19 May 2022
Internally Displaced People/IDPs: According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC)’s annual report, there were a record 59 million IDPs at end 2021 world-wide, plus 4 million in comparison to end 2020. Ethiopia holds the world record with 5 million. Congo-Kinshasa, Afghanistan and Myanmar had never seen IDP numbers as high as in 2021.
251m USD in US food aid: The US has promised Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Cameroon, Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe 215m USD in emergency aid to fight food insecurity.
BBC Africa Live 19 May 2022. 14:42
South Sudan: The country now has a 560-metre long permanent bridge over the River Nile, just outside of the capital Juba. With Japanese funds, construction had started in 2013 but was interrupted several times because of civil war. The “Freedom bridge” was inaugurated today Thursday by President Salva Kiir.
BBC Africa Live 19 May 2022. 16:49
Mozambique: Uganda has proposed support for Cabo Delgado’s anti-terrorism efforts by supporting a local militia (força local) of the Makonde – “veterans of Mozambique’s liberation struggle who trained Museveni and members of his rebel Front for National Salvation in Cabo Delgado in the 1970s”. But this approach might backfire – there is an ethnic side to Cabo Delgado’s Al-Shabaab conflict. The islamist uprising can be interpreted as a rebellion of the coast-dwelling Muslim Kimwani against the inland-dwelling Christian Makonde – who are well represented in the country’s military, economic and political (FRELIMO) elite. In any case, Ugandan support should pass through Mozambiquan government channels and not go directly to the Makonde militia.
https://issafrica.org/iss-today/ugandan-soldiers-in-cabo-delgado-could-add-fuel-to-the-fire
18 May 2022
Uganda/Congo-Kinshasa: The Ugandan army has announced its withdrawal from neighbouring Congolese provinces where it has been fighting terrorism (first of all ADF) alongside Congolese forces since end of last year. It said, the intervention had only been meant to last six months, so unless there is an extension…
BBC Africa Live 18 May 2022. 5:52
Heat & Health: Cities – and in them first of all the poor and minorities – are particularly vulnerable to effects of heat on health and Africa is particularly exposed to (climate crisis induced increases of) heat. On the basis of her research in Dar es Salaam, the article’s author’s details reasons and effects and makes recommendations how to act against the “silent killer” heat in informal settlements.
https://theconversation.com/heat-and-health-dar-es-salaams-informal-settlements-need-help-181816
South Africa/Land Reform: Land reform is essential, yet progress has been slow since the demise of the apartheid regime. slow progress of land reform in South Africa. In 1994 77.6 out of a total of 122 million hectares of farmland belonged to white farmers. The ANC first fixed itself a target of redistributing 30% of agricultural land within five years – the same target was later postponed to 2030. The article’s author’s research makes him estimate the overall percentage of formerly white-owned land redistributed at 20% - not that bad after all and better than most think (13.2m ha/17% are estimated to have been transferred to the state (3.1m ha) or black owners (10.1m ha) by restitution, redistribution, private transactions and state procurement transactions; to this need to be added the 2.3m ha identified for restitution for which communities elected to receive financial compensation – this makes a total of 15.56m ha). Apart from this estimate, the article mostly reviews Tembeka Ngcukaitobi’s 2021 book “Land Matters: South Africa’s Failed Land Reforms and the Road Ahead”. The government needs to make greater efforts – not only talk in pre-election times.
https://theconversation.com/land-reform-in-south-africa-what-the-real-debate-should-be-about-182277
Mozambique/Polio: Maputo has declared a wild polio outbreak after a child was diagnosed with polio in Tete province. It is Mozambique’s first case in thirty years – but neighbouring Malawi had discovered another wild polio case in February. The Mozambican health ministry is planning a vaccination campaign.
BBC Africa Live 18 May 2022. 14:36