The recruitment and exploitation of children in war persists at alarming levels across multiple conflicts. However, the reality of their experiences, how they ended up there, and where they exist are often mis-represented. Here, we address some of the most common child soldier myths.
This is the biggest myth of them of all. It was a ‘guestimate’ and although organisations it as such at the time it has since been widely referenced as a definitive figure by media and others. More than 20 years on it is still regularly publicised.
In truth, it is impossible to put a concrete figure on the global scale of child recruitment. The UN produces verified reports of recruitment each year and, while striking in themselves, they likely represent only the tip of the iceberg; access, verification difficulties, how armed groups view the role of girls in their ranks and other issues hamper the identification process.
Looking at the most reliable estimates, it is likely that there are tens, if not hundreds of thousands of children filling the ranks of armed forces and armed groups today. The UN reported that 56 non-state armed groups and seven state armed forces were recruiting and using children in 2017.
A vast number of boys are recruited, but girls are also routinely exploited.
Of the 299 UN-verified cases of recruitment in Central African Republic in 2017, 34% were girls. In DR Congo, the UN mission reported in 2015 that between 30 and 40% of those recruited in the previous six years were girls.
Meanwhile, 32% of child recruitment cases in Nigeria involved girls in 2017, where there has been an alarming spike in the use of girls as ‘suicide bombers’ by Boko Haram.
The UN report details cases in Syria and elsewhere, while historical conflicts in Nepal and Colombia also saw girls widely recruited.
The realities for children recruited into conflict are devastating and go far beyond armed combat.
Children can be exploited as domestic and sexual slaves, used as lookouts in highly dangerous environments, or forced to steal from local communities to provide food and other supplies.
Among 205 girls formerly associated with armed groups in DR Congo we interviewed in 2016, a majority suffered sexual abuse.
I was often drugged,” one 17-year-old girl told us. “I would wake up and find myself naked. They gave us drugs so that we would not get tired of all of them using us.
The abduction of children by parties to conflict is shocking and widely discussed. In Somalia, Al Shabaab forces families to hand over children, while groups in Syria, Yemen, South Sudan and elsewhere routinely abduct children. Schools are regularly targeted too with Boko Haram’s kidnapping of 276 school girls in Chibok, northern Nigeria in 2014 one case which gained global attention.
But children also choose to join armed groups ‘voluntarily’. However, the extent to which children’s recruitment is genuinely free and informed has always been difficult to establish as broader circumstances such as insecurity, lack of education, economic or other opportunities, personal or community injustice, and ethnic, religious or issues of identity often leave them with little choice.
The Mai Mai were doing bad things all the time,” a 15-year-old girl in DR Congo told us. “They were looting and raping. It became so frightening and impossible to live at home. To protect ourselves, we decided to join them.
As international media covered the deepening war in Liberia and Sierra Leone in the 1990s and early 2000s, images of the conflict’s child soldiers were among the most illuminating published.
These striking, arresting portraits helped garner international interest to the crisis, but they set in the public consciousness a very specific view of a ‘child soldier’. One of a boy, often in Africa and regularly pictured with a weapon.
The exploitation of children in armed conflict can be such, but as outlined above, it is often much more nuanced.
A significant number of conflicts where child recruitment prevails are in Africa but according to the Child Soldiers World Index, of 18 conflict situations where cases were recorded in 2016, 50% (in countries like Syria, Iraq, Myanmar and Colombia) were outside the continent.
West and Central Africa is the region with the world’s second-highest HIV burden. While progress in the HIV response has been slow, political will is positioned to tackle the challenges. Less than half of pregnant and breastfeeding women were covered by prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) services in 2017. An estimated 69,000 adolescents aged 10–19 years were newly infected with HIV in 2017, a number only 1 per cent lower than in 2010. About the same number (67,000) of estimated new HIV infections occurred among children aged 0–9 years in 2017. Paediatric HIV treatment coverage in 2017 was just 26 per cent.
