Refugees and Displaced People in Africa

The term "displaced people" when speaking of Africa refers to the people who have left or fled their homes to escape armed conflict and violence. The refugee's of Africa are those people who have crossed an international border. Recently, Africa has been known for its large scale refugee movements, its international population displacements and mass repatriation movements. Africans only constitute about 12 percent of the global population, and with the worlds 11.5 million refugees, 28 percent of them and 50 percent of the worlds 20 million displaced persons can be found in Africa. There are 25 African states with refugee populations of about 10,000, with 11 of those populations holding populations of 100,000 or more. In 1994, 47 percent of the refugees that were recorded by the UNHCR were found in Africa. By the time of 1998, refugee numbers dropped significantly to 28 percent, this falling from 6.75 million refugees in 1994 to 3.2 million by 1998.
Refugee Camps & Threats:
The refugee camps all through the continent of Africa are very dangerous and unsanitary. Refugee populated areas could be a target for military attacks which can be in the form of arial bombing, but more likely land based attack. In the 1970's and 80's, there were several attacks and raids launched by South Africa's armed forces, which were targetted towards the refugees in the front line states. Moving on to the 1990s, the problem became widespread and global with such occurances like attacks on Sudanese refugee settlements in Northern Uganda, and the assaults on the Rwandan camps in Eastern Zaire during the end of 1996.
Other than military threats, refugee camps are also targetted for non-military threats, instead involving different types of extreme violence, intimidation and criminal activity. Other threats could include rape and armed robbery.
Here you will find the UNHCR (The UN Refugee Agency) convention on the aspects of refugee issues in Africa.
The UNHCR show clearly in this convention statement that they want to improve the lives of the refugees in Africa, even knowing that they may have been the cause of conflict in the past. The thing that I love the most about the UN is that they try to look past the bad and find the good in what they can do to make the world a better place. One of my favourite statements from this convention is
" Bearing in mind that the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights have affirmed the principle that human beings shall enjoy fundamental rights and freedoms without discrimination. "
It is good to point out that although the refugees live in some of the poorest conditions,and there has been a great deal of conflict all through the continent because of them, that you should not judge before you know. That some refugees are trying to find the peace and be in a better, safer place than they were before. If there is some way that we can eliminate conflict while making the refugees even a little at peace, in good conditions and completely safe that would be ideal, but we know these things take time. There will always be reasons in Africa to flee, there are too many countries and conflicts to deny that, but the refugees atleast deserve better camps and places to make their home while they can.

A refugee camp in Chad, Africa.

In this video you can see the conditions in which most of the refugees live, and the troubles they may have.

AIDS Orphans in South Africa

According to a study, three million boys and girls in South Africa from birth to the age of eighteen have been orphaned. Since 2005, the number of orphans has risen 4.9 percent. A startling 1.9 million children lost their fathers,  and 713,000 lost their mothers. Approximately 419,000 children were even left without both parents. The affects on health, either physically or mentally, on children who have been orphaned are extreme. In many cases, the child's physical health is compromised, with a weak immune system and horrible health status due to the emotional trauma they are going through and much more. When I stumbled upon this issue in Africa and caught my attention greatly. When people think of global issues, you think more about environmental issues, buisness issues, government issues and things along those lines, but never whether a child is left without their parent. It might not seem like a great issue to bring up, but it is, especially since it is happening at such a high level in Africa. 1 in 5 children in South Africa's rural areas live with only one parent, or no parents at all. The rural areas are said to be the areas with the highest number of orphans.

