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Africa: Rape and Other Sexual Abuse are Robbing Millions of Children of a Future, UNESCO Report

Photo from PowerOfPeace

Widespread rape and other sexual violence are depriving millions of children of an education in conflict-affected countries, UNESCO’s 2011 Global Monitoring Report warns.

The report, “The hidden crisis: Armed conflict and education,” calls for an end to the culture of impunity surrounding sexual violence, with strengthened monitoring of human rights violations affecting education, a more rigorous application of existing international law and the creation of an International Commission on Rape and Sexual Violence, backed by the International Criminal Court.

The international courts set up in the wake of the wars in the former Yugoslavia and the genocide in Rwanda have firmly established rape and other sexual violence as war crimes, yet these acts remain widely deployed weapons of war.

Of the rapes reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), one-third involved children (and 13% are against children under the age of 10). Unreported rape in conflict-affected areas of in the east of the country may be 10 to 20 times the reported level. That would translate into 130,000 to 260,000 incidents in 2009 alone.

In the report, 15-year-old Minova from South Kivu province in DRC describes her experience. “I was just coming back from the river to fetch water. … Two soldiers came up to me and told me that if I refuse to sleep with them, they will kill me. They beat me and ripped my clothes. One of the soldiers raped me. …My parents spoke to a commander and he said that his soldiers do not rape, and that I am lying. I recognized the two soldiers, and I know that one of them is called Edouard.”

Sexual violence damages education on many levels. Girls subjected to rape often experience grave physical injury – with long-term consequences for school attendance. The psychological effects, including depression, trauma, shame and withdrawal, have devastating consequences for learning. Many girls drop out of school after rape because of unwanted pregnancy, unsafe abortion and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV and AIDS, as well as other forms of ill health, trauma, displacement or stigma.

Robbing children of a secure home environment and traumatizing the communities that they live in profoundly impairs prospects for learning. Sexual violence creates a wider atmosphere of insecurity that leads to a decline in the number of girls able to attend school.

Many countries that have emerged from violent conflict – including Guatemala and Liberia – continue to report elevated levels of rape and sexual violence, suggesting that practices that emerge during violent conflict become socially ingrained. While the majority of victims are girls and women, boys and men are at risk in some countries.

The report describes monitoring systems for rape and other sexual violence as among the weakest in the international system with United Nations agencies and others relying on a fragmented and often anecdotal body of evidence.

The report calls for change on four major fronts:

  • An International Commission on Rape and Sexual Violence should be established to document the scale of the problem, identify perpetrators and assess government responses. The Under-Secretary-General for UN Women should head the commission, with national review exercises coordinated through the Office of the Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict.
  • All governments in conflict-affected states should be called upon to develop national plans for curtailing sexual violence, drawing on best practices. Donors and United Nations agencies should coordinate efforts to back these plans.
  • Strengthen United Nations coordination to combat sexual violence. The United Nations Entity on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women — UN Women — should be mandated, resourced and equipped to coordinate action across the United Nations system and oversee enforcement of Security Council resolutions.
  • The International Criminal Court could play a far more active role in enforcing Security Council Resolutions, and could inform United Nations, regional and national efforts to document levels of rape and other sexual violence, establish benchmarks for combating impunity, provide training, and strengthen the role of women in local and national leadership positions.

Mary Robinson, co-chair of the Civil Society Advisory Group to the UN on Women, Peace and Security, writes in the report: “Children living with the psychological trauma, the insecurity, the stigma, and the family and community breakdown that comes with rape are not going to realize their potential in school.

That is why it is time for the Education for All community to engage more actively on human rights advocacy aimed at ending what the UN Secretary-General has described as “our collective failure” to protect those lives destroyed by sexual violence.” The hidden crisis: Armed conflict and education, cautions that the world is not on track to achieve by 2015 the six Education for All goals that over 160 countries signed up to in 2000. Although there has been progress in many areas, most of the goals will be missed by a wide margin – and conflict is one of the major reasons.

