With this edition of Perspectives, the Heinrich Böll Foundation gives Africa based commentators and experts from across the continent the opportunity to critically reflect on the “Africa rising” story and the sub-narratives it carries, including the rise of the African woman, the rise of the African middle class and the power of innovation.
From 13–15 August 2012 the foundation co-hosted the conference ‘People’s Power People’s Parliament: A Civil Society Conference on South Africa’s Legislatures’ in Cape Town. This report aims to document the conversations and issues raised, as well as provide background information on the questions debated.
Communities across South Africa suffer a daily and persistent attack on their constitutional rights because of violent crime. The findings of this report clearly indicate that the South African Police Service has a long way to go towards becoming a democratic service that is effective and accountable, under ethical and professional command.
In contrast to Germany, environmental questions are not yet a voting issue in South Africa. However, providing greater access to energy is a high priority. What can a developing country take away from Germany’s experiences? What are the chances of South Africa taking a leading role in Africa’s Energiewende?
This publication sheds light on the impacts of meat and dairy production, and aims to catalyse the debate over the need for better, safer and more sustainable food and farming.
The Heinrich Böll Stiftung and the World Future Council commissioned a comprehensive study to assess the existing and drafted REFiT policies in 13 African countries with the aim of examining the policy drivers and socio-economic effects of REFiTs and analyse both supportive and obstructive factors for their effective implementation. The study shows that, REFiTs are a promising mechanism to unlock renewable energy development in Africa.
The G20’s commitment to conventional solutions obscures the possibility of other alternatives. Even though the alternatives present challenges in terms of replication, cost, and scale, the G20 summit in Mexico in June 2012 should re-cast the criteria for selecting and financing energy projects to highlight modular, renewable energy solutions.
This publication presents the critical themes that informed the debates during the conference ‘Climate Change, Resources, Migration: Old and New Sources of Conflict in Africa?’ hosted by the Heinrich Böll Foundation on the 2nd and 3rd of August 2009 in Cape Town. The conference, while analysing the current state of Africa’s peace and security architecture, focused on the structural root causes of conflict in Africa and on the question of whether the security framework in place offers appropriate answers to deal with these challenges.
