AJF:Newsletter[quarterly]"Africa NOW" No.95

Africa Japan Forum (AJF) works with African People for African People's better life.

Africa NOW No.95

Issued on July 31, 2012, by Africa Japan Forum (AJF)

Special Topic: Potential of ICTs for the indigenous people in Africa

Today, Africa is a big market for mobile phones and the internet-accesses are expanding exponentially. Many people have mobile phones in hand, chatting with friends, swapping information about the livestock market, and asking for help to aid workers. For the indigenous people, are ICTs new opportunities providers, or not? Please read two reports in this issue.

pp.4-9 "Shooting the present and Editing the future: Participatory video practice with an indigenous association"
by BUNDO Daisuke

As a researcher, BUNDO has been taking videos of people in African tropical forests from the early 2000s. In March last year, he had a participatory video practice with an indigenous association in Cameroon. He reports, how the practice was set up, who the participants were, how they made the video and what result it brought about.

pp.8-10 "Mobile phone in Kalahari Desert: A discussion on hunter-gatherer society in ICT age"

In Botswana, the government is making mobile phone posts to ensure that every household has a means of communication, especially in remote rural areas. As a result, from 2011, many people in Kx'oensakene near the Central Kalahari Game Reserve have mobile phones. MARUYAMA reports, there mobile phones are changing people's lives. People have chats with old friends, reach out to NGOs and Capitol dwellers, and build houses in wild land. What will happen next?

p.11 reference material "ICTs and Indigenous People" UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE)

pp.12-15 "Policies for the people with disabilities and an anecdote of Gbagbo's cabinet, Cote d'Ivoire"
by KAMEI Nobutaka

In December 2010, a person with disabilities joined Gbagbo's cabinet as the minister in charge of policies for the people with disabilities. Then he was the representative of the Federation of associations for people with disabilities in Cote d'Ivoire (Federation des Associations des Handicapes de Cote d'Ivoire (FAHCI)). April 2011, Gbagbo was arrested after armed conflict and the ex-minister was arrested. KAMEI reports the situation behind this anecdote.

pp.16-19 "Food security for women: JVC's activities and women in South Africa"
by OKI Sayuri

OKI made a plan for a seminar on "Food Security for women", requested a report on JVC's activities and women in South Africa, and organized meetings and hosted the seminar. She reports preparing process, seminar and results.

pp.20-21 On the spot in Africa: "BURUNDI: three months with youths of Burundi"
by BANNO Tomoka

Last year, BANNO stayed in Burundi as an intern of Australian NGO "HOPE' 87". There she had conversations with youth, joined activities of NGOs, learned land issues and so on. She reports her impression that university students in Burundi are eager for making a contribution to nation building compared with Japanese ones. And she reports their anxiety about the future.

pp.22-23 On the spot in Africa: "KENYA, Dadaab refugee camp"
by MAEDA Misa

MAEDA spent two and a half months at Dadaab refugee camp as an intern of Kenyan NGO "ADEO" last year. This camp has 450 thousand refugees mostly from Somalia and is the largest in the world. There she saw internet cafes, market places, cinema houses and even hotels. She says, her experiences there gave her self confidence and reason enough to return to Africa.

Back cover To readers ("Hitotsu no musubime toshite" in Japanese) and Daily Information from the secretariat of AJF to readers.

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