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ANU Africa Network
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This website was established in 2013 by David Lucas, and renovated and relaunched in 2020 as part of a project to increase awareness of Africa and African studies in the ANU and the ACT, funded by the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Another outcome of that project was a major research report, published in August 2021, African Studies at the Australian National University and in the Australian Capital Territory, analyzing the past, present and future of the study of Africa at the Australian National University and the wider Australian University sector.
The major innovation on this updated website is the creation of the ACT Africa Expert Directory which lists experts on Africa from institutions around the ACT, primarily the ANU. We will continue to curate this list, offering a key resource for media, government and non-government organizations seeking expert facts and opinions on Africa. Individuals can request to be added to the list by contacting the website managers.
Another notable addition is the expanded directory of PhD theses on Africa produced in the territory’s universities, a solid measure of the vitality of the study of Africa in the city of Canberra.
Reviewing these directories, it is revealing to note that the vast majority of research on Africa is produced by disciplinary experts (environmental scientists, economists, demographers, etc.) rather than area studies experts. This means that the study of Africa is woven into the fabric of the research culture of the ANU and the ACT’s other universities in ways that are not necessarily apparent.
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Kenya’s 2007 elections – what went wrong, and why?
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ANU School of Politics & International Relations
________________________________________SPIR Seminar SeriesKenya’s 2007 elections – what went wrong, and why?
Jorgen Elklit
Aarhus UniversityThursday 3 March 2016, 12:00 – 2:00 pm
L.J. Hume Centre, Copland Building (24), 1st Floor, Room 1171
Lunch will be provided at the seminar after the Q&A session.
Abstract
International organisations play many different roles during election processes in new and emerging democracies (and in countries hoping to be seen as democracies). These roles—and their impact—become particularly interesting during situations that develop into ‘an electoral crisis’. An electoral crisis is some kind of humanitarian or political (or other) crisis, where administrative or other problems in relation to an electoral process function as the trigger of the crisis. Many such crises have occurred over recent years, but this presentation will focus on the Kenyan case of 2007–08. The tragic violence and ethnic cleansing shocked the world during early 2008. The instrument established jointly by the government of Kenya and international organisations to investigate what went wrong and what should be done to remedy the situation was IREC, the Independent Review Commission. The article demonstrates how international organisations were involved during the electoral process and also makes clear that the considerable amount of international assistance before and during the election was of almost no avail. IREC’s surprising conclusion was that the main problems in the elections were not the finalisation of the vote count and the tabulation or the subsequent presentation of results. One has to look to the country’s ethnic composition and history, to Kenya’s political culture, and to the incompetence of the Electoral Commission of Kenya to understand why the expectations of an exemplary electoral process were turned into such a misery, despite international assistance from the very beginning of the electoral process.Jorgen Elklit specialises in the study of electoral systems and administration, electoral behaviour, political party membership, and democratization. He has written extensively on these subjects as well as on electoral administration. He has extensive experience since 1990 as an international advisor on elections and electoral systems in Asia, Africa, and Europe. Professor Elklit is a member of the South African Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) responsible for the conduct of the 1994 South African Parliamentary and Provincial Elections. He was also Secretary to the Independent Review Commission (Kenya) April-September 2008
EnquiriesMarija Taflaga, marija.taflaga@anu.edu.au
School of Politics & International Relations
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Exciting, challenging, frightening times: global health, development and the stuff of innovation
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Speaker: Dr Mark Dybul, Executive Director, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Time & Date: Monday 29 February 2016, 5.30pm
Venue: Molonglo Theatre, Level 2, JG Crawford Building 132, Lennox Crossing, ANU
Event-url: https://crawford.anu.edu.au/news-events/events/6893/2016-harold-mitchell…
Dr Dybul has worked on HIV and public health for more than 25 years as a clinician, scientist, teacher and administrator. After graduating from Georgetown Medical School in Washington DC, Dybul joined the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, where he conducted basic and clinical studies on HIV virology, immunology and treatment optimisation, including the first randomised, controlled trial with combination antiretroviral therapy in Africa.
Dybul became a founder of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, and was appointed as its leader in 2006, He served until early 2009.
Before coming to the Global Fund, Dybul was co-director of the Global Health Law Program at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University.
The Harold Mitchell Development Policy Annual Lecture Series, of which this is the fourth, has been created to provide a forum at which the most pressing development issues can be addressed by the best minds and most influential practitioners of our time.
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AFRICAN FOOD AT ANU: Saturday 20th February
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The ANU African Student Association (ANUASA) has posted this on Facebook
“PARSA Big Day is happening tomorrow at 10AM, Saturday 20 February at Fellows Meadow (directly opposite Chifley Library).
ANUASA will be taking part in the Big Day by cooking and serving African dishes at our own stall. So please come along and support us. There is plenty of good food and fun to be had! ”
