Al-Shabaab stole the show!

Jul 28, 2010

EDITOR—It is easy to forget that the theme of the African Union summit which ended yesterday was “Maternal, infant and child health and development in Africa” Al Shabaab surely got the attention they desired.

EDITOR—It is easy to forget that the theme of the African Union summit which ended yesterday was “Maternal, infant and child health and development in Africa” Al Shabaab surely got the attention they desired.

One would be excused for thinking that the summit was a security meeting on Somalia. Almost tying with Al-Shabaab at the number one spot is Muammar Gaddafi with his huge and colourful entourage scuffling with Ugandan security.

This was meant to be about the women and children of Africa but somewhere down the road it looks the the AU bus took a wrong turn, taking the media with them!

I am not sure whether we should thank the media for selectively reporting and half-hearted coverage of issues around maternal, infant and child health at the summit or the leaders for getting distracted by the Somali question.

While it is good news that the G8 leaders have committed funding to maternal and child health I would have expected a much more detailed account from the African leaders at the summit. It is important for us to see how accountable African leaders and the media are to issues that affect women.

In related events, Uganda finally ratified the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (popularly known as the Maputo Protocol) on July 22. I managed to get this information off the internet. Did someone forget to inform the Ugandan media?
Juliet Nakato Odoi
ACORD Uganda

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