... When most people are asked what they think of South Africa compared to the United States, the most common response that is given is that South Africa is a desert like the remaining continent of Africa is; this is as far from the truth as possible. Would you have ever thought that two countries could be so similar yet so different at the same time? South Africa is as up in the technology world as the United States is; if not further along to some degree. It is known to have the largest research association of great white sharks off of any coast. Although the United States and South Africa have several similarities, they are also quite different because the United States has a lower violence and poverty rate than South Africa. One similarity between the Unites States and South Africa is that they are a huge melting pot of ethnicity and race, that had to fight for what they believed was right between the higher percentages of races. Both countries races consist of whites, blacks, Asians, and Indians. But there is a huge difference in the race percentages’, according to "Race and Ethnicity in the United States" (n.d.), the majority of the more than 300 million people currently living in the United States consists of White Americans, who trace their ancestry to the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. In South Africa, black's makeup 79.0% of the total population ("Ethnic Groups in South Africa", n.d.). The percentage of all white households that are made...
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...or ability of the human mind to choose a course of action or make a decision without being subject to restraints imposed by antecedent causes, by necessity, or by divine predetermination. According to Maurice Blondel, truth cannot be known by intellect alone, suggesting that it can be attained only through full, active self-synthesis in accordance with divine will. Haven given a brief introduction and different views to the word destiny, can one say that African destiny can be taken in our own hands and thus changed and if so, how can this be attained? Africa to the rest of the world is viewed as a sick and starving man of the global village, where the other villagers rather than share their food and medicine with him ( so that he can heal and join in the communal activity of gathering food for all), mock him instead and accuse him of laziness, corruption and self-pity. What they fail to acknowledge however is that Africa is where she is today as a result of the exploitation she experienced while under the rule of her colonial masters. The food that they had eaten from Africa’s hut yesterday, nobody remembers today; the...
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...Violence in South Africa and its impact on mental health Introduction According to the World Health Organization in the World Report on Violence and Health, violence is defined as “the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened as actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation”. (Krug E, Dahlberg L, Mercy J. et al.2002). The definition is further, divided into three categories, according to who has committed the violent act. There is self-directed violence, where one intends in harming one`s self in acts of suicide resulting in death or parasuicide where death does not occur....
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...Master Thesis Ethnic Conflicts and Transition to Democracy in Africa: Recurrence of Ethnic Conflicts in Kenya (1991-2008) Author: Berita Musau Matrikelnummer: 0601567 Academic degree aspired Master (M.A) Vienna, August, 2008 Studienkennzahl: A 067 805 Studienrichtung: Global Studies - a European Perspective Advisor: Prof. Dr. Walter Schicho Table of Contents Dedication ……………………………………………………………………. iii Acknowledgment …………………………………………………………….. iv List of Acronyms …………………………………………………………….. v List of Tables and figures …………………………………………………….. vii Abstract in English …………………………………………………………… viii Abstract in German …………………………………………………………... ix Chapter One: Introduction ………………………………………………… 1 1.1. Introduction …………………………………………………………… 1 1.2. Problem statement …………………………………………………….. 2 1.3. Aim and objectives of the research …………………………………… 4 1.4. Research questions and hypotheses …………………………………... 7 Chapter Two: Literature review and theoretical framework ……………. 8 2.1. Literature review ……………………………………………………… 8 2.2. Transition to democracy and ethnic conflicts in Africa ………………. 12 2.3. Definition of concepts ………………………………………………… 16 2.4. Theoretical framework for analysis of ethnic conflicts ……………….. 18 2.4. Research methodology ………………………………………………... 21 2.5. Significance of the research …………………………………………... 23 Chapter Three: Background to the struggle for democracy and ethnic conflicts in Kenya……………………………………………………………. 24 3.1. A short retrospect in to Kenya’s colonial...
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...type of political or social protest. This is key in understanding the Boko Haram simply because they truly believed what they were doing was right and by doing the heinous activities they would get their point across. It is also important to see what theoretical perspectives the Boko Haram ties into and lastly how globalization and the global village fall into it as well. The Boko Haram is a Nigeria radical Islamist group that has caused numerous havoc throughout Africa. The groups official name is Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad, which means “People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet’s Teachings.” Boko Haram was founded in 2002 by Mohammed Yusuf. The group was taken over by Abubakar Shekau when Yusuf was killed in 2009. Boko Haram promotes a “version of Islam which makes it "haram", or forbidden, for Muslims to take part in any political or social activity associated with Western society” (BBC News). This included voting in elections, wearing shirts and trousers or receiving a secular education. A main goal that the group pushed to achieve was to create an Islamic state. They have committed horrific acts in Africa by dropping bombs, assassinations, and abductions as well as numerous others. One of the things they were recognized for was the “use of gunmen on motorbikes, killing police, politicians and anyone who criticized it, including clerics from other Muslim traditions and Christian preachers” (BBC News). They are also known for abductions...
