2019 African Studies

Last week there was (another) an attack on an Elbola Treatment Center in the Democratic Republic of Congo. "It breaks my heart to think of the health workers injured and police officer who died in today's attack, as we continue to mourn those who died in previous attacks, while defending the right to health. But we have no choice except to continue serving the people here, who are among the most vulnerable in the world," said World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. He also added, " To conquer Ebola, we must strike a delicate balance between providing accessible care, maintaining the neutrality of the response, and protecting patients and staff from attacks by armed groups. These are the dilemmas we face in conflict zones around the world. We are committed to ending the outbreak, and we are committed to improving the health of the people of DRC."  Why are there people attacking these treatment centers? You would think that, if any

Moments before the polls were to open, voting was postponed pushing back the country's presidential and parliamentary elections. The voting was pushed back to happen February 23rd. " The delay came as a surprise, especially since the chairman of Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission had said   in an interview earlier  this month he could not "foresee any possibility postponement." "We started this a long time ago and have gone ahead with our preparations. INEC is not even contemplating the postponement of the election," Mahmood Yakubu said, using the acronym for the commission. https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/16/africa/nigeria-election-postponed-reaction-intl/index.html

According to the article on CNN Canada announced it will welcome 750 refugees from Libya.  Two years ago, CNN revealed video footage that showed  migrants being sold into slavery  in Libya, some for as little as $400 each. It caused an international outcry, with the UN Security Council condemning the sale of migrants as  "heinous abuses of human rights."   THIS what we are to do with refugees! We are to help them escape from the inhuman conditions that they are wanting to escape from.  " There are an estimated   4,900   refugees and migrants still held in Libyan detention centers, including 3,600 in need of international protection, according to UNHCR. "They're enduring nightmarish conditions," a spokesman for the agency told CNN. "The use of detention is routine for people intercepted and rescued at sea, but there have been widespread reports of human rights violations, detainees being given insufficient food, insufficient access to healthcare

What has happened to our world that bombs and shooting are now become the norm. On Monday, a car bomb went off in a shopping center in Somalia, killing 10 people and injuring more.  According to this CNN article, there's a possibility that the death count can increase as search and rescue are still looking for survivors in the wreckage and the fact that there are dozens in critical condition.   Those responsible for the attack are t he Al-Qaeda-affiliated terror group,  Al-Shabaab.  " The bombs were detonated near a hotel popular with visitors to Somalia and international journalists. Since 2006, the group has carried out several attacks in Mogadishu killing international aid workers, journalists, civilian leaders, and peacekeepers, as well as Somalia's government and military targets...The attack marks the second major terror attack carried out by Al-Shabaab in 2019 following last month's hours long siege in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. At least 21 people were kil

I am gonna attempt to parallel escaping Violence in Nigeria and seeking refuge to what has been happening here in the USA. It might be a bit of a stretch or even a total fail but bear with me for a moment. "Escalating attacks by Boko Haram militants have forced 30,000 people out of Nigeria's northeast into Cameroonian borders over the weekend, the UN Refugee agency said on Tuesday. Thousands have also fled to neighboring Cameroon and Chad in recent weeks, the agency said. Hostilities have strained humanitarian operations and forced aid workers to pull out from some locations, and the destruction of livelihoods and infrastructure is widespread, UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch said at a press briefing in Geneva. The recent upsurge in violence has also driven more than 80,000 civilians to seek refuge in already crowded camps or in towns in Borno State, where they are surviving in tough living conditions, Baloch said." Due to violence in Nigeria, there have been thou

Thursday January 17, 2019 a journalist who uncovered corruption in soccer in Ghana was shot dead. Hussein-Suale, the journalist, worked for Tiger Eye PI, which was an investigative journalism organization. Hussein-Suale had been receiving death threats after he published work on a documentary that exposed bribery and corruption in the African soccer organization. Hussein-Suale's investigation on the organization lead him to the resignation of the head of the Ghana Football Association. " Agyapong, a member of Ghana's ruling New Patriotic Party, can also be heard in the video offering to pay for anyone who attacks Hussein-Suale." https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/17/africa/ghana-undercover-journalist-ahmed-dead/index.html