Uganda President Speaks of the Qaddafi he Knows
Whatever you may think of Qaddafi and the uprising in Libya, external intervention from Western powers is a sensitive issue and brings up issues of sovereignty, race and power.
Ugandan President,Yoweri Museveni has an interesting article in Foreign Policy that speaks to why some African heads of state have been slow to respond to Qaddafi’s reaction to Libyan unrest. All interventions, Museveni points out, are complicated by the West’s long history of exploitation in Africa: read more…
EVENT: Human Security in the DRC: Seeking Solutions from the Ground Up
Great Lakes Region
The Council on Foreign Relations Africa program is a sponsors for Search for Common Ground’s Great Lakes Policy Forum. The next event will take place on March 24th at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC. The event will focus on “Human Security in the DRC: Seeking Solutions from the Ground Up” and will bring experts together to discuss the ongoing physical and sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Panel members will seek to address the following questions:
1) Moving beyond the grim descriptions of human rights abuses, what is the role of civil society in protection, fostering stability and building peace?
2) What policy mechanisms are available in the short and long terms to address these critical issues at the national and international level?
Register for the event here!
Dancers perform at the launch of Babdok Rebenta in Dili.
SFCG has been working in Timor-Leste since April 2010, where our focus has been on youth. As in many of the countries where we work, it’s not easy being young in Timor. With unemployment over 50%, future prospects can be bleak. Furthermore, young people often lack community leadership, marketable job skills and are politically marginalized. read more…
A worker looks at the stock of medicine in the Pharmacie de la Sante Publique (Public Health Medicine) warehouse in Abidjan. Pharmacies and clinics in the country are running out of supplies of certain medicines, after the European Union imposed sanctions on Côte d'Ivoire to deepen incumbent Laurent Gbagbo's diplomatic isolation. (REUTERS/ Thierry Gouegnon)
About Karno Ouattara, our Studio Coordinator in Côte d’Ivoire updates us on the situation in CIV as it progresses. About is writing from Daloa in the West and is regularly in touch with staff in our Abidjan office. The violence has worsened, he says while supplies diminish. read more…
“Art has a real power.”
How would you use art to promote peace?
SFCG Launches New Program for Women in Indonesia
SFCG’s Leadership Wisdom Initiative (LWI) recently launched a two year initiative to provide support and leadership development for women leaders, including parliamentarians. One of the goals is to transform Indonesian attitudes about the potential role of women in a democracy. LWI Director, Shawn Dunning recently travelled to Indonesia to lead a training of local trainers (TOT) who will in-turn support and coach women leaders at the national and state levels.
The Training-of-Trainers participants pose for a group photo, along with Brian Hanley (SFCG Indonesia Director), Serena Rix Tripathee (SFCG Nepal Director) and Shawn Dunning (LWI Director). All the women selected for this program have expertise and experience in advocating for women’s issues.
Messaging to the general public is an important part of the initiative. A national public awareness campaign includes a radio drama, followed by a local call-in talk show, will focus on challenges that women face and will strive to build positive attitudes toward women in leadership and decision-making positions.
A press conference was held during the training.
The trainers practiced problem solving and decision making through an activity called the “Consensus Knot.” The objective is to reach a consensus decision on which rope is interlinked with all the others. Each member of the group has an equal voice and vote.
Two participants practice newly acquired coaching skills with each other.
One participant shares her excitement about the workshop. Over the course of the TOT, participants found that the common ground approach did not mean compromising their beliefs and advocacy around women’s issues. By helping women to be more effective leaders, they are working to educate the Indonesian population about the role and status of women in society.
