Christopher Reardon - TrustAfrica Blog

Everyday Heroes

nospam@example.com (Christopher Reardon) — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 04:27:00 -0400

We hope you've enjoyed our "Everyday Heroes" series. Over the last seven weeks we have profiled 14 inspiring women from seven African countries. Each in her own way, these civic leaders are working to end injustices and create better opportunities for women and girls.

You can scroll back through the entries here on the blog, or read the collected set in PDF format. Then ask yourself: What can I do to be a hero today — and everyday.

“You’re the Expert: What Should We Do?”

nospam@example.com (Christopher Reardon) — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 03:17:00 -0400

Sharing Your Research Findings with the Wider Public

Today and tomorrow in Kampala, Uganda, TrustAfrica is convening a workshop on communications for policy researchers who have received support from our Investment Climate and Business Environment Research Fund. We are share some reflections here in hopes of reaching an even wider audience.

Policy research is complex, important work. At its best, it can help societies make well-informed decisions about vital issues that shape the trajectory of democratic governance and national development and affect the livelihoods and opportunities for vast numbers of people.

Sadly, this work is often overlooked. Many researchers struggle to communicate their findings and recommendations. The media, lawmakers and the general public seldom understand the kind of work that researchers and analysts like you do. They may get confused by complex methodologies and findings, or grow bored with caveats and qualifications. They want to know the bottom line: what should we do?

So how can researchers reach a wider audience of policy makers, journalists and general public? The short answer is: Tell them a story.
Continue reading "“You’re the Expert: What Should We Do?”"

Everyday Heroes: Profiles of African Women Leaders

nospam@example.com (Christopher Reardon) — Thu, 12 May 2011 14:43:31 -0400

Over the coming weeks, we'll be posting a series of profiles of inspirational women from French-speaking countries in West and Central Africa. The profiles were commissioned as part of TrustAfrica's MDG3 Project, which is working to curb gender violence and expand women's political participation in these countries.

The women we will be profiling are “Everyday Heroes.” They have demonstrated their outstanding capacities in fields ranging from law and higher education to journalism, music and business. In addition to committing themselves to their professional lives they have also dedicated themselves to their families and made contributions in support of numerous noble causes.

Younger generations, girls and young women in particular, need to know about these remarkable women and to be inspired by them as role models. For whether it is in Senegal or Burundi, Cameroon, Mali, Niger or the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the fight to promote women’s rights is similar. The future of the African continent rests in the hands of women, given the fact that they constitute 70 percent of the informal economy. This is the essence of the message presented here in “Everyday Heroes.”

George Osei-Bimpeh on small-scale farming in Ghana

nospam@example.com (Christopher Reardon) — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 06:56:11 -0400

Last week in Lilongwe, Malawi, TrustAfrica sat down with George Osei-Bimpeh, who works on policy research and advocacy at SEND–Ghana, for a conversation about smallholder farmers, food security, climate adaptation and development in Ghana. Read the transcript below, or click the image to watch some video excerpts.

What are small-scale farmers growing in your area?

Well, basically small-scale farmers are into crop production, food production. We mentioned rice, cassava, maize, vegetables such as tomatoes. These are the common crops they grow. A lot of them also combine many of these and other crops — cocoa, plantain — basically the staple foods in respect of the particular tribe or what the national food basket requires. We talk about small-scale farmers in respect of food crop production. That’s where the majority of them are.

What kind of tools do they use? And who do they sell to?

The small-scale farmers that we have been working with largely use rudimentary tools — basically cutlass and hoe — depending on the ecological zone where they find themselves. Recently there’s been a paradigm shift. Our research shows that about 16 percent of them are able to use or hire a tractor to plow their land, but that is largely those in the savannah belt who now use tractors to plow their land. But actual weeding and those things, they use hoes and cutlasses to do that.

There are three layers at which they sell: in their own community, in the nearest town — the district capital mostly — and the major urban centers. But there is a different arrangement in terms of how or where they sell it. Some who have the ability or the capability send their goods to the major consumer centers themselves. Others rely on middlemen and -women who then come to the communities to buy their produce.

Continue reading "George Osei-Bimpeh on small-scale farming in Ghana"

Elizabeth Kharono on Farmers, Food Security and Development

nospam@example.com (Christopher Reardon) — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 14:29:46 -0400

Last week in Lilongwe, Malawi, TrustAfrica sat down with Elizabeth Kharono, the founder and director of CLEAR–Uganda, for a conversation about smallholder farmers, food security, climate adaptation and development in Africa. Read the transcript below, or click the image to watch some video excerpts.

Can you tell us your name, where you’re from and what you do for a living?

