Mustafa Hashmi
Africa Issues Analysis Paper
May 20, 2015
Contemporary Africa Issues Project
1.) The Democratic Republic of Congo, with a population of over 75 million people is currently the second largest country in Africa. However, despite being this large of a country it is the poorest country in Africa and in the world, experiencing extreme poverty. The Democratic Republic of Congo has the lowest gross domestic product per capita in the world, which is defined as a measure of the total output of a country that takes the GDP and divides it by the number of people in the country, in this case the Democratic Republic of Congo. GDP per capita helps determine the global success of a country and portrays the country’s overall standard of living,
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The Democratic Republic of Congo’s poverty is displayed socially in terms of the seven deprivation indicators and sexual violence. These seven deprivation indicators include health, education, water, shelter, information, sanitation, and food. “Amongst the Democratic Republic of Congo, almost half of children aged between 6 and 17 years are deprived in five of the seven key indicators: water, sanitation, shelter, information, and health. Also prevalent in the country is nearly twenty five percent of children aged between 6 and 17 who are education deprived, in that they have never been to primary nor secondary school.” (Multidimensional poverty in the Democratic Republic of Congo). This greatly portrays the prevalence and horrifying conditions that reside in the Democratic Republic of Congo, especially amongst young children. The children that grow up in this country are not given the same opportunities as children are in other countries to grow in a healthy environment. These children are also not given the early gift of education which most children in other countries take for granted. There are many other necessities that other children take for granted which many Congolese children do not have including food, water, and many other necessities that are given to them naturally. “The national average of children under the age of 5 who are deprived of at least one dimension of the seven varies between 50 per cent, who are suffering from food deprivation, to over 80 per cent, who are experiencing shelter deprivation.” (Multidimensional poverty in the Democratic Republic of Congo). Another prevalent social issue that resides in the Democratic Republic of Congo, mainly among women, is sexual violence. Rape and sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo is essentially used as a weapon to enforce
In the essay “Why Africa? Why Art?” by Kwame Anthony Appiah, he talks about basically how Africa is thought to be an uncivilized barren and that’s the stereotypical thing that comes to most people’s mind when thinking about this continent. African art has to look a certain way to be able to be called “African.” It has to be made by a tribe, not just one person which is why he says that most African pieces are signed with a tribe name, not just one name. Appiah gives an example of these Asante gold weights that his mother had a collection of. Their use value was to weigh gold dust, which used to be the method of currency. They were made as a utilitarian product, not for art, but many people started to recognize the aesthetic value. He says, “…in appreciating and collecting these weights as art, we are doing something new with them…” These days art is defined to be a certain way and look a certain way. It can’t just be anything, it has to have an aesthetic value to be considered art and to fall into the “guidelines”.
Unlike the North – a term in vogue today, among others, for highlighting the difference between the rich, industrialised nations of mostly Western Europe, North America, Australasia, and the rudimentary economies of Latin America, Asia and Africa – underdevelopment, characterised by low income levels, poverty, low living standards and other socio-economic ills seem to be a defining feature of countries in these regions, collectively described as the Global South. Thomas (2003), Hershberg and Moreno-Brid(2003), and, Solimano(2005) suggest, for instance, that the socio - economic structure of most Latin American countries remains defined by vast inequalities in income and wealth distribution, poverty, volatile growth, high mortality rate and a high level of economic vulnerability. In Asia, a number of countries including the large economies of India and China have made improvements in the 21st century in terms of reducing poverty. Yet, 22% of the developing countries in Asia live on a dollar a day . The situation is bleaker in the South and Southeast Asia region where 38% leave on less than a dollar a day and over 48% of the population living below the regions individual country poverty line . Likewise, absolute poverty is on the rise in Africa - generally recognised as the world’s richest continent in terms of natural resources - despite a recorded decline in global poverty rates (Bhattacharyya: 2005).
Global Inequalities and Interdependence Outline, and discuss the value of some of the indices which geographers have used in attempting to define 'a developing country' Measures of development are defined using a multitude of theories. Some focus on economic indicators, others on the quality of life. The economic indicator uses figures from GDP and GNP, which stand for Gross Domestic Product and Gross National Product respectively. GNP is the total value, or output of goods and services which become available during a period of time for consumption or saving within a country, plus income from foreign investors. This is then measured per head of the population, which gives GNP per Capita.
