Helping Congo Help Itself

Once in a while (and obviously not as often as I wished), I read an interesting piece on Congo providing a great insight on a delicate situation. Jason Stearns‘ article published on Foreign Affairs website is definitely a good one. He writes: Congo’s problems are complex, but certainly not beyond repair. First, however, it is necessary to diagnose ... More

The hard truths we must swallow: Rwanda is wreaking havoc in Congo

Alice Gatebuke is a Rwandan genocide and war survivor, Cornell University graduate, and a human rights activist. She is a co-founder of African Great Lakes Action Network (AGLAN). She wrote on Pambazuka News: After sixteen years of invasion and intervention through proxy groups, it is still difficult for people in the international community to accept that ... More

Way-C touchpad by Congolese inventor Verone Mankou



Semhar Araia is Founder and Executive Director of the Diaspora African Women’s Network (DAWN) and she recently tweeted: ‘By 2050,Africa’s population will reach 2 billion. By 2040, its workforce is expected to reach 1.1billion. Whos pushing govts to create jobs?‘. That’s a very good question and hopefully, there are already ... More

French journalist Gilles Jacquier killed in Syria

French TV reporter Gilles Jacquier has been killed in the Syrian city of Homs; he is the first Western journalist to die since anti-regime protests erupted 10 months ago. Jacquier was an experienced war correspondent who had previously reported from Iraq, Afghanistan, Congo, Israel and Kosovo and he was not working undercover, he had been authorised by ... More

Quick Tweets: North Korea, Sudan, Congo, Stiglitz…

A quick round-up of the recent tweets I consider interesting sharing with you. Follow the links, articles are all must-read.   @NickKristof (Nicholas Kristof) Best recent books on North Korea are Barbara Demick’s Nothing to Envy, and also the Inpector O mysteries set inside N.K. @sudanreeves (Eric Reeves) Obstructions of humanitarian relief in ... More

Congo’s elections, between hope and violence

On November 28th, both the Presidential and Legislative elections took place. Millions of Congolese went to the polls amid violence and confusion, to vote in the presidential and parliamentary polls nationwide. Thousands of international peacekeepers and monitors were sent in the country to oversee the election but observers say they were beset by ... More

Sunday Roundup: Abyei, Ai Weiwei, Artmaking…

U.N. probes absences amid Sudan clashes. Since Northern Sudanese forces seized Abyei, many rightfully think northern and southern fighting over Abyei could reignite a full blown war in #Sudan. And we thought U.N. peacekeepers in Sudan would protect the people of Abyei from the attacks; apparently we were wrong. According to Reuters: ‘U.N. peacekeepers ... More

Sunday Roundup: Sudan, particles, Gil Scott-Heron

New Visual Evidence of Government of Sudan War Crimes in Abyei. Here we are, again. Al-Bashir is back, alive and kicking. Hard. Again. And unlike in #Darfur, this time we have proof of what is happening right now, thanks to the Satellite Sentinel Project: ‘The Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) has released new visual evidence that the Government of ... More

Sunday Roundup: Abyei, WOZA, Rwanda, DSK, Cannes

Today is International Day for Biological Diversity. The UN General Assembly expressed ‘its deep concern about the continuing loss of the world’s biological diversity, and reaffirmed the commitment to the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the ... More

Sunday Roundup: Unhappy China, JPMorgan Chase, Jal

It’s about being ‘happy’ or ‘unhappy’. Support of #Ai Weiwei makes #China “unhappy”. Reported by Yahoo News, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said: ‘The Chinese people also feel baffled — why do some people in some countries treat a crime suspect as a hero? […] The Chinese people are ... More