By John Campbell, Guest Columnist and Blogger As of today, I am retiring from the Council on Foreign Relations, where I have held the Ralph Bunche Chair for Africa Policy Studies since 2009. I am delighted that my successor is Michelle Gavin, former senior director for Africa at the National Security Council, former ambassador to Botswana, and now a senior fellow at the Council, based in New York. She has been a close professional colleague,...
The United Nations Rights Chief, Michelle Bachelet, has on Monday called for countries to dismantle systemic racism and to acknowledge and provide “reparatory justice” for past wrongs like slavery and colonialism. Bachelet who spoke before the UN Human Rights Council, described how deeply embedded racism against Africans and the people of African descent continue to affect all aspect of their lives. In the presentation of a report which followed the murder of George Floyd by...
New York — The United Nations (UN) has warned that hundreds of thousands of people are suffering from famine in the northern Ethiopian region of Tigray in spite of a ceasefire. “One of the most distressing trends is an alarming rise in food insecurity and hunger due to conflict. “More than 400,000 people are estimated to have crossed the threshold into famine, and another 1.8 million people on the brink of famine,” Ramesh Rajasingham, the...
NEW YORK — The World Food Programme (WFP) has resumed operations in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, after fighting halted the emergency response last week, although the agency warned that serious challenges continue to threaten the entire humanitarian response. A spokesperson for Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, Stephane Dujarric said this while briefing correspondents at the UN headquarters in New York on Friday. Dujarric said WFP on Thursday reached 10,000 people displaced by conflict with emergency food assistance and...
LAGOS — Achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goal-7 may elude Africa, due to limited supply and access to electricity, says Ms. Vera Songwe, the United Nations under-secretary-general and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). Songwe stated this in her presentation at a virtual ministerial meeting in Addis Ababa, according to a statement on Wednesday by the Communication Section of the ECA. The News Agency of Nigeria recalled that the SDG-7 is one...
LAGOS — Google on Monday said it has renewed its commitment to support startups in Africa with a combined 6 million dollars funding to startup founders and female entrepreneurs in Africa. Nitin Gajria, Managing Director of Google Sub-Saharan Africa said on Monday in a statement that It was part of the ongoing plans to double down on supporting Black startup Founders. Gajra said that this program in collaboration with the Tony Elumelu Foundation will provide...
By Michelle Garvin, Guest Columnist and Blogger On May 31st, the people of Somaliland went to the polls to participate in long-delayed parliamentary and municipal elections. The largely autonomous region in the north of Somalia, which had a different colonial history from the rest of the country and declared its independence in 1991, is building an impressive history of credible elections and peaceful transfers of power. While Somalilanders were peacefully making their will clear at the...
NEW YORK — The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says it is working with partners to restore water to people affected by volcanic eruptions in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). UNICEF said on Monday that the agency was working to restore water supply to roughly 200,000 people, including some 100,000 children, affected by the volcanic eruption in Goma, DRC. The eruption of Mount Nyiragongo on 22 May melted mains water pipes and damaged a...
By John Campbell, Guest Columnist and Blogger As the results of the 2020 U.S. national census become known, the American media is digesting the finding that the country’s population is no longer growing. The May 23 Sunday New York Times lead article “above the fold” highlighted how new a stagnant or declining birthrate and immigration is for the United States. The United States is joining Europe and East Asia, where a demographic decline and collapse of birth rates...
May 27, 2021, the Houston’s Mayor Sylvester Turner joined other dignitaries to commemorate the 4th Annual Africa Day Reception. This is the only event held annually to strengthen ties between the city of Houston and the local African community. Organizers say by re-connecting, this event allows a cultural exchange and supports global understanding. Attended by Ambassadors of most African countries, The Africa Day Reception is part of a series of events in observance of Africa...
