القياس اضيع [Likening Can Be Misleading]: Reflections on Africa and Africans in Guantánamo

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 403-410
Author(s):  
Mohamedou Ould Slahi
Keyword(s):  
Total Population ◽  
African Continent ◽  
North African ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Detention Facility ◽  
The Common ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Middle Easterners ◽  
Looking Back ◽  
The U.S

Looking back on my incarceration in Guantánamo from the relative security of my home in Nouakchott, I now realize how significant the African presence was in the illegal detention facility. While at the time, and as my Guantánamo Diary makes clear, our captors treated us primarily as Muslims, jihadis, Arabs, and Middle Easterners, the reality was that many of us were first and foremost African. We were born in African countries, our citizenship was that of African nations, we were handed over or surrendered by our own African governments to the U.S., and we shared the common experiences of Africans. The ASA forum held in celebration of my memoir has enabled me to reflect further on this and on what happens when we rethink Gitmo as a place of African detention, created by the collaboration of independent African governments. Fewer than one hundred detainees in Guantánamo hailed from the African continent, which is 12 percent of the total population at its peak. Algeria and Morocco had the most representation, and most detainees were North African, but sub-Saharan Africans featured prominently too. In this commentary, I want to share a little bit about my experience, with a view to making Guantánamo Diary more comprehensible to an Africanist audience.

scholarly journals State-induced Famine in Eritrea: Persecution and Crime against Humanity

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bahlbi Y. Malk
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Court ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Humanitarian Crisis ◽  
International Borders ◽  
The Common ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The One ◽  
The Right ◽  
Mass Starvation ◽  
Causes Of Deaths

Famine remains one of the major causes of deaths and displacements in the Sub-Saharan African countries where people have continuously been compelled to cross international borders in search of livelihood securities. There is no question that the continent has been exposed to erratic rainfalls, crop failures and droughts, but contemporary famine has less to do with natural-related crop failures and much to do with poor governance. The author argues that state’s premeditated action, inaction and incompetency to respond to insecurity and threats are largely responsible for African famines. Due to historical misperception of African famine and oversimplification of refugees’ motives from Africa, however, food-based persecution has not been a common subject of research. Besides, the absence of drought does not necessary mean the absence of famine either, because the aforementioned factors frequently cause it to happen even in the middle of plenty. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore how government’s action or inaction can lead to famine in the absence or presence of drought which in return forces people to escape from drastically deteriorating conditions of existence by flight. The goal of this paper is mainly to challenge the common perception that famine as being the drought-induced outcome of humanitarian crisis in Africa and refugees as being victims of the natural circumstance. Thus, this paper argues that a government that deprives its citizens of the basic necessity such as the right to food is as dangerous as the one that persecutes its citizens on the five Convention grounds. Hence, taking Eritrea as a case example, this article discusses chronic food insecurity and mass starvation as a state-induced disaster, which I believe should be considered a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

African Politics: A Very Short Introduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Political Violence ◽  
African State ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
African Politics ◽  
African Continent ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Short Introduction ◽  
State And Society ◽  
The World ◽  
Sub Saharan

African Politics: A Very Short Introduction explores how politics is practised on the African continent, providing an overview of the different states and their systems. It considers the nature of the state in sub-Saharan Africa and why its state structures are generally weaker than elsewhere in the world. Exploring the historical and contemporary factors that account for Africa’s underdevelopment, it also analyses why some African countries suffer from high levels of political violence while others are spared. Unveiling the ways in which African state and society actually function beyond the formal institutional façade, this VSI discusses how external factors—both inherited and contemporary—act upon the continent.

Social conflict, civil society, and maternal mortality in African countries

Leadership ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 543-555
Author(s):  
Iyabo Obasanjo
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Maternal Mortality ◽  
Social Conflict ◽  
Control Variable ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Social Conflicts ◽  
North African ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
North African Countries

This study looks at the association between social conflicts, civil society freedom, and democracy, and how social conflicts impact maternal mortality in African countries as a first step toward understanding how to use civil society to pressure Sub-Saharan African governments into improving maternal mortality ratios and other human development indicators. Pro-Government riots were negatively associated with civil society freedom. Organized Demonstrations and Organized Riots were positively associated with civil society freedom when North African countries were included in the data, but when they were excluded, only Organized Riots were associated with civil society freedoms. The period under study included the Arab Spring, which was characterized by high numbers of Organized Demonstrations in North African countries. I theorized that Organized Demonstrations occur less often in Sub-Saharan African countries due to lower levels of internet connectivity (used to organize) or because government forces use severe suppression, which escalates demonstrations into riots more in Sub-Saharan Africa. The fewer Pro-Government riots there are, the freer the civil society, and the more Organized Demonstrations and Organized Riots, the freer the civil society. This indicates that Pro-Government riots tend to be organized as part of the government repression of civil society. The analyses used democratization levels of countries as a control variable and found that as autocracy level increases, the level of civil society freedom decreases. Organized Demonstrations were the only form of social conflict associated with maternal mortality. It was a negative association, with rising maternal mortality associated with fewer Organized Demonstrations. The finding therefore suggests that democratic governance, with associated civil society freedom, that allows Organized Demonstrations provides the best scenario for health outcomes in African countries.

