17
Oct
Much of the conflict and tension in Africa today stems from the artificial creation of nation states by colonial powers, which divided some societies and forced others to live together. Many countries also share a common experience of thirty years of privatization of the public and social sectors,imposed by Northern governments.
Firoze Manji, editor of Pambazuka Press and News, dubs the result “accumulation by dispossession” – a small group is made fabulously wealthy while countless are left landless, homeless and unemployed. In order to survive, people have had to migrate across and beyond Africa.
Enter Inter Pares’ counterpart Fahamu, Pambazuka Publishing and its vision of pan-Africanism. Fahamu provides research, learning, and platforms for advocacy and communication to strengthen African human rights and social justice movements. Hakima Abbas, its dynamic Executive Director, explains: “To transform conflicts, we need to move away from narrow notions of ethnic identity, and move towards a pan-African understanding in which freedom of movement is a key principle.” Part of their research and advocacy is centered on highlighting the root causes of migration in Africa and pushing back on the criminalization of movement – what should be a basic human right.
Currently, Fahamu is expanding its work with refugee and displaced persons to respond to the increasing number of people on the move in the Global South. Fahamu houses the Southern Refugee Legal Aid Network and hosts its website, which is an information portal to promote and support the provision of refugee legal aid. In addition to useful resources for refugees, the site has a directory of NGOs in various African countries that provide services to refugees.
Inter Pares is supporting Fahamu and Pambazuka, Fahamu’s on-line and print publishing arm, because they situate African peoples’ perspectives at the centre of a vision for change – change that will allow people who migrate to do so with dignity, and a vision of Africa “where people are organized to emancipate themselves from forms of oppression, and can realize their full potential.”
Source: Interpares Website