The African Human Rights System: A Critical Evaluation

human development, human rights

Educational planning and development in Kenya: the 8-4-4 school curriculum and its implications for self-employment

Since the late 1960s a major feature of the Kenya economy has been the rising unemployment of school leavers. This problem, which has reflected the inability of the modern economy to create employment positions as fast as the education system has been producing aspirants, has greatly influenced the search for approaches aimed at making formal education more relevant to national development. Government Commissions as well as donors who have advised on Kenya's education since 1972 have been emphatic that education should concern itself with preparing learners for self employment. As a concerted effort to relate education more to development the 8-4-4 system of education, which has been government policy since early 1982, emphasizes among its goals the need for primary and secondary education to prepare learners for self-reliance. This emphasis is the theme of discussion in this paper. The discussion is cast in the light of four theories which have been influential in the education for development debate in developing countries. The paper centres on the 8-4-4 school curricula – its organisation, preparation for self-reliance and reform of the examination system. The objectives, content and examination procedures of the curricula are described in some detail. While it is accepted that in principle the 8-4-4 reforms are a step in the right direction, it is argued that implementation should be accompanied by continuous evaluation and experimentation so that shortcomings highlighted in the discussion are improved upon. In particular basic and action research should be employed in search of ways of relating education to life after school through a broad-based conceptualisation, development and implementation of curricula and examinations

Just Back From the Human Rights Council

The piece critically looks at the transition from the UN Commission on Human Rights to the UN Human Rights Council in 2006 and questions whether the change is one of substance or form. It argues that the same paralysis that dogged the Commission will continue to afflict the Council because power politics and regional blocs - fueled by the global asymmetries of power - will not go away. The piece also contends that the charge by the West that the Commission was utterly compromised by the Third World was without merit because it was the one forum where developing could reprimand the West. The truth is that both the West and the global South used it for political purposes - the West to advance its foreign policy objectives, the South to blunt the criticism of the West and cover up its own shortcomings. The piece concludes with a call for reforming the Human Rights Council to make it truly effective and non-partisan

Critical Race Theory and International Law: The View of an Insider-Outsider

This article contends that international law, like national law, is captive to the racial biases and hierarchies that hide injustice under the pretext of legal neutrality and universality. It argues that international law is tormented by racist and hegemonic asymmetries that govern the international order. The piece posits that international law could benefit greatly from the method of critical race theory in unpacking the pathologies of power and race that define it. It focuses on the use of international law to conceive and buttress the exploitation and marginalization of the North by the South. It calls for a reconstruction of international law to serve the ends of justice and equality

Equity and efficiency in financing secondary education in Kenya: key issues in state-community partnership

In response to constraints in the public budget, which partly reflect a monumental quantitative growth in education since 1963, the Kenya Government has developed state-community partnership in the financing and management of secondary schools. It is envisaged that the great majority of secondary schools will become community institutions, with the periphery playing a much bigger role in financing and managing them. This policy has equity and efficiency implications. This paper, which is part of an on-going study on the financing and management of secondary education in Kenya, discusses current problems with regard to inadequacy of resources in institutions, disparity in the geographical distribution of secondary schools, the plight of poor families in meeting school expenses and bottle-necks in management practices. Recommendations on the reduction of inequity and increasing efficiency as state-community partnership is implemented are made. In the final section, the paper suggests that detailed formulation and implementation of policy would benefit from research in at least four spheres in which no studies are underway

The Iraq Paradox: Minority and Group Rights in a Viable Constitution

On October 15, 2005 an Iraq ravaged by a civil war spawned by the 2003 American invasion and subsequent occupation voted to decide the fate of a permanent constitution for the country. Although many Sunni Arabs took part in the vote, the referendum lost in the three governorates where they form a majority. But the constitution was approved because opponents only succeeded in recording no votes larger than two-thirds in only two of Iraq\u27s eighteen provinces, in effect one province short of a veto. A two-thirds rejection in three provinces would have doomed the charter and the transition to a regime more autonomous of the American occupation forces. However, Iraq teeters on collapse months after the referendum, national elections, and the formation of a so-called national government. Only a popularly legitimate accommodation of minority and group rights in a democratic constitutional framework, a virtually impossible challenge, can avert the disintegration of Iraq. The legislature, which is dominated by the Shia, ought to step back from the temptation of a theocracy, and instead look to equal protection and anti-discrimination norms for minorities as it constructs a lasting constitutional framework. Otherwise, the failure to address the question of minority and group rights will result in the disintegration of Iraq

Savages, Victims, and Saviors: The Metaphor of Human Rights

This article critically looks at the human rights project as a damning three-dimensional metaphor that exposes multiple complexes. It argues that the grand narrative of human rights contains a subtext which depicts an epochal contest pitting savages, on the one hand, against victims and saviors, on the other. The savages-victims-saviors (SVS) construction lays bare some of the hypocrisies of the human rights project and asks human rights thinkers and advocates to become more self-reflective. The piece questions the universality and cultural neutrality of the human rights project. It calls for the construction of a truly universal human rights corpus, one that is multicultural, inclusive, and deeply political

Africa and the Rule of Law

The rule of law is often seen as a panacea for ensuring a successful, fair and modern democracy which enables sustainable development. However, as Makau Mutua highlights, this is not the case. Using the example of African states, he describes how no African country has truly thrown off the shackles of colonial rule and emerged as a truly just nation state – even though many have the rule of law at the heart of their constitutions. This, he argues, is because the Western concept of the rule of law cannot be simply transplanted to Africa. The concept must be adapted accordingly to take into account the cultural, geographic and economic peculiarities of each state. In order to achieve this, Mutua offers seven core values which the rule of law must reflect in order to achieve sustainable development across the continent