Power of song : an analysis on the power of music festivals or conserts as a tool for human rights education in Africa

Music has been an intrinsic part of not only my life but human life and the development of every people, society and culture throughout history. Music possesses the power to cross social, racial, cultural, economic and religious barriers and has the ability to truly touch people on a personal and emotional level which is why some even today fear the influence and impact of music. The process of trying to redeem humanitarian values can seem almost impossible in certain situations, however, human rights educators and researchers in social development have held that “change is successful when brought about at the micro-level.” Those in charge of organising human rights education (HRE) programmes need to take into account the social, political, cultural and economic contexts and the extent to which this education will have for social transformation. HRE in itself is primarily focused on building a human rights culture in communities and the programmes set up is evaluated on the basis of its realisation of this.In addition to building a human rights culture, HRE also leads to advocacy on those human rights issues. This is mostly as a result of societies where there is a struggle to embody and uphold human rights values. HRE would therefore need specific target groups and programmes following particular frameworks such as “fostering and enhancing leadership; coalition and alliance development; and personal empowerment” aimed at firstly healing of that community, its development and social transformation finally.Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2010.A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). Prepared under the supervision of Gilles Cistac of the Faculty of Law, Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique. 2010.http://www.chr.up.ac.za/Centre for Human RightsLL

Tumour necrosis factor allele variants and their association with the occurrence and severity of malaria in African children: a longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: Tumour necrosis factor (TNF) is central to the immune response to Plasmodium infection. Its plasma concentration is influenced by allele variants in the promoter region of TNF. The study's objectives were to assess TNF allele variants (TNF(-1031), TNF(-308)): (1) modulation of malaria rates in young Tanzanian children; (2) modulation of the severity of malaria as indicated by haemoglobin concentrations at the time of presentation with febrile episodes; and (3) the association between Plasmodium infection and haemoglobin concentration in symptomless parasite carriers. METHODS: Data from a placebo-controlled trial in which 612 Tanzanian children aged 6-60 months with height-for-age z-score in the range -3 SD to 1.5 SD was utilised. Those with Plasmodium infection at baseline were treated with artemether-lumefantrine. An episode of malaria was predefined as current Plasmodium infection with an inflammatory response (axillary temperature ≥37.5°C or whole blood C-reactive protein concentration ≥8 mg/L) in children reported sick. Linkage disequilibrium (LD) pattern assessment as well as haplotype analysis was conducted using HAPLOVIEW. Cox regression models used in the primary analysis accounted for multiple episodes per child. RESULTS: Genotyping of 94.9% (581/612) children for TNF(-1031) (TNF(-1031)T>C); allele frequency was 0.39. Corresponding values for rs1800629 (TNF(-308)G>A) were 95.4% (584/612) and 0.17. Compared to the wild type genotype (TT), malaria rates were increased in the TNF -1031CC genotype (hazard ratio, HR [95% CI]: 1.41 [1.01‒1.97] and 1.31 [0.97‒1.76] for crude analysis and adjusting for pre-specified baseline factors, respectively) but decreased in those with the TNF(-308)AA genotype (corresponding HR: 0.13 [0.02‒0.63] and 0.16 [0.04‒0.67]). These associations were weaker when analysing first episodes of malaria (P value -0.59 and 0.38, respectively). No evidence that allele variants of TNF(-1031) and TNF(-308) affected haemoglobin concentration at first episode of malaria, or that they modified the association between Plasmodium infection and haemoglobin concentrations at baseline was observed. CONCLUSION: In this cohort of Tanzanian children, the TNF (-1031)CC genotype was associated with increased rates of malarial episodes, whereas the TNF(-308)AA genotype was associated with decreased rates

Associations between Common Variants in Iron-Related Genes with Haematological Traits in Populations of African Ancestry.

BACKGROUND: Large genome-wide association (GWA) studies of European ancestry individuals have identified multiple genetic variants influencing iron status. Studies on the generalizability of these associations to African ancestry populations have been limited. These studies are important given interethnic differences in iron status and the disproportionate burden of iron deficiency among African ancestry populations. METHODS: We tested the associations of 20 previously identified iron status-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 628 Kenyans, 609 Tanzanians, 608 South Africans and 228 African Americans. In each study, we examined the associations present between 20 SNPs with ferritin and haemoglobin, adjusting for age, sex and CRP levels. RESULTS: In the meta analysis including all 4 African ancestry cohorts, we replicated previously reported associations with lowered haemoglobin concentrations for rs2413450 (β = -0.19, P = 0.02) and rs4820268 (β = -0.16, P = 0.04) in TMPRSS6. An association with increased ferritin concentrations was also confirmed for rs1867504 in TF (β = 1.04, P = <0.0001) in the meta analysis including the African cohorts only. CONCLUSIONS: In all meta analyses, we only replicated 4 of the 20 single nucleotide polymorphisms reported to be associated with iron status in large GWA studies of European ancestry individuals. While there is now evidence for the associations of a number of genetic variants with iron status in both European and African ancestry populations, the considerable lack of concordance highlights the importance of continued ancestry-specific studies to elucidate the genetic underpinnings of iron status in ethnically diverse populations

Networks among agricultural stakeholders in the southwestern highlands of Uganda

The aim of this study was to explore the interactions that exist among agricultural stakeholders in the southwestern highlands of Uganda as a way of identifying opportunities and gaps for operation of Innovation Platforms (IPs) under the proof of concept of Integrated Agricultural Research for Development (IAR4D) research project. The specific objectives were to (i) characterize the agricultural stakeholders in the study sites (ii) determine the nature, diversity and relative importance of horizontal and vertical networks that exist among stakeholders in the Southwestern Highlands of Uganda. Data were collected from both stakeholder analysis and household interviews in Kabale and Kisoro Districts. Results show that extension staff, local governments and farmer groups accounted for approximately 75% of all categories of stakeholders in the area. Most of these organizations started after 10 to 15 years ago following the return of relative political stability in Uganda. Generally, stakeholder interactions in site with limited ARD intervention are more limited compared to their high-intervention counterparts. Sites with “good” market access have more institutions operating there but majority are isolated from each other. At household level, an individual household has networks with approximately two different organizations most of which are farmer groups or credit associations. The greatest proportion of horizontal networks that a household has is with fellow farmers. In order to make the value chain complete, establishment of IPs should pay special attention to including the private sector such as input and produce dealers. Facilitating IP actors to identify critical challenges and opportunities, and effectively articulate them will ensure cohesion. It is also critical to periodically monitor and evaluate stakeholders in terms of the quality of the networks to minimize conflict situations

The impact of malaria-protective red blood cell polymorphisms on parasite biomass in children with severe Plasmodium falciparum malaria

Severe falciparum malaria is a major cause of preventable child mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. Plasma concentrations of P. falciparum Histidine-Rich Protein 2 (PfHRP2) have diagnostic and prognostic value in severe malaria. We investigate the potential use of plasma PfHRP2 and the sequestration index (the ratio of PfHRP2 to parasite density) as quantitative traits for case-only genetic association studies of severe malaria. Data from 2198 Kenyan children diagnosed with severe malaria, genotyped for 14 major candidate genes, show that polymorphisms in four major red cell genes that lead to hemoglobin S, O blood group, α-thalassemia, and the Dantu blood group, are associated with substantially lower admission plasma PfHRP2 concentrations, consistent with protective effects against extensive parasitized erythrocyte sequestration. In contrast the known protective ATP2B4 polymorphism is associated with higher plasma PfHRP2 concentrations, lower parasite densities and a higher sequestration index. We provide testable hypotheses for the mechanism of protection of ATP2B4

Agricultural innovation platform as a tool for development oriented research: Lessons and challenges in the formation and operationalization

The emergence of Integrated Agricultural Research for Development (IAR4D) presents an opportunity to address any development problem. It involves innovative principles and an integrated research agenda while recognizing the need for greater organizational capacities among stakeholders in agriculture. Operationalization of IAR4D revolves around successful establishment and operation of an Agricultural Innovation Platform (AIP). Agricultural Innovation Platforms are being implemented in Lake Kivu Pilot Learning Site (LKPLS) of the Sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Programme, covering three countries (Uganda, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo) with widely differing social political environments to address agricultural development challenges. This paper presents the processes, general guidelines lessons and experiences pertaining to “good practices” for organising and forming AIPs in the LKPLS. The life of AIPs covers three phases, namely; pre-formation, formation and post formation. The lessons and experiences are shared across 6 stages of AIP formation, namely; Identification of a research and developmental challenge(s), Site selection, Consultative and scoping study, Visioning and Stakeholder analysis, Development of action plans and Implementation of the action plans. Emerging lessons highlight AIPs as grounds and pillars for multi-level, multi-stakeholder interactions to identify, understand and address a complex challenge, concomitant emerging issues and learning towards achieving the agreed vision. Agricultural Innovation Platform formation is a dynamic, highly context specific process that incorporates all essential ingredients for successful innovation at once and provides an opportunity for local innovations to bear while at the same time nourishing on introduced innovations. In AIP formation, the recognition and value of indigenous knowledge and capitalization on prevailing policy, institutional setting and involvement of local leadership is vital. The form, nature and time taken by AIP formation process depends on both the conceptual and local context, quality of facilitation, socio-economic, culture, biophysical, political environment in which a common challenge and/or opportunity is identified and on the capacity of stakeholders to comprehend the Innovation Systems Approach (ISA). The process of AIP formation was faster in creating win-wins when market led. Strong leadership, strategic partnership, information flow, interactions and dealing with recurrent challenges during the AIP formation process are critical in fostering innovations. The major challenges included capacitating the stakeholders in requisite skills and dealing with persistent “handout-syndrome”

The development of bone char-based filters for the removal of flouride from drinking water

Millions of people rely on drinking water that contains excess fluoride. Only few fluoride removal techniques have been implemented on a wider scale in low and middle income countries. One of these methods, bone char filtration, is highly efficient. However, its lifespan is rather limited. This paper presents first laboratory results and field testing of a new fluoride removal technology, based on a combination of bone char and calcium-phosphate pellets. These chemicals are slowly released to the water for fluoride precipitation. Although this method, commonly referred to as contact precipitation is known, the development of such pellets is new. Fixed-bed laboratory experiments show that this mixture of materials can increase filter uptake capacity by a factor of 3 and more. However, to reduce the phosphate concentration in the treated water, the design of full-scale community filters for field testing has to be slightly modified

Seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies in Kenyan blood donors.

The spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Africa is poorly described. The first case of SARS-CoV-2 in Kenya was reported on 12 March 2020, and an overwhelming number of cases and deaths were expected, but by 31 July 2020, there were only 20,636 cases and 341 deaths. However, the extent of SARS-CoV-2 exposure in the community remains unknown. We determined the prevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin G among blood donors in Kenya in April-June 2020. Crude seroprevalence was 5.6% (174 of 3098). Population-weighted, test-performance-adjusted national seroprevalence was 4.3% (95% confidence interval, 2.9 to 5.8%) and was highest in urban counties Mombasa (8.0%), Nairobi (7.3%), and Kisumu (5.5%). SARS-CoV-2 exposure is more extensive than indicated by case-based surveillance, and these results will help guide the pandemic response in Kenya and across Africa