrest in Belgium after his acquittal, pending from an appeal by the ICC prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda. Eventually, the prosecutor’s office admitted it had been unable to come up with enough evidence during the trial and the appeal is likely to be rejected. In the end, Gbagbo has been authorised by the ICC to move out of Belgium, provided that another country accepts to host him.

The obstacles for his return are in Cote d’Ivoire, where his return risks to spark disorders. Indeed, at the beginning of June, a group of victims expressed its determined opposition to his return. An additional problem is that Gbagbo might be arrested at his arrival to Abidjan airport. His acquittal by the ICC has no legal influence on the 20 year prison sentence he must serve after an Ivorian court ruled that is decision to seize control illegally of the Ivorian branches of the West African States Central Bank between December 2010 and April 2011, was a criminal offence. Gbagbo must also face the divisions inside his FPI party, whose legal leader, the former Prime Minister Pascal Affi, N’Guessan has put an end to negotiations on the reunification of the party in June 2020 after the opening of discussions without his consent on a possible alliance between Gbagbo and Bédié.
The problem is that such an alliance between the so-called “socialist” Gbagbo and the conservative Bédié has only one common ground: ethnicity. Both claim to defend the rights of the “true Ivorians”, the owners of the land and try to portray Ouattara as non-Ivorian who defends the interests of foreigners, in the name of a restrictive concept of Nationality Law which denies the rights of one fourth of the 23 million inhabitants who were born in the country but whose parents were born in another country, to the Ivorian citizenship.

Another burning issue is the legality of Ouattara’s candidacy. The constitution of 2000, under which he was elected in 2010 and 2015 and the constitution of 2016 make both limit the maximum number of subsequent mandates to only two. But Ouattara’s supporters argue that since the country is ruled since the 30 October 2016 national referendum by a new constitution, the limitation does only apply from that date. The preparation of the election is sharply criticised. The African Court of Human and Peoples Rights estimated on the last 15 July 2020 that the composition of local electoral commissions in Cote d’Ivoire was unbalanced in favour of Ouattara’s party. The PDCI called for a complete reshuffle of the Independent Electoral Commission. But the Abidjan government is not prepared to make concessions It no longer recognizes the competence of the African Court since April 2020.

The situation for Ouattara is far less comfortable than in 2015, when he won at the first round by 83%, owing to Bédié’s support. He’s now facing the opposition of the former spokesman of the New Forces and former National Assembly speaker, Guillaume Soro, who lives in exile in Paris and was sentenced in April 2020 to 20 year prison, for an alleged involvement in the embezzlement of public funds. And Soro is now having talks with Bédié’s friends, his enemies of yesterday.
An RHDP politician says such kind of alliances is potentially dangerous, because these unusual bed fellows don’t share a common project but only a wish to topple Ouattara. Yet, the anti-Ouattara alliance is not easy to form. Esmel, a University teacher from the Dabou area, at some 60 km from Abidjan, is convinced the authorities and preparing a massive rigging of the election, because they fear that it cannot be won otherwise. Accordingly, RHDP party teams are distributing free of charge identity cards to the peasants who can hardly afford to pay
the eight dollars they cost, and even distribute some among
Burkinabè or Malian foreign workers or the nearby rubber plantations, against a vote for Ouattara.

Accordingly, it is difficult for the opposition to campaign in the Northern part of the countries, which is Ouattara’s stronghold, which should influence the results. But RHDP officials dismiss the accusation. They remind that the government declared Northern Cote d’Ivoire a military operational zone in order to prevent new jihadist infiltrations, after the attack on military barracks at Kafolo, on the last 11 June, which killed 14 Ivorian soldiers and injured six.
The opposition accuse Bakayoko and the younger brother of the President, Téné Birahima Ouattara, who is in charge of the intelligence services to arm so-called commandos of “hooded men” in order to intimidate opponents in case the rigging plot does not work. Amnesty International suspects that arrests of Soro supporters since end 2019, are politically motivated. But RHDP officials dismiss these accusations and urge those who make them to come up wit evidence.

François Misser

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Pope Francis advocates for poor countries’ debt crisis.

Tuesday, 1 September 2020 8:00

In his Easter Urbi et Orbi message, Pope Francis urged all nations to “meet the greatest needs of the moment through the reduction, if not the forgiveness, of the debt burdening the balance sheets of the poorest nations”.

