In mid-2015 the German Foreign Office after decades of denial seemingly acceded, in a very informal way, to labelling what had happened in South West Africa as genocide, is now backtracking.
It’s still unclear whether Zimbabwe will manage an effective transition to participatory democracy and freedom. And the current signs are not encouraging.
The proposal for an Indigenous representative body came late into the constitutional recognition debate.
AAP
More than 200 remote communities in Canada rely on diesel fuel for energy. Cleaner options could fuel a better quality of life.
If the government expanded the new $73 million Student Work-Integrated Learning program to all students it could help tackle Canada’s most intractable social problems — such as homelessness, reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, affordable housing, social cohesion and intercultural understanding.
A new government program will create 10,000 work placements for undergraduates in only business and STEM subjects. Why not fund students to innovate in the social sector too?
Bishop Desmond Tutu during South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission process.
Reuters
Inquests into atrocities committed under apartheid are important because many South Africans are beginning to question whether justice was done under the country’s truth and reconciliation process.
The remains of the University of Mosul destroyed during a battle with Islamic State militants, in April 2017. South Africa offers lessons in rebuilding.
Reuters/Marko Djurica
The 1994 Rwandan genocide evokes shame, despair, and revulsion.Yet, the events warrant reflection and remind us about the risks of looking the other way.
A woman arrives for Nelson Mandela’s memorial. The idea of a rainbow nation has been futile.
EPA/Jim Hollander
Despite the noble goals of the new South Africa and its ideals of racial harmony, racial tensions remain a major problem in the country. Prejudice and bigotry persists even in universities.
At the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Desmond Tutu promoted restorative justice. But focusing on individuals neglects broader contexts of violence and inequality.
Reuters
If violent contexts aren’t taken into account, restorative justice does not serve broader society. Instead it serves as a peacemaking process within a paradigm stacked against the poor and vulnerable.
Abdurrashim, 72, who served 12 years in detention for links to the communist party, attends a state-backed event on the controversial 1965 anti-communist purge.
Reuters/Darren Whiteside
For decades, Indonesia’s official national history was silent about the murders and incarceration of hundred thousands of people. Moving beyond that will require a new understanding of what happened.
The format of the ABC program Recognition: Yes or No? is problematic, and the choice of voices particularly so.
ABC Publicity
The ABC has missed a rare opportunity to deeply engage with the diversity of views among Indigenous Australians about whether and how they should be ‘recognised’ in the Constitution.
Research shows most Indigenous people feel judged, stereotyped and disregarded by white people.
AAP/Marianna Massey
Indigenous peoples live in societies where their sense of cultural worth is constantly undermined.
Aboriginal elder Max Eulo holds a baby in front of a sea of 70,000 multi-coloured paper hands at the Sydney Opera House in December 2000.
David Gray/Reuters
Racism is again on the rise in many parts of the world. So is the dehumanisation of our enemies. What hope is there, then, for notions of a common humanity?
Nelson Mandela laughs with journalists and performers ahead of the second 46664 concert in the Western Cape in 2005.
Reuters/Mike Hutchings
When celebrating Nelson Mandela Day, it would benefit South Africans to reflect on what the statesman’s legacy means for the nation and how they are living up to his dreams for the country.
South Africa needs to build a mental infrastructure that will allow people to individually and collectively engage in a bold, courageous and trutfhul dialogue.
The welcoming dance at the Myall Creek annual ceremony, July 2015.
Twenty eight unarmed men, women and children were killed at Myall Creek on June 10, 1838. It was a sad, sombre place - but descendants of the perpetrators and victims have transformed it with a healing ritual.
Apologies for past injustices issued to indigenous people in Canada, Australia, the United States and New Zealand in the last few decades are signs of progress.
butupa/Flickr
Australia’s national legitimacy is compromised by the failure to repair its relationship with its Indigenous population. Our series explores different ways of resolving this unfinished business.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is calling for innovation to improve the lives of Indigenous people, but must beware of causing instability with new policies that dismiss everything before them.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
Across Indigenous Australia, innovation is occurring locally, under the radar of government policies and support. We can look to this innovation and stop fixating on finding the elusive policy solution.
Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, and Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt University