UNESCO marks its 75th anniversary with an African spotlight
(GIN)—The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) marked its 75th anniversary with a star-studded cast of artists and world leaders. Among the participants was American actor Forest Whitaker, a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Peace and Reconciliation since 2011. His organization, the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative (WPDI), works jointly with UNESCO in South Sudan, Uganda and Mexico—areas affected...
‘We will continue all forms of resistance’ Military crackdown in Sudan continues, protestors remain undeterred
The strangeness of writing a column about Africa and being married to an African in the middle of a political, economic and social crisis is personal and is substance for the current column. Don’t worry, my wife Zakia during the month of Ramadan is spending time with her mom, far removed from the epicenter of the conflict in Khartoum. In...
Is U.S.-European strategy for Africa an effort to revisit the Cold War?
If history, as the saying goes, is best qualified to reward all research then the past and present history of U.S. and European global imperialism against so-called third world nations can never produce in its latest “strategy for Africa,” anything of parity, equity, or freedom to independently determine the continent’s best interest. The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, National Representative of...
Overcoming barriers through technology and providing services to hard-to-reach rural areas
Helping to improve direct and immediate access to even hard-to-reach communities with real-time measurable data through mobile phone technology is how Viamo explains its service. According to its Sudan Country Manager, Rudiana M.E. Mustafa, Viamo’s digital campaigns include starting a dialogue between organizations, governments, programs and the people they work with to utilize important public service messaging. Viamo works cross...
Summit shows growing strength of BRICS alliance which challenges Western-dominated global order
Many observers and analysts framed the recent BRICS Summit held in South Africa as a challenge to the Western-dominated global order. The group’s increasing economic clout included the addition of six more nation-states, making it “BRICS Plus.” Economist Redge Nkosi, the Pretoria-based founder and executive director of First Source Money and Public Banking of South Africa, who participated in the...
Youth-led ‘emergency rooms’ shine rays of hope in war-torn Sudan
With the war in Sudan triggering widespread violence and instability, youth-driven emergency response rooms (ERRs) are among a growing number of community-led initiatives reaching vulnerable civilians with myriad assistance, from repairing damaged power lines to carving out safe evacuation routes for millions fleeing the conflict. Teams of volunteer medical staff, engineers and other emergency experts across the country are addressing...
Africa: In the line of U.S. fire?
ASKIAMand Saeed Shabazz Is Africa next war on terror target?Bush dismisses Black America as he targets West African OilU.S. covets Africa's black goldSouth Africa wants proof of Africa-Iraq nuclear connection Attacks on Kenya could herald new terror power plays in AfricaWASHINGTON (FinalCall.com)–As Kenya’s President Daniel Arap Moi and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Meles Zenawi rushed here for security talks with President George...
The Diaspora returns to Africa
ACCRA, Ghana (Finalcall.com) - Meeting and greeting many African Americans in a hotel lobby, some even from your own hometown, may seem like no big deal in the U.S., but what are the chances of bumping into each other in a hotel lobby in Ghana, West Africa? According to reports of the 446,000 tourists pouring into Ghana in 2005,...
Libya peace talks were doomed from beginning
(FinalCall.com) - The recent African Union peace negotiations in Libya were doomed from the beginning. The Transitional National Council's (TNC), a Western powers creation, unwillingness to respect the African Union as a legitimate peace broker tells it all. A few short months ago the world community questioned the legitimacy of the Libyan rebels fighting against Col. Gadhafi and his...
Al-Shabaab, Kenya, oil and raping Somalia
-Contributing Writer- (FinalCall.com) - The recent massacre at an upscale shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya has yet by the majority media to be put into context. Though the wholesale killing of innocent civilians is never warranted, this time by members of Somalia's al-Shabaab militants, this was not an isolated attack. According to The Guardian, “Unlike Uganda's internationally (AMISOM)...