While poor countries face a double threat – the COVID-19 pandemic and the debt crisis, it is of the utmost importance to find a long-term plan to restructure the debt beyond the pandemic. Allowing debt payments this year will help in the short term, but the economic and social consequences of the pandemic will not end soon.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused and is causing diseases and deaths all over the world and is pushing several people into poverty. The coronavirus crisis is turning into an extended debt crisis for many developing and less developed countries.

In order to help the poorest states to concentrate their resources in their fight against the coronavirus pandemic, on 15^th April 2020 the G20 decided to temporarily suspend the debt service for 76 low-income developing countries eligible for funds from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), which includes all least developed countries. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) also offered further debt service relief to 25 of the poorest countries.

Private creditors did not take part in the debt moratorium decision, even if they were invited by the G20 to join the initiative. The Institute of International Finance, which includes over 450 banks and investment funds, has made known that private creditors will comply to the proposal, but on a voluntary basis.
It will therefore be necessary to ascertain whether they will suspend their credits, in order to prevent the risk that the beneficiary states may use the freed-up resources for the repayment of the private creditors, instead of tackling the coronavirus crisis.

At the moment, just Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia and Senegal have asked for assistance and the majority of the eligible states have not yet requested a debt moratorium, since they fear to be viewed as high-risk borrowers in the future and to be punished by rating agencies.

In any case, the G20’s decision to suspend debt payments is a first step in the achievement of the goal of the international solidarity, but much more is needed. Temporary actions or simple declaration will not suffice to avoid defaults. A comprehensive debt restructuring process managed and coordinated by an independent international body (and therefore not the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank) is needed. Moreover, a particular priority should be debt transparency, since the arrival of new and non-traditional creditors has exposed flaws in the data collection and information about political activities of the beneficiary countries.

The debt relief is, of course, an important goal to achieve justice and equity within the international community, but also economic and political stability in developing and poor countries is decisive, because it guarantees more trade opportunities and fewer fiscal risks and conflicts. For these reasons, it is time to raise citizens’ awareness of this crucial issue and make political initiative able to promote, at the same time, the stability of the international economic system and the development of the poorest countries.

John Paul Pezzi, mccj
VIVAT International NGO
with consultative special status at UN

African Youth Sowing Seeds Of Peace.

Tuesday, 1 September 2020 8:00

Starting afresh from children to build a peaceful future in Africa. Rely on their energies to transform the continent into a better place.

This is the sense of a virtual meeting, the first of a long series, organized online by the Arrupe Jesuit Institute (AJI) in Ghana, awaited by hundreds of young people from various countries including Kenya, South Sudan, Uganda, Congo, Ghana , Zimbabwe. Evocative title of the web-conference was: “African youth sowing seeds of peace” and was
led by Father Augostine Edan Ekeno, a Kenyan Jesuit who works
in Rumbek, South Sudan.

Father Ekeno explained the genesis of the initiative and future developments: “Over 200 young people from many parts of the continent connected recently in the first meeting.
Immediately afterwards, working groups have been formed that will meet in Jesuit social centres, scattered in various African countries, to promote actions and return to connect for the next meetings.”

Father Ekeno continues: “In Africa, more than half of the population is under 25 years old: children represent a precious resource yet they are either forgotten and considered a problem or exploited by the lords of war and violence for their dirty interests. Let’s not forget how widespread the phenomenon of child soldiers is, or the recruitment of poor children, who are easily manipulated by acts of terrorism or to create tensions. On the contrary, we know that their enormous presence can be a very powerful instrument of peace and for this reason we aim to involve them by transforming them into real operators and protagonists of reconciliation and development in their contexts”.

In various countries – noted the Jesuit – there are serious crises or situations of real conflict. Individuals learn from childhood, to contrast and grow with the myth of confrontation or war: “Many young people find themselves with a rifle in their hands or are used to create chaos – as in Kenya in the pre and post-election periods or in South Sudan or in other areas – for a handful of money, but they do not even know what or who they fight for. Some feel rivals to others but do not know why, they are seriously manipulated by the enemies of peace.”

“In reality, if accompanied and trained, they unleash a great potential for peace. We put the culture of encounter at the base of our meetings and encourage peaceful conversations that help to exchange experiences. They are spaces for involving children and sharing their problems. We hope to multiply this type of meeting in all our centers across the continent, to use small communities or parishes to encourage new civic education and a positive role for young people”.

