The Sustainability Learning Forum

The Trouble with the Congo

The Trouble with the Congo suggests a new explanation for international peacebuilding failures in civil wars. Drawing from more than 330 interviews and a year and a half of field research, it develops a case study of the international intervention during the Democratic Republic of the Congo's unsuccessful transition from war to peace and democracy (2003–2006). Grassroots rivalries over land, resources, and political power motivated widespread violence. However, a dominant peacebuilding culture shaped the intervention strategy in a way that precluded action on local conflicts, ultimately dooming the international efforts to end the deadliest conflict since World War II. Most international actors interpreted continued fighting as the consequence of national and regional tensions alone. UN staff and diplomats viewed intervention at the macro levels as their only legitimate responsibility. The dominant culture constructed local peacebuilding as such an unimportant, unfamiliar, and unmanageable task that neither shocking events nor resistance from select individuals could convince international actors to reevaluate their understanding of violence and intervention. more[...]

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African leaders urged to invest in jobs, infrastructure and protecting development gains

African Development Bank (AfDB)

n unprecedented gathering of experts in Kigali, present and former African Heads of State urged business, community and political leaders to help turn the continent’s impressive growth into economic opportunities for ordinary citizens. more[...]

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Africa’s social diversity: an asset for democracy

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

African leaders, international organizations and civil society representatives will meet in Botswana’s capital, Gaborone, for the next three days to discuss Africa’s diverse social fabric and how it can serve as an asset for democracy and development. more[...] login_required

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Social dialogue needed to prevent further violence in SA mines, says ILO

As an inquiry begins into the fatal August shooting of dozens of striking miners in South Africa, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has called for high-level social dialogue in order to prevent further violence and unrest. more[...] login_required

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Report Slams Failure to Prevent Toxic Waste Dumping in West Africa

Amnesty International

Trafigura, the multinational company behind the 2006 dumping of toxic waste in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, resulting in over 100,000 people seeking medical assistance, must be criminally investigated in the UK, Amnesty International and Greenpeace Netherlands conclude in a major new report released today. more[...]

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FAO releases first status report on urban gardening in Africa

Food and Agriculture Organization

Africa's urban population is growing faster than that of any other region, but many of its cities are not keeping pace with the increasing demand for food that comes with that growth. A new FAO publication says policymakers need to act now to ensure that African cities will be "green" enough to meet their nutrition and income needs in a sustainable way. more[...] login_required

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South-South Exchange of Know-How is Essential for Africa’s Economic Future, Says AfDB President

African Development Bank (AfDB)

South-South investment and exchange of know-how are key sources of growth and prosperity in Africa – and Huajian Group of China’s experience in Ethiopia is really edifying. That was the message the President of the African Development Bank Group, Donald Kaberuka, gave in his address at the opening of a high-level seminar on September 7 in Tunis. more[...] login_required

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Education, Community, and Social Equality

Perihan Abdel Ghaly, Arab African International Bank
Arab African International Bank

Arab African International Bank believes in investment in youth for a better future and realizes that its influence as a leading private institution has grown in parallel with its competitiveness. Arab African International Bank was the first bank in Egypt and the region to launch an education program for undergraduates in various universities across the country and offers awards for creative ideas. more[...] login_required

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Food Security for Africa: an urgent global Challenge

Albert Sasson, European Commission

On September 14, 2010, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) published its estimates concerning the number of people suffering from hunger in 2010: 925 million. This figure was below the 1,020 billion in 2009, but it was higher than the number reached before the 2008 global food crisis. The 2010 figure corresponded to 13.5% of the world population, while the 2015 objective (millennium development goal (MDG) number 1) was 8%. The FAO concluded that we were still far from achieving MDG 1, that is, halving the number of hungry people worldwide by 2015. more[...] login_required

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South Africa: ITUC Condemns Lonmin Killings

International Trade Union Confoderation

The ITUC has described the wave of violence at South Africa’s Lonmin Marikana platinum mine as appalling, with as many as 36 killed yesterday when police opened fire on striking miners. 10 people had previously been killed in the past week as violence at the mine escalated. more[...] login_required

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Africa

Editorial Team

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Abdel Ghaly, Perihan

Editorial Team

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New Project for Sustainable Investments in Africa

Gustav Johansson, Singularis Advisors

Over the past decade, real GDP growth for Africa rose at more than double its pace compared to the 90′s. FDI from international investors has played a major role in this development and investments in Africa have become an important part of any diversified Emerging Market portfolio. more[...] login_required

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