Afrika

Without apologies, reparations are incomplete, believes professor of African history and human rights expert Bonny Ibhawoh. If Belgium wants to offer credible criticism of human rights violations in Africa, it must also be able to name its own past violations. ‘Human rights are no selection menu.’

The tropical forests in the Congo basin filter more CO2 from the air than the notably larger Amazon forest. This sounds positive, but these forests are rapidly disappearing. Several countries invest in conservation projects which, if they want to succeed, should also aid the fast-growing population.

MO* journalist John Vandaele travelled to Congo to visit NGO Faja Lobi, which was started ten years ago by Jurgen Heytens from Ghent. With many small donations, the organisation planted 3,000 hectares of forest in the savannahs of Kwilu and became the largest employer in the region. 

Fake news is used purposefully and very strategically in Congo today — to score politically and diplomatically, to create a certain psychological climate, or simply to cover up hard facts. The greater the insecurity, the harder the rumour mill turns.

She grew up in Libya in a conservative family and was the only girl in class wearing a hijab. Today, journalist and television pioneer Taziri al-Omrani lives in Belgium, from where she continues defending the rights of Libyan women and minorities. "I was a revolutionary from a young age," she says.