Canada and the World Backgrounder articles from December 2001

Canada and the World Backgrounder archives from December 2001

Map of Africa.
December 1, 2001... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Victims of 9/11: when those hijacked planes ploughed into the World Trade Centre towers and the Pentagon, many more victims mere created than those who died in the rubble. (Africa -- Comment).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Any way you look at the African continent, the picture is bleak. Of the world's 50 worst countries in which to live, as judged by the 2001 United Nations Human Development Report, 37 are in Africa. Africa's share of total world trade is...

Post-colonial meddling: when the European colonizers were the world's superpowers they messed up the internal affairs of most African nations and earned the loathing of many African people.(related article: Scramble for Africa)
December 1, 2001... Now, the United States is the world's unchallenged superpower and it too is trying to influence events in Africa to suit its own purposes and, just as with the Europeans before them, the Americans are hated by the people whose lives they affect...

Going for gold (and diamonds, and oil, and cocoa): for the most part, it was the exploitation of the mineral riches of Africa that led to the colonization of the continent by Europeans centuries ago. (Africa -- Exploitation).
December 1, 2001... The exploitation of Africa's natural resources continues today, and involves some of our favourite things, from cocoa to oil, gold, and diamonds. Cocoa farms in Ivory Coast are employing slaves so that people in the rich world can enjoy...

Debts to humanity: do the rich, industrial nations of the North owe the peoples of Africa some sort of compensation for the wrongs that were done? (Africa - Compensation).
December 1, 2001... Between the 15th and 19th centuries millions of Africans were taken from their countries and transported across the Atlantic Ocean in the stinking holds of ships. The reward for surviving the horrendous voyage was being sold into slavery. ...

A rogues' gallery: for many years, Western liberals were reluctant to criticize the poor leadership qualities displayed by most of Africa's politicians. There was a sense of guilt over the fact that Africans had suffered badly under colonialism and it was wrong to dump on them for not immediately embracing democracy and human rights. (Africa - Leadership).
December 1, 2001... Kofi Annan doesn't think much of the quality of leadership in Africa. Mr. Annan is Secretary-General of the United Nations and an African himself, so he's well qualified to judge. In 1998, the Secretary-General gave the UN Security Council a...

The harshest of worlds: it's really hard to find any good news on the environment front. From overgrazing which is causing the spread of deserts, to lack of food and water, and pollution, Africa is one of the toughest places in the world in which to survive. (Africa - Environment).(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 2001... For years, development experts have thought that the combination of growing population, declining agriculture, and withering environmental conditions spelt disaster for Africa in the 21st century. According to the International Fund for...

All the dying people: HIV/AIDS is causing dramatic losses in Africa, cutting the average life expectancy in South Africa from 70 years down to 30, closing almost half the schools in the Central African Republic, and wreaking havoc on economic development. (African - AIDS).(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 2001... AIDS is thought to have originated in Africa and nowhere else has it had such a devastating effect. Of the world's 36 million AIDS sufferers, 25 million are in Africa. Already, 17 million Africans have died of AIDS-related illnesses. However,...

Quote ... Unquote.(social conflict)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... "The value of land is not limited to its economic dimension of being exploited to be productive. Land also has a spiritual or religious dimension, which must necessarily respire the economic dimension. Economic policies that have neglected the...

Some important notes.(ranking impressions)
December 1, 2001... Statistics can be helpful in understanding problems and issues, but they should always be used with caution. Numbers sometimes give inaccurate impressions, and there's an example of this in this publication, on pages 14 and 15. Each year...

Some useful websites.(Brief Article)(Directory)
December 1, 2001... Africa News Online This service collects and maintains news items from the All Africa News Service and other newspapers throughout the continent, and is updated regularly. http://www.africanews.org Amnesty International Amnesty...

Health indicators.(African statistics)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 2001... Health Indicators Infant Life mortality expectancy (per 1,000 Health at birth...

Disease indicators.(African statistics)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 2001... Disease Indicators People with AIDS/HIV 1999 Malaria Ciga- 1997 TB 1997 rettes...

Education indicators.(African statistics)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 2001... Education Indicators Education Spending as Percentage of: Literacy Rates All Government ...

Economic indicators.(African statistics)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 2001... Economic Indicators Total Debt Per Service as Capita Annual GDP Growth Percentage ...

Development indicators.(African foreign aid statistics)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 2001... Development Indicators Official Development Aid Per UN Ranking according Capita As % of GDP to...

