Monday, November 11, 2013
The Wire is taking a break - back with much more in one month
Sunday, November 3, 2013
28 October - 3 November 2013
BURUNDI
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Taxing Africa - by Mick Moore | Africa Research Institute
Anglophone countries have led the way in reforming tax administration in Africa, considerably more so than their francophone peers. The reasons for this are numerous. Networks of international tax specialists are based mainly in English-speaking countries. Many of the modern systems that promote best practice within tax authorities were developed in anglophone countries, especially Australia. International donors, and particularly the UK's Department for International Development (DFID), have directly and indirectly promoted a lot of reform of national tax authorities. In fact, this has been one of the success stories of British aid.
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Doing Business Report 2013 | The World Bank
Rwanda moved up 22 places in the latest ease of doing business survey index released yesterday by the World Bank. The new ranking saw the nation move from the 54th to the 32nd position worldwide in a survey that involves the world's leading 189 economies. Burundi moves up 11 places
EASTERN CONGO
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This study explores coping strategies used by war-affected eastern Congolese adolescents across age and sex, and the association between post-traumatic stress symptoms and engagement and disengagement coping.
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Kibumba, Kiwanja, Rutshuru, des victoires congolaises | le carnet de Colette Braeckman
Kibumba, Kiwanja, Rutshuru, Rumangabo important centre de formation militaire et bientôt Bunagana, poste douanier sur la frontière ougandaise : durant longtemps les noms de ces localités du Nord Kivu ont été synonymes de défaites militaires, d’exactions, de massacres et d’exodes. Depuis trois jours, ils incarnent les victoires de l’armée congolaise dans son offensive contre les rebelles du M23 et à Kinshasa la presse considère que la reddition des mutins est imminente, même si l’envoyé spécial américain redoute toujours une « internationalisation » de la crise…
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How M23 was rolled back | African Defence Review
In just four days, M23 has been dislodged from every one of the strongholds it once held. This surprisingly rapid reversal of fortunes for the group was unprecedented only weeks ago when most experts predicted that it would take significant effort to remove M23 from towns like Kibumba, Rumangabo and Rutshuru. Despite M23′s claims that its withdrawals were intentional, the group relinquished heavily-fortified positions all over North Kivu that it had only recently reinforced after the fighting in August. While M23 is not yet fully defeated, there is little doubt that it has suffered a crushing military loss. This analysis will explain why FARDC, the DRC’s national army, backed up by the United Nations Force Intervention Brigade (FIB) was able dislodge M23 so rapidly.
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As the M23 nears defeat, more questions than answers | Congo Siasa.
The new round of fighting between Congolese government forces and the M23 rebels is reaching a dramatic climax. With the Congolese army having swept through all of the major towns that the M23 held--Kibumba, Rumangabo, Rutshuru, Kiwanja, and since this afternoon Bunagana--the M23 may be nearing its end. This would be historic--it would be the first time the Congolese government had defeated a major rebellion, and it would be the first time since 1996 that an armed group allied to Rwanda is not present in the eastern Congo. It is, however, too soon, to declare an end to the M23, as the rebels reportedly still occupy the hills along the Rwandan border between Runyoni and Tshanzu. How did we get here?
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▶ Congo army enters last major rebel stronghold | YouTube
The rebel group controlled Bunagana on the Ugandan border for more than a year but government soldiers have finally taken the town from them. The conflict has left at least 800,000 people homeless.
RWANDA
- Rwanda. Racisme et génocide | Editions Belin
- Le génocide des Tutsi du Rwanda en 1994 est emblématique de la catastrophe qui a frappé toute l’Afrique des Grands Lacs depuis une vingtaine d’années. Il n’a été le fruit ni d’une fureur conjoncturelle, ni d’une fatalité ethnographique ou biologique, mais il est le produit très moderne d’une option extrémiste, jouant du racisme comme arme de contrôle du pouvoir. En effet, cette mise en condition de tout un pays aurait été impossible sans l’inscription durable dans la culture de cette région d’Afrique d’une idéologie racialiste, discriminant, sous les étiquettes hutu et tutsi, des autochtones et des envahisseurs, le « vrai peuple » rwandais majoritaire et une « race de féodaux ». Ce livre décrypte la construction de cette idéologie, trop méconnue, qui oppose les « vrais Africains » à des « faux nègres », ceux qu’on a appelés les Hamites depuis les années 1860 dans la littérature africaniste. Cette maturation se situe à la fois en Europe, dans l’histoire de l’anthropologie, et en Afrique, dans la logique des politiques coloniales, et elle se joue sur deux siècles, donc bien en amont de la crise des années 1990, et jusqu’à aujourd’hui. Le schéma racial dit « hamitique » est né de la même matrice intellectuelle que celui opposant Aryens et Sémites, qui a embrasé l’Europe dans les années 1930-1940.
