News & Events

  Prof. Marleen Dekker has been appointed a member of the Development Cooperation Committee of the Advisory Council on International Affairs. The Advisory Council on International Affairs (AIV) is an independent body which advises the Dutch government and parliament on foreign policy. Marleen Dekker is Professor of Inclusive Development in Africa at Leiden University.

Youthful population age structures represent formidable constraints to the attainment of upper-middle levels of social, economic, and political development. Research suggests that unless their populations reach the demographic window, states in Sub-Saharan Africa will be unable to reach the World Bank’s upper-middle income class. Most countries in equatorial Africa and the Sahel are due for this development breakthrough sometime after 2055. Political demographer Prof. Richard Cincotta will shed his light on the timing of African development on 11 March.

Leiden University will confer an honorary doctorate on human rights and child rights activist Graça Machel on its Founcation Day, 8 February 2021. Ms Machel will receive the honorary doctorate for her lifelong commitment to the rights of children. The ceremony can be watched via livestream.

Did you miss the Stephen Ellis Annual Lecture by Prof. Jonathan D. Jansen? You can now watch it on our YouTube channel. Jonathan Jansen, Professor of Education at Stellenbosch University and President of the Academy of Science of South Africa, gave the lecture, entitled 'Decolonising the mind? - Stadig oor die klippers', on 26 November. Prof. Jansen spoke about the re-awakening of decolonisation in the public consciousness from Europe to North America and South Africa.