Our concern for Africa is shaped by long term relationsips between Maryknoll missioners and the people of Sudan and South Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Namibia. We honor their strength and wisdom and believe that African cultures and traditions often suggest solutions to seemingly intractable local and global problems.
In Africa our Global Concerns work is at times country-specific, focussing, for example, on the slow process toward peace between Sudan and South Sudan, or the genocide in Darfur; the political and economic collapse of Zimbabwe; the introduction of genetically modified seeds or the political situation in Tanzania; efforts to stop corruption in Kenya, among other issues. We also address transnational issues of great concern to all people in Africa: deep and endemic poverty; the HIV and AIDS pandemic; the call for the cancellation of illegitimate and overwhelming debt without conditions that worsen poverty; just trade agreements; the rights of women and children; and environmental degradation.
President Barack Obama’s second safari (“travel” in Swahili) to Africa as head of state – scheduled June 27-July 2 – raises several interesting questions: Who will accompany him and his family to Senegal, Tanzania and South Africa? With whom will Obama meet while in Africa? What issues will be discussed in public and in private? These questions may be a guide to what to look for in the Obama visit.
A new statement by the Africa Advocacy Network (ADNA) — which includes the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns — calls for a new approach to the U.S.’s trade and investment, militarization, agriculture and land policies toward Africa.
In this reflection, Sr. Theresa Baldini remembers women she encountered in South Sudan.
Fr. Joe Healey, MM, wrote the following reflection on Kenya’s recent election for the May-June 2013 NewsNotes.
Though the date has not yet been announced, Zimbabwean voters are expected to go to the polls for parliamentary and presidential elections before August 29.
The following pastoral letter was published by the Zimbabwean Catholic bishops in March 2013 as the country prepares for a new round of national elections.
Joanne Miya is a Maryknoll lay missioner serving in Tanzania.
The following article was written by Sr. Teresa Hougnon, MM, who lives and works in Kenya, where elections took place on Monday, March 4.
Moral and legal questions have been raised about the Obama administration’s use of drones and by concerns that they will soon be used in Africa for targeted assassinations.
This week’s scripture reflection is written by Fr. Joe Healey, who has lived and worked in East Africa for many years.
This year is the Africa Faith and Justice Network’s 30th anniversary of policy analysis and advocacy for good governance, peace, development and justice in Africa. A conference on the theme “Justice for Africa, justice for the world” will be held March 1-3, 2013 at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. Workshops will focus…
Since June 2011, government forces from Sudan have fought the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army-North (SPLM/A-N) in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan regions.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the site of the world’s longest-running and most expensive peacekeeping operations, including a UN peacekeeping presence for several years after its independence in 1960 and more recent UN missions starting in the late 1990s. Despite this, an estimated five million people have died in the years since the second regional war began in 1998, and millions more have been forced to flee their homes.
Fr. John Sivalon, who worked as a missioner in East Africa, writes the reflection for Ash Wednesday.
Sr. Connie Krautkremer, who lives and works in Dodoma, Tanzania, writes this week’s reflection.
The Rwandan-backed M23 militia withdrew from the eastern area of the DRC on December 1, but, according to Bloomberg news, “the rebels have remained in a ring around the city, within a 20-kilometer (12-mile) neutral zone they had agreed to leave.”
The following article, contributed by Marie Dennis, explains how church leaders responded to the September 27 Cooperation Agreement between Sudan and South Sudan; the agreement covers a number of areas of vital importance, including oil, security arrangements, economic affairs, the status of nationals of the other states, a framework for cooperation on central banking, borders, trade, and other matters.
Throughout these tumultuous times in Sudan, the Sudanese people have been murdered, oppressed and silenced for too long. Having been crippled by state violence for years, we join together to commemorate the souls of those who lost their lives and fight for peace and life with dignity for those who remain suffering. We will not stop until there is peace in every region of Sudan.
