COMING UP!>>Episode #72 (Season 4; Ep.7): Time with the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI)

Episode #72

(Season 4; Ep.7):  

Time with the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI)

Season 4 is STILL on the theme of “making money for Africa”.

We commenced the Season unpacking the nitty-gritty of the Creative Economy, and concluded that Film, more than any other cog in the Creative Economy wheel, was probably the most dominant within that Economy. In episode 2, we appreciated how, if managed properly, Sports could become the biggest employer in Ghana, the sub region, and the Continent.

In episode 3, we started to treat the all-important topic of customer service, concluding that, Ghana can achieve an “insanely customer-centric culture” as seen in the West, but it takes exposure and training of frontline staff to do that.

In episode 4, we concluded that East Africa continues to rise, while episode 5 helped demystify Africa’s agriculture under the AU’s flagship programme of CAADP, concluding that issues around Agribusiness and nutrition will dominate discussions around Agriculture after the 12^th CAADP Partnership Platform meeting that was held in Accra mid-April. Last week in episode 6, we piggy-backed on the *UNCTAD E-Commerce week* that took place from 18-22 April concluding the show on Cyber-crime with the shocking conclusion that Ghana’s Cyber-awareness is at a shockingly low threshold.

This week, we spend time with the Accra-based West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI), which is no stranger to Africa in Focus.

We ask two major questions:

First, WACSI has issued a number of recent publications that merit significant discussion. What is the rationale behind the books?

Secondly, now that the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on drug policy is over, whither the centrality of WACSI’s support for civil society activism on drug policy in West Africa? WACSI was instrumental back in February 2015 in convening the West Africa Commission on Drugs to join the rest of civil society in the region to begin unpacking CSO responses to drug policy.

What does the future hold for WACSI post-UNGASS, and what are some of its upcoming activities we should look out for?

Join us if you can at 2.05pm on 27 April, 2016.

Call us on the following numbers

+233(0)289.000.931

Guest in the studio:

ØIsaac Hubert Arthur, Head of Knowledge Management, WACSI

   

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*more details will be available soon on www.africainfocusradioshow.org ; africainfocusshow.blogspot.com.

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Tweet Emmanuel ahead of time on www.twitter.com/ekbensah, using #africainfocus.

Call Radio XYZ93.1FM on 0289.000.931 / 0289.931.000.

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COMING UP!>>Ep.36: West Africa Drug Policy Network, & Analysis of Bill to transform Ghana’s Narcotics Board (NACOB) into a Commission

36th Edition:  

West Africa Drug Policy Network, & Analysis of Bill to transform Ghana’s Narcotics Board (NACOB) into a Commission

It will be recalled that Ep.31 of the Show looked at the necessity of civil society intervention in drug  policy in West Africa. Subsequently, the Ghana Chapter of the newly-established Network (WaDruPoNe), which is backed by the Kofi Annan Foundation’s West Africa Commission on Drugs, held a meeting 25 February to chart the way forward on the Network’s advocacy.

In this second programme on civil society advocacy around drug policy in West Africa, we want to use the 36^th edition of “Africa in Focus” to begin a very critical and important conversation on two things.

First: the implications of a transformation of the erstwhile Narcotics Control Board into a Narcotics Control Commission, and what that augurs for treatment of those hooked onto drugs. Advocates from the newly-established WaDruPoNe believe the Bill to sustain the old and repressive focus of “war on drugs”, which targets the small fish by imposing long and harsh sentences on them, in lieu of treating them as addicts in need of assistance by clinicians, psychologists, and public health professionals.

Second: the Network’s call on members of the public and CSOs to support the call to SUPPORT NOT PUNISH drug users, with an equally-urgent call for a holistic review of the Bill before ratification by Parliament.

To this end, we will be speaking to two technical experts from the Ghana Chapter of the Network on the show to help speak to these issues, as well as a reformed drug user who can help speak to the necessity of drug policy reform.

Join us if you can at 1pm on 17 March, 2015.

Guiding questions

• Why is an analysis of the new Narcotics Control Commission Bill (transform Narcotics Board into a Commission) important?
• Does the bill address harm reduction strategies?
• Is the NCC Bill what one may call a progressive one?
• Despite the 2014 “Not Just in Transit” report by the West Africa Commission on Drugs, why have governments been slow in treating drug use as a public health issue?
• How universal will the current bill address the needs of every Ghanaian drug user regardless of their socio-economic status?