It is urgent to overturn the culture of social, tribal and ethnic hatred by unmasking its inconsistency and its profound groundlessness: according to Father Ekeno, this is the point on which to change the face of Africa. “There are places where you grow up thinking that others are always a danger to your survival. And when, due to problems related to famines, wars, lack of work, the population is in serious difficulty, rather than looking for alternatives, one thinks of finding scapegoats, an enemy. This is why we are creating conditions to encourage work alternatives, methods of cultivating the land where it is no longer possible to deal with livestock for example, and help young people to be employed in activities that create the good of their own country”.

The Jesuits in Africa mobilize to spread peace and start from the young. A second meeting will take place in the next few weeks while the circle of young people involved is widening.

“Everyone has taken the initiative very seriously and is taking steps to create an agenda that must focus on politics. We Jesuits stand by their side to guide and accompany them. During the conversation which has just ended, the serious problem of the proliferation of weapons emerged; all agreed that too many weapons of all kinds are circulating in different societies and nations. Our goal, therefore, must be to involve governments and ask for new policies. In the meantime, we aim to expand our network,” Fr. Ekeno concludes.

USA. The Space Force.

Tuesday, 1 September 2020 8:00

China and Russia’s advances have prompted the United States to bolster its own efforts in the quest for space and maintain the supremacy, which represents a key aspect of its global pretences.

In this perspective, President Donald Trump announced on December 20 that the United States would equip itself with a Space Force to defend its interests in space. In fact, The United States, under pressure from China and Russia, which are developing increasingly effective anti-satellite weapons, has decided to shift momentum, planning to deploy a force to defend its 870 US satellites in orbit.

These have strategic importance for the armed forces and inestimable commercial value for world trading companies. In fact, civilian organizations, businesses and the armed forces alike rely on space-based systems such as those deriving from the Global Positioning System (GPS), as well as the satellite network that gathers the intelligence that sustains US navy, air force and ground forces during combat operations. And then there are the activities related to the collection of functional data, the calculation of trajectories and the exact landing spot of any missiles that the United States’ enemies might deploy. The satellite inter-dependence between US armed forces and its economic structure, in fact, presents a major vulnerability, which might compromise the entire system’ effectiveness.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and space research.

Such a hypothesis is hardly outlandish in view of what the other actors have accomplished. Already in 2007, China launched a missile from its base at Xicang, that was able to strike and bring down an old and out-of-order satellite that orbited at 800 Km above the Earth’s atmosphere. And in 2013, the Pentagon expressed concern about a Chinese missile Mwas alarmed by a new missile that always departed from the base of Xicang and that after reaching 10,000 Km altitude orbited Earth only to burn up during re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere, sinking into the Indian Ocean. Chinese authorities stated that it was a small Probe rocket to study the magnetosphere. Yet, some US scientists performed calculations, which refuted this explanation. They said that the rocket in question had been a space rocket that, with precise ballistic trajectory had reached the geostationary altitude. Washington, was forced to admit that China had carried out an anti-satellite test in an orbital range, until then considered inaccessible. From that moment, therefore, control of the orbital range became of crucial interest to the United States. Washington deployed the GSSAP (Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program) equipped with sensors capable of monitoring both missile launches coming from the surface (SAM), as well as orbital manoeuvring – now, one of the most frequent threats in space.
In fact, these manoeuvres make it possible to approach satellites to either destroy or ‘disturb’ them.

President Donald Trump with Space Force Gen. John Raymond, second from left, and Chief Master Sgt. Roger Towberman.

And the threat is not only Chinese. Russia is also equipping itself with weapons capable of neutralizing orbiting American satellites. “Anti-satellite” tests along with other orbital activities produce difficult-to-remove space debris that pose a further threat to space infrastructure and, in this case, especially American ones, whose protection is entrusted to new GSSAP satellites. In line with Trump’s ‘America First’, the US space sector is also benefiting from higher defence spending.
Indeed, in addition to the Space Force, the United States is planning to deploy an orbiting anti-ballistic system, capable of intercepting and neutralizing ballistic missiles during the launch phase from space. It is obvious that, in accordance with the document of National Space Strategy (adopted in 2018), the US wants to bolster its space positioning vis-à-vis its competitors, with the ultimate goal of deterring enemy attacks and – should deterrence fail – have the capability to counter these effectively.