Analysis
West and Central Africa is home to 6 per cent of the global population, but has the second largest HIV burden; this share is likely to increase because of relatively high HIV incidence among adolescents and overall fertility in several countries. Renewed political commitment to fast-track the children and HIV response is evidenced by the launch of the Treatment Catch-Up Plans in 12 countries. The plans provide opportunities to address HIV testing as a major barrier to treatment scale-up for children, through such innovative approaches as point-of-care HIV diagnosis, family HIV testing and dual HIV/syphilis test integration.
In 2017 alone, Nigeria accounted for half of all children and adolescents living with HIV in the region, with four other countries – the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana – accounting for an additional 30 per cent of the total. The widely varying impact from country to country highlights the need for a differentiated response to improve region-wide PMTCT programming and other HIV prevention and treatment responses among children and adolescents.
Detention Centre Profiling is a component of IOM Libya’s Displacement Matrix programme. It is a data oriented tool that routinely provides specific sex and age demographic data and key sectorial information on individuals held in Libya’s detention Centres.
In this round, 12 detention centres have been assessed, namely Abusliem, Al kufra, Alsabaa, Benghazi Ganfouda, Ejdabia, Janzour, Misrata Kararim, Qasr Bin Ghasheer, Sabratha Melita, Tobruk, Trig al Seka, and Zliten.
L'Afrique de l’Ouest peut être divisée en trois zones agro-écologiques ou en trois bassins commerciaux (bassins de l’ouest, bassin du centre, bassin de l’est). Les deux sont importants pour l'interprétation du comportement et de la dynamique du marché.
Les trois principales zones agro-écologiques incluent la zone Sahélienne, la zone Soudanaise et la zone Côtière où la production et la consommation peuvent être facilement classifiées. (1) Dans la zone Sahélienne, le mil constitue le principal produit alimentaire cultivé et consommé en particulier dans les zones rurales et de plus en plus par certaines populations qui y ont accès en milieux urbains. Des exceptions sont faites pour le Cap Vert où le maïs et le riz sont les produits les plus importants, la Mauritanie où le blé et le sorgho et le Sénégal où le riz constituent des aliments de base. Les principaux produits de substitution dans le Sahel sont le sorgho, le riz, et la farine de manioc (Gari), avec les deux derniers en période de crise. (2) Dans la zone Soudanienne (le sud du Tchad, le centre du Nigéria, du Bénin, du Ghana, du Togo, de la Côte d'Ivoire, le sud du Burkina Faso, du Mali, du Sénégal, la Guinée Bissau, la Serra Leone, le Libéria) le maïs et le sorgho constituent les principales céréales consommées par la majorité de la population. Suivent après le riz et les tubercules particulièrement le manioc et l’igname. (3) Dans la zone côtière, avec deux saisons de pluie, l’igname et le maïs constituent les principaux produits alimentaires. Ils sont complétés par le niébé, qui est une source très significative de protéines.
Les trois bassins commerciaux sont simplement connus sous les noms de bassin Ouest, Centre, et Est. En plus du mouvement du sud vers le nord des produits, les flux de certaines céréales se font aussi horizontalement. (1) Le bassin Ouest comprend la Mauritanie, le Sénégal, l’ouest du Mali, la Sierra Leone, la Guinée, le Libéria, et la Gambie où le riz est le plus commercialisé.
(2) Le bassin central se compose de la Côte d'Ivoire, le centre et l’est du Mali, le Burkina Faso, le Ghana, et le Togo où le maïs est généralement commercialisé. (3) Le bassin Est se rapporte au Niger, Nigéria, Tchad, et Bénin où le millet est le plus fréquemment commercialisé. Ces trois bassins commerciaux sont distingués sur la carte ci-dessus.
Mauritania hosts over 2,000 urban refugees and asylumseekers and more than 57,000 Malian refugees in and around Mbera camp established in 2012 in the arid south-eastern region close to the Malian border.
Despite the conclusion of a peace agreement in 2015, large-scale returns of Malian refugees are not expected due to persistent violence in northern Mali. In October alone, 105 new arrivals were registered in Mbera camp.
In the context of this protracted situation, UNHCR is engaging with the humanitarian development nexus to move away from the traditional care an maintenance approach.