Guests in the studio:

Ø  Maria-Goretti Ane, Barrister/Solicitor & Regional Consultant, International Drug Policy Consortium

Ø  Mohammed A Adamu ,  Founder/CEO WABHARM Foundation(GH)

Ø  Christian “Lion” Lokko, Public Relations Officer, REMAR

On the line:

·        Macmillan Prentice, Standards Officer, Ghana Standards Authority @13h15

·        Kobby Blay, EbolaWatch @13h30

AIF NEWS FEATURE: "AFRICA AND SOCIAL MEDIA: BLOGGING; ACTIVISM; AND THE FUTURE"

AFRICA AND SOCIAL MEDIA: BLOGGING; ACTIVISM; AND THE FUTURE

                                                                 

                                               by Pamela Ofori-Boateng, AIF News Reporter

According to Africa Renewal Online, Africans are coupling their already extensive use of cellphones with a more recent and massive interest in social media. Africans are leading what may be the next global trend:a major shift to mobile internet use,with social media as its main drivers.

Studies suggest that when Africans go online they spend most of their time on social media platforms like Facebook; twitter; YouTube and others.

Social media platforms were primarily used to connect with family and friends, but the pattern has changed lately. Social media has now become a major platform for activism in Africa taking into consideration the abduction of over 200 girls in Nigeria by the militant group Boko Haram. Most civil society organisations and individuals launched social media campaigns to help in “bringing the girls back” to where they belong.

Another recent example is the “Occupy Flagstaff House”, which was organised in Accra, Ghana’s capital, on July 1, 2014 with the aim of asking government to solve corruption; infrastructural decay; and worsening economy -- among other things. Social media tool, Facebook, was the main tool used to mobilise the masses for the demonstration.

People in Africa also use blogging as a social media platform to air their views on topics they find interesting or topics they want to educate people about.

On the latest edition of “Africa in Focus”,E.K.Bensah hosted Kwame Ahiabenu of Penplusbytes and Edward Tagoe of Blogging Ghana on the topic,”Africa and Social Media:Blogging :Activism and the future”

Mr. Edward Tagoe stated that every country needs an association of bloggers because there is a craving for fresh information and so bloggers will provide a lot more information than what we have in the mainstream media. He did not mince words to say that the rate of blogging is decreasing because Twitter as a social media platform has become easy to use and it is more interactive.

He mentioned plagiarism and libel as the main challenge confronted by bloggers and further asked bloggers to cross check their write ups and acknowledge any source of information they use on their blogs.

Mr. Kwame Ahiabenu intimated that Ghana now has quite a number of citizen journalists who aid in the dissemination of information through facebook; twitter and whatsapp and that the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA)should include them(Citizen journalists) when structuring the categories of the annual journalism awards.

Mr. Tagoe reiterated that since almost all media houses are using social media platforms like facebook,twitter,whatsapp among others to disseminate information,it will be a good idea if the association introduces categories of awards for online news.

Stephen Musyoka,who won King of Facebook 2010 in Kenya also contributed to the show on phone by painting a picture of Kenya’s vibrancy on the social media ladder in Africa. He said that WhatsApp is a very important tool for business because one can easily send commercials and pictures of their products to a contact list.

Mr. Musyoka mentioned that Kenya’s high social media presence is as a result of high and fast internet connectivity.

He highlighted on some of the negative aspects of social media like hacking. He gave an example in Kenya where the account of one government official was hacked into and the need for governments to regulate the usage of social media in Africa.

Africa is indeed progressing when it comes to the use of social media but i believe we can do more with this powerful tool to a stage where criminals can be caught through social media just like a news story i watched on Al jazeera within this week where a thief who stole a lady’s earring worth 300 dollars was caught within 24 hours just because someone took a video of him whilst he was stealing and uploaded it on facebook. Within minutes the videos went viral and it led to the identification of the thief.

Podcasts of last 10 Episodes of "Africa in Focus"

22 July, 2014: Energy Security in West Africa

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ba3ahd0ab0jjps4/AFRICA%20IN%20FOCUS%20%2022-07-14.mp3

Kindly find a podcast of the 22 July edition of "Africa in Focus", which interrogated the question that:

"understanding energy security is important because the reliable supply of commercial energy services is critical for growing economies in West Africa. Just like people elsewhere, citizens in West Africa seek a higher standard of living, which is only possible with access to commercially-sustainable energy services.

