African Studies Commons^™

Reconstructing Education In Post-Conflict Sierra Leone, Grace Pai

Publications and Research

This study finds that by prioritizing universal development programmes instead of employing a conflict-sensitive approach rooted in attending to the specific inequities present in Sierra Leone, the current education system is ignoring the needs and desires of certain subpopulations of youth. Specifically, although the state has been very successful in increasing overall access to basic education for both boys and girls in rural Sierra Leone, the current focus on improving the quality of academic education has sidelined the growth of technical and vocational education that many youth desire. Instead, sectors such as tertiary education are prioritized above all else.

Furthermore, …

Transparency And Accountability In The Management Of Oil Revenues In Ghana, Ransford E. Van Gyampo

Government and International Affairs Faculty Publications

This paper undertakes a five-year review of the management of oil revenues in Ghana since the commencement of oil production in 2010. Using reports from the Petroleum Transparency and Accountability Index, official records from key state agencies, and interviews with core individuals within the petroleum sector, the paper assesses the quality of transparency and accountability in the management of Ghana’s oil revenue. It argues that even though some progress has been made in the transparent and accountable use of oil revenues, more can be achieved if certain critical bills are passed and proactive interventions pursued without further delay on the …

Examining Human Capital Capacity’S Influence On Human Development And Poverty Reduction In Sub-Saharan Africa, Theodore J. Davis Jr.

International Journal of African Development

The aim of this paper is to examine and expand our focus on human capital capacity building as a foundation for poverty reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa. The data showed significant differences in the human capital capacity building characteristics as measured by demographic, education and gender equality characteristics. In analyzing select human capital capacity building markers, the findings suggest that the educational indicators were among the strongest in explaining the variation in human development in Sub-Saharan Africa. The findings showed that gender inequality was a serious inhibitor of human development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Overall, the Sub-Saharan nations with the lowest level …

Rodney Papers At Auc Robert W. Woodruf Library

Groundings

No abstract provided.

Contact And Board Information

Groundings

Updates from The Walter Rodney Foundation.

What "Context" Can Justify Walter Rodney's Assassination?, Rohit Kanhai

Groundings

Like water crashing over the seawalls, there has been a rush of explanations, based on “context” to justify the shifting political sands, as it swirls with the waves. The “sands of time” seems to have shifted the “line in the sand” so much so, that all commonsense seems to have deserted the land of Guyana. In the midst of this debate are Walter Rodney and the Working People’s Alliance (WPA). The debaters are WPA members and supporters. The debate itself would make such identities questionable. There are hints of George Orwell’s Animal Farm and 1984 in terms of the rewriting …

Rodney's Legacy Matters, Beyond Guyana, Anne Braithwaite

Groundings

Guyana’s President Granger has refused a mere two more weeks for the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry (WRCOI) to unearth the truth — after 34 years of evasion. The Commission of Inquiry (WRCOI) to unearth the truth — after 34 years of evasion. The commissioners have been ordered by the Granger government to submit a report by 30 November 2015.

Walter Rodney Commission Of Inquiry Was About Justice Delayed, Wazir Mohamed

Groundings

The Justice for Walter Rodney Committee has been following with interest the statements of the current government of Guyana through its spokespersons, Ministers Basil Williams (Attorney General) and Raphael Trotman (Governance Minister). From the statements attributed to these officials, their comments demonstrate that they are on a campaign to disparage, denigrate, and thus create the impression that the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry did not accomplish anything of substance. It is not clear why this would be in the interest of the government of Guyana.

Student Protest At Atlanta Cnn Center: A Photo-Narrative, Julian Plowden

Groundings

Photojournalist Julian Plowden chronicles the protests in downtown Atlanta at the CNN Center in the summer of 2014.

The Groundings With My Brothers Republished

Groundings

Dr. Walter Rodney's seminal work, The Groundings with My Brothers has been republished by The Walter Rodney Press.

Save The Date: The 13th Annual Walter Rodney Symposium

Groundings

The 13th Annual Walter Rodney Symposium will be held on March 18th & 19th, 2016 at the Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta, Georgia. The theme will be "Youth Matters: An International Groundings."

