tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/congo-21299/articlesCongo – The Conversation2024-03-12T13:52:34Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2234582024-03-12T13:52:34Z2024-03-12T13:52:34ZColonial statues in Africa have been removed, returned and torn down again – why it’s such a complex history<p>In 2020, the <a href="https://www.mprnews.org/crime-law-and-justice/killing-of-george-floyd">murder of George Floyd</a> in the US served as a catalyst for the global <a href="https://library.law.howard.edu/civilrightshistory/BLM">Black Lives Matter movement</a>. It sparked widespread protests against police brutality and systemic racism. It also ignited <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/mar/16/the-real-meaning-of-rhodes-must-fall">debates</a> about historical symbols of oppression, such as statues of figures associated with racial injustices. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-06-12/pulling-down-statues-of-racists-africas-done-it-for-years">These debates presented colonial statues</a> in Africa as having been contested and toppled for many years, ever since African states gained independence. Indeed, colonial statues were at the heart of the colonial world, symbolising its violence, white supremacy and the erasure of precolonial history. But colonial monuments in African public spaces have much more complex and often overlooked histories.</p>
<p>As a scholar of African heritage, I recently published a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13527258.2023.2294738">study</a> examining colonial statues and how they have been regarded in postcolonial Africa. My historical investigation highlights three major phases. </p>
<p>First, in the era of independence of African states, from the 1950s to 1980, some statues were removed from public spaces, but many remained. </p>
<p>Second, the 1990s and 2000s were marked by the “return of empires”: statues that had been removed were put back in public spaces and new neo-colonial monuments were constructed. </p>
<p>Third, the renewed challenges to colonial statues from the 2010s faced some strong resistance. Understanding this history is crucial, as it exposes the challenges of truly moving beyond the colonial world and order.</p>
<h2>Colonial statues at independence (1950s-1980)</h2>
<p>As African countries gained independence from the 1950s to the 1980s, colonial statues faced three main fates: recycling; defacement or toppling; and on-site preservation. </p>
<p>Recycling involved relocating statues from former colonies to former colonial metropolises. Most went from Algeria to France and from Kenya to England. The statues of <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/f3760af0-6545-11e4-91b1-00144feabdc0">Lord Kitchener</a> and <a href="https://equestrianstatue.org/gordon-charles-george/">General Gordon</a>, for example, were sent from Khartoum in Sudan to England in 1958. The reasons for these repatriations were multiple and included the desire to keep alive memory of colonial times and to feed colonial nostalgia. </p>
<p>Defacing or toppling was the second phenomenon, which occurred across the continent, from Algeria to Mozambique. One instance was the defacement and toppling of the <a href="https://www.academia.edu/51780170/The_Maid_of_Algiers_Deploying_and_dismantling_Joan_of_Arc_as_a_globe_trotting_icon">statue of Joan of Arc</a> in Algiers in 1962. These acts of violence were necessary responses to the violence of the colonial order and represented a break from the past. They also symbolised the cleansing of public spaces, to destroy symbolically the power imbalances, racism, inequalities and urban exclusions that defined the colonial world. Some of these toppled statues were then sent back and recycled in the former metropolis. </p>
<p>However, across Africa, many colonial monuments remained untouched, for various reasons. Some African leaders at independence were pro-Europe, having been educated there or having worked there during colonial times. And at independence, privileged links were forged between the former colonies and the metropolises. This was the case with some former French colonies. As a result, the leaders of former French colonies did not want to change the key symbols of the colonial world. </p>
<h2>The empires strike back (1990s-2000s)</h2>
<p>From the 1990s, many colonial statues dismantled and hidden during the independence era were reinstalled. Aid from former imperial powers to former colonial countries is one explanation. An example is the controversial <a href="https://contestedhistories.org/wp-content/uploads/Democratic-Republic-of-Congo_-Leopold-II-Statue-in-Kinshasa.pdf">re-erection of the statue of former Belgian king and Congo “owner” Leopold II</a> in front of the main train station in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, in 2005. It’s easy to see why: the millions of US dollars in aid that Belgium gives the DRC every year.</p>
<p>The turn of the millennium also saw (neo)colonial statues deliberately erected to celebrate 19th century explorers and missionaries. In countries that were once part of the British Empire, such statues were built to attract tourists. For example, a new <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13527258.2023.2294738">statue of David Livingstone was erected in 2005</a> for the 150th anniversary of his arrival at Mosi-oa-Tunya (Victoria Falls) in Zambia. It was paid for by airlines, travel agencies, luxury lodges, TotalEnergies and local authorities. </p>
<p>However, this statue of Livingstone can also be seen as an international event, linked to colonial monuments built with France’s cooperation. This is notably the case of the <a href="https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article-abstract/109/436/367/146718?redirectedFrom=fulltext">2006 Savorgnan de Brazza</a> memorial erected in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo. This project of Algeria, Congo, France and Gabon <a href="https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article-abstract/109/436/367/146718?redirectedFrom=fulltext">reburied</a> the remains of the Italian-French explorer De Brazza, his wife and their children in the memorial. </p>
<p>The project mixed geopolitics and bilateral aid, cultural diplomacy and colonial violence. Echoing imperial rivalries, the memorial and its statue also served as distinct markers of France’s spheres of influence, and its attempt to counteract its decline in the region.</p>
<h2>Renewed contestations (from the 2010s)</h2>
<p>(Neo)colonial monuments were increasingly contested in the 2010s. Such protests have accelerated in recent years and have become more visible, thanks to social networks.</p>
<p>The most famous case is the <a href="https://twitter.com/RhodesMustFall">Rhodes Must Fall movement</a>. This led to the removal of the statue of the British colonialist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cecil-Rhodes">Cecil John Rhodes</a> on the campus of the University of Cape Town in South Africa in April 2015. This movement opposed neoliberal economic systems which had failed to respond to fundamental change, especially in areas such as education.</p>
<p>The movement quickly spread to other countries, inspiring other protests such as “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/14/racist-gandhi-statue-removed-from-university-of-ghana">#GandhiMustFall</a>” in Ghana, Malawi and England. Statues of the Indian leader <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mahatma-Gandhi">Gandhi</a>, considered a racist, were contested. Another movement is “<a href="https://faidherbedoittomber.org/a-propos/">Faidherbe must fall</a>”, aiming to remove the statue of the French colonial administrator Faidherbe in Saint-Louis/Ndar in Senegal and in Lille in France.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-background-story-to-a-statue-of-gandhi-and-the-university-of-ghana-117103">The background story to a statue of Gandhi and the University of Ghana</a>
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<p>Some of these movements have drawn attention to the link between colonial or racist statues and aid. For example, the #GandhiMustFall movement prevented the construction of a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-46051184">Gandhi statue in Malawi in 2018</a>. This project was linked to a <a href="https://sikhsiyasat.net/india-offers-to-double-aid-for-malavi-as-malavian-government-agrees-to-install-gandhi-statue-despite-local-opposition/">US$10 million aid deal from India</a>.</p>
<h2>A complex issue</h2>
<p>While acknowledging successes in removing colonial statues, it is important not to overlook the substantial support for (neo)colonial monuments all over Africa. </p>
<p>Such support can be explained by pressure from former colonial powers and the links of elites with these countries. Financial constraints, international aid and the potential of tourism are also factors. Then there’s the conviction that all vestiges of the past, even the most painful, must be preserved.</p>
<p>The statue of the French military commander <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-53148608">Philippe Leclerc</a> in Douala in Cameroon, for example, still stands, despite being attacked several times by Cameroonian <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/7/7/the-activist-purging-cameroon-of-french-colonial-monuments">activist</a> André Blaise Essama.</p>
<p>As a result, (neo)colonial statues still have a bright future ahead of them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223458/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sophia Labadi has received funding from the Humboldt Foundation and the Fritz Thyssen Foundation.</span></em></p>The fate of several colonial statues in Africa continues to be a subject of controversy.Sophia Labadi, Professor of Heritage, University of KentLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2233932024-03-04T13:27:20Z2024-03-04T13:27:20ZCongo Style: how two dictators shaped the DRC’s art, architecture and monuments<p><em>What kind of art is left behind by totalitarian regimes? A new <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/book/113312">free-to-read</a> <a href="https://press.umich.edu/Books/C/Congo-Style2">book</a> called Congo Style: From Belgian Art Nouveau to African Independence explores the visual culture, architecture and heritage sites of the country today known as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It does so by exploring two now-notorious regimes: <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leopold-II-king-of-Belgium">King Leopold II</a>’s rule (1885-1908) of Belgium’s Congo colony and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mobutu-Sese-Seko">Mobutu Sese Seko</a>’s totalitarian Zaire, established when he seized power in a military coup in 1965 after five years of political upheaval. We asked artist and visual culture scholar Ruth Sacks five questions about her book.</em></p>
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<h2>What did you set out to achieve?</h2>
<p>Years ago, while I was in Belgium on an art residency, I became interested in the early modernist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/Art-Nouveau">art nouveau</a> movement (1890-1914). In architecture and art, this period is part of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/Modernism-art">20th century modernism</a>, known for a minimal, clean aesthetic that’s influenced by new technologies and the advent of machines. Art nouveau is distinctive because it’s highly decorative, while still using the new building materials of iron and glass.</p>
<p>What interested me was the colonial nature of art nouveau. Art nouveau came with a very strong sense of defining newly formed (or unified) nation states in western Europe. It was the style used at <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/worlds-fair">world fairs</a>. These were grand exhibitions showing off western countries’ scientific and cultural achievements, including the acquisition of colonies. </p>
<p>A colonial pavilion in the art nouveau style at the 1897 Brussels world fair in Belgium helped establish one of the names for Belgian art nouveau: <a href="https://www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/news/article/art-nouveau-year-brussels">“Style Congo”</a>. </p>
<p>The style is distinctive for its curling, plant-like shapes and is a major tourist feature today. The years in which it was implanted in Brussels (about 1890-1905) directly coincided with the brutal Congo regime of Belgium’s King Leopold II. </p>
<p>Travelling to the DRC, I located actual art nouveau buildings from the early colonial period. But it was the state sites of the early Mobutu Sese Seko regime (1965 to 1975) that captured my attention. Like art nouveau, they are steeped in a sense of <a href="https://oxfordre.com/politics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228637-e-2039">nationalism</a> and aimed at impressing. For example, the Limete Tower (in use from 1974) on Boulevard Lumumba is a massive monument intended to be a museum celebrating national culture. A tower made up of a huge raw cement tube is topped by an organic floret shaped crown, with a curving walkway leading off from its rounded lower sections.</p>
<p>My experience of the capital city, Kinshasa, made me rethink what cities were and could be. Buildings like Limete Tower that were designed for very different infrastructures (far more ordered, European and US systems) have weathered in fascinating ways that are often related to extremely violent historic events.</p>
<p>I didn’t want to present a conventional study that only analyses the design of the architecture and its functionality. The book attempts to read sites like this within the particularities of their city, its streets, plants and histories.</p>
<h2>What did you conclude about the Leopold period?</h2>
<p>In Leopold II’s time, the king himself was cast as the villain of the “red rubber regime” in the Congo. The Belgian colonial regime under Leopold II <a href="https://www.amdigital.co.uk/insights/news/red-rubber-atrocities-in-the-congo-free-state-in-confidential-print-africa">committed atrocities</a> connected to the rubber industry. (The 1897 Congo Pavilion was a pavilion within the <a href="https://www.bie-paris.org/site/en/1897-brussels">Brussels World’s Fair</a> dedicated to displaying how the Congo provided a lucrative and exotic resource to Belgium.) </p>
<p>Movements like the <a href="http://www.congoreformassociation.org/cra-history">Congo Reform Association</a> (mainly US and British) protested against horrific conditions, including torture and mutilation, that left at least a million Congolese people dead. A great deal of the focus was on Leopold II himself and his greed, which distracted attention away from the greater system of capitalist colonial expansion that was fully endorsed by Euro-American powers. </p>
<p>Famously, Leopold II never set foot in the Congo and neither did the art nouveau designers who fashioned buildings and exhibition pavilions relating to the Congo. I believe this distance from the realities of life in the Congo itself allowed for the fantastical forms that were created in Belgium.</p>
<h2>What did you conclude about the Mobutu period?</h2>
<p>Mobutu Sese Seko was widely maligned by the Euro-American press. What’s often ignored, to this day, is that he was <a href="https://www.theafricareport.com/58653/drc-how-the-cia-got-under-patrice-lumumbas-skin/">put in place</a> by Belgium and the US. He was painted as the villain of the African story, fulfilling the ultimate caricature of the African kleptocrat, yet he wouldn’t have come to power without the nature of the colonialism that came before him.</p>
<p>Belgian colonialism followed a logic of extractivism (removing natural resources to export them) that forced the Congolese economy to supply raw materials to the west (especially Belgium), which continues today. </p>
<p>Mobutu is considered corrupt in the Congo today and his military dictatorship was indeed brutal and controlled the Congolese people with fear. However, his commandeering of a cultural blooming in Kinshasa in the late 1960s and early 1970s was important. Instead of dismissing what he built as only the work of a dictator, my book draws out some of the complexity of this time and what it meant to celebrate African craft, art forms and traditional culture. </p>
<p>The process of appropriating Euro-American artistic ideas and architectural styles in order to celebrate Africanness, as an anti-colonial statement, still holds weight today. Many of Mobutu’s towering monuments are considered objects of pride in the city. </p>
<h2>How does this live on today?</h2>
<p>There is something to be gained from looking at what is left in the wake of tragically violent regimes and how their structures are treated within both their societies and their immediate surroundings. How material culture is made is as important as what is made. Reckoning with monuments and memorials, and considering how these are maintained in the city, can shed often unexpected insights into the ways histories are told. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/retracing-belgiums-dark-past-in-the-congo-and-attempts-to-forge-deeper-ties-184903">Retracing Belgium's dark past in the Congo, and attempts to forge deeper ties</a>
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<p>My hope is that the book remains relevant as a sign there is value in picking apart material remains of regimes that aimed for total control, but never fully achieved it. The associations that build up around public spaces and exhibitions are not necessarily only to do with the circumstances of their making, but how these stories have been filtered over time. They can alienate people but they can also engender pride.</p>
<p>The extractivist attitudes I describe throughout the book, which see the Congo as a resource with bountiful raw natural materials, are still very much present in our day-to-day life. The cobalt in our smartphones, computers and electric cars is mined by labourers working in <a href="https://www.paradigmshift.com.pk/cobalt-in-congo/">near slave conditions</a> to feed our need for the latest technology. While Congo Style stays with historical examples in Kinshasa, the built material that follows colonial ecocide is the main topic.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223393/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ruth Sacks receives funding from the National Arts Council for research in the Congo conducted while undergoing a PhD at the University of the Witwatersrand. </span></em></p>The nationalist art of Mobutu Sese Seko and the art nouveau style of King Leopold II both live on in Kinshasa in fascinating ways.Ruth Sacks, Senior Lecturer in Visual Art, University of JohannesburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2097402023-07-17T14:08:21Z2023-07-17T14:08:21ZIt’s time for Ghana to enshrine its respect for the right to life – by abolishing the death penalty<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537450/original/file-20230714-17-ymm8xc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The death penalty has not been enforced in Ghana for over three decades</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Thirty years have now gone by since Ghana used its gallows, a fact that indicates the country’s respect for human life. It also means that Ghana is one of <a href="https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/policy-issues/international/abolitionist-and-retentionist-countries">about 42 nations</a> – many of which are in Africa – that the United Nations calls <a href="https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/migrated/field/field_document/56_hood_roger_libro_homenaje.pdf">abolitionist de facto</a> because they have not executed anyone for at least a decade. </p>
<p>However, there is a paradox. Not only does Ghana retain the death penalty as a sentence for three crimes (murder, treason and genocide), death is the mandatory punishment for them. The law gives the judges no choice in sentencing for these crimes. Last year, the courts sentenced seven people to death. At the end of 2022, there were <a href="https://ghanaprisons.gov.gh/about-us/statistics.cits">176 inmates</a> on death row, and the list grows every year. </p>
<p>It could be argued that by continuing to hand down mandatory death sentences, Ghana’s courts are unusually harsh, for, <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/act50/6548/2023/en/#page=4">according</a> to Amnesty International, only ten countries did so last year. </p>
<p>But Ghanaian policymakers and civil society are making a renewed effort to resolve the contradictions on the death penalty. These efforts have led to <a href="http://ir.parliament.gh/bitstream/handle/123456789/2385/Criminal%20Offence%20%28Amendment%29Bill%2c2022.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">two new bills</a> due to be debated by parliament. They would enable Ghana to abolish capital punishment in law, as well as in practice. </p>
<p>As academic and legal experts on capital punishment for more than 30 years, we have been assisting Ghanaian policymakers and civil society groups. The latest initiative to end the use of the death penalty is firmly rooted in human rights principles and evidence based research. </p>
<p>A broad engagement in Ghana over a sustained period with a diverse range of stakeholders has enabled members of parliament to consider key aspects of capital punishment objectively. Previous attempts to abolish the death penalty in Ghana have involved complex constitutional amendments. The current moves require only amendments to criminal statutes: a majority of MPs need to vote for abolition. </p>
<h2>A chance for change</h2>
<p>The two new bills before parliament create a golden opportunity to bring the contradictions to an end. One covers the military, the other the civilian courts. </p>
<p>This opportunity follows a recent wave of abolition across sub-Saharan Africa. In the last ten years, Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Madagascar, Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone and Zambia have all abolished the death penalty. Despite their vastly different histories and legal contexts, through political will and leadership these countries all reached a recognition of the cruelty, inhumanity and injustice inherent in capital punishment. In doing so, they joined over 100 other countries worldwide which have now fully abolished. </p>
<p>Ghana’s <a href="https://www.parliament.gh/committees?com=15">Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs</a>, assisted by senior justice officials, has been scrutinising the new bills carefully. We also had the privilege of being able to offer the committee advice. Its reports are now in, recommending that the House should pass the bills and replace the sentence of death with life imprisonment.</p>
<p>The committee’s reports note a further contradiction in Ghana’s current stance: it has ratified international human rights treaties and conventions, including the <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/treaties/36390-treaty-0011_-_african_charter_on_human_and_peoples_rights_e.pdf">African Charter on Human Rights</a> and the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-civil-and-political-rights">International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights</a>. These, the committee says, “oblige the country to guarantee its citizens the right to life, and to live free from torture or cruelty.” </p>
<p>The reports deploy further, persuasive arguments. </p>
<p>One is that no criminal process can ever achieve certainty or perfection, so that retaining the death penalty will always carry the risk that an innocent person could be executed. </p>
<p>Another examines the claim that capital punishment is a deterrent to offending. The committee says there is no empirical evidence for this. In the United States, the murder rate is <a href="https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/stories/states-with-no-death-penalty-share-lower-homicide-rates">consistently higher</a> in states that use capital punishment than in those that don’t. The seven <a href="https://www.visionofhumanity.org/maps/#/">least violent</a> countries in the world have all abolished it. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-has-kenya-not-abolished-the-death-penalty-habit-and-inertia-189955">Why has Kenya not abolished the death penalty? Habit and inertia</a>
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<p>It is now up to parliament. Abolishing the death penalty in law would place Ghana squarely within a worldwide trend, which is especially noticeable in Africa at the moment. <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ACT5011622019ENGLISH.pdf#page=9">Movements</a> to do the same are gathering pace in other jurisdictions on the continent. </p>
<h2>A willing public</h2>
<p>The latest effort at abolishing the death penalty is not the first. In 2012, Ghana came close to abolishing the death penalty altogether, following a <a href="https://rodra.co.za/images/countries/ghana/research/WHITE%20PAPER%20%20ON%20THE%20REPORT%20OF%20THE%20CONSTITUTION%20REVIEW%20COMMISSION%20PRESENTED%20TO%20THE%20PRESIDENT%20.pdf#page=42">recommendation</a> by the Constitution Review Commission that was accepted by the then-government. Unfortunately, the path it tried to adopt, amending the constitution, is complex and challenging and in the end it failed.</p>
<p>Although its courts are still sentencing people to death, Ghana supported a UN General Assembly <a href="https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N22/764/50/PDF/N2276450.pdf?OpenElement">resolution</a> last December calling for an indefinite, worldwide moratorium on the death penalty “with a view to abolition”. Similar resolutions have been carried repeatedly with steadily increasing majorities since 2007. In 2022, almost two-thirds of the world’s nations voted in favour. For the first time, Ghana was among them, having abstained previously.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, although politicians sometimes <a href="https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/politics/death-penalty-appeals-more-to-victims-families-than-life-imprisonment-cletus-avoka.html#:%7E:text=In%20a%20radio%20interview%20monitored,family%20than%20the%20life%20imprisonment.%22">express</a> the fear that abolishing the death penalty would be unpopular, there is good evidence that in Ghana the opposite is true. </p>
<p>According to a <a href="https://arro.anglia.ac.uk/id/eprint/702009/1/Public-Opinion-on-the-Death-Penalty-in-Ghana-Final.pdf">study</a> published in 2015, there are clear majorities against the death penalty for all three of the crimes to which it is applicable. Just 8.6% of those surveyed said they were “strongly in favour” of it. In all, 71% were against. Based on interviews with more than 2,000 people who reflected Ghana’s socio-economic and ethnic composition, this survey was described by the late Professor Roger Hood of the University of Oxford in his <a href="https://arro.anglia.ac.uk/id/eprint/702009/1/Public-Opinion-on-the-Death-Penalty-in-Ghana-Final.pdf">foreword</a> to the report as</p>
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<p>the first methodologically sound study of public opinion on the death penalty in an African state.</p>
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<p>Some might argue that since Ghana is an abolitionist de facto nation, there is no pressing need for legal abolition. In practice, what difference would it make? To this argument, we would say: look at Myanmar, which having been abolitionist de facto since the 1980s, resumed executions last year. No state can ever be entirely immune from the political upheaval that caused this shift. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/kenyan-prisoners-on-death-row-werent-deterred-by-the-threat-of-the-death-penalty-new-research-findings-197701">Kenyan prisoners on death row weren’t deterred by the threat of the death penalty: new research findings</a>
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<p>Back in 1992, Ghana’s <a href="https://constitutionnet.org/vl/item/political-developmental-constitution-report-constitutional-review-commission-ghana-2011">Constitutional Review Commission</a> observed that </p>
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<p>the sanctity of life is a value so much engrained in the Ghanaian social psyche that it cannot be gambled away with judicial uncertainties. </p>
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<p>The best way to protect that value now is for parliament to accept the committee’s reports, and vote for abolition.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209740/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ghana is a signatory to several international conventions that oblige it to guarantee the right to life.Saul Lehrfreund, Visiting Professor, School of Law, University of ReadingCarolyn Hoyle, Director of the University of Oxford Death Penalty Research Unit, Centre for Criminology, Faculty of Law, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2067102023-07-03T14:20:26Z2023-07-03T14:20:26ZProtecting Congo’s forests: new timber parks will help fight illegal logging<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533675/original/file-20230623-17-3i5x7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jan Sochor/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) <a href="https://www.eac.int/press-releases/2402-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-joins-eac-as-its-7th-member">joined</a> the East African Community in 2022. This will offer the country, which has <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24396390">immense natural wealth</a>, a <a href="https://theconversation.com/drc-is-set-to-become-7th-member-of-the-east-africa-trading-bloc-whats-in-it-for-everyone-179320">huge market</a> in neighbouring countries and direct access to new roads, railways and ports – and therefore potential global trade.</p>
<p>But as east African road and <a href="https://www.eac.int/infrastructure/railways-transport-sub-sector/92-sector/infrastructure/railways">rail networks</a> expand and transportation costs fall, the DRC’s eastern forests will become more vulnerable to surging demand by regional and global markets. </p>
<p>This could threaten one of the world’s richest biodiversity areas. The DRC’s eastern forests are one of the <a href="https://rainforests.mongabay.com/congo/">last remaining intact tracts of rainforest</a> on the planet, second only to the Amazon. They help to regulate climate and provide resources – like food, medicines, materials and shelter – to millions of people. They’re also rich in minerals and forest products. Timber is highly coveted for its commercial value and, once roads are opened to harvest it, further encroachment and deforestation may follow.</p>
<p>Effective management and monitoring of timber harvesting and trade is therefore key to ensure the country’s laws are respected, a fair share of the benefits are captured, and illegal timber exports and tax fraud are reduced.</p>
<p>The country already has one of the highest annual deforestation rates on the planet. Since 2010, it has lost at least <a href="https://www.cafi.org/countries/democratic-republic-congo/annual-deforestation-democratic-republic-congo-graph">500,000 hectares of forest every year</a>, with peaks well above one million hectares per year. And while timber harvesting is not the largest contributor to the DRC’s deforestation rates – <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aat2993">small-scale agriculture is</a> – it remains a daily activity for thousands of operators serving the national and international markets. </p>
<p>In 2017 the DRC began to lay the legal groundwork to establish a series of “timber parks” at border crossings around the country, with an initial focus on the eastern borders. These would monitor timber exports and revenue collection. </p>
<p>Over a period of two and a half years, <a href="https://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/cfa/ifr/2023/00000025/00000002/art00003">we worked</a> with Congolese authorities and timber park officials to test the first timber park at a major eastern border, operational since August 2018. We wanted to determine how well the current system worked in assessing the volume of timber leaving the DRC’s eastern borders. We also wanted to know how it could be improved. </p>
<p>Together with the park team, <a href="https://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/cfa/ifr/2023/00000025/00000002/art00003">we found</a> that timber reached the border without proper paperwork (making it impossible to determine where it came from); that only part of the total volume was being correctly declared; and that the mis-declaration of tree species was common, leading to timber being improperly taxed or not taxed at all. In the process, both local communities and the government lose.</p>
<p>However we also found that the presence of the park, and the pressure put on traders, did improve things over time. Park personnel were also quick to adapt and adopt improved verification techniques, making illegal trade more difficult, if fully supported by their supervisors.</p>
<h2>A long way to legal trade</h2>
<p>We assessed a total of 341 timber operations. From Kisangani, on the bend of the Congo river, east-bound timber is trucked 700km overland to the border, usually in the form of sawn planks. These are unloaded and inspected at the timber park before continuing on towards markets in neighbouring countries, as well as Kenya and overseas.</p>
<p>We found that for every 100 cubic metres of timber declared on the official waybills, 157 cubic metres were actually transported – that is, 57 cubic metres were undeclared and unpaid for. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533658/original/file-20230623-25-32jyyt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533658/original/file-20230623-25-32jyyt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533658/original/file-20230623-25-32jyyt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533658/original/file-20230623-25-32jyyt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533658/original/file-20230623-25-32jyyt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533658/original/file-20230623-25-32jyyt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533658/original/file-20230623-25-32jyyt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Timber parks, where the paperwork for loads of timber is inspected, can help stem the financial losses from illegal exports.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Center for International Forestry Research - World Agroforestry</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Of the 100 cubic metres listed on the waybills, only about half had proof of payment of the four major taxes owed to national, provincial and local governments for harvesting timber. This deprives local communities of much-needed financial resources. </p>
<p>Species mis-declaration was also common. For instance, about 20 of the same 100 cubic metres were declared as <em>Mammea africana</em> (local name bulungu), while observations by trained park staff, corroborated by laboratory analyses, indicated the wood belonged to the genus <em>Afzelia</em>, possibly <em>A. bipindensis</em> (commercial name doussié). This species carries the highest rate of taxation of all species and <a href="https://cites.org/sites/default/files/documents/E-CoP19-Prop-46.pdf">has recently been listed</a> in Annex II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. It requires increased scrutiny because it may become threatened with extinction. </p>
<p>Lastly, about 60 of the 100 cubic metres left the country undeclared, meaning only 18% of duties were paid. These discrepancies amount to revenue losses broadly estimated at about US$310,000 which, if fully collected, would pay for the park’s annual running costs and still contribute to the state coffers. </p>
<p>It’s important to note that, for the purpose of our research, we focused only on a small percentage of total timber exports. Available estimates of total exports from the eastern DRC vary from 65,000 to 200,000 cubic metres annually – putting potential losses at millions of US dollars every year.</p>
<h2>Timber parks could help</h2>
<p>Timber parks can be an effective tool for the DRC to stem the flow of financial losses from illegal timber exports. They send a clear signal to illegal traders that the old way of bribing your way out of the country is no more, or much more difficult to use. Up-scaling to all major border crossings, however, is needed to deny truckers the choice of crossing at borders without timber parks.</p>
<p>Critically, the park model needs the support of central, provincial and local governments to contribute to better environmental policies. Our results indicate that about 93% of the timber sampled bore no trace of an authorised logging permit. A logging permit can indicate whether the origin of timber is legal and, more importantly, whether sustainability standards should be applied during harvesting operations in the forest. With no title available, timber parks can increase revenue collection by taxing an illegally produced commodity, but it remains close to impossible to know whether the forest is responsibly managed and whether the forestry sector is following a sustainable path. Support from and coordination with the governments of producing provinces is thus critical, because they are the ones in charge of verifying the legality and sustainability of forest operations.</p>
<p>Lastly, as the DRC increases its trading connections to partner countries in the East African Community and the world, it should not be left alone in the battle against illegal timber trade. Neighbours such as Uganda, or even Kenya further down the trade routes, should improve the way incoming timber is verified and recorded. After all, exporting and importing countries carry shared and proportional responsibilities towards environmental stewardship. And once the DRC’s forests are gone, it’s all of us who will pay the price.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206710/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paolo Omar Cerutti receives funding from the European Union through the project FORETS (Formation, Recherche et Environnement dans la Tshopo, DRCongo), and Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI) through the project GCS-REDD+ (Global Comparative Study on REDD+).
