Africa

Internationally, Africa is believed to be the continent with the most wars and conflicts. The Heinrich Böll Foundation’s conflict management program concentrates on cooperation with local stakeholders.

The Heinrich Böll Foundation’s work in Africa is concentrated in the regions Southern Africa, Eastern Africa/Horn of Africa, and Nigeria. Our main mission is the support of civil society participation in political decision-making processes.

The Zimbabwean struggle for democracy looks set to continue for some time to come. The MDC-T needs to ensure that future rounds of mediation will take place within a more equitable, framework.

The global energy system is undergoing a structural crisis. At its heart lies the need to restrain climatic change while at the same time dealing with energy security in an era of rapidly growing demand.

For more than one week South Africa has been shaken by violent attacks against migrants. According to the police, more than 40 deaths are already recorded. Hundreds of people - among them women and children - were attacked, injured, raped, and their homes were plundered and burned down.

Nigeria’s privatisation programme covers several sectors, including banking and finance, manufacturing, and tourism. Given the criticisms leveled at privatisation programmes in other sectors, it appears timely to evaluate the proposals for the privatisation of the utility sector.

At the UN Climate Change Conference that took place in December 2007 in Bali a new phase of international climate negotiations began. The result: African countries will remain exempt from  emission reductions. Instead they were offered financial help to adapt to the impacts of climate change which pose an especially serious challenge to the countries of the South.

Leonie Joubert, a renowned journalist and photographer, reports on the impact of climate change in South Africa. Her essay is accompanied by striking photographs of  South Africa’s vulnerable landscapes and of the people depending on them for their livelihoods.

"Boiling Point", a publication of the Heinrich Böll Foundations' Southern Africa Office, explores the lives of ordinary South Africans as climate change sets in. The stories of a rooibos tea farmer, a traditional fisherman, a maize farmer, a political refugee, and a traditional healer show the manifold impacts of a heating world. The book is complemented by a series of spectacular photographs.