Yet, most of the region lack the energy infrastructure needed to meet demand, although resources such as oil, gas, hydro and coal are available and there are opportunities for modern use of biomass and other renewables such as wind and solar"

Other Questions answered:
• What is energy security, and how is it prosecuted in West Africa? (ERERA)
• What are some of the threats to energy security in (West) Africa? (ERERA/GIABA)
• How can energy security be maintained? (ERERA)
• What are the regional & continental responses to countering challenges to energy security? (ERERA/GIABA)"

Guests included:

Ø  Uwem Thompson, Communications Officer, Ecowas Regional Energy Regulatory Electricity Authority (ERERA), Accra

Ø  Stella Attakpah, Programmes Manager, Intergovernmental  Action Group Against Money-Laundering(GIABA), Dakar [on the line from Vienna, Austria]

Tune in at 13h10 GMT (1:00pm Ghana Time). We’re also streaming live  www.radioxyzonline.com. 

PODCAST -- Africa in Focus: "State of Civil Society in West Africa post-2015 Agenda" (10 June, 2014)

From Emmanuel K: "Please find a link to the latest edition of the "Africa in Focus" show, which aired on Radio XYZ93.1 fm on Tuesday 10 June at 13h10. As Ghana has been identified as a middle-income country, aid flows to the country will diminish significantly with a number of major donors that will begin to set deadlines for the end of their aid frameworks. In this light, civil society will need to answer the question as to where CSOs, as a vital part of society, will continue to find funding in the future. Guests included: - **Executive Director of WACSI Nana -- Asantewa Afadzinu **OSIWA Programme Manager in Charge of Law, Justice and Human Rights -- Afia Asantewaa Asare-Kyei **STAR Ghana's Mary Tobbin-Osei Tune in at 13h10 GMT (1:00pm Ghana Time) EVERY Tuesday. We're also streaming live www.radioxyzonline.com.  Contact us Facebook on: http://www.facebook.com/africainfocusonradioxyz and radio XYZ 93.1FM. Tweet us @africainfocus14 and @ekbensah. Listen to us on #MultiTVChannel29. Thanks! HOW TO CONTACT "AFRICA IN FOCUS" 1. Google plus BUSINESS PAGE :http://gplus.to/contactafricainfocusxyz 2. Google plus COMMUNITY: http://gplus.to/africainfocusonradioxyz 3. Google plus Profile: http://gplus.to/africainfocusongoogleplus *Email: africainfocusonradioxyz AT gmail.com *FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/africainfocusonradioxyz *Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/africainfocus14, using #AfricainFocus #radioxyz"" Click here to view (Emmanuel K shared these files using Dropbox. Enjoy!) © 2014 Dropbox

Coming up on 10 June, 2014 edition of "Africa in Focus": "The State of Civil Society in West Africa post-2015"

As 2015 approaches with increasing celerity, it is time for civil society to prepare itself for the post-2015 agenda. This debate is important in the light of the fact that 2015 is the year when an important examination of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will be had. What this means is that a serious analysis on how far and how deeply civil society has acted around the fight for the MDGs will be open for discussion and reflection in the development sector community.

As Ghana has been identified as a middle-income country, aid flows to the country will diminish significantly with a number of major donors that will begin to set deadlines for the end of their aid frameworks. In this light, civil society will need to answer the question as to where CSOs, as a vital part of society, will continue to find funding in the future.

Guests include:

-         Executive Director of WACSI Nana -- Asantewa Afadzinu

-        OSIWA Programme Manager in Charge of Law, Justice and Human Rights -- Afia Asantewaa Asare-Kyei

--        STAR Ghana’s Mary Tobbinosei

Tune in at 13h10 GMT (1:00pm Ghana Time). We’re also streaming live www.radioxyzonline.com. Contact us Facebook on:

 http://www.facebook.com/africainfocusonradioxyz and radio XYZ 93.1FM. Tweet us @africainfocus14 and @ekbensah. Listen to us on #MultiTVChannel29. Thanks!

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3. Google plus Profile: http://gplus.to/africainfocusongoogleplus

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