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Silvia Ferrari receives funding from the European Union through the project FORETS (Formation, Recherche et Environnement dans la Tshopo, DRCongo), and Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI) through the project GCS-REDD+ (Global Comparative Study on REDD+). </span></em></p>Timber parks, where the paperwork for loads of timber is inspected, can help stem the financial losses from illegal exports.Paolo Omar Cerutti, Principal Scientist, Center for International Forestry Research – World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF)Silvia Ferrari, Scientist, Center for International Forestry Research – World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2011362023-03-08T17:53:06Z2023-03-08T17:53:06ZRainforests pump water round the tropics – but the pulse of this heart is weakening<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514181/original/file-20230308-18-wrt3cx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6720%2C4476&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/aerial-view-fog-touching-sunlight-covered-2185967209">Jack-Sooksan/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tropical forests are often referred to as the “lungs of the world”, describing the way their trees exchange gases with the atmosphere. By “breathing in” carbon dioxide and “breathing out” oxygen during photosynthesis, tropical forests remove about <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1201609">15%</a> of man-made carbon emissions and help to slow climate change. </p>
<p>This is not the only way tropical forests influence the climate, however. Anyone who has walked through a woodland on a hot day will know that trees have an immediate cooling effect. As well as shading the ground, trees draw water up from the soil and release it through tiny holes in their leaves called stomata. By doing this, trees cool their environment the same way evaporating sweat cools our bodies. </p>
<p>By pumping water from the land into the air, tropical forests also function like a heart. Water sucked up by tree roots is pumped back into the atmosphere where it forms clouds which eventually release the water as rain to be reabsorbed by trees. This cycle <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0177-y">can occur multiple times</a> as air moves over large forests. In fact, it’s critical to the survival of forests situated far from the ocean. In the Amazon and Congo river basins, somewhere between a <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2021GL095136">quarter and a half</a> of all rainfall comes from moisture pumped from the forest itself. This recycling of moisture helps to maintain the large amounts of rainfall tropical forests need.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The Amazon rainforest seen from a tower observatory." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514177/original/file-20230308-26-ivbp2d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514177/original/file-20230308-26-ivbp2d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514177/original/file-20230308-26-ivbp2d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514177/original/file-20230308-26-ivbp2d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514177/original/file-20230308-26-ivbp2d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514177/original/file-20230308-26-ivbp2d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514177/original/file-20230308-26-ivbp2d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rainforests are filled with trees drawing water from the earth to the air.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jess Baker</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The environmental scientist Antonio Nobre was the first to describe how the rainforest can function like a heart. In the <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/controversial-russian-theory-claims-forests-don-t-just-make-rain-they-make-wind">biotic pump theory</a>, conceived by physicists Anastassia Makarieva and the late Victor Gorshkov, forests pump moisture-laden air currents deep into the interior of continents, helping to govern patterns of wind and rain far away.</p>
<p>Cutting down trees stops this transfer of water between the earth and the air and causes the surrounding area to heat up. People living near tropical forests are well aware of this effect, and scientists have since proved it using ground and <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aac8083">satellite</a> temperature measurements.</p>
<h2>The world’s heartbeat is slowing down</h2>
<p>Scientists have long understood the theory linking deforestation and decreasing rainfall. Frustratingly, the evidence to prove it has been harder to pin down. Rainfall varies so much from year to year and between regions that it has been challenging to conclusively demonstrate the impact of deforestation. </p>
<p>In a recent <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05690-1">study</a>, we used satellite measurements to investigate whether rainfall patterns changed after tropical forests were cleared. By comparing the rainfall over deforested regions with that over neighbouring forest we were able to isolate the impacts of forest loss. We found rainfall reduced after deforestation across all tropical regions, including the Amazon, Congo and in Southeast Asia. As the area of cleared forest expanded, rainfall decreased by a larger amount. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/amazon-fires-deforestation-has-a-devastating-heating-impact-on-the-local-climate-new-study-122914">Amazon fires: deforestation has a devastating heating impact on the local climate – new study</a>
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<p>Our work suggests that so much tropical forest has been cleared globally over the past two decades that the tropical forest heartbeat has started to slow, resulting in less rainfall in the surrounding regions. We estimate that if tropical forests continue to be cleared, rainfall could decrease by an additional 10% by 2100 over the most heavily deforested regions. If enough forests are cleared and rainfall declines too much, a <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-the-amazon-rainforest-on-the-verge-of-collapse-178580">tipping point</a> could be reached where there is not enough rain to sustain the remaining forests.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Fluffy clouds over distant forest at dusk." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514010/original/file-20230307-22-e1jbsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514010/original/file-20230307-22-e1jbsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514010/original/file-20230307-22-e1jbsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514010/original/file-20230307-22-e1jbsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514010/original/file-20230307-22-e1jbsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514010/original/file-20230307-22-e1jbsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514010/original/file-20230307-22-e1jbsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Deforestation threatens to break the tropical forest water pump.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Callum Smith</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How to value tropical forests</h2>
<p>Tropical nations are tasked with conserving their forests at the same time as developing their economies. Conservation is often perceived as a trade-off, but the local and regional climate benefits of healthy forests can reduce <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-021-00275-8">heat stress</a>, boost <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-22840-7">crop yields</a> and maintain stable water flows to predictably generate <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-020-0492-y">hydroelectricity</a>. It can make more economic sense to protect forests rather than clear them. </p>
<p>If deforestation of the Amazon continues unabated, reductions in rainfall would cut hydropower production in the region to <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1215331110">25%</a> of its potential. Another recent <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-22840-7">study</a> showed that reducing deforestation in the Amazon to sustain rainfall could prevent agricultural losses of US$1 billion annually. </p>
<p>As the crucial role of tropical forests in maintaining a cooler and wetter climate becomes better understood, the incentive to conserve them will grow.</p>
<p><em>This article was update on March 21 2023 to credit the work of Anastassia Makarieva, Victor Gorshkov and Antonio Nobre in developing and articulating the biotic pump theory.</em></p>
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<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Callum Smith receives funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (DECAF project, grant agreement no. 771492) and the Newton Fund through the Met Office Climate Science for Service Partnership Brazil.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dominick Spracklen receives funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (DECAF project, grant agreement no. 771492) and the Newton Fund through the Met Office Climate Science for Service Partnership Brazil.. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jess Baker receives funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (DECAF project, grant agreement no. 771492) and the Newton Fund through the Met Office Climate Science for Service Partnership Brazil</span></em></p>Calling the Amazon “the lungs of the world” overlooks the forest’s vital role in the water cycle.Callum Smith, PhD Candidate in Biosphere-Atmosphere Interactions, University of LeedsDominick Spracklen, Professor of Biosphere-Atmosphere Interactions, University of LeedsJess Baker, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Tropical Climate, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1954882023-01-17T14:14:43Z2023-01-17T14:14:43Z7 million internally displaced people live in Central Africa – they need more support<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/497944/original/file-20221129-12-irvzyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Dozens of displaced people gather along the fence of the MONUSCO base in DRC. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alexis Huguet/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe id="noa-web-audio-player" style="border: none" src="https://embed-player.newsoveraudio.com/v4?key=x84olp&id=https://theconversation.com/7-million-internally-displaced-people-live-in-central-africa-they-need-more-support-195488&bgColor=F5F5F5&color=D8352A&playColor=D8352A" width="100%" height="110px"></iframe>
<p>Central Africa is host to the largest community of internally displaced persons in Africa. The countries in this region include Cameroon, the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda. </p>
<p>Just four of these account for <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1237268/number-of-internally-displaced-persons-in-africa/">more than</a> 7 million internally displaced people. At the top of the list, the DRC alone hosts more than <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/democratic-republic-congo-regional-refugee-response-plan-january-3">5.5 million</a>. </p>
<p>The main cause of these high numbers is conflict, both national and international. Conflicts have tormented the region for decades. </p>
<p>For example, the protracted armed conflicts and rebellions in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic <a href="https://www.foi.se/rest-api/report/FOI%20Memo%205327">have contributed</a> to the instability of the region, with serious effects on their neighbours, some of which have been directly involved in the conflicts. </p>
<p>In addition, the militant Islamist group <a href="https://www.dni.gov/nctc/groups/boko_haram.html">Boko Haram</a> has emerged as a major threat in Central Africa. And Burundi faces <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/09/burundi-must-engage-credible-and-inclusive-democratisation-process-says-un">persistent political tension and violence</a>.</p>
<p>The internal displacement crisis is further driven by <a href="https://www.internal-displacement.org/global-report/grid2021/">natural disasters</a>, such as <a href="https://www.iom.int/sites/g/files/tmzbdl486/files/dtm/lake_chad_basin_dtm_201903.pdf">flooding</a>. </p>
<p>Displaced people are a <a href="https://press.un.org/en/2022/sc14927.doc.htm">highly vulnerable group</a>. They’re forced to live in crowded and unsanitary camps. They’re also fleeing violence and are surrounded by active fighting situations. For example, in February 2022, in Plaine Savo camp (DRC), <a href="https://www.africanews.com/2022/01/17/drc-more-people-killed-in-two-militia-attacks-in-ituri/">a militia</a> group killed <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/dr-congo-statement-killing-dozens-displaced-people-plaine-savo-camp">more than 60 civilians</a>.</p>
<p>All over the world, the management of internally displaced people can be a challenge. It requires resources (for example, food and tents) and political will. </p>
<p>As a scholar with expertise in the legal promotion and protection of the rights of the people “on the move” in Africa, I argue that adopting a specific regional protocol could ease the management of displaced people in the region. A protocol is an instrument that creates legally binding obligations to international law. </p>
<p>In this case, the protocol would, among other things, legally bind countries to respect not only the new provisions contained in it but also the provisions of the <a href="https://au.int/en/treaties/african-union-convention-protection-and-assistance-internally-displaced-persons-africa">Kampala Convention</a>. This is
a continent-wide treaty which the African Union (AU) adopted in 2009 to protect and assist internally displaced people in Africa.</p>
<p>The mechanism of enforcement established in the protocol should complement and help to enforce the provisions of the Kampala Convention.</p>
<h2>The Kampala Convention</h2>
<p>The Kampala Convention provides solutions for the return, relocation or resettlement of the internally displaced. It also provides for displaced people to seek redress for housing, land and property losses. Physical, mental and other types of harms are included too. </p>
<p>But it’s not clear whether these services are accessible in practice. The problem is that the Kampala Convention is for the whole continent and lacks clear enforcement mechanisms. </p>
<p>The Central African region has a massive problem with displaced people. Currently, the <a href="https://reporting.unhcr.org/globalreport2021/west-central-africa#:%7E:text=In%20addition%20to%20strengthening%20its,close%20to%208%2C000%20protection%20incidents">main actor</a> to provide assistance in the region is the UN refugee agency - UNHCR. And its regional budget for 2023 <a href="https://reporting.unhcr.org/globalappeal/west-central-africa">already looked insufficient</a>
by late October 2022, repeating a pattern seen in the past three years.</p>
<p>A sub-regional treaty, or protocol, could focus on this specific situation and create a better management plan. There’s no subregional regime for internally displaced people anywhere in Africa. Countries are focusing on other problems or consider the plight of displaced people to be a domestic affair.</p>
<p>My proposal is an attempt to do something concrete to change this.</p>
<h2>What it should say</h2>
<p>The protocol must include a number of articles dedicated to stringent enforcement of the provisions of the Kampala Convention. To do this, it should create an institution that monitors and ensures the implementation of the Kampala Convention specifically for the Central African region. </p>
<p>For instance, the Kampala convention states that though states bear the primary duty and responsibility for providing assistance and protection to internally displaced people within their territory, they must cooperate with each other in doing so. The proposed institution should ensure that states in the subregion share the financial and material burden of managing displacement situations. </p>
<h2>Who should drive it</h2>
<p>Drafting such a protocol requires a big effort and the strong political will of the <a href="https://archive.uneca.org/oria/pages/eccas-economic-community-central-african-states#:%7E:text=The%20member%20States%20of%20ECCAS,and%20Sao%20Tome%20and%20Principe.">Economic Community of Central African States</a> (ECCAS), made up of 11 countries.</p>
<p>The regional community should lead on the protocol. It is easier for 11 actors of the region to reach agreement than to include 55 AU members in discussions. For example, at the continental level discussions on free movement of people which <a href="https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/policy-brief111.pdf">started in 1991</a> are <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/treaties/36403-sl-PROTOCOL%20TO%20THE%20TREATY%20ESTABLISHING%20THE%20AFRICAN%20ECONOMIC%20COMMUNITY%20RELAT....pdf">still going on</a>. Only four countries
have ratified the 2018 <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/treaties/36403-treaty-protocol_on_free_movement_of_persons_in_africa_e.pdf">Free Movement Treaty</a>. By contrast, in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) area, a Protocol on Free Movement <a href="https://www.refworld.org/docid/492187502.html">has existed since</a> 1979, and it has been implemented for the most part. </p>
<p>The protocol could enter into force after ratification by a number of ECCAS members and a “committee” of politicians and magistrates could be created to enforce its provisions. </p>
<p>This committee would hold primary responsibility for the enforcement of the protocol. </p>
<p>Funding for the protocol’s activities should come from the ECCAS Commission, which is financed by its member countries. Member countries must turn conversations about regional solidarity into solid obligations. These include financial commitments and assistance. A special fund to assist internally displaced people could be created. </p>
<p>This isn’t a far-fetched suggestion. Recently, quests for solidarity and responsibility sharing have been high on political agendas, especially in the aftermath of emergencies triggered by political tension in several ECCAS countries. The DRC, for example, acceded to the Kampala Convention only on <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/treaties/36846-sl-AFRICAN_UNION_CONVENTION_FOR_THE_PROTECTION_AND_ASSISTANCE_OF_INTERNALLY_DISPLACED_PERSONS_IN_AFRICA_KAMPALA_CONVENTION_1.pdf">3 February 2022</a> – the day after the killing in Plaine Savo.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195488/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cristiano d'Orsi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A specific regional protocol could ease the management of internally displaced persons in the region.Cristiano d'Orsi, Lecturer and Senior Research Fellow at the South African Research Chair in International Law (SARCIL), University of JohannesburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1912902022-10-04T12:23:37Z2022-10-04T12:23:37ZBiden says the US doesn’t want a new Cold War – but there are some reasons it might<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487568/original/file-20220930-21-zx2bmh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C85%2C5167%2C3364&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">United nations or a return to new Cold War?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-joe-biden-speaks-during-the-77th-session-of-the-news-photo/1425945336?adppopup=true">Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>“We do not seek a Cold War,” declared President Joe Biden <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/09/21/1124095601/biden-ukraine-unga-speech">in front of world leaders gathered at the United Nations</a> on Sept. 21, 2022. He continued that America was not asking “any nation to choose between the United States or any other partner.” </p>
<p>But that’s likely <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-us-should-want-a-cold-war-with-china-xi-jinping-taiwan-geopolitics-military-confrontation-competition-biden-democracy-11644510051">not how everyone views the prospect of a new Cold War</a>. Despite Biden’s protestations, foreign policy observers are <a href="https://www.cfr.org/blog/new-cold-war-0">increasingly framing the relationship</a> between the U.S. on one side and Russia and China on the other <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/06/27/new-cold-war-nato-summit-united-states-russia-ukraine-china/">as a “Cold War</a>” in which <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/americas-arab-partners-show-no-interest-bidens-cold-war">countries are, in fact, being expected to choose sides</a>. Moreover, in a March 2022 poll more than 6 in 10 American adults said <a href="https://docs.cdn.yougov.com/3ixnq9227y/econTabReport.pdf">the chance of a Cold War was higher</a> than it was five years earlier.</p>
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<p>To be clear, there is no reason to question Biden’s personal sincerity. But as a <a href="https://history.sdsu.edu/people/daddis">historian of the Cold War</a>, I think it is legitimate to ask whether the “no return to Cold War” position is wholly representative of Washington’s foreign policy establishment, given that the Cold War presented advantages and opportunities to the U.S. Moreover, I believe that if Americans were really being honest on the issue, some might concede they actually miss the Cold War.</p>
<h2>Identity and intervention</h2>
<p>From World War II’s end in 1945 to the Berlin Wall’s collapse in 1989, <a href="https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/odd-arne-westad/the-cold-war/9780465093137/">the Cold War</a> seemingly offered advantages to successive U.S. administrations and the wider American public that have disappeared since.</p>
<p>Perhaps most importantly, the United States could justify <a href="http://peacehistory-usfp.org/cold-war/">interventionist foreign policies</a> during the Cold War era. In faraway places ranging <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/44254547">from Greece</a> to <a href="https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/congo-decolonization">the Congo</a>, the U.S. presented itself as a benevolent superpower assisting fledgling democracies against an expansionist communist threat, real or perceived.</p>
<p>Supporting allies, whether <a href="https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/korean-conflict">in South Korea</a> or <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/lists/america-war-vietnam">South Vietnam</a>, made sense when Moscow, in <a href="https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/116192.pdf?v=babe0c496366730e23048f0d2ab5edf2">President Truman’s</a> words, had moved “beyond the use of subversion to conquer independent nations” and was using “armed invasion and war.”</p>
<p>Proxy wars, where the superpowers fought one another through local allies, were far more palatable when one’s enemy could be deemed an ideological global menace.</p>
<p>The Cold War also offered a form of cultural capital to its champions, allowing Americans to embrace a virtuous national identity, contrasting it to the evils of godless communism. In this framing, Americans were the moral defenders of universal democratic principles. Communists, conversely, were the antithesis to such ethical doctrines.</p>
<p>In the popular 1947 comic “<a href="https://archive.org/details/IsThisTomorrowAmericaUnderCommunismCatecheticalGuild/mode/2up">Is this Tomorrow</a>,” for instance, children were taught that the communists’ rise to power relied on the tools of “starvation, murder, slavery, [and] force.” There was little ambiguity when painting Moscow’s henchmen in bloody red strokes.</p>
<p>Given such threats, those working within the <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/the-congressionalmilitaryindustrial-complex/">congressional-military-industrial complex</a> found a straightforward, and popular, rationale for increased defense spending. In <a href="https://www.independent.org/publications/article.asp?id=1297">one year alone</a> – from 1948 to 1949 – Congress approved a 20% increase in defense appropriations. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2011/fall/berlin">Berlin Crisis</a>, the <a href="https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/chinese-rev">communist victory in China’s civil war</a>, the <a href="https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/nuclear-vault/2019-09-09/detection-first-soviet-nuclear-test-september-1949">successful Soviet nuclear test</a> and <a href="https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/nato">NATO’s formation</a> – all of which took place in 1949 – portended a future in which Americans needed a potent military machine to protect their security and their interests. Of course, the growth of U.S. military meant power and sway on global stage, an added benefit of burgeoning defense budgets.</p>
<h2>Personal (and political) gain</h2>
<p>While serving national security purposes, the Cold War also could promote certain interest groups and individuals across the political landscape of the United States.</p>
<p>Not surprisingly, opportunistic politicians could profit from wartime rhetoric by claiming they alone were defending the nation’s security. </p>
<p>Wisconsin Sen. <a href="https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/25-the-cold-war/joseph-mccarthy-on-communism-1950/">Joseph McCarthy</a> proved the most infamous, even pitting his fellow citizens against one another to gain populist approval ratings. In 1950, McCarthy described the world as being in two “hostile armed camps” and exhorted the nation to become “a beacon in the desert of destruction.” </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A black and white photo shows a man in a suit and tie sat in front of a old-fashioned microphone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487831/original/file-20221003-1006-hunm0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487831/original/file-20221003-1006-hunm0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487831/original/file-20221003-1006-hunm0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487831/original/file-20221003-1006-hunm0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487831/original/file-20221003-1006-hunm0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487831/original/file-20221003-1006-hunm0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487831/original/file-20221003-1006-hunm0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Sen. Joseph McCarthy led a campaign against what he deemed to be un-American activity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/sen-joseph-mccarthy-testifies-before-the-senate-sub-news-photo/515578696?adppopup=true">Bettmann/Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>His public notoriety – though perhaps not his <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/videos/joseph-mccarthys-downfall-was-accusing-the-ar/">downfall</a> – showcased how Cold War fears could be exploited and then translated into political rewards.</p>
<p>And, as McCarthy’s <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691048703/many-are-the-crimes">Red Scare</a> suggested, perceived threats of domestic communism also could be used by conservative social critics to force consensus upon a rapidly changing postwar American society. In just one example, “<a href="https://snccdigital.org/inside-sncc/international-connections/red-baiting/">red baiters</a>” maliciously claimed that the <a href="https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/southern-negro-youth-congress-1937-1949/">Southern Negro Youth Congress</a> had been infiltrated by communists and that the larger civil rights movement was a front for anarchist Marxists.</p>
