Tag Archives: West Africa

Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity
Tensions increase between West African pastoralists and the nations they migrate through as conflict alters movement routes
  • As threats from Boko Haram alter their routes from the Sahel to coastal countries, nomadic Fulani and Tuareg herders find their practices in conflict with farmers and environmentalists in Ghana.
  • The pastoralists contribute to deforestation and other forms of land disruption as they clear areas for their livestock to graze, disrupting agricultural economic activity and increasing farmer insecurity.
  • Environmental officials propose designating land for herders and educating them in sustainable land-management practices and economic diversification will be necessary to prevent long-term environmental destruction and secure long-term livelihoods for the nomadic communities.

“They move because their environment is not good for them and their animals. What do you do if you have hundreds of cattle and have nothing to feed them?”

Read the full story at the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

(Image Credit: Esam Omran Al-Fetori/Reuters)

Age, Gender
The African Union works to tackle continent-wide child marriage problem at its latest summit in Johannesburg
  • In sub-Saharan Africa, two in five girls are married off before adulthood, with the highest rate in Niger, where three in four are.
  • The AU plan requires the criminalization of child marriage and the development of prevention strategies.
  • The practice has held the continent back from reaching six of the eight Millennium Development Goals, including education and public health targets.

“It’s unacceptable that a continent as rich as Africa – with oil and diamonds, and with coltan that is found in everyone’s phone – can leave its people so poor that they feel they have no choice but to marry off their daughters.”

More on this story at Reuters.

Nationality + Migration
Aspirational emigration, not violence or economic destitution, is sending large numbers of Senegalese abroad in search of opportunity
  • Senegal has seen a 123% emigration rate increase versus the same time period last year, with 1,187 leaving for destinations such as France (its former colonizer), Morocco, Latin America, and Turkey.
  • Senegalese emigrants, who have at times outnumbered refugees from war-torn countries like Syria and Eritrea along Mediterranean migration routes, are leaving a politically stable, economically growing country that has seen great improvements in citizens’ standard of living.
  • Remittances from abroad have comprised an increasing share of Senegal’s economy, allowing for the infrastructural improvements driving Senegal’s success.

“People don’t go because they have nothing, they go because they want better and more. It’s aspiration. …What is happening now is not that different from the time of slavery. We are losing the arms we need to build this country.”

More on this story at The Wall Street Journal.

(Image Credit: Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin/The Wall Street Journal)

Gender, Ideology + Affiliation, Race + Color + Ethnicity
The Ethical Fashion Initiative works to give designers and artisans from the developing world a voice in the global fashion industry.
  • The program is supporting four brands with designers representing Cote d’Ivoire, South Africa, Nigeria, and Angola at this year’s major international trade show for men’s fashion, Pitti Imagine Uomo.
  • The Initiative also confronts unethical labor practices, pushing for heightened standards throughout the supply chain that will improve conditions for the laborers on which the industry is built.
  • EFI notes that its efforts help financially empower women in sustainable ways, allowing them to mobilize their creativity and talents to gain independence and support their families.

“We work with women who sometimes face discrimination in their communities, but by having a job, their position in society improves…They gain independence and respect, and in many situations they become the only breadwinner in their families.”

More on this story at the Inter Press Service News Agency.

(Image Credit: ITC Ethical Fashion Initiative 5, via Inter Press News Agency)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Ghanaian doctor charged with having sex with a minor and “unnatural carnal knowledge,” under which homosexual relations fall. More from DailyGuide.

Gender

Nigeria’s Women in Politics Forum (WIPF) calls for concerted efforts to include 50% female representation in President Buhari’s new administration. More from Leadership.