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Workshop/Conference News

Conference on the “World Trade Organization and the Interests of the People of the South”

A conference to review the results of trade liberalization seven years after the establishment of the World Trade Organization was held in Cairo, Egypt, form 23-24 October 2001. The conference, organized by the Arab Research Centre, brought in a wide array of regional organizations, research institutes, NGO representatives and prominent scholars from Africa, Asia and Europe. Several papers were presented. OSSREA was represented at the conference by Dr. Alfred Nhema, the Deputy Executive Secretary, who presented a paper titled, “Globalisation and Development in Africa: Problems and Prospects”. At the end of the conference, a draft resolution was adopted summarizing the views of various NGOS, regional organizations and paper presenters. The draft resolution titled, “Message to the Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the WTO” and presented at the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference held in Doha, Qatar, from 1-13 November 2001, was adopted by the Ministerial meeting.

XIIth International Conference on AIDS and STDs in Africa

The XIIth International Conference on AIDS and STDs in Africa was held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, from 9-13 December 2001. Over 5000 international and local participants attended the Conference, which was officially opened by the President of Burkina Faso. A Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA)-sponsored workshop was held a day after the Conference on 14th December 2001. The workshop brought in representatives from four regional organizations, namely, CODESRIA, OSSREA, SOMA-Net and UAPS, which are interested in pursuing research on the impact of HIV/AIDS from a Social Science perspective. The various organizations made their submissions, and adopted action plans that will lead to the identified organizations’ focusing on specific aspects of research on HIV/AIDS. The Deputy Executive Secretary, Dr. Alfred Nhema, represented OSSREA at both the XIIth International Conference on AIDS and STDs in Africa and the SIDA Workshop.

Consultation Workshop on “Sustaining Dialogue for Peace in the Horn of Africa”

A consultative workshop on “Sustaining Dialogue for Peace in the Horn of Africa” was held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 21-22 December 2001. The workshop was sponsored by the Heinrich Boll Foundation and organized by the Resources Conflict Institute (RECONCILE) based in Nakuru, Kenya. The workshop brought together representatives of NGOs, regional research institutions and activists working on conflict in the Great Lakes Region and the Horn of Africa. A plan of action whose focus was on the creation of networks that would enhance cooperation in the search for a sustainable and durable peace in the Horn of Africa was adopted. The Deputy Executive Secretary represented OSSREA at the workshop.

Workshop on the Launching of a Regional Thematic Network Programme (TPN3)

An international workshop to launch a regional Thematic Network Programme (TPN3) for the promotion of the rational use of rangelands and the development of fodder crops was held in Maseru, Lesotho, from 27 to 29 November 2001. The workshop was attended by some fifty participants comprising representatives of African sub-regional organisations; international organisations such as FAO, World Bank, UNCCD, UNDP and UNEP; national focal-point institutions; research networks; and other non-governmental organisations. OSSREA was represented at the workshop by its Programme Officer, Mrs. Rahel Mesfin.

The workshop was officially opened by the Honourable Minister of Environment, Gender and Youth Affairs, Mrs. Mathabiso Lepono. In her address, she stated that the Kingdom’s fragile ecosystems had obliged the country to elaborate the National Action Programme (NAP) to prevent the degradation of these ecosystems and to enhance the poverty eradication process. The UNCCD Regional Coordinator for Africa, Dr. Moise Aklé, made a presentation in which he provided an overview of the various activities undertaken in the context of the Regional Action Programme (RAP) for Africa since the Pan-African Conference of March 1997. He also outlined the objectives and expected outcomes of the Maseru meeting.

During the workshop, other presentations were made by resource persons such as the UNCCD Consultant and the ICARDA; country representatives from Botswana, Lesotho, Kenya, Ethiopia, Egypt, Niger, and Uganda; and specialised institutions such as SADC, EMA, UNEP, EISMV, IPGRI, OSSREA and University of Nairobi. OSSREA’s representative briefed participants on OSSREA’s objectives and research programmes, in particular activities related to monitoring the use and sustainable management of pastoral resources.