In the opinion of some analysts, the National Space Strategy’s document marks a significant turning point in the international context. It implies that the United States, while remaining the world’s top ‘superpower’, has been forced into adopting a defensive posture, given the side effects and consequences, which a war in orbit might bring for the economy. Hence, Washington has decided to boost its ‘orbiting’ military capability as a deterrent to thwart its enemies’ strategies. Space as a “domain of war” has therefore upset the United States’ biggest military advantage: its geographical position between two distant oceans, which has until now allowed it the luxury of perceiving external threats with unparalleled detachment compared to any other power.

Filippo Romeo

Russia. An Ambitious Space Program.

Tuesday, 1 September 2020 8:00

Russia, which in Soviet times pioneered space exploration in 1957 with the launch of the first artificial satellite (Sputnik 1), continues to pursue an ambitious space program (also through significant investments in the technology sector).

Having 146 operational infrastructures at its disposal, Moscow ranks third in launching satellites in orbit, after the United States and China – but surpassing the latter in the number of active military satellites. The Kremlin, in fact, considers outer space as a strategic domain of fundamental importance for the country’s security. Space allows Russia to boost its ‘earth based’ military capabilities, improving intelligence gathering and communications. And space exploration also gives the Russian Federation the tools to enhance its international and scientific prestige. In that regard, Moscow fears that the advance of US space military activities could jeopardize and neutralize its nuclear arsenal by deploying anti-ballistic systems (so-called ‘Star Wars’).

The Roscosmos State Corporation for Space that is also commonly known as Roscosmos is the coordination hub for all space activates in Russia and is responsible for general aerospace research and also for the space science program of the Russian Federation.

President Putin is trying to remedy this development through a rearmament process with a more effective nuclear deterrent as its main goal. The Russian space program has also suffered because of the many challenges facing the country, including international sanctions that have forced Moscow to cut back aerospace research, as well as blocking the import of technologies and components from European states, which are necessary for Russia to run its activities in orbit. Because of these impediments, some experts suggest that as China and the US embark on an unprecedented space race, Russia has adopted a more cautious approach, mostly aimed at containing its rivals’ space colonization.

However, Russia is also trying to reorganize the space sector. In this respect, it has designed its own global navigation system, the GLONASS (‘Global Navigation Systems) – the equivalent of the American GPS or the Chinese Beidou – and reorganized the armed forces to adapt to the United States’ space challenge. And as for the latter, Russia incorporated space focused units within the Air Force, taking the opposite course of the United States, which developed its own specially dedicated Space Force. The Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS -Vozdushno-kosmicheskie sily), formerly known as the Russian Aviation and Space Agency (RKA), has also undergone a drastic reform (following the loss of credibility and authority due to numerous launch failures). It has become a State Corporation controlled directly by the Prime Minister. The purpose of this renewed impulse is essentially to reinvigorate its fleet of satellites, considered essential in supporting the geopolitical strategies of a superpower of the Russian Federation’s calibre.

After many years of collaboration, the Russian Space Agency has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with its Chinese counterpart to bolster lunar exploration. Russia and China will respectively work on each other’s Luna 26 orbiting probe and the Chang’e-7 mission. The effort could be a response to the United States’ ‘Artemis’ program, which has been opened to Washington’s European allies for participation. Hence the Russians have linked up to the Chinese train, which appears to be set to reach the Moon. The mission aims to collect lunar surface samples and subsequently establish a research base on the south pole of the moon, which is where the United States intends to use as a landing point for its ‘Artemis’ program.
Meanwhile, the war in Syria gave Russia an ideal opportunity to test its modern space fleet and show its progress to the world.

Russia’s outer space network helped Russian forces on the ground thanks to the detailed images that its high-resolution telescopes made possible and to the fact they were transmitted in real time to command and control centres on the ground. In addition, all-weather ‘Kondor’ satellites, in cases when the telescopes were obscured by darkness or adverse meteorological conditions, were able to continue supplying valuable data. The ELINT spy satellites, meanwhile, intercepted enemy conversations. Such equipment will eventually be integrated with powerful anti-missile rocket defensive systems, capable of intercepting nuclear warheads and by highly manoeuvrable hypersonic cruise missiles. These new weapons represent the challenge of the future geopolitical space game. (F.R.)