<p>Could today’s conservatives similarly find use for the threat of the “other” to promote an Americanism that seeks to promote unity over individual identities, rights and broader immigration? Those arguing for a return to a “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3234822">Cold War consensus</a>” certainly believe so.</p>
<h2>Myth and reality</h2>
<p>The 1990s, however, hinted that Cold War triumphs came with unintended consequences. Not only was the stability of the international system seemingly shattered in the post-Cold War world, the lack of a unifying enemy appeared to leave U.S. citizens turning on each other.</p>
<p>Americans engaged in raucous <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/W/bo37161499.html">culture wars</a> at home, with critics complaining of a stifling “political correctness” that trampled upon their freedom of speech and expression. Meanwhile, the U.S. armed forces were cast adrift abroad seeking a viable <a href="https://tnsr.org/2018/02/choosing-primacy-u-s-strategy-global-order-dawn-post-cold-war-era-2/">grand strategy</a> after their decadeslong commitment to containing communism ended. </p>
<p>Political scientist <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/politics/foreign/mearsh.htm">John J. Mearsheimer</a> even argued at the Cold War’s end in 1990 that Europe was “reverting to a state system that created powerful incentives for aggression in the past.” Not coincidentally, Mearsheimer also <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qciVozNtCDM">recently suggested</a> that the post-Cold War push by NATO into former Soviet countries is to blame for the current war. Perhaps the Cold War indeed had offered a sense of stability as much as it did dread. </p>
<p>For a moment, the post-9/11 global war against terrorism offered promise of a new threat, one existential enough on which to build a new American grand strategy for the 21st century. In his 2002 State of the Union address, President <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/onpolitics/transcripts/sou012902.htm">George W. Bush</a> declared the United States was facing “an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world.” </p>
<p>Yet for all its menace, the axis and its “terrorist allies” could not seem to muster enough fear to sustain America’s attention as long as Cold War communists. True, the United States remained in Afghanistan for <a href="https://theconversation.com/calculating-the-costs-of-the-afghanistan-war-in-lives-dollars-and-years-164588">two long, violent decades</a>, but the threats there seemed more local than existential.</p>
<p>Putin’s Russia today prefigures a possible return to a global Cold War – a new struggle pitting “good” against “evil.” Thus, given President Biden’s contention that he is not seeking one, Americans should reflect deeply on what a 21st-century Cold War might actually look like.</p>
<p>The Cold War in myth and memory may have seemed a more idyllic time, when united Americans led in a fairly stable international system. Yet these decades were far more violent, far more contentious both at home and abroad, than Americans might like to concede.</p>
<p>Some in Washington might indeed be happy to return to a new Cold War. But policymakers should think twice before committing the nation to a decadeslong conflict that relies more on an imagined past than a critical reading of that history.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191290/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gregory A. Daddis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Cold War provided the US with strategic and defensive advantages; some politicians also used it to push their view of what it meant to be American.Gregory A. Daddis, Professor and USS Midway Chair in Modern U.S. Military History, San Diego State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1880492022-09-29T06:43:04Z2022-09-29T06:43:04ZRussie en Afrique: Les raisons de l’offensive de charme<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487226/original/file-20220929-20-ey5qy5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kremlin/Wikimedia Commons</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Moins de 1% de l’investissement étranger direct en Afrique provient de la Russie. Substantiellement, la Russie apporte donc peu au continent. Mais la visite très remarquée du ministre russe des Affaires étrangères, alors même que la guerre de la Russie en Ukraine fait rage, démontre à quel point la Russie a besoin de l’Afrique. </p>
<p>L'une des priorités du voyage de Lavrov – en Égypte, en République du Congo, en Ouganda et en Éthiopie – est de démontrer que la Russie n’est pas isolée sur la scène internationale, en dépit des dures sanctions occidentales.</p>
<p>L’objectif est de dépeindre la Russie comme une grande puissance libre de toute entrave qui a des alliés partout dans le monde avec lesquels elle poursuit des relations comme si de rien n'était.</p>
<p>La Russie tente également de normaliser un ordre international basé sur la loi du plus fort où la démocratie et et le respect des droits humains restent facultatives. </p>
<p>Le voyage de Lavrov en Afrique est donc important pour le positionnement géostratégique de la Russie. Les messages russes dépeignent l’expropriation impérialiste de territoire en Ukraine comme quelque chose qui s'inscrit dans le cadre plus vaste de la lutte idéologique entre l'Orient et l'Occident. Si Moscou parvient à convaincre avec un tel message, peu de pays la critiqueront. </p>
<p>Cela explique en partie pourquoi 25 des 54 pays d’Afrique se sont abstenus ou n’ont pas voté pour condamner l’invasion russe de l’Ukraine lors des votes de l’Assemblée générale de l’ONU ES-11/1 en mars dernier. Cette réponse ambivalente offre un contraste saisissant avec la condamnation généralisée dans toutes les autres régions du monde.</p>
<p>Lavrov devrait aussi tenter de présenter le récent accord entre la Russie et l’Ukraine pour débloquer plus de 20 millions de tonnes de céréales ukrainiennes comme un geste humanitaire de la Russie. Et ce en dépit du fait que c’est l’invasion et le blocus russes des ports ukrainiens qui empêchent ces céréales d’atteindre les marchés internationaux. Le bombardement russe du port d’Odessa le lendemain même de l’accord suggère que Moscou continuera à se servir de la crise alimentaire comme d’une arme, tout en pointant l’Occident du doigt. L’Égypte et l’Éthiopie, deux pays clés sur l’itinéraire de Lavrov, ont été particulièrement atteints par cette coupure dans la distribution alimentaire. Le blocus russe a en effet entrainé le doublement des prix des denrées céréalières cette année, créant ainsi des pressions politiques et sociales intenses à travers l’Afrique. </p>
<h2>Ce que gagnent les pays hôtes africains</h2>
<p>Mettre l'accent sur les considérations idéologiques contribue à masquer le caractère modeste des investissements économiques et diplomatiques de la Russie en Afrique.</p>
<p>Cela pose donc la question de savoir ce que gagnent les dirigeants africains à accueillir Lavrov alors même que la Russie essuie des critiques virulentes pour son agression non provoquée et la destabilisation qui s’en est suivie des marchés globaux de l’alimentation, des engrais et du carburant. La réponse courte est qu'ils cherchent un soutien politique.</p>
<p>L’influence grandissante de la Russie en Afrique ces dernières années est en grande partie le résultat de l’usage, par Moscou, de moyens non-officiels, notamment le déploiement de mercenaires, les campagnes de désinformation, d’accords de ressources contre des armes et du trafic de métaux précieux. Ces instruments à moindre frais ont un grand impact et sont normalement utilisés pour soutenir des dirigeants africains isolés et dont la légitimité est en question. Le soutien russe aux dirigeants en difficulté de la République centrafricaine (RCA), du Mali et du Soudan a été d'un grand apport pour leur maintien au pouvor. </p>
<p>Il faut aussi noter que cette approche asymétrique russe pour augmenter son influence en Afrique se distingue par le fait que ces partenariats sont établis avec les dirigeants en personne et non pas avec la population. Il s’agit donc de coopter les élites plutôt que d'établir une coopération bilatérale traditionnelle.</p>
<p>Comprendre ces motivations permet de mieux cerner le voyage et l’itinéraire de Lavrov. Le président égyptien Abdel al Sisi est un allié clé dans les efforts russes à installer un gouvernement fantoche en libye. Ceci permettrait, en effet, à la Russie d’établir une base navale durable dans le sud de la Méditerranée et d’accéder aux réserves de pétrole libyennes. </p>
<p>Sisi est aussi un partenaire de la Russie dans sa tentative d'entraver les efforts pour entraver les transitions démocratiques soudanaise et tunisienne. </p>
<p>Par ailleurs, la Russie est un fournisseur important d’armements pour l’Égypte. Un prêt de 25 millions de dollars financé par la Russie pour que l’entreprise d’énergie atomique Rosatom construise la centrale nucléaire de Dabaa au Caire n'a guère de sens du point de vue économique. Mais il sera une aubaine pour les sbires de Sisi et de Poutine, tout en permettant à la Russie d’asseoir son influence sur Sisi. </p>
<p>Le voyage de Lavrov en Ouganda donne une couverture politique au régime de plus en plus répressif et imprévisible du Président Yoweri Museveni, alors même qu’il tente de mettre en place une succession héréditaire au profit de son fils, Muhoozi Kainerugaba. L’intérêt principal de la Russie en Ouganda est de faire venir dans l’orbite de Moscou encore un pays d’Afrique jusque-là plutôt penché vers l’Occident. Pour Museveni, se rapprocher de la Russie est un message pas si subtil de son intention de s’aligner encore plus avec Moscou si l’Occident s'avère trop critique par rapport à la détérioration de la situation des droits humains et de la faiblesse de démocratisation dans son pays. </p>
<p>Le Premier ministre éthiopien Abiy Ahmed tente lui aussi de se défendre contre de virulentes critiques internatonales concernant les allégations présumées de violations des droits humains commises par L'Ethiopie et les entraves à Tigré et pour les entraves à la distribution d’aide humanitaire dans la région. Addis Abeba a bien apprécié les actes posés par la Russie pour contrecarrer les résolutions du Conseil de sécurité de l’ONU sur le conflit au Tigré et la crise humanitaire. </p>
<p>L'Éthiopie a longtemps mené une politique étrangère indépendante. Mais Addis Ababa abritera le prochain sommet Russie-Afrique, prévu cette année. Un évènement qui pourrait servir de plateforme visible pour renforcer le message de Moscou que la Russie demeure la bienvenue sur la scène internationale. </p>
<p>Lors de son passage à Addis Ababa, on peut s’attendre à ce que Lavrov mette en relief les liens proches de la Russie avec l’Union africaine. La peur de contrarier la Russie a poussé l’organisme régional à reporter à plusieurs reprises une réunion virtuelle avec le Président Volodymyr Zelensky. Quand la réunion s’est enfin (discrètement) tenue en juillet, seuls quatre dirigeants africains y ont participé. </p>
<p>Le Président Denis Sassou-Nguesso de la République du Congo a dirigé le pays d’Afrique centrale depuis 1979 – il ne s’est écarté du pouvoir que pendant cinq ans. Le pays est 162 ème sur 180 dans le classement annuel de Transparency International, l'indice de perception de la corruption. Le pays s’est fait remarquer par Moscou pour ses efforts visant à accroître son contrôle sur les exportations d’hydrocarbures depuis le Congo, la RDC, et la RCA, en passant par Pointe Noire. Cela renforcerait aussi l’influence russe sur les marchés mondiaux de l'énergie globaux. </p>
<h2>Quels avantages pour les Africains ordinaires?</h2>
<p>La visite de Lavrov démontre que certains dirigeants africains estiment qu’il existe une intérêt politique à maintenir des liens avec la Russie, en dépit de sa réputation internationale ternie. En effet, la plupart des pays inclus dans cette tournée en Afrique maintiennent des relations importantes avec l’Occident. </p>
<p>Recevoir une visite très remarquée de Lavrov ne traduit pas des velléités de défaire ces liens mais plutôt d'acquérir davantage d'influence auprès des pays occidentaux.</p>
<p>Mais ce jeu est dangereux pour les dirigeants africains. L’économie russe, équivalant à celle de l’Espagne n'a pas réalisé des investissements et des échanges commerciaux importants en Afrique (mis à part les céréales et les armes) et est de plus en plus déconnectée du système financier international.</p>
<p>Par ailleurs, l’investissement directement international est fortement associé au maintien de l’État de droit. En montrant qu'ils sont ouverts à l'ordre international de la Russie qui ne respecte pas le droit, ces dirigeants risquent de compromettre leurs chances d'obtenir plus d'investissements de l'Occident.</p>
<p>Neuf des dix pays avec le plus d’investissements directs en Afrique, représentant 90 % de ces investissements, font partie du système financier occidental. Cela pourrait prendre des années avant que les pays d’Afrique ne se remettent d'une réputation ternie qu'ils risquent ainsi en adhérant à la vision du monde russe selon laquelle le respect de la loi n'est pas contraignant.</p>
<p>Le voyage de Lavrov en Afrique n’est pas un évènement isolé, il fait plutôt partie d’une composition chorégraphique en cours. Moscou essaye de gagner en influence en Afrique sans pour autant y investir. Cette stratégie ne portera ses fruits que si certains dirigeants africains y voient un moyen de consolider leur emprise sur le pouvoir, malgré les atteintes aux droits humains et aux normes démocratiques. </p>
<p>Si les avantages pour Moscou et les dirigeants africains sont clairs, ils le sont nettement moins pour les citoyens ordinaires d’Afrique.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188049/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joseph Siegle does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>La Russie tente de normaliser un ordre international basé sur la loi du plus fort où la démocratie et le respect des droits humains sont facultatifs.Joseph Siegle, Director of Research, Africa Center for Strategic Studies, University of MarylandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1886372022-09-01T17:19:00Z2022-09-01T17:19:00ZWhy Canadians should be concerned about intensifying violence in Congo<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481583/original/file-20220829-9084-u3jh7b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1033%2C6907%2C3691&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">People walk on the road near Kibumba, north of Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, as they flee fighting between Congolese forces and M23 rebels in May 2022. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/07/25/dr-congo-resurgent-m23-rebels-target-civilians">Escalating violence</a> in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) stems from <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/6/21/explainer-what-is-the-latest-conflict-in-the-drc">deep economic, political and geopolitical conflict</a> spanning almost three decades. </p>
<p>At the height of what’s been called by experts “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03056244.2011.631329">Africa’s World War</a>” at the turn of the 21st century, the conflict pitted Congolese government forces <a href="https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/violence-democratic-republic-congo">supported by Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe</a> against several opposition armed groups backed by Rwanda and Uganda. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/how-many-have-died-due-congos-fighting-scientists-battle-over-how-estimate-war-related">Numbers were difficult to verify</a>, ranging from 2.5 million to 5.4 million, but this period is often cited as the largest loss of life since the Second World War. </p>
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<img alt="A soldier carrying a large weapon is seen against a backdrop of green mountains and clouds." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481581/original/file-20220829-17-ceklrp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481581/original/file-20220829-17-ceklrp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481581/original/file-20220829-17-ceklrp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481581/original/file-20220829-17-ceklrp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481581/original/file-20220829-17-ceklrp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481581/original/file-20220829-17-ceklrp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481581/original/file-20220829-17-ceklrp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">In this October 2013 photo, a Congolese army soldier walks near the front line during fighting with rebels north of Goma, eastern Congo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Joseph Kay)</span></span>
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<p>There was also widespread <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/06/10/democratic-republic-congo-ending-impunity-sexual-violence">rape and sexual violence</a>, <a href="https://www.unicef.org/drcongo/en/press-releases/thousands-children-continue-be-used-child-soldiers">child soldiering</a>, <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/558c0e039.pdf">forced displacement</a> and <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Countries/CD/UNJHROAccountabiliteReport2016_en.pdf">human rights abuses</a>. </p>
<p>Recent violence threatens <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/rwanda-and-drc-risk-war-new-m23-rebellion-emerges-explainer">fragile peace in the DRC</a> and the <a href="https://www.globalgreatlakes.org/agl/">African Great Lakes region</a>. But despite escalating death, displacement and fear, Canadian media have largely ignored the DRC conflict. </p>
<p>In addition to concern for human life, Canadians should care for three key reasons.</p>
<h2>1. Mineral extraction</h2>
<p>The increasing demand for mobile phones and electric vehicles is linking consumers to violent extraction in the DRC.</p>
<p>The country is rich in minerals and is the source of <a href="http://cegemi.com/index.php/environmental-threats-and-respiratory-health-in-kivu/">60 per cent of the world’s reserves of coltan</a>, which powers our cellular phones. It also <a href="https://www.mining-technology.com/analysis/kinshasa-africa-democratic-republic-congo-cobalt/#:%7E:text=The%20DRC%20produces%20more%20than,calling%20the%20%22new%20oil%22.">produces more than 70 per cent of the world’s cobalt</a>, used in electric car batteries. </p>
<p>The extraction of these minerals comes at great human cost. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-coltan-mining-in-the-drc-costs-people-and-the-environment-183159">What coltan mining in the DRC costs people and the environment</a>
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<p>Researchers have documented the use of <a href="https://issafrica.org/iss-today/child-miners-the-dark-side-of-the-drcs-coltan-wealth">child labour</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0139-4">environmental degradation</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2016.01.010">sexual violence</a> and <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/coltan-and-conflict-drc">economic rationale for war</a> — meaning some have profited from mineral exploitation and war <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/drc/overview">while the majority of the Congolese population lives in poverty</a>.</p>
<p>As consumers, Canadians should care about how our purchases are linked to violence and human rights abuses in a globalized world.</p>
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<h2>2. Canada supports peacekeeping in the DRC</h2>
<p>Canada <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/services/operations/military-operations/current-operations/operation-crocodile.html">has contributed human</a> <a href="https://www.international.gc.ca/country-pays/democratic_republic_congo-republique_democratique_congo/relations.aspx?lang=eng">and financial</a> resources to peacekeeping in the DRC.</p>
<p>Once <a href="https://www.lawfareblog.com/militarizing-peace-un-intervention-against-congos-terrorist-rebels">the largest and most expensive peacekeeping operation in the United Nations’ history</a>, the UN’s <a href="https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/mission/monusco">current mandate</a> in the DRC has been scaled back. </p>
<p>Ongoing allegations of UN personnel involved in <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/09/1101562">sexual exploitation</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/apr/28/congo.unitednations">economic profiteering</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/protests-against-un-in-eastern-congo-highlight-peace-missions-crisis-of-legitimacy-187932">ineffectiveness</a> have turned the Congolese people against the UN.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sexual-exploitation-by-un-peacekeepers-in-drc-fatherless-children-speak-for-first-time-about-the-pain-of-being-abandoned-188248">Sexual exploitation by UN peacekeepers in DRC: fatherless children speak for first time about the pain of being abandoned</a>
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<p><a href="https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2022/08/18/DRC-MONUSCO-protests-peacekeeping?utm_source=The+New+Humanitarian&utm_campaign=2b6d4f9e15-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_ENGLISH_AFRICA&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d842d98289-2b6d4f9e15-29256293">Recent protests</a> have <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/31/un-peacekeepers-open-fire-in-dr-congo-causing-several-casualties">been violent</a>, resulting in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/aug/05/death-toll-reaches-36-in-eastern-drc-as-protesters-turn-on-un-peacekeepers">the deaths of 36 people, including four UN peacekeepers</a>.</p>
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<img alt="Police and protesters fight in a city street. Smoke is visible." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481579/original/file-20220829-18-cbnn39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C242%2C3000%2C1508&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481579/original/file-20220829-18-cbnn39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481579/original/file-20220829-18-cbnn39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481579/original/file-20220829-18-cbnn39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481579/original/file-20220829-18-cbnn39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481579/original/file-20220829-18-cbnn39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481579/original/file-20220829-18-cbnn39.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Demonstrators clash with police during a protest against the United Nations peacekeeping force deployed in Congo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)</span></span>
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<p>The UN has temporarily withdrawn from Butembo, a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/uns-congo-peacekeeping-mission-pulls-out-major-eastern-city-2022-08-18/">major city</a> in eastern Congo. The Congolese government has also expelled the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/3/congo-expels-u-n-peacekeeping-mission-spokesman-after-protests">UN mission’s spokesperson</a>.</p>
<p>Given Canada’s investments in peacekeeping operations in the DRC, Canadians should demand accountability for alleged human rights violations by UN officials.</p>
<p>Canadian multilateral diplomacy also has a vested interest in ensuring the credibility of UN peacekeeping to maintain and promote peace. The DRC is central to regional stability as the second-largest country in Africa bordering nine neighbours.</p>
<h2>3. Canadian-Congolese connections</h2>
<p>Ongoing violence in the DRC has caused <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/07/1122162">people to flee Congo</a> to <a href="https://reporting.unhcr.org/drcsituation">neighbouring countries</a> and to Canada. The DRC consistently ranks among the <a href="https://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/statistics/protection/pages/index.aspx">top countries in terms of alleged persecution</a> in refugee claims in Canada. </p>
<p>Congolese refugees are resettled to Canada through private sponsorship or government assistance streams, and Canada is a destination for <a href="https://workstudyvisa.com/study-canada-congo-drc/">Congolese international students</a>. At a time of <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/2021-canada-language-census-data-1.6553477">declining French-language speakers</a> in Canada, Congolese-Canadians make up an important percentage of francophones.</p>
<p>These human connections can be leveraged by the Canadian government for expertise on the situation in the DRC, and Canada’s response.</p>
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<h2>How should Canadians respond?</h2>
<p>Canada is connected to the DRC through the global economy, international peacekeeping efforts and migration. We must not ignore violence because it’s far away.</p>
<p>As consumers, we need to hold companies accountable for ethical sourcing of materials in our cellular telephones and electric vehicles.</p>
<p>We need accurate and timely information on events unfolding in the DRC. If Canadian media do not have resources for dedicated reporting, they should amplify stories from credible local, regional and international news organizations.</p>
<p>As constituents, we need to call on our MPs and the ministers of Foreign Affairs, Defence and International Cooperation for accountability for Canadian and UN peacekeeping in the DRC. </p>
<p>While <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/canadian-peacekeepers-safe-sheltering-as-deadly-anti-un-protests-rock-the-drc-1.6003138">Canadian officials have said</a> no Canadian personnel were injured in the recent anti-UN violence, they have not publicly commented on the underlying reasons for the protests. </p>
<p>The Canadian government should convene a group of experts, including Congolese-Canadians, to review Canada’s role in the DRC and propose a strategy for current and future peace support operations in the country. </p>
<p>As a long-standing contributor to peacekeeping in the DRC, Canada has a responsibility to ensure that our interventions respect human rights and contribute to lasting peace.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188637/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christina Clark-Kazak does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Canada is connected to the Democratic Republic of Congo through the global economy, international peacekeeping efforts and migration. We must not ignore violence because it’s far away.Christina Clark-Kazak, Associate Professor, Public and International Affairs, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1879322022-07-31T06:47:55Z2022-07-31T06:47:55ZProtests against UN in eastern Congo highlight peace mission’s crisis of legitimacy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476697/original/file-20220729-9109-i8ccly.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Congolese soldier in Goma during protests against the UN peacekeeping mission in July 2022. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michel Lunanga/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2022/7/26/photos-anti-monusco-protests-in-dr-congos-goma-turn-violent">Violent protests</a> erupted in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in late July 2022, resulting in the deaths of at least three peacekeepers and several civilians. </p>