Operational Context
In Mauritania, UNHCR provides protection and assistance to 57,693 Malian refugees in and around Mbera camp in south-eastern Mauritania and to 1,400 refugees and 1,077 asylum-seekers in the urban areas of Nouakchott and Nouadhibou (mainly from the Central African Republic, Syria and Côte d’Ivoire), in a context of mixed movements.
UNHCR works closely with the Mauritanian authorities towards the development and implementation of a national asylum system. Pending the adoption of the asylum law, UNHCR supports the authorities to enhance refugee protection in Mauritania improving access to documentation, birth registration, economic opportunities, and basic services such as health and education.
Since 2012, UNHCR has led the humanitarian response for Malian refugees in the Hodh Echarghi region, in collaboration with the Mauritanian Government and other UN agencies, national and international NGOs. Mauritania continues to keep its borders open to new influxes. Despite the conclusion of a peace agreement in Mali in June 2015, large-scale returns of refugees are not yet expected due to the prevailing security situation in northern Mali. In June 2016, Mauritania, Mali and UNHCR concluded a Tripartite Agreement for the voluntary repatriation of Malian refugees. This agreement provides a framework to facilitate voluntary return, when the conditions in Mali allow. In the meantime, it reaffirms the commitment of Mauritania and Mali to protect refugees. At present, UNHCR considers that the conditions in Mali are not conducive to promote the return of refugees. However, UNHCR may facilitate voluntary return upon request and on an individual case basis.
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) monitors trends in staple food prices in countries vulnerable to food insecurity. For each FEWS NET country and region, the Price Bulletin provides a set of charts showing monthly prices in the current marketing year in selected urban centers and allowing users to compare current trends with both five-year average prices, indicative of seasonal trends, and prices in the previous year.
West Africa can be divided into three agro-ecological zones or three different trade basins (West Basin, Central Basin and East Basin). Both important for understanding market behavior and dynamics.
The three major agro-ecological zones are the Sahelian, the Sudanese and the Coastal zones where production and consumption can be easily classified. (1) In the Sahelian zone, millet is the principal cereal cultivated and consumed particularly in rural areas and increasingly, when accessible, in urban areas. Exceptions include Cape Verde where maize and rice are most important, Mauritania where sorghum and maize are staples, and Senegal with rice. The principal substitutes in the Sahel are sorghum, rice, and cassava flour (Gari), the latter two in times of shortage. (2) In the Sudanese zone (southern Chad, central Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Togo, Côte d'Ivoire, southern Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Serra Leone, Liberia) maize and sorghum constitute the principal cereals consumed by the majority of the population. They are followed by rice and tubers, particularly cassava and yam. (3) In the Coastal zone, with two rainy seasons, yam and maize constitute the most important food products. They are supplemented by cowpea, which is a significant source of protein.
The three trade basins are known as the West, Central, and East basins. In addition to the north to south movement of particular commodities, certain cereals flow horizontally. (1) The West basin refers to Mauritania, Senegal, western Mali, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, and The Gambia where rice is most heavily traded. (2) The Central basin consists of Côte d'Ivoire, central and eastern Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Togo where maize is commonly traded. (3) The East basin refers to Niger, Nigeria, Chad, and Benin where millet is traded most frequently. These three trade basins are shown on the map above.
The electoral cycle in Sierra Leone at the beginning of this year was hailed by observers as being primarily peaceful. However, before and between election days there were several fatalities and other significant incidents, such as nationwide Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), the destruction of property, and temporary forced migration. Many communities remain divided due to these incidents, stemming from political differences reinforced through tribal affiliation. Through collaboration with the Office of National Security and various CSOs during the elections, UNDP identified several specific communities as “conflict hotspots” prompted the new Government to constitute the establishment of a ‘peacebuilding committee’ to investigate and advise the Government on electoral violence.
Along with the Office of the Vice President, UNDP collaborated with five civil society organisations (CSOs) in a coordinated support for community healing and restorative justice. Activities took place in 11 out of 16 districts identified as particularly vulnerable to violence and centred around community dialogue, reconciliation events, and education sessions on the importance of elections, in addition to researching the scope and root of electoral violence. As part of this “post-election peace and social cohesion project”, one of the collaborating NGOs, Campaign for Good Governance (CGG), are running reconciliation dialogues in fragile communities in six districts, 14 chiefdoms in total. Through the project, dialogue sessions provide a space for communities to discuss lingering tensions from elections. It has been notably beneficial for women who want to speak about harms they experienced during period, including SGBV.
