Freetown’s “Ajekuleh”: Where the Good, the Bad and the Ugly revive memories of a tragic past

LSE’s Simone Datzberger examines the legacy of Freetown’s former slave port on her latest visit to Sierra Leone

Film Review: N.G.O. – Nothing Going On

Simone Datzberger interviews Arnold Aganze whose latest film serves as a stern critique of how NGOs operate in African countries

Education and Empowerment: Voices from Ugandan Youth

Despite the fast-growing body of literature on education and empowerment, young people’s perception of their own educational setting has not received adequate attention in advancing our understanding of the empowering but also disempowering elements of education. This is especially the case for the sub-Saharan African context. Addressing this gap, this study lets 497 Ugandan youth speak for themselves in the scope of a questionnaire. The diversity of young people’s responses shows that experiences of empowerment through formal education differ significantly among individuals. By drawing on the work of Stromquist, this paper broadly relates young people’s responses to cognitive (e.g.: critical understanding of one’s reality), psychological (e.g.: feeling of self-esteem), political (e.g.: awareness of power inequalities and the ability to organize and mobilize) and the economic (e.g.: capacity to generate independent income) dimensions of empowerment through education. While the majority of youth indicated that they feel psychologically empowered through formal education, perceptions differed significantly in regard to economic empowerment. Besides, political or cognitive aspects of empowerment appear to happen outside and not in schools. A notable majority (75 %) feels disempowered by the many political, economic and social barriers they are facing outside their education, suggesting that education alone is not the magic bullet for systemic change at large

A decade after the Sierra Leone civil war, Freetown’s youth are still living on hope

Simone Datzberger is a PhD Student in LSE’s Department of International Relations. Simone has just returned from Sierra Leone where she has been conducting fieldwork for her thesis which looks at the role of local civil society initiatives in the peacebuilding and development process of the country. During her stay she also had the chance to gain some insight on the situation of the youth in Freetown ten years after the devastating civil war. In this article she looks at the role of youth clubs in maintaining peace in the country

Uganda: Digging for social justice in Karamoja

Simone Datzberger and Tenywa Aloysius Malagala examine how the poor provision of education for the Karamojong in Northern Uganda affects the community’s ability to advocate for their rights in the face of mineral resource exploitation

Far from being victims, women’s networks have led the way in campaigning for peace and justice

LSE’s Simone Datzberger explores the role of women’s networks in championing the rights of women in fragile states

In the aftermath of the Fourth High Level Forum in Busan – Reflections on the effectiveness of Aid

‘Where has the aid money gone?’ – was the title of a Guardian DataBlog article released on January 12th 2012 which analyzed the re-construction efforts, costs and funding of conflict and earthquake shattered Haiti. The matter of concern is worrisome indeed as – echoing the Guardian: ‘figures released by the UN special envoy for Haiti show that only 53% of the nearly $4.5bn pledged for reconstruction projects in 2010 and 2011 has been delivered.’[1] Looking at the current funding status of latest appeals by all humanitarian organizations, the situation in Haiti seems even more devastating. According to the data collected by the United Nations Office of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Financial Tracking System (FTS)[2], only 2% of all funds required in the near future are hitherto covered.[3] As of February 10, 2012, within OCHA’s FTS, Haiti is ranked as the third most underfunded country worldwide in terms of funding appeals and requirements by organization and ‘real’ commitments (not pledges) made. Liberia leads the way (0% of all new appeals thus far funded) and is followed by Côte d’Ivoire (only 1% covered)

Modern slavery: Why dehumanizing the ‘Other’ concerns all of us

On a continually shifting priority list of issues to be eradicated globally, modern slavery has slowly but steadily crept up a few places on the attention scale

Sierra Leone – Barefoot soldiers for social justice, food security and peace

As Sierra Leone continues its post-war reconstruction, LSE’s Simone Datzberger looks at the role of the Organisation for Peace, Reconciliation and Development-Sierra Leone (OPARD-SL) in bringing peace to the West African country