Optimism in Times of Crisis

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy Germano
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Economic Security ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
North African ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Developing Regions ◽  
National Economic ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact

Using a variety of survey datasets, this chapter explores the impact of remittances in fifty Latin American, Caribbean, Middle Eastern, North African, and sub-Saharan African countries. The first part of this chapter provides an overview of trends in the flow of migrants and remittances throughout these developing regions. The remainder of the chapter uses survey data to analyze the effects of remittances on economic grievances during the global food and financial crises that struck many economies between 2008 and 2011. The results indicate that remittances are strongly associated with feelings of economic security and optimism. Remittance recipients are less likely to describe their personal economic circumstances or national economic conditions negatively. They are furthermore less likely to predict that their personal economic circumstances or the national economic conditions will deteriorate in the future.

Integrating African Migrants?

2020 ◽  
pp. 165-186
Author(s):  
Matt Buehler ◽  
Kyung Joon Han
Keyword(s):  
North Africa ◽  
African Descent ◽  
Maritime Security ◽  
North African ◽  
African Countries ◽  
African Migrants ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
North African Countries

Given historically amicable relations between North Africa’s native citizens of Arab and African descent, it is counterintuitive that prejudice against foreign African migrants from sub-Saharan countries seems to be rising. Discrimination seems to be intensifying against African migrants who have recently arrived from Congo, Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroon, Mali, and elsewhere. Where conflict and poverty proliferate in these countries, migrants flee to North Africa seeking clandestine access to Europe by boat across the Mediterranean, or by foot through Spain’s North African enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta. In response, Spain, Italy, and North African countries have increased border and maritime security. Thus, as an alternative, many sub-Saharan African migrants have decided to resettle in North Africa. Previously, articles have appeared depicting North African states as “sender” countries of migrants. Yet, more recently, they have also become “recipient” countries of African migrants.

scholarly journals Cocoyam [Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott]: Exploring the Production, Health and Trade Potentials in Sub-Saharan Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 4483
Author(s):  
Olutosin A. Otekunrin ◽  
Barbara Sawicka ◽  
Abigail G. Adeyonu ◽  
Oluwaseun A. Otekunrin ◽  
Leszek Rachoń
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Colocasia Esculenta ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
African Continent ◽  
African Countries ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Staple Crop ◽  
Trade Potentials

Cocoyam [Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott] also known as taro is regarded as an important staple crop in the Pacific Islands, Asia and Africa. But, Africa has been unpopular in the taro international market though it accounted for the highest share of the global taro production level in the last two decades. Therefore, this study explores the global taro production outlook in two decades (2000–2019) with a special focus on African countries noting their challenges and limitations. Also, industrial, nutritional and health benefits of taro were discussed to showcase other viable potentials of the crop beyond its usefulness as a food security crop on the African continent.

scholarly journals COVID-19: Africa’s relation with epidemics and some imperative ethics considerations of the moment

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Godfrey B. Tangwa ◽  
Nchangwi Syntia Munung
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Infectious Diseases ◽  
Observation Point ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
African Continent ◽  
African Countries ◽  
The World ◽  
The Face ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Epidemic Response

COVID-19 is a very complex pandemic. It has affected individuals, different countries and regions of the world equally in some senses and differently in other senses. While sub-Saharan Africa has weathered a range of outbreaks of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, the manner in which the COVID-19 pandemic has evolved necessitates some observations, remarks and conclusions from our own situated observation point. Compared to previous epidemics/pandemics, many African countries have displayed a sense of solidarity in the face of COVID-19 that convincingly demonstrates that an Ubuntu ethic is viable and globalizable. The African continent seems, at last, to have realized that ethics dumping must be avoided and has made strides in defining its COVID-19 research agenda and strengthening its epidemic response for both public health and health research. More needs to be done in terms of public engagement, funding and technical support for research on potential therapies/candidate vaccines that are a product of scientific studies on the continent.

The Economic Transformation Database (ETD): content, sources, and methods

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaaitzen de Vries ◽  
Linda Arfelt ◽  
Dorothea Drees ◽  
Mareike Godemann ◽  
Calumn Hamilton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Economic Transformation ◽  
North African ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Sub Saharan

This note introduces the GGDC/UNU-WIDER Economic Transformation Database (ETD), which provides time series of employment and real and nominal value added by 12 sectors in 51 countries for the period 1990–2018. The ETD includes 20 Asian, 9 Latin American, 4 Middle-East and North African, and 18 sub-Saharan African countries at varying levels of economic development. The ETD is constructed on the basis of an in-depth investigation of the availability and usability of statistical sources on a country-by-country basis. The ETD provides researchers with data to analyse the variety and determinants of structural transformation and supports policies aimed at sustained growth and poverty reduction.

Effects of Unemployment on Crime in selected Sub-Sahara African countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (02) ◽  
pp. 2061-2171
Author(s):  
Timbi Sézard ◽  
Ayang Eric ◽  
Toumpiguim Missa Daniel
Keyword(s):  
Method Of Moments ◽  
Unemployment Rate ◽  
Empirical Model ◽  
Generalized Method Of Moments ◽  
Youth Unemployment ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
African Continent ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Ssa Countries

The objective of this study is to assess the effect of unemployment on crime in Sub-Saharan Africa. The main contribution of this study is in the enrichment of the literature on this phenomenon which is common throughout the African continent. The study covers 40 SSA countries and is based on the two-stage Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) inspired by the empirical model of Raphael and Winter-Ebmer (2001) between 1990 and 2018. Youth unemployment rate is found to have a positive and significant effect on the rate of murder in SSA countries.

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