Entries by Harris Ayuk-Takor

Blog of the First Session

The following session was titled the African Economic Forum.

This session focused on...

The last few years have witnessed a population explosion the world over. This burgeoning population growth is more alarming in developing countries of which the African continent has its fair share. With the highest birth rate of any continent, Africa’s population is projected to grow to two billion by 2050 with majority of the population aged between 15-24 years. Currently, over half of Africa’s population are under 25 years and 36% of the working-age population are made up of young people between the ages of 15-24 years in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
Because of the youth Bulge in Africa, the number of young people looking for work and other life supporting opportunities such as quality education, good health, proper housing among others is expected to increase by 28 percent in the next 15 years, equivalent to about 30 million people. This therefore puts enormous pressure on policy makers to develop policies that can take advantage of this youth bulge to propel the development of the continent.

Failure to address youth employment issues will have serious consequences for Africa’s economies and societies. Without opportunities for young people to earn a living, inter-generational cycles of poverty will persist, further affecting a continent already made vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, food insecurity and violence.

Continue reading "Cont. of Day 1 at the African Youth and Governance Conference (AYG)"

Day 1 at the 3rd African Youth and Governance Conference (Website for African Youth and Governance Conference) has kicked off with a slew of topics being discussed in and around the table. The conference is being attended by youth from many nations, the biggest coming from Nigeria and Ghana. I noted and it was also stated during the opening of the conference that the ratio between francophones and anglophones was very wide, seeing a greater portion of anglophones present at the conference. One recommendation for the next conference is to ensure that there is a balance of anglophone youth and francophone youth.

Continue reading "Day 1 at the African Youth and Governance Conference 2011"

I recently caught up with Hakima Abbas, deputy director of Fahamu, at the first Pan-African Grantmakers Assembly, which was convened Nov. 3-5 in Nairobi, Kenya, by the African Grantmakers Network. Here are some excerpts from our conversation:



Tell us briefly about your organization.

Fahamu is a pan-African social justice organization. We work to support the movement for social justice in Africa. We do that in four ways. The first is through knowledge generation and research. The second is through learning and capacity building. The third is through providing platforms for Africa–centered advocacy. The last is platforms for communication, debate and analysis through Pambazuka News and Press.

How do you define African philanthropy?

African philanthropy needs to be defined at various levels. There’s the philanthropy of day-to-day people supporting one another, helping one another, usually at the family or community level. Then there’s the philanthropy that we’re very good at in terms of whole communities coming to support an individual for their education, that type of support, that hopefully builds up the whole community and the philanthropy has been exercised through the extended family and the community. Then there’s also of course the philanthropy of, say, the middle classes in terms of giving to causes or to organizations. And then of course there’s the African grantmakers and donors. Continue reading "Hakima Abbas reflects on African philanthropy"

“Men Who Have Sex With Men: Homophobia and HIV in Africa” was the topic of the first session I attended today. The three African panelists who spoke were from Malawi, Cameroon, and Zambia. One of the issues they addressed concerned legal provisions being used in some African countries to criminalize men wrongly. When LGBT people get arrested, few lawyers are willing to represent them because society frowns on. Two examples used noted: Alim Mongoche, one 11 Cameroonian men who spent more than a year in prison awaiting trial under a law that punishes sex between men; and the crackdown against a gay rights organization in Senegal, where nine men were sentenced last year to eight years’ imprisonment. Another focus of the seminar was the influence of Western ideologies on Africa’s policy on LGBT and MSM rights. Speakers pointed to Scott Lively in Uganda and how most of his anti-gay talking points were visibly apparent in Uganda’s anti-gay mandate. Continue reading "AIDS 2010: Reflections on Day 4"

Tuesday started off with a performance presented by Ms. Owoola-Adeojo Goldmark, a Nigerian who became an HIV/AIDS activist at the age of 7 and by the age of 15 was running her own foundation. The performance was comprised of a poetry session followed by African dance and drama. The main questions Ms. Goldmark asked us to think about were: (1) Who has the right to access art? 2) Who has the right to be educated after losing both parents to AIDS? and 3) Who has a right to be loved and not to be stigmatized?
Continue reading "AIDS 2010: Reflections on Day 3"

The second day of the XVIII International AIDS Conference went even better. I got a warm feeling seeing all these people from all over the world, different races, ethnic groups, sexual backgrounds, identities, youth and elders, under one banner of unity. As I was going into the conference building, I saw someone with a t-shirt that read, “Free Hugs”. I don’t know if he was a victim of the disease or just a volunteer, but when he asked me for a hug I did. A great way to start off the day.

Today, I decided to spend some time looking at the different exhibition presentations of the various organizations and companies working to eliminate AIDS, spread knowledge of the disease, and share ideas for preventing it. From AIDES to UNAIDS to Nigeria's National Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS, to Kenya’s TICAH – the Trust for Indigenous Culture and Health, to the South African National AIDS Council, there was an abundance of information to learn and re-learn from every area of the disease: political, advocacy, health, pharmaceutical. Continue reading "AIDS 2010: Reflecting on Day 2"

Yesterday, as I walked into one of the entrance halls, I was overwhelmed with the sounds and sights of chattering citizens, advocates and activists. Multitudes of greens, reds, “Yes”, “Say No!”, “HIV/AIDS”, splashing into my eyes and eardrums. Enticed, I managed to get my registration card and catch the opening ceremony where, at the entrance, a protest was being held. You could see huge balloons floating, displaying pictures of world leaders: President Barack Obama, Sarkozy, Jonathan from Nigeria, and many others. Continue reading "AIDS 2010: Reflecting on Day 1"