I’m Elizabeth Kharono. I’m the founder and director of an organization called CLEAR–Uganda. CLEAR stands for the Centre for Land, Economy and Rights of Women. In Uganda we work in the eastern part of the country, in an area called Mbale District.

What are the small-scale farmers doing in your area? What kind of things are they growing, what kind of tools are they using?

In Mbale, like the rest of Uganda, about 80 percent of the population is dependent on subsistence farming, so it is an area where smallholder farmers really predominate food production and most of the food that comes to the town and the rural areas is done by small holder farmers, the majority of whom are also women, women smallholder farmers.
Continue reading "Elizabeth Kharono on Farmers, Food Security and Development"

Who Speaks for the Farmers? Who Listens?

nospam@example.com (Christopher Reardon) — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 06:59:28 -0400

Despite the rapid pace of urbanization, farming remains the most common livelihood in Africa today. It’s also a crucial factor in ensuring food security, empowering women, driving economic growth and advancing national development on the continent. Yet efforts to strengthen the agriculture sector in Africa typically focus on commercial farming.

That’s why TrustAfrica launched an initiative in 2009 to build a stronger advocacy movement for sustainable, small-scale farming. The initiative has produced scoping studies of six countries and awarded grants to civil society organizations working to amplify the voices of smallholder farmers. This week in Lilongwe, Malawi, we’ve brought together dozens of civil society leaders from Ghana, Mali, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Malawi for a training session designed to strengthen their capacity for policy analysis and advocacy on smallholder farming.

Continue reading "Who Speaks for the Farmers? Who Listens?"

The Zimbabwe Alliance – a donor’s perspective

nospam@example.com (Christopher Reardon) — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 05:57:46 -0500

By Cynthia Ryan

In January 2009, when my colleague Kumi Naidoo went on a 21-day hunger strike in solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe, who were starving because of the whims of their political leadership, I wanted to lend my support. As the head of a foundation that focuses internationally on human rights and peace and security, I arranged for a small grant to the coalition organizing these efforts, but I wanted to do more. This led to hosting the visit of Nomboniso Gasa to the US, as Briggs Bomba describes in his article. As he goes on to remark, it stimulated both of us to begin thinking about the relative lack of donor interest in civil society in Zimbabwe.

Read the full article online at Alliance Magazine.

View a PDF of the article here.

Zimbabwe Alliance: Seizing the Moment

nospam@example.com (Christopher Reardon) — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 05:03:02 -0500

Following a decade of economic collapse and political stalemate, the formation of the unity government in Zimbabwe in February 2009 offered an opportunity to rebuild a civil society sector decimated by years of political and economic crises and to set the country on the path to a successful democratic transformation. Time was crucial in seizing the opportunity. A collaborative effort seemed to offer the best framework for a timely response, especially for funders new to Zimbabwe — hence the decision to create the Zimbabwe Alliance.

By Briggs Bomba, Zimbabwe Alliance coordinator

Relying on our combined strength and capacity, we were able to gather and process information, identify grantees and deploy funds quicker than would have been possible as individual entities. Further, the Alliance, made up of like-minded funders, allowed us to make grants beyond the capacity of any individual organization.

In our experience, the mechanics of collaboration is like peeling an onion. The outside layer that brought us together was a common geographical focus — our shared commitment to make a difference in Zimbabwe. Beyond that, we had to build mutual understanding on multiple layers including on the levels of strategy, process and perspective.

Read the full article online at Alliance Magazine.

View a PDF of the article here.

Mzobanzi Mboya reflects on the Africa for Haiti campaign

nospam@example.com (Christopher Reardon) — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 02:53:38 -0500

In October 2010, I sat down with Prof. Mzobanzi “Mzobz” Mboya, a member of the Africa for Haiti campaign’s steering committee, at NEPAD's headquarters in Midrand, South Africa. Here are some excerpts from the conversation:

My name is Mzobz Mboya. I’m the head of Education and Training at NEPAD, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development. NEPAD and the African Union are looking at the African Diaspora as the sixth region, and Haiti being one of the constituencies of the African Diaspora. So it was important for NEPAD to play a key role in the Africa for Haiti campaign.

Tell us more about why Haiti matters to Africa, both historically and at the present.

