African countries face a wide array of environmental problems that pose a major threat to people in the region. The continent’s biggest environmental challenges are water pollution, air pollution, and droughts, which directly impact the health of Africans. The tragic dilemma is that although Africa is the continent that contributes the least to the earth’s …
Read more “The Social and Economic Effects of Climate Change in Africa”
Since the post-independence era, Africa has always placed import on the importance of protecting it natural environment. This mindset was endorsed in 1968 when independent African states signed the African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. In 2003 Africa Environment Day was designated in 2002 by the Organization African Unity (OAU) Council …
More Moroccans, Algerians, Tunisians and Libyans are undertaking irregular migration than at any point since 2011. Officials on both sides of the Mediterranean normally analyse the phenomenon by looking at national factors that drive migration decisions or enable departures. This approach misses a key element: irregular migration by Maghrebis is increasingly a shared, region-wide phenomenon. It is …
Africa has made notable progress in the last three decades. Life expectancy has risen steadily, school enrollment has grown, and carbon emissions have steadily remained well below global averages. Amidst these achievements, managing disaster risks and urban challenges is key to ensuring that Africa’s development achievements are not lost when disasters hit. About 90% of all disasters …
As part of Making All Voices Count’s research project When Does the State Listen? Aalia Cassim looks at the drivers of change in South Africa’s social welfare system since 1997, and identifies lessons about government champions, systemic capacity building, and the critical role of stakeholder coordination. In 1997, the South African government launched its White Paper for Social Welfare, conceived …
Read more “South Africa’s social welfare system: what happens to policy when champions go away?”
As the world continues to grapple with the unfolding COVID-19 crisis, many in Africa are worried not only about its spread but about the pandemic’s long-term economic consequences as well. But long before our attention was captured by this virus, African governments were already ignoring an increasingly important factor in securing healthy populations and prosperous …
Read more “Africa’s population is aging and it needs social protection”