The workshop adopted the background papers as working documents for further elaboration in working group meetings and made the following recommendations:

The workshop was officially closed by the Honourable Minister of Agriculture of the Kingdom of Lesotho.

Third East Africa History Workshop

The Third East Africa History Workshop was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 29-31 October 2001. The workshop was co-organised by OSSREA and the Department of History of Addis Ababa University. Professor Bahru Zewde, Resident Vice-President of OSSREA and a well-known historian teaching in the same Department, made the opening statement in which he briefed participants on the background of the History conferences and workshops preceding this one. In his statement, Prof. Bahru paid tribute to the Goethe Institute for taking the initiative of bringing Eastern African historians in a series of six conferences in the late 1970s and early 1980s; the Department of History and the Institute of Ethiopian Studies (both in the AAU) for co-hosting the fifth and sixth conferences at Nazreth and Ambo, respectively; and OSSREA for organizing the first and second workshop of Eastern and Southern African historians in 1987 and 1989, respectively. OSSREA was also credited with facilitating the formation of the Association of Eastern and Southern African Historians.

After welcoming the participants, Prof. Abdel Ghaffar M. Ahmed briefed them about OSSREA’s background and pointed out that as part of its objective of promoting the study of and research in the social sciences, OSSREA had been organising a series of workshops on the teaching and research of anthropology and sociology, economics, gender, geography, history, and political science. The Third History Workshop was a follow-up of the first two history workshops and part of OSSREA’s efforts to revitalise this tradition of reviewing the state of arts in the social sciences.

A total of 19 papers were presented at the current workshop by participants drawn from Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Though organised under the broad subject of History, the workshop turned out to be interdisciplinary by focus since issues as varied as ethnicity, gender, environment, land ownership and production systems were also represented in the topics treated, as can be seen from the following papers presented at the workshop:

  1. Liliy Mafela (Botswana): Competing gender ideologies: A conceptual framework for analysis of education amongst Batswana of Botswana, from pre-colonial to post-colonial times
  2. Friday E. Mulenga (Zambia): Gender in undergraduate history studies at the University of Zambia, 1981-2000
  3. Deogratias Byanafashe (Rwanda): Gender and reconciliation in post-genocide Rwanda
  4. Mary N. Ntabeni (Lesotho): Women’s history at the National Teacher Training College of Lesotho
  5. John Baligira (Uganda): The reproduction of gender stereotypes in the African school books: Lessons from Uganda
  6. Bonginkosi A.B. Sikhondze (Swaziland): The role of women in food production in Swaziland, 1945-1965: Ownership and control
  7. Shimelis Bonsa (Ethiopia): Kistane Female urban migration to Addis Ababa until 1974: A history
  8. Donald Chimanikire (Zimbabwe): Women’s legal socio-economic status in post-colonial Zimbabwe: Gender analysis
  9. Mashabela Thompson Mabitsela (South Africa): Socio-economic development in post-colonial era in developing countries
  10. Pius Kakai Wanyonyi (Kenya): Socio-economic process in spatial perspectives in post-colonial Western Kenya
  11. Qaysar Musa Elzein (Sudan): Urbanisation as a factor in the reconstruction of class formation in Sudan (1956-2001): The case of Khartoum State
  12. Tesema Ta’a (Ethiopia): A brief historical account of the Komo of the Ethio-Sudanese frontier, 1880s-1950s
  13. Abdussamad H. Ahmed (Ethiopia): Bela-Shangul: The frontier in history, 1897-1938
  14. Frederic Gatera (Rwanda): Environmental paradigm and economic growth: An example of contemporary Rwanda
  15. Balam Nyeko (Swaziland): Land ownership and Swazi agriculture: The impact of the concessions revisited
  16. Pius Nyambara (Zimbabwe): Agrarian change and struggles over land in the communal areas of Zimbabwe, 1980s and 1990s
  17. Fred Odoi Tanga (Uganda): Post-colonial State, peasants and cotton production in Eastern Uganda: A case study of Padhola
  18. Nyambe Sumbwa (Zambia): Turning the sands green: Agricultural development in Western Province, 1964-1988
  19. Eginald P.A.N. Mihanjo (Tanzania): From villagisation to commercialisation: A history of changing land and agricultural policies in Tanzania, 1961-2001.

