Kigeme refugee camp in Rwanda.
Oxfam International/Flickr
While refugees in Rwanda have the right to freedom of movement and work, in practice it’s difficult for them.
Repression is on the rise in Zambia under President Edgar Lungu.
EPA/EFE/Abir Sultan
Democratic and authoritarian countries are moving further away from each other.
Protesters during an anti-government demonstration against president Pierre Nkurunziza’s bid for a third term. Bujumbura, Burundi. May 2015.
EPA Images
The economy is another concern and could lead to wholesale political collapse as more and more Burundians are left without vital services.
Supporters of the DRC’s opposition candidate, Felix Tshisekedi.
EPA-EFE/Stefan Kleinnowitz
The DRC could be the exception after a year in which opposition parties fared badly across East and Central Africa.
Rwanda holds the world record in share of female MPs.
Emmanuel Berrod/WIPO/Flickr
Women identify more with their government representatives based on ethnicity rather than gender.
South Sudan can be stabilised, but great effort is needed from numerous players.
Shutterstock
South Sudan faces numerous and serious challenges contributing to instability. But there are potential solutions.
The Nile River during sunset in Luxor, Egypt.
EPA-EFE/Khaled Elfiqi
The threat to use force to defend Egypt’s right to water from the Nile has been a common theme through successive governments.
The acquittal of Jean-Pierre Bemba on war crimes charges puts the ICC in even deeper crisis.
EPA/Michael Kooren
An African court with international criminal jurisdiction which has been debated but never been put into operation could be an option if Africa withdraws from the ICC.
French soldiers patrol in Diabaly, Mali, in 2013, following the failure of the African Support Mission.
EPA/Nic Bothma
Conflict patterns in Africa have changed rapidly in recent years posing a challenge to peace and security.
Health systems rarely consider that patients switch between hospitals or primary health care centres and indigenous medicine for their health issues.
Direct Relief/Tobin Greensweig
In countries where health systems are limited, collaboration between traditional healers and health professionals may help fill the gaps.
From God’s mouth to a ballot box near you.
EPA/Aaron Ufumeli
Many African elections are less than ideal. But is the rest of the world really that much better?
Women teachers can be powerful role models for girls.
Mark Stedman/Flickr
Female teachers can act as role models who enhance girls’ motivation and learning outcomes.
Burundi’s Pierre Nkurunziza is one of many authoritarian African leaders.
AMISOM Public Information/Flickr
More leaders in more African countries will abolish term limits unless organisations like the African Union take action.
A sign at a candlelit vigil tells the story of a country sliding further into authoritarianism.
DAI KUROKAWA/EPA
If the referendum goes President Pierre Nkrunziza’s way, it will also be a further blow to ordinary Burundians, who live in a state of hardship and adversity.
Anthropologist Georges Balandier in October 2003 in the gardens of the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS).
Eric Feferberg/AFP
As early as 1953, Balandier demonstrated how the struggle against colonialism was associated with an inverted vision of the world.
President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni refuses to relinquish power.
EPA/Stringer
Not all African leaders are willing to be swept by the democratic reforms of the early 2000s.
Students were forced to move away from a region taken by the Lord’s Resistance Army.
Jesse Awalt/Flickr
Not all rebel armies use rape and sexual violence as a weapon. Some have actually designed ways to prevent such atrocities. How and what can we learn from them?
Nana Akufo-Addo with the Sword of Authority as he is sworn in as Ghana’s 5th president in Accra.
EPA/Christian Thompson
Until African political systems become less majoritarian and do a better job of protecting the rights of minorities, the true benefits of a democratic government are unlikely to be realised.
Zambia has become increasingly ruled by fear under President Edgar Lungu.
EPA/Philippe Wojazer
Zambia has gone from a country where people engaged freely in open political debate to one where most people now look over their shoulders to see who’s listening.
A protest against President Joseph Kabila. The poster reads: “Kabila must leave without any conditions”.
Reuters/Francois Lenoir
Attempts to deepen democracy in Africa by limiting presidential terms to two have not entirely quashed a culture of entitlement to rule. Glimpses of it persist, much against citizens’ wishes.