Sub-Saharan-Africa
We are the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF Africa), an independent German organisation that is committed to promoting liberal policy and politics around the world in the form of human rights, the rule of law, democracy, innovation, digitalisation and free trade.
We have been active in sub-Saharan Africa since 1991. We organise campaigns, media events, seminars, workshops, study tours, cultural happenings and training courses. We have activities in many countries in the region such as Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Mali, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda, Senegal, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia.
News
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Africa: trade, democracy or both?
The 20th OECD international economic forum on Africa, which takes place today, is a propitious occasion to assess Africa’s current position, politically, economically and - of course - in terms of COVID-19. Cecilia Kok analyzes the main topics that will be key for this years conference. The pandemic, the Chinese influence over Africa and the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade area will dominate the forum this year.
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East Africa needs a liberal restart to protect and promote civil liberties
The past year has been hard for East Africans. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect on the health and economies of our nations. As the threat of further waves persist and international travel, tourism and business remains largely on hold, things will continue to be difficult. We face a long road ahead in navigating a path to economic recovery and a challenging vaccine roll-out.
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Uganda’s election violence cycle worsens as Bobi Wine’s Opposition puts Museveni on his toes
Thursday, January 14, Ugandans will elect a “new president” and members of parliament.
It will be a contest of numbers, even before the first ballot is cast in a bid to determine who between National Unity Platform candidate Robert Ssentamu Kyagulanyi and incumbent Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of National Resistance Movement (NRM) will lead Uganda. -
Cry, the beloved country – South Africa’s shambolic vaccination situation
The second wave of the Corona pandemic has hit South Africa with full force. But the government has no plan for procuring vaccines, nor for distributing them. Mass vaccination requires months of preparation, the establishment of complex control systems, and the strategic deployment of resources. None of this necessary preparation has yet taken place. Because of the South African government's failure, an unprecedented health crisis looms, analyzes Cecelia Kok.
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Ethiopia Stands on the Cusp of Civil War
Ethiopia is facing a humanitarian crisis after the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the country’s federal government fell out. In the past two weeks, hundreds of people from Tigray have been killed and over 30,000 people forced to flee their homes to the neighbouring Sudan. Sudan has now closed its borders, only letting in refugees, which puts Ethiopian citizens that wanted to flee due to the fighting that escalated in November in more trouble ...
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How Zimbabwe Normalised the "bucket-a-day” Life
Water in its basic form is a human right and a means to all forms of life. Its uses have enabled inventions, and sustained life on earth. When its supply is abundant, mankind will tend to waste it away. But what if there wasn’t enough for household or commercial use, how would a country develop? In July of 2010 the United Nations recognised the right to water for every human being, citing in part “The Assembly recognised the right of every human being to have ...
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Property Rights Indispensable to Brighter Future for Women in Africa
Women in Africa remain excluded from the benefits of property ownership, and this must receive the attention of African policy makers and society at large. This is the message from a new study by the Institute of Race Relations entitled Property Rights Belong to All: Women and Property Rights in Sub-Saharan Africa. The institute is releasing it to coincide with the beginning of 16 days of activism for no violence against women and children.
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"Check Your Freedom" do the quiz!
Do you decide how you live and love; or should someone else decide for you? Take a quick “Your Freedom Check” quiz. You will learn something new about yourself. The quiz will take you through scenarios that depict freedom of expression, freedom of the press, social market economy, property rights, freedom of association and the rule of law.
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The FNF Human Rights Report
“Human rights are the only universal language,” says Abdel-Rahman Zbibh, the winner of this year's Raif Badawi Award, explaining what has motivated his human rights and journalist work in the Yemen, which continues to be at war. This report makes an important contribution to the understanding that the commitment to human rights is more crucial than ever in times of dwindling global freedoms.
