The Media Action radio programme Hiigsiga Nolosha (meaning desire or aspirations for life) is designed for Somali youth as a discussion platform to prompt "dialogue and interaction across divides, create... understanding and acceptance between youth from different parts of the country, improve... how youth are viewed (by themselves and adults), give... young people hope and motivation for the future and help... them to believe they can positively contribute to their country." The project was created to improve capacity of local Somali partner radio stations to deliver audience-driven, and particularly youth-focused, media programming. Hiigsiga Nolosha "has been broadcast via the BBC Somali Service and three partner community radio stations and included both a drama Maalmo Dhaama Maanta (A Better Life than Today) and discussion segments produced by each partner radio station." Phase I formative research showed a need for programming in which youth could exchange "ideas and experiences and come up with solutions to the challenges they face. The impact evaluation at the end of Phase I found that the programme had given Somali youth an opportunity to interact and express their ideas, had helped to highlighted commonalities of young people, had positively shifted how young Somalis viewed themselves and contributed to youth empowerment."
Useful Resources
Democracy in Africa, a site promoting writing from African authors, have assembled a reading list on African Politics. This reading list is collated in solidarity with those who are currently attempting to decolonise the university across Africa, and beyond. It includes readings on themes such as Citizenship and Statehood, Social Movements and Civil Society, the Politics of Gender and Youth, the Politics of International Development amongst others. The hosts welcome your recommendations of outstanding scholarship to add to it. Currently, the list focuses on English translations and texts but the site hosts are in the midst of developing lists in other languages and would welcome suggestions.
This open access book presents findings of and separately authored case study examples of work in a global study titled ‘Building the Next Generation of Community-Based Researchers’ (a.k.a. the Next Gen project), funded by the Social Science and Human Research Council of Canada. The Next Gen project aimed to increase access to high quality training in Community-Based Research (CBR) within higher education institutions (HEIs) and civil society organisations (CSOs). The book presents a state-of-the art in pedagogies and strategies for building CBR capacities, to strengthen the existing training for fieldwork and theoretical and curricular content on participatory research within and outside academia. It outlines a number of important trends, approaches and challenges in the field of training the next generation of researchers in CBR; through a comparative analysis of 21 institutional case studies of CBR training providers from around the world and includes the results of a global survey of training CBR in HEIs & CSOs. With over 40 contributing authors from all around the world, Knowledge and Engagement is the first book of its kind, which represents a collective effort to bring many note-worthy aspects within one umbrella (i.e., ‘Community Based Research’), analyse the current scenario and training opportunities, and provide recommendations with regard to what can be done in the best possible manner. It includes two case studies from East and Southern Africa, namely Training And Research Support Centre Zimbabwe and Umphilo waManzi South Africa.
The Inequality Question is a unique project to debate global inequality issues. On the last Thursday of each month – #ThoughtfulThursday – children formerly or currently living on the streets of Uganda choose one inequality question to discuss and lead a live conversation online, with participants worldwide. These conversations give participants and facilitators the opportunity to discuss their thoughts, experiences and aspirations on how to make the world a more equal place. Individuals, classes, groups and organisations are joining into the conversation, not only to have direct discussions with children experiencing many inequalities, but also to spark ideas that lead them to undertake an “Inequality Challenge”, so that they can become a catalyst for change. Samuel Woria undertook one of the Inequality Challenges that focused on gender. For one week, six women dictated all of Samuel’s decisions. Samuel chose to take part in this challenge because he believes that men in Uganda do not treat women fairly and equally. His experiment not only facilitated challenging conversations, but also made an impact in his community. Many men have contacted Samuel to say they are trying to alter their behaviour towards women, and women have expressed their happiness to be shown such public support in their struggle for equality.
