Standing up for human rights more important than ever
Statement by UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem on Human Rights Day10 December 2020 Realizing human rights, equal and inalienable for every person, is the most just and meaningful goal of any society. Human rights are universal principles, yet as Eleanor...
Namibia’s democracy enters new era as ruling Swapo continues to lose its lustre
Shutterstock Henning Melber, University of Pretoria The results of the latest regional and local government elections in Namibia show just how much the political landscape has changed in the country since independence from South Africa in 1990. The South West Africa...
Battles won – and lost – against AIDS hold valuable lessons for managing COVID-19
Sonali Pal Chaudhury/NurPhoto via Getty Images Linda-Gail Bekker, University of Cape Town World AIDS Day this year finds us still deep amid another pandemic – COVID-19. The highly infectious novel coronavirus has swept across the world, devastating health systems and...
Dr. Chris Brown letter on Fracking in the Kavango East region – proposal by Reconnaissance Energy (Africa)
Dear NCE Members and friends, By now you will be aware of the EIA that has been approved for shale oil and gas exploration in the Kavango Basin for which an Environmental Clearance Certificate has been issued. This has featured in the printed media and on our NCE...
Trump’s legacy in Africa and what to expect from Biden
Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari and US president Donald Trump during a press conference at the White House in 2018. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Francis Owusu, Iowa State University and Padraig Carmody, Trinity College Dublin Donald Trump was propelled...
Bleak outlook for SA economy predicted
The outlook for the South African economy is bleak and a post COVID-19 recovery will take as long as five years and by that time the local economy will be 8% smaller than it was pre-pandemic. This according to Jeff Gable, the head of Fixed Income Currency (FIC)...
The Five Steps to Studying in the U.S.
Researching your options The first step to studying in the United States is researching your options to find a college or university that best fits your needs. Students are advised not to try to match themselves to the school, but rather find the school that...
Why access to decent toilets could help reduce sexual violence in South Africa
Many women in South Africa still don’t have access to safe toilets. Frédéric Soltan/Corbis via Getty Images Andrew Gibbs, South African Medical Research Council and Tarylee Reddy, South African Medical Research Council South Africa has exceedingly high rates of rape...
Ethiopia’s Tigray region has seen famine before: why it could happen again
Around 25,000 Ethiopians fleeing conflict in the Tigray region have crossed into neighbouring Sudan. Photo by EBRAHIM HAMID/AFP via Getty Images Seppe Deckers, KU Leuven; Jan Nyssen, Ghent University, and Sil Lanckriet, Ghent University A new military conflict is...
New coalition plans to tackle Africa’s growing burden of stroke
Ageing populations, changes in diet, physical inactivity and smoking are some of he drivers of strokes and heart disease. Getty Images Rufus Akinyemi, University of Ibadan; Alan Bryer, University of Cape Town; Foad Abd-Allah, Cairo University; Kathleen Bateman,...