China’s Mars Mission

Tuesday, 1 September 2020 8:00

2020 is an optimal year for Mars missions, given the close distance between Earth and Mars. This opportunity occurs every 26 months, enabling us to send probes to the Red Planet with less time
and less fuel.

Consequently, there were three Mars missions planned for mid-July through August: the U.S. Perseverance Mars rover mission, the UAE’s Al-Amal (Hope Mars orbiter probe), and China’s Tianwen1 (Heavenly Questions) orbiter, lander, and rover Mars mission.

China’s first Mars orbiter mission, Yinghou-1, launched on the Russian rocket Phobos-Grunt Spacecraft in 2011, failed to leave Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and fell back onto the Pacific Ocean. Thereafter, China officially launched its independent Mars mission in 2016, named Tianwen-1 after one of China’s ancient poems. China National Space Administration (CNSA) Director Zhang Kejian indicated that Chinese space scientists have overcome difficult technical problems, steadfastly solving them by independent innovation and self-reliance for its upcoming Mars mission.

In November 2019, China successfully carried out a simulated test of its Mars mission at its trial site for testing extraterrestrial missions in Huailai County, north China’s Hebei province. That trial run replicated the Martian gravity and tested hovering and landing on the planet’s surface. The chief designer of China’s Mars exploration mission, Zhang Rongqiao, highlighted the difficulty of a Martian landing: “The natural environment of Mars is very different from that of Earth in many aspects, among which the Martian gravitational acceleration is only about one-third of that of Earth. In order to simulate the landing procedure under the gravitational acceleration of Mars, we have constructed this whole facility [at Hebei].”

Why is China investing in a Mars mission, and how does it relate to its long-term space strategy and goals?

First, for China, getting to Mars is one of the global space benchmarks to be checked off for any space power. A successful Mars mission immediately uplifts a country and society to the elite space faring club, which several countries have dreamed of, but few have achieved. While Chinese space policymakers are clear that their long-term space ambition is to continuously develop capacity for a cislunar presence (in space between Earth and the moon), they keenly realize that for global prestige and reputation purposes, a Mars landing is a coveted
prize to capture.
For the space enthusiast community, a Mars mission signals serious commitment to discovery and development of the human capacity to reach, understand, and perhaps one day settle on distant planets.

Chinese space scientists have expressed settlement goals and perceive a successful Mars mission as enhancing that indigenous space capacity. In 2019, China opened its first 53,330 square meters Mars simulation base (at a cost of $22.3 million) in Mangai city, located in the arid desert region of Qaidam Basin in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, aimed at introducing people to life in a Mars-like environment.
This region’s barren, rocky landscape closely resembles the topographical conditions found on Mars.

Second, Mars is the most Earthlike planet in the solar system. To be able to land on and develop a Martian strategy of space development augments China’s space infrastructure. This infrastructure encompasses the development of cislunar capacity, comprising development of satellite presence in the Lagrange points, and robotic presence on the lunar surface. China has located its Queqiao relay satellite on L2 to help communicate between the lunar Chang’e 4 and mission control on Earth. Similar powerful relay communications technology will have to be advanced for China’s Mars mission.

By the end of this year, China is launching the Chang’e 5 lunar sample return mission. Critically, the Chinese Mars strategy is not compartmentalized, but forms an integral part of its larger space logistical infrastructure. In April 2020, the China National Development and Reform Commission added space infrastructure to its list of “new infrastructure” directing government prioritization and investment. China is building a truly independent space infrastructure that includes its independent BeiDou Satellite Constellation, its lunar presence capacity, an independent space station, and now its Mars mission.

Once all is completed and demonstrated, China will work to offer an alternate credible space infrastructure to the world, thereby competing for global leadership in space. China will then not have to suffer NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine claiming, as he did in a May 2020 speech to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the superiority of U.S. Mars landings vis-à-vis China’s tiny robotic landing on the lunar far side. A Mars mission will enhance the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) legitimacy, both internally and externally, and add credibility to its Space Information Corridor, offered to members of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Third, a Martian landing will enhance China’s automated deep space capacities. Because Mars has an atmosphere, the Mars lander will require a heat shield as well as a parachute and thrusters to slow down while descending into the surface navigating Mars’ thin air, all functions automated. Moreover, communications between Earth and Mars takes about 40 minutes, which implies that the rover will have to perform advanced automation, meaning it will have to be fitted with a capability to take autonomous decisions.

