Five Stories You May Have Missed This Week

Here at Enough, we often swap emails with interesting articles and feature stories that we come across in our favorite publications and on our favorite websites. We wanted to share some of these stories with you as part of our effort to keep you up to date on what you need to know in the world of anti-genocide and crimes against humanity work.

With the international community waiting for Syria and other key players to make the next move, Washington Post’s Max Fisher gave the public a valuable tool: 9 questions about Syria you were too embarrassed to ask . Fisher’s post is loaded with straight-forward answers to questions varying from how Russia and Iran weave into the conflict to the Obama administration’s current foreign policy goals.

After spending time in Kinshasa to conduct research on a recent development project, Abt Associates technical coordinator Christina Juan shines a light on economic improvement in the Congolese capital. Despite recent M23 attacks in the east and the negative media attention surrounding the country as a whole, Juan reports that small business is booming due to the new “guichet unique” market, cultural activity, (such as the Kimbanguist Symphony Orchestra), and the rise of higher education.)

Africa’s economy is growing faster than the economies of all other continents. The Harvard Business Review magazine published a feature,Seven Reasons Why Africa’s Time Is Now, highlighting facts on Africa's $2 trillion economy. Among notable facts:

"The African workforce will swell by 163 million in this decade; by 2035 it will be bigger than China's. By 2050, Africans will account for 25% of the world's workers." 

Following a denial of charges and the recent approval from Kenyan MPs of a motion for withdrawal from the International Criminal Court, BBC News Africa reports that the case will continue, even if Kenya pulls out. President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto have been charged with crimes against humanity by the ICC, which can be traced back to large scale post-election violence in 2007. If there is failure to cooperate from Kenyatta and Ruto, ICC judges have publicized a possible decision to issue arrest warrants. Amnesty International issued a statement on the motion. 

China’s recent control over media outlets in some African countries is raising questions in the internationally community. Geoffrey York, of The Globe and Mail examines why China is making a big play to control Africa’s media. He writes:

 “It’s part of a long-term campaign to bolster Beijing’s “soft power” – not just through diplomacy, but also through foreign aid, business links, scholarships, training programs, academic institutes and the media.”