Latest News
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Transition to Glory: Rev. Thomas E. (Ted) Hayden, SMA (1932-2014)
Celebrating a life well lived, the Africa Faith & Justice Network (AFJN) announces the transition to eternal life of Society of African Missions (SMA) Father Thomas E. (Ted) Hayden, founding member and past Executive Director of AFJN. Born in the United States on January 31, 1932 in Milton, Massachusetts, Ted Hayden became a permanent member…
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AFJN In Solidarity With The Families Affected By The Ebola Outbreak
Barthelemy Bazemo Throughout history, there have been cases of outbreak of infectious diseases that have claimed thousands and in some cases millions of lives, such as the bubonic plaque that swept across Europe in the 14th century and claimed an estimated 25 million people. However, the case of Ebola virus disease (EVD) that is affecting…
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The New Theft of Africa: America’s Involvement in African Land Grabs
The ongoing massive lease of Africa’s most fertile land as a development approach risks the well-being of millions of people throughout Africa, especially traditional small farmers and pastoralists, who rely on the land as their sole means of survival. This is land grabbing in its worst form.
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The Africa Faith & Justice Network, TASSC International and Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur Justice & Peace Office Demand Good Governance and Human Rights on U.S.-Africa Policy Agenda
(WASHINGTON, D.C. August 6, 2014) – The Africa Faith & Justice Network (AFJN) and TASSC (Torture Abolition and Survivor Support Coalition) International call on the United States government to make Good Governance and Human Rights in Africa a priority in the U.S.-Africa policy agenda. The first U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit hosted by President Obama in Washington,…
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African Faith Leaders Unite for the Post-2015 Development Agenda
The year 2015 will mark the official end to the Millennium Development Goals campaign, an initiative launched by the United Nations in early 2000 to free humanity from extreme poverty and hunger, gender inequality and illiteracy, disease and environmental degradation. As the program draws to its close, African faith leaders representing 23 different faith organizations,…
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Mumemo Declaration: A New Pentecost for Africa
As many of our readers know, the second Africa Synod which was celebrated in Rome this past October was not an event, but a process. That process continues and we want to share with you the latest! The Mumemo Declaration is communique sent as a result of a meeting of African development and justice and…
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Congress has yet to believe that Africa’s main problem is not money, but governance
Western aid to Africa has absolutely generated dependency and is one of many methods used to influence internal African social, political and economic affairs. Ahead of the US-African Leaders’ Summit which will take place in Washington DC from August 4-6, Africa Faith and Justice Network (AFJN) met with the offices of Senators Barbara Boxer and…
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Letter to Congress: U.S. aid in the event of a coup d’état against a democratically elected government.
Dear Senators and Congresswomen: We are writing with regard to changes proposed to Section 7008 of the annual State Department, Foreign Operations, and other Programs (SFOPS) appropriations bill. This longstanding provision implements a bedrock principle of American values and U.S. foreign assistance: the suspension of U.S. aid in the event of a coup d’état against…
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Archbishop Ncube Arranges Conflict Management Training in Bulawayo
Political and economic turmoil continue to threaten the stability of the whole of Zimbabwe, but Catholics, like the media and direct political opposition, have been suffering from severe oppression by the government. Although the President of the ruling ZANU-PF party, Robert Mugabe, is a Jesuit-taught and “practicing” Catholic, he has reacted particularly negatively to a…
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US Position on Presidential Term Limits in Africa
On July 9, 2014, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, addressed the widespread modification of national constitutions by African leaders to enable them to constitutionally remain in power for life. Assistant Secretary Thomas-Greenfield said that U.S policy on constitutional dictatorships is:“…– if constitutions call for term limits, then those term limits need to…
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Crisis in South Sudan: an analysis by the Vice Chancellor of the Catholic University in South Sudan
An Interview by Barthelemy Bazemo, AFJN Policy Analyst South Sudan became the world’s youngest nation on July 9, 2011, following a referendum to be independent from Sudan. But the excitement over its independence did not last long because fighting soon erupted on December 15, 2013 over disagreement between President Salvar Kiir and his former vice-president…
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Presidential Term Limits and Stability in the Great Lakes Region
There is a consensus among African analysts that one of the continent’s greatest problems is lack of good governance. This article will make the case for presidential terms limits as a path forward to much needed political stability to spur economic development and lasting peace. Year after year, leaders in Africa promise to bring about…
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African Union Chooses Criminal Immunity Over Agriculture
By Melaura Homan-Smith, AFJN Program Coordinator On June 20-27 of this year the African Union met in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, for its 23rd Ordinary Session. The theme for this year, “2014, the Year of Agriculture and Food Security,” indicates that Africa looks to focus on meeting the nutritional needs of the African people and possibly…
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The Democratic Republic Of Congo Paradox:Time to Think the Unthinkable
In November 2013, a report, known as “the Simon Nyandu Report” after the nation’s Attorney General, was completed but never officially released. The DRC government attempted to suppress it, but it was leaked. The investigators concluded 11 companies illegally avoided $741 million in taxes and fines often with the collusion of local customs officials. After…
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Freedom for Sudanese woman who refused to renounce her Christian Faith
By Nicole Ngambwa What sort of crime did Meriam Yehya Ibrahim commit for the Sudanese government in Khartoum to imprison her while pregnant, sentence her to 100 lashes and death by hanging, and in an unexpected twist re-arrest her a day after she was freed? Meriam is a 27-year old Sudanese woman who had been…
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Freedom for Sudanese woman who refused to renounce her Christian Faith
What sort of crime did Meriam Yehya Ibrahim commit for the Sudanese government in Khartoum to imprison her while pregnant, sentence her to 100 lashes and death by hanging, and in an unexpected twist re-arrest her a day after she was freed? Meriam is a 27-year old Sudanese woman who had been imprisoned in Omdurman…
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Empowerment Project Update
Originally published in the June-Sept Edition of Around Africa. By Aniedi Okure, OP. On May 19, 2014 I set out on an eleven day trip to Accra to prepare the groundwork for AFJN’s empowerment project workshop scheduled for the fall. While in Accra, my host Fr. Eric Wiafe, director of the Center for Justice and…
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Welcome to our Summer Interns 2014: Joseph Lyons and Nicole Ngambwa
Joseph Lyons was born and raised in New Berlin, Wisconsin. Currently, he is a senior at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin, with majors in English and History, and a minor in Political Science. His areas of historical interest are Africa and the Middle East. His internship with Africa Faith and Justice Network is an…
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John Kerry went to Africa, now what!
Barthelemy Bazemo Since assuming office in early February 2013, Secretary of State John Kerry made his first trip to Africa from April 29-May 5. The six-day trip took him respectively to Ethiopia, South-Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Angola. This visit was long overdue given Africa’s growing strategic and economic importance in…
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Training Youth in Hotel Services
The provincial treasurer’s office and the Saint Eloi Guest House have organized a training session in hotel services for young men and women. Thirty young people received the training. Click here to read more: https://www.omiworld.org/content.asp?catID=3&artID=2630