The deputy chief designer of the Chang’e 3 probes, Jia Yang, specified that “the Mars rover should be able to sense the environment, plan its route, conduct scientific exploration and detect faults autonomously. It should be a mobile intelligence.” The head of China’s Mars mission, Cui Xiaofeng, specified that the challenges of seven months of travel to Mars (July 2020-February 2021) plus the seven minutes of landing time will prove to be a test of China’s space capacity.

Once the Mars landing is accomplished successfully and the lander releases the 240 kg solar-powered Martian rover with its communication system intact and functioning for its planned period (90 Martian days), China will become the only country, besides the United States, to have accomplished that feat. Several former Soviet Union Mars missions, while succeeding in reaching Martian orbit, suffered from their landers either crashing during descent or losing communication seconds into landing.

Fourth, China believes a Mars mission that realizes all three feats (success in the orbiter, lander and rover stages), in its very first independent attempt will dazzle humankind and establish the maturing of its space science community. In an interview in 2016, Ye Peijian, the father of China’s lunar probes, stated that “although we are not the first Asian nation to send a probe to Mars [India was the first Asian nation to send an orbiter to Mars in 2014], we want to start at a higher level.” According to the CNSA, “to complete orbiting, landing, and roving in one mission” will be an unprecedented achievement.

China cares deeply about how others perceive its achievements in space. That much was obvious when China.org.cn published a video message from the Russian crew members of the International Space Station, Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Wagner, sent to China in celebration of China’s space day on April 24. The message from the two Russian astronauts specified: “The achievements of China over the 50 years of the establishment of the national space program deserve to be recognized and respected [emphasis added]. Although humankind is now facing a severe crisis related to the epidemiological threat, such important anniversaries should not be overshadowed.”

Fifth, China aims to become a serious contender for generating deep space knowledge. China’s Mars rover will carry a total of six scientific instruments, to include a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) that will be the “first of its kind,” along with NASA’s Perseverance rover, to map the subsurface of Mars, including a search for signs of permafrost. Similar lunar subsurface investigations are being conducted by Chang’e 4, which has now entered its 19th lunar day.

China’s Mars mission is part of its larger space infrastructure development geared toward achieving space dominance by 2049. It both augments China’s technical space capacity and enhances the prestige, reputation, and credibility of its space program.
Of note is the fact that China’s investments in its lunar and deep space capacity are ongoing simultaneously.
Once we have a successful Chinese Mars mission, we expect China to then concentrate on developing technologies like Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG) and invest in building nuclear-propelled spacecraft, given it has ambitions for deep space probes.

Bao Weimin, head of the Science and Technology Committee at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) and a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), specified that once the two critical space missions scheduled for 2020 are successful (the Tianwen 1 Mars mission and the Chang’e 5 lunar sample return mission), China will then move on to a Mars sample return mission (2028) and a lunar south pole landing (2030).

China’s intention for its Mars mission was articulated in 2012, right after the failure of its first Mars orbiter mission. In 2016, the CNSA set a deadline of 2020 for its independent Mars mission. Subsequently, we have another Chinese space mission that is about to meet its stated deadline, a feat that offers some level of patterned predictability for future space missions: China’s 2021 launch of its permanent space station, its private sector reusable rocket (2021), its space-based solar powered satellite (2025), and its second independent Mars mission (2028). By 2040, China hopes to crack one of the game-changing technologies for space: nuclear-powered spacecraft.
If successful, nuclear-powered spacecraft will offer enhanced “deep space access” technology to China, something that the nation has been working on for decades now. Given its pattern of success in space, we need to keep close watch of China’s fast evolving space competence as it launches for Mars.

Namrata Goswami
Senior Analyst and Author specializing in space policy,
geopolitics and Great Powers

Africa. Masks that protect and heal.

Tuesday, 1 September 2020 8:00

Wearing a mask is essential when faced with a virus like Covid-19. The notion of human protection from disease by the use of masks is a practice that goes back thousands of years in the traditions of great civilisations all over the world. A glance at African cultures.

