Monthly Archives: February, 2015

By Winston Mwale Leaders from 26 East and Southern African countries are meeting in Malawi's capital, Lilongwe to make final touches to an agreement that may see the formation of what could prove to be Africa's largest free trade area.The proposed Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) is touted to improve the economic and social welfare of the citizens of the COMESA-EAC-SADC region.

"We never resorted to extremist tactics like kidnapping and killing innocent civilians; we had a very strict code of conduct that never allowed us to descend to the barbarity of the other side", says José Manuel Ramos-Horta, a freedom fighter, Timor-Leste's ex-president and a Nobel laureate.

A government-initiated national prayer has been observed in the Malawian city of Blantyre to pray for the flood victims. The deadly floods have affected over 600,000 people in 15 districts of Malawi since early January with 79 dead and hundreds more injured or missing.

By Adil Khan The Western Sahara dispute is ‘one of the world’s least reported crises’. For almost 40 years a forgotten conflict has ensued in a forgotten region. Contested by Morocco and the rebel organisation known as the Polisario Front, it is the cause of ethnic tensions, a diaspora, and a terrain contaminated with 9 million landmines. Will this conflict be allowed to continue, or will the international community intervene?

The golden age of aid seems to be in jeopardy; perhaps what is needed is a revolution in the system of aid delivery. And what better country  to look to for revolutionary inspiration than Cuba?By taking a leaf out of Cuba’s book, the focus of the Western aid system could be shifted towards sustainability.

By Cucu Wesseh Aid being tied to the purchase of goods and services to the donor country increases overall costs by 25%. Moreover, most donors channel aid through NGOs from within their own countries. This has major consequences in ensuring sustainable development in the global South.

A group of United Nations human rights experts has urged the international community to rapidly provide all necessary funding and assistance to the Government of Malawi and humanitarian actors in response to the disaster, which has already claimed more than 70 lives.