The Habitat process was launched by the UN in 1976, when governments began to recognise the risks of rapid urbanisation: in particular, rising inequality, falling quality of life and unsustainable development. More than half of the world’s population now lives in urban areas, and this figure is predicted to rise to almost 70% by 2050. As a result, cities have become focal points for addressing many of humanity’s greatest challenges. Economic inequalities have dramatically increased, and are heavily concentrated in urban areas: almost one third of city-dwellers live in informal settlements, such as slums. Habitat is a state-led process, so many world leaders and UN representatives will be at the conference. The UN also established a General Assembly of Partners to encourage the participation of local authorities, grassroots and indigenous organisations, women’s and youth groups, as well as the private and charitable sectors. The main topic of discussion was the Zero Draft of the New Urban Agenda (NUA): a 24-page document, which outlines the nation states’ shared vision for a sustainable urban future. The NUA has undergone three rounds of revisions between May and September 2016, to iron out conflicts and reach a consensus between the UN nation states. The “right to the city” is also enshrined in the document, calling on governments to create “cities for people, not for profit”, ensuring an inclusive, gender and age sensitive approach to city planning, as well as continuing efforts to reduce urban poverty. Unlike the Paris climate agreement or the SDGs, the NUA is non-binding – it merely provides guidelines for those involved in urban development. It does not give practical advice about how the NUA should be carried out, and who is in charge of implementing it. It does recognise the need for producing evidence to inform the implementation of the NUA, but does not indicate how progress should be measured and assessed.
The Drama for Conflict Transformation (DCT) methodology introduced in this toolkit is used to create community conversation about conflict issues, piloted in conflict-prone areas in Kenya, amongst other countries. Since 2010, participants have collaborated with more than 50,000 audience members to talk about solutions to bullying in schools, labour migration, bride kidnapping, resource scarcity, and substance abuse. The idea is that, "when youth are engaged positively and given a voice, they can play vital roles in building peace. This toolkit is designed to introduce young people to an innovative theatre methodology that creatively examines and transforms conflict. After working through the exercises in this manual, youth will be equipped to lead community dialogue as agents of positive change.” This toolkit guides facilitators in creating a custom workshop to introduce youth to the DCT methodology. The material can be adapted by the facilitator to be culturally or regionally specific and to integrate various themes important to the participant group. Many options for workshop modules - including lead-in activities, warm-up modules, main sessions, energisers, and closing activities - are included to allow the facilitator to craft workshops that best fit their local context and needs. After working through these exercises, participants are expected to be able to analyse conflicts in their communities using theatre exercises, create a Forum Theatre performance based on a community conflict issue, and engage with their local communities through DCT. The toolkit is divided into two sections. Section I: Introduction to DCT Methodology and Facilitation includes hints on organising a DCT workshop, structuring exercises, and establishing group dynamics, as well as an illustration of good facilitation to create a safe, fun, and informative space for participants. Section II: DCT Activities and Theatre Techniques includes a toolbox of DCT activities, arranged by type (warm-up, lead-in, main activity, energiser, or closing activity). Notations on sequencing indicate when certain exercises should be used to build upon earlier trust-building or skill-building work. A glossary of terms, bibliography of relevant works, and selection of handouts are found at the end of the manual.
ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency ( ECREEE) presents “Think Again”, a film on women who have made it as leaders in the energy sector in West Africa. The video documentary goes beyond the common understanding of gender and energy issues by replacing the traditional story of women as victims in energy development with stories of women as influential contributors to improving energy access. If you thought women were only end-users of energy, Think Again.
Businesses are often implicated in human rights violations. Yet the patterns behind claims of corporate human rights abuses and the pursuit of justice and remedy associated with those claims remain unstudied and thus unknown. Who makes claims about corporate human rights abuse? How do companies respond? And, what explains why some claims are addressed and others are not? To address some of these gaps, the CHRD team is currently creating a database of claims of corporate human rights abuses from 2000 through today. The database intends to inform practitioners, policymakers, and academics alike and the data will be made readily available.
Scholars at Risk protects scholars suffering grave threats to their lives, liberty and well-being by arranging temporary research and teaching positions at institutions in our network as well as by providing advisory and referral services. In most cases this is a one-semester or one-year position as a visiting scholar, researcher or professor at a higher education institution in a safe location anywhere in the world. SAR provides advisory services for displaced scholars who are struggling to restart their lives and their careers in their new location. Since the Network’s founding in 2000, more than 700 scholars have found sanctuary and hundreds more have benefited from SAR’s advisory and referral services.
The Southern Africa Network for Biosciences (SANBio) is a platform to address and find means to resolve key bioscience concerns in health, nutrition, agriculture and environment in the Southern Africa. SANBio, was established alongside four other networks under the African Biosciences Initiative (ABI), for the SADC region. Thirteen countries of the SADC region are part of the SANBio network, supporting each other to be acknowledged as the biosciences network improves livelihoods in Southern Africa through research and innovation. The platform provides access to world-class laboratories for African and international scientists conducting research on Africa’s biosciences challenges. SANBio’s Mission is pursued through functions for : Research, development and innovation; and increasing capacity (human resources and infrastructure) to strengthen the network.