There is a kind of a historic relationship between Africa and Haiti. In fact, Haiti was the first independent African country — before Ghana. And that we saw as an important milestone in the history of development in the continent. Now, when the crisis happened, we saw it as being important and fundamental as Africans to begin to assist the people of Haiti in the restoration and the rebuilding of their country. Now that relationship, it’s not going to be a one-off relationship. It’s going to be a long journey that we will travel together as Africans in the continent as well as Africans in the Diaspora, with specific reference to Haiti.
Continue reading "Mzobanzi Mboya reflects on the Africa for Haiti campaign"

Empowering Women in Liberia

nospam@example.com (Christopher Reardon) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 15:56:14 -0400

One of TrustAfrica's signature projects is an initiative to strengthen civil society in Liberia as it rebuilds from a long civil war. With our support, women in communities like Bambala — a village near the border with Sierra Leone — are learning to read, write and play a more prominent role in civic life. In January 2010, we spoke with Bendu Kamara, who has taken part in literacy courses sponsored by the United Muslim Women's Advocacy and Empowerment Organization (UMWAEO) and taught by local imams.

What was it that made women get together to start this group?
Continue reading "Empowering Women in Liberia"

Empowering Women in Liberia

nospam@example.com (Christopher Reardon) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 15:15:32 -0400

One of TrustAfrica's signature projects is an initiative to strengthen civil society in Liberia as it rebuilds from a long civil war. With our support, women in communities like Bambala — a village near the border with Sierra Leone — are learning to read, write and play a more prominent role in civic life. In January 2010, we spoke with Marietta M. Williams, executive director of the United Muslim Women's Advocacy and Empowerment Organization (UMWAEO), which coordinates these literacy courses in partnership with local imams.

What was life like for women here during the civil war?
Continue reading "Empowering Women in Liberia"

Sign the Petition: Make President Jammeh renounce his death threat

nospam@example.com (Christopher Reardon) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:09:13 -0400

Our friends at the Open Society Institute, OSI's Justice Initiative, and the Coalition for an Effective African Court on Human and Peoples Rights are circulating a petition to protest the recent threat by Gambian President A.J.J Jammeh to kill human rights advocates who set foot in the country.

I will kill anyone, who wants to destabilize this country. If you think that you can collaborate with so called human rights defenders, and get away with it, you must be living in a dream world. I will kill you, and nothing will come out of it. We are not going to condone people posing as human rights defenders to the detriment of the country. If you are affiliated with any human rights group, be rest assured that your security and personal safety would not be guaranteed by my Government. We are ready to kill saboteurs.” (Italics added)

Such comments by a public official are simply contemptible, as well as in violation of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. But Jammeh's threat is even more cynical considering that the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights maintains its headquarters in the Gambia's capital city, Banjul.

The petition thus urges the African Commission to move its secretariat to a safer, more deserving location elsewhere on the continent. It also asks that the commission cease holding sessions anywhere in the Gambia until this matter is resolved—and that civil society organizations abstain from attending any sessions that may be held there.

Click here to download the petition.

The goal is to secure as many signatures as possible before Monday, September 28, when the petition will be forwarded to the African Union. That same day, the organizers aim to hold simultaneous media briefings by African NGOs in Dakar (Senegal), Abuja (Nigeria), Johannesburg (South Africa), and Nairobi (Kenya).

Signed petitions may be sent to one of the following:

Ibrahima Kane/Achieng Akena — aakena@osiea.org
Chidi Odinkalu/Stanley Ibe — sibe@justiceinitiative.org
Don Deya or Osai Ojigho at the African Court Coalition — askus@africancourtcoalition.org

test entry

nospam@example.com (Christopher Reardon) — Tue, 12 May 2009 05:34:00 -0400

Welcome to our blog!

nospam@example.com (Christopher Reardon) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:15:08 -0400

TrustAfrica is launching a new blog and invites contributions from experts on Africa for short, analytical and incisive articles on development, civil society, philanthropy, economy and politics.

We envision the blog as a platform for reflection and debate on the current state of affairs in Africa. There are so many challenges facing the continent, including issues of political instability, issues of peace and security, migration and the new attacks of foreigners in various African countries, poverty, social injustices and a number of cataclysmic climate change related events. More crucially, for citizens of Africa, their democratic public space is being eroded and obliterated by some regimes. There are also many opportunities in the African landscape. How do we build on them?

We welcome interaction and robust debate on a number of topical areas. We are hoping for an intellectual exchange between contributors and readers. We appeal therefore for respect, maturity and enabling environment for everyone. Some guidelines will be useful in posting contributions and comments:

Respect other people’s views and beliefs;

Proof read your contribution before posting it;

Avoid posting views that are not your own;

When commenting on a contribution, please make sure that you are being constructive. We will not publish obscene arguments or contributions that contain racist, sexist or homophobic elements or anything that maybe interpreted as such.

All contributions will first have to be approved by an editorial team based at TrustAfrica. The team will not change your arguments.

Don’t advertise; contribute to the debate on Africa.

If you are interested in contributing to this platform, please send your short CV and a brief writing sample to webmaster@trustafrica.org.