Latest News
-
Don’t Repeal or Weaken an Effective Law: Dodd-Frank 1502
On Friday, February 6th, AFJN’s Policy Analyst Jacques Bahati joined Sasha Lezhnev of the Enough Project and Carly Oboth from Global Witness on Capitol Hill to brief staffers from the Senate and House on the implementation of Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, also known as the conflict mineral law. This intimate briefing…
-
Kenya Wind Farm Project
By Rita Murphy Kenya has stepped up its efforts to transform 40,000 acres of land into a huge wind farm, in a bid to meet growing demand for electricity. The Lake Turkana Wind Power Project, which is being developed in the country’s North-East, aims to produce 20% of the country’s current installed electricity generating capacity…
-
On Boko Haram and the shame on the Government
Why has the Nigerian army been unable to contain or eradicate Islamist rebel group Boko Haram, which consistently burns villages and churches, killing and kidnapping Muslims and non-Muslims alike? One indicator of the worsening security crisis is that community vigilantes known as “Joint Task Forces” have taken matters into their own hands to protect themselves….
-
Advocacy for a Stronger European Union Conflict Mineral Law
On January 28, two days before meeting her US counterpart Secretary of State John Kerry, Margot Wallstrom, Foreign Minister of Sweden, met with a delegation from the Enough Project and the Africa Faith & Justice Network to discuss responsible mineral trade as it relates to sourcing from conflict zones. The goal was to ask the…
-
Global Response to African Issues; Nigeria and the Crisis of Boko Haram
Three days before the Paris attack which targeted the satirical news magazine Charlie Hebdo on January 7, 2015, Boko Haram, an Islamist group massacred people in Baga, a town in northeastern Nigeria. The exact number of people killed is not known yet, but the Nigerian government’s estimate is 150 while other reports estimate the number…
-
Ugandan Doctor Leads Ebola-fighting Team in Liberia
Edited by Rita Murphy, story distributed by AllAfrica.com A Liberian newspaper, Daily Observer, has singled out Dr. Anne Deborah Atai-Omoruto, an Ugandan doctor, as one of 2014’s persons of the year. This is in recognition of her efforts in battling Ebola in the country. Since July 2014, Dr. Atai has been in Liberia where she…
-
Citizens’ Power: Lessons from October 2014 Events in Burkina Faso
The citizens of Burkina Faso have clearly demonstrated to their fellow Africans that “when spider webs unite they can tie up a lion”. Their actions cast light on the urgings of African bishops’ 2013 pastoral letter on “Governance, the Common Good and Democratic Transitions in Africa”. It points to the big gap between the people…
-
Promoting Best Practices for Extractive Industries
“The Extractive Industries Working Group is a Washington, D.C. based coalition of faith, human rights, and environmental organizations concerned about the negative impact of extractive industries on Creation which includes both the human and natural world.” AFJN has worked with the Extractive Industries Working Group for several years. The group addresses concerns globally and coordinates…
-
The ear is never too old to learn
There is an African proverb which says: “The ear is never too old to learn.” In eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mr. Marcel Mugoyi, a long time local chief of several villages, recently asked a local primary school principal to enroll him so that he can gain knowledge to efficiently do his work. Chief…
-
Straight Talk Africa: AFJN on MLK and Nonviolent Action
Watch here. Host Shaka Ssali and his guests discuss Martin Luther King Jr’s. commitment to nonviolent action and explore whether his reasoning is still the best option to challenge racial injustice. Guests: Kadiatou Diallo, Mother of Amadou Diallo¸ Founder & President,The Amadou Diallo Foundation; Rev. Aniedi Okure, OP, Ph.D., President, Africa Faith and Justice Network;…
-
Power to the People
Edited by Rita Murphy, from the Tanzania Daily News The Maasai have lost so much of their land, they cannot afford to lose any more, according to Survival International. President Jakaya Kikwete has pledged never to evict the Maasai people after an international outcry against plans to turn their ancestral land into a commercial hunting…
-
Her Business is Rolling
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201409181471.html Edited by Rita Murphy. Photo: I. Kaledzi/DW Winifred Selby, a 19 year old social entrepreneur from Ghana, founded Ghana Bamboo Bikes in 2009 and it has become a huge success. She decided she wanted to found her own company that would be committed to promoting fair trade and creating environmentally responsible products. She…
-
AFJN’s First Empowerment Project Workshop-Ghana
In October AFJN held its first Empowerment Project workshop in Accra, Ghana. Read the report. Read more about the background of the Empowerment Project, and the formation of this workshop. AFJN thanks the Catholic University of America’s Institute for Policy Research and special thanks to the Raskob Foundation and the Be the Change Foundation…
-
Gender Empowerment through Governance
Gender equality is a battle that even developed countries struggle with today. In Africa, women are fighting against the weight of tradition and other injustices. Socially, assigning roles based on gender is a practice that is very prevalent. There are very few women in government and those who make it face serious challenges to keep…
-
A Government’s Band-aid Solution to Education
(Download PDF file) In June 2014 Ghana was granted a $156 million loan by the World Bank on top of previous unpaid loans from the same institution. The loan was for improving the education sector mainly secondary education. The way the loan was to be distributed according the World Bank was that $125.1 million would…
-
AFJN’s Work Featured in NCR Article
As mentioned yesterday, last week I went to a briefing at the Africa Faith & Justice Network (AFJN) after the group took two trips to Africa last autumn.
-
Promising outcomes of the New York Climate Change Summit for Africa
By AFJN Intern Erika De Leener Climate change is currently a big phenomenon affecting the entire world. If no action is taken to reverse the trend Africa will be most severely affected by the impact of climate change related disasters. Unlike more developed continent’s, Africa faces serious challenges to adapt to climate change due to…
-
-
Article on Faith in Action in The Guardian
Read the story of Father Bernard Kenvi’s intervention to save Muslims despite threats to his life. “I thirst for peace in CAR,” he says. “I want to see people able to move around safely like in any other country. I want to see my Muslim brothers, who have lost everything, return to their homes. It’s…