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...There are different ways in which international migrants can gain protection and/or rights. First is the protection that exists for refugees under the terms of the 1951 Geneva Convention. Under the Convention, a refugee is defined as someone who, ‘owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion is outside the country of his nationality …’. Being a refugee means being unable to seek protection in your country of nationality because of a fear of persecution and so refugee status brings with it the protection of the international community. One of the ways in which potential refugees access protection is by seeking asylum, at which point the receiving state considers the individual’s case to be a refugee. There also exists an extensive human rights framework that should, in principle, protect people regardless of their immigration status and their motive or motives for migration. Universality underlies these treaty regimes and included in this are children’s rights and women’s rights as well as political, civil, economic, social and cultural rights, all enforceable through actions against the state. Finally, there are nation state rights which are stratified by an individual’s citizenship and immigration status within the country of residence (Morris, 2002). Under the stratified system of rights, naturalized citizens and refugees have extensive rights and are...
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...In the years following the violence that shook Rwanda and the world in 1994, there have been many attempts to explain, or at least understand, the nature of the human tragedy known as the Rwandan genocide. Most accounts describe how two rival ethnic groups, the Hutu and the Tutsi, were engaged in a bitter dispute culminating in 1994. During a period of less than three months, widespread torture and brutality resulted in 500,000 to 800,000 (mainly Tutsi) deaths.[1] After over three years of civil war following an invasion of mainly Tutsi refugees from neighbouring Burundi, a series of negotiations resulted in the adoption of the Arusha accord, which called for the eventual sharing of power between the invaders (known as the Rwandan Patriotic Front or RPF) and the former regime of Hutu President Juvénal Habyarimana, and his party, the Movement for Democracy and Development (MRND). The widespread killings, mainly committed by the interahamwe, a group of Hutu extremist militias, began after the plane carrying President Habyarimana was shot down on the night of April 6, 1994. In the months that followed, the international community essentially turned a blind eye to the bloody massacre that was to unfold in the Rwandan anarchy. It seems no overstatement to portray the Rwandan genocide of 1994 as a “failure of humanity,” to use the words of the commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR), Canadian General Roméo Dallaire.[2] There is a distinct danger, however...
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...1 Violence Free Elections: Perspectives on the Peace Initiatives on the 2015 General Elections in Nigeria Warisu O. Alli Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution Plot 496 Abogo Largema Street, CBD, Abuja Email: alliwo@yahoo.co.uk; Mobile: 08035991377 ABSTRACT Elections are essential in a democracy and are fundamental features of representative democracy.. When free, fair and transparent, they confer credibility and legitimacy on the outcome. However, Nigeria's electoral history has always been marred by various levels of violence with grave implications for the polity. Since return of democratic rule in 1999, Nigeria, has conducted elections in 2003, 2007, 2011 but with an ever increasing rise in electoral violence. The April 2011 elections, which benefitted from the electoral reform efforts of President Yar ‗Adua, and was considered the most credible since the return to democracy also turned out to be the most violent as the country witnessed an orgy of bloodshed after the elections. The 2015 elections were to be held against the background of a prediction about the disintegration of Nigeria against the background of several socio-economic, political and security challenges, including insurgency in the nation‘s North East. The emergence of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a formidable opposition to the ruling People Democratic Party (PDP) fifteen year rule also added more tension to the charged atmosphere of the elections. The Peace Initiatives which started immediately...
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...Liberation Movement (SPLM), the dominant force in newly independent South Sudan. (Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah, September 2011) Internal displacement in Africa Burundi p. 41; Central African Republic p. 42; Chad p. 43; Côte d’Ivoire p. 44; Democratic Republic of the Congo p. 45; Ethiopia p. 46; Kenya p. 47; Liberia p. 48; Niger p. 48; Nigeria p. 49; Senegal p. 50; Somalia p. 50; South Sudan p. 51; Sudan p. 52; Uganda p. 53; Zimbabwe p. 54 In 2011, IDMC monitored internal displacement in 21 subSaharan African countries. There were an estimated 9.7 million IDPs in these countries, representing over a third of the world’s total internally displaced population. Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Somalia continued to be the countries with the largest internally displaced populations in Africa. The number of IDPs in Africa in 2011 was down from 11.1 million a year earlier, continuing a sustained downward trend since 2004 when there were over 13 million. Violent struggles between groups vying for access to natural resources, land and political representation and power were among the root causes of most of these displacements. These struggles were manifested either by armed conflicts pitting governments and their armed forces against armed opposition groups, or by inter-communal violence. While governments or associated armed groups were the main agents of displacement in the majority of situations, the role of armed opposition groups in forcing people...
