Most people, and indeed governments, hold the conviction that reforms, rather than revolutions, are likely to produce more appropriate and acceptable results. This is especially true for developing countries. That is because reforms are gradual in their implementation and respectful to past policy fabrics of a society. On the other hand, the simultaneous spread of communication technology, global liberalization of the market, and peripheral homogenization of cultures, have caused extreme tensions in just these developing countries. In this book, scholars from different countries around the world highlight the reforms and the tensions, in the light of the questions: what has been achieved, what has failed, and what is still needed? Experiences from such diverse locations as Nigeria, Ghana, Guatemala, South Korea, Taiwan, Zimbabwe, and Tanzania are combined with more general observations from other countries. Contributors are Don Adams, N’dri Thérèse Assié-Lumumba, Amiya Kumar Bagchi, Thomas Clayton, Mark Ginsburg, Julius O. Ihonvbere, Kent Klitgaard, Tukumbi Lumumba-Kasongo, Martha Mantilla, Arild Schou, Judy Sylvester, and Yidan Wang

Higher Education in Africa. Crises, Reforms and Transformation

Model Law on Access to Information for Africa and other regional instruments: Soft law and human rights in Africa Edited by Ololade Shyllon 2018 ISBN: 978-1-920538-87-3 Pages: 255 Print version: Available Electronic version: Free PDF available About the publication The adoption in 2013 of the Model Law on Access to Information for Africa by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights is an important landmark in the increasing elaboration of human rights-related soft law standards in Africa. Although non-binding, the Model Law significantly influenced the access to information landscape on the continent. Since the adoption of the Model Law, the Commission adopted several General Comments. The AU similarly adopted Model Laws such as the African Union Model Law on Internally Displaced Persons in Addressing Internal Displacement in Africa. This collection of essays inquires into the role and impact of soft law standards within the African human rights system and the AU generally. It assesses the extent to which these standards induced compliance, and identifies factors that contribute to generating such compliance. This book is a collection of papers presented at a conference organised by the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, with the financial support of the government of Norway, through the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Pretoria. Following the conference, the papers were reviewed and reworked. Table of Contents Acknowledgments Preface Contributors Abbreviations and acronyms PART I: THE MODEL LAW AND ITS INFLUENCE ON ACCESS TO INFORMATION IN AFRICA Introduction Ololade Shyllon The impact of the Model Law on Access to Information for Africa Fola Adeleke Implementing a Model Law on Access to Information in Africa: Lessons from the Americas Marianna Belalba and Alan Sears The implementation of the constitutional right of access to information in Africa: Opportunities and challenges Ololade Shyllon PART II: COUNTRY STUDIES The Model Law on Access to Information for Africa and the struggle for the review and passage of the Ghanaian Right to Information Bill of 2013 Ugonna Ukaigwe The impact of the Model Law on Access to Information for Africa on Kenya’s Access to Information framework Anne Nderi The Sudanese Access to Information Act 2015: A step forward? Ali Abdelrahman Ali Compliance through decoration: Access to information in Zimbabwe Nhlanhla Ngwenya PART III: INFLUENCE OF SOFT LAW WITHIN THE AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM Soft law and legitimacy in the African Union: The case of the Pretoria Principles on Ending Mass Atrocities Pursuant to Article 4(h) of the AU Constitutive Act Busingye Kabumba The incorporation of the thematic resolutions of the African Commission into the domestic laws of African countries Japhet Biegon General Comment 1 of the African Commission of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights: A source of norms and standard setting on sexual and reproductive health and rights Ebenezer Durojaye The African Union Model Law on Internally Displaced Persons: A critique Romola Adeola Selected bibliography

The Coming African hour is not a slogan, nor wishful thinking. It is a conclusion that derives from an insightful analysis of the current situation pertaining on the continent. Several African scholars, coming from different regions and academic backgrounds are elaborating ideas and arguments in order to explain the constraints and to illustrate the opportunities. The result of that scientific gathering is a book that synthesizes and renews the reflections on development. What is at stake is not to be pessimistic or optimistic about Africa. The epistemological challenge is to understand what is going on. By focusing on converging and diverging African realities, on the issues of state, civil society, gender and development strategies, the authors of the book show under which conditions the African hour is coming. At that level, the commitment for political science meets the commitment for Africa. The main success of this book is to overcome the preconceived ideas and self-fulfilling prophecies about Africa. Here, the analysis avoids the trap of indulgence; then hope is based on truth. Consequently, the coming African hour is not inescapable: it is, as analyzed, a possibility that its achievement depends on institutional, human, political, social and economic factors.

This resourceful book provides cutting-edge exploration and insightful analysis of educational implications of technology and distance higher education in Africa and Asia, critically examining access, curriculum, pedagogy, externally designed programs, the quest for ownership and strategies for creating a knowledge society.

Japan-Africa Relations seeks to study the complex nature of the dynamics of power relations between Japan and Africa since the Bandung Conference in 1955, with an emphasis on the period starting from the 1970s up to the present.

Why is it that French chefs tend to develop a syndrome of professional nostalgia? Educated to work in the most prestigious restaurants, they soon discover another reality in common foodservices and are viewed as having made an egotistical professional choice. Regardless of the improvement in their working conditions, their identity is distorted. This book describes foodservices as a whole, including international and inter-industry comparisons in the sociological field of gastronomical professionals, in an attempt to analyze their identities in different stages and diversities.