tags: rwanda racisme genocide ideology history anthropology analysis book
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Preventing unwanted adolescent pregnancy is key for keeping girls in school, leading to a more productive and healthier workforce in sub-Saharan Africa. Gender norms are an important indicator of the status of women and more conservative gender norms are associated with experiencing domestic violence, and poorer maternal and reproductive health care. This paper examines the association between adolescent childbearing and norms towards wife beating in sub-Saharan Africa, and the role of education in moderating this association. Data come from the most recent Demographic and Health Surveys–nationally representative cross-sectional surveys conducted every 5 years.
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A case in point is the Rwandapedia project, an open platform government portal where anyone, anywhere in the world, can instantly access accurate and up-to-date information about Rwanda for free. This includes everything from photos from almost a century ago to minutes from government meetings and copies of laws that have passed through parliament.
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Rwandapedia data web site established | The New Times Rwanda
The Government has launched a historical web site that archives and documents the past, present and the future events in the country. Rwandapedia breaks new ground by collecting into one place the documents, images, videos and audio recordings that together tell the story of Rwanda’s development. Funded by the African Development Bank, the project showcases advances across the social, economic and governance sectors as well as key cultural and historical events in Rwanda.
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'Politics, Political Settlements and Social Change in Post-Colonial Rwanda' | ESID
Until 1994 Rwanda’s post-colonial history was marked by episodes of political violence, attempted wars, and wars of different durations. Feeding the violence was the absence of an elite consensus about how best to take Rwanda forward after colonial rule ended, the rules for doing so, and the roles to be played by the holders and losers of power. This paper explores key aspects of Rwanda’s political evolution from independence to-date. The critical stages are the events popularly known as the 1959 social revolution that preceded independence in 1962; the period from 1962 to the overthrow of Kayibanda’s First Republic in 1973; from the Habyarimana-led military coup to 1994; and the Rwanda Patriotic Front -led post-genocide period. The paper examines the different political coalitions that have ruled the country since independence, their impact on political stability and their role in catalysing or influencing the cycles of turmoil with which it is associated. In the case of the current coalition, this paper also provides a glimpse into the efforts they have made to promote the wellbeing of ordinary Rwandans. It first charts the historical origins and the current state of drivers of instability and elite fragmentation. It then identifies the nature of interactions between drivers of instability and political settlements over time, and their impact on governance and the pursuit of development.
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In the years since the genocide, the Government of Rwanda has contributed significant financial resources to the re-establishment and development of its public higher education sector. This investment has largely been justified in terms of the contribution of university graduates to the country’s vision of becoming a service-based knowledge economy, capable of reducing its reliance on foreign aid and technical assistance. Implicit in this vision for the future is an assumption that a university education will help students to improve in their ability to think critically about problems and to use evidence when making decisions. This study empirically investigated this assumption by administering a version of the Collegiate Learning Assessment – a performance-task-based test of critical thinking, adapted for use in Rwanda – to a random sample of 220 students enrolled at three of Rwanda’s most prestigious public institutions. Assessment results were supplemented with in-depth case studies at two of the institutions involved in the study. Results of the study suggest that Rwandan students are not significantly improving in their critical thinking ability during their time at university.
UGANDA
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Does human progress require violence and cruelty to drive it? Some argue that the two world wars generated a huge amount of scientific research that gave us the benefits far quicker than peace would have done.
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Adolescent girls and gender justice: Country briefings | ODI
Poised at the intersection between childhood and the world of adults, adolescent girls face unique challenges to the full development and exercise of capabilities. This country briefing draws on first-hand information, opinions and experiences from adolescent girls and boys, family and community members, district officials and national stakeholders to examine how social norms operate and impact on girls’ abilities to achieve their full life capabilities in Uganda.