Visit the Africa stand at the Göteborg Book Fair 2010

- Our purpose is to highlight the broad, fantastic, living and modern phenomenon that is African literature today, says Carin Norberg, director of the Nordic Africa Institute.

The Africa stand (H06:01) is situated on the second level of the Book Fair. Ten African publishers will exhibit their publications and on stage there will be over 60 programmes. The focus is broad, but the main part of the programme is the presentation of the visiting authors and their writing to the public. The Africa 2010 project was initiated by the Nordic Africa Institute and has been developed in close cooperation with the Göteborg Book Fair. Sida has contributed major financing, and the Swedish Arts Council has also offered substantial financial support. Other financiers include the Swedish Academy and Helge Ax:son Johnsons Foundation.

For more information please visit http://www.afrika2010.se

The challenge facing scholars, researchers, policymakers and the international community is how to devise processes and mechanisms to deal adequately with the persistent conflicts and insecurities in the troubled region. As part of the search for peace, security, democracy and development in the Horn of Africa (HOA), the Nordic Africa Institute organised a two-day international workshop on 'Intra-state and Inter-state Conflicts and Security in the Horn of Africa'.

The workshop brought together scholars, policymakers and civil society actors from all over the world to discuss and suggest ways and mechanisms for addressing the complex conflicts and insecurities bedevilling the HOA. The main conclusion of the workshop was the need to deepen existing knowledge of the complex linkages between local, regional and global factors contributing to the intra-state and inter-state conflicts and to support local initiatives and democratic forces that can promote social transformation, successful nation and state building and the more effective implementation of peace agreements.

Most recently, the threats posed by acts of piracy off the coast of Somalia to global shipping and maritime trade, and the activities of Islamist militias suspected of having links to the Al-Qaeda terrorist network, have attracted international attention. Indeed, international intervention has contributed to the intractability of the conflicts and insecurity in the region.
Read the complete workshop report here.

‘Time Space Africa: Reconnecting the Continent’. The Nordic Africa Days 2010 takes place in Åbo/Turku, Finland, 30 September – 1 October 2010.   In recent decades, there has been a spatial turn in the thinking in social sciences and humanities. In various ways, the emphasis on spatial relations has given rise to the view that space and place are social constructs relevant to the understanding of the experiences and histories of human subjects and to the production of cultural phenomena. This conference is organised by a group of Finnish researchers and is sponsored by NAI, among others.
Read more about the event at the NAD 2010 website.

Former NAI researcher, Dr Amanda Hammar, now based at the Centre of African Studies, Copenhagen University, recently convened a ‘writeshop’ at NAI aimed at producing an edited volume for the Zed Press/NAI ‘Africa Now’ series, entitled Displacement Economies: Paradoxes of Crisis and Creativity in African Contexts. This writing project consolidates, but also extends conceptually and geographically, the research programme Dr Hammar coordinated at NAI between 2006 and 2010 on Political Economies of Displacement in Southern Africa. Read the complete report by Amanda Hammar (pdf).

Lars-Engberg Pedersen, Danish Institute for International Studies, discusses the political and institutional obstacles to the implementation of the European Consensus on Development adopted in 2005. The major problems lie at the member state level. Thus, initiatives should target the EU member states so that they may better appreciate the idea of European development cooperation. Go directly to the article 'Is the window of opportunity closed?'.

NAI Forum is a common Nordic platform for policy debate among researchers, policymakers, development practitioners and civil society. Current topics for discussion are sexual violence in conflict, the South African-led mediation on Zimbabwe and critical perspectives on the Millennium Development Goals. Click here to read more about the forum and to participate.

The new chairperson is Laura Torvinen, Senior Advisor at the Department for Development Policy, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Finland. Stig Jensen, Director, Centre for African Studies, University of Copenhagen is our new member from Denmark. From Norway the two new members are Ragnhild Dybdahl, Director of the Department of Education and Research, Norad, and Professor Ian Bryceson, Norwegian University of Life Sciences.

Africa Now: Africa’s Informal Workers
Drawing on cases from nine countries and cities across sub-Saharan Africa and from a range of sectors, this volume goes beyond the usual focus on household coping strategies and individual agency by addressing the growing number of collective organizations through which informal workers make themselves visible and articulate their demands and interests. Specifically, the collection examines in depth attempts at organizing across the formal–informal work spheres, as well as exploring the novel trend of transnational organizing by informal workers. The anthology is edited by Ilda Lindell. More about the book and how to order.

Report on war rapes challenges common view
In a report published by Sida, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, together with the NAI, researchers Maria Eriksson Baaz and Maria Stern interviewed more than 200 soldiers in the DRC. The findings challenge the often simplistic explanation of ‘rape as a (strategic) weapon of war’ and provide a broader picture of the causes leading to sexual violence in conflicts.  Download the report .

More Tax, Better Governments
As Africa seemingly recovers from the economic downturn, the issue of how to decrease dependence on external finances comes to the fore. Some lessons should have been learned from the crisis: more emphasis should be placed on structural changes to the economies; more of the focus should be on employment; and efforts to broaden tax bases and mobilise more domestic resources should be strengthened. The new Policy Note, by Mats Hårsmar, discusses what impact an increased focus on taxation ought to have for aid donors.  Read more about the Policy Note and how to download it .

New Discussion papers
No. 48 Babatunde Ahonsi, Gender Violence and HIV/AIDS in Post-Conflict West Africa. Issues and Responses. Read more about DP no.48 and how to download it.
No. 49 Usman Tar and Abba Gana Shettima, Endangered Democracy? The Struggle over Secularism and its Implications for Politics and Democracy in Nigeria. Read more about DP no. 49 and how to download it.