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International Human Rights Day Special with Bobi Wine and Nicholas Opiyo
In this episode we have two guests from Uganda visiting us. Nicholas Opiyo, a leading human rights lawyer and founder of Chapter Four Uganda, an organisation that provides research, advocacy, and outreach services to contribute to laws, policies, and practices in the interest of civil liberties and human rights.
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Zimbabwe After Mugabe with David Coltart and Dumisani Muleya
On the second episode of Let’s Talk Human Rights podcast, we travel to Zimbabwe. About a year ago, the former president, Robert Mugabe, passed away at the age of 95. After 37 years in power, he was overthrown in a military coup only two years earlier, in 2017.
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South Africa's Dark Past and Present with Judge Edwin Cameron
In this very first episode, we start our journey in South Africa. We interview the well renowned South African lawyer and retired judge from South Africa’s Constitutional Court, Judge Edwin Cameron, who is in conversation with Nangamso Kwinana of the Africa Liberal Network. Judge Cameron gives us deep insights into South Africa's dark past and discusses the current human rights problems.
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The Two Key Audiences I Live For: Women and ‘Deviant’ Groups
A few months later, I joined African Women and Child Feature Services as an intern. One of my assignments was to cover the World Social Forum which took place at the beginning of 2007. The fact that Kenya was hosting the World Social Forum was something of a big deal, a historic moment. While it was generally quite interesting, the two most memorable sessions for me, which I ended up writing about, were the session at the women’s rights tent and the LGBTQ tent.
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Ethiopia Stands on the Cusp of Civil War
Ethiopia is facing a humanitarian crisis after the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the country’s federal government fell out. In the past two weeks, hundreds of people from Tigray have been killed and over 30,000 people forced to flee their homes to the neighbouring Sudan. Sudan has now closed its borders, only letting in refugees, which puts Ethiopian citizens that wanted to flee due to the fighting that escalated in November in more trouble and dire need of humanitarian.
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The Danger of Living with Albinism in a Highly Superstitious Society
While he speaks openly about his condition, he is clearly still very distressed by the circumstances in which he lost his elder brother, Enoch Lugadiru, almost exactly five years ago. Enoch died after an attack in the dark of night. Nixon is certain it was carried out by human traffickers who ascribe “special powers” to the organs of people with albinism and aim to profit from harvesting their body parts.
Social Media
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Watch the full event and panelist discussion with former Chief Justice of Kenya, Dr Willy M Mutunga and Ugandan human rights lawyer Nicholas Opiyo. The event is moderated by Judie Kaberia who is a human rights activist, moderator and journalist. FNF launched the Promoting Civil Liberties in East Africa playbook on 25 March 2021. Interviews and survey reports from the report are accessible here: https://www.freiheit.org/sub-saharan-africa/promoting-civil-liberties-covid-19-era
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On 25 February 2021, FNF hosted an event in Nairobi to report on the findings of a one-of-a-kind survey and launch of a playbook titled Promoting Civil Liberties in East Africa. The event was attended by a number of key individuals from the political, government, diplomatic, media and NGO sectors. Ugandan human rights lawyer Nicholas Opiyo of Chapter Four UG, who couldn't attend the event physically because his passport is still being held as part of bail conditions following his arrested ahead of the elections in Uganda. He prepared an online statement that he presented virtually during the event. The full event video will be published at 18:00 EAT on 1 March 2021.
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Op-Ed: The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) commissioned qualitative and quantitative research in East Africa. The purpose was to assess citizen attitudes to promoting and protecting civil liberties in the region. We did this by understanding citizen engagement in elections, the state of civil liberties and how they are restricted, institutions restricting civil liberties, success stories of community activism and the civil liberties the public are motivated to protect. The results of this research will be used to equip civil society with messaging, strategies and tactics to fight back against authoritarianism and anti-democratic practices. Next Monday we will be publishing the video presentation to the launch of the playbook Promoting Civil Liberties in East Africa. https://www.freiheit.org/sub-saharan-africa/east-africa-needs-liberal-restart-protect-and-promote-civil-liberties
