Sexual offences and violence against women remain pervasive in the West African country, which in the past has had the distinction of being led by Africa’s first elected female head of state.



I have been working on women’s rights for at least seven years. It has never been easy, but at no time have we been busier than in 2020. We are fighting several other epidemics in the shadow of the Covid-19 pandemic: domestic violence, rape, and other sexual offenses and murders. We are confronting these while at the same time fighting to compel our government to act. 



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My work has focused mostly in Ganta, a sprawling urban town in northern Liberia, where I grew up. Ganta has not totally left its rural trappings even though it is developing fast. Its population is a mixture of modernizers seeking to upend tradition, particularly practices that undermine human rights, and conservatives determined to preserve old traditions.&nbsp;



I represent the former, and as you might expect, I often come into conflict with the values of the ‘older generation’ who believe that as a young person, I should not speak against sexual and gender-based violence, female genital circumcision, child marriage and rape. I have never faced direct threats to my life for speaking against these practices, but I have been ‘warned’, shamed, harassed, and sometimes pressured into temporary silence.



Where I come from, it is almost a taboo for a girl or woman to report sexual abuse. Those who do so only seek justice, but in most cases end up as a double victim. In addition to the abuse, they are stigmatized and blamed. To avoid stigmatization, many victims live with their pain and grieve silently while their abuser lives freely and continues to abuse others.&nbsp;



My organization has been determined to bring abusers to justice and end stigmatization and victim-blaming. To break this culture of silence and give young victims a safe space to speak out, we established human rights clubs in schools and communities. The clubs create awareness about rape and violence against women, and encourage and support victims to seek justice. The results so far have been mixed.&nbsp;



Some victims do initially speak out, but a good number will prefer to resolve the issue in their community rather than going to court. Unfortunately, they are often blamed and shamed when the community gets involved. The prohibitive cost of seeking justice in Liberia discourages victims, and frustrates us all.&nbsp;&nbsp;



So we now focus more on awareness and advocacy, believing that knowledge of the rape law among community members might deter offenders. However,&nbsp;as Covid-19 spreads across&nbsp;Liberia, the government introduced a semi-lockdown and closed schools. While they focused on curtailing the virus, sexual offences surged. The Ministry of Gender reported in July that about 600 cases of rape and sexual offences were reported between January and June 2020 – unreported cases could be five times higher.



We reacted to this news by mobilizing&nbsp;women’s groups across the country and organizing demonstrations to call on the government to take immediate action. I led the campaign in Nimba County, northeastern Liberia. In August, we staged three days of nationwide protests at various government institutions and public places. Our colleagues in Monrovia, Liberia’s capital, staged a protest outside the president’s office.



Our nationwide campaign was successful. The government immediately organized a multi-stakeholder conference on sexual offences, the president declared rape a national emergency and funding was increased to fight violence against women.



But that has not been the end. We still have more to do. Sexual offences and violence against women remain pervasive as many communities do not view these as crimes.&nbsp;Our job is to make them see these as punishable offences under the law. The government, too, needs to be reminded to deliver on its promises.&nbsp;



Our struggle will continue.



– By Abigail Freeman, founder of the Alliance for Gender Justice and Human Rights, an organization that champions women’s rights, promotes gender equality and elevates the voices of women and youth in rural Liberia.&nbsp;

Abigail Liberia protest1

Breaking The Culture Of Silence In Liberia

Why the foundations of education systems in Africa need to be more inclusive so that no one is left behind.



Covid-19 has confronted us with the greatest education emergency of our lifetime. It interrupted the education of over 90% of the world’s students, exacerbating already existing inequalities and magnifying the global learning crisis. The ripple effects of this pandemic on people’s lives will be felt for years, potentially generations, if more is not done to make sure that exclusion is minimized, and the most vulnerable protected.



Before this pandemic hit, the 2020 Global Education Monitoring Report, All Means All, for which I am a youth advisor, shows that half of the world’s out-of-school children were in sub-Saharan Africa, totalling 97 million children and youth and growing. Without improvement, more than one in 10 adults in the region will not have completed primary school by 2050. Against this backdrop, I also learned that 40% of countries in the region have not supported disadvantaged learners during school shut-downs due to Covid-19.



