Region: East Africa
-
No civil society, no energy access for all
Why civil society’s contribution is crucial in ensuring energy access for all To eradicate poverty and combat climate change we need universal access to clean and affordable energy. This is also included as one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG7). However, over the last years energy access has not speeded up but slowed down, especially…
-
Community Media Fund Call for Proposals
Call for Concept Notes for the Community Media Fund in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa The role of media and journalism is not confined to news organisations, broadcasting companies or governments—within Africa, a large and growing community media sector is linked to enterprises, civil society, educational institutions and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that focus on issues…
-
Age of Wonderland: 100 Days of Learning in Dar es Salaam
I was part of an inspiring half-day session named 100 Days of Learning, organised by the Age of Wonderland program on Valentine’s Day. An initiative to foster social innovation by facilitating co-creation between creatives in Africa, Latin America and Asia and the Netherlands. The event was organized by Guavay Tanzania, and held at Buni-COSTECH, Dar…
-
Internet freedom is a human right
The city of Valencia hosted the 3rd Internet Freedom Festival from 5-10 March 2017. The festival brought together a diverse group of over 1200 people from 114 countries to discuss issues related to privacy, anonymity, access to information and policy and advocacy for Internet freedom. Internet Freedom in Africa was widely discussed with the issues…
-
Ensuring farmer’s access to open source seeds systems in Kenya
‘’Farmers, too, have a voice in food security.’’ This comment represents some of the conversations during an open source seeds forum in Nakuru County on 15 to 17 March 2017 convened by Hivos East Africa, Bioversity International, Genetic Resources Research Institute and Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resources Management – Africa. The forum drew participation from…
-
The real people affected by lack of access to energy must not be forgotten in the COP process
Looking back on my overwhelming first time attending a Council of the Parties (COP) at COP22 in Marrakech last November, it was filled with so many meetings, side panels, negotiations and networking opportunities that it was easy to overlook the real people affected by lack of access to energy. Acronyms were flying all over the place,…
-
Kajiado County; a champion for renewable energy usage
You can almost see nothing inside the Manyatta (a home, often temporary of the Maasai/Samburu people). The window and only ventilation is the size of two adult hands. There is fire burning probably to keep the place lit up and warm given it is a rainy day. Even with the choking darkness one cannot fail…
-
Call for concept notes
About Community Media Fund The role of media and journalism is not confined to news organisations, broadcasting companies or governments—within Africa, a large and growing community media sector is linked to enterprises, civil society, educational institutions and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that focus on issues of transparency, accountability and governance. The Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa…
-
Calling all open contracting champions and innovators…
Photo: Bert Kaufmann Calling all open contracting champions and innovators! March 14, 2017 #OCGlobal17, Amsterdam, 28 & 29 November 2017 Open contracting is one of the most exciting areas in modernizing government, fighting corruption, reforming markets and fostering business innovation and entrepreneurship. Better, smarter and fairer government contracting will have a huge impact on citizens’…
-
Put migrant domestic workers higher on the international Human Rights agenda
Just one day at the 61st session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW61) showed me that this year’s theme, ‘Women’s Economic Empowerment in the changing world of work’, may finally bring some well-deserved attention to the feminization of migration and the plight of women in domestic work. But – will this attention…
-
Empowering women through bio-digesters
Ethiopia has built more than 15,000 bio-digesters since 2009. They have changed the lives of women not only by providing clean energy, but also by freeing up their income to invest in profitable businesses. Women and girls play critical roles in supplying household fuels in countries like Ethiopia, where 95 per cent of households depend…
-
Women, land ownership and food security in Uganda
Last week, the world celebrated the International Women’s Day. While tremendous gains have been made economically, socially and politically in the last decade for women, a lot more still needs to be done. Take for example the role of women in food production. Over the weekend, The New Vision newspaper, Uganda, highlighted a story noting…