In Africa, various traditions have used masks for healing, protection and prevention. But African genius went beyond prevention and healing. It also pictured both diagnosis and diseases. Within the group of mask representations that heal or protect against disease in Africa, the method and usage vary according to the cultural group. The specific meaning of some African masks is expressed through the representation, itself, of the disease and the method used to eradicate pathologies. The physical deformities depicted in masks are clearly seen and constitute a notable series of visual culture.
Images of deformation represent the negative forces or evil spirits that intervene when moral values are transgressed. These representations show debilitating symptoms such as facial paralysis or the destruction of the nose or face caused by such diseases as leprosy, syphilis, cancer, and framboesia.

DR.Congo. Mbangu mask.

One example of a disease-representing mask is that of the Kwilu and Lwange ethnic groups (D.R. of Congo) called Mbangu. This shows a facial deformity. It is bi-coloured and asymmetric. The mask has one good side that is white and another that is black and deformed with a crooked nose and mouth and signs of smallpox near the eyebrows. The facial burn scar of this mask identifies it with the symptoms of epilepsy and describes a person who has had an attack of epilepsy. Symbolically, the remedy for this sickness comes from the opposition represented by the black and white colours of the mask. The pure white of kaolin powder is used during the healing ritual and the black colour symbolises witchcraft and the sickness the ritual is meant to heal.
This is also the case with the mask of the hunter who has been suddenly struck by facial paralysis, probably caused by the evil eye cast by a witch doctor. It may also be the evil eye of a rival who, out of envy, inflicts sickness on his enemy.

DR Congo. Kifwebe mask.

The one who wears the Mbangu mask dances with an arrow in his hump. At the same time both prey and hunter, the dance arouses the desire to hunt down the witch doctors and those who have done him harm. The words of his song invite the listeners to practise tolerance since nobody is safe and the sickness can strike at any time. The dance of the Mbangu incites the individuals to reconsider their attitudes towards their own misfortunes as well as towards the sicknesses of others.
Two masks of the Songye ethnic group (better known as Basonge), who also live in the D.R. of Congo, are identified as Kifwebe. These masks have supernatural healing powers. During the healing ritual, the diviner keeps the mask turned towards the patient while he struggles with the sickness, forcing it into the fire.

Burkina Faso. Bwa mask.

Among the southern Bwa peoples in Burkina Faso, large wooden plank masks are carved to represent various flying spirits that inhabit the natural world. These spirits, though largely invisible, are associated with water and can take physical form as insects that gather around a pool after a heavy rain or as a large waterfowl, like an ibis. Some Bwa describe a mythological encounter in which a flying spirit appeared before a human, offering protection and service. The Bwa mask is believed to possess supernatural forces, which act to benefit the community.
In Nigeria in 1975, in the village of the Izzi, an oracle had ordered a woman to wear a helmet-mask called Ogbodo Enyi. The woman had to wear it several times a year to ward off an epidemic that would have caused hundreds of deaths of children. The spirits of the ancestors, incarnate in the mask, see to the welfare of the people.

Nigeria. Ibibio mask.

In the Ibibio ethnic group (South-East Nigeria), there is a vast corpus of representations of masks related to sickness. These masks picture some diseases such as deforming rhinopharynitis (known as gangosa), as well as facial paralysis (gangrenous stomatitis), tumours and leporine lip.
The patients take the name of the pathological deformity. They are called “No nose”. The secret society called Ekpo which holds political, judiciary and religious power, is the depository of these repugnant masks known as sidiokekpo. Each year, these masks commemorate the ancestors.
The pleasant-looking masks represent the good ancestors, who can help their descendants, while the sidiokekpo symbolise the reincarnation of the immoral ancestors. Dressed in black raffia costumes, the masked men carry weapons and dance irregularly and aggressively. They cause much destruction.

Nigeria. Idoma mask.

The moral obscurity of some ancestors is reflected in the voluntary deformities of the masks which illustrate the devastation caused by diseases such as leprosy. Their purpose is to reflect these anti-social behaviours. The masks are not used to frighten away demons but to remind the public of what can happen if they do not keep the rules. The masks that are black and grotesque, ugly and distorted represent people who died violent deaths (the socially undesirable: those who were murdered or committed suicide, people who stole sacrificial objects, people who were executed for a crime, or those who died without relatives). These rebel spirits are destined to wander endlessly, with no shelter for the night. They are known as Idok Ekpo or souls of the damned since they may inflict disease or misfortune on those who depart from the right way.These masks belong to a category of rare and most ancient masks: the Aribo masks are the product of refined artistry. They show a face adorned with two lumps carved under the chin. These masks are proper to the Idoma ethnic group and are said to have originally had a curative role for women suffering from this disease before they more recently assumed a rather playful character.

