News & Events

On the occasion of the conference ‘Education for Life in Africa’, organized by the Netherlands Association for Africa Studies in The Hague on 19 and 20 May, the ASCL Library has compiled a web dossier on this theme. The conference is dedicated to Goal 4 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): ‘Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning’. Read the web dossier.

In November 2014 the ASCL published a thematic map about Africa’s ‘no-go areas’. It was a contribution to a debate among Dutch universities about preventing their students and staff from going to Africa. It was the era of Ebola and of growing anxiety about the risks of being kidnapped. This new thematic map shows what has changed in Africa between late 2014 and early 2017. Clearly, the no-go areas in Africa have increased. 

To coincide with the international NVAS Conference Education for Life in Africa, 19-20 May in The Hague, the ASCL has published a thematic map together with ICLON (Leiden University Graduate School of Teaching) about education in Africa, its recent dynamics and the current situation. The map gives an overview of primary, secondary and tertiary enrolment rates in 1990 and 2012, broken down by gender.

Submission of Master's theses for the Africa Thesis Award 2017 is now open! The best thesis will be awarded with € 500 and will be published in the ASCL's African Studies Collection. Any final-year student who has completed his or her Master's thesis with distinction (80% or higher or a Dutch rating of at least an 8) at a university in Africa or the Netherlands may apply. The deadline for submission is 9 July.

Het Nederlandse buitenlandse beleid heeft de laatste jaren ingezet op ‘economische diplomatie’. Daarmee lijkt een stap gezet te zijn in de richting van diplomatie waarbij het Nederlandse economische belang meer centraal staat. Maar welke belangen zijn dat dan? Een preciezere framing van het beleid is gewenst, schrijven Ton Dietz (ASCL) en Rob van Tulder (Partnerships Resource Centre, Erasmus Universiteit), van economische diplomatie waarbij het er niet toe doet welke handelsstromen op gang worden gebracht, naar duurzame diplomatie, ofwel ‘diplomatie van duurzame ontwikkeling’, waarbij veel meer wordt nagedacht over de kwaliteit, de doelstelling en de lange termijn invulling van deze relaties.