News

The Boko Haram Insurgency , a roundtable discussion with Comfort Ero

Comfort Ero , Programme Director, International Crisis Group Monday, Monday, 28th April, 3PM  Royal African Society, Lower Meeting Room, 36 Gordon Square, London, London WC1H 0PD

In their latest report in the Curbing Violence in Nigeria series, International Crisis Group looks at the Boko Haram insurgency.In the past 4 years the Boko Haram (real name: Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad) insurgency has claimed approximately 4,000 lives. Targeting the Hausa elite and government infrastructure such as schools and military bases, the insurgency is devastating an already debilitated region.The new ICG report highlights the socio-political origins of the conflict, the transformation from peaceful movement to underground insurgency, and its current impact on regional security and stability.This roundtable meeting will discuss the conditions in Northern Nigeria that incubated the militant group, the development of Boko Haram’s agenda & targets, and the ongoing efforts disarm the fragmented movement.Comfort Ero has been Crisis Group’s Nairobi-based Africa Program Director since January 2011. She previously worked with Crisis Group as West Africa Project Director. As Program Director, Comfort oversees projects covering South, West, Central and the Horn of Africa. She has a PhD from the London School of Economics, University of London.   To register please  email RSVP@royalafricansociety.org.

Africa Thesis Award 2014

Submissions are invited from final year Masters students at universities in Africa and the Netherlands for the Africa Thesis Award. This annual award, offered by the African Studies Centre in Leiden, encourages research and writing on sub-Saharan Africa and on African cultures and societies. The winner will receive 1,000 Euros and their thesis will be published in the ASC’s African Studies Collection.  Recent winning theses have described cyclone-resilient landscapes in Madagascar, the black middle class in South Africa and popular music audiences in Sierra Leone. The closing date for submissions is 11 July 2014. See http://www.ascleiden.nl/?q=news/deadline-submissions-africa-thesis-award-2014-dont-forget-submit-your-master-thesis-time .

Forward to Freedom: The history of the British Anti-Apartheid Movement 1959- 1994

A new website drawing on the Anti-Apartheid Movement archive at the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, has been launched at a reception at South Africa House, London, on 20th March. ‘Forward to Freedom: the history of the British Anti-Apartheid Movement, 1959-1994’ (http://www.aamarchives.org) features video, documents, posters, photographs, badges and other items and interviews with 30 activists and supporters including politicians  Barbara Castle and David Steel, both AAM Presidents in the 1960s, trade union leader Ron Todd and musician Jerry Dammers. The website summarises the history of the Movement and describes the campaigns it organised, such as the consumer and sports boycotts, arms embargo and support for political prisoners, and the groups involved, ranging from students and trade unions to local authorities and professional groups.

The website is part of a wider education project that includes a pop-up exhibition with 22 display boards on anti-apartheid campaigns and support groups which is available for loan. An education pack for Key Stage 3 is in course of preparation.