For 200 Ugandan Shilling, not even a dime in euro's, women and girls in the IDP-camps in Uganda offer themselves to men, according to a
survey of the Ugandan Ministry of Health. The northern part of the country counts two million displaced, fleeing the violence of the
Lord's Resistance Army. Prostitution is very common in refugee camps, I saw that in Congo, Sudan and Burundi. Poverty forces women into payed sex. Gender based violence also is the order of the day, especially for single women. These facts should be taken into account when building up these camps. Girls in a camp in Eastern Congo for example, didn't dare to visit the latrines. They were so far-off that they feared to be harassed on their way.
Women in trousers - let alone in shorts - still cause some commotion here and there on the African continent. In general you only see young urban women in trousers - like the Rwandan friend in the picture. On the country side and for official occasions ladies trousers are still taboo. It is even forbidden for female representatives to wear them in Congolese Parliament. The male MP's are worried that a woman's bottom in trousers will distract them from their political work. And in Aba, Nigeria, the day before yesterday girls in trousers had to flee groups of boys who had it in for their 'indecent clothing', according to the Nigerian newspaper
Vanguard Daily. The governor's wife had to interfere in order for peace to return in the town in Southern Nigeria.
I'm sure there has been quite a celebration in the radio studio in down town Bujumbura: my colleagues of the Burundian
Radio Isanganiro won a
Prince Claus Award of 25,000 euros! This year the Prince Claus Fund has selected culture and conflict as the theme. In my opinion they couldn't have picked a more suitable candidate. Twice already I visited these colleagues in Burundi - the second time to celebrate the journalist award I had won for my story on their work. Every time I was impressed by their professional dedication, convinced that balanced journalism can play a positive role in a post conflict society. My article on Studio Ijambo, which is a part of Isanganiro, speaks for itself.
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Two African women are to be found amongst the
100 most powerful women on earth of American business magazine
Forbes. Africa's first female president
Ellen Johnston Sirleaf, dropped considerably. Last year the newly elected president of Liberia appeared on number 51, now she closes the ranks at number 100. Getting elected was the easy part, so Forbes Magazine, putting her country back together after a 14-year civil war proves to be more difficult. The prime minister of Mozambique
Luisa Diogo is the highest ranking African on the list at 89. The magazine praises the Mozambican for her fight against poverty and her efforts to interest Chinese business leaders to invest in agricultural technology in her country. Maybe I should pay her a visit when I'm back in Maputo in November.
Still recovering from my book presentation last Wednesday in the Lombok
Museumcafé. So many friends, family and colleagues had shown up. My publisher wondered whether my family had decided to try and buy up the entire first edition... My Congolese colleague and friend Chouchou Namegabe was there to be officially handed the first book, and that was very special to me. A year ago I took a course of self defense for women with her in Bukavu, and chapter six of
Een nacht in een vijzel opens with this very event. It was a great honour to have this radio journalist from Congo, who always has an eye for women's issues, on my book presentation.
In Africa it is my favourite means of transport, but for the women of Katsina, Nigeria, there will probably be no more bike rides. It is
improper for women to be transported by men on commercial motorcycles, says the Chairman of the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs. Also it is way too dangerous for women, especially when they're pregnant. The many motorcycles that drive around as taxis are no longer allowed to carry ladies. In 2008 the government will spend extra money on alternative public transport for women.
For 200 Ugandan Shilling, not even a dime in euro's, women and girls in the IDP-camps in Uganda offer themselves to men, according to a survey of the Ugandan Ministry of Health. The northern part of the country counts two million displaced, fleeing the violence of the Lord's Resistance Army. Prostitution is very common in refugee camps, I saw that in Congo, Sudan and Burundi. Poverty forces women into payed sex. Gender based violence also is the order of the day, especially for single women. These facts should be taken into account when building up these camps. Girls in a camp in Eastern Congo for example, didn't dare to visit the latrines. They were so far-off that they feared to be harassed on their way.
Women in trousers - let alone in shorts - still cause some commotion here and there on the African continent. In general you only see young urban women in trousers - like the Rwandan friend in the picture. On the country side and for official occasions ladies trousers are still taboo. It is even forbidden for female representatives to wear them in Congolese Parliament. The male MP's are worried that a woman's bottom in trousers will distract them from their political work. And in Aba, Nigeria, the day before yesterday girls in trousers had to flee groups of boys who had it in for their 'indecent clothing', according to the Nigerian newspaper Vanguard Daily. The governor's wife had to interfere in order for peace to return in the town in Southern Nigeria.
I'm sure there has been quite a celebration in the radio studio in down town Bujumbura: my colleagues of the Burundian Radio Isanganiro won a Prince Claus Award of 25,000 euros! This year the Prince Claus Fund has selected culture and conflict as the theme. In my opinion they couldn't have picked a more suitable candidate. Twice already I visited these colleagues in Burundi - the second time to celebrate the journalist award I had won for my story on their work. Every time I was impressed by their professional dedication, convinced that balanced journalism can play a positive role in a post conflict society. My article on Studio Ijambo, which is a part of Isanganiro, speaks for itself.
Two African women are to be found amongst the 100 most powerful women on earth of American business magazine Forbes. Africa's first female president Ellen Johnston Sirleaf, dropped considerably. Last year the newly elected president of Liberia appeared on number 51, now she closes the ranks at number 100. Getting elected was the easy part, so Forbes Magazine, putting her country back together after a 14-year civil war proves to be more difficult. The prime minister of Mozambique Luisa Diogo is the highest ranking African on the list at 89. The magazine praises the Mozambican for her fight against poverty and her efforts to interest Chinese business leaders to invest in agricultural technology in her country. Maybe I should pay her a visit when I'm back in Maputo in November.
Still recovering from my book presentation last Wednesday in the Lombok Museumcafé. So many friends, family and colleagues had shown up. My publisher wondered whether my family had decided to try and buy up the entire first edition... My Congolese colleague and friend Chouchou Namegabe was there to be officially handed the first book, and that was very special to me. A year ago I took a course of self defense for women with her in Bukavu, and chapter six of Een nacht in een vijzel opens with this very event. It was a great honour to have this radio journalist from Congo, who always has an eye for women's issues, on my book presentation.
In Africa it is my favourite means of transport, but for the women of Katsina, Nigeria, there will probably be no more bike rides. It is improper for women to be transported by men on commercial motorcycles, says the Chairman of the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs. Also it is way too dangerous for women, especially when they're pregnant. The many motorcycles that drive around as taxis are no longer allowed to carry ladies. In 2008 the government will spend extra money on alternative public transport for women.
