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Tuesday, October 20, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
East Africa
DEVELOPMENT-SUDAN: The South Starts Picking Up the Pieces
The roads are carpeted by thick layers of dust. Tanks, military trucks and the skeletal remains of buildings dot the landscape. Welcome to Rumbek: the newly-designated administrative capital of southern Sudan.WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Is It Africa’s Turn Next?
The World Social Forum (WSF), sometimes described as the "carnival of the oppressed", is about to get underway in the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre.
TRADE-SOUTHERN AFRICA: Textile Industries in Turmoil
A few years ago, the tiny kingdom of Lesotho appeared to have a lot on offer for investors: cheap labour, generous tax incentives and proximity to the regional powerhouse, South Africa.
ECONOMY-AFRICA: Debt Activists Keep the Champagne on Ice
Civil society groups and anti-debt campaigners in Africa have cautiously welcomed a British proposal for the debt of Africa’s poorest states to be cancelled.DEVELOPMENT-KENYA: "Drastic Actions" Required for UN Goals to Be Met
While a decade may seem a substantial amount of time to some, it is all too short for those who are pushing to have the Millennium Development Goals realised.RIGHTS-BENIN: 2005 the Year of ‘No More Excisions’
For International Action Against Female Genital Mutilation, a German group active in Benin and other African countries, 2005 will be a year in which past successes in the fight against mutilation are celebrated – and efforts to eradicate it continue with renewed vigour.DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: Britain Once a Coloniser – Now a Saviour?
Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, paid a lightning visit to Kenya, Wednesday - this at the start of a week-long tour of Africa that is aimed at garnering support for efforts to fight poverty on the continent.EDUCATION-KENYA: Time Now for Universal Secondary Schooling?
A recent statement by the Kenyan government that many students who graduated from primary school last year will not find places in the country's secondary schools has generated widespread concern.POLITICS-SOMALIA: Cabinet Fails to Pass Muster – Women’s Activists
In what some may describe as adding insult to injury, Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Ghedi has appointed just four women to the country’s new 91-member cabinet.POLITICS-SUDAN: At Last, Peace
More than two years of talks to end Africa’s longest-running civil war paid dividends over the weekend, when a final peace accord was signed between Sudan’s government and southern rebels.POLITICS-UGANDA: A Peace Process Threatens to Unravel
Peace efforts in northern Uganda have been on a precarious footing in recent days, this after a bid to have a comprehensive ceasefire signed on Jan. 31 proved unsuccessful.
POLITICS-AFRICA: A Challenging Road Ahead for the Peer Review Mechanism
Since the African Peer Review Mechanism was launched about two years ago, less than half of the African Union’s 53-member states have acceded to the process – designed to improve governance on the continent.
TSUNAMI IMPACT: South Africa Reaches Out to Disaster Victims
A South African delegation will be amongst those attending an international donor conference in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, Thursday, to discuss the needs of people affected by last week’s tsunami disaster.CORRUPTION-KENYA: Calls for Government to Put Its Money Where Its Mouth Is
For Kenyan authorities, 2005 promises to be a "crunch year" as far as tackling the country's pervasive corruption is concerned.POLITICS-SUDAN: A Final Peace Accord Within Grasp
Sudan ended 2004 on a high note, with government and rebel representatives signing a permanent ceasefire and an accord that maps out the implementation of several peace protocols already concluded.CHALLENGES 2004-2005: The Kenyan Constitution That Wasn’t
As 2004 draws to a close in Kenya, the country’s political landscape remains unchanged in at least one key respect: a new constitution is as elusive as ever.ENVIRONMENT: Tsunami Exacerbates Somalia’s Woes
Somalia’s interim Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi will fly home in the next few days to assess the damage caused by the tidal wave which has left more than 100 people dead in the Horn of African country.POLITICS-SUDAN: Conflict and Trade on the Agenda of Talks with South Africa
South African President Thabo Mbeki begins a three-day visit to Sudan, Thursday, during which initiatives to end the various conflicts in the East African country will come under discussion.CHALLENGES 2004-2005: Where To for the DRC?
For the better part of this year, the peace accords that brought five years of civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo to an end have been described as "fragile". As 2004 ends, however, the agreements seem perilously close to breaking down completely.DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: Lack of Political Interests Hurting Agriculture
When African leaders met at an African Union summit in the Mozambique capital, Maputo last year, their pledges to improve agriculture in their countries rang sincere, but ran up against the immensity - some realists thought the impracticality - of their goals.CHALLENGES 2004-2005: Little Hope for Darfur
As 2004 draws to a close, the people in Sudan’s western province of Darfur have no reason to celebrate but flee the violence that has continued to spread in the volatile region, despite a ceasefire signed between the government and rebels in November.« Previous Page — Next Page »
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