CGG programme director Marcella Samba-Sesay spoke favourably of the positive impact the project has made to communities. "Participants have been able to speak openly about electoral conflicts, and realise that democracy is the opportunity for choice, beyond party colour and tribal affiliation. This project has been helpful to communities, not only as a safe place to speak, but as a discussion platform on how to unify the community for development. Through their willingness to participate, communities recognise the need to come together for peace and that they all have a role to play in achieving it."
At the dialogue session in Kissy Dockyard, a fishing community in east Freetown, participants identified common community development goals to work towards. They agreed that focusing on tribal divisions hinders development, and better progress would be made if they worked together. The establishment of a union was suggested and a series of issues were identified, such as fixing the bad roads and removing the poisonous chemicals in their water supplies.
Mariatu Mansaray, a woman from the Kissy community, said "as a blind woman, this dialogue lets me show the community that disabled people can do anything that an abled person can. Here, I can raise my voice." This claim exemplifies the aim of the dialogues, which is to ensure community-wide openness, inclusion, and participation for all.
A similar list of goals was made in Tombo town in Western Area Rural, including improving the security of the marketplace controlled by politically polarised gangs. Women expressed feeling unsafe at the market many times during the dialogue session and were very concerned about SGBV. Local representative from the Sierra Leone Police attended the dialogue, giving the women an opportunity to appeal to them directly. The creation of these lists gives the project crucial local ownership and provides participating communities with tangible goals to work towards.
This implementing stage of the project, supported by the UN Peacebuilding Fund, will end in November but it marks only the beginning on a much-needed healing process for fragile communities affected by electoral violence and tribal divides. The project particularly focused on youth and women as the primary perpetrators and victims respectively, and UNDP will continue to provide post-election support to fragile communities in order to strengthen relations beyond politics.
Article written by Claire Flynn-Byrne, Communications and Reporting Officer, Conflict Prevention and Mitigation, UNDP Sierra Leone.
IOM works with national and local authorities and local partners to identify and understand migration movements in West and Central Africa. Flow monitoring is an activity that quantifies and qualifies flows, migrant profiles, trends and migration routes at a given point of entry, transit or exit. Since February 2016, IOM Niger has been monitoring migration flows at two points across Niger: Séguédine and Arlit. The data collected provides an overview of migration in the region. The information is collected from primary sources. However, this monitoring of migration flows does not replace border surveillance. Similarly, the results presented in this report do not reflect the total flow of migrants through the Agadez region due to the size of the Sahara Desert, which covers more than 700,000 km2 and has a large number of roads crisscrossing the region.
In addition to the 3 FMPs (Dan Barto, Magaria and Tahoua) activated in August, a new FMP was also set up in Niger (Dan Issa) in September. The aim was to better understand migration routes along the southern part of Niger and to complement the existing FMPs in Arlit and Séguédine. There are now three cross border FMPs (Dan Issa, Dan Barto and Magaria) on the border between Niger and Nigeria, which stretches over 1000 km. The FMP at Tahoua was set up to help understand internal movement flows as it is situated in central Niger, sharing a border with the Tillabery region in the east, Nigeria in the south and the Agadez region in the north.
The four new FMPs will be piloted in the coming months to understand the added value of the FMPs towards a more holistic understanding of migration trends in Niger. Based on the initial findings from the new FMPs, there may be adjustments made to the new FMPs based on an increased understanding of migration patterns and routes.
METHODOLOGY : Flow monitoring is an investigative work that aims to highlight and increase understanding of internal, cross-border and intraregional migration. Areas of high mobility are identified across the country. DTM teams then conduct assessments at the local level to identify strategic transit points. Enumerators collect data using key informants at the flow monitoring points; they may be staff at bus stations, police or customs officials, bus or truck drivers or migrants themselves. A basic questionnaire mixed with direct observations makes it possible to collect disaggregated data by sex and nationality. In Niger, the flow monitoring points were chosen after consultation with national and local stakeholders involved in migration management, and according to the locations and characteristics of the flows transiting through the Sahara Desert. The data collection is done at times when the flows are the most frequent.