The 2014-15 Ebola virus epidemic was all too recent to have been erased from planners’ memories. Yet the challenge was too large for any education system to respond effectively. This reeks of potential devastation for some of the most marginalized.



Battling back from this will require getting our priorities right. This isn’t just about the complex decisions to be made about continuing school closures, or re-opening, or finding new hybrid measures, it is also about deciding what emphasis to give to what types of learning.



We have to hope that countries will come up for air from this education emergency with a more inclusive outlook. If we are now fighting to open school doors again, why should that fight extend only to some and not all? Multiple groups still find their education opportunities are determined by their background, identity and ability. In Uganda, for example, less than half of eligible children in refugee-hosting districts have access to pre-school. In Tanzania, only half of children with albinism complete primary school. Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania still enforce a total ban on pregnant girls and young mothers in public schools. Four countries (South Sudan, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Somalia) do not specify a minimum age for marriage. And so the list goes on.



The foundations of education systems in the regions need to be made more inclusive for starters. Despite commitments to achieving inclusive education by 2030, only 2% of countries in sub-Saharan Africa have an education law inclusive of all learners, no matter their background, identity or ability.



But attention needs to be paid to the mechanisms within education systems as well. One survey found that fewer than one in 10 primary school teachers in 10 Francophone countries in our region had any training in inclusive education. Now faced with distance learning and the digital divide, such training is even more important than ever.



Inclusive education requires providing adapted infrastructure and materials and making sure that every child feels welcome in school. In many countries, however, including Mali, Mauritania and Senegal, most primary schools lack separate toilets for girls. This has a huge impact on whether of girls who have begun menstruating want to attend school or not. It is of vital importance in our region, where many students are over-age.



Clearly, finding success in the face of these challenges is not something any country can do alone. Covid-19 will increase costs, not just because of health bills, but also because of teachers’ salaries, technology, and infrastructure implications if social distancing has to be maintained. Both the length of school closures but also GDP scenarios will determine recovery. The GEM Report recently calculated that Covid-19 risks setting aid to education back by six years due to recession.&nbsp;



But, in every crisis, there’s opportunity. And the opportunity we have is to meet the challenge head-on. Business as usual is not enough. We must improve education offerings in the face of uncertainly and prepare this new generation to face and conquer the next crisis that will appear around the corner. We owe it to them. I, for one, will be working with fellow youth activists to make sure this point is heard.



– By Vivian Onano, youth advisor to the Global Education Monitoring Report, UNESCO

