Tag Archives: East Africa

Race + Color + Ethnicity

Ethiopia News | Oromo

Oromo Ethiopians clash with government over land, language rights
  • Members of the ethnic community have been protesting in a cycle of dissent and retribution since November, with activists reporting as many as 200 dead despite largely peaceful demonstrations.
  • The Oromo have clashed with the government over land rights as they have found themselves pushed off their land by ongoing urban development driven by the country’s economic boom.
  • Language rights have been a particular flashpoint, with the government’s refusal to officially recognize Oromo, the country’s most widely spoken native language, leading to Amharic-only instruction in schools.

Read more:
“Video: Anger among Ethiopia’s Oromo ethnic group boils over” (France 24)
“What do Oromo protests mean for Ethiopian unity?” (BBC)
“Ethiopian students demand end to police crackdowns in rare protest” (Reuters)

(Image Credit: via BBC)

Gender, Ideology + Affiliation

Sudan Feature | Women Activists

Video

The Embattled Women Activists of Sudan

A new Human Rights Watch report details the threatening conditions faced by women activists in Sudan. Women have reported being subjected to abuse, sexual violence, and arbitrary detention by Sudan’s security forces, while local media have slurred them as “lesbians and prostitutes.” As international agencies have called for more women in conflict resolution and men have continued violating women activists without impunity, women seeking to invest in their country’s future have struggled to find ways to include their voices while protecting their well-being.

Read more:
Good Girls Don’t Protest (Human Rights Watch)
Sudan: Silencing Women Rights Defenders (Human Rights Watch, YouTube)
“‘Good girls don’t protest’: report exposes attacks on Sudan’s female activists” (The Guardian)

Ideology + Affiliation

Uganda News | Journalists

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Journalists in Uganda experience harassment as elections near
  • Foreign and domestic journalists alike have reported harassment by Ugandan law enforcement and government officials while reporting on government-related stories.
  • Last Saturday, a BBC journalist was allegedly detained and ordered to delete footage of a decaying government hospital, though she and her team were eventually released.
  • Domestic journalists, particularly those in less urban areas, have been given official warning and had their licenses revoked over the last year, with the country set for elections on February 18 as President Yoweri Musaveni looks to extend his 30-year rule.

Read more:
“Pressure mounts on Ugandan journalists as election nears: campaigner” (Reuters)
“Journalists without degrees barred from covering Parliament” (The Daily Monitor)
“Parliament Withdraws Office Space from Journalists” (Uganda Radio Network)

(Image Credit: The Daily Monitor)

Gender

Uganda News | Women

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Ugandan women’s rights groups set up anti-violence center ahead of elections
  • Uganda’s Women’s Situation Room (WSR) has been established as a national monitoring and control center focused on protecting women against physical and psychological violence in tension-laden elections.
  • With elections scheduled for February 18, the center will run from February 15 to 20 and is the latest in a line of WSRs mobilized in African countries since 2011.
  • A central call center and in-field monitors and reporters (some 450 trained women and youth observers) form the main infrastructure of the system, which provides real-time support through coordination with law enforcement officials.

Read more:
“Uganda rights groups set to monitor violence against women during elections” (Reuters)
“Women’s Situation Room: Africa’s unique approach to reducing electoral violence” (UN Africa Renewal)
“Kiggundu urges women to expose poll cheats” (The Daily Monitor)

(Image Credit: Joseph Mathenge/UN Africa Renewal)

Race + Color + Ethnicity

Rwanda News | Tutsi

Rwandan pastor convicted of involvement in 1994 genocide
  • Jean Uwinkindi, a former Pentecostal pastor, was sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted of contributing to the slaughter that left 800,000 minority ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus dead in 1994.
  • The court found that Uwinkindi, arrested in 2010, was responsible for coordinating and leading attacks against Tutsis at Rwankeri and Kanzene hills
  • Uwinkindi had been a pastor at the time of the genocide and reportedly executed Tutsi women and children who sought refuge in his church.

Read more:
“Rwandan pastor jailed for life for genocide-era crimes” (Reuters)
“Rwanda : Génocide, un ancien pasteur condamné à la prison à vie” (Koaci, in French)
“Rwanda genocide: Jean Uwinkindi sentenced to life in prison” (BBC)

(Image Credit: Getty Images, via BBC)

Religion + Belief, Sexual + Gender Minorities

Kenya News | LGBT Christians

Open-Door Ministry

While Kenya has been under fire for its unwelcoming and at times dangerous attitudes towards its LGBT citizens, pockets of haven and inclusion have sprung up, particularly in Kenya’s urban centers. In a brief feature, Voices of America highlights a minister and lesbian Christian in Nairobi who are bucking resistance in providing and occupying spaces of union between the church and the LGBT community.

Read more:
“Kenyan Church Welcomes LGBT Members” (Voices of America)

(Image Credit: R. Ombuor/VOA)

Health + Ability

Kenya News | Deaf & Hearing-Impaired

Uber program provides economic opportunities for hearing-impaired drivers in Nairobi
  • Deaf and hearing-impaired citizens are finding new income opportunities through a new pilot program from Uber and the Kenya National Association for the Deaf targeting the population.
  • The program makes it easier for Deaf individuals to bypass the strict licensing requirements that often inhibit community members from providing personal-service transportation in the country.
  • According to one professional association, there are more than 600,000 hearing-impaired people in Kenya.

Watch the Africa 54/VOA News report on YouTube.