The report is endorsed by four Nobel Peace Prize laureates: Oscar Arias Sánchez, Shirin Ebadi, José Ramos-Horta and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Introducing the report, Archbishop Tutu says: “It documents in stark detail the sheer brutality of the violence against some of the world’s most vulnerable people, including its schoolchildren, and it challenges world leaders of all countries, rich and poor, to act decisively.” Of the total number of primary school age children in the world who do not attend school, 42% – 28 million – live in poor countries affected by conflict.[ad#Adsense-200by200sq]

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I Thought of AIDS as a Gay Man’s Disease and I was Neither a Man nor Was I Gay

Michelle Anderson is a mother, an activist, and a recent beauty pageant winner

Ray Jordan,

Michelle Anderson is a mother, an activist, and a recent beauty pageant winner. However, she is more than that. She’s also one of the thousands of African American women living with HIV/AIDS. While HIV and AIDS was once considered to be a White gay male disease, the face of HIV has shifted dramatically and now overwhelmingly affects African Americans with a sharp increase in African American women. In fact, according to the National Women’s Health Information Center, an office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Black women are 15 times more likely to be infected with HIV than are White women and are four times more likely than that of Latinas.

Anderson’s story, while tragic, is not that different than thousands of other women. Sexually abused as a child and unable to handle the emotional trauma she experienced as a result of it, she sought refuge in drugs and alcohol.

“I made some bad decisions,” Anderson admitted. “And, some (decisions) stemmed from being molested as a child.” She explains how she turned to drugs and alcohol and to having sex for money when she could no longer afford the drugs.

“I knew my behavior was risky,” she says, “but, I thought of AIDS as a gay man’s disease and I was neither a man nor was I gay.”

However, during drug treatment Anderson was given an HIV test and describes being stunned when the test came back positive. “I was in disbelief. I was shocked. I was angry. I thought I was going to die and that there was no reason to continue drug treatment.” But before she gave up and left the treatment center, she had a dream. “I’m a spiritual person,” Anderson said. “I had an overwhelming feeling that everything was going to be ok. While in treatment, I had a dream that I would die of old age not HIV. It’s the only reason I stayed.”

Anderson’s story, unfortunately, is not that uncommon. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 1 in 32 Black women will be diagnosed with HIV in their lifetime. This means that Black women, although only 12 percent of the female population, account for 61 percent of all new HIV cases among women. In fact, HIV/AIDS is the third leading cause of death among Black women aged 25 to 34 and 35 to 44, the majority of whom, like Anderson, contracted the virus through heterosexual sex.

Research points to several complex factors that have led to the prevalence of HIV/AIDS within the Black community and the dramatic increase among Black women, two of which are socioeconomic factors and stigma. Social and economic realities of some African Americans have shown to increase HIV risk. These realities include higher levels of poverty, racial discrimination, lack of healthcare access and higher rates of incarceration, which disrupt social and sexual networks. CDC research has shown that poverty is associated with a higher risk of HIV infection among African Americans, even among those who do not have high-risk behaviors.

Studies have also shown that the stigma associated with both an HIV diagnosis and sexual orientation can be greater within the African American community and therefore invoke fear of disclosing one’s HIV status. Subsequently, this causes an obstacle to education, treatment, and further disease prevention. This fear, according to the CDC, can also prevent African Americans from receiving the much-needed support of friends and family that a newly diagnosed person needs.

As with many other HIV positive African American women, Anderson describes the experiences with her friends and family as bittersweet. “It was really hard at first with my family. They weren’t educated. I had to really deal and go through a process of reeducating them. It took a little while, but they were able to accept it,” she says. Anderson has persevered and in spite of sensitive experiences within her family and romantic relationships, she has become an activist and advocate for other women living with HIV.

Almost 12 years since her diagnosis, Anderson, at 40 years old, is healthy, happy, and the newly crowned Ms. Duncanville Plus. She describes herself as fully disclosed, even with new dating partners, as she raises a teenager. Knowing that it may mean the end of a promising relationship or even cause difficulty for her youngest daughter who isn’t quite 17 years old, she’s not deterred. Yes, she’s had some men not want to continue dating because of her status and although her daughter has experienced taunting at school, Anderson and her three children are fine with that. She knows that living her truth is better than living in shame. She has a message to share.