<p>The United Nations mission in the Congo has long suffered a crisis of confidence among local communities. It has been accused of failing to protect civilians and improve security in the region, despite a presence spanning <a href="https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/mission/monusco">more than two decades</a>. </p>
<p>This is not the first time protests have broken out against UN peacekeepers in eastern Congo. However, these recent events have brought to the surface the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01436597.2021.1992272?scroll=top">persistent problems</a> facing the United Nations Organization Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Monusco). It has <a href="https://monusco.unmissions.org/en/khassim-diagne-monusco-not-responsible-death-demonstrators-who-looted-and-vandalized-its-base-goma%E2%80%9D">faced questions</a> on its operational effectiveness, consent of the host state and whether – or how – it can make a graceful exit from the country. </p>
<p>Heightened tensions in the Congo’s eastern region are the result of what is perceived by many as years of peacekeeping failures, resulting in violence, death and the displacement of millions of Congolese. </p>
<p>A great deal has been <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13533312.2017.1360139?casa_token=0oceATTE0UMAAAAA:qoyNM4-ndQKWelRNVo5J4yOKDbd-IxFr_yBy22jB2daPNQJNnrU73cRsDblt0rbUL2m5kA69__Stkg">written</a> about the perils of so-called stabilisation approaches to peacekeeping. These have been pursued in countries like the Congo, Mali and the Central African Republic, and are characterised by efforts to neutralise non-state armed groups and extend state authority. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-conflicts-intertwined-over-time-and-destabilised-the-drc-and-the-region-185432">How conflicts intertwined over time and destabilised the DRC – and the region</a>
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<p>Both the UN and the African Union increasingly reference stabilisation approaches in policy dialogue and mission mandates. However, such approaches have proven largely ineffective, in part because of their state-centric nature, which fails to take into account local drivers of conflict. </p>
<h2>Crisis of confidence</h2>
<p>When the Force Intervention Brigade was <a href="https://press.un.org/en/2013/sc10964.doc.htm">authorised by the UN Security Council</a> in 2013, it was initially praised for bringing a <a href="https://theglobalobservatory.org/2013/11/in-drc-one-militia-m23-down-49-more-to-go/">swift halt</a> to the insurrection attempt by the armed group M23. </p>
<p>Yet, since that time, the brigade has struggled to implement its mandate in the face of the continued proliferation of armed groups in the region and high levels of insecurity. In response to these challenges, the brigade recently received <a href="https://issafrica.org/iss-today/quick-reaction-forces-to-the-rescue-in-eastern-drc">additional support</a> from several quick reaction forces.</p>
<p>Yet, the mission has been unable to stem the violence. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-m23s-on-and-off-insurgency-tells-us-about-drcs-precarious-search-for-peace-182520">resurgence of the M23</a> in the past few months has been a stark illustration of the brigade’s shortcomings. </p>
<p>At the same time, militarised approaches to peacekeeping in the Congo have come at the expense of <a href="https://nonviolentpeaceforce.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/2021_Course_Manual___Mod_1_pt_2.pdf">non-violent approaches to peacebuilding</a>, like unarmed protection methods, which may be more conducive to building lasting peace.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-un-is-under-attack-in-eastern-congo-but-drc-elites-are-also-to-blame-for-the-violence-187861">The UN is under attack in eastern Congo. But DRC elites are also to blame for the violence</a>
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<p>The result is that the UN is facing a crisis of legitimacy among the population, despite having invested a good deal of resources trying to manage its reputation. Confidence in the ability of peacekeepers to ensure security is <a href="http://www.peacebuildingdata.org/sites/m/pdf/DRC_Poll19_FinalEnglish.pdf">generally low among communities</a> in eastern Congo, and has decreased over time. It’s also notably lower than confidence in state security forces, despite the latter’s <a href="https://monusco.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/unjhro_-_analysis_of_the_human_rights_situation_-_may_2020.pdf">egregious human rights violations</a> and lack of capacity. </p>
<p>This raises questions of consent, including whose voices matter when it comes to maintaining cooperation with the host country. Host state consent, a <a href="https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/principles-of-peacekeeping">principle of UN peacekeeping</a>, is conventionally interpreted as consent of the host government. However, the recent scenes from the Congo suggest that greater attention ought to be paid to the voices of community members. </p>
<p>While the UN recognises the importance of maintaining trust with local communities, it’s not clear how it can – or should – respond should those relationships deteriorate beyond repair, as may now be the case. </p>
<p>Regional dynamics have further complicated this situation, given the cross-border nature of the conflict, and with Kinshasa’s military <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/13/m23-rebels-seize-key-congolese-town-drc-blames-rwanda">accusing Rwanda</a> of using the M23 to invade Congo. Kigali has denied these accusations.</p>
<h2>Way forward</h2>
<p>While the UN mission is in a period of drawdown, there is no clear timeline for exit. Withdrawal is instead guided by progress towards a series of agreed-upon <a href="https://press.un.org/en/2020/sc14374.doc.htm">benchmarks</a>, including a significant reduction in the threat posed by armed groups. </p>
<p>Some experts <a href="https://www.ipinst.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/IPI-E-RPT-The-Case-of-MONUSCO2021PDF.pdf">have argued</a> that the drawdown should not be bound by time. Progress has been slow, and it is not clear the benchmarks will be met in the near future.</p>
<p>In the meantime, the mission and members of the UN Security Council need to grapple with what to do if they cannot bring security conditions under control, or if the state pushes more forcefully for an early exit. </p>
<p>Protests in the region are likely to continue over the coming months, particularly in the run-up to the Congo presidential elections, which are scheduled for late 2023. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-drcs-colonial-legacy-forged-a-nexus-between-ethnicity-territory-and-conflict-153469">How DRC's colonial legacy forged a nexus between ethnicity, territory and conflict</a>
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<p>What is needed at this time is a robust regional security arrangement that would ease some of the pressure on the UN mission and make space for a stronger diplomatic response to regional tensions. </p>
<p>The 22 July 2022 <a href="https://www.eac.int/ncpr/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=27&Itemid=144">agreement</a> by the East African Community Heads of States to <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/21/east-africa-leaders-agree-regional-force-for-dr-congo">deploy a regional force</a> to the Congo may be a timely step in the right direction. </p>
<p>But, as the UN mission’s difficulties have shown, military operations cannot be effective if they aren’t coupled with a viable political process, which has been lacking in the Congo. The current security situation, alongside contentious regional dynamics, is indicative of this.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187932/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jenna Russo is affiliated with the International Peace Institute, an independent, international not-for-profit think tank.</span></em></p>Protests are likely to continue over the coming months, particularly in the run-up to the Congo presidential elections next year.Jenna Russo, Researcher and lecturer, City University of New YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1875682022-07-22T14:57:34Z2022-07-22T14:57:34ZFive essential reads on Russia-Africa relations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475656/original/file-20220722-26-p1kof8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (L).</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Sean Gallup - Pool /Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, <a href="https://addisstandard.com/asdailyscoop-lavrov-set-for-africa-tour-ahead-of-russia-africa-summit/">will visit four African nations</a> – Ethiopia, Egypt, Uganda and Congo-Brazzaville – from Sunday 24 July. The visit comes ahead of the second Russia-Africa summit, expected to be held in Addis Ababa in October-November.</p>
<p>The first <a href="https://theconversation.com/russia-steps-up-efforts-to-fill-gaps-left-by-americas-waning-interest-in-africa-125945">Russia-Africa Summit</a> was held in Sochi, Russia in 2019 and attended by several African heads of state and government. </p>
<p>During his visit, Lavrov will meet heads of state and business, in what has been billed as a “working visit”.</p>
<p>The Conversation Africa has published numerous articles by experts on Russia’s relationship with Africa. Here we present five essential reads.</p>
<hr>
<p>Russia’s war in Ukraine has not attracted universal condemnation in Africa. So the visit is likely to be viewed as much more than a precursor for the upcoming summit and more as a charm offensive by Moscow. Theo Neethling sets out how Moscow has been growing its strategic influence in Africa.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-russia-is-growing-its-strategic-influence-in-africa-110930">How Russia is growing its strategic influence in Africa</a>
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<p>For a while now, competition among the world powers for influence in Africa has been seen as primarily between the United States and China. But research shows that President Vladimir Putin is intent on tilting the global balance of power in Russia’s favour, in line with his vision of restoring Moscow’s Soviet era status as a super power. On this view, Putin is determined to counter America’s influence and match China’s large economic footprint on the continent. János Besenyő examines whether Russia can offer an alternative to the US and China in Africa.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/russia-in-africa-can-it-offer-an-alternative-to-the-us-and-china-117764">Russia in Africa: can it offer an alternative to the US and China?</a>
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<p>The vision of the African Union is for the continent to act in concert on global issues. But there wasn’t much evidence of this pan-Africanist approach in the way the continent voted on United Nations resolutions to condemn Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. John J Stremlau shows how some African nations voted either for or against Russia, while others, notably South Africa, abstained.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/african-countries-showed-disunity-in-un-votes-on-russia-south-africas-role-was-pivotal-180799">African countries showed disunity in UN votes on Russia: South Africa's role was pivotal</a>
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<p>Political and security analyst Joseph Siegle argues that Russia’s approach to Africa involves an <a href="http://democracyinafrica.org/russia-in-africa-undermining-democracy-through-elite-capture/">elite cooption strategy</a>, with the aim of serving Russia’s strategic objectives. Siegle explains that the interests of African citizens and nations give way to Russian priorities, with destabilising effects. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ukraine-war-fresh-warning-that-africa-needs-to-be-vigilant-against-russias-destabilising-influence-178785">Ukraine war: fresh warning that Africa needs to be vigilant against Russia's destabilising influence</a>
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<p>Military equipment is a key factor in the relationship between Russia and several African countries. In fact, <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/russian-arms-exports-to-africa-moscows-long-term-strategy/a-53596471">almost half</a> of Africa’s imports of military equipment (49%) come from Russia. These include major arms (battle tanks, warships, fighter aircraft and combat helicopters) and small arms (pistols and assault rifles, such as the new Kalashnikov AK-200 series rifle). Defence analyst Moses Khanyile reveals how the sanctions imposed on Russia by the countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance will disrupt sales. This will bring both risks and opportunities for the continent.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sanctions-against-russia-will-affect-arms-sales-to-africa-the-risks-and-opportunities-180038">Sanctions against Russia will affect arms sales to Africa: the risks and opportunities</a>
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</p>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187568/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Five essential reads on Russia’s relationship with Africa.Thabo Leshilo, Politics + SocietyMoina Spooner, Assistant EditorLyrr Thurston, Copy EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1871012022-07-21T15:14:56Z2022-07-21T15:14:56ZCongo peat swamps store three years of global carbon emissions – imminent oil drilling could release it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475372/original/file-20220721-9907-salr5i.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6000%2C3997&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Professor Corneille Ewango of the University of Kisangani in a peat swamp
along the Ikelemba River, Democratic Republic of Congo.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bart Crezee/University of Leeds</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Democratic Republic of the Congo’s government <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/congo-offer-30-oil-gas-blocks-licensing-2022-07-18/">is preparing</a> to auction off a series of licenses to drill for oil in the Congo basin. This threatens to damage around 11 million hectares of the world’s second largest rainforest.</p>
<p>But it is not just trees that might be lost in the search for oil. <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-022-00966-7">Our new study</a>, published in Nature Geoscience, shows at least three of 16 proposed oil licences planned for sale on July 28 2022 overlap with sensitive peat swamp forests, which store even more carbon below ground in their soils than is held by the trees above.</p>
<p>Regularly flooded peat swamp forests contain so much carbon because waterlogging slows the decay of dead plants. This partially decomposed material builds up over thousands of years to form peat. We have provided the first detailed map of the depth of this peat, and where exactly in the Congo basin all the carbon it contains can be found.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475470/original/file-20220721-14415-yxl3fz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A line map of Africa with the location of the peatland complex indicated in green." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475470/original/file-20220721-14415-yxl3fz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475470/original/file-20220721-14415-yxl3fz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=627&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475470/original/file-20220721-14415-yxl3fz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=627&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475470/original/file-20220721-14415-yxl3fz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=627&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475470/original/file-20220721-14415-yxl3fz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=788&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475470/original/file-20220721-14415-yxl3fz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=788&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475470/original/file-20220721-14415-yxl3fz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=788&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The central Congo peatlands highlighted in green.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Crezee et al. (2022)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our results confirm the central Congo peatlands to be the world’s largest tropical peatland complex. We estimate that the peatlands cover 16.7 million hectares, an area equivalent to the size of England and Wales combined, which is about 15% bigger than the 14.6 million hectares estimated when this ecosystem was first mapped in 2017.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-we-discovered-the-worlds-largest-tropical-peatland-deep-in-the-jungles-of-congo-71138">How we discovered the world's largest tropical peatland, deep in the jungles of Congo</a>
</strong>
</em>
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<hr>
<p>When we overlayed our new map of the peatland on a map of oil concessions, we discovered that the upcoming sale of rights to explore for fossil fuels includes close to 1 million hectares of peat swamp forest. If destroyed by the construction of roads, pipelines and other infrastructure needed to extract the oil, we estimate that up to 6 billion tonnes of CO₂ could be released, equivalent to 14 years’ worth of current UK greenhouse gas <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/provisional-uk-greenhouse-gas-emissions-national-statistics-2021">emissions</a>.</p>
<p>Scientists are just starting to understand these ecosystems, including their role as immense carbon reservoirs that provide a bulwark against rising global temperatures. But if oil companies get the go-ahead on July 28, our maps and other records may be all that’s left to prove intact peat swamp forests once existed in the Congo basin.</p>
<h2>Trekking into the swamps</h2>
<p>Until now, evidence of these peatlands in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) had not been published in a scientific journal. Although their existence was long suspected, it wasn’t until 2017 that scientists <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature21048">mapped</a> the country’s peatlands for the first time by using field data from the neighbouring Republic of the Congo (RoC). They predicted that two-thirds of the world’s largest tropical peatland resided in the DRC, which had not been verified with field observations. Over three years, we trekked through these swamps as part of an international team of Congolese and UK scientists, often staying for months at a time.</p>
<p>We set off by dugout canoe to explore what we expected to be peatlands in forested floodplains along the Congo and its eastern tributaries. As we travelled upriver, we passed many small villages and fishing camps. Most are constructed on stilts because the river regularly floods its banks during the wet season which keeps the peat from breaking down and releasing its carbon back to the atmosphere.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A long wooden canoe next to a woody river bank." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475386/original/file-20220721-9733-4ajxpc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475386/original/file-20220721-9733-4ajxpc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475386/original/file-20220721-9733-4ajxpc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475386/original/file-20220721-9733-4ajxpc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475386/original/file-20220721-9733-4ajxpc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475386/original/file-20220721-9733-4ajxpc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475386/original/file-20220721-9733-4ajxpc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The research team traversing the Ruki river by canoe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bart Crezee/University of Leeds</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These peatlands might be new to scientific literature, but they are familiar to the communities who have lived on their periphery for generations, relying on them for fishing, hunting and to collect building material. People here helped us explore the peatlands and allowed us to camp on their lands, where they shared their knowledge of the swamps and the many plant and animal species that live there. Together, we would set off on foot from the riverbank, trudging through a thick layer of mud into which we would sometimes sink up to our waists.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Stilted houses on the far bank of a flooded river." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475376/original/file-20220721-18-ho8eky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475376/original/file-20220721-18-ho8eky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475376/original/file-20220721-18-ho8eky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475376/original/file-20220721-18-ho8eky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475376/original/file-20220721-18-ho8eky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475376/original/file-20220721-18-ho8eky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475376/original/file-20220721-18-ho8eky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A fishing camp along the Ikelemba river at the end of the wet season.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bart Crezee/University of Leeds</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Every 250 metres we would stick metal poles in the ground to measure the thickness of the peat layer. To our astonishment, we often found peat of up to six metres deep just a few kilometres away from the river. This was totally unexpected, as the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature21048">2017 study</a> conducted in the RoC only found peat of similar depth after trekking 20km into the swamp forest, far from any rivers. Knowing these regional differences is crucial – combined with satellite data, it allows us to map how thick the peat is likely to be in areas where we haven’t travelled. As the thickness of the peat layer largely determines how much carbon is stored in it, this is a major step forward in understanding the size of this natural carbon reservoir.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A core of peat next to a tape measure." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475375/original/file-20220721-18-5qzshv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475375/original/file-20220721-18-5qzshv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475375/original/file-20220721-18-5qzshv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475375/original/file-20220721-18-5qzshv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475375/original/file-20220721-18-5qzshv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475375/original/file-20220721-18-5qzshv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475375/original/file-20220721-18-5qzshv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The top 50cm of a peat core.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bart Crezee/University of Leeds</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Reversing massive natural defences</h2>
<p>We also brought back peat samples to the laboratory to calculate the amount of carbon more precisely. Combining these different measurements, we conclude that the Congolese peat swamp forests are one of the most carbon-dense ecosystems on earth, storing an average of 1,712 tonnes of carbon per hectare. Together, the peatlands contain between 26 and 32 billion tonnes of carbon below ground – roughly equivalent to three years’ worth of global emissions from burning fossil fuels.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475411/original/file-20220721-10058-sh02bn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two maps of the Congo basin colour-coded to display peat depth and carbon density." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475411/original/file-20220721-10058-sh02bn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475411/original/file-20220721-10058-sh02bn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=234&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475411/original/file-20220721-10058-sh02bn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=234&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475411/original/file-20220721-10058-sh02bn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=234&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475411/original/file-20220721-10058-sh02bn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=294&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475411/original/file-20220721-10058-sh02bn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=294&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475411/original/file-20220721-10058-sh02bn.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=294&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Thick and carbon-rich peat was found near the Congo river’s major tributaries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Crezee et al. (2022)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our research is part of an ongoing, long-term effort to understand the world’s largest tropical peatland complex. The <a href="https://congopeat.net/">CongoPeat project</a> aims to understand how and when the peatlands formed, and whether there are any new species to be found there. We also want to learn more about how stable this peat carbon is in a warming climate, and what effects logging, drainage for farming or oil exploration would have.</p>
<p>The DRC oil auction on July 28 could be the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11027-017-9774-8">beginning of the end</a> for these peatlands. Opening them to oil exploration before the Congolese people and the rest of the world can even know what the true cost would be is irresponsible. The country risks a mistake of epic proportions. What we do know is that by locking up carbon, the peatlands have helped cool the climate for thousands of years. To reverse this valuable natural defence against climate change in the space of a few years, simply to find more of a fuel which the world already has more of than it can safely burn, is not something life on Earth can afford.</p>
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<p><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
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<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187101/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bart Crezee receives funding from the Natural Environment Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Lewis has received funding from the Natural Environment Research Council, the Royal Society, the European Union, the Leverhulme Trust, the Centre for International Forestry, National Parks Agency of Gabon, Microsoft Research, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Greenpeace Fund, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Children's Investment Fund.</span></em></p>Peat is partially decomposed plant matter that has accumulated over thousands of years.Bart Crezee, PhD Candidate in Tropical Peatland Ecology, University of LeedsSimon Lewis, Professor of Global Change Science at University of Leeds and, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1849312022-06-22T14:52:55Z2022-06-22T14:52:55ZTriple punch of shocks threatens to upend debt sustainability and recovery in Africa<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469180/original/file-20220616-18-b32fy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children queue for porridge in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe during the height of the COVID pandemic.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Tafadzwa Ufumeli/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Food and fuel price increases and the aftermath of the COVID pandemic are really just the start of the story when it comes to fiscal shocks which have exacerbated government debt vulnerabilities in Africa.</p>
