Search

This article examines the history of national human rights institutions (NHRIs) in general including their establishment in Africa. Using examples from three countries - Malawi, Nigeria and South Africa - it critically analyses the promotional and protective mandates of these institutions in Africa and then argues that their experience over the years in promoting human rights in their domains can similarly be useful in advancing adolescents' sexual and reproductive rights. In doing this, NHRIs may face some challenges including poor funding, undue interference from the executive, shortage of personnel and so on. Therefore some of these challenges are discussed and subsequently some suggestions for the way forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Africa Spectrum is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper studies the effect of implementing a new Arabic language learning software Test Survey for Students (TSFS) developed by the researchers and marketed as brain training software for primary students on language skills using Science, Technology, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) subjects. The teaching of Arabic language via computer-assisted language learning (CALL) takes place for the first time in Qatari schools specifically for primary students. The researchers included a theoretical analysis of current trends in CALL and Arabic language skills. Reading skills, learning word and sentence skills, and dictation skills were the three Arabic basic skills tested to measure the effectiveness of developing these skills and improve achievement for third-grade students using CALL in STEAM subjects. Mixed models analyzed using the statistical software for social sciences suggest that teaching Arabic language skills with STEAM topics using educational software is effective and has a promising potential to be extended to the whole of middle east and north Africa region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We begin our reflection in this paper with the cursory observation that most of the major variants of the SARS CoV-2 virus were deciphered in the Global South, namely, alpha (China), beta and omicron (South Africa). This underappreciated fact demonstrates that independent capabilities in frontier sciences in the South contributed fundamentally to global efforts to minimise the human cost of the pandemic. However, while the more efficient vaccines primarily emerged from research and development (R&D)-based capabilities in the Global North, some novel vaccines, secondary innovation in the form of manufacturing and the innovative deployment of preventive measures were also salient in the Global South. Thus, rather than starting with the 'deficit model of development' that is implicit in several policy discourses on the Global South, we argue that innovation concepts should instead be anchored in the rich civilisational heritage of such societies themselves. Theoretical notions such as secondary innovation, which emerged from Chinese efforts at economic catch-up, endogenous development, which seeks to ground Africa's advancement in its own historical antecedents, and grassroots innovation from the Indian subcontinent, guide our South–South dialogical exchange in this article. Consequently, we propose a contextually rooted conceptual framework on endogenous innovation that could better inform socially transformative efforts and highlight some implications for medicinal innovation and astronomy beyond COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Africa Spectrum is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Africa Spectrum is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The goal of this paper is to examine the role of social factors in the formation of country reports related to COVID-19 in the early stages of the pandemic. To this end, a linked database of countries' COVID-19 reports and five composite variables (which compress the information content of 162 preliminary selected socioeconomic indicators) is analyzed by using regression models with regional dummy interactions. The main findings not only reflect the importance of foreign travel restrictions and airport controls but also show that in Europe and Africa, more corrupt countries have reported significantly fewer cases and deaths than countries in other regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper places women at the centre of analysis, examining the potential and promise of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG) in the advancement of women's political rights. This is a highly under-researched topic, necessitating a mapping of the current political landscape for women and an understanding of how ACDEG addresses these challenges as well as provides opportunities for advancing women's political participation. This paper argues that ACDEG provides a good basis and framework to operate from for member states – some of whom already have suitable policies, and more importantly suitable practices, in place that emerge from a range of normative frameworks, including the Maputo Protocol. ACDEG complements these frameworks and makes a further case for women's full and meaningful participation in public and private life by obligating states to take concrete steps to guarantee women's political rights. Considering this, the paper identifies prospects for women's rights activists and organisations to invoke ACDEG and monitor its implementation in the move towards the realisation of African women's political rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese expatriate workers in Africa remain an under-researched and poorly understood group despite their large numbers. Based on data collected through interviews and participant observations during 2013 and 2014 among Chinese expatriate construction workers employed by a large-scale Chinese state-owned construction enterprise in Zambia, this article offers an analysis of their migration experience as it relates to the context of China's growing economic involvement with Africa. This paper further argues that Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Africa function as transnational social organizations to promote Chinese expatriate workers' migration to Africa and provide them social support and care when they experience difficulties during their sojourn. In this way, the patron–client relationship was formed between Chinese SOEs and Chinese expatriate workers, paralleling the existing employment relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars usually examine African images of the Chinese to understand African responses to Chinese economic expansion, yet they rarely observe that a constructed image of Africa has been built up in China. That image is intrinsically racist and promotes the idea that Chinese investment can somehow "rescue" Africans from their "laziness." This paper analyses the enduring legend of the Baoding villages, constructed to persuade the Chinese public that Chinese farmers could easily make their fortunes and win respect in Africa. A review of the history of Sino--African agricultural cooperation reveals that this fabricated narrative was convincing because it reinforced Chinese perceptions of African inferiority and reproduced existing ideologies of foreign aid and propaganda concerning policy effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Africa Spectrum is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Africa Spectrum is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In December 2013 the first case of Ebola appeared in Guinea. In September 2014 the United Nations (UN) and its specialized agency the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a