How collaboration, clarity of scope and flexibility helps find to find balance between quality research and participant welfare
I started my PhD in February 2020, two weeks after the first case of Covid-19 was diagnosed in Australia. One month later, Queensland, where I am based, was in lockdown, and we spent much of the next two years under pandemic restrictions. These were scheduled to lift in December 2021,...
Peace and security: AU should expedite African Standby Force, else it’ll remain subsidiary to regional blocs
The decision by seven East African Community (EAC) countries to agree in April to establish a regional military force to restore stability in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) where violence by militia groups is ongoing, has once again raised questions about the capacity of the force to...
How Russian-shaped international order in Africa is likely to have destabilising impact on the continent
In April, Cameroon renewed a military cooperation agreement with Russia as Moscow intensified its offensive in Ukraine. The timing certainly supports Russia’s claim that its international isolation is relative. It also raises questions about Cameroon’s foreign policy at a time when African countries’ votes in the United Nations (UN) General...
Ukraine war: Tale of two atrocities – international relations and barbarity of racism aimed at Africans
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a tale of two atrocities: One engages the attention of the world as an international relations priority, the other, the barbarity of racism, receives little official acknowledgement. This unaddressed crime involves African students in Ukraine, and the anti-Black hate they have faced trying to flee...
Letter from Zimbabwe: Political change in a country where the military is so embedded in the state is no easy matter
I went home to Zimbabwe in December 2021 after over a year as a senior aid worker in Afghanistan, a period of intense turmoil and uncertainty, probably one of the most challenging assignments of my career. Yet Zimbabwe, my country, is also stuck in a political and economic crisis, and...
As Putin bombs hospitals in Ukraine, besieged health workers and patients should not be forsaken as happened in Syria
Many Syrians are experiencing heart-wrenching flashbacks as we watch the mounting devastation in Ukraine and the millions of refugees fleeing. As a Syrian physician who provided medical care amid the war in my country, it’s especially painful when clinics or hospitals are bombed. I’m haunted by the escalating attacks on...
First malaria vaccine is a leap forward, but it is suicidal for the world to stop pumping money into more research
When the World Health Organization endorsed the world’s first malaria vaccine in October 2021, it was a pivotal moment in a very long quest. I was completely overwhelmed with emotion. I tweeted, emailed, texted and called colleagues, friends and family members. Some of us cried. This vaccine, which will be...
Why climate change policies must tie in with the special needs of women’s bodies and their fates
Links between women’s sexual and reproductive health and the impacts of climate change are made clear in the recent Working Group II report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). For the first time, the authors note the risks pregnant women face in a changing climate. They also...
Why I received a PhD at 61 years: If you have the opportunity to dive into a new academic or professional field, take it
I am not a typical graduate student. An engineer by training, I have designed electronic control systems for more than 30 years, and I had expected to do so until I retired. My wife, Krisztina Valter, is a clinician-turned-vision scientist at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra. One year,...
Study says Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni outsources violence to maintain grip on reins of power
How do authoritarian rulers survive in the context of democratic institutions? This is a long-standing puzzle that has become more pressing with the rise of authoritarianism in the 21st century. In theory, democratic institutions should allow citizens to vote out elected officials who don’t pursue the public interest, or hold...
