Here at Amplify Africa we love to celebrate the beautiful continent of Africa as well as Black culture around the world. It is also just as important for us to highlight the tragedies and devastations that are occurring and identify ways in which we can help. Here is a list of just some of the countries that are hurting and how we can make a difference.
GHANA
A recently opened center for the LGBTQI+ community in Ghana, was shut down last month after it was raided by security forces. The community center named “LGBT+ Rights Ghana” faced opposition from the start and attracted a lot of anger among locals who called for it to be closed down. According to the country’s penal code, being in a same-sex relationship can attract between 3 to 25 years in prison.
Actors Idris Elba and Michaela Coel, and supermodel Naomi Campbell joined forces with other influential names in fashion, film and media to express their solidarity with the LGBTQ community in an open letter tagged #GhanaSupportsEquality.
LBGT+ Rights Ghana has developed the Community Support Fund Initiative which provides support and empowers members of the community who are financially constrained. You can make a donation here.
ETHIOPIA
The conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region has cost hundreds of lives and thousands have fled to Sudan. Omna Tigray is a global community and resource center that advocates for the human rights and economic development of Tigrayans and other oppressed peoples in Tigray. Many regions in the country have been experiencing ethnic violence and unrest in the midst of much political tension.
Read more about the violence in the different regions of Ethiopia.
NIGERIA
Nigeria’s school kidnappings have become a key security challenge for its government and security forces. At least 700 students have been abducted in northern states since December. That number changes daily as more attacks and abductions are reported.
Learn about why these innocent children are being targeted.
SENEGAL
Protests in Senegal’s capital Dakar against the arrest of opposition leader and former presidential candidate Ousmane Sonko
A top Senegalese official whose job is to settle conflicts has said the country is on a dangerous precipice after four days of protests left at least five young people dead. The unrest was triggered by the arrest of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko who has been accused of rape. Young people seem to have lost trust in the government and are demanding change.
Learn why the youth are supporting Sonko.
SOMALIA
The U.S. government has conducted approximately 202 airstrikes in Somalia since 2017, and has been striking and bombing Somalia since 2007. Most of the U.S. attacks have been done by AFRICOM (U.S. Africa Command Program), however CIA airstrikes and ground operations are not required to be officially confirmed or denied. Regardless, these attacks have had a disastrous impact, with some reports indicating that they’ve resulted in the murder of at least 2,682 Somali people since 2007, including non combatants and children, while displacing around 493,000 people since 2019.
Help survivors who have been harmed by AFRICOM & U.S. Militarism
HAITI
Haiti is in the midst of a political crisis. Opposition leaders are disputing the mandate of President Jovenel Moise, whose term most legal experts and civil society groups have said ended on February 7. The President and his supports say that his five-year-term doesn’t expire until 2022.
Haiti is facing one of its ,worst outbreaks of violence since 1986. The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) reported 944 intentional homicides, 124 abductions, and 78 cases of sexual and gender-based violence from January through August 31, with at least 159 people killed as a result of gang violence, including a four-month-old infant.
Hope For Haiti provides hundreds of ways to help Haiti.
EQUATORIAL GUINEA
Equatorial Guinea’s government has declared the coastal city of Bata an “area of catastrophe.” The UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team and UN Department of Disarmament experts arrived in Bata to support with coordination, assessments, and other aspects of the response. The death toll from the Bata explosions stand at 107 with at least 615 injured.
President Obiang Nguema said the base had “caught fire due to neighboring farmers clearing land by setting it alight, leading to the explosion.”
It is important that we do not forget those around the world who are suffering and whose voices and movements are being suppressed.
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