Jean-Paul Kpatcha

The Chimpanzee and the Crocodile.

Tuesday, 1 September 2020 8:00

0nce upon a time the chimpanzee and the crocodile were good friends. At midday, the chimpanzee would always go to the riverbank and call the crocodile: “Crocodile come! Let us chat together.”

The crocodile would hear him and go to his friend to have some pleasant time together. One day the chief of all the crocodiles was severely ill.
Several doctors tried to help him but could not find a cure. They all said that it would be worthy to try an ancient tradition: he should eat the heart of a monkey to get better. And so they told the crocodiles to be on the alert and hunt a chimpanzee for their chief.

The following day the crocodile met with the chimpanzee at the river bank. He told the chimpanzee “I wish we could go together to visit a friend of mine across the river.”
The chimpanzee replied that he couldn’t swim. The crocodile offered the chimpanzee his back to carry him across the river. The crocodile took his friend in the middle of the river to the place of his chief.

He told the chimpanzee: “My friend, it is good that we came to visit my chief, he is severely ill and the doctors said he would need a heart of a chimpanzee for getting better. I wish, in name of our friendship, that you could give your heart.”
The chimpanzee was clever and answered considerately: “I will help you with my heart as you asked. However I left it on the tree at home. You should take me back so that I can give it to you.”

The crocodile was pleased and helped the chimpanzee to get back. Once they reached the river bank, the chimpanzee jumped swiftly and climbed his tree. Once on top of the tree he yelled to the crocodile: “You are a stupid crocodile, so go and look for a stupid chimpanzee that will give you his heart. Personally I want to keep my heart for it is precious.” Hence the chimpanzee saved his life and feels safe staying in the trees.

Folktale from Nuer People,
South Sudan

Music: Hope Masike, ‘The Princess of the Mbira’.

Tuesday, 1 September 2020 8:00

Evocative music, blending ancestral melodies and pop rhythms. “I hear our ancestors encouraging us to find our Promised Land and
challenge injustice.”

The Shona People of Zimbabwe love the mbira, a Sub-Saharan musical instrument. The mbira is a small wooden tablet (often about the width of two hands beside each other) on top of which is a series of metal slats positioned alongside one another, almost looking like a compact xylophone. Indeed, the sound the slats (keys) produce when thumbs (with suitably long fingernails) pluck the keys resembles, even if vaguely, that of a xylophone – or something halfway between a harp and bells. The mbira does come in different shapes, sizes and materials.
It is an ancient instrument with a history of usage in the traditional animist rituals. The most recent version of the instrument is known
as the mbira array.

The mbira is the essential instrument of popular music in Zimbabwe. One of its most talented and famous performers and teachers is Hope Masike, a 35-year-old woman from Harare, the country’s capital. Born into a large family of eight children, Hope devoted herself to studying the culture of her people, diving into a wide range of subjects from anthropology and ethnology to jurisprudence, never losing the love for her roots and the dream of an emancipated and peaceful Africa.

Hope has gained a worldwide following over the past 12 years. She has made three albums and won prestigious awards such as the Kora (a sort of Pan-African Grammy Awards), alternating between a solo career and leading the Manoswezi band. Her latest album, released a few months ago, entitled ‘The Exorcism of a Spinster’ brings together a variety of sounds, ancestral melodies and folk pop rhythms in all of the 12 that make up the album, rich with depth and meaning as well: “It’s an album full of desire and hope – said Hope – with songs like Dreams of Dande, where I pray to God and I entrust him with everything that is mine to illuminate my path. In Tona-naira I express all my trust and optimism for the future of Africa. I sense our ancestors inviting us to find our Promised Land, and to rebel against injustice. As an artist and a voice for my people, I create music that makes you think, but I am also happy that there are those who listen to it simply to have fun”.

Indeed, Masike’s songs grab the listener from the first beats with their intriguing rhythms, choruses, and unmistakably Afro vocals. And the same can be said about the colorful videos that feature the songs, which often depict the millenary sufferings of her people. Watch the videos for ‘Ndinewe’ and ‘MbiraGospel’ on the internet, and you will discover the perfect synthesis of Hope’s dual approach and of her vision of Africa: one where yearning and joie de vivre constantly intersect.

Franz Coriasco

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