LIMITS : The data used in this analysis including the maps is an estimate and represents only a part of the existing flows on the routes Agadez - Arlit – Assamaka; Agadez - Séguédine – Sebha; and southern routes. The spatial and temporal coverage of these surveys is partial, although the collection is done daily and during periods when flows are significant. Finally, no information is collected on existing flows outside the times covered. Vulnerability data is based on direct observations by the enumerators and should be understood only as an estimate.
Finding Solutions
When the cessation clauses came into effect to refugees from Sierra Leone (2008), Liberia (2012) and Rwanda (2017), those with continuing needs of international protection were exempted from cessation and kept their refugee status.
UNHCR and host countries are working toward securing sustainable and durable solutions for 3,714 exempted refugees in the region. Support for local integration will be achieved by obtaining an alternative durable legal status (indefinite residence status or naturalization) based on the favourable legal and policy framework, coupled with issuing nationality documents to prevent statelessness.
Achievement
In July 2018, the Government of Liberia granted citizenship through naturalization to 300 former Sierra Leonean refugees.
At the time of cessation, 910 Liberian refugees were denied of Liberian passports as they did not have identity documents to prove their nationality. In 2016, with UNHCR’s advocacy, the Government of Liberia undertook passport -vetting missions to review the “red-coded” Liberian refugees hosted in 8 countries (Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone). The vetting mission resulted in 705 persons approved, 5 rejected and no-shows. In 2018, 705 approved Liberian refugees received their passports and received residence permits
Development
UNHCR will continue to facilitate voluntary repatriation for those who opt for it, considering the political and security situations in their countries of origin have improved significantly. For those refugees who wish to voluntarily repatriate, transportation and cash grant will continue to be provided.
Sustainable Development Goals
UNHCR is firmly committed to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Sustainable Development Goals can provide a basis for improved protection and, ultimately, solutions for forcibly displaced people. The promise to “leave no one behind” provides a basis to include the needs of refugees, IDPs, and stateless persons, in development planning.
Who suffers Most from Extreme Weather Events? Weather-related Loss Events in 2017 and 1998 to 2017
The Global Climate Risk Index 2019 analyses to what extent countries and regions have been affected by impacts of weather-related loss events (storms, floods, heat waves etc.). The most recent data available — for 2017 and from 1998 to 2017 — were taken into account.
The countries and territories affected most in 2017 were Puerto Rico, Sri Lanka as well as Dominica. For the period from 1998 to 2017 Puerto Rico, Honduras and Myanmar rank highest.
This year's 14th edition of the analysis reconfirms earlier results of the Climate Risk Index: less developed countries are generally more affected than industrialised countries. Regarding future climate change, the Climate Risk Index may serve as a red flag for already existing vulnerability that may further increase in regions where extreme events will become more frequent or more severe due to climate change. But the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season also proved: High income countries feel climate impacts more clearly than ever before. Effective climate change mitigation is therefore in the self-interest of all countries worldwide.
At this year’s Climate Summit in Katowice (COP24), countries should adopt the 'rulebook' needed for implementing the Paris Agreement, including the global adaptation goal and adaptation communication guidelines. Loss and damage appears as a cross-cutting issue with significant risk of being used as a negotiation chip.
This overview document presents 417 safety, security and access incidents affecting aid delivery in 17 countries in West Africa between January 2017 and June 2018.
The report is based on incidents identified in open sources and reported by Aid in Danger partner agencies using the Security in Numbers Database (SiND). The focus is on countries where possible changing or emerging risks can be identified. The total number of reported incidents below reflects the willingness of agencies to share information. It is neither a complete count nor representative.
REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
AFRICA Beneficial weather conditions triggered production gains in East Africa and output rebounds in North Africa. By contrast, dry conditions curbed harvests in Southern Africa, while in West Africa, production is expected to revert to average levels. Conflicts in several countries of the region, notably in Central Africa, continue to acutely impact the agriculture sector.