call for medical collaboration in response to the medical crisis and social disaster caused by the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa. Cuban authorities responded immediately to the call by offering specialized help for the epidemic, in collaboration with WHO. A group of 256 Cuban doctors, nurses and other health professionals provided direct care during the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Equatorial Guinea from October 2014 to April 2015. This paper explains the main features of the Cuban health system, describes the development of Cuba's international medical cooperation approach, and highlights the work done by Cuban health collaborators in addressing the damage caused by the Ebola epidemic. Information used includes reports and documents of the Ministry of Public Health of Cuba, reports of WHO and PAHO, and articles published in scientific journals and newspaper articles. The response of the Cuban medical teams to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa is only one example of the Cuban efforts to strengthening health care provision in areas of need throughout the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Africa Spectrum is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The International Sociological Association’s Research Committee “Logic and Methodology” (RC33), under the direction of President Nina Baur, is widening its focus on social research and methodology to include perspectives from outside Europe and North America. This is the second “Regional Report” to be jointly published by the BMS and this issue’s RC33 Newsletter. Although Africa is a heterogeneous region, this paper aims to provide a broad overview of the state of social research on the continent. Despite the many challenges that hinder research output, there are areas of strength and exciting opportunities for increasing Africa’s contribution to global knowledge production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For nearly 30 years, Mozambique has been facing austerity measures regulated by the IMF. These austerity measures, grounded in macroeconomic policies, were supposed to lift Mozambique out of poverty, and improve its healthcare and education systems. By taking an in-depth look at the major etiologies of Mozambique’s debt and the conditions which forced the country to accept austerity measures-despite their protests-prior to receiving IMF funding, this paper examines how IMF policies over the past 30 years have affected poverty, health, and the education system. The results of these policies have contributed to Mozambique’s enduring classification as one of the poorest countries in the world. Aside from economic outcomes, Mozambique also has abysmal health and education systems, with one of the lowest life expectancies in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is time to re-evaluate how the current IMF macroeconomic policies negatively affect, health, education and the socioeconomic status of those who live in abject poverty. As short term macroeconomic policies of PARPA have been ineffective at reducing poverty, promoting education and improving health, the IMF should consider using longer term macroeconomic policies which invest in—rather than limit—public services such as health and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Africa Spectrum is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Africa Spectrum is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Africa Spectrum is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Africa Spectrum is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Africa Spectrum is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Africa Spectrum is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of BMS: Bulletin de Methodologie Sociologique (Sage Publications Ltd.) is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Africa Spectrum is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Africa Spectrum is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Africa Spectrum is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Africa Spectrum is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In Africa, there is a wide gap between the faith claims of many people who attend church and their lifestyles. Moreover, there is little reflection of the African perspective in the few writings on Christian education that exist in Africa. This paper proposes that an examination of African traditional approaches to education will afford Christian education a means of becoming more effective, especially in Africa. Lessons are drawn for this purpose from golmo, an educational procedure among the Lelna of Kebbi State in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption, on 18 December, 1979, of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women marked a historic development in the struggle for gender equality. The Convention has subsequently been ratified by a record number of African states, forty-six in all. All these states are also parties to the African Charter on Human and Peoples~ Rights which, in Article 18 (3), con- firms their commitment to women's rights and gender equality. Yet only a few of these states have taken the necessary measures to implement this commitment in their respective municipal legal systems. Arguably, the major obstacle in the efforts to implement the principle of gender equality is the institution of patriarchy, which underlies African customary legal systems. However, Southern African countries have taken the lead in addressing the institutionalized inequality to which African women are still subjected. Thus, the fairly recent constitutions of Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia and South Africa, for example, all contain bills of rights entrenching fundamental human rights, including the right to gender equality and non- discrimination. In addition, the courts in some of these countries have also made pointed, though isolated, attempts to actualize the promise of gender equality through judicial interpretation by engaging and incorporating international human rights law into the interpretative process. In the process, these courts have had to address and resolve the vexed problem of reconciling the claims for gender equality, on the one hand, and the gender-discriminatory aspects of customary law and practices in these societies, on the other hand. This paper presents an account of the various efforts being made by some Southern African countries to implement the principle of gender equality, It is argued that the protection of gender equality in the Constitutions or legislation of these countries will remain largely ineffective unless the constitutional and legislative intent is matched by real structural changes in power relations in these societies. This requires an interrogation of certain assumptions about power that the interests of patriarchy have presented and defended as time-honoured values. It also requires that where state action and legislation do not accord with the principle of equality, on which the human rights idea is predicated, such action and legislation must be reviewed or struck down. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a paper by André Standing on the rival views of corruption in the extractive industries, potential consequences of corruption, in particular on environmental degradation, and the rights of local communities affected by mining, and the challenges and problems of anti-corruption programmes. Standing is the head of a project concerning the governance of Africa's natural resources for the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa.