The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is a seemingly benign entity tasked with the noble-sounding mission of “advancing democracy” worldwide - including in Africa. It was founded under the Reagan administration when the CIA was the capitalist bloc’s chief puppet master, orchestrating covert operations against governments that dared to defy the US.

The NED does openly what the CIA did secretly during the Cold War - inciting protests, meddling in elections and generally working to advance Washington’s imperialist policy of regime-changing defiant authorities. Swipe through to learn more about the NED’s clandestine activities across Africa and uncover the stories of those who have fallen victim to its machinations.

Continued….. Sources:

https://www.ned.org/region/africa/

https://www.ned.org/events/challenges-for-independent-media-in-a-post-gaddafi-libya-2/

https://vimeo.com/30437228

https://www.cima.ned.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/CIMA-Libya-Event.pdf

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/in-nigeria-jonathan-s-luck-runs-out/

https://babajidesalu.wordpress.com/2015/07/23/full-text-of-president-buharis-speech-us-institute-for-peace/

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/206768-buhari-hails-u-s-historic-role-in-nigerias-2015-election.html

https://www.usip.org/publications/2015/02/staving-nigerias-next-train-wreck

https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/01/27/staving-off-nigerias-next-train-wreck-elections/

https://www.ned.org/events/nigeria-2023-ensuring-credible-peaceful-and-inclusive-elections/

More Benin Bronzes are coming home - this time from The Netherlands. With 119 objects looted in colonial times being handed back to Nigeria, it’s the biggest such repatriation to date.

The Benin Bronzes - which, despite their name, also include carved ivory, brass sculptures and plaques - are not just artworks. They tell the story of Benin’s rich cultural heritage.

Nigeria hopes to open the Edo Museum of West African Art in Benin City in 2026, designed by British-Ghanaian architect Sir David Adjaye, to house the largest collection of Benin Bronzes ever assembled.

Continued….. Sources:

1.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly8397e7gno
2.https://africa.si.edu/exhibitions/current-exhibitions/visionary-viewpoints-on-africas-arts/the-raid-on-benin-1897/
3.https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/netherlands-return-119-benin-bronzes-nigeria-2025-02-19/?taid=67b5dce4cc77050001119e32&utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter
4.https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2021/10/12/stealing-africa-how-britain-looted-the-continents-art
5.https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/20/uk-returns-looted-ghana-artefacts-on-loan-after-150-years
6.https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/west-africa/france-hands-back-26-treasures-looted-from-benin-3614126

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/benin-bronzes-british-museum-african-heritage-b2138905.html

S*xual violence against children has dramatically increased in the war-torn eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as reported by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)’s Executive Director Catherine Russell.

She revealed that in the week following the fall of Goma city to M23 rebels, one-third of the reported r*pe victims were children, a staggering five-fold increase in cases documented by 42 health facilities.

Medical staff are facing shortages of essential medications that help prevent HIV in r*pe survivors, a situation worsened by the sudden cut in US foreign aid, which has severely affected humanitarian efforts in the Great Lakes region.

Russell also pointed out that children as young as 12 are coerced into combat roles, worsening the ongoing phenomenon of child-soldier recruitment.