Experts opinions
While the year 1960 encapsulates the independence of most of sub-Saharan Africa, questions about the perpetuation of colonial rule in other forms remain. Human rights are still being questioned in the 21st century. Many organizations and civil society actors are now raising their voices to denounce social injustices. Among them, we will focus today on African women, their struggles, their challenges, …. In this interview, we discussed with Coumba TOURE, coordinator of Africans Rising (@AfricansRising), her vision of feminism, her commitments, and the role of African women in the civil rights movement.
Under the pressure of globalization, local communities around the world are looking for new strategies to facilitate local economic development, reduce poverty, and foster social inclusion, leveraging local resources, creating jobs, and improving the quality of life for all. In a competitive socio-economic environment where women continue to face more obstacles than men, steps must be taken to ensure the best possible context to support women’s entrepreneurship. Only in this way can local communities unleash their job creation potential and fully benefit from economic and social development at the local, national and international levels. Ayodélé Ognin, talks about the opportunities but also the challenges of women’s entrepreneurship.
The place of the African woman before and during the colonial period is very often badly transcribed or simply erased. Our team, in charge of setting up a cultural center for young people, looked into this question during its research and had the honor of meeting a wise woman and resource person, the Queen Mother, Mianon Kpessi Ko’ndodo TODEGLA. At our microphone, she was kind enough to talk to us about the role of women in pre-colonial history. This video is for non-commercial purposes.
Women with a history of migration and/or flight arrive in Germany with many of the social skills they acquired in their home countries. However, the challenges of the host country and the need to support their spouses and adolescent children lead them to stay away from personal development activities. They are too rarely listened to and involved, they do not have a strong voice in political debates. Yet, given the central roles that these women play in their environment, they are as essential as actors and multipliers as they are influential in terms of social change and development behavior. Despite the introduction of women’s right to vote and formal equality, women are still underrepresented in the elected political institutions of their countries. This is considered a deficit of the respective democracies, as this numerical underrepresentation also has consequences in terms of content and ideology for all women. Women with a migrant background are often exposed to multiple discrimination because of their gender and origin. It is therefore particularly important to strengthen the voice of migrant women and to improve their political participation and democratic representation. Women with a migrant background who actively participate in democratic processes are important forerunners and supporters of an equal and non-discriminatory political representation of their peers.
In Germany, the political representation of people with a migrant background who have been living here for many years or even decades is made possible, among other things, by so-called integration or migration advisory councils. The integration advisory councils therefore play a central role in representing the interests of people with a migration background at the municipal level. Here, too, it is important to promote women members of the councils in order to ensure equal representation of women with a migration background.
More and more voices are being raised to fight, demand and advocate for women’s rights in general and gender equality and justice in particular. Feminist movements that are working in this direction continue to work to change world opinion through a range of actions. But global efforts to ban anti-gender and anti-equality and to bring about more justice for women’s empowerment still seem insufficient. Most recently, there was the Paris Forum on Generating Equality. This forum, which mobilized governmental and non-governmental actors, resulted in commitments and concrete measures to change the situation.
The context of the COVID 19 pandemic has further aggravated inequalities and discrimination in the socio-economic and health conditions of women.
In the face of this situation, which tends to become a crisis, there are women leaders who stand out for their struggles and firm commitments against the threats to justice, equality and gender.
Women with a history of migration and/or flight arrive in Germany with many of the social skills they acquired in their home countries. However, the challenges of the host country and the need to support their spouses and adolescent children lead them to stay away from personal development activities. They are too rarely listened to and involved, they do not have a strong voice in political debates. Yet, given the central roles that these women play in their environment, they are as essential as actors and multipliers as they are influential in terms of social change and development behavior.
Despite the introduction of women’s right to vote and formal equality, women are still underrepresented in the elected political institutions of their countries. This is considered a deficit of the respective democracies, as this numerical underrepresentation also has consequences in terms of content and ideology for all women. Women with a migrant background are often exposed to multiple discrimination because of their gender and origin. It is therefore particularly important to strengthen the voice of migrant women and to improve their political participation and democratic representation. Women with a migrant background who actively participate in democratic processes are important forerunners and supporters of an equal and non-discriminatory political representation of their peers.
In Germany, the political representation of people with a migrant background who have been living here for many years or even decades is made possible, among other things, by so-called integration or migration advisory councils. The integration advisory councils therefore play a central role in representing the interests of people with a migration background at the municipal level. Here, too, it is important to promote women members of the councils in order to ensure equal representation of women with a migration background.
It is widely believed that the colonial era ended in the early 1960s, when most colonized nations became independent. This year, 17 African countries are celebrating 60 years of independence. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations in 2015 must be achieved by 2030 or in 10 years. However, the colonial era has left an unforgettable and critical legacy that does not facilitate sustainable development or cooperation. Each sustainable goal brings with it its own colonial history or legacy, which must be addressed. Thus, colonial ways of thinking and racist resentments still resonate in the struggle for sustainability.
Real independence or a masked continuation of colonization?
This is a question that many Africans are asking themselves in the face of the many challenges facing African countries and which would somewhat hinder their development.
In this interview with Abdou-Rahime Diallo, we discuss development policy as well as the issue of migration and finally make a critical analysis of the Sustainable Development Goals.
In this interview we look at the subject of unemployment and the future of African youth, especially Beninese youth, after 60 years of independence. Together with Mr. Mickael Houngbedji we look back at the 60 years of independence of the African youth, especially Beninese, and project ourselves into the future.
The year 1960 was marked in Africa by a wave of independence for several former colonies. Sixty years after these independences, questions about the perpetuation of colonial domination in other forms remain. Resistance movements, the end of the colonial era or masked continuity will be the focus of this exchange with the activist Senfo Tonkam. Interview moderated by Estelle Djanato.
The year 1960 marked the beginning of a new era for many African countries. This year (2020), 17 African countries will celebrate 60 years of independence. Africa’s young democracies are already showing signs of ill health and some have been injured, perhaps fatally, by power crises and wars. What is the legacy of the colonial system in Africa? Are African countries the only ones responsible for what we could call their democratic failure? Mr. Gatchoko will take us on a journey of democracy in Africa with Estelle Djanato to unravel the mystery around what he calls “The flaws of democracy in Africa”. —
Because of Africa’s vulnerability to climate change, many voices are being raised on the continent to take action to protect nature. However, we quickly realize that the issue of climate change is not limited to the environmental dimension. It also includes a political dimension that is particularly important because of the inequalities that are rooted in the colonial legacy. The terms “climate justice” and “environmental racism” reflect the multiple links between the climate crisis and environmental destruction on the one hand, and the capitalist way of life and global and local structures of injustice on the other. The interview with our expert Ange David Baïmey (@angebaimey) is at the intersection of issues of vulnerability and inequalities between the South and the North in relation to climate change.