“The most important thing that people need to realize is that we all share the same vulnerabilities. Everyone wants to think about the behavior, but the behavior is just a symptom of the vulnerability. We all share the same vulnerabilities, the only difference is I’m infected and they’re not.”

You can listen to Michelles’ radio  here http://www.blogtalkradio.com/poziam/2010/11/08/michelle-anderson–hiv-beauty-queen

Black Voices

Ray Jordan, Special to the NNPA from the Dallas Examiner[ad#Adsense-468×60]

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Africa Is in a New Era With so Many Success Stories to Tell

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

For too long, Africa has been defined just by war, corruption and poverty. It was so welcome to read “A fresh chapter is opening in Africa’s history” (Editorial). It is time the rest of the world recognised the amazing resilience shown by Africa.

The continent quickly recovered after the economic crisis. Growth is forecast at 5.3% this year and 5.5% in 2012, making it one of the world’s fastest-growing developing regions. Africa’s resilience was the result of years of hard work – a deep commitment to reform and economic stability over 15 years. Two-thirds of African economies brought in reforms during the crisis to make it easier for investors. Foreign direct investments in sub-Saharan Africa grew by 17% last year.

Africa still needs aid but it should be aid that targets real results – in education and health, with malaria an example. It should also be aid that leverages private investment and creates jobs.

Africa presents a market of 1 billion people whose potential buying power should make the continent an important contributor to global growth. Africa is coming of age in a complicated environment, marked by issues ranging from global imbalances to climate change. It must seize the opportunities to tell and sell its own success stories.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Managing director
The World Bank
Washington DC

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CREATEing IDEAs for AFRICAn Development

Even though poor leadership is primarily responsible for the slow and epileptic development of the African continent, in my view, another factor responsible for Africa’s marginal position is lack of creativity and idea generation. Economically, African countries are known to be ‘consuming nations’, absorbing products or goods from Asia and the West for local consumption. Products ranging from automobiles, electronics, shoes, beverages and so on are shipped in tons annually to Africa countries. This is the reason the currencies of African nations are at the mercy of their foreign counterparts such as the dollar, the pounds sterling, and the yen. Moreover, developing economies are usually at a disadvantage economically with respect to the balance of trade and payments. Paradoxically, most African countries produce what they do not consume and consume what they do not produce. It is high time Africans and other developing economies learnt to proffer scientific, economic and social solutions to our challenges.

How can you revive the yearning for creativity?

To this end, I would like to share what I feel can spark up a deep yearning for creativity. I would like us to look at what we can learn from the letters in A.F.R.I.C.A, C.R.E.A.T.E and I.D.E.A.

AFRICA: A Land, Full of Resources, Intellectuals, Committers, and Achievers. The African continent is endowed with resources such as oil, gas, minerals; intellectuals such as Kofi Annan, Nelson Mandela, Wole Soyinka; committers as demonstrated recently by the people of Egypt in the ousting of the 30-year dictator Hosni Mubarak ; Achievers such as Barrack Obama, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and so on.

CREATIVITY: Conceive, Reflect, Expound, Articulate Think, In-depth, Visualize, and Establish. Regardless of your particular undertaking, your status in life or age, you must learn to be creative and the way you do this is by conceiving an idea, reflecting on the idea, taking time to expound on the idea, articulate on the idea, think on the idea in-depth, visualize the idea and finally establish the idea.

IDEA: I– in depth Deliberations, Endears and Actions. Ideas have been the basis for many creative writings in the world. Phrases such as ‘Ideas rules the World’ are commonly used by speakers and writers the world over to emphasize the pivotal role of idea generation in the development of an individual and nations.