Freedom indicators.(African statistics)(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 2001... Freedom Indicators Year of % of Parlia- % of Govt. Independence mentary Ministers Seats Held that are ...

Algeria. (Areas of Conflict).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... After years of mismanaging the economy, the ruling elites, known as Le Pouvoir, of Algeria faced an election in 1992. Disillusioned with the government, voters turned massively to the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS). When it realized it was going...

Angola. (Areas of Conflict).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... In early May 1995, Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos met with rebel leader Jonas Savimbi. The two declared their joint commitment to peace after 20 years of civil war. It was a commitment Mr. Savimbi had little intention of honouring....

Burundi. (Areas of Conflict).
December 1, 2001... Burundi has been the scene of ethnic violence since it became independent from Belgium in 1962. Despite being the minority, Tutsis have ruled the nation of six million for all but a few months since independence. Suspicions between Tutsis...

Chad. (Areas of Conflict).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... They've been going at it, off and on, since Chad became independent in 1960. So far, the body count is 50,000. The population is divided between mostly African farmers in the south who practice Christianity and traditional faiths, and Arab...

Congo-Brazzaville. (Areas of Conflict).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... The Republic of Congo is often confused with its much larger neighbour the Democratic Republic of Congo, which used to be known as Zaire. To help reduce confusion, the Republic of Congo is usually referred to as Congo-Brazzaville. Unhappily...

The Democratic Republic of Congo. (Areas of Conflict).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Late in 1965, Mobutu Sese Seko seized control of the country in a military coup. In his first years as president, Mobutu brought political stability, although there were a number of short-lived regionally based revolts, and students...

Guinea. (Areas of Conflict).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 2001... Fighting in Guinea began in September 2000, when the Rally of the Democratic Forces of Guinea (RDFG) staged fierce attacks from neighbouring Sierra Leone and Liberia. Representing mostly soldiers who fled the country after 1985 and the 1996...

Ivory Coast. (Areas of Conflict).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 2001... Political violence broke out in Ivory Coast following presidential elections in October 2000. General Robert Guei seized power from President Henri Konan Bedie in December 1999. General Guei promised that he would step down if he lost the...

Kenya. (Areas of Conflict).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 2001... Tribalism has plagued Kenya, and many other African nations, since independence. Ethnic diversity has produced a vibrant culture, but is also a source of conflict. After independence from Britain in 1963, politics was dominated by Jomo...

Liberia. (Areas of Conflict).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Charles Taylor, who is the president of Liberia, has attracted the criticism of just about everybody. In December 2000, a United Nations report accused him of supplying arms to the murderous Revolutionary United Front in neighbouring Sierra...

Nigeria. (Areas of Conflict).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Approximately 122 million people in more than 250 ethnic groups live in Nigeria. Since at least 1990, military governments tried to stifle complaints within the Niger Delta region that decades of oil production have failed to benefit local...

Rwanda. (Areas of Conflict).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Two groups, the Hutu and the Tutsi, are divided more along social lines than tribal ones. The Belgian colonial masters of Rwanda had favoured the Tutsi minority, but a Hutu rebellion in 1959 forced them out of power. Hundreds of thousands of...

Senegal. (Areas of Conflict).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Casamance is a southern part of Senegal largely separated from the rest of the country. There has been a general feeling among the people of the region that the national government has neglected them. An armed rebellion that began in...

Sierra Leone. (Areas of Conflict).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Early in 1991, Liberian guerrillas joined with dissidents within Sierra Leone to capture several towns near the Liberian border; the threat was met with military aid from Guinea and Nigeria. A new constitution providing for a multiparty system...

Somalia. (Areas of Conflict).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Although armed opposition to the government of Mohammed Siad Barre had existed for many years, the war began in earnest in May 1988. That was when the Somali National Movement (SNM) began fighting the government in northwestern Somalia. Other...

South Africa. (Areas Of Conflict).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... For many decades South Africa used a system called apartheid to separate races from one another. The racist system gave white people the best of everything and blacks the worst. An armed struggle to overthrow apartheid involved several...

Sudan. (Areas of Conflict).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Sudan's civil war is the longest in Africa; in 44 years of fighting more than two million people have been killed. The war has also driven the way of life in southern Sudan backwards by several centuries. There are virtually no paved roads;...

Uganda. (Areas of Conflict).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2001... Manipulation and exploitation of ethnic differences has long been used by Uganda's leaders as a tactic for holding onto power. The Baganda people in the country's south continue to demand more recognition for their traditional kingdom. Northern...