Following the presentation and discussion of the above-listed papers, participants held a business session in which they were briefed by Professor Bahru about the history of the Association of African Historians and its 3rd Congress, which focused on the theme of “African Historians in the Age of Globalisation” and was held in Dakar, Senegal, from 10-14th September 2001 (for details, see OSSREA Newsletter, vol. XIX, no. 3, October 2001). In that Congress, a resolution was adopted to decentralise the structure of the Association and accordingly it was necessary to form regional sectors. The participants discussed various issues pertaining to the revival and sustainability of the association of Eastern and Southern African historians, such as funding. It was then agreed to form a committee to represent the sub-regions. Consequently, the following persons were elected as committee members: Dr. Eginald P.A.N Mihanjo (Tanzania) and Mr. Fred Odoi Tanga (Uganda) to represent East Africa, and Dr. Lily Mafela (Botswana) to represent Southern Africa.

Regarding the proceedings of the workshop, the presenters were advised to revise their papers as per the comments received during the deliberations and submit the final version in hard and soft copies by the end of November 2001. Once, the papers are received, OSSREA will form an editorial body to select those papers that meet the OSSREA standard and publish these locally.

Participants were also urged to strengthen their links with OSSREA by becoming members, either institutionally or individually, and by participating in the various activities organised by its chapters or by the Secretariat.

Winners of Senior Scholars Research Grant Selected

A total of 42 applications for the Senior Scholars Research Grant was received from Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. After the initial screening, a panel of judges consisting of Prof. K. K. Prah (South Africa), Prof. Jesimen T. Chipika (Zimbabwe), Prof. Archie Mafeje (South Africa), and Dr. Gunnar M. Sørbo (Norway) reviewed the proposals and selected the following candidates as winners of the 2002 Senior Scholars Research Grant:

Proposal title: “Informal cross-border trade and regional integration in the SADC Region: Zimbabwean women’s urban survival strategies”

Proposal title: “Development of social capital in micro and small enterprises as a strategy for poverty alleviation in Kenya”

Proposal title: “Financing regional integration programs and projects in Sub-Saharan Africa: The case of COMESA”

Proposal title: “Female imagination: A biographical dictionary of Kenyan women literary artists”.

A workshop for the above-listed first winners of OSSREA’s Senior Scholars Research Grant was held at the Secretariat’s headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 10-11 December 2001. The objectives of the workshop were: to orient winners with OSSREA’s background, objectives and activities; to discuss the terms and conditions of the grant agreement to be signed by winners; to provide winners with the feedback from the selection committee on the amendments of the research proposals; and to suggest that the research output should be of high standard. At the end of the workshop, the winners received the first instalment of the research grant.

OSSREA Participates in the 44th Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association

The 44th Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association was held from 15-18 November 2001 in Houston, Texas. The theme of the meeting was Africa and the African Diaspora: Past, Present, Future. The meeting incorporated thematic presentations, ASA business and board meetings, exhibits by publishers and producers of Africana, and African film events.

The thematic presentations had 25 thematic sections and were held in parallel sessions. A number of presentations and round table discussions were held.

In the business meeting, representatives of regional research organizations presented brief reports on the activities of their respective organizations. The issue of collaboration between ASA and Africa-based regional research organizations such as OSSREA was discussed in the ASA Board Meeting. In this meeting, it was suggested that ASA would provide booths free of charge in its annual meetings to promote the visibility of these regional research organizations. It was also suggested that some representatives of OSSREA and other similar organizations be encouraged to attend the ASA annual meetings. Representatives of regional organizations also suggested that the ASA Board members or representatives attend the congresses of the regional research organizations.

In the exhibition, OSSREA’s publications were displayed and sold. The OSSREA booth was visited by a number of participants and exhibitors. OSSREA’s brochure has also been distributed to some participants.

Mr. Alemayehu Azeze, Program Officer, participated in the business meeting at which he presented a report on the activities of OSSREA.

 

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