<p>Tightening global financial conditions present a third shock that will cause debt-servicing costs to climb dramatically. This is because central banks around the world are hiking interest rates to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-01/global-economy-faces-410b-financial-shock-as-central-banks-pull-back">rein in inflation</a> that’s running at the fastest pace not seen in recent decades. </p>
<p>After the 2008 financial crisis, borrowing costs had been reduced to relatively low levels due to lower interest rates in developed countries. This enabled African governments to borrow at relatively lower rates.</p>
<p>The triple punch of rising interest rates, rising food and fuel prices and the COVID aftermath will significantly squeeze government budgets, threatening the continent’s fragile post-pandemic recovery. </p>
<p>The strain on government finances will vary across countries. Net importers of essential food items (such as wheat) and fuel have to pay more for imports, and are thus experiencing a much bigger drain on their fiscal resources. </p>
<p>On the other hand, net exporters of oil like Nigeria and Angola are likely to benefit from rising oil prices, and will have more budgetary room for responding to policy demands. </p>
<p>Not all African countries are experiencing the same squeeze on their public finances. But the triple punch of shocks has markedly increased the number that are at high risk of – or are already in – debt distress that require sovereign debt restructuring. Unfortunately, the only system in place for debt restructuring – the <a href="https://blogs.imf.org/2021/12/02/the-g20-common-framework-for-debt-treatments-must-be-stepped-up/">G20’s Common Framework for Debt Treatment</a> – has proved ineffective for a number of reasons. These include the absence of clear procedures and timelines for debtors and creditors, a lack of clarity on how different creditors will be treated, and the growing geopolitical rift between the US and EU on one side and China and Russia on the other. </p>
<p>This is why an alternative system to the framework must be put in place without delay to alleviate the debt problems faced by African countries. Failure to do so will make it difficult to restrain Africa’s debt and imperil its fragile post pandemic recovery.</p>
<h2>The shocks</h2>
<p>According to the <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/REO/SSA/Issues/2021/04/15/regional-economic-outlook-for-sub-saharan-africa-april-2021">International Monetary Fund</a>, African countries spent only about 2.6% of GDP on average in 2020 to cushion the impact of COVID-19 on firms and households. And as government revenues plummeted in response to the sharp economic downturn induced by the pandemic, budget deficits widened. This added considerable strain on government debt which was already elevated. </p>
<p>As shown in Figure 1, fiscal balances further deteriorated when the pandemic struck, which constricted fiscal space and drove up government debt burdens in Africa. </p>
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<p>Between 2019 and 2021, government debt as a percent of GDP spiked from a pre-pandemic level of 51% to a pandemic-era of 61% for the median country in <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2022/April">Sub-Saharan Africa</a>. Zambia’s <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/23/zambia-becomes-africas-first-coronavirus-era-default-what-happens-now.html">default on its sovereign debt in 2020</a> was a harbinger of trouble ahead. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/About/Factsheets/Sheets/2016/08/01/16/39/Debt-Sustainability-Framework-for-Low-Income-Countries">IMF and World Bank</a> now consider 23 low-income African countries to be at high risk of, or already, in debt distress. This calls into question whether they will be able to keep up with their debt repayments.</p>
<p>Seven countries – Chad, Congo Republic, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, Somalia, Sudan and Zimbabwe – are in debt distress, meaning that they are having trouble servicing their public debt. The other 16 African countries are at high risk of debt distress. Cabo Verde and Zambia stand out as the only two where public debt exceeded 100% of GDP in 2021. </p>
<p>A handful of others including Ghana, Guinea-Bissau and Gambia are at risk. Ghana’s sovereign debt jumped from <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2022/April">63% in 2019 to 82% in 2021</a>, while Guinea-Bissau’s sovereign debt edged up from <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2022/April">66% to 81%</a> over the same period. Gambia’s debt showed no signs of easing, and has remained elevated at an average level of about <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2022/April">84% since 2019</a>. </p>
<p>IMF and World Bank assessments of a country’s risk of experiencing public debt distress are based on two main types of debt sustainability analyses. The first considers a country’s projected debt burden and its vulnerability to shocks. The second assesses the risk of external and overall public debt distress using a country’s macroeconomic environment and other country specific factors.</p>
<p>For this reason, a country with a relatively lower public debt ratio could also still be vulnerable. For example, Ethiopia was deemed to be at high risk of debt distress even though its sovereign debt of <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2022/April">53% of GDP in 2021</a> was relatively lower. </p>
<h2>Restructuring</h2>
<p>Given this state of affairs, sovereign debt restructuring has become inevitable. The G20’s Common Framework has not been effective amid growing mistrust among the different parties involved. Any optimism that it could be improved has been dented further by escalating geopolitical tensions between the US and EU on one side and China and Russia on the other.</p>
<p>Therefore, expecting both sides to sit down and coordinate with other G20 members to negotiate new debt terms with African governments and other sovereign debtors in the developing world is a long stretch. This casts further doubt on the G20 as a negotiating forum. </p>
<p>This is why an alternative system must be put in place without delay to alleviate Africa’s debt problems in a timely manner.</p>
<p>Failure to do so will make it difficult to restrain Africa’s debt and will weaken its post pandemic recovery.</p>
<p>In the past, sovereign debtors relied on the <a href="https://marketbusinessnews.com/financial-glossary/paris-club-definition-meaning/">22-member Paris Club</a> of wealthy creditor nations to negotiate debt restructurings. However, this time around, the Paris Club can no longer be used as the lead forum for debt treatments. This is largely because China is now one of Africa’s largest creditors, but is not one of the Paris Club’s members. </p>
<h2>Policy responses</h2>
<p>A return to debt sustainability will create fiscal room for African policy makers to stave off risks to the post-pandemic recovery in the face of multiple shocks that are teaming up to elevate sovereign debt pressures. But fiscal policy must be carefully targeted to avoid adding to debt vulnerabilities. This can be done in several ways.</p>
<p>First and foremost, policy makers should direct fiscal resources to protect the most vulnerable households affected by the cost-of-living crisis being wrought by the war in Ukraine. </p>
<p>Second, policy makers should use any budgetary room created by restraining debt to heal pandemic scars that are holding back the economic recovery. This includes supporting companies that can survive or recover, but are saddled with debt or cannot raise the financing to support themselves. </p>
<p>Support should also target new productive companies that are innovative and contribute to growth, jobs, and overall economic development. Additionally, workers set back by the pandemic should be given assistance to learn in-demand skills and adjust to new careers. </p>
<p>One of the deep scars of the pandemic was the severe disruption to schooling which led to a surge in teen pregnancies. Re-enrolling girls in classes by supporting community-based programs like <a href="https://www.projectelimu.org/">Kenya’s Project Elimu</a> will help limit the loss in human capital, and should be a top priority for policy makers.</p>
<p>Finally, African governments should use technical assistance support from multilateral lenders (IMF and World Bank) in areas that strengthen debt sustainability. These include debt management reforms, improved government revenue collection, smarter public investment programs, and debt sustainability analysis.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184931/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan Munemo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A return to debt sustainability will create room for African policy makers to stave off risks to the post-pandemic recovery.Jonathan Munemo, Professor of Economics, Salisbury UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1849032022-06-12T09:05:07Z2022-06-12T09:05:07ZRetracing Belgium’s dark past in the Congo, and attempts to forge deeper ties<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468293/original/file-20220610-17-cj0qik.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and Belgian King Philippe toast at an official banquet in Kinshasa.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nicolas Maeterlinck/Belga/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe id="noa-web-audio-player" style="border: none" src="https://embed-player.newsoveraudio.com/v4?key=x84olp&id=https://theconversation.com/retracing-belgiums-dark-past-in-the-congo-and-attempts-to-forge-deeper-ties-184903&bgColor=F5F5F5&color=D8352A&playColor=D8352A" width="100%" height="110px"></iframe>
<p><em>Belgian King Philippe and his wife Queen Mathilde recently led a delegation on a <a href="https://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/234324/belgian-king-and-queen-leave-for-state-visit-to-congo-tomorrow">week-long visit</a> to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The trip was billed as a chance to recalibrate the relationship between the two countries after a dark colonial past. We spoke to Julien Bobineau, who has researched the narratives around Belgium’s history with the Congo, about the visit. And if it could lead to a <a href="https://www.africanews.com/2022/06/07/dr-congo-belgian-king-arrives-in-kinshasa-for-first-official-visit//#:%7E:text=Belgium's%20colonisation%20of%20the%20Congo,the%20king%2C%20echoed%20the%20sentiment.">new partnership</a> between the two countries.</em></p>
<h2>What is Belgium’s history in the DRC?</h2>
<p>There’s a dark history between Belgium and the DRC that started in the 19th century.</p>
<p>Between 1884 and 1885, there were a series of negotiations between European powers to formalise claims to territory in Africa. It culminated in the <a href="https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9780822385035-003/pdf">Berlin Conference</a>. African stakeholders were not involved in the negotiations. </p>
<p>During the conference, Belgian King Leopold II obtained international legitimacy for the ownership of the lands in what is now the Congo. </p>
<p>From then on, he was the private ruler of the État Indépendant du Congo (Congo Free State), which was 80 times the size of his Kingdom of Belgium. Until his death in 1909, Leopold II never set foot in “his” colony.</p>
<p>But he profited enormously from the Congo’s raw materials. </p>
<p>It is <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/King-Leopolds-Ghost-Heroism-Colonial/dp/1447211359">estimated</a> that about half of the then 20 million inhabitants of the Congo lost their lives due to the conditions people had to endure to extract raw materials, mainly of rubber. Some historians <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23133898">refer to this</a> as a genocide. </p>
<p>After international protests, Leopold II sold the private colony to the Belgian state in 1908. After the takeover, the country was renamed Congo Belge, but the interests remained the same. In southeast Congo, the Belgians discovered large ore deposits and exported copper, tropical wood, cotton, cocoa and coffee to Europe. </p>
<p>After slavery was officially abolished in 1910, Congolese workers received a wage for their work in the mines and on the plantations. However, this was much less than the payment Europeans received for the same work. </p>
<p>This colonial racism continued in everyday life until the middle of the 20th century. Cities were divided into “white” and “black” neighbourhoods. The Congolese were only allowed to visit the restaurants, bars and cinemas of “white” Europeans with special permission.</p>
<p>From the 1950s, a broad movement <a href="https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110709308/html?lang=de">formed</a> in Congo Belge to protest against Belgian foreign rule. Belgian King Baudouin I finally relented and “released” the DR Congo into independence on 30 June 1960. Joseph Kasavubu was elected the first president, with Patrice Lumumba as prime minister. </p>
<p>However, shortly after independence, there was a falling out between the independent government and Western powers, primarily the US and Belgium. They wanted to retain control over the raw materials in the Congo. </p>
<p>After only two months in power, Lumumba was deposed in September 1960. He <a href="https://www.cadtm.org/In-memory-of-Patrice-Lumumba-assassinated-on-17-January-1961">was assassinated</a> by his political opponents in Katanga in January 1961 with the help of Belgian and US secret services. </p>
<p>Belgium’s involvement in the political assassination was concealed until a commission of enquiry, <a href="https://www.brusselstimes.com/50661/facing-the-truths-of-belgium-s-colonial-past-the-unresolved-case-of-patrice-lumumba-s-death">launched</a> by the Belgian parliament in 1999, found Belgium partially responsible for Lumumba’s death.</p>
<h2>What’s happened to relations since independence?</h2>
<p>There have been three major shifts.</p>
<p>The first is when Joseph-Désiré Mobutu came to power in 1965. An army commander, he <a href="https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/mobutu-joseph-desire-mobutu-sese-seko-kuku-waza-banga-1930-1997/">seized power</a> and established an autocratic dictatorship that lasted until 1997. </p>
<p>Belgian-Congolese diplomatic relations were characterised by ups and downs during Mobutu’s reign. On the one hand, Belgium wanted to maintain ties with the former colony for geopolitical and economic reasons. On the other, the Belgian government had to <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1997-04-29-9704290128-story.html">respond diplomatically</a> to the countless human rights abuses committed by Mobutu’s regime. </p>
<p>This dilemma was exacerbated by two aspects. Firstly, Mobutu repeatedly pointed out Belgium’s moral responsibility to the country resulting from colonial rule, especially in crisis situations. Secondly, there was <a href="https://sciendo.com/article/10.1515/werk-2017-0007">colonial nostalgia</a> among the Belgian population. The colonial rule was romantically glorified in Belgium. </p>
<p>The second shift happened much later. In 2020, the <a href="https://www.africamuseum.be/en">AfricanMuseum</a> changed its guidelines in dealing with objects from colonial contexts. The <a href="https://www.africamuseum.be/de/about_us/restitution">goal</a> was to make negotiations on restitution possible.</p>
<p>The museum, in the Brussels suburb of Tervuren, was founded in 1897 by Leopold II at the height of colonialism. It served many Belgians as their first point of contact with the African colony. Racist images and colonial bias were <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/39892/pdf">constructed</a> to justify foreign rule in the Congo. </p>
<p>Hundreds of thousands of ethnographic objects – mainly looted objects, but also “donations” – were brought to Tervuren and are still stored in the museum today. </p>
<p>Following this general paradigm shift, in October 2020, the Free University of Brussels agreed to return human remains from Congo to the University of Lubumbashi. And in March 2022, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/belgium-takes-first-small-step-in-returning-art-to-congo/">announced the return</a> of 84,000 Congolese artefacts. </p>
<p>The third shift is King Philippe’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/30/belgian-king-philippe-expresses-profound-regrets-for-brutal-colonial-rule">letter</a> to President Felix Tshisekedi on 30 June 2020, the anniversary of Congolese independence. In the letter, the king expressed his deep regret for the colonial injustices committed in the Congo. This was against the backdrop of the global <a href="https://www.rosalux.eu/en/article/1796.black-lives-matter-in-belgium-june-july-2020.html">Black Lives Matter</a> movement in which protests against racism and the neglect of colonial history grew within the Belgian population. </p>
<p>It was the first time that a member of the royal family had addressed the Congolese people with such words. On the same day, then Belgian Prime Minister Sophie Wilmès also expressed her regret regarding Belgium’s colonial past. It was the first time a Belgian head of state had done this in that way – a paradigmatic turning point in the country’s historical policy.</p>
<h2>What is Belgium’s proposed reparations plan?</h2>
<p>In October 2021, the Belgian parliament <a href="https://www.brusselstimes.com/117289/parliament-approves-commission-on-belgiums-colonial-past">set up a commission</a> to deal with colonial injustice. Ten experts were tasked with discussing several issues, including possible financial reparations and a stronger anchoring of Belgian colonial history in education curricula and society. </p>
<p>The commission is also to provide the basis for a reorientation of international relations with former colonial territories. </p>
<p>When it comes to the restitution of objects from colonial contexts, the Belgian government has allocated 2 million euros (about US$2.1 million) to research the provenance of the objects. </p>
<p>For many Congolese in the diaspora in Belgium and in the Congo, this doesn’t go far enough. They also <a href="https://information.tv5monde.com/video/philippe-de-belgique-en-rdc-la-population-congolaise-attend-plus-que-des-regrets">demand</a> an official apology for the colonial atrocities. The government and the king have so far only formulated a “regret”.</p>
<h2>What are the possibilities of improved diplomatic ties?</h2>
<p>For relations to truly improve, the Belgian state must acknowledge its historical responsibility more strongly. It must negotiate politically on an equal footing with its former colonies. </p>
<p>Reparations are also an important issue. Even if many Belgians believe that they cannot be held responsible for the crimes of their ancestors, the Belgian economy profited greatly from colonial exploitation – and in principle continues to do so today. </p>
<p>Congolese societies, in contrast, were deprived of the potential to ‘develop’ due to exploitation, slavery and genocide. The different current economic situations prove this historically generated discrepancy for which there must be a compensation.</p>
<p>The broad debate alone can only be conducted in Belgian society alongside Congolese actors.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184903/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julien Bobineau received funding from the Bavarian Elite Network in form of a PhD scholarship, provided by the Federal Government of Bavaria (Germany). </span></em></p>For relations with the DRC to truly improve, the Belgian state must acknowledge its historical responsibility more strongly.Julien Bobineau, Assistant Professor, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität JenaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1716682021-11-16T12:30:37Z2021-11-16T12:30:37ZTshisekedi a consolidé l'assise de son pouvoir en RDC: il lui faut maintenant passer à l’action<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431394/original/file-20211110-19-1c8nsfm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C926%2C616&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Félix Tshisekedi, Président de la République démocratique du Congo</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EFE-EPA/-Hayoung Jeon</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Félix Tshisekedi, de l’Union pour la démocratie et le progrès social, est devenu le cinquième président de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC) en <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/felix-tshisekedis-improbable-inauguration-leaves-congo-in-a-confused-daze/2019/01/24/36f51a84-1cf1-11e9-a759-2b8541bbbe20_story.html">janvier 2019</a> après l’une des élections les plus attendues de l’histoire du pays.</p>
<p>Les loyalistes du parti ont célébré l’événement. Mais beaucoup d’autres –- tant en RDC qu’à l’étranger –- ont déploré une nouvelle élection volée. Le Financial Times a trouvé des preuves irréfutables que l’élection avait fait l’objet d’une fraude <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/2b97f6e6-189d-11e9-b93e-f4351a53f1c3">d’une ampleur inouïe</a>. Alors que Martin Fayulu devrait de droit être le président en exercice de la RDC, Tshisekedi occupe le palais présidentiel, ou la « Maison Blanche » comme on l’appelle parfois.</p>
<p>C’était un début peu prometteur. La fragilité de la position de Tshisekedi était aggravée par le fait qu’il avait formé avec l’ancien chef d’État <a href="https://www.notablebiographies.com/supp/Supplement-Fl-Ka/Kabila-Joseph.html">Joseph Kabila</a> une alliance précaire. Les deux n'ont pas fait bon ménage et ont engagé une lutte au coeur de la politique congolaise. </p>
<p>La coalition de Tshisekedi, Cap sur le changement, était minoritaire, tant à l’Assemblée nationale congolaise qu’au Sénat. Les deux branches du parlement congolais étaient dominées par la coalition Front commun pour le Congo, contrôlée par Kabila.</p>
<p>Faute de soutien parlementaire, Tshisekédi était, il faut le reconnaitre, en posision de faisblesse. Il a dû accepter le choix de Kabila pour le poste de premier ministre, <a href="https://www.africanews.com/2021/01/29/dr-congo-s-prime-minister-sylvestre-ilunga-resigns-after-censure//">Sylvestre Ilunga</a>, en mai 2019. Il lui a fallu attendre cette année pour pouvoir enfin évincer Ilunga, un ancien professeur d’économie.</p>
<p>En avril, Tshisekedi a également <a href="https://chargedaffairs.org/felix-tshisekedis-newly-independent-agenda-for-the-drc-modernizer-or-strongman-2-0/">réussi à écarter du pouvoir de nombreux membres de la coalition Front commun pour le Congo</a>. Il a fermement établi son emprise sur le pouvoir politique à Kinshasa.</p>
<p>Bref, son gouvernement n'a plus l'excuse d'être entravé par l'emprise de l'ancien clan de son prédecesseur. Ayant renforcé sa mainmise sur la présidence, Tshisekedi doit s’atteler à la mise en œuvre d’un programme de changement au service du peuple congolais</p>
<h2>Ce qui a été fait</h2>
<p>En mars 2019, Tshisekedi a lancé un <a href="https://www.theafricareport.com/23337/felix-tshisekedi-audits-his-emergency-program-troubles-partners/">programme d’urgence de 100 jours</a> pour donner le coup d'envoi à sa présidence. Le programme a été inauguré par la publication d’un <a href="https://www.africa-energy.com/article/dr-congo-tshisekedi-pledges-20m-power-wide-ranging-emergency-programme">document de 78 pages </a> qui couvrait quelques-unes des priorités les plus importantes du gouvernement actuel à l’époque. Même si de nombreuses questions étaient abordées, comme la promotion de l’industrie et l’énergie, une grande partie de l’argent était réservée aux infrastructures: <a href="https://www.africa-energy.com/article/dr-congo-tshisekedi-pledges-20m-power-wide-ranging-emergency-programme">183,2 millions de dollars</a>. Pourtant, bon nombre de ces projets sont inachevés.</p>
<p>Malgré la nécessité de prendre des mesures supplémentaires en ce qui concerne les projets de construction de routes, le président pourrait inscrire à son actif - fut-il partiellement - la fin de l'épidémie d'Ebola de 2018-2020 dans l’est du Congo. </p>
<p>Bien que les communautés locales et les <a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/situations/Ebola-2019-drc-">ONG aient été au cœur</a> des activités de secours, cela s’est produit pendant le mandat de Tshisekedi et il le presentera sans doute comme l'un de ses succès. </p>
<p>Dans le même temps, certains <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-51220974">prisonniers politiques</a> ont été libérés, une décision qui permet de distinguer sa présidence de celle de Joseph Kabila.</p>
<p>Même s'il y a eu quelques changements, peu de Congolais ont constaté des améliorations majeures. <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/drcs-felix-tshisekedi-still-a-president-without-a-cabinet/a-48588554">Il reste encore beaucoup à faire pour améliorer</a> la vie des citoyens de la RDC, et cela est particulièrement vrai en dehors de la capitale.</p>
<h2>Ce qu’il reste à faire</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25506">Tout d’abord, de graves violences se poursuivent</a> dans la province de l’Ituri, dans le nord-est du pays. Après une décennie de paix relative de 2007 à 2017, les violences intercommunautaires entre Lendu et Hema <a href="https://www.ifri.org/en/publications/etudes-de-lifri/ituri-resurgence-conflict-and-failure-peacebuilding-policy">ont repris ces dernières années</a>. La récente campagne de terreur menée par les <a href="https://www.csis.org/blogs/examining-extremism/examining-extremism-allied-democratic-forces">Forces Démocratiques Alliées islamistes </a>a également contribué à accroître la violence dans la région nord-est du pays.</p>
<p>Alors que la violence se poursuit dans l’est de la RDC, la marge de progrès est encore énorme dans le secteur, situé en grande partie dans <a href="https://african.business/2014/01/economy/the-drc-s-katanga-province-return-of-the-copper-king/">la province du Haut-Katanga</a>, où la violence a diminué considérablement. Le gouvernement de Tshisekedi s'est engagé dans un long processus de négociations avec un consortium d’investisseurs miniers chinois basé dans le sud-est du pays.</p>
<p>Ces négociations, quoique lentes, présente quelques avantages pour l’État congolais. Les discussions portent sur <a href="https://www.africanews.com/2021/05/14/controversy-over-the-location-of-amazon-african-headquarters-in-cape-town-south-africa//">le montant que les investisseurs chinois donneront à l’État</a> en contrepartie des minéraux qu’ils exploitent.</p>
<p>En mai, le président a déclaré qu’il pensait que les contrats miniers précédents <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/exclusive-congo-reviewing-6-bln-mining-deal-with-chinese-investors-finmin-2021-08-27/">pourraient être revus</a>. Globalement, il a cherché à renégocier le tristement célèbre accord <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03056244.2013.762167">« minerais contre infrastructures » </a> de Sicomines, conclu entre un groupe d’investisseurs chinois et le gouvernement congolais en 2008. En août, il a créé une <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/exclusive-congo-reviewing-6-bln-mining-deal-with-chinese-investors-finmin-2021-08-27/">commission chargée d’examiner</a> les contrats miniers en vue d'obtenir des contrats plus avantageux.</p>
<h2>Perspectives</h2>
<p>Si un bon accord minier peut être conclu, la prospérité relative de ce secteur pourrait servir à propulser les plans de Tshisekedi au-delà du vieux programme d’urgence de 100 jours.
