Wikipedia AfroCreatives WikiProject + Film 2022

Application Deadline:

4th August 2022

Tell Me About Award:

The AfroCreatives WikiProject +film is a campaign to mobilize African film creatives, professionals and film enthusiasts to enhance information on Wikipedia about the art and industry of African film. Its first effort is a 4-country edit-a-thon campaign from 16 July – 6 August aimed at generating a landmark number of contributions on the film industries of Egypt, Nigeria, Rwanda and Senegal. The campaign will kick off with an online local training session in each of these countries on 16th July for individuals who are new to contributing to Wikipedia.

Which Fields are Eligible?

AfroCreatives WikiProject +film is the inaugural effort of AfroCreatives WikiProject. By mobilizing African film creatives, professionals and film enthusiasts, the campaign aims to measurably enhance information on Wikipedia about the art and industry of African film, including:

• Biographies of notable African creatives and professionals that span the industry, from financing to pre-and post-production.
• African studios, streaming platforms, awards, festivals, guilds, film schools and other institutions that form part of the industry ecosystem
• Movies and television programs that have shaped Africa’s cinematic history and that are defining the current industry
• Developments in African animation, AR, and VR and other technologies.
• Film financing, movie production incentives, government policies, and training and workforce development programs that are advancing the state of the African film industry.

What Type of Scholarship is this?

Volunteer

Who can apply?

1. Film Industry Creatives and Professional
2. Film Enthusiasts

Campaign Rules

• All participants must create a Wikipedia account and be signed in before making any edits.
• Make sure you are registered on your country’s dashboard, so your edits can be tracked as part of the campaign.
• All contributions as part of the campaign must follow or be related to the theme of the campaign, African cinema, with a particular focus on Egypt, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Senegal. Editing Articles outside this scope will not count.
• Edits should focus on fixing typos, adding categories, adding references, wikilinking, and creating stubs or articles. Any edits outside this such as adding infoboxes, images, etc. are welcome and may earn you additional points.
• Double/multiple performances of one task as several edits on an article count as one edit. For example, fixing two different typos over two different edits on an article counts as one edit, not two.
• Points are not given when an edit is made to correct a previous edit by the same participant.
• Responses to messages on talk pages and reverted edits do not count as an edit.

Which Countries are Eligible?

Egypt, Nigeria, Rwanda and Senegal

Where will Award be Taken?

Online

How Many Scholarships will be Given?

Numerous

What is the Benefit of Scholarship?

The AfroCreatives WikiProject +film campaign is offering a series of country-specific awards in Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal, and Rwanda, as well as international awards. All campaign participants will receive virtual certificates issued by the Wikimedia Foundation and be eligible to add a campaign userbox to their userpage.

Local Awards

• Outstanding Contributor Award Prize: $1,750 Amazon Gift Card
• Outstanding Contributor – Runner-Up Prize: $1,250 Amazon Gift Card  
• Newbie Award Prize: $1,000 Amazon Gift Card 

International Awards

• Star Performer  Prize: $2,500 Amazon Gift Card  
• Quality of Content Award  Prize: $2,000 Amazon Gift Card
• Content Creator Award  Prize: $2,000 Amazon Gift Card            
• Gender Award  Prize: $2,000 Amazon Gift Card

Also,

1. Your contributions will increase African-generated content about the continent’s film sector on Wikipedia and on the web.
2. You will help create awareness and interest among the general public about the project and create visibility of the African film industries of Egypt, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Senegal on Wikipedia and its sister projects.
3. You will help build the capacity within the film industry in Egypt, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Senegal to contribute knowledge to Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects.
4. Help propagate the need to create more content about the film industry in Africa that promotes culture, history and the heritage of our people.

How Long will Program Last?

16 July – 6 August

How to Apply for Scholarship?

Register

Select your country to continue.

Visit Award Webpage for Details + Here

World Bank Africa Fellowship Programme 2023

Application Deadline: 25th August, 2022

Eligible Countries: Sub-Saharan African countries

To be taken at (country): World Bank offices in Washington, D.C. or in a Sub-Saharan country

About World Bank Africa Fellowship Programme: Launched in 2013, the World Bank Group (WBG) