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Showing posts from 2023

It's World Book Day, and Accra is UNESCO World Book Capital 2023

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Cities designated as UNESCO World Book Capitals undertake to promote books and reading for all ages and population groups, within and across national borders, and to organize a program of activities for the year. After Guadalajara (Mexico) in 2022, the city of Accra in Ghana was selected for its strong focus on young people and their potential to contribute to the culture and wealth of Ghana. The year of celebrations will start on 23 April 2023, World Book and Copyright Day. As the twenty-third city to bear the title since 2001, Accra follows Guadalajara (2022) and Tbilisi (2021). Past capitals include Madrid (2001), Alexandria (2002), New Delhi (2003), Anvers (2004), Montreal (2005), Turin (2006), Bogota (2007), Amsterdam (2008), Beirut (2009), Ljubljana (2010), Buenos Aires (2011), Erevan (2012), Bangkok (2013), Port Harcourt (2014), Incheon (2015), Wroclaw (2016), Conakry (2017), Athens (2018), Sharjah, (2019) and Kuala Lumpur (2020). Accra’s proposed program seeks to use the power ...

Misogyny, harassment, and intimidation run deep in Sierra Leone

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W omen who fight for economic justice in Sierra Leone are often vilified and go unrecognized. But in the social media age, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr has earned significant props as she's gained notoriety among Sierra Leonean men who seize every opportunity to berate and oppress women and girls. Aki-Sawyerr has been the Mayor of Freetown since taking office in May 2018, after winning 309,000 votes representing 59.92% of the votes in the mayoral election. She's a member of the All People's Congress (APC) political party—one of the two major political parties, alongside the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP),  Aki-Sawyerr was recognized with an Ebola Gold Medal by the then-president of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma, in 2015. Queen Elizabeth II made her an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2016. Aki-Sawyerr was on the list of the BBC's 100 Women (BBC), announced in November 2020. In February 2021, Time Magazine named her one of Time's "100 Next...