As in my previous blog referring to the media coverage on the Sierra Leone elections, one article in the Guardian was striking in its lack of depth when describing what it referred to as the 'peace industry' during the elections in Ghana. In response to the article  ' Ghana Makes Peace a Priority in Election Campaign ' of 2 December 2012, I submitted the following letter to the editor...
Read More About Peace in Ghana: beyond the song and dance »

  The elections in Sierra Leone, which proceded peacefully in spite of some fears for renewed violence, were accompanied with insufficient international media coverage. Unfortunately, it is mainly when crisis erupts that international headlines tend to direct their spotlight at African politics. One media outlet that did write about Sierra Leone was the Economist. Together with Edward...
Read More About The role of local actors in peaceful Sierra Leone elections »

  Some weeks ago, I discussed the situation in Mali with Emmanuel Bombande, chair of GPPAC and Director of the West Africa Network of Peacebuilding . In the current scenario, what should be GPPAC’s position, how can civil society play a role in supporting a peaceful way forward in Mali? Referring to the Economist article ‘ Divided Mali: Where al-Qaeda rules the roost’ (Sep 22nd 2012...
Read More About What way forward with civil society in Mali? »

      With continuing violence and rising death tolls in Homs and Douma, while the international community came away from last weekend’s Istanbul meeting with more condemnations but few clear plans for addressing the situation, it is no wonder that Syria continues to be in the spotlight of the media and international politics.   But more attention should be given to how...
Read More About Lebanon: in the shadow of the Syrian crisis »

I recently read a blog entry by Jennifer Lentfer http://www.how-matters.org/2012/02/26/logframes-errrgh/   which spoke straight to my Donor Relations Coordinator’s heart and mind. That certain kind of satisfaction of coming up with the perfect logframe, where all the components about a project fit together; they are not called logical frameworks for nothing! And let’s be fair, the...
Read More About Logframe versus Reality? »