Sexual abuse of women has become a trend in most civil wars. Rape is one of the most dangerous weapons today being used in civil wars against women. Some of the countries that have used genocidal rape as a weapon of war are Sierra Leone, Liberia and former Yugoslavia. The emotional hurt from sexual abuse leaves a deeper scar, strips away the dignity and identity of women. Genocidal rape was first recognized as weapon of war in 1992 in the former Yugoslavia and later in Rwanda because of the alarming number of women who were raped. During the three months of genocide in 1994 in Rwanda, 100,000 and 250,000 were sexually violated . Oftentimes women are traumatized from the experience. Rape as a weapon of war was and still is being used in both Congo and Rwanda genocides. Although the Congo and Rwanda genocides occurred at different times, the damages and pain inflicted on women through sexual abuse are the same. Rwanda genocide only lasted a short few months, but Congo genocide on the other hand lasted for over a decade and still is going on. Unfortunately Congo women are still experiencing the brutality and harshness of genocidal rape. In this paper I will examine:
Africa’s key to becoming a civilized nation was because the government functioned, people could cooperate efficiently, and substantial amounts of data from travellers show how civilized Africa was. In Document 4, it states,“They are seldom unjust, and have a greater abhorrence [hatred] of injustice than any other people. Their sultan shows no mercy to anyone who is guilty of the least act of it. There is complete security in their country. Neither traveler nor inhabitant in it has anything to fear from robbers.” This is what each separate civilization at the time was able to achieve by themselves. Like any other country, there were conquests, inventions and military expenditures that further benefitted the progress that they made in becoming
Bryant H. McGill once said “Education should prepare our minds to use its own powers of reason and conception rather than filling it with the accumulated misconceptions of the past” (McGill ). There are misconceptions all around us; people look at certain things in a particular manner but what each person sees comes from their background. I have recently come to the realization that there are many misconceptions held about the African continent; my current class has helped me see these misconceptions and understand why they are incorrect and how I formed them. With the help of our Western society, I developed beliefs that Africa was a continent full of poverty, civil unrest, and in desperate need of help. Much of the media coverage in Africa showed droughts, famine, the need for clean drinking water; everything that was exposed to the American population about Africa through these channels carried a negative connotation. I was never taught or informed about the complex culture and fascinating traditions that make up such a diverse continent. The ancient kingdoms of West Africa were complex, developed civilizations that had rich culture, traditions, values, norms and skills that exceeded those of societies of the rest of the world such as European ones. In this paper, I will first further explain some of the common misconceptions that I had about African in general and about their ancient kingdoms.
We are proud to reveal that we have stopped rape as a weapon of war in Congo. During the period of Congo’s vicious conflict, thousands of females were victimized for rape and sexual abuse. It was estimated by the United Nations that 200,000 women and girls were victims of those atrocious crimes. There has been a constant increase of these inhuman acts on Congolian females due to of the follow suit of government soldiers and militants committing such acts. To curb the rising alarming issue, HRW held a press conference and publicly announced the strong condemnation of such inhuman acts by belligerents. Following that, the military took a zero-tolerance policy for sexual violence. After years of following this issue, we have observed considerable developments in Congo and changes for a safer
In the feature article "The Destruction of Childhood," the author, Langdon Winner, explains the brutal childhood of many children living in Third World Countries. The author points out several facts and surveys done many groups such as United Nations that show
Paul Collier’s book is about the future of the world. Most of the world is on the positive trajectory set by growth and prosperity. The 21st Century is the age of the middle class. For most of the world, things are looking up. However, Collier is concerned with a group of countries that are not part of this trajectory. Collier is concerned with approximately 58 countries that constitute about one billion people, or 20 percent of the earth’s population (Collier 7). This “bottom billion” group belongs to countries that are not progressing with the rest of the world’s pace; in fact, they seem to be diverging and falling apart when everyone else around them are growing. The purpose of the book is to show these countries are, in fact, diverging. He shows them caught in four different “traps.” After proving this, Collier has the challenge of making the case for reform and what can be done to fix these countries and put them on the course towards growth and prosperity. Finally, Collier has to show why the western world should care about supporting these countries and reversing their decline and how their current poor trajectory represents a drain on the global economy and security environment. The Bottom Billion is written for a broad audience; essentially all citizens of democratic countries. Collier encourages action by all levels but recommendations are made for policymakers in G8 countries that are responsible and interested in achieving improvement for impoverished countries.