Norman Girvan … El Buen Oficiante Ante El Esequibo, Jesus "Chucho" Garcia

Groundings

Jesus "Chucho" Garcia pays homage to the late Norman Girvan. This article has been kept in its original language, Spanish. We will publish an English translation when one becomes available.

3rd Annual Walter Rodney Speakers Series (2015)

Groundings

We take a look at the semester-long project to bring together intellectuals from a diverse set of educational and professional backgrounds. Included: A brief synopsis of the Series and a photo narrative.

12th Annual Walter Rodney Symposium Wrap Up

Groundings

We take a look at the monumental occasion that was the 12th Annual Walter Rodney Symposium, held on March 20th & 21st, 2015. Included: a brief synopsis of events and a photo narrative.

Introduction

Groundings

This is in the Introduction for Groundings Vol. 2, Iss. 2

Cover And Table Of Contents

Groundings

This is the Cover and Table of Contents for Groundings Vol. 2, Iss. 2

Groundings Volume Two, Issue Two

Groundings

This is the full issue of Groundings Vol. 2, Iss. 2. It includes a wrap of both the 12th Annual Walter Rodney Symposium and the 3rd Annual Walter Rodney Speakers Series; a piece by Jesus Chucho Garcia that honors the late Norman Girvan; the official Save the Date for the 13th Annual Walter Rodney Symposium; information on the republication of The Groundings with My Brothers; a photo-narrative by Julian Plowden on the student protests at the Atlanta CNN Center; we then have 3 pieces surrounding the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry by Wazir Mohamed, Anne Braithwaite, and Rohit Kanhai, …

Private Military Contractors, Security Forces, And Mercenaries, Naomi Pearson

Laurier Undergraduate Journal of the Arts

No abstract provided.

The Un, Regional Sanctions And Africa, Andrea Charron, Clara Portela

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Africa is the continent most targeted by sanctions. During the Cold War, when the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) was all but paralysed, the only sanctions regimes that the UN imposed were directed at countries located on the African continent: Southern Rhodesia and South Africa, penalized for their apartheid regimes. In the post-Cold War era, Africa has continued to register the highest frequency of sanctions, applied not only by the UN but by other organizations as well. Africa’s own regional bodies, such as the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), are active in wielding …

'Home Was Congo': Refugees And Durable Displacement In The Borderlands Of 1,000 Hills, Erika Frydenlund

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

As forced migrants linger at the borders of the world’s conflicts, refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo in Rwanda remain in camps where they have waited for ‘durable solutions’ to their geographic and political existence for nearly two decades. Protracted displacement such as this results from processes at the local, state, regional, and international levels, with consequences reverberating each of these levels, including insecurity, expenditure of already limited resources, and strained interstate political relationships. As refugees’ stays extend to increasingly long periods of time, situations once assumed to be temporary take on a semblance of permanence. Forced displacement increasingly …

Corporate Complicity In Human Rights Violations Under International Criminal Law, Danielle Olson

International Human Rights Law Journal

This paper examines the main legal elements of corporate criminal responsibility for involvement in serious human rights violations, focusing specifically on the mens rea, or mental element requirement of a crime. It analyzes in detail what it means for a business to be complicit, the degree of knowledge corporations and their officials must have to be implicated in accomplice liability, and a case study demonstrating the consequences of such liability on corporations.

The Us Response To Genocide In Rwanda: A Reassessment, Camara Silver

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the US response to the 1994 Rwandan genocide. It argues that in 1994, the US was retooling its stance on humanitarian intervention because of the disastrous US-led Operation Gothic Serpent in Somalia in 1993. Therefore, the American response to the genocide in Rwanda became a casualty of Washington’s reassessment of its humanitarian intervention policy in the 1990s. The reason behind the US adoption of a more muscular humanitarian intervention policy was due in part to the end of the Cold War in 1991. Thus, the US was able to focus on other issues in international affairs, such …

About The Contributors

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

No abstract provided.