You may be wondering why so many children are left without parents. Well, living in Africa there is a widespread issue of HIV/AIDS. In 2008, 29 percent of South African women were HIV positive during their pregnancy.  Even though the HSRC found that 97 percent of pregnant women with AIDS had accessed care pregnancy, some even recieving care more than five times during the pregnancy, the death rate of these women is still extremely high. AIDS is non cureable, but can be slowed down and helped slowly with the right treatment, of course, Africa is the poorest continent so you can not expect that it would have the best healthcare for those patients.  In 2008 a survey was taken, with the results being that one in five children under the age of 2 were hospitalized for approximately 6.8 days a year, and less than 70 percent of children were immunized against ANY childhood diseases. Health care for your child no matter what should provide immunizations as it is well known that children can develop these diseases much quicker than adults. The main goal here is to improve health care in Africa so that these children and their parents can live their life with as little disease as possible, and to avoid death.
The United Nations defines an orphan as " a child who has lost one or both parents ".  On a global scale, about 16 million children that are under the age of 18 have become orphaned due to AIDS. 14.8 million of these children are from Sub-Saharan Africa. On the webpage that I last hyperlinked, you will see that there is a large chart for percentages and numbers of orphans due to AIDS for many different countries in Africa. This chart is truly moving to imagine how many children are left without their parents due to an uncureable disease; It is extremely heartbreaking. The loss of a parent or parents can have a huge impact on a child. If they were previously living with their parents at a young age before becoming orphaned, they will usually experience neglect, emotional unstability and the basic needs that their parent would give them, because their parent would simply not have the energy or strength to do so. Children can then in the future develop serious anxiety problems, extreme stress, depression and more. Although this may not seem like a huge issue, it is. Everyone always states how " children are the future ", well, they are. When we finally find a cure for this and are able to start to put back together the continent of Africa, it would be great if these children were still alive and well, physically and mentally.

African Orphans

Take time to look at the every day life of an AIDS orphan here

Clean Water Supply in Africa

Clean water supply in any country is often overlooked. We use water more than almost everything, for every day neccessities to survive. Most times, in our society, people are scared to have just the littlest bit of contamination in their water, but think about the people in Africa. There is a large threat to Africa's lakes, rivers and wetlands due to things like chemical run-off, pesticide use, and more. The largest reason for the unclean water supply is quite obviously,  human activity. In every country there are agencies responsible for certain environmental factors like agriculture and forestry, but surprisingly in most countries there are not agencies for wetlands management. Even if there was a try at creating a cleaner and safer water system, Africa shares their freshwater ecosystems with many nations, so if there is a coordination difficulty with a nation, it will be a tough process to try and create a plan. Women in Africa walk miles and miles, more than once a day just to get a bucket of water, which they will then have to use for the majority of their daily tasks. They use their water for most of the same reasons we do, but, theirs is brown, unsanitary and not very healthy. They don't have a choice, though, they slave over chores and walk in ridiculous temperatures just to get one bucket.

In recent years, clean water supply has become a more frequent and looked at issue, with more plans being made towards creating a better environment for all of Africa. The UN African Renewal is a plan in which the UN has a goal to help Africa create a universal clean water supply.  African leaders have been showing their commitement to achieving safe, clean water through their development of the New Partnership of Africa's Development (NEPAD), a recent blueprint. They have also been giving great support to the Millennium Development Goals ( MGD's ), adopted by the world leaders in the year 2000. The seventh Millennium Development Goal is to cut down, by half, the number of people without access to safe drinking water and sanitation, by the year 2015. So far, the number of people in Sub-Saharan Africa was reduced approximately 52 percent to 44 percent between the years 1990 and 2004. The main target percentage for this goal is 26 percent, which will definitely take a long time to accomplish.

Populations with access to clean water-2004 statistics-Sub-Saharan with the lowest percentage.

The UN Development Programme ( UNDP ), estimates that the recent budget in Sub-Saharan Africa for spending in water and sanitation sectors is around 800 million dollars a year. This budget needs to be increased, and can be increased in the following ways: through cost recovery- charging users for water, and financial mobilization.

UNICEF has many statistics on water supply for several countries of Africa. As I checked Ethiopia, I found that it has a low level of water and sanitation coverage and a low level of hygiene awareness, which creates many health problems. In Ethiopia 80 percent of communicable diseases are the result of poor water and sanitation. In Haiti, some shocking information shows that in large cities and rural areas, the environment is full of filthy water, filthy waste and close to complete absense of waste drainage. In urban areas, out of those who are lucky enough to have access to water, only 10 percent have direct access, while 25.6 percent must have waste pick up services. One of the saddest statistics is that there are only 33 percent of schools that have access to water, and even though they have access it is not safe for drinking. The other 67 percent of schools are left with latrines which are majority unuseable or in poor condition.
Hopefully this information shows how serious water damage is in Africa, and even though the majority of us can't make it over there to help, we can stop polluting our own water as a start. Water is one of the main neccessities we need to live, and we have a pretty great water system compared to other countries, as you now know.

To view more on the issues of water supply in Africa, click here .