Two beautiful African children sitting in Classroom in Bamako, Mali

The Opportunities Young Leaders Are Seeing In Education

In a recent encounter with a Nigerian doctor, when in hospital recovering from an illness, it emerged the owner of the soothing voice that aided one’s convalescence was unhappy. Not with her patient – a challenging case no less – but with her career in her country of birth.
And she is one of the more fortunate ones. As a doctor in a private hospital in a highbrow area of Lagos, she was relatively well-paid. And judging from what one garners from those long hours of forced idleness when admitted in hospital, this particular hospital gets a number of cases.
Imagine the irony: whereas the individual hopes to suffer less afflictions, if at all, the doctor’s joy comes from a case worth his or her time. The more complicated, the better. Still, a doctor’s experience, even in the best teaching hospital in the country, pales in comparison to that of lesser professionals in Europe and elsewhere.
Money is also a huge motivating factor. Still, whether in the United Kingdom (UK) or the United States (US), the experience does not always turn out as dreamed of. Racism is usually a problem. And career mistakes are punished severely. Nonetheless, those with some training in these parts (West Africa) beforehand are able to easily bank on a coping mechanism honed during their grinding student days.
Whereas other professionals, in financial services, law, and so on, could easily keep abreast of developments in their sectors, whether they are in their country or abroad, the peculiarities of the medical profession and rapid technological advances in the sector mean practitioners not adept in the most advanced and recent practices would find themselves no more than quacks over time.
Ironically, being initially trained in Nigeria allows for mastery in the old-school ways of medicine that tend to come in handy where practitioners have become “spoilt” with various technological aids. And in fact, the continent is wealthier by the experience garnered by its medical professionals abroad, who often give back in the form of free surgeries and so on.
How many Nigerian doctors actually seek greener pastures abroad? More than 60% of registered Nigerian doctors practice abroad. Most of the remainder who grudgingly ply their trade locally plan to cross the seas at the slightest opportunity. And despite the backlash against migrants in Europe and elsewhere, doctors and other advanced professionals are actively courted. Not entirely. The UK put a cap on the migration of skilled non-EU workers recently. Short of medical staff, the government has reversed itself. Now, migrant doctors with firm offers from UK hospitals do not have to worry about getting a visa: they will get placed. No doubt music to the ears of many aspiring Nigerian doctors.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2017/08/22/waste-doctors-waiting-tables-answering-phones/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: The Waste Of Doctors Waiting On Tables And Answering Phones</a>
The exodus comes at great costs for the country, though. There is one doctor for about 4,000 Nigerians at the moment. With more doctors heading abroad, that statistic would only get worse by the day. Quality healthcare is out of the reach of those that need it the most. The privileged, who can afford healthcare anywhere in the world, are ironically the ones with the means to avail themselves of the best locally.
To be fair, the authorities are not insensitive to the problem. A compulsory health insurance scheme for Nigerians in paid employment means almost anyone with a job would be able to afford basic and secondary medical care. Of course, it is another matter if the ailment is more advanced and requires extensive, sustained care; and perhaps more abroad. A newly-instituted patients’ bill of rights also means that any Nigerian, of any means, would not be subject to the gross abuse that many poor patients, who also tend to be ignorant of their rights, get subjected to with impunity. What would prevail in practice is another matter, though.
During my recent forced interaction with the medical world, each stage of treatment was presaged by a business executive brandishing a point-of-sale terminal: swipe your card, get treated. Quality medical care in Nigeria remains exclusive.
&#8211; Rafiq Raji

Doctor diagnose patient symptoms at the hospital

Why Nigerian Doctors Grab Opportunities Abroad

As a teenager it dawned on me that my undergraduate academic ambition was going to be threatened when my father lost his job. My dream to become a petroleum engineer was deflated in a matter of days. I was concerned about my future and afraid I would be tagged as a failure. During this unpleasant and frustrating experience, I questioned the rationale behind my dad’s choice of paid employment. If he had started a business, maybe things would have turned out differently. That was a tipping point for my search for success in life.
In 1999, I found a book that answered the question of how to be successful. The Success Journey, written by John C. Maxwell, sparked my hunger for knowledge, which led me to start visiting a public library built by the Catholic church in my town, in southwestern Nigeria. I made that decision because I had read in the book that knowledge is a prerequisite for success.
My need to be successful and influential was so strong that it birthed inspirational dissatisfaction in me. In the same manner, I have observed that many successful business owners often start with a burning desire and this desire takes up most of their time, most of their resources and almost all of their energy. I believe that is what counts for entrepreneurship.
On the other hand, I have also encountered many African start-up entrepreneurs who have ideas that lack that yearning. All they have is a wish that may or may not be achieved, and a template-guided business plan. Most of these plans remain on paper and are eventually buried. Some that succeed in starting their own business don’t get to live their dream beyond a few years.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2017/02/01/little-african-dream-gangsters-paradise/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: A Little African Dream In Gangster’s Paradise</a>
Other than the fact that many African countries have a poor rating on the ease of doing business index, a core factor that accounts for a business’s inability to survive is the lack of a burning desire. Success is for the hungry and desire is the emotion that will see it come to fruition.
It is important that a target is clearly defined before commencing with a business plan and allocating responsibilities. This helps everyone to effectively focus on crucial matters. In the present business space, time is more essential than money. The rate at which business disruption happens is so fast that many business leaders are constantly on their toes to just remain in the game. With this in mind, attention should only be given to what is important – the key drivers of the desired result.
Obviously, entrepreneurs in Africa are finding it easier now than a decade ago to hire tools, and raise capital to produce products. But, realizing the ability to rent time is highly unlikely in the near future. Time is inelastic. Therefore, we must focus on what really matters to get the desirable business result.
To better manage time, an entrepreneur should focus on what they have control over. When you focus on concerns that you can’t control, you may lose sight of things within your control. 
Also, ensure your beliefs and values align with the desired business result because these influence your time and attention.
Setting goals, and planning for them, are instrumental to time management. This will help guide decisions as well as allowing you to delegate where necessary. 
I have accepted the simple paradigm that nothing makes one entrepreneur more successful than the other in an industry as much as what each person does with time. Time creates everybody’s chance, but not everybody creates a chance with the time they have.
&#8211; Victor Mamora