The topic that I have selected for my chapter evaluation essay is that of “Economic Development”. This paragraph above is the best summary of the chapter’s contents. In this chapter the author discusses the influence of development on the three worlds of countries. These worlds are benchmarks set to assess countries economic states relative to each other.
Nearly 50,000 people, including 30,000 children, die each day due to poverty-related problems and preventable disease in underdeveloped Countries. That doesn’t include the other millions of people who are infected with AIDS and other incurable diseases. Especially those living in Sub-Saharan Africa (70%), or “the Third-World,” and while we fight to finish our homework, children in Africa fight to survive without food, or clean water. During the next few paragraphs I will give proof that poverty and disease are the two greatest challenges facing under developed countries.
Poverty extends out over all continents, making it the most widespread negative factor. Out of the world’s 2.2 billion children, approximately half live in poverty according to UNICEF. Poverty claims approximately 22,000 children’s lives per day. This statistic illustrates the struggle children that live in poverty must face in order to survive. Poverty is a root cause of hunger, disease, and lack of shelter. It is concentrated in pockets in areas such as South Africa and South Asia. Children, who must...
(a) Africans and Europeans have relations that date all the way back to the origins of humans and human migrations. Scholars have hypothesized that Homo erectus found in Europe about 800,000 years ago originated and migrated from Africa Europeans and Africans also had religious relations; which is evident from the spread of Christianity, introduced by the Byzantines, throughout Africa specifically in North Africa, the Nile Valley, and the Horn of Africa. Aside from religious relations, Africans and Europeans also had economic and political relations as a result of European colonization and conquest of the African regions. Economic relations were a result of Europeans coming into Africa and taking natural resources to benefit from in the production of goods and trade. Another specific example of economic relations between Europeans and Africans is the practice of mercantilism, in which European nations were the mother countries and countries of Africa were the colonies. As the mother country, Europeans, would take natural resources from the colony, African regions, to produce goods, which would then be sold back to the colony. This also attributed to the political relations between Africans and Europeans because the economic desires of the Europeans often led to them controlling the Africans to maximize profit and their own personal benefits; which is directly related to slavery, one of the biggest relations between Africans and Europeans. Slavery and the slave trade in turn created social relations because slaves were considered to be a class of their own. Another social relation that resulted from slavery was the creation a “new race” known as the...
Some of the prominent states that are consumed with poverty are Rwanda, Chad, and Democratic Republic of Congo. Rwanda is a landlocked, resource-poor country. The population is about 9.7 million, and 87 per cent of Rwandans live in rural areas. Population density in the country is the highest in Africa, with about 370 persons/km². The country is one of the poorest in Africa. Gross domestic product per capita was US$464 in 2008, and Rwanda ranked 167th out of 182 countries in the 2009 United Nations Development Program’s Human Development Index. Chad is also one of the world's poorest countries. In 2003 over 54 per cent of the population was living below the poverty line. For much of the population health and social conditions are inadequate. Chronic food shortages are widespread, and malnutrition levels among young children are high. These statistics are slightly higher in rural as oppose...
The majority of the continent of Africa has not been as economically progressive as the other continents in today’s world. However, over the past few years, it has been rapidly growing. Although there have been multiple countries in Africa that have reflected a strong growing economy, such as South Africa and Botswana, there are many other countries that are still corrupt and are still struggling to grow as a nation. There are many challenges that are facing Africa currently. Some of these major challenges being, corrupt governments, vicious cycles of aid, and poverty traps. However, among these challenges, there still lies to be great opportunities for Africa within their technology and business sectors.