Sub-Saharan Africa:Child Labour

In this blog I will be adressing the issue of child labour. Child labour happens in many countries around the world, with many of us oblivious to what is really going on. While many people have their own opinion and definition on child labour, the Union Aid Abroad website, I found, had the best overall definition: " Children under fifteen years of age are made to do work that is physically or mentally harmful, and interupts their education and social development. "
In Sub-Saharan Africa, almost half of the population is children. A paper on this issue states that, out of all of the African regions, Sub-Saharan Africa has one of the highest child labour rates. The International Labour Organization, or ILO, shows shocking statistics that 41% of Sub-Saharan children that are under the age of 14 are not getting an education, and even worse, around 80 million are working! The statistics shown here are approximately twice the Asian rate.
So why does child labour occur? Child labour can occur for many different reasons, one of the largest being poverty. Seeing as Africa is the poorest continent, it has a higher rate of child labour than you would expect to see in any other continent. The choice for child labour is often made by the children's family members, simply because it is one of their last resorts to make any money at all. Although poverty is sometimes used as a reason for child labour, it is not the only one. Families would hope that their child would make them money of course, being in the poor conditions they are in, but sadly most child labour is also done without pay, in their own household.  Yes, some people may believe that putting a child to work is a good idea because it will increase the childs intelligence of life and will make them mature faster, but they are obviously not thinking about, or even have an idea about the child labour that we are discussing here. The child labour we are discussing is specifically towards the children that are being made to work at too young of an age, which will in the future reduce their ability to succeed. They will not get the education they need, because instead they are slaving and working every day, where if they got the chance to go get an education they could make something of themselves and create stability for their family and for their future.

The Child Labor Public Education Project sheds light on the laws of Child Labour. There are laws in place against this, but even though those laws are placed, they are often not followed. Some laws aren't even fully against the labor, allowing it to still take place as long as it is in certain sectors and is involving agriculture or domestic work. The countries that do have strong labour laws also do not succeed well as they are under-staffed, under-funded and more.

graph showing child labour percentages in Sub-Saharan Africa

There is not much that we can do from where we are to stop child labour. I am sure even if we did manage to stop it somewhere, it will never be stopped completely. Children live their life day to day working and sweating to the bone, and they don't know anything else other than what they've been exposed to. If they got the chance to go to a school, and get an education even if it would take a very long time for them to become successful, I'm sure we couldn't even imagine the happiness in their eyes.

a poor child under labour trying to carry bricks

countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa region

In this video you will see how we take what we have in this century for granted. We don't look beyond the product to think about where it was made, who made it, and how lucky we have it. This video is an eye opener to us all, I'm sure.

Libya Protests-Violence on the Streets

There are so many protests taking place in Libya, every day. Although I cannot pinpoint exactly where or why they started, I can shed a light on the recent issues. From what I have read, the root of these problems are from the Libyan leader, Moammar Gadhafi. It seems as though there is a lot of hate towards Moammar Gadhafi and what he is doing to Libya. You might want to know, what crime has he committed? Recent news states that Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo wanted nothing more than for the judges to issue an arrest warrant for  Moammar Gadhafi at the International Criminal Court, along with Moammar's son, Seif al-Islam Gadhafi and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Sanoussi. The Prosecutor believes they should be arrested due to the violence created from Moammar Gadhafi targetting the people of Libya to lash out and go against the pro-democracy demonstrators. To the courtroom, he states evidence that Gadhafi had ordered violent attacks upon unarmed civilians. The issue is clearly an attack on human rights. Gadhafi has created hate and violence toward humans who have been trying to express themselves and their opinions. The violence has gone too far, with so many Libyans murdered. If the arrest is issued, this would mean that Gadhafi, along with his son and the intelligence chief, could be arrested in any of the United Nations member countries. Although there is a warrant, this doesn't mean that Gadhafi can be caught.

Recently, CBC radio had a broadcast on the issue of these protests. Here it is said that there are about 200 deaths in Libya at the moment, but there are many reports giving much higher numbers. To give you an idea of the extent of the violence, a Libyan-Canadian, Omar Bengezi, tells some of his story. Omar now lives in Hamilton, Ontario, but once was a citizen of Libya. After Omar's brother insulted Gadhafi, he, along with many other citizens had to flee their homes because of their "incorrect" political views. It's unbelieveable how easy it is to get killed, become homeless and have other horrible things happen to you just because you don't agree with the Libyan leader, or because you have the "wrong" views.