As stressed earlier, it is important that as a people, we embrace ideas and creativity for the development of our continent. The development of the West and other regions of the world were built on IDEAs and CREATIVITY. A call goes out to African leaders, especially the African Union, to leave up to the expectations of the African people. Around the world, Africans are known to be exceptional people. However, the structures and the enabling environment required for this to thrive at home are hardly in place and this is the reason most African ‘brains’ end up in the Diaspora. The A.U and sub-regional bodies such as ECOWAS, SADC must formulate long-term developmental policies, especially in the areas of science and technology that are necessary for the development of the continent. We can take a clue from what the European Union and the Asian Tigers have been able to achieve in their respective regions. If they can do it, we can also do it with sheer determination and commitment. Similarly, the private sector, the media and NGOs must stand up to play their role. It is our collective responsibility as people to join hands and move the continent to where we would like to see it.

I resent a common school of thought that expects the government to do everything to meet the expectations of the people. It is imperative that we as individuals give serious thought to what we can give back to our nation and continent. Individually, we owe our respective countries our quota towards their development. Developments in the big economies around the world were built on the creativity of their citizens who believed in their countries and invested their ideas and resources in the development of their countries. It is time for all of us to rise up and wholly embrace the concept of IDEAs and CREATIVITY for mutual development. Long live Africa, Long live our Mother Land.
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Getting Pregnant Together With Your Buddies, Oh How Cool

Mass teenage pregnancies are becoming a fashion

Earlier this week, a news story containing a disturbing statistics came to light that will shock most readers. Nearly, 5000 schoolgirls in Johannesburg, South Africa, became pregnant in just one school calendar year. Before you attribute this mass teenage pregnancy to rural illiteracy, lack of electricity, lack of television and all those excuses, let us call to mind that, three weeks ago, it was also reported that 90 girls were known to be pregnant in a single school in Tennessee, United States. This did not happen in a slum in Nairobi, Accra, Abuja, or Harare. It happened in the heart of the United States.

I am neither a sociologist nor a psychologist and so I will not attempt to ascribe rationale for these mass pregnancies. Some have referred to them as Pregnancy Pact, Pregnancy Covenant, and others.

The unfortunate situation is that some (may be most) of these girls would never become what they dreamed of becoming: teachers, pastors, parliamentarians, ambassadors, or doctors. Those who will ever get there will do it by the hard, tortuous way.  As for the boys, on other hand, no problem. They can achieve whatever they want to achieve in life with minimal drag from the children who will result from these pregnancies. Some of them will later look down upon these girls as failures and fools.

I need to admit that I do not have data to base this on, but from my personal experience and assumptions, I would assume that most the boys or men involved in the adventure that led the girls into these situations knew of the plastic material called the condom. The never used it. On the other hand, and of course, this is my personal assumption; it is likely that most of the girls were oblivious of whatever options they had that could have prevented what they carry in their immature wombs.

How do we help young girls avoid these situations?

Give Women The Necessary Information:

As usual, many of the parents of these girls perhaps assumed their children were innocent. Well, they are not. In an interview with one of the South African to-be moms, this is what she said

“It’s fashionable to have a baby. You are like a fool if you don’t have sex”

As I have said here a few times, it is vital that parents, teachers and authorities provide young girls and women with the information they need and tell them they too have an option.

  • They can say NO and IT IS OK TO SAY NO!
  • If they cannot or do not want to say no, then they have an option, the female condom. The female condom is over 95% effective in preventing HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases, and unwanted pregnancies.  Most women have never heard this nor seen it. It’s shame and irresponsible that several years of campaigns have focused solely on the man and the options he has in sexual encounters. In the above unfortunate situation, it is easy to focus only on the teenage pregnancy, but it is important to realize that some of these girls that are not lucky may contract other STDs like Human Papiloma Virus/HPV, Herpes Simplex Virus/HSV, Chlamydia, Gonorrhea and Syphillus.

By equipping these girls with ignorance, we are in essence, cursing their the futures.

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Malawi Anti-Flatus Law Continues to Make News Across The World

A few weeks ago, some of you read an article here about a new legislation in the Malawian Parliament aiming to criminalize the passing of gas or flatulence in public. The Malawian public flatus law continues to make news in the US and across the world.