Building their success one touch at a time

It’s About Time For Success For Entrepreneurs In Africa

The death of president Bingu wa Mutharika, in early April, was sudden; but it was welcomed by the majority of Malawians. Malawi’s economy under Mutharika was on the verge of oblivion—the result of poor governance and incoherent macroeconomic policies.
Malawi’s growth plummeted from an annual average of 8.3% between 2007 and 2010 to a mere 4.5% in 2011. The economy—choked by a lethal dose of chronic fuel and foreign exchange shortages, as well as persistent power outages—had nearly seized to function. The lack of social cohesion and an exodus of donors added to the crisis.
Some members of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) unsuccessfully tried to prevent the vice president, Joyce Banda, from assuming office as stated in the constitution, in the event of the president being incapacitated. Fortunately enough, a couple of days later, Banda was sworn in as the Republic’s fourth head of state and its first female president.
Despite the fact that Malawians would have welcomed anyone as the next president, I believe it was particularly important that it was a woman; and a woman who, castigated by the Mutharika regime, had felt first-hand the plight of ordinary Malawians.
A huge part of Malawi’s social and economic ills were likely driven by pure male ego. The late president failed to heed any advice—political, economic or otherwise—contrary to his views. Such was his arrogance that Malawi veered off course the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) program provided for by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This disengagement with the IMF led international donors to withdraw their aid commitments to the detriment of Malawi’s economy. Donations make up 40% of Malawi’s development budget.
Donor withdrawal led to the introduction of a disastrous zero deficit budget. The ambitious budget aimed to finance all recurrent expenditure through meager domestic resources. This was in the name of ‘nationalism and pan-Africanism’ and Mutharika’s way of defying the West and proving that Malawi was self-sufficient.
Since Banda assumed office, she has had the unenviable task of rebuilding the economy. A recovery program has been billed at $1 billion: an astronomical figure in these economic times. The president’s government has re-engaged the IMF and negotiated a new three-year ECF program worth $157 million. The IMF facility will ensure a return of prudent macroeconomic policies to promote price stability and growth. The international lender has also written letters of assurance to the country’s donors to release funds in support of Malawi’s recovery plan and to curtail the dwindling foreign exchange reserves.
In addition, donors and investors alike will be further assured of good governance following the repealing of several restrictive laws including the repressive media and anti-gay legislations. Other restrictive laws, enacted under the Mutharika regime, are expected to be repealed in due course. This is likely to rebuild the social cohesion which was destroyed.
Banda has also introduced a sense of accountability among public servants which had all but evaporated. Since Mutharika’s death, several revelations of looting, by him and other public officials, have surfaced. Furthermore, it has emerged that key government institutions, the Ministry of Finance and the Malawi Revenue Authority, flouted public finance regulations in a bid to cover up the deteriorating economy.
In my humble opinion, in the three months that Banda has been in office, she has steered Malawi back on course. However, it’s by no means out of the woods. Along with saving the economy, Banda has demonstrated true leadership qualities, which the country so desperately needed. She has said she’s not a ruler but a leader, which is in stark contrast to her predecessor.
Banda’s banishment from the DPP is her greatest asset. She has seen first-hand how autocratic rule can destroy a nation. With this in mind, she will probably desist from any dictatorial tendencies and maintain her consultative and pragmatic approach to leadership. This is likely to be the case at least until 2014 given the state of the economy and, more importantly, the fact that her party has no seats in parliament.
The true test will be whether she can maintain this standard beyond the 2014 election which, as the incumbent, she is likely to win.

Tag: Opinion

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

Breaking The Culture Of Silence In Liberia

The Opportunities Young Leaders Are Seeing In Education

Why Nigerian Doctors Grab Opportunities Abroad

It’s About Time For Success For Entrepreneurs In Africa

A Welcome Woman’s Touch At The Helm