ASIA Cereal harvests in 2018 declined to below-average levels in the Near East and CIS Asia, on account of rainfall deficits, while also ongoing conflicts in parts of the Near East continue to impede agricultural activities. Aggregate cereal production in the Far East is foreseen to rise, driven by an enlarged paddy output.
LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN Cereal production is estimated to decline from last year’s record high in South America. In Central America and the Caribbean, extended dry weather conditions have adversely affected the 2018 output, except in Mexico.
When the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the UN in 1948, much of Africa was still in its first struggle for liberation from colonial rule. Only three African countries were present at the UN for the vote: Egypt, Ethiopia and South Africa. Apartheid South Africa abstained.
After independence came the struggle to guarantee human rights in law and practice, often against a backdrop of one-party states, brutal repression and persecution of dissenters.
Today, the struggle is far from won, but the intervening decades have seen extraordinary progress.
Human rights defenders’ tireless campaigning, often at great personal risk, has led to the Universal Declaration’s founding principles - including freedom from fear and want - being enshrined in regional human rights treaties, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, as well as in the national laws of most, if not all, African countries.
But the struggle continues: a fierce “third” struggle to make national laws and regional human rights obligations and commitments worth more than just the paper they are written on. While sub-Saharan African states have become adept at speaking the language of human rights, too many continued in 2018 to brutally repress dissent and restrict the space in which individuals and organizations can defend human rights.
In the south, critics of the Zambian government have been harassed and charged on spurious grounds. The most prominent example involves the ongoing trial of six activists, including rapper Fumba Chama (also known as Pilato), who were arrested in September for protesting against exorbitant levels of government spending.
Mozambiqueimposed prohibitively high accreditation fees
on journalists and media houses in July, in an attempt to clamp down on independent reporting. In March, Ericino de Salema, a journalist, was kidnapped and beaten, contributing to a growing climate of fear. The continuing persecution faced by environmental rights activists in Madagascar is illustrated by the suspended sentences against Raleva and Christopher Manenjika which were confirmed on appeal in May and June respectively.
In Niger, Moussa Tchangari, Ali Idrissa, Nouhou Arzika and Lirwana Abdourahmane, prominent activists, were detained in March for organizing protests against a new finance law. Lirwana Abdourahmane remains in jail. The **Sierra Leonean **authorities continue to restrict peaceful demonstrations , while the killings of protesters by police go unpunished. In Togo, authorities arrested pro-democracy activists including Atikpo Bob in January. Naïm Touré, an online activist in Burkina Faso, was sentenced to two months in prison in July for a Facebook post. In Mauritania, journalists and anti-slavery activists were arrested ahead of the September parliamentary elections. They include Biram Dah Abeid, who remains in detention.
Elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa, this pattern of state-sponsored intimidation and harassment of human rights defenders persists. For example there were renewed attacks on freedom of expression in Uganda via a tax on social media use, introduced in July, and several MPs were arrested after participating in a protest march.
In Sudan, opposition figures and human rights defenders were arbitrarily arrested, including 140 activists detained in January and February following sporadic protests over rising food and medicine costs.
In South Sudan, civil society activists continued to be arbitrarily detained, including Bashir Ahmed Mohamed Babiker, a human rights defender, arrested in August.
Eritrea continued its policy of zero tolerance for any form of dissent or free media. In September, Berhane Abrehe, former Finance Minister, became yet one more of the thousands of prisoners of conscience and other detainees after he published a book calling for a peaceful transition to democracy.
In the **Democratic Republic of the Congo, **there was a widespread crackdown on peaceful protests, resulting in multiple deaths and injuries and the sentencing to 12 months’ imprisonment in September of four pro-democracy activists, all members of the Filimbi citizens’ movement.
In Cameroon, Franklin Mowha, a civil society leader, was subjected to a possible enforced disappearance while on a fact-finding mission in the south-west to document internal displacement and the denial of justice. His case illustrates the government’s brutal crackdown and its suppression of information connected with ongoing clashes between the military and armed separatist groups in the Anglophone regions.
The backlash against human rights, and regressive measures to restrict the space in which individuals can defend rights is also evident at the continental bodies level. The independence and autonomy of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights - Africa’s main regional human rights treaty body - suffered a severe setback in August when it revoked the observer status granted to the Coalition of African Lesbians, a civil society organization registered in South Africa. The move came after immense political pressure from the African Union’s Executive Council.