Some are calling it a long-overdue law others are calling it insane or just too much government interference. One of the opponents is Ms Whoopi, the outspoken host of the ABC show the View

“I don’t think my future travel plans will include the African nation of Malawi,” Whoopi Goldberg joked recently on “The View.”

Locals fear that it might prove hard to pin an offense on a particular person, given how easy it is for people to blame others for flatulence.

To fix that problem with the proposed law, Whoopi offered up a simple fix:

“It should include ‘he who smelt it dealt it.'”

It will be news to say that most African dictators are often unconventional, but this new law has set the African nation of Malawi into a frenzy. The dictator Bingu wa Mutharika has so far not been bothered by the call for democracy the sweeping across the continent and therefore has his peace to worry about the quality of outdoor air in Malawi. Census polling data of the nation reveals people with jobs and who live in actual cities eat a typical diet of fried, salty foods. This eating habits of Malawian result in a higher incidence of flatulence which apparently upset wa Matharika.[ad#Adsense-200by200sq]

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Fifa Offers Sympathy to Somalia

Fifa President Sepp Blatter has offered sympathy to Somalia after one of the country’s best young players was killed by a suicide bomber in Mogadishu.

Under-20 international Abdi Salaan Mohamed Ali was among 10 people killed when a car bomb exploded on Monday.

Two other players, Mahmoud Amin Mohamed and Siid Ali Mohamed Xiis, were among 35 people injured.

Blatter wrote to Somali federation chief Said Mahmoud Nur “with a sad heart, having learned of the tragedy”.

“On behalf of Fifa… I wish to extend our condolences to you, the Somalian football community and, most importantly, all family, friends and loved ones of the victims,” the Fifa chief added.

“Please let them know that today, the football community stands by their side.”

Ali died after being struck by the blast following a training session near the police academy which was targeted by the bomber, while Mohamed and Xiis were wounded as they walked home.

A militant Islamic group claimed responsibility for the attack.

“On behalf of the entire family of Somali football I am sending my heartfelt condolence to the families, relatives and friends of the slain football player Abdi Salaan Mohamed Ali,” said Nur in a statement.

“He was one of our best players and was recently added to the national U-20 squad.”

The statement added that a book of condolence has been opened at the Somali Football Federation’s headquarters in Mogadishu where thousands have already conveyed their sadness.

“We are committed to continuing our duty in the war-torn country until we meet death,” the president said in his statement on Monday.

Blatter and Nur are likely to meet this week, with both scheduled to attend the Confederation of African Football’s general assembly in Sudan on Wednesday.

Somalia are one of Africa’s weakest footballing nations, ranked 176th in the world by Fifa, and without an Africa Cup of Nations appearance to their name.

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THEY CAME: The North African Uprising and Foreign Interference, A Lesson for African Leaders and Citizens

RAZIAH MWAWANGA

There has been a lot of drama and turmoil in the recent days as the African continent, especially the northern part, is torn into pieces as people cry out for blood and change. What initially started as one man’s protest against unjust treatment by law enforcement officers has thrown North Africa into full-blown chaos. The fire has moved from Tunisia to Egypt, Jordon, Bahrain, Yemen and the dust seemed to have settled in Libya.

Everybody wants to see old leaders and governments step out of office, give them democracy, more jobs and better lifestyles, but,  as one wise man said, whether this is good or bad, no one knows.

What puzzles me and I find most interesting is the countries in which the trend has taken momentum. All the affected countries seem to have one thing in common; either they have been ruled by the monarchy or self-proclaimed life leadership.

Another fascinating thing is that some of these countries have strategic economies, are powers to reckon with and are superpowers in their own rights. They command respect, fear and envy among their neighbours and the world in general because of their strategic positions, economies and principles.

