The story of a conflict prevented or a war averted does not receive the attention that an on-going war or natural disaster receives. Thanks to Google.org, the BEFORE Project is now able to work on changing that with a $10,000/month grant of in-kind online advertising. This Google Grant will enabling BEFORE to get the story [...]
Read more...From February 5th – 7th 2010 clashes between Muslim and Christian groups in N’Zérékoré, Guinea’s third largest city in the critical southeast forest region, left one person dead, two missing and 29 – 55 injured. Fears that tensions between Muslims and Christians would rise and become a potentially dangerous factor in the [...]
Read more...When the West African nation of Guinea gained its independence in 1958, hopes for a free and prosperous future were high. However, during the next fifty years troubled leaders would turn this resource-rich country into one of the poorest countries in the world. Gross economic inequality and civil-military political strife caused experts to wonder if [...]
Read more...As the world watches the events unfold in Guinea, where an estimated 60-168 civilians were killed and dozens of women were raped in unprecedented violence against women by men in military uniforms and an assassination attempt on the leader of the military government threatened to unhinge the country, the BEFORE Project reaffirms its commitment to [...]
Read more...September was devastating for Guineans. Men in military uniforms, perhaps even from the Presidential Guard, fired on thousands of civilians at a political rally. Local human rights organizations have estimated the death toll to be as high as 160 with hundreds more injured, but the Guinean military government reports 57 deaths, mostly due to stampeding [...]
Read more...25 years.
That’s how long Lansana Conte ruled the West African country of Guinea-Conkary. Yet toward the end of those two and a half decades, as Conte became ill and battled death, many warned that political violence could break out when Conte died.
The BEFORE Advisory Committee for West Africa responded to those warnings by [...]
The 2009 assassinations of the President and Army Chief of Staff in Guinea-Bissau thankfully did not trigger further violence.
However, there are signs of turmoil within the country. Under Constitutional law Guinea-Bissau needs to now hold presidential elections. As presidential candidates vie for political power and balance varying pressures, tensions are rising across the country. [...]
With a volatile history, politics in Guinea-Bissau can be highly partisan, unstable and even violent. In 2005 a diverse group of local leaders, called the Citizens Good Will Task Force (CGWTF), came together to help Guinea-Bissau through its 2005 Presidential elections.
1,200 t-shirts with the message “My Vote is Not for Sale” were produced and [...]
What would happen if the press was paid by politicians and didn’t have access to job training?
Journalists wouldn’t be able to report objectively for fear of upsetting political leaders and not receiving their monthly wages.
. Journalists would also lack the type of training required to objectively report on certain issues while using a range of [...]
Read more...Two days prior to a conflict assessment team leaving for Guinea-Bissau in 2004, the Chief of Staff of Guinea-Bissua’s Armed Forces was killed by his own men. Shortly thereafter, a new Chief of Staff was named: General Baptista Tagme Na Waie, a well-admired but sometimes controversial freedom fighter from Guinea-Bissau’s war of independence with Portugal. [...]
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