BBC News says that in Gadhafi's first major speech he urged his supporters to go and attack the "cockroaches" that go against his rules. He also said how he has only brought glory to Libya and that he will remain the head of the revolution. He reffers to all of the protesters as " rats and merceneries". While Gadhafi says his speech, there were reports of gunfire and extreme violence in Libya's capital, Benghazi. Not only was there gunfire, the civilians who were watching the BBC News report were throwing shoes at the screen in anger. In the video of Gadhafi's speech ( not known to be live or pre-recorded ), the cameras would cut away to show a statue of a giant fist crushing a US war plane.

There have been many people, and many groups/activists trying to get rid of Gadhafi for years now. One of the oldest groups is the National Front for the Salvation of Libya. This group was established on October 7th, 1981. It is led by a former Libyan military officer, Ibrahim Abdulaziz Sahad.  The NFSL has held a very large number of protests, media campaigns and political alliances with other anti-Gadhafi groups over the years. They have been in many disputes, and recently have had much support and recognition due to the severeness of the Libyan civil war.

More and more people are realizing the extreme damage Gadhafi is causing Libya, and are creating movements across the world to make this stop. It is great to see people hold their opinions high and not stop until the war ends. In recent blogs, it has been tough to see that so many people are not noticing the issues in Africa, and not helping, but slowly Libya is receiving more help and hopefully, in future years, it will start to become a much more stable country, hopefully without Moammar Gadhafi as their leader. The protesters definitely do start violence from protesting in the first place, but in my opinion and many others, the protesters wouldn't have started this if Gadhafi hadn't been so violent and done what he has done to many of their families and friends.

 

Moammar Gadhafi adressing general assembly at the United Nations

  To view more photos on the impact of  Leader Moammar Gadhafi, click here.
Also, view a video on a protest mob in the streets of Libya. ( warning, this may be disturbing for some people.)

Somalia:Without a Functioning Government

Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991. Their result of having no functioning government has not been good. This has resulted in armed conflict, thousands of people killed, tens of thousands of people having to flee their homes, several rapes and more. There are over one million people displaced in Somalia and five-hundred thousand people fleeing to other countries in the area. The Somalis that have fled the country over the years are now in very poor conditions with overcrowded camps in a very unsanitary environment. Some of these camps takes place in Somalias neighbouring countries; Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Yemen. The Issues in Somalia are progressively getting worse and worse. The UNHCR ( The UN Refugee Agency ) article shows just how extreme these conditions are, stating how there are camps, such as the Dadaab camp in northern Kenya, with facilities for about ninety-thousand people. Yes, this seems like a ton of people, but there are still about two hundred-eighty thousand refugees with no access to housing, clean water, and all of the other basic needs for human life. To this day people still constantly show up at several camps trying to survive. The UNHCR is accepting donations from anyone around the world so that they can create a place for the people of Kenya to recieve their basic needs. It is a very devistating thing to hear about these people who have no place to go, and no neccessities to live. From what I'v read, these refugee camps are extremely unsanitary, which result in hundreds of people developing several diseases. To think of a place where people live their life every day in fear of getting murdered, shot, raped, or just having to live in these poor conditions, I don't think anyone could understand how they feel. This is their daily life, and what is "normal" to them, which is simply not right.
                                

You may want to know how people in Somalia make money, and how it may be spent. A BBC NEWS report from November 2004 states that on their way from an airstrip located close to the capital, Mogadishu, there are seven checkpoints that you pass which are each guarded by a different militia. At each of the checkpoints you are required to pay en entry fee anywhere from $3.00-$300.00, depending on the value of goods that you may be carrying. You would hope this money being made would go to things to better the community, like roadwork, medical care, etc., but it does not. The militia men are known to use some of this money  for a drug called khat, which is an addictive stimulant, and who knows what else they use the money for. So really this shows the life of Somalia without a government. It proves you can pretty much be anyone and make your own rule to gain money for whatever you want, whenever. It is scary to realize that this can happen anywhere in Somalia, even scarier to think of what they may be using the money for.  I find one of the most powerful statements in this article to be the true proof of the trouble they are facing: " Those who can afford it travel with several armed guards - and then you can pass the road-blocks unmolested. "

one Somalia border

                                                            Refugee Camp in Somalia

Here are some Somalian facts that may shock you:

Population: As of July 2001, Somalias population varies between 7,488,773 - 9,656,500

Life Expectancy: The average life expectancy for women and men is only 46.6 years

Literacy: Only 24% of the total population
Internationally Displaced Persons: 350,000
Total Refugees: 451,600
Children working(from ages 5-14): 41.9%

Although Somalia has no functioning governement at this time, and probably won't for quite a long time, President Abdulkassin Salat Hassan and Prime Minister Hassan Abshir Farah are planning on using the Transitional National Government which has recently been established in Somalia to try and create unity within the country.


working hard in Somalia


In this video you see a man who travels to Somalia to see how people live in a country with no functioning government.