Take Egypt for example: it is the home of the ancient civilization, excellent tourist attraction, vibrant economy and a leader in the Arab states politics. It stands out between the old and new civilization in North Africa and has commanded international respect and authority as a link between the Arab states and the West. It is also the only Arab state that can see eye to eye with Israel and used to mediate and bumper in Israeli Arab politics.

Apart from the social, economic, and strategic position of Egypt, it has a beauty that cannot be compared with, commonly known as the ancient civilization, land of the Nile and home of Pharaohs. Its civilization surpasses human knowledge through ancient ruins in Alexandria and the Pyramids the world is yet to find a way to construct. Egypt has  world-class Engineers demonstrated by its majestic architecture and magnificent bridges.

Libya is also a great country in its own rights. I have not had the privilege to visit but from what I have seen on television from journalists who have visited its well planned and organised, great infrastructure and roads through the desert and a great economy. Unlike Egypt, Libya is known for its no-nonsense principles and Mohamed Gaddafi’s fearlessness and outspokenness. He is a man of his own principles; does not run in packs like other African leaders; speaks out his mind and does not fear anyone.

He is accredited to be the first African leader to distort United Nations protocol through his long speech when he was the President of the African Union. He is credible despite what people might think of him. He is one of those leaders who has always advocated for a united Africa, through creating a strong African Union which could command respect in the world and a voice to reckon with. Apart from being a world leader, he has tried to create a better life for his citizens unlike other leaders who just horde wealth and save it in Swiss banks and embark in selfish unrealistic ventures and investments that create misery and misfortune for their citizens.

Gaddafi has guts other leaders do not have, like his refusal to the surrender the Locabie bombing suspects to be prosecuted; he eventually gave them up and paid compensation with Libyan money to victims and even negotiated the release of the sick jailed perpetrator and gave him a hero’s welcome when he was released. Proving his love and dedication to protect his citizens despite all odds, a trait other African leaders’ lack, our brothers and sisters are languishing in foreign prisons for crimes they have committed and not committed without representation because our foreign embassies are white elephants and toothless dogs, only there to protect our government interests and not citizens’ interests and wellbeing. Why is Gadaffi killing the same people he had the passion to protect before? What has changed? Are  they not the same Libyans he would move heaven and earth to save and protect?

What I see in all this chaos is the destabilization of strong African economies, silencing the mouth pieces that speak out against foreign aggression by attacking Egypt and Libya, because weakening these countries will destabilise and diminish not only North African power but the whole region.  You start with the strongest because the weak can do nothing.

Why can’t the Egyptians and Libyans see this outside interference? Is burning infrastructure and destroying economies our ancestors took centuries to build and our taxpayers’ money going to solve the problem. Sometimes the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t know, if they don’t believe me they should look at, Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia. In Iraq the Americans went to find weapons of mass destruction, in Afghanistan Osama Bin Laden, to date none has been found and these countries have become a nightmare. Is this the democracy they want; where homes are no longer safe to bring up children and people become prisoners in their own homes and decisions?

I urge my brothers and sisters to be careful of what they wish for and the hidden danger they cannot see  as a watchman as Prophet Isaiahs’ said and echoed in Martin Niemöller  (14 January 1892 – 6 March 1984) words;

THEY CAME….

First the Nazis came…
First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out —
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out —
because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out —
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out —
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me —
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Why can’t the Egyptians, Libyans and other people of Africans nations perceive this outside interference? People should vent their anger at the injustice, dictatorship and greed of our self-elected leaders who always rig their way to power and abrogate term of office.

Let’s not burn and destroy the infrastructure and economies our ancestors and our taxes have build for centuries just to quench our anger and frustrations. Presidents come and go but what is destroyed may never be rebuilt.

What Gadaffi and Mubarak and other African leaders should read are the signs of  time and know when to leave, as former British Prime Minister, John Major stated in his farewell speech ‘’When the curtain falls it’s time to leave the stage’’. Why is it so hard for African leaders to understand that absolute power corrupts? Despite the good things some of these great African leaders have done, it is good leave and be remembered for the good things they did and not the bad they are doing now, killing their own people who elected them and believed in them and whom they swore to protect.

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