The Foumban "Constitutional" Talks And Prior Intentions Of Negotiating: A Historico-Theoretical Analysis Of A False Negotiation And The Ramifications For Political Developments In Cameroon, Fonkem Achankeng

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

This paper links the nationalist conflict in postcolonial Cameroon to the prior intentions of the parties at the 1961 Foumban “Constitutional” Talks characterized by a false negotiation experience. I argue that the political developments in the Cameroon post-Foumban and the tensions that have led to outcomes such as the desire of British Southern Cameroons to “restore independence and sovereignty” resulted from the fact that the parties at the Foumban Constitutional conference had divergent prior intentions of the meeting, including false negotiating. In exploring the 1961 Foumban Talks, the framework through which the two former and separate UN Trust Territories under …

Anglo-French Negotiations Concerning Cameroon During World War I, 1914-1916: Occupation, "Condominium" And Partition, Lovett Z. Elango

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

Anglo-French disagreements over Cameroon during World War I and the efforts to resolve them both during the Allied campaigns in the territory and at the end of the war suggest that negotiation can occur even in wartime successfully. At the outbreak of the war Cameroon was a German territory like Tanganyika, South West Africa, and Togoland. The Anglo-French grand strategy and war aims were to seize these territories and oust the Germans from them. Consequently, Cameroon became the theater of an intense military struggle and a pawn of Anglo-French imperial rivalry fuelled by the conflicting territorial ambitions and claims of …

Faith-Based Organisations And Conflict Resolution In Nigeria: The Case Of The Christian Association Of Nigeria (Can), Paul Ilo

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

With so much emphasis on religion as a source of conflict, the role of religion and by extension religious actors as strong forces in conflict resolution is usually overlooked. For a long time, research in the Conflict Resolution field failed to focus on the role religion plays in conflict resolution (as opposed to its role in making conflicts intractable) or specifically to the unique features and strengths of faith-based actors in conflict resolution. In Nigeria, as well as in Africa and other parts of the world, faith-based organizations (FBOs) have been increasingly involved in attempts to end conflicts and make …

Beyond Moral Panic: Negotiation Theory And The University Strikes In Nigeria, Isaac Olawale Albert

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

“Moral panic” is a concept of growing importance in the social sciences. It has to do with the emotional reaction of the media, the public, and agents of social control to an emerging or anticipated social problem. My paper uses this concept to portray how Nigerians react to the incessant industrial action by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) since the 1990s. During these many strikes, which often last for months, Nigerian universities and private businesses domiciled in them are shut down. Members of the public often cast the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)/Federal Government (FG) …

Tackling Nigeria's Security Challenges: Negotiation Or What With Boko Haram?, Phillip E. Agbebaku, William E. Odion, Mary Fadal Edokpa

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

For many years now Nigeria has been facing a plethora of security challenges. This includes the Niger Delta militants who engaged in disrupting oil exploration by kidnapping oil workers in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Their grievance was that the region that produces the wealth of the nation was neglected in terms of development. They wanted a better deal. The conflict situation improved with the declaration of Amnesty by the Yar’Adua administration. Another security challenge was posed by the Boko Haram insurgency. Boko Haram reared its ugly head in full force in 2011. The insurgency concentrated in the North …

Negotiating The Federal Accommodation: Minorities And The Issue Of The National Question In Nigeria, Tunde Agara

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

Ethnic minority tensions and agitations in Nigeria are important features of the on-going struggle to resolve the “national question” through convening the Sovereign National Conference, all in a bid to dialogue and negotiate a true federal system that incorporates and accommodate the minorities within the federal system. This paper suggests that the minority issue in Nigeria is deeply rooted in the complex triad of pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial historical and structural processes that have foisted and institutionalized the oppressive hegemony of the country’s three major ethnics over the minorities. To further illuminate this perspective, we have adopted Edward Azar’s Protracted …

The Negotiation Issues In Nigeria's Post-Independence Conflicts, Layi Egunjobi, Ndubuisi O. W. Odiaka

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

Nigeria which typifies the condition in most African countries, is bedeviled by disputes and conflicts which impact so negatively on the country’s economic growth and quality of life indices. Disputes usually range from local, tribal, and religious skirmishes to national, regional, and international engagements. These naturally involve negotiations in form of agreements, treaties, dialogues, and national conferences which may be conventional or cultural. At the same time, Nigeria’s nationhood is still being questioned and even threatened 100 years after unification and 54 years after independence. The basic argument in this paper is negotiation as a factor may have played a …