Latest News
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Presidential Town Hall Meeting Africa Questionnaire
In June, the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation, AFJN, and 13 other civil society organization partners submitted a questionnaire to each of the 2008 presidential candidates. It was our hope that such questions would encourage the candidates to think more critically about Africa in the upcoming campaigns. Unfortunately, few of the candidates have responded, indicating that…
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In Zimbabwe, Children Affected by HIV Receive Increased Support
According to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) 2006 Report, “the only evidence of declining national adult HIV prevalence in southern Africa comes from Zimbabwe, where both HIV prevalence and incidence has fallen.” However, this says nothing of the thousands of children within Zimbabwe who live each day with HIV/AIDS. Only 1 in…
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South Africa Continues to Falter on HIV/AIDS
South Africa has always lagged behind in its HIV/AIDS policy, despite having a greater capacity to address health issues than any other sub-Saharan African country. Before 2003, President Thabo Mbeki’s administration denied the reality of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa, claiming it was a treatable disease, that eating beetroot was a suitable cure, and that…
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Zimbabwean Archbishop, Pius Ncube, Resigns
“i have not been silenced by the crude machinations of a wicked regime” said the Bulawayo Archobishop, Pius Ncube. He resigned from his duties as archbishop after adultery allegations by the Mugabe regime in response to the long effort to get the later to put an end to its abuses against Zimbabweans. The Church has…
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Humanitarian Situation Grows Worse in DRC
In the North Kivu region of eastern DR Congo, troops loyal to General Laurent Nkunda are thought to be largely responsible for an increase in violence, according to a recent BBC News report . Since February, approximately 160,000 people have been displaced and UN officials estimate another 280,000 may flee their homes in the next six months. The ramifications…
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“The Call of Christ in Africa,” Bishop Kevin Dowling Speaks in DC
Bishop Kevin Dowling, who received the Faith & Justice Award from AFJN in 2005, recently spoke in Washington on “The Call of Christ in Africa.” Please follow the link for the text of this inspirational and thought-provoking address to the FADICA (Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities) conference in June. Bishop Dowling of Rustenberg,…
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China and Water Subjects of New Books by Former AFJN Director
During Dr. Marcel Kitissou’s time as Executive Director of the Africa Faith and Justice Network, he helped to raise the first alarms over the important role water would play in the geopolitical arena of the future. Dr. Kitissou has recently announced the publication of a new book, The Hydropolitics of Africa, A Contemporary Challenge ,…
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AFRICOM Hearings Illustrate Fears and Inconsistencies
Before August recess on Capitol Hill, both the House and the Senate found it pertinent to squeeze in two hearings on AFRICOM. Amidst voting bells and frantic lobbyists, Senators from the Foreign Relations Committee and Representatives from the House Subcommittee on Africa sat down to hear testimony from officials and non-governmental experts on the creation of…
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Justice Comes Slowly for Fr. Kaiser
Death came in the dark of night. On the morning of August 24, 2000, Mill Hill Missionary Fr. Anthony John Kaiser was found mortally wounded on the side of a highway in Kenya. He had been shot with a rifle in the back of the head, not far from the truck he had been driving. …
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The Kaleidoscope View of African Heroes
A Change in the Approach of the International Community to Zimbabwe’s Mugabe Robert Frost was correct (and thank goodness) when he wrote: “George Washington was one of the few men in all of human history who was not carried away by power.” George Washington was not without sin, but I must congratulate him for refusing a…
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Wolf Can Live, But Can Darfurians?
In an April 19 article in the Washington Post , Rep Frank Wolf (R-Va) was reported as saying that “he could live with a few more weeks to see if Bashir is willing to cooperate.” This was in reference to President Bush’s announcement of and delay of (all in one speech) the so-called “Plan B”…
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Reconsidering Methods of Peacebuilding in Africa
Within the field of conflict resolution and peacebuilding, there exists a question of how present the international community ought to be in negotiations. In a recent analysis from the Council on Foreign Relations, author Stephanie Hanson summarizes a number of approaches currently being taken on the African continent and implies that most “homegrown” peace agreements…
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AFRICOM: Wrong for Liberia, Disastrous for Africa
by Ezekiel Pajibo and Emira Woods Just two months after U.S. aerial bombardments began in Somalia, the Bush administration solidified its militaristic engagement with Africa. In February 2007, the Department of Defense announced the creation of a new U.S. Africa Command infrastructure, code name AFRICOM, to “coordinate all U.S. military and security interests throughout the…
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Join AFJN in Asking for More Appropriations Added to the Water for the Poor Act (P.L. 109-121)
The Religious Working Group on Water, of whom AFJN executive director Father Rocco Puopolo is a member, is calling on U.S. policy makers and inter-governmental institutions to “ensure universal, sustainable access to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic use.” Contact your Senator asking for increased appropriations and funding for…
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AGOA: Growth and Opportunities for Africa?
On Thursday, July 12th, the US House Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health held a hearing on the future of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). While the meeting usefully articulated possible policies, it also ignored many of AGOA’s problems. Recognition of these flaws will be essential for reform of AGOA, the biggest piece…
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A Devil’s Bargain in Somalia?
Like the Israelites after the fall of the first Temple (recorded in the book of Lamentations), Somalia’s people suffer innumerable woes. With residents fleeing in the hundreds of thousands, their Jerusalem lies deserted and destroyed (Mogadishu), and many believe that their enemy, Ethiopia, has become their occupying master, just as the Babylonians conquered the Jews….
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South Africa’s Ongoing Quest for Reconciliation
The Future is Certain: It is the Past that is Unpredictable Ten years ago the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (known as the TRC) handed over its final report to the then State President Nelson Mandela. The TRC continues to be viewed by many around the world as the classic model of a country…
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Economic and Human Rights Disintegration in Zimbabwe
In Zimbabwe, hyperinflation has reached levels beyond control and the road to recovery seems unclear. Reports of secret human rights abuses and extreme political opposition harassment continue to surface, lengthening the list of questions for the supposedly strong ruling party and their leader, President Robert Mugabe. With elections only a year away, even Zimbabwe’s central…
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US Military Strikes Again in Somalia
In early June, the United States intervened militarily in Somalia for the third time this year, striking a group of alleged terrorists with cruise missiles. The men targeted had come ashore in northern Somalia two days earlier and were hiding in nearby mountains. Episodes such as this one may soon become more frequent, as recent…
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Somalia: Continued Conflict or Possibility of Peace?
Grim tales of humanitarian emergencies and violence now dominate where once there existed some hope for Somalia’s future. The fragile transitional government and its Ethiopian backers now face a violent insurgency, and the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate with every passing day. These factors and others prompted Foreign Policy to rank Somalia as the third…