My opinion has been very clear throughout this blog on Somalia's troubles. It is sad that they were left without a functioning government, and the only thing I can say is that I hope they create one soon. A country should not live every day in fear and pain, no matter where in the world.

Kenya:Human Rights Abuses

Kenya is under a violation of many different human rights and people are very concerned. People have been blaming the majority of these problems on the Law Society of Kenya or LSK. There have been many reports of illegal killings, police torturing and gunning down suspects. This is a touchy subject because the members of the Kenyan parliament get one of the largest salaries but are not respecting human rights and human life. If you have people of parliament who are supposed to be supporting you and doing what's best for the country, as well as respecting your rights and you arent getting that it is just not fair. The fact that they typically get payed the highest salary and don't do anything to help is a huge problem. They should be doing all they can to look out for the people in the country, put their money to good use and atleast try to show that they respect human rights. For it to be well known that police have slaughtered so many people for protesting and trying to stick up for their rights is wrong. The police force are known to serve and protect society, meanwhile they are getting rid of the people who are trying to help society.

We can't just sit around and watch children get sicker, and sicker..

Another issue is the AIDS epidemic. Children who are infected with AIDS as well as any other person infected with AIDS in Kenya are violated of their human rights. They do not get the medical help that they deserve and are treated with disrespect compared to those who are not infected. People in Kenya do not get educated on the virus and because so many people are a victim of rape the chances are very high of developing the virus. The usual human rights violations that children with AIDS experience is abandonment,hazardous child labour, human trafficking, sexual abuse, and more. This is a very disturbing thing to read about because it is clearly not the child's choice to be infected with such a harmful infection. Yes, I am focusing this mostly on children, and the infection does affect more than just them, but all I have read about shows that the children are the majority affected by this. It is sad to think that so much sexual torture and rape is going on and noone is there to stop it. Depending on their age, children don't know the difference between what is right and wrong and since there is so much of it going on there really is nothing they can do about it themselves. There needs to be more action on this; not only to stop the sexual crimes but also create improved medical attention. Knowing that just because they are infected, they are disrespected, is something that is hard to believe from where we come from. I find it so disturbing to think of all the children that are going through this torture and this infection, being disrespected and not getting the help they need. I wish there was more that I could do to get them that medical attention and create a better society for them but unfortunately there's not, especially at the age I am at. But I believe that if everyone gets together and contributes even the littlest things will slowly make a difference.
                                               
Women have little to no human rights in Kenya. They cannot own or inherite any property. They often get abused physically, mentally and especially sexually. Women are treated with much less respect than men. This is a problem in many places that humans do not realize because in the Western society today women tend to have many more rights and can typically do anything that a man can.
                                                      

An everyday job for a woman in Kenya

In the society that we live in today, we don't really stop to think about places, like Kenya, where women are still disrespected and have to live without basic human rights. Ofcourse to them it is just a way of living, but that shouldn't be the case. This is probably going to be one of the hardest issues to break because they have been living this way for so long, and there is definitely nothing we can do, really, it is up to the government or the Law Society of Kenya.

But we shouldn't loose all hope, afterall, there are people out there who are taking action to try and make a change. The United States Institution of Peace is trying to shed a light on these issues and do what they can to help. It is said that Kenya once was a "haven of stability", but ever since the national electroral commision made Mwai Kibaki the winner of the presidential poll, there has been a massive blowout of ethnic violence, humanitarian crisis, economic disruption, and questions on the future of Kenya's political direction. The African Union is now trying to created mediation movements. It is not a surprise that people are questioning Kenya's political direction in the future.Obviously the people of the country weren't too impressed with Mwai Kibaki winning the presidential poll as the crime went up significantly since then; But this isn't the only problem. It isn't just because they may not like who got elected, but more what Mwai Kibaki is doing for the country. You would think with a new election people hope for the best, and someone who will help create a better country. If this was true, I'm sure the crime rate would have changed, or you would have atleast seen some kind of peace movements, medical advancements or something to show that he was trying.

                As I stated in the first paragraph, many human rights in Kenya are not being followed. Police have killed many human rights activists without great reasoning, which has stirred the pot creating anger in the country. To view proof on this, watch here .