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The Diplomatic Envoy

Africa

Campus Spotlight2021April 2021AmericasAfricaSchool of Diplomacy News
Lylian Pagan

National Security Fellows from the School of Diplomacy Brief the National Security Council

A group of 11 graduate students recently presented their research findings to the National Security Council under the guidance and advisement of Professor Mohamad Mirghahari, a Tom and Ruth Sharkey Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the School of Diplomacy. Professor Mirghahari is a former Presidential Appointee under the Obama Administration who served as a senior advisor to the chief of staff for the Transportation Security Administration. Prior to that, he spent 14 years working at the Department of Defense and is a recipient of the Secretary of Homeland Security’s Award for Excellence.

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2021April 2021FocusAfricaSeparatist Movements
Chimdi Chukwukere

FOCUS on Separatist Movements: Western Sahara

Following its establishment in 1945, the United Nations adopted a central commitment to the right to self-determination and decolonization of all non-self-governing territories. General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV), adopted in 1960, called for the “respect for the principles of equal rights and self-determination of all peoples” and declared that “all people have the right to self-determination by virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.” It is on this basis that Western Saharans continue to push for their right to self-determination and independence from Morocco. 

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2021March 2021International NewsAfrica
Shweta Parthasarathy

Kidnapped Children Returned in Nigeria

Hundreds of Nigerian girls have been released after they were kidnapped from a boarding school in the northwestern region of the country, according to The Washington Post. The girls, dressed in light blue hijabs and barefoot, appear unharmed, but doctors will administer a a medical checkup before the children are returned to their parents. CNN reports that the girls were in “good condition,” but some of them had to be treated for open sores on their feet.

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World2021February 2021International NewsAfrica
Lylian Pagan

World Food Program to “Scale Up” Efforts in Tigray Region

UN officials, the High Commission for Refugees, the World Food Programme, and the Ethiopian government have agreed to expand access to humanitarian relief and ”scale up” efforts to reduce food insecurities in Ethiopia’s war-torn Tigray region, according to a statement by the World Food Programme (WFP). VOA reports that this agreement comes after the UN criticized Ethiopian authorities for blocking humanitarian aid from reaching the state’s rural population.

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World2021February 2021International NewsAfrica
Timothy Sandram

Turbulent Take-Off: COVID-19 Immunization Efforts Finally Roll Out in South Africa

After a turbulent take-off, the South African government has finally started vaccinating its people against the COVID-19 virus. The country’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, was among the first six people to receive the jab, according to VOA. Earlier in the month, the South African government halted the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine on frontline workers after a study found it not to be effective enough against the variant prevalent in that country.

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