05 August 2022
“A bird that perches on a rope has to be ready to dance with the rope”
BBC Africa Live 05 August 2022. 6:30 Proverb of the day. A proverb sent by Ezeh Ifeanyi to BBC News Pidgin.
Senegal: The state has signed a peace deal with the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC), a separatist group in Casamance (extreme south). Since 1982, the MFDC insurgency had made “several thousand deaths”. In 2021, Dakar had launched a “major offensive (…) to drive out the rebels”.
BBC Africa Live 05 August 2022. 9:32
South Africa/Rape: Police and government/ANC fail to appreciate the systemic nature of the problem. In 2019/20, there were 42,289 reported rapes and 7,749 sexual assaults. The perpetrators were neither ‘monsters’ nor ‘bad apples’, rape goes beyond the individual level, it is endemic to South African society. It is by now well established that rape is not about desire but about power and entitlement to women’s bodies. What is necessary is prevention: “attitudes of men about women’s bodies and toxic masculinity need to be addressed through state level interventions, especially in schools to change the socialisation of boys.” There will be no easy or quick fixes, long-term efforts will be necessary.
https://theconversation.com/rape-is-endemic-in-south-africa-why-the-anc-government-keeps-missing-the-mark-188235
Nigeria/Patriarchy: Within patriarchy, the following is by no means new: “males can get away with certain actions, but females cannot. Males don’t have to uphold society’s moral codes like females do.” Beyond a short description of how patriarchy works and functions in Nigeria, the article goes on to write about how women – knowingly or unknowingly – also contribute to its existence. This happens mainly through socialization, the way women bring up their children to accept patriarchy. Beyond that, it also happens if women do not intercede “because they want other women to experience the same mistreatment that they themselves experienced”. For the article’s author to conclude that “women don’t act together to challenge patriarchy”. Whereas men show solidarity with one another and collaborate to maintain their privileges, the absence of solidary action by women fortifies patriarchy.
https://theconversation.com/patriarchy-persists-in-nigeria-and-men-arent-the-only-ones-who-keep-it-that-way-183462
Nigeria: All private schools in Plateau state have been de-registered. According to authorities, 90% were operating illegally, had no licenses and teachers without adequate qualifications. Concerned school principals now have “to validate their licenses at the education ministry before the beginning of the school calendar in September”.
BBC Africa Live 05 August 2022. 17:32
04 August 2022
Lake Chad area/Sexual Violence: With economic conditions worsening because of insecurity/terrorism, girls and women are “compelled to engage in transactional sex in exchange for money, food, shelter, protection and marriage”. This and dependence on aid makes them vulnerable “to sexual violation by security force personnel and aid workers who may exploit their positions of relative power”. And the authorities do nothing against such violence – except deny it.
https://theconversation.com/unequal-power-relations-driven-by-poverty-fuel-sexual-violence-in-lake-chad-region-185918
Sierra Leone: Doctors have gone on an indefinite strike to demand higher pay plus benefits. The government says it has met the doctors’ demands – but it seems that it has not met all demands and that the concerned do not trust the promised benefits.
https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/sierra-leone-doctors-strike-over-pay-fuel-allowances-2022-08-01/
South Sudan: The country’s transition was meant to end in February 2023. It has been extended by 2 years. Salva Kiir, Riek Machar and other South Sudanese leaders today Thursday in Juba signed a “roadmap” that pushes back elections to December 2024. The unified army, a key element of the 2018 peace deal, has yet to be formed – a task now to be addressed starting this very month.
BBC Africa Live 04 August 2022. 15:52