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Uganda News | LGBT

Uganda holds fourth-annual Pride festival amidst pervasive anti-LGBT sentiment
  • The invitation-only event includes film screenings, a cocktail party, and a low-profile parade, all held in secret locations disseminated through private networks.
  • Last year’s pride coincided with the overturning of the law condemning gays discovered by law enforcement to life imprisonment.
  • Despite the law’s overturning, Uganda continues to experience rampant anti-LGBT persecution, including media outings and violence at levels sufficient to warrant asylum in other countries.

Read the full story at the Guardian.

“The law is only part of it. … It doesn’t mean anything if you don’t have the people on your side. The biggest challenge is to get that neighbour, that shop keeper, that person working in the salon to support you.”

(Image Credit: Iain Statham/SIPA/REX Shutterstock, via The Guardian)

Health + Ability

Ecuador News | HIV

Treatment program in Ecuador saves newborns of HIV-positive mothers from infection
  • In Ecuador, a program driven by the government, Ecuador’s largest maternal hospital, the VIHDA foundation, and Duke University provides antiretroviral medication to newborns of HIV-positive mothers right after birth, significantly reducing their chances of contracting the virus.
  • At least 1,000 babies have remained virus-free thanks to the program, when they would otherwise face a 45% chance of infection during pregnancy, delivery, or breastfeeding.
  • When their status is known, infected mothers receive treatment throughout their pregnancy, but new programs around the world are pushing for ways to quickly reach women who don’t have prenatal appointments during the limited deterrence window.

“I don’t care if my career as a teacher was ruined by this illness. Today I am happy to see my children healthy and studying.”

Read the full story at the BBC.

(Image Credit: Marc-Grégor Photography, via the BBC)

Ideology + Affiliation

Ethiopia News | Dissenters

Charges against Ethiopian journalists dropped ahead of Obama’s visit to country
  • Five of the Zone 9 bloggers jailed for their social and political criticism of the government were released as Ethiopia prepares for U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to address the African Union later in the month.
  • The Committee to Protect Journalists has indicated that 12 other journalists remain incarcerated, making Ethiopia one of the nations least friendly to press freedom in Africa.
  • The single-party rule of the People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front in the country has led to instances of criticism of the party being associated with terrorism, leading to the incarcerations.

Read the full story at the Guardian.

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Kenya News | LGBT

Anti-gay demonstration takes place in Nairobi ahead of Obama visit
  • Dozens gathered in the Kenyan capital to protest LGBT rights and advocacy and warn President Obama against attempts to speak out on the issue in Kenya following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of same-sex marriage.
  • MP Irungu Kangata spoke outside of the Kenyan Parliament at the rally billed as pro-family.
  • Rights activists have called on the U.S. president to show solidarity with their struggles in the country, setting the stage for conflict regardless of the president’s actions.

“We are telling Mr Obama when he comes to Kenya this month and he tries to bring the abortion agenda, the gay agenda, we shall tell him to shut up and go home.”

Read the full story at Reuters.

(Image Credit: Thomas Mukoya/Reuters)

Nationality + Migration

Kenya News | International Visitors

Kenya transitions to electronic visa system, easing visa acquisition for foreign visitors
  • Launched at the beginning of July, the new system aims to improve the efficiency of the visa application process by digitizing the application, payment, and issuance cycle.
  • The e-visa will operate alongside the old visa until September 1, allowing travelers with upcoming trips to enter under previous policies.
  • The transition comes on the heels of the digitization of the passport application process for Kenyans through its new e-citizen system.

Read the full story at the Daily Nation.

Age, Gender

Kenya News | Girls

Kenyan mother sues government for denying safe access to abortion following daughter’s botched backstreet procedure
  • The 15-year-old girl sought the abortion following her rape by an older man, but complications arose that have led to ongoing health complications.
  • While abortion is permitted in cases of emergencies involving maternal health under Kenya’s 2010 constitution, the state has banned training for government healthcare providers and harassed and charged other doctors.
  • Unsafe abortions account for 35% of maternal deaths in Kenya (well above the 13% global average), with around 2,600 women per year dying in hospitals after having attempted to get an abortion elsewhere.

“The Kenyan government is allowing thousands of women in Kenya to needlessly die or suffer severe complications every year due to unsafe abortion, and it must be held accountable.”

Read the full story at Reuters.

Religion + Belief
Kenyan atheist society threatens legal action against government for failure to allow its registration
  • The Atheists in Kenya Society’s chairman says that despite his organization’s fulfillment of the requirements for registration with the government, it was denied.
  • The chairman claims that the deputy responsible for the registration of societies justified the exclusion by pointing to the Preamble of the Kenyan Constitution’s declaration of the supremacy of God.
  • Should the Society again be rejected and the matter taken to court, it will follow the same tack as the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, which won recognition in the spring.
“I visited their offices today and he told me that the Preamble of our Constitution recognises the supremacy of God. We reject this interpretation. The Bill of Rights fully protects Atheists and allows them to form an association.”
Read the full story at the Star.
(Image Credit: File photo of Milimani Law Courts, via The Star)
Gender
Female politicians in Tanzania set their eyesights on country’s top political seats
  • The Tanzania Women Cross Party works to train women in political skills and campaign strategies ahead of October’s elections to avoid overlook and sexual manipulation by political party leadership.
  • This election cycle is seeing women step forward for the presidency for the first time, including former UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro.
  • Tanzania has a 30% parliamentary quota in place for women, but because it sets aside seats to be filled by party nominations after the election, women are now pushing to be candidates for direct election by constituents.

“There’s no democracy in the political parties. Female candidates are often ignored in the nomination process and that’s why we need to train them to reverse that unfair trend.”

More on this story at the Thomson Reuters Foundation.