Two doctors, Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum, and Dr. Francis Gervase Omaswa, have been named as this year’s (third) recipients of the Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize. The award established by the Japanese government honours people and organisations dedicated to research and medical advances that fight disease in Africa. The Prize includes a citation, a medal and an honorarium of 100 million yen (approx 1 million US dollars) for each laureate.
Democratic Republic of Congo
Politics and Society Choreographer Bolewa Sabourin promotes dance therapy for victims of sexual violence in DRC
French-Congolese choreographer and dancer Bolewa Sabourin is the force behind Re-Creation, a project that uses dance to provide therapeutic support to female victims of rape and sexual assault in the Kivu region of eastern DRC.
Arts and Culture Hair politics and local food through the lens of Robert Nzaou-Kissolo
Congolese photographer Robert Nzaou Kissolo is known for documenting life from a unique perspective. His hair politics series, done in 2016, and his current Congo delicacies series are peculiar, avant-garde and breathtaking all at once.
Africans rising Denis Mukwege deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in Congo
The Congolese physician has treated over 20,000 victims of traumatic rape in a conflict fueled in part by ‘conflict minerals’ used to make cellphones.
Politics and Society 57 years later Belgium inaugurates a square in Brussels named after Patrice Lumumba
Belgium renamed the former Square du Bastion to Patrice Lumumba Square but did not discuss reparations or repatriation of the wealth stolen from Congo. The insensitive and insincere apologies by former colonial powers are indeed an insult to those colonized.
African identities The Mangbetu people of DRC
Today we are going to the Democratic Republic of Congo to meet the Mangbetu people, popular for their elongated heads, music and art.
Politics and Society 28th AU Summit: ECOWAS raised the bar, but will others follow?
The AU should bolster the means and willpower of regions to use their militaries to enforce democracy.
Politics and Society Bayaka child labourers paid in glue and alcohol, report says
A report by Survival International has revealed that Bayaka children in the Republic of Congo are being paid in glue to sniff and alcohol, in return for their labour. The children are paid to clean out latrines.