Higher education path will engineer innovation and prosperity in Africa
AFRICA is undeniably "rising", as The Economist famously declared back in 2011. Yet the fruits of this boom have not reached the majority of our continent’s 1.1-billion people, who remain trapped in poverty. Africa scores poorly on the Human Development Index of the United Nations Development Programme, which measures life expectancy, education and gross domestic product. The 18 lowest-ranked countries on last year’s index are all African. The challenge is to translate domestic product growth into broad-based human development. Africa needs tangible results stemming from a true footprint. We do not need spin doctors but medical doctors and farmers, entrepreneurs, engineers, teachers [...]
Burkina Faso Sets New Precedent for Africa
Popular uprising in Burkina Faso By Dr. Denis Foretia (article published here http://bit.ly/1qoLEcU) Events in Burkina Faso at the very least represent a recalibration of the political dynamics and geopolitics especially for francophone sub-Saharan Africa. It can be argued that this is indeed the first time in recent memory that an African dictator, steeped in the FrancAfrique network, has been successfully forced out of power through a popular uprising and without the carnage of a civil war. That President Blaise Compaore was quickly forced out of power highlights a growing problem for many African autocrats but most especially for [...]
Remarks by Foundation Director, Obed Fung, during World Hunger Day Forum
Yaounde - Cameroon, 16th June 2014 The Representative of the World Food Program, Members of International Organizations, Members of Non Governmental Organizations, Members of the Civil Society, Ladies and gentlemen, Accept greetings from Dr. and Mrs. Foretia in Atlanta, Georgia USA. When they created the Denis and Lenora Foretia Foundation it was because they believed that as Cameroonians, we must actively participate in transforming our economic and social dispensation. That is why the mission of the Foretia Foundation is to catalyze our economic transformation by focusing on social entrepreneurship, science and technology, innovation, public health and the implementation of progressive policies [...]
Is there anything new with the post-2015 UN agenda on sustainable development?
By Mariarosario Iorio [dropcap type="circle" color="#FFFFFF" background="#8C212A"]T[/dropcap]his article intends to be a contribution to the on-going debates on the post- 2015 agenda on sustainable development. What are the Issues? As the world is undergoing a major systemic crisis, commitment to redistribution, social well-being and environmental justice is central. However, there is also a need to concretely and positively impact populations in the world at all levels of the social scale. In light of the above, setting the post-2015 UN agenda faces a number of weaknesses: -First, the assessment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) impact is not over yet. As a [...]
A Situational Analysis of Gender-Based Violence in Cameroon
By Mildred Ayafor [dropcap type="circle" color="#FFFFFF" background="#8C212A"]G[/dropcap]ender Based Violence (GBV) refers to any act committed against the will of a human being on the bases of sex differences. Violence against Women (VAW) refers to any violence perpetrated on women and young girls simply because they are female. Article 1 of the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women refers to it as: “any act of gender based violence that results in or is likely to result in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether [...]
HIV AIDS IN CAMEROON – AN UPDATE
By Edith Ndjeng Ossono, Manuella Yimga Fosso & Prudence Missoka [dropcap type="circle" color="#FFFFFF" background="#8c212a"]T[/dropcap]hirty years after the discovery of AIDS, the infection has continued to grow and make victims worldwide. World Health Organization (WHO) identifies it in 2002 as a global pandemic, as nearly 30 million people have died from AIDS since it was discovered. According to the UN mission (UNAIDS), approximately 34 million people are infected in the world today and each year nearly 3 million new cases are diagnosed. In addition, nearly 90% of HIV-infected children in 2011 are found in sub-Saharan Africa. Such statistics are frightening and [...]
«La fille est l’avenir de l’homme» Aragon
Par Manuella Fosso Yimga [dropcap type="circle" color="#FFFFFF" background="#8C212A"]S[/dropcap]elon Tatyana P. SOUBBOTINA et Katerine A. SHERAM , l’écart des pourcentages de scolarisation entre le jeune garçon et la jeune est très grand en Afrique Sub saharienne. Selon elles, ce problème peut s’expliquer par les normes culturelles, les us et coutumes, les croyances qui constituent généralement la fondation de l’éducation de la jeune fille dans cette partie continent. Au Cameroun, le taux de scolarisation de la jeune fille varie selon qu’on se trouve en zone urbaine ou rurale. En zone rurale par exemple, le taux de scolarisation et d’alphabétisation est encore bas [...]
Regional Integration in Central Africa – An Update
By Edith Ndjeng Ossono [dropcap type="circle" color="#FFFFFF" background="#8C212A"]A[/dropcap] meeting of Ministers -members of the CEMAC - which was held on September 23, 2013 in Libreville (Gabon), focused on: A review of the Community budget based on the action plan of the Commission for 2014; strengthening governance and capacity of the CEMAC Commission, the prospect of development of a common market through the adoption of a law on free movement of persons in June 14 in Libreville, and the implementation and rationalization of Regional Economic Program (REP). Indeed, June 14, 2013 was an historic milestone in the CEMAC, as that day, the [...]
Education for Sustainable Development in Cameroon – Reflections on “A Call for Teachers”
By Manuella Fosso Yimga (Policy Intern) Skills, independent of the domain of activities have become the global currency in the 21st century for upward social mobility all over the world. Almost everywhere the need for competence is required for professional growth. Due to the complexity of our environment and critical issues African countries are experiencing, the role of teachers in the educational system warrants a critical re-appraisal. One of the biggest challenges in the education system of Cameroon is the gap between available resources and its distribution within the various regions in the country. These resources include the available professional, [...]
Are We Ready for a New Agricultural Bank in Cameroon? What Challenges and Opportunities?
By Obed Fung, Director From a Promising Sector to an Agricultural bank Of the close to 20 million inhabitants of Cameroon, about 8.5 million (42 percent of the total population) live in rural areas where informal agriculture is the predominant source of employment. Despite its subsistence nature, this sector employs more than 55 percent of the total workforce, while providing 22 percent of its GDP by sector and 30 percent of its export revenue on average. In the past couple of years, the agricultural sector has exhibited an average 5 percent growth rate and this is encouraging especially when compared [...]
Denis & Lenora Foretia Foundation | Catalyzing Africa's Economic Transformation