News & Events

Ms Sheila Keetharuth, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, will give a lecture at the ASC on Tuesday 29 September, followed by a discussion. During the meeting, economic and social-cultural human rights, as well as children’s rights, in particular of unaccompanied migrant children, will be discussed. Young Eritreans flee the country massively. After Syria, it is the country most refugees entering Europe originate from. Ms Keetharuth presented her report on the human rights situation in Eritrea last June.

On behalf of the jury of the Africa Thesis Award, the ASC is pleased to announce this year's final four nominees. In alphabetical order: Ruth Murambadoro, for her thesis on the politicalization of reconciliation in Zimbabwe; Tata Donita Nshani for her ethnography of gender relations in North West Cameroon; Akosua Sarpong Boakye-Ansah for her thesis on inequalities in drinking water quality in urban areas in Malawi; and Merel van ‘t Wout for her thesis on seamstresses in Bolgatanga, Ghana. The winner will be announced soon!

Margot Leegwater's PhD thesis has been published in the African Studies Collection. Her study examines the effects of land-access and land-tenure policies on local community relations, including ethnicity, and land conflicts in post-conflict rural Rwanda. Violence has historically often been linked to land, and the current growing resentment and fear surrounding these land-related policies and the ever-increasing land conflicts could jeopardize Rwanda's recovery and stability. Leegwater succesfully defended her PhD dissertation on 16 September at the VU University Amsterdam.