Premièrement, cela pourrait aider le secteur des infrastructures en difficulté, qui a connu peu de développement. La plupart des infrastructures sont <a href="https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/49292/">dans un état de délabrement</a>. Un réseau routier décent aiderait à propulser les entreprises et notamment celles du <a href="https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/49292/">secteur agricole</a>, si important pour la RDC.</p>
<p>Deuxièmement, des fonds publics plus importants pourraient aider le président à s’attaquer aux problèmes du système éducatif. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/school-children-storm-congo-parliament-over-teacher-strike-2021-10-21/">Une grève très inquiétante des enseignants</a> est en cours en RDC, le manque de salaire étant l’une des raisons de l’arrêt de travail. Voilà un problème qui nécessite une solution urgente.</p>
<p>Troisièmement, <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m2879">le secteur de la santé en RDC a également besoin d’un coup de pouce en termes d’investissements </a>, notamment en raison de la pandémie.</p>
<p>En bref, le gouvernement de Tshisekedi dispose désormais d’un capital politique durement acquis, qui lui permettrait d’opérer quelques-uns des changements qu’il a promis pendant sa campagne. Certains de ces changements pourraient être mis en œuvre par la négociation d’un accord minier décent, et à condition que cet argent soit distribué judicieusement.</p>
<p>Le secteur minier, aussi controversé soit-il, a connu une croissance soutenue depuis <a href="https://eiti.org/democratic-republic-of-congo">le boom des matières premières en 2007</a>. Par ailleurs, la transparence au sein du secteur minier est apparemment <a href="https://eiti.org/democratic-republic-of-congo">en train de</a> s'améliorer. Il est donc temps pour Tshisekedi de conclure un accord avantageux et de résoudre quelques-uns des nombreux problèmes auxquels ses citoyens sont confrontés.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171668/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Reuben Loffman a reçu des financements de Arts and Humanities Research Council, de Economic and Social Research Council, de la British Academy, du Spalding Trust et de la Presbyterian Historical Society. Il est affilié au Parti travailliste britannique. </span></em></p>Le gouvernement du président Tshisekedi n’a plus l’excuse d’être entravé par l'emprise du clan de son prédécesseur Joseph Kabila.Reuben Loffman, Lecturer in African History, Queen Mary University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1702822021-10-27T13:19:06Z2021-10-27T13:19:06ZDRC’s Tshisekedi has secured his power base: now it’s time to deliver<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428042/original/file-20211022-9474-2jop7c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EFE-EPA/-Hayoung Jeon </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Félix Tshisekedi of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress became the fifth president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/felix-tshisekedis-improbable-inauguration-leaves-congo-in-a-confused-daze/2019/01/24/36f51a84-1cf1-11e9-a759-2b8541bbbe20_story.html">January 2019</a> after one of the most anticipated elections in the country’s history.</p>
<p>Party loyalists celebrated. But many others – both in the DRC and abroad – lamented another stolen election. The Financial Times found incontrovertible proof that the election had been the subject of a fraud on an <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/2b97f6e6-189d-11e9-b93e-f4351a53f1c3">eye-watering scale</a>. While <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/11/runner-up-in-congo-election-says-he-beat-official-winner-by-wide-margin">Martin Fayulu</a> should by rights be the sitting president of the DRC, Tshisekedi is occupying the presidential palace, or the “White House” as it is sometimes called.</p>
<p>It was an inauspicious start. The fragility of Tshisekedi’s position was compounded by the fact that he and the former head of state <a href="https://www.notablebiographies.com/supp/Supplement-Fl-Ka/Kabila-Joseph.html">Joseph Kabila</a> had formed an uneasy alliance. But they made unhappy bedfellows, which meant that a power struggle soon ensued in the very heart of Congolese politics.</p>
<p>Tshisekedi’s coalition, Heading for Change, was a minority – both in the Congolese National Assembly and in the Senate. The two branches of the Congolese parliament were dominated by the Common Front for Congo coalition that was controlled by Kabila.</p>
<p>With a lack of parliamentary support, Tshisekedi was admittedly in a weak position. He had to accept Kabila’s choice for prime minister, <a href="https://www.africanews.com/2021/01/29/dr-congo-s-prime-minister-sylvestre-ilunga-resigns-after-censure//">Sylvestre Ilunga</a>, in May 2019. It took him until this year to finally be able to <a href="https://www.africanews.com/2021/01/29/dr-congo-s-prime-minister-sylvestre-ilunga-resigns-after-censure//">oust Ilunga</a>, a former economics professor.</p>
<p>In April Tshisekedi also <a href="https://chargedaffairs.org/felix-tshisekedis-newly-independent-agenda-for-the-drc-modernizer-or-strongman-2-0/">succeeded in removing many members of the Common Front for Congo coalition from power</a>. He firmly established his grasp on political power in Kinshasa.</p>
<p>In short, his government no longer has the excuse that it is being hampered by the dead hand of the old Kabila cabal. Having reinforced his grip on the presidency, Tshisekedi needs to set about enacting a programme of change that delivers for the Congolese people. </p>
<h2>What’s been done</h2>
<p>In March 2019, Tshisekedi started a <a href="https://www.theafricareport.com/23337/felix-tshisekedi-audits-his-emergency-program-troubles-partners/">100 day emergency programme</a> to kickstart his presidency. The programme was launched by the publication of a <a href="https://www.africa-energy.com/article/dr-congo-tshisekedi-pledges-20m-power-wide-ranging-emergency-programme">78 page document</a> that covered some of the most important priorities of the present government at the time. While many issues were covered, such as industry promotion and energy, much of the money was reserved for infrastructure: <a href="https://www.africa-energy.com/article/dr-congo-tshisekedi-pledges-20m-power-wide-ranging-emergency-programme">$183.2 million</a>. Yet, many of these projects are incomplete. </p>
<p>Despite the need for more action with regard to the road-building projects, the president could take some – albeit very limited – credit for the ending of the 2018-2020 Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo. While <a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/situations/Ebola-2019-drc-">local communities and NGOs were at the heart of this relief effort</a>, it happened under Tshisekedi’s watch and he will doubtless point to it as an achievement. At the same time, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-51220974">some political prisoners have been freed</a> in a move that distinguishes this presidency from that of Joseph Kabila. </p>
<p>While some change has been forthcoming, few Congolese have <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/drcs-felix-tshisekedi-still-a-president-without-a-cabinet/a-48588554">seen major improvements</a>. There is still much more to be done to make life in the DRC better for its citizens, and this is particularly true outside the capital.</p>
<h2>What’s still to be done</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25506">First, serious violence continues</a> in the Ituri province in the north-east. After a decade of relative peace from 2007 to 2017, inter-communal violence between the Lendu and Hema has <a href="https://www.ifri.org/en/publications/etudes-de-lifri/ituri-resurgence-conflict-and-failure-peacebuilding-policy">reignited in recent years</a>. The recent campaign of terror by the Islamist <a href="https://www.csis.org/blogs/examining-extremism/examining-extremism-allied-democratic-forces">Allied Democratic Forces</a> has also served to increase violence in the country’s north-eastern region.</p>
<p>While violence continues in eastern DRC, there is potentially more progress in the hugely important mining sector located largely in the <a href="https://african.business/2014/01/economy/the-drc-s-katanga-province-return-of-the-copper-king/">Upper Katanga province</a>, where there has been much less violence. Tshisekedi’s government is involved in a long process of negotiations with a consortium of Chinese mining investors based in the south-east of the country.</p>
<p>These negotiations, while slow, may yet yield some benefits for the Congolese state. The talks centre on <a href="https://www.africanews.com/2021/05/14/controversy-over-the-location-of-amazon-african-headquarters-in-cape-town-south-africa//">how much money Chinese investors will give the state</a> in return for the minerals they mine. </p>
<p>In May, the president stated that he believed previous mining contracts <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/exclusive-congo-reviewing-6-bln-mining-deal-with-chinese-investors-finmin-2021-08-27/">could be reviewed</a>. In general, he sought to renegotiate the infamous Sicomines “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03056244.2013.762167">minerals-for-infrastructure</a>” deal that was struck between a group of Chinese investors and the Congolese government in 2008. In August, he formed a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/exclusive-congo-reviewing-6-bln-mining-deal-with-chinese-investors-finmin-2021-08-27/">commission to examine</a> mining deals with a view to getting better terms in general.</p>
<h2>Looking to the future</h2>
<p>If a good mining deal can be arrived at, the relative prosperity of this sector could serve to propel Tshisekedi’s plans beyond the old 100 day emergency programme. </p>
<p>First, it could help the ailing infrastructure sector, which has seen little development. Much of it <a href="https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/49292/">is in a state of disrepair</a>. A decent road network would help to propel business and not least those in the <a href="https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/49292/">agricultural sector</a>, which is so important for the DRC. </p>
<p>Secondly, more state funds could help the president tackle the problems in the education system. There is currently a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/school-children-storm-congo-parliament-over-teacher-strike-2021-10-21/">serious teacher strike in the DRC</a>, with lack of pay being one of the reasons for the stoppage. This is a problem in need of an urgent solution. </p>
<p>Third, the DRC’s <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m2879">health sector could also do with a boost in investment</a>, not least because of the pandemic.</p>
<p>In short, Tshisekedi’s government now has some hard-won political capital with which to enact some of the changes that he promised during his campaign. Some of these changes could be delivered if a decent mining deal can be negotiated, and if that money finds its way to the right places. </p>
<p>The mining sector – controversial as it is – has seen sustained growth since the <a href="https://eiti.org/democratic-republic-of-congo">commodity boom in 2007</a>. Transparency within the mining sector is also reportedly <a href="https://eiti.org/democratic-republic-of-congo">improving</a>. It is, therefore, time for Tshisekedi to secure a good deal and resolve some of the many problems his citizens are experiencing.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170282/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Reuben Loffman has received funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Economic and Social Research Council, the British Academy, the Spalding Trust and the Presbyterian Historical Society. He is affiliated with Labour Party. </span></em></p>President Tshisekedi’s government no longer has the excuse that it’s being hampered by the dead hand of his predecessor Joseph Kabila’s cabal.Reuben Loffman, Lecturer in African History, Queen Mary University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1583072021-07-02T22:55:45Z2021-07-02T22:55:45ZDag Hammarskjöld: a defiant pioneer of global diplomacy who died in a mystery plane crash<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405580/original/file-20210610-19-1uob08a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons </span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This piece is part of a new series in collaboration with the ABC’s Saturday Extra program. Each week, the show will have a “who am I” quiz for listeners about influential figures who helped shape the 20th century, and we will publish profiles for each one. You can read the other pieces in the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/guess-the-game-changer-106624">here</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>The idea of a global institution has captivated thinkers since Immanuel Kant in the 18th century. But a body set up to create and maintain world peace and security needs the right people to make it work. </p>
<p>When the United Nations was created in 1945, old sentiments — seen in the disbanded League of Nations — threatened to prevail. Would the UN and its leadership simply comply with the great powers of the day?</p>
<p>Dag Hammarskjöld was the UN’s second secretary-general from 1953 to 1961. He showed that defiant independence in this role was possible. </p>
<h2>Political upbringing</h2>
<p>Hammarskjöld was born in Jönköping in south-central Sweden in 1905, the fourth son of Sweden’s first world war prime minister Hjalmar Hammarskjöld. </p>
<p>In 1953, <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1961/hammarskjold/biographical/">he reflected</a> on his family’s influence on his career. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>From generations of soldiers and government officials on my father’s side I inherited a belief that no life was more satisfactory than one of selfless service to your country — or humanity.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>After doing degrees covering literature, linguistics, history, economics and law, he entered the Swedish civil service in 1930, ending up in Ministry for Foreign Affairs. In the late 1940s he represented Sweden at the newly formed United Nations. </p>
<h2>A new secretary-general</h2>
<p>In 1953, he succeeded Norway’s Trgve Lie as UN secretary-general — easily securing enough votes for the job. At this point, the international state system was in crisis. The Cold War and the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24916040">Iron Curtain</a> threatened the paralyse the entire organisation. </p>
<p>Hammarskjöld’s <a href="https://academic.oup.com/lril/article/1/1/166/1022549">approach</a> and lasting legacy was to develop the secretary-general’s political role. He took executive action, which filled power vacuums as the colonial system broke apart after the second world war. </p>
<p>Two concepts underpinned this approach. The first was intervention to maintain international order — thereby transforming the UN from a static international body to a more engaged one. </p>
<p>These interventions including “preventative diplomacy” - trying to stem conflict from developing and spreading — fact-finding missions, peacekeeping forces and operations, technical assistance and international administration. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Former UN secretary-general Dag Hammarskjold" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405338/original/file-20210609-14857-1uqk56u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C0%2C1979%2C1362&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405338/original/file-20210609-14857-1uqk56u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405338/original/file-20210609-14857-1uqk56u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405338/original/file-20210609-14857-1uqk56u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405338/original/file-20210609-14857-1uqk56u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405338/original/file-20210609-14857-1uqk56u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405338/original/file-20210609-14857-1uqk56u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hammarskjöld was heavily influenced by his family’s background in public service and politics.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Fledgling states could rely on UN assistance till they were self-functioning. Doing so <a href="https://academic.oup.com/lril/article/1/1/166/1022549">would preserve</a> the independence of decolonised countries and forge an international system with “equal economic opportunities for all individuals and nations”. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/714842/files/A_4390_Add-1-EN.pdf">Hammarskjöld explained</a> in 1960, the UN was ideal for this task.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>a universal organisation neutral in the big power struggles over ideology and influence in the world, subordinated to the common will of the Member Governments and free from any aspirations of its own power and influence over any group or nation.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Indeed, the second key concept was a firm commitment to neutrality when maintaining international order. This was considered a vital element for an international organisation dedicated to global governance. </p>
<p>In practice, Hammarskjöld negotiated the release of United States soldiers captured by the Chinese volunteer army during the Korean War and attempted to resolve the <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/suez-crisis">Suez Canal Crisis</a> of 1956. He was also instrumental to facilitating the withdrawal of US and British troops from Lebanon and Jordan in 1958. In such conduct, he defined the secretary-general’s office in international diplomacy and conflict management and ensured the lingering role of peacekeeping operations.</p>
<h2>Making waves — and enemies</h2>
<p>But the expansion of this type of intervention by the UN was not welcomed by the traditional powers. Reflecting on the role played by Hammarskjöld during the Suez Crisis, Sir Pierson Dixon, British Ambassador to the UN, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/lril/article/1/1/166/1022549">observed</a> the secretary-general could no longer be considered a “a symbol or even an executive: he has become a force”. </p>
<p>As historian <a href="https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/who-killed-hammarskjold-2/#:%7E:text=Susan%20Williams&text=Shortly%20after%20midnight%20on%2018,bring%20peace%20to%20the%20Congo.">Susan Williams</a> writes, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Hammarskjöld sought to shield the newly-independent nations from the predatory aims of the Great Powers. His enemies included colonialists and settlers in Africa who were determined to maintain white minority rule. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>In September 1961, Hammarskjöld was on a peace mission in the newly independent Congo. But while flying from Leopoldville, former capital of the Belgian Congo, to Ndola in Northern Rhodesia (present day Zambia),
his <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/12/former-raf-pilot-shot-down-un-chief-dag-hammarskjold-1961-plane">plane crashed</a>. Everyone on board, including the secretary-general, was killed. </p>
<h2>Unsolved mystery</h2>
<p>The crash has never officially been recognised as a political assassination. But there have always been deep suspicions, making it one of the great unresolved mysteries of the 20th century. </p>
<p>As former US president Harry Truman <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/12/former-raf-pilot-shot-down-un-chief-dag-hammarskjold-1961-plane">told reporters</a> immediately after the crash, Hammarskjöld </p>
<blockquote>
<p>was on the point of getting something done when they killed him. Notice that I said ‘when they killed him.’ </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Hammarskjöld’s legacy was so profound as to encourage a range of theories as to why he died. In 1992, Australian diplomat George Ivan Smith and Irish author Conor Cruise O’Brien, both UN officials in 1961 in Congo, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/from-the-archive-blog/2011/aug/17/archive-dag-hammerskjold-crash-death-1961">opined</a> the secretary-general had been shot down by mercenaries in the pay of European industrialists. </p>
<p>In her 2011 book, <a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/who-killed-hammarskj-ld-by-susan-williams">Who Killed Hammarskjöld?</a> Williams examined the possibility of an assassination or a botched hijacking. Noting details were still murky, she concluded: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>his death was almost certainly the result of a sinister intervention.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Peacekeeping, neutrality, independence</h2>
<p>To this day, Hammarskjöld’s legacy endures through the continued deployment of UN peace keeping operations <a href="https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/military#:%7E:text=United%20Nations%20military%20personnel%20are%20the%20Blue%20Helmets%20on%20the%20ground.&text=We%20work%20alongside%20UN%20Police,security%20forces%20promote%20lasting%20peace.">with the aim</a> of promoting “stability, security and peace processes”.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/our-own-1945-moment-what-do-rising-china-us-tensions-mean-for-the-un-146835">'Our own 1945 moment'. What do rising China-US tensions mean for the UN?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>His shaping of the general-secretary position is also marked: an international, neutral figure tasked, however successful, with using preventative diplomacy, promoting peace and securing an environment where states can develop on their own terms. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Correction: an earlier version of this article incorrectly quoted Susan Williams to say Hammarskjöld’s death was “most certainly” the result of a sinister intervention. It has been amended to “almost certainly”. The piece has also been amended to correct Truman was the former US president at the time of the crash, not the current president.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158307/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Binoy Kampmark does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Hammarskjöld lasting legacy was to develop the secretary-general’s political role, as the UN found its way through the Cold War.Binoy Kampmark, Senior Lecturer in Global Studies, Social Science & Planning, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1619902021-06-04T08:07:32Z2021-06-04T08:07:32ZThe eruption of Mount Nyiragongo: its health effects will be felt for a long time<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404031/original/file-20210602-25-1b0yqo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Men cross the front of the still smoking lava rocks from an eruption of the Mount Nyiragongo on May 23, 2021 in Goma in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">GUERCHOM NDEBO/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The eruption of Mount Nyiragongo, an active volcano in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-57228666">led to</a> the deaths of
at least 30 people. There could however be longer term health implications for residents of the area. Patrick DMC Katoto, who has studied the health effects of volcanoes in the DRC, provides insights into the health risks that a volcanic eruption brings.</em></p>
<hr>
<h2>What are the main health concerns for communities?</h2>
<p>Volcanic eruptions can cause catastrophic destruction. They are responsible for human casualties, infrastructural devastation and can pollute the environment for thousands of kilometers around the eruption sites. </p>
<p>There are various attributes that a volcano has that makes it dangerous to human health. During the eruption, lava, gas and volcanic ash are released. The eruption can also cause, or lead to, earth tremors and quakes. </p>
<p>The hot lava that erupts from a volcano is lethal. It can move fast and directly cause death or injury. It can also destroy homes and other important structures including electricity and petrol stations (risking massive explosions) and water tanks. </p>
<p>Nyiragongo is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world because of its particularly fast-moving lava. It can flow at a speed of <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/volcanocity/anat-nf.html">about</a> 100km per hour. It’s reported that, in this recent eruption, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-57228666">about</a> 30 people died when more than 500 houses were flattened by the lava flow. Because of the devastation, there could be mental health challenges for the people affected. </p>
<p>Volcanic ash – <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs027-00/#:%7E:text=Ash%20Fall%E2%80%94A%20%22Hard%20Rain,Particles%20%7C%20USGS%20Volcano%20Fact%20Sheet&text=Volcanic%20ash%20consists%20of%20tiny,the%20air%20by%20a%20volcano.">composed of</a> tiny particles of rocks, minerals, and volcanic glass – is a major health concern. When inhaled it can cause lung damage, for instance one long-term effect of volcanic ash is <a href="https://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/health/case_studies/volcanic_ash.html#:%7E:text=Inhalation%20of%20volcanic%20ash%20can,eye%20problems%2C%20and%20skin%20irritiation.&text=One%20long%2Dterm%20effect%20of%20volcanic%20ash%20is%20silicosis.">silicosis</a> a disease that can cause lung impairment and scarring. Inhaling volcanic ash can also cause suffocation, leading to death. </p>
<p>In addition, volcanic ash contains strong acids, such as hydrogen fluoride and hydrochloric acid. In small concentrations they can cause skin irritation and eye problems.</p>
<p>If the volcanic ash were to land in natural water sources, it would deposit <a href="https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanic_ash/water_supply.html">toxic minerals</a>. If ingested these can cause neurological disorders.</p>
<p>Ash can also <a href="https://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/health/case_studies/volcanic_ash.html">trap</a> toxic gases in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide and fluorine. This <a href="https://www.ivhhn.org/information/health-impacts-volcanic-gases">can affect</a> crops or lead to animal and human illness or death. </p>
<p>Alongside the ash and lava, volcanic eruptions release toxic gases. </p>
<p>Mount Nyiragongo is one of the most prolific sources of sulphur dioxide on earth. Since September 2002, this volcano has had a permanent lava lake which <a href="http://digital.casalini.it/10.1400/19080">persistently releases</a> a plume of gases rich in sulphur dioxide and carbon. It therefore produces suplhur dioxide during and after eruption.</p>
<p>Sulphur dioxide can irritate the skin and the tissues and mucous membranes of the eyes, nose, and throat. It <a href="https://www.ivhhn.org/information/health-impacts-volcanic-gases">can also</a> aggravate chronic conditions including asthma and cardiovascular diseases. </p>
<p>During, and sometimes after, eruption another concern are earthquakes and tremors. It has <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/30/africa/drc-volcano-tremors-intl/index.html">been reported</a> that up to 92 earthquakes and tremors were detected in the days following the eruption.</p>
<p>Aside from the risk of potential building collapses, there’s <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-57280509">concern</a> that these tremors could affect Lake Kivu, just 12km away, which has large amounts of methane and carbon dioxide dissolved in its deep waters. If disturbed <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-exploring-for-oil-under-lake-kivu-carries-unique-and-huge-risks-78107">they could</a> come to the surface and erupt. The explosion could be catastrophic to surrounding communities. The gas that’s released would also be toxic and could cause suffocation. </p>
<p>It’s important to bear in mind that some health issues won’t be directly related to the volcano, but can arise because of the event. </p>
<p>For instance, water treatment structures have <a href="https://www.msf.org/half-million-without-drinking-water-following-drc-volcano-eruption">been damaged</a>. It’s estimated that <a href="https://www.msf.org/half-million-without-drinking-water-following-drc-volcano-eruption">over</a> 500,000 people in Goma have been left without access to clean drinking water. This could lead to outbreaks of water-borne illness, such as <a href="https://apps.who.int/disasters/repo/7828.pdf">cholera</a>.</p>
<h2>How long do these health concerns last?</h2>
<p>We <a href="https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-020-00615-9">recently published a study</a> on the effects of continuous exposure to sulphur dioxide among people living in Goma. Our data covered a 10 year period and was collected from health centres around the Nyiragongo and Nyamulagira volcanoes. We found clear evidence between the increased incidence of acute respiratory symptoms following eruptions, particularly in areas near volcanoes (26km) up to six months following the eruption.</p>
<p>This shows that ongoing exposure to harmful gas and particles in the air could continue to affect residents months after the event.</p>
<p>Returning to normal will take a long time. The eruption has happened in a place which <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/surge-in-violence-exacerbates-congo-humanitarian-crisis/av-57443728">already faces</a> a humanitarian crises with a high rate of violence in the region. In addition to this, the health system is already fragile. It’s had to battle a recent <a href="https://www.msf.org/drc-ebola-outbreak-crisis-update">Ebola virus outbreak</a> and is now grappling to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. </p>
<p>Returning to normal will necessitate a global and coordinated response in which humanitarians, other states and the DRC combine efforts. </p>
<h2>What actions must policymakers take to protect people?</h2>
<p>In terms of immediate steps, policymakers should put their efforts into the provision of emergency food supplies and chlorinated water. They should also prepare for the outbreak of diseases, such as cholera by putting in place a health surveillance system in health centres and shelters. This surveillance should also capture respiratory diseases and all COVID-19 related symptoms. </p>
<p>In addition, there must be services on hand to support the mental health of those affected by the eruption. </p>
<p>To protect themselves <a href="https://www.ivhhn.org/ash-protection">from ash</a>, a well-fitting, industry-certified facemask – such as an N95 mask – will provide some respiratory protection. Surgical masks (although effective in the fight against COVID-19 infection) protect little against the particles present in volcano fumes, but it’s better than nothing. </p>
<p>A real time monitoring system for ash and gases is needed to track air quality. Unfortunately, there isn’t much people can do protect themselves aside from moving away – especially children, elders and people with asthma. If possible, people must stay inside a well-insulated house (doors and windows closed) or wear a gas mask (rarely available) outdoors. This will be an additional health challenge given the current COVID-19 pandemic if not well addressed. </p>
<p><em>Jonathan Koko Byamungu, from the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of KwaZulu Natal, contributed to this interview.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161990/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Patrick de Marie C. Katoto does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Nyiragongo is one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world because of its fast-moving lava. It can flow at a speed of about 100km per hour.Patrick de Marie C. Katoto, Lecturer, Université catholique de BukavuLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1583292021-04-08T14:49:08Z2021-04-08T14:49:08ZStockpiling munitions carries risks. The basic steps that can stop catastrophic explosions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393796/original/file-20210407-17-1cjvgco.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A lorry trailer carries the coffins of the victims of a munitions explosion in Brazzaville, the Congolese capital, in 2012. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Junior D. Kannah/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A series of massive blasts <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56311677">recently rocked</a> Equatorial Guinea’s city of Bata. The explosions, at an army barracks, killed <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56337856">over 100 people</a> and destroyed military buildings as well as people’s homes around the site. President Teodoro Obiang Nguema stated that the explosions were “caused by negligence of the <a href="https://www.thejournal.ie/equatorial-guinea-military-explosion-5374845-Mar2021/">unit</a> in charge of storing explosives, dynamite and ammunition at the Nkoa Ntoma military camp”.</p>
<p>Unplanned explosions at munitions sites have occurred on all continents over the past 40 years, in both developed and developing countries. These can result in the loss of human lives and other preventable damage.</p>
<p>Explosions in and of themselves do not necessarily imply the mismanagement of stocks, as accidents can always happen, but many do result from mismanagement. </p>
<p>I work for the <a href="http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/about-us/mission.html">Small Arms Survey</a>, an organisation that provides expertise on all aspects of small arms and armed violence. This includes a <a href="http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/weapons-and-markets/stockpiles/unplanned-explosions-at-munitions-sites.html">global database</a> on unplanned explosions at munitions sites. It shows that the number of people who die, or are injured, in these incidents varies greatly.</p>
<p>While we should be careful about regional-level generalisations, the data suggest that Africa as a whole suffers a relatively high rate of casualties per incident. In fact, almost half of the 29,932 casualties from unplanned explosions at munitions sites recorded in our database – between 1979 and 2019 – occurred in Africa.</p>
<p>On average 170 people were wounded or killed in each incident that occurred on the continent. A dozen explosions with particularly high death tolls – <a href="http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/weapons-and-markets/stockpiles/unplanned-explosions-at-munitions-sites.html">such as</a> in Lagos, Nigeria, in 2002 (1,500 people) and Brazzaville, Congo, in 2012 (500 people) – account for the vast majority of the casualties. </p>
<p>The most deadly events tend to occur when munitions sites are located near populated residential areas. This in itself tells us that safety standards are not being respected or that settlements have been established informally around the depot. </p>
<p>Investigations are still needed to assess the management of the Bata site in Equatorial Guinea. However, the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56337856">high reported number of casualties and available satellite imagery</a> should raise questions about the safety precautions implemented at and around the site. </p>
<p>There is no such thing as a zero risk level when stockpiling ammunition. But unplanned explosions that result in the loss of lives and resources can often be attributed to poor risk management. This should serve as a warning to other countries. </p>
<h2>Why countries stockpile</h2>
<p>As is the case for military and security forces around the world, African states acquire and stockpile weapons and ammunition for their defence and strategic needs. However, not all forces have systems in place to ensure that these stocks are well accounted for and managed through the equipment’s life cycle. </p>
<p>International guidelines for the safe storage of ammunition exist, but still need time and resources to be rolled out. In practice they are not yet systematically implemented due to a lack of political will and insufficient resources. There are also practical challenges on the ground, such as inappropriate technical expertise and infrastructure.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, few states are transparent about their stockpile levels and contents. For instance, the military data in the Small Arms Survey’s global firearms holdings <a href="http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/weapons-and-markets/tools/global-firearms-holdings.html">database</a> is largely based on estimates. Only 28 countries have released information on their military stockpiles. </p>
<p>Data on ammunition stockpiles is even scarcer and generally less detailed. This can be due to states considering the data as confidential, or to inadequate inventory management systems and record-keeping. </p>
<p>Whatever the reason, the lack of information on stockpiles – and especially surplus stockpiles (ammunition that’s labelled as unnecessary for the state) – can make it challenging for national authorities and international assistance programmes to anticipate and remedy problems.</p>
<h2>The risks of stockpiling</h2>
<p>Poorly accounted and managed ammunition stockpiles lead to safety and security risks. As time goes by, some countries procure more without disposing of old stocks, which gradually decay. Such surpluses are dangerous. Keeping unsafe ammunition increases the risks of accidental explosions and the materiel can malfunction. </p>
<p>Ammunition surpluses can also be vulnerable to diversion through theft, loss or unauthorised sale. This is because equipment that is not needed is often poorly accounted for and protected. </p>
<p>Some countries keep surpluses <a href="http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/publications/by-type/handbooks/uems-handbook.html">with the intent to</a> sell them or because they do not wish to pay for their safe disposal. Yet the cost of destroying surplus is a small investment when compared with the much higher costs of cleaning up unplanned explosions at munitions sites. </p>
<h2>Best practices</h2>
<p>Good ammunition storage management and regulatory practices need to prioritise efficiency, safety and security from the outset. </p>
<p>National ownership and the development, adoption and implementation of regulatory frameworks and management practices are also critical for promoting accountability. This should include the establishment of dedicated national bodies that oversee and implement international best practices. They should provide competent and holistic oversight of the management of ammunition stockpiles. </p>
<p>Some countries could use local frameworks as the reference for ammunition management, others could use publicly available international best practices such as the UN SaferGuard <a href="https://unsaferguard.org/un-saferguard/guide-lines">International Ammunition Technical Guidelines</a> and <a href="https://www.msiac.nato.int/">NATO Standards</a>. </p>
<p>Regardless of the basis for the framework, clear investment and oversight by national authorities are needed. These must ensure that stockpile management practices are adapted to the specific needs of the country, promote efficiency with respect to strategic needs and security from diversion. They should also enhance safety through the anticipation and mitigation of risks associated with unplanned explosions.</p>
<h2>Avoiding disasters</h2>
<p>Best practices recommend, among other aspects, to conduct a proper risk analysis when storing the ammunition. An important component involves measures that reduce the possibility of an explosion. These include fire safety precautions and protocols for the proper handling and surveillance (referring to the chemical stability) of the ammunition. </p>
<p>Precautionary measures also need to be taken to reduce the effects of a potential explosion. As can be observed on the satellite imagery of the Bata site, the military base was relatively isolated from civilian dwellings in 2004 <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56337856">when compared</a> to today. Over time people settled in the area and the surroundings of the military base became more crowded. Proper safeguarding of the base should have prevented this development. Or the facility should’ve been moved to a better suited location. </p>
<p>By taking these important precautionary measures, countries will be taking key steps in saving lives. </p>
<p><em>Marco Baccini and Oisin Dawson, both Weapons and Ammunition Management Specialists at the Small Arms Survey, Anne-Séverine Fabre, Data Expert at the Small Arms Survey, Emilia Dungel, Communications Coordinator at the Small Arms Survey, and Florentina Pircher, intern with the Small Arms Survey contributed to the writing of this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158329/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicolas works for the Small Arms Survey, an organization that generates and provides expertise on all aspects of small arms and armed violence. It is an associated programme of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. As of 2019, the Small Arms Survey received unrestricted funding from Australia, Finland, Sweden, and Switzerland, as well as project-specific support from Canada, the European Union, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Arms Trade Treaty Voluntary Trust Fund, and the UN Trust Facility Supporting Cooperation on Arms Regulation, as well as service contracts from several United Nations agencies.