Despite the widespread challenges, however, there is some good news for African human rights defenders.
In a few countries, leadership change has provided the impetus for significant improvements. In Ethiopia, thousands of people were released from detention in the first half of 2018, among them Eskinder Nega, the renowned journalist and prisoner of conscience, imprisoned since 2011 on trumped-up terrorism charges. The new Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, introduced further reforms, including lifting the ban on several opposition parties, initiating the reform of repressive laws and removing arbitrary restrictions on websites and online media groups. However, there were major setbacks. Prisons filled up again when, in September, police arrested more than 3,000 young people and arbitrarily detained over 1,000 in Addis Ababa, including peaceful protesters, claiming it was containing “rising criminality”.
Amidst unprecedented steps towards tackling endemic corruption in Angola after President João Lourenço succeeded the long-serving Eduardo dos Santos in 2017, human rights defenders saw encouraging signs that they would be protected. These included the court acquittals of Rafael Marques de Morais and Mariano Brás, prominent journalists, in July. However, there have been no steps towards investigating past human rights abuses by security forces.
Other notable victories for human rights defenders included the release in April of Tadjadine Mahamat Babouri, known as Mahadine, arrested in September 2016 and tortured in prison for posting online criticism of the Chadian government’s alleged mismanagement of public funds. Meanwhile, international pressure led to the release of Ramón Esono Ebalé, an Equatorial Guinean cartoonist and activist, after six months in Malabo prison.
In Sudan,Matar Younis, a teacher, was released in July after spending a month in prison for criticizing the government’s inhumane practices in Darfur. In Rwanda, Victoire Ingabire, a jailed opposition leader, was pardoned by the President in September. Both countries, however, continue to detain real or perceived opponents.
The best news of all, however, is the ongoing extraordinary bravery displayed by ordinary people across Africa, including countless courageous women human rights defenders, who exemplify resilience in the face of repression. Women like Wanjeri Nderu, who spearheads a campaign against extrajudicial killings in Kenya; Nonhle Mbuthuma, the land rights activist in **South Africa **who continues to advocate on behalf of her community despite being mistreated by police during a protest in September; and Nigeria’s Aisha Yesufu and Obiageli 'Oby' Ezekwesili, co-founders of the #BringBackOurGirls movement who were arrested in January during a sit-in in the capital, Abuja.
There is no doubt that these are difficult times for human rights defenders in sub-Saharan Africa and, indeed, around the world. Although their work remains dangerous, it is also demonstrably effective. This year proved that Africa’s governments do respond to public pressure. Even in an increasingly hostile atmosphere, the courage, dedication and selflessness of the continent’s human rights defenders are keeping human rights at the front and centre of the regional agenda. In the year that the Universal Declaration turns 70, it is imperative that we acknowledge their victories, resilience and bravery.
REGIONAL OVERVIEW
West Africa is one of the world’s most vulnerable regions to climate variability and change. Increasing temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns are already affecting livelihoods, food security, and economic and governance stability. Extreme climate variability since the 1970s has resulted in agricultural losses, recurrent food crises, both water scarcity and extreme flooding, and environmental degradation. Warming across the region is greater than the global average, a trend expected to continue, with the greatest warming in the Sahel. The region’s long coastline, home to densely populated cities and economic hubs, is experiencing sea level rise and severe coastal erosion, projected to increase with significant impacts to the coastal population, urban centers and ports, coastal aquifers, and the agriculture and fisheries sectors. Togo and Mauritania have lost more than 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) to coastal degradation and erosion in one year. Crops and livestock, a base for about 60 percent of livelihoods and 35 percent of GDP regionally, face increasing heat stress and variability in rainfall, including more frequent and damaging heavy rainfall events and diminishing rainfall in the west of the region. Transnational dimensions of climate impacts include food and water quality and availability, health conditions related to air quality, disruption of transportation networks, and migration. Climate vulnerability is compounded by high dependence on rainfed agriculture, rapid population growth, pervasive poverty, and inadequate access to safe water and sanitation.