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...GEO 3106 Producing Africa: Take – Home Exam 1) The ‘real Africa’ is presumed to be filthy and miserable (Wainaina, 2005). Discuss. Representations of Africa in a global context have been largely negative, often presumed to be one country the continent is stigmatised as backwards, disease ridden, violent and in need of Western assistance. Although some positive imagery does emerge from Africa including that associated with Comic Relief, corporate campaigns such as Guinness’s stylish philosophy and in music videos like ‘Am I wrong’ by Nico and Vinz, Africa is subject to the use and re-use of negative imagery resulting in prominent stereotypes shaping our geographical imaginations of the continent. This is a similar concept to that of orientalism explored by Edward Said (1987). This essay will argue that presumptions of the ‘real Africa’ are largely negative, discussing how ‘Africanism’ and stereotypes of the continent are heavily influenced by colonial representations of people and place arguing that these assumptions are highly compatible with Western domination and power rooted in imperial attitudes. Jan Pieterse (1992:75) recognises that Africa has been depicted as the ‘Dark Continent’ plagued by stereotypes ‘which colonialism would build on and elaborate’. Imaginaries of childlike, savage, inhumane distant others who are dependent upon Western help dominate the way in which Africa is perceived. Campbell and Power (2010) suggest that a dominant scopic regime shapes...
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...Growing up, we all for the most part get the preconceived notion embedded in our minds that men are the strong dominant breadwinners, and women are the submissive stay at home wives. Although in Africa the women in my opinion are taking on the role of the husband, or male of the household. The women and children walk miles and miles a day for the basic necessity of water. Not only do they have to travel long distances, but they have to carry the water from place to place, causing a heavy burden on the women’s body. My question is why aren’t the men doing it? If men want to play the strong dominant role, they should be the ones fetching water. The reality of it is that the men can haul much more water than the women will ever be able to. In the book, Beyond Borders, it discusses women’s struggle to shape their lives “under the umbrella of patriarchy and paternalistic dominance” (Lerner 254).By the general concept of the superiority of men, and inferiority of women as it has evolved overtime. It reveals how we among different societies have continued this patriarchal and paternalistic movement throughout the course of history ultimately with the power to the male’s advantage. So with reference to articles from the Water and Culture Reader I’d like to discuss the unjust treatment of women in Africa that is still at large. “Women perform all the labor associated with water collection at the expense of education, cultural, and political involvement, and rest and recreation” (Bouwer 321)...
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...incorporated the US and its allies, entangled in a Cold War with the Soviet Union, known as the second world. The Third World consisted practically of every other nation but, most notably Africa. Self-assured and entrenched in its governance ideologies, the Soviets would move to expand their sphere of influence in the world through stockpiling weapons in order to defend its border. However in the third world, hostility would break out as anticolonialist searched for a means to freedom. The Soviet dependence on authoritarianism would undermine its social welfare plans and by the mid-1980s, rising financial influence and extremism in Africa...
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...Post-Conflict Situations, Focusing on Child and Youth Participation Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) and Arigatou International—Nairobi DRAFT REPORT Orientation and Advocacy workshop on Preventing and Eliminating Gender Based Violence and the Negative Impacts on Children in Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Somalia & Celebrating the Day of the African Child Dates: 14th to 17th June 2016 Venue: AACC, Nairobi, Kenya Acronyms AACC All African Conference of Churches AU African Union DAC Day of the African Child DPAC Day of Prayer and Action for Children DRC Democratic Republic of Congo ECP End Child Poverty GNRC Global Network of Religions for Children IDEP International Day of Eliminating Poverty SSCC South Sudan Council of Churches Organisations represented 1. End Child Poverty- Arigatou International – Nairobi 2. Global Network of Religions for Children (GNRC) 3. National Islamic Council of DRC 4. South Sudan Council of Churches (SSCC) 5. Refuge Point 6. International Movement of Catholic Students- Burundi (IMCS Pax Romana Africa) 7. Women of Faith Network Burundi ORGANISATION PROFILE - END CHILD POVERTY End Child Poverty is a multi-faith, child centered, global initiative of Arigatou International that mobilises faith-inspired resources to end child poverty by addressing both the structural cause of poverty and the root causes of poverty in the human heart. In our child-centered...
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...TSHWANE THE CAUSES AND DYNAMICS OF CONFLICT IN CENTRAL AFRICA By Ms C. Auret November 2009 This research paper was written by a programme member attending the South African National Defence College in fulfilment of one of the requirements of the Executive National Security Programme 20/09. The paper is a scholastic document and this contains facts and opinions which the author alone considered appropriate and correct for subject. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of any agency, including the South African Government or Department of Defence. This paper may not be released, quoted or copied except with the express permission of the Department of Defence. INDEX |HEADING |PAGE | | | | | | | |Abstract……………………………………………………………………………… |3 | |Introduction………………………………………………………………………….. |3 | |Historical Review of Conflict in Central Africa ……………………………...…….. ...
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...Violence from a gender view what role does masculinity play in Ethiopia context. Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. Main concepts in feminist approach 3. Hegemonic masculinity theory 4. The subculture of violence in peace and conflict 5. The perception on gender versus sex in Ethiopia 6. Gendered dynamics of violence 6.1 Masculinities and violence 6.2 Femininities and violence 7. Conclusion 8. References 1. Introduction The paper critically evaluate the theory which claims that violence has a strong gender dimension and what role does masculinity play in violence. There are feminist theories and assumptions regarding the societal construction of gender, as it is divided into two major categories...
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