Nicolas also serves as member of the Research Advisory Council for the RESOLVE Network, as member of the Advisory Board for the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform, and as board member for the Fondation Prix Henry Dunant.</span></em></p>Data suggests that Africa as a whole suffers a relatively high rate of casualties at munition sites where there are unplanned explosions.Nicolas Florquin, Head of Data & Analytics and Senior Researcher for the Small Arms Survey, Graduate Institute – Institut de hautes études internationales et du développement (IHEID)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1553122021-02-18T14:34:22Z2021-02-18T14:34:22ZAfrica indigenous fruit trees offer major benefits. But they’re being ignored<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384446/original/file-20210216-15-6v95kr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The doum palm is an indigenous tree in Kenya which produces edible fruit</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/kenya-samburu-doum-palm-hyphaene-compressa-palmae-family-news-photo/453627348?adppopup=true">Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Indigenous fruits have been collected from the wild for centuries for human consumption and other purposes. Across the African continent, indigenous fruit trees are valuable assets for local <a href="https://cgspace.cgiar.org/bitstream/handle/10568/64801/en_RRRP_English_075_Indigenous_Fr%20uits.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">communities</a>.</p>
<p>But the natural habitats of trees are being lost, mainly to widespread deforestation resulting from population growth. Industrial agriculture is also contributing to their <a href="https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/ehp.123-A291">loss</a>. </p>
<p>Indigenous fruit trees <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)31788-4/fulltext">provide</a> vital nutrients that may be scarce in other food sources. They are naturally adapted to local soils and climates, can enhance food and nutrition security and often adapt and survive environmental stresses better than exotic species. </p>
<p>My colleague and I <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/fes3.220">reviewed</a> information on 10 fruit trees indigenous to Africa that are considered to be underused. We assessed their occurrence, distribution, nutritional components and medicinal potential. We also explored their challenges and prospects. </p>
<p>Our research showed that indigenous fruit trees, which occur across different ecological zones in Africa, are rich sources of vitamins, minerals, protein and valuable phytochemicals. They also have recognised medicinal value and are used as therapeutic remedies by many people especially in rural areas with limited access to orthodox health care. </p>
<p>Based on our findings we recommended that the value chain of underutilised fruit trees should be increased. This could contribute to the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and other stakeholders. In addition a multidisciplinary approach is needed to provide incentives and encourage the domestication, commercialisation, and agro‐processing of fruit trees.</p>
<h2>Our findings</h2>
<p>We conducted a literature search of African indigenous fruit trees considered to be underutilised. We then selected 10 underutilised African fruits based on absence of existing studies and their potential. </p>
<p>Our study explained the diverse distribution and duration of fruiting of the 10 selected fruit trees in different regions of Africa. </p>
<p>Examples in southern African and other tropical African countries included:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>African baobab (<em>Adansonia digitata</em> L), </p></li>
<li><p>Transvaal red milk wood (<em>Mimusops zeyheri</em> Sond.), </p></li>
<li><p>Wild loquat (<em>Uapaca kirkiana</em> Mull.Arg.), </p></li>
<li><p>Kei-apple (<em>Dovyalis caffra</em> (Hook.f. & Harv.) Sim), and </p></li>
<li><p>Mobola plum (<em>Parinari curatellifolia</em> Planch.ex Benth.). </p></li>
</ul>
<p>In southern and west Africa we identified that monkey orange (<em>Strychnos spinosa</em> Lam.)</p>
<p>In the south of the Sahel-Savannah region across Africa, especially in West African countries, we identified the balanite (<em>Balanites aegyptiaca</em> (L.) Delile).</p>
<p>The imbe (<em>Garcinia livingstonei</em> T. Anderson) is found in Uganda, the Kingdom of Eswatini (Swaziland), South Africa, Somalia, Angola and Congo. </p>
<p>We also identified the marula (<em>Sclerocarya birrea</em> (A.Rich.) Hochst. subsp. <em>caffra</em> (Sond.) Kokwaro). This is found in Niger, Burkina Faso and Benin. Lastly, the wild medlar (<em>Vangueria infausta</em> Burch.) is found in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, Eswatini and South Africa. </p>
<p>The availability of fruits from these trees is guaranteed because of the different fruiting periods. This means they are able to meet the food and nutrition needs of the local communities. </p>
<p>Our study also reported a rich phytochemical and nutritional content across the selected trees. These included fibre, minerals, carbohydrates, organic acids, fats, proteins, iron, calcium, magnesium, sodium, zinc and vitamins. </p>
<p>Many of the fruits contain well-known phytochemicals. These included saponins, flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins, cardiac glycosides, terpenes, anthraquinones and phenolics. Examples of the biological activities demonstrated by fruit trees were anti-oxidant, anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory activities. </p>
<p>Based on our findings, there is still a scarcity of research investment and development for the improvement of underutilised fruit trees in Africa. Many still only grow in the wild. This limits their potential for higher yield and growth. </p>
<p>Other challenges identified were the inadequate baseline data on the nutritional properties, low-level acceptability and accessibility. </p>
<p>Indiscriminate and illegal use of the trees is also a problem. </p>
<h2>What we recommend</h2>
<p>Africa’s key to future food-nutrition security may depend on the untapped potential of indigenous fruit trees. Particularly, the rich nutritional composition of indigenous fruits revealed a potential contribution to human diet. </p>
<p>We argue that exploring the potential of these indigenous fruit trees in a holistic manner is a good starting point. This should include the domestication of indigenous fruit trees in Africa. This would ensure a steady supply of fruit, nutrients and associated products. This, in turn, would have a positive impact on the economic and health sectors in the region. </p>
<p>The future of the 10 selected indigenous fruit trees is promising for Africa provided the co‐operation of different stakeholders is secured.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155312/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adeyemi Oladapo Aremu receives funding from the National Research Foundation, Pretoria, South Africa. He is a member of the South African Young Academy of Science (SAYAS) and Young Affiliate of the African Academy of Science (AAS).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Abiodun Olusola Omotayo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Africa’s key to future food-nutrition security may depend on the untapped potential of indigenous fruit trees.Abiodun Olusola Omotayo, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Food Security and Safety Niche Area, North-West UniversityAdeyemi Oladapo Aremu, Associate professor, North-West UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1513642020-12-07T16:18:31Z2020-12-07T16:18:31ZPeatlands keep a lot of carbon out of Earth’s atmosphere, but that could end with warming and development<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/373121/original/file-20201204-15-1j8bmae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1024%2C768&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">More valuable than it looks.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/2i7ErG1">David Stanley/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://peatlands.org/peatlands/what-are-peatlands/">Peatlands</a> are a type of wetland where dead plant material doesn’t fully decompose because it’s too soggy. In these ecosystems, peat builds up as spongy dark soil that’s sometimes referred to as sod or turf. Over thousands of years, yards-thick layers of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peat">peat</a> accumulate and trap huge amounts of carbon, helping to cool the climate on a global scale. </p>
<p>But that might not be true for much longer. Warming temperatures and human actions, such as draining bogs and converting them for agriculture, threaten to turn the world’s peatlands from carbon reservoirs to carbon sources.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-00944-0#citeas">newly published study</a>, our <a href="http://pastglobalchanges.org/science/wg/peat-carbon/intro">multidisciplinary team of 70 scientists</a> from around the world analyzed existing research and surveyed 44 leading experts to identify factors that could change peatlands’ carbon balance now and in the future. We found that permafrost degradation, warming temperatures, rising sea levels and drought are causing many peatlands around the world to lose some of their stored carbon. This is in addition to rapid degradation caused by human activity. And unless steps are taken to protect peatlands, carbon loss could accelerate.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/373119/original/file-20201204-21-16ozcjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Map showing global distribution of peatlands." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/373119/original/file-20201204-21-16ozcjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/373119/original/file-20201204-21-16ozcjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373119/original/file-20201204-21-16ozcjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373119/original/file-20201204-21-16ozcjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373119/original/file-20201204-21-16ozcjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373119/original/file-20201204-21-16ozcjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373119/original/file-20201204-21-16ozcjc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Peatlands are found in an estimated 180 countries. Many of them have not been recognized and are not yet properly mapped.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4575/38989454502_ccb67be1e8_b.jpg">Levi Westerveld/GRID-Arendal</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>From carbon sink to carbon source</h2>
<p>Although they only occupy 3% of the global land area, peatlands contain about 25% of global soil carbon — twice as much as the world’s forests. Peatlands exist on every continent, even in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-12479-0">Antarctica</a>. In the U.S. they are found in many states, including Maine, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin. These ecosystems form where partially decayed organic matter accumulates in cold soil that is nearly always wet, which <a href="https://www.livescience.com/38983-irish-bog-body.html">dramatically slows decomposition</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sMawMMtME7g?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Humans have used peat for centuries as a fuel, and also to flavor whiskey.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But now climate change is altering those conditions. For example, in many regions of the Arctic, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-01313-4">rapid permafrost thawing</a> promotes microbial activity that releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. These microbes feed off carbon-rich peats that were once frozen. </p>
<p>Massive peatland fires also contribute. Recent wildfires <a href="https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/05/29/zombie-wildfires-threaten-arctic-russia-scientists-warn-a70416">like those in Russia</a> are known to release as much carbon in a few months as total human carbon dioxide emissions in an entire year. And these fires are especially tricky to put out. Embers within the dense organic matter can reignite many months or even years later.</p>
<p>Human activities are also increasing greenhouse gas releases from these carbon-rich ecosystems. In the United Kingdom, for example, <a href="https://candidegardening.com/GB/stories/ea083986-c223-44f9-a50f-1ff2813cdf09">extracting peat for use in gardening</a> has caused peatlands to emit an estimated 16 million tons of carbon every year – roughly equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions from <a href="https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator">over 12 million cars</a>. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/as-fires-strangle-national-parks-indonesia-struggles-to-restore-peatlands/">Indonesia</a> and <a href="https://www.thestar.com.my/lifestyle/living/2020/11/24/ways-to-save-degraded-peatlands-and-stop-them-turning-into-fire-hazards">Malaysia</a>, as fertile land becomes increasingly scarce, peatlands are being burned, drained, and repurposed. Already, most peatlands in Indonesia have been <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2019/11/asia/borneo-climate-bomb-intl-hnk/">destroyed in order to build palm oil plantations</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/373118/original/file-20201204-19-14drpop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Peat blocks stacked to dry" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/373118/original/file-20201204-19-14drpop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/373118/original/file-20201204-19-14drpop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373118/original/file-20201204-19-14drpop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373118/original/file-20201204-19-14drpop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373118/original/file-20201204-19-14drpop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373118/original/file-20201204-19-14drpop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373118/original/file-20201204-19-14drpop.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Peat cut into blocks and drying on racks in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julie Loisel</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2016/04/destruction-tropical-peatland-overlooked-source-emissions">World Resources Institute</a> estimates that in Indonesia and Malaysia, peatland draining results in total annual emissions equal to those of nearly 70 coal plants. These activities also endanger vulnerable animal populations, such as orangutans and various species of freshwater fish. Peatland degradation due to human activity accounts for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-019-0615-5">5-10% of annual carbon dioxide emissions from human activity</a>, despite these zones’ tiny geographic footprint. </p>
<h2>Quantifying peatland carbon</h2>
<p>Predicting how much carbon will be released from peatlands worldwide is hard to do, especially because no models can adequately represent these ecosystems and the many factors that influence their carbon balance. </p>
<p>Peatlands are not included in most <a href="https://www.climateurope.eu/earth-system-modeling-a-definition/">earth system models</a> that scientists use to make future climate change projections. There is a long-held view that peatlands are minor players in the global carbon cycle on a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0271-1">year-to-year basis</a>, but our study and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0462-z">many others</a> show that climate change and human intervention are making these ecosystems very dynamic. Our study highlights the need to integrate peatlands into these models; we also hope it can help direct new research. </p>
<p>Even though models are not ready, decisions need to be made now about how to manage peatlands. That’s why we surveyed experts as a first step towards predicting the fate of peat carbon worldwide. </p>
<p>Based on their responses, we estimate that 100 billion tons of carbon could be emitted from peatlands by 2100 – an amount equivalent to about 10 years of emissions from all human activities, including burning fossil fuels and clearing forests. The experts we consulted have not reached a consensus, and our estimate is highly uncertain: Net changes in peat carbon over the next 80 years could range from a gain of 103 billion tons to a loss of 360 billion tons. </p>
<p>Not every region will be affected the same way. High-latitude peatlands might see an increase in carbon storage under a warming climate because of increased plant growth and greater peat accumulation. Tropical peats, on the other hand, are more likely to dry out and burn due to warming temperatures and human activity. These factors and human choices about peatland use will affect whether these areas become carbon sources or sinks in the future.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/373120/original/file-20201204-17-134iqgm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Tropical forested wetland" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/373120/original/file-20201204-17-134iqgm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/373120/original/file-20201204-17-134iqgm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373120/original/file-20201204-17-134iqgm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373120/original/file-20201204-17-134iqgm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373120/original/file-20201204-17-134iqgm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373120/original/file-20201204-17-134iqgm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373120/original/file-20201204-17-134iqgm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tropical peatlands in Panama.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Angela Gallego-Sala</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Overall, our results suggest that carbon releases will surpass carbon gains in the coming years, primarily because of human impacts in tropical peatlands. This switch from carbon sink to carbon source will feed a <a href="https://sciencetrends.com/positive-feedback-loop-examples/">positive feedback loop</a>, with peatlands releasing carbon that makes Earth’s climate warmer, which makes peatlands release more carbon, and so on.</p>
<p>Despite the uncertainty in our findings, we believe our results show that peatlands should be included in climate models, and that nations should take steps to preserve them. </p>
<h2>Toward sustainable use</h2>
<p>A balance must be achieved between wise peatland use and local economic needs. Given how much carbon peatlands hold and how vulnerable they are, many surveyed experts believe people soon will adopt more sustainable practices for managing them. But others are not so optimistic. In regions such as <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/its-not-just-the-amazon-we-must-also-protect-congo-basin-peatlands-from-fire/">the Amazon and the Congo basins</a>, where <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-017-9774-8">large peatland complexes</a> were <a href="https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/9/12/124017">recently discovered</a>, it is critical to take action to preserve them.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Peatlands should also be considered in <a href="https://climateanalytics.org/publications/2018/integrated-assessment-models-what-are-they-and-how-do-they-arrive-at-their-conclusions/">integrated assessment models</a> that researchers use to understand climate change impacts and options for mitigating them. Models that project future socioeconomic change and carbon emission pathways could help develop incentives such as peatland carbon pricing and sustainable use practices. This would change the way these ecosystems are valued and managed. </p>
<p>The first step, however, is to raise awareness around the world of this precious natural resource and the consequences of continuing to exploit it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/151364/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie Loisel receives funding from the US National Science Foundation and the National Geographic Society. </span></em></p>Peat beds around the world hold huge quantities of carbon and keep it from warming the planet. But rising temperatures and over-use could turn them from a brake on climate change into an accelerant.Julie Loisel, Assistant Professor of Geography, Texas A&M UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1386252020-06-29T15:33:07Z2020-06-29T15:33:07ZCommunity forestry can work, but plans in the Democratic Republic of Congo show what’s missing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344054/original/file-20200625-33515-1h6ndc7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Discussing and agreeing on the boundaries of the community concession is a key first step towards official status for these communities in Yanonge, DRC.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">CIFOR/Axel Fassio</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Congo river basin spans six central African countries: Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and the Republic of Congo. It is known as <a href="https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/january-2008/saving-africa%E2%80%99s-forests-%E2%80%98lungs-world%E2%80%99">“Africa’s lung”</a> because it hosts the world’s second largest tropical forest. It <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/11/deforestation-africa-palm-oil/">covers an area</a> of around 3 million square kilometres – almost the size of India.</p>
<p>This massive forest acts as a huge “<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00423-8">carbon sink</a>”, trapping carbon dioxide and storing it as biomass. It’s home to <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/places/congo-basin">rich and unique</a> flora and fauna, and sustains and shelters millions of people, providing for their needs in food and energy.</p>
<p>Deforestation rates are still low compared to other tropical regions, but population growth, national industrial development plans, and smaller-scale <a href="https://rainforests.mongabay.com/congo/deforestation.html">production</a> of charcoal, crops, minerals, timber and wild meat are rapidly <a href="http://www.cifor.org/publications/pdf_files/OccPapers/OP-144.pdf">increasing the pressure</a> on the forest.</p>
<p>In particular, most communities clear forests for agriculture and related subsistence activities – such as charcoal making and artisanal logging – to make a living. These are today among the <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/11/eaat2993">top drivers</a> of forest disturbance.</p>
<p>The good news is that potential solutions to decrease such disturbances exist. Community forestry models included in the legal frameworks of most countries in sub-Saharan Africa and <a href="https://www.cifor.org/knowledge/publication/1285/">beyond</a> are among them. Models vary, but in general community forestry means the government grants communities rights over a given area which they must manage sustainably. </p>
<p><a href="https://rightsandresources.org/en/publication/globalcarbonbaseline2018/#.W5aLhZNKiRs">Formal rights</a> is the key here, as community forest titles do not always come with the full “<a href="https://www.cifor.org/publications/pdf_files/Books/BLarson1201.pdf">bundle of rights</a>” such as access and use rights to management, exclusion and alienation. </p>
<p>In Cameroon, for example, communities are granted the right to establish and manage a community forest, but no tenure is given. In other words, the state can decide at any time to convert the granted area to non-forest uses.</p>
<p>In the Democractic Republic of the Congo (DRC) things are different. There, <a href="https://www.rainforestfoundationuk.org/communityforests">millions of hectares</a> of forests are potentially available for communities. They can ask the government to grant them - in perpetuity and with use and management rights - community concessions up up to 50,000 hectares, roughly the size of Kinshasa. </p>
<p>This means – for the first time – granting communities formal rights to the forests they have inhabited since time immemorial, including the very important right of recourse if unauthorised resource extraction occurs.</p>
<p>We conducted <a href="https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol24/iss1/art6/">research</a> on the DRC model, and we found a lot of potential but also some weaknesses which we believe need redressing. The most serious was that estimates on the financial returns of the business models that communities plan to adopt are rarely conducted. </p>
<p>It’s essential that this is done so that planners can balance local income and sustainable management. Communities <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/book/3090">will be</a> more likely to protect forest resources, and possibly even restore already degraded lands, if they perceive direct benefits to their livelihoods.</p>
<h2>What needs fixing</h2>
<p>Communities usually choose what activities they want to conduct and where, but they must respect a management plan which is established by a managing committee, elected by the community itself.</p>
<p>Success or failure depends on a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08941920500323260">multitude of locally determined variables</a>, for instance what resources exist or how well organised the community is. There’s no silver bullet solution and it is generally a long-term process.</p>
<p>Yet after tenure rights are secured, the next step is to select and maintain a sustainable business model and a solid governance structure. This is where most current models <a href="https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol16/iss1/art8/">need improving</a> to make a difference. </p>
<p>Two crucial fronts are worth mentioning.</p>
<p>Firstly, <a href="https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol24/iss1/art6/">the extravagant</a> costs of creating and managing a community concession must be vastly reduced. For instance, obtaining and using a legal title may cost up to US$150,000 on account of associated expenses, such as detailed mapping and inventory of the area. This is unthinkable for any community which struggles to get by daily. </p>
<p>Costs can be reduced by simplifying or delaying legal constraints. For example, communities could be authorised to start earning money under the community model, while preparing light inventories and simplified management plans of the area. More details will be added as time goes by.</p>
<p>Second, tenure rights are indeed a great first step, but communities need to see some economic benefit materialising in the short term. Why would they take the trouble to get a legal title if it did not bring them similar or more benefits than the activities they were already conducting in the forests? Among these activities are artisanal logging, charcoal-making, hunting and agriculture. </p>
<p>But who knows what benefits are there now and what there will be when the community concession is granted?</p>
<p>This is not a rhetorical question. We are currently working closely with one community, and it has already taken us about a year just to crunch numbers with them and see whether their community concession would make sense. It’s a tedious and long process, but one that must be done upfront and not kept as a second-order objective as is largely <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334729658_Cartographie_des_acteurs_de_la_Foresterie_Communautaire_en_RDC_-_un_apercu_des_intervenants_de_la_vision_et_les_defis_dans_sa_mise_en_oeuvre">the case</a>. </p>
<p>Sustainability and forest conservation are nice concepts, but they must be translated into the local livelihoods’ language to work in the long term.</p>
<p>Local engagement and understanding are key. Introducing a package of incentives and disincentives which make the model work at the community level is indeed a complex task, but one which will deliver a much sought after right to the land in the first place. And – if well conceived and followed through – it could improve local livelihoods and reduce deforestation and degradation in large swaths of the Congo Basin forest.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/138625/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The research and development activities conducted on the topics discussed in this article are supported by the European Union and by the CGIAR Research Programme on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry through the FORETS project (Formation, Recherche et Environnement dans la Tshopo, DRC, <a href="http://www.cifor.org/forets">www.cifor.org/forets</a>).</span></em></p>Forests must improve communities’ livelihoods to rise as a sustainable management solutionPaolo Omar Cerutti, Senior Scientist, Centre for International Forestry ResearchLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1331222020-03-06T14:49:15Z2020-03-06T14:49:15ZWe tracked 300,000 trees only to find that rainforests are losing their power to help humanity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318944/original/file-20200305-106610-15bfobk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Chokniti Khongchum / shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tropical forests matter to each and every one of us. They suck colossal quantities of carbon out of the atmosphere, providing a crucial brake on the rate of climate change. Yet, new research we have just published <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2035-0">in Nature</a> shows that intact tropical forests are removing far less carbon dioxide than they used to.</p>
<p>The change is staggering. Across the 1990s intact tropical forests – those unaffected by logging or fires – removed roughly 46 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This diminished to an estimated 25 billion tonnes in the 2010s. The lost sink capacity is 21 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide, equivalent to a decade of fossil fuel emissions from the UK, Germany, France and Canada combined.</p>
<p>How did we reach such an alarming conclusion, and how is it that nobody knew this before? The answer is that we – along with 181 other scientists from 36 countries – have spent years tracking individual trees deep in the world’s rainforests. </p>
<p>The idea is simple enough: we go and identify the tree species and measure the diameter and height of every individual tree in an area of forest. Then a few years later we return to exactly the same forest and re-measure all the trees again. We can see which grew, which died and if any new trees have grown.</p>
<p>These measurements allow us to calculate how much carbon is stored in a forest, and how it changes over time. By repeating the measurements enough times and in enough places, we can reveal long-term trends in carbon uptake.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319089/original/file-20200306-118881-114hfxw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319089/original/file-20200306-118881-114hfxw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319089/original/file-20200306-118881-114hfxw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=286&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319089/original/file-20200306-118881-114hfxw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=286&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319089/original/file-20200306-118881-114hfxw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=286&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319089/original/file-20200306-118881-114hfxw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319089/original/file-20200306-118881-114hfxw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319089/original/file-20200306-118881-114hfxw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Most of the world’s primary tropical rainforests are found in the Amazon, Central Africa or Southeast Asia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://glad.umd.edu/gladmaps/globalmap.php#primary_humidtropical">Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is easier said than done. Tracking trees in tropical forests is challenging, particularly in equatorial Africa, home to the second largest expanse of tropical forest in the world. As we want to monitor forests that are not logged or affected by fire, we need to travel down the last road, to the last village, and last path, before we even start our measurements.</p>
<p>First we need partnerships with local experts who know the trees and often have older measurements that we can build upon. Then we need permits from governments, plus agreements with local villagers to enter their forests, and their help as guides. Measuring trees, even in the most remote location, is a team task.</p>
<p>The work can be arduous. We have spent a week in a dugout canoe to reach the plots in Salonga National Park in central Democratic Republic of the Congo, carried everything for a month-long expedition through swamps to reach plots in Nouabalé Ndoki National Park in the Republic of Congo, and ventured into Liberia’s last forests once the civil war ended. We’ve dodged elephants, gorillas and large snakes, caught scary tropical diseases like Congo red fever and narrowly missed an Ebola outbreak.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319075/original/file-20200306-118913-1pj0vx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319075/original/file-20200306-118913-1pj0vx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319075/original/file-20200306-118913-1pj0vx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319075/original/file-20200306-118913-1pj0vx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319075/original/file-20200306-118913-1pj0vx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319075/original/file-20200306-118913-1pj0vx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319075/original/file-20200306-118913-1pj0vx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319075/original/file-20200306-118913-1pj0vx2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wading through swamps in Nouabalé Ndoki National Park.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Aida Cuní Sanchez</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Days start early to make the most of a day in the field. Up at first light, out of your tent, get the coffee on the open fire. Then after a walk to the plot, we use aluminium nails that don’t hurt the trees to label them with unique numbers, paint to mark exactly where we measure a tree so we can find it next time, and a portable ladder to get above the buttresses of the big trees. Plus a tape measure to get the tree diameters and a laser to zap tree heights.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318952/original/file-20200305-106573-jsxv41.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318952/original/file-20200305-106573-jsxv41.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318952/original/file-20200305-106573-jsxv41.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318952/original/file-20200305-106573-jsxv41.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318952/original/file-20200305-106573-jsxv41.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318952/original/file-20200305-106573-jsxv41.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318952/original/file-20200305-106573-jsxv41.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318952/original/file-20200305-106573-jsxv41.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Researchers in Cameroon measure a 36 metre high tree.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wannes Hubau</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After sometimes a week of travel, it takes four to five days for a team of five people to measure all 400 to 600 trees above 10 cm diameter in the average hectare of forest (100 metres x 100 metres). For our study, this was done for 565 different patches of forest grouped in two large research networks of forest observations, the <a href="http://www.afritron.org">African Tropical Rainforest Observatory Network </a> and the <a href="http://www.rainfor.org">Amazon Rainforest Inventory Network</a>.</p>
<p>This work means months away. For many years, each of us has spent several months a year in the field writing down diameter measurements on special waterproof water. In total we tracked more than 300,000 trees and made more than 1 million diameter measurements in 17 countries.</p>
<p>Managing the data is a major task. It all goes into a website we designed at the University of Leeds, <a href="https://www.forestplots.net/">ForestPlots.net</a>, which allows standardisation, whether the measurements come from Cameroon or Colombia.</p>
<p>Many months of detailed analysis and checking of the data followed, as did time for a careful write-up our findings. We needed to focus on the detail of individual trees and plots, while not losing sight of the big picture. It’s a hard balancing act.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319077/original/file-20200306-118890-17akqvf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319077/original/file-20200306-118890-17akqvf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319077/original/file-20200306-118890-17akqvf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319077/original/file-20200306-118890-17akqvf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319077/original/file-20200306-118890-17akqvf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319077/original/file-20200306-118890-17akqvf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319077/original/file-20200306-118890-17akqvf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319077/original/file-20200306-118890-17akqvf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One of the authors in Rep. Congo with Noe Madingou of Marien Ngouabi University and other local guides and researchers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Aida Cuní Sanchez</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The final part of our analysis looked to the future. We used a statistical model and estimates of future environmental change to estimate that by 2030 the African forests’ capacity to remove carbon will decrease by 14%, while Amazonian forests may stop removing carbon dioxide altogether by 2035. Scientists have long feared that one of Earth’s large carbon sinks would switch to become a source. This process has, unfortunately, begun.</p>
<p>The declining carbon sink results provide pretty grim news and not what we would like to report. But as scientists, we have a job is to follow the data wherever it takes us. That can be far into the rainforests of Congo, or onto the TV to tell people about our work. It’s the least we can do in the climate emergency we are currently living though. We will all need to play a role in solving this crisis.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/263883/original/file-20190314-28475-1mzxjur.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/imagine-newsletter-researchers-think-of-a-world-with-climate-action-113443?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=Imagineheader1133122">Click here to subscribe to our climate action newsletter. Climate change is inevitable. Our response to it isn’t.</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133122/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Lewis has received funding from Natural Environment Research Council, the Royal Society, the European Union, the Leverhulme Trust, the Centre for International Forestry, National Parks Agency of Gabon, Microsoft Research, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Greenpeace Fund, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aida Cuní Sanchez and Wannes Hubau do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Scientists behind a major new study explain how they discovered these forests are becoming less able to sequester carbon.Wannes Hubau, Research Scientist, Royal Museum for Central AfricaAida Cuní Sanchez, Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of YorkSimon Lewis, Professor of Global Change Science at University of Leeds and, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1280192019-12-02T14:11:02Z2019-12-02T14:11:02ZRadio as a form of struggle: scenes from late colonial Angola<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304475/original/file-20191129-95236-1krw2be.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>One August night in 1967 in the village of Mungo in central Angola, the local colonial administrator walked into a bar to buy cigarettes. As he entered, he noticed furtive gestures. The barman, Timoteo Chingualulo, turned down the volume on the radio and Chigualulo’s friend, António Francisco da Silva “Baião,” a nurse at the health delegation, changed the station.</p>
<p>After the administrator left, they returned to the original programming: Radio Brazzaville broadcasting the show <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books?id=XxtNa5hQmacC&pg=PA152&lpg=PA152&dq=radio+angola+Angola+Combatente&source=bl&ots=XukJLj6ITd&sig=ACfU3U3lGGdcwO84EjSFIKSyJyd07twd7Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjWnIX2oo_mAhXDrHEKHd9ZBgsQ6AEwCHoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=radio%20angola%20Angola%20Combatente&f=false">Angola Combatente</a> (Fighting Angola). The administrator could hear the show from his veranda. He reported this to the police, who arrested the two men – and took the offending radio. </p>
<p>The police found no evidence that the men were members of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Popular-Movement-for-the-Liberation-of-Angola">Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola)</a>, the liberation movement fighting for independence from Portugal. The movement was responsible for creating Angola Combatente, which was broadcast from Brazzaville in the neighbouring Republic of the Congo. </p>
<p>But, as the police document recounts:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>it is inferred that the accused are partisans of an independent Angola, who, for now, are trying to satisfy their ambition by sending out the Brazzaville broadcasts publicly.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I heard and read stories like this over and over in interviews and archival research I did on radio and the state in Angola for my new book <a href="https://www.ohioswallow.com/book/Powerful+Frequencies">Powerful Frequencies: Radio, State Power, and the Cold War in Angola, 1931-2002</a>. During research for my previous book <a href="https://www.ohioswallow.com/book/Intonations">Intonations</a>, musicians and others remembered listening in hiding and using the colonial state broadcaster to promote their music. </p>
<p>In Powerful Frequencies, I argue that the colonial state and independent state used radio to project their power. But, like the story of Chingualulo and da Silva, listeners had their own ways of getting and disseminating information and news. Radio broadcasting and listening is not just about content, though. How radio works is as important as what radio says. Technology matters to, but doesn’t determine, how people produce meaning. The history of radio and state in Angola should remind us that the problems of fake news, bots, and infiltrated media ecosystems that make the headlines today have antecedents. They are also human problems that require human solutions. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304468/original/file-20191129-95236-qwby2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304468/original/file-20191129-95236-qwby2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304468/original/file-20191129-95236-qwby2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304468/original/file-20191129-95236-qwby2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304468/original/file-20191129-95236-qwby2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304468/original/file-20191129-95236-qwby2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304468/original/file-20191129-95236-qwby2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304468/original/file-20191129-95236-qwby2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The official Angolan broadcaster or Emissora Oficial de Angola under construction between 1963 and 1967.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fernão Simões de Carvalho</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Clandestine listening</h2>
<p>An <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13037271">anti-colonial war raged in Angola from 1961 until 1974</a>. This shaped life in the Portuguese territory, including the habits of how Angolans listened to radio.</p>
<p>Many sought out news and information from a variety of sources. The colonial administration censored the local press and radio, controlling for news about the war and the national liberation movements that fought it. People – whether African labourers or black civil servants or white settlers – tuned into national and international broadcasters. The BBC, Radio France Internationale, the Voice of America, and Radio Moscow all broadcast in Portuguese. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-11011.html">Portuguese secret police)</a> followed these broadcasts, often transcribing them word for word, calling them “anti-Portuguese broadcasts”.</p>
<p>Angola Combatente or Voz Livre de Angola (the National Front for the Liberation of Angola’s programme broadcast from Kinshasa) worried the secret police and Portuguese military the most. Listening to them could get you arrested. That is what happened to Chingualulo and da Silva. </p>
<p>Many listeners remember hiding out to listen – tucking themselves in small quiet places (under beds or desks) or in empty, open-air ones (soccer fields or rural backyards) – and passing along the information to other supporters of independence and nationalist activists. Some radio listeners recall the thrill of secret listening.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304439/original/file-20191129-95211-ccnmt1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304439/original/file-20191129-95211-ccnmt1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304439/original/file-20191129-95211-ccnmt1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304439/original/file-20191129-95211-ccnmt1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304439/original/file-20191129-95211-ccnmt1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304439/original/file-20191129-95211-ccnmt1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304439/original/file-20191129-95211-ccnmt1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304439/original/file-20191129-95211-ccnmt1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The author’s latest book on Angolan radio.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ohio University Press</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The records</h2>
<p>In the thousands of pages of transcribed programmes and of police reports related to radio, the secret police and military archives resound with nervousness. Despite winning the ground war, the liberation movement radios, in particular, unnerved Portuguese colonial officials. They speculated that even civil servants and “Europeans” listened. They worried about what they called the “electrifying effects” on listeners of liberation movement broadcasters, whose sounds sizzled across borders. And they proposed jamming the broadcasters but settled on counter-propaganda.</p>
<p>Bouncing electromagnetic waves off the ionosphere in shortwave, what liberation movement broadcasters (and other international radio) gained in distance they lost in quality at the point of reception. </p>
<p>The records I went through included police and military transcriptions that inscribe the fading, the lost sentences, the buzz of atmospheric interference, and the trailing off of sound. </p>
<p>Listeners in the territory, some like Chingualulo and da Silva, amplified the broken messages. Others passed along what they heard, becoming transmitters in their own right. Similar to Algerian listeners of the Voice of Algeria that <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/frantz-fanon/">Frantz Fanon</a> described in <a href="https://groveatlantic.com/book/a-dying-colonialism/">A Dying Colonialism</a>, people in the Angolan territory pieced together choppy sentences, imagining guerrillas in the bush and diplomatic sessions that debated their freedom at the United Nations.</p>
<p>Radio became a form of participating in the struggle. As <a href="http://www.campusincamps.ps/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/fanon-this-is-the-voice-of-algeria.pdf">Fanon</a> wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Claiming to have heard the Voice of Algeria was, in a certain sense, distorting the truth. But it was above all the occasion to proclaim one’s clandestine participation in the essence of the Revolution. It meant making a deliberate choice … between the enemy’s congenital lie and the people’s own lie, which suddenly acquired a dimension of truth. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Canny listeners understood that the liberation movements and the colonial state (in programmes on the Emissora Oficial de Angola/Official Angolan Broadcaster) broadcast propaganda, or what Fanon calls “lies”. </p>
<p>They didn’t believe everything they heard, no matter what the source. But they also understood the stakes: independence or continued oppression under Portuguese rule.</p>
<p><em>Powerful Frequencies: Radio, State Power, and the Cold War in Angola, 1931–2002
by Marissa J. Moorman is published by <a href="https://www.ohioswallow.com/">Ohio University Press</a>. Order your copy over <a href="https://www.ohioswallow.com/book/Powerful+Frequencies">here</a></em>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128019/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marissa J. Moorman received funding from Fulbright Hays and the American Council of Learned Societies for the research on radio in Angola. </span></em></p>The Portuguese colonisers were not the only ones who could use radio for control. A new book tells how popular radio broadcasts from Angola’s liberation fighters were used as weapons in the struggle.Marissa J. Moorman, Associate Professor of History, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1222412019-08-29T10:48:06Z2019-08-29T10:48:06ZModern hunter-gatherer children could tell us how human culture evolved and inspire new ways of teaching<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289078/original/file-20190822-170927-q7lqsz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3456%2C2297&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gul Deniz Salali</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When Eteni, a 13-month-old baby living in the dense rainforests of Congo, attempts to cut freshly hunted meat with a sharp knife, no one interferes. In fact, Eteni can often be found playing with sharp tools and imitating her nine-year-old aunt, Bwaka, who is already efficient at digging wild yams and cutting bush meat with her machete. </p>
<p>As Eteni and Bwaka interact with each other and other community members, they provide a glimpse into how Mbendjele hunter-gatherer children acquire skills that are crucial for survival in the forest.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/drJNIGOo0lI?wmode=transparent&start=2" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>I’m an evolutionary anthropologist and I’m interested in how hunter-gatherer children learn because these observations might tell us how humans transmitted skills and knowledge before the dawn of agriculture. By observing hunter-gatherers as they share knowledge about the world around them today, we get a glimpse of <a href="https://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(16)30766-7">how human culture developed</a> in ancient hunter-gatherer communities. </p>
<p>Human culture is unprecedented because it is cumulative. We build on our existing stock of skills and information, recombine them and generate new ones. This process, over time, results in complex phenomena like the internet. At the beginning, there was language and speech, then came the written word and printing, radio communication and telephone, then computers and the internet. But culture only accumulates and evolves over time <a href="https://synergy.st-andrews.ac.uk/lalandlab/files/2015/08/Publication183.pdf">if information can be passed on accurately</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289052/original/file-20190822-170918-8ht1rx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289052/original/file-20190822-170918-8ht1rx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289052/original/file-20190822-170918-8ht1rx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289052/original/file-20190822-170918-8ht1rx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289052/original/file-20190822-170918-8ht1rx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289052/original/file-20190822-170918-8ht1rx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289052/original/file-20190822-170918-8ht1rx.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mbendjele children learn to use tools like machetes from a very young age.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gul Deniz Salali</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-47515-8">In our study</a>, my colleagues and I watched more than 100 video recordings from time I spent with the Mbendjele BaYaka Pygmies to understand how hunter-gatherer children develop skills such as using knives, caring for infants, and gathering wild plants when they are as young as three years old.</p>
<p>Most infants and toddlers learn by freely exploring their environment, observing and copying others. This way of learning through imitation is a great way of transmitting skills accurately and likely explains how the earliest concepts and processes were first learned and communicated among ancient hunter-gatherer groups.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1Cc0yTO-h2E?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Teaching is another great way of ensuring information is passed on correctly. But compared to the years of formal education children receive in societies like the UK – where a strict hierarchy is enforced between them and the teacher – teaching is rare for hunter-gatherer children like the Mbendjele. Hunter-gatherers encourage children to be self-reliant and are less likely to intervene in their actions, because independence is crucial in their environment where a person needs to look for food each day. </p>
<p>Does this mean that teaching isn’t necessary? Not at all. Our observations suggest that teaching in humans is universal and has evolved as cultures have evolved. When skills and knowledge become more sophisticated – as information and complex interdependent relationships stack up – learning through being taught becomes crucial. You can’t learn mathematics by simply observing someone solving problems after all.</p>
<p>Among the Mbendjele today, teaching is reserved for transmitting abstract information, like how to behave around others. Rather than giving direct instructions, hunter-gatherer teachers often create learning opportunities and monitor the child’s activity. For example, I watched a teenage boy learn how to share food equally among the camp as the adult monitoring him only intervened to give feedback. </p>
<h2>The value of childhood and play</h2>
<p>As humans, we have an unusually long childhood period. On average, we spend the first 18 years of our lives being dependent on others for food. In contrast, chimpanzees are nutritionally self-sufficient immediately after weaning, at five to six years of age. Many agree that <a href="https://www.unm.edu/%7Ehkaplan/KaplanHillLancasterHurtado_2000_LHEvolution.pdf">childhood has evolved</a> in humans to allow necessary time to develop the complex skills needed for hunting and gathering. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289051/original/file-20190822-170935-1iv40n5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289051/original/file-20190822-170935-1iv40n5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289051/original/file-20190822-170935-1iv40n5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289051/original/file-20190822-170935-1iv40n5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289051/original/file-20190822-170935-1iv40n5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289051/original/file-20190822-170935-1iv40n5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289051/original/file-20190822-170935-1iv40n5.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mbendjele children learn about the world in mixed-age playgroups.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gul Deniz Salali</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The accurate transmission of these skills and knowledge through imitation and being taught allowed human culture to evolve. In most societies today, schools serve this purpose. But for thousands of years, humans didn’t have formal schooling. In traditional societies like the Mbendjele, children spend most of their time in playgroups. As these groups are composed of children of different ages, they provide an environment for children to learn from each other. </p>
<p>Practising skills or acquiring knowledge in playgroups accounted for over 60% of the learning we saw in our study. In one of their plays, Mbendjele children imitate the forest spirit rituals of adults. During these rituals, women sing together while clapping their hands to beckon forest spirits into the camp. Men, who claim to have captured spirits while walking in the forest, cover themselves in wild leaves in a secret path, and later arrive in the camp to perform ritualistic dance. By imitating these rituals in mixed-sex playgroups, hunter-gatherer children learn gender roles and cultural practices.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/15YfjAjumS8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Growing up in Turkey, I feel fortunate to have had a childhood where I got to play in the streets with other kids. When I’m with the Mbendjele children, I admire their <a href="https://guldenizsalali.wixsite.com/deniz/post/mbendjele-children-of-the-forest-ormanin-mbendjele-cocuklari">freedom in playing outdoors</a> and their creativity in turning the forest’s different materials into something to play with.</p>
<p>I think we have a lot to learn from hunter-gatherer childhoods. Not only do they shed light on how culture evolved, but they can inspire us to reimagine how children are taught – something people seem surprisingly incurious about elsewhere in the world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122241/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gul Deniz Salali receives funding from the British Academy. </span></em></p>Play and learning are one and the same for Mbendjele children.Gul Deniz Salali, British Academy Research Fellow and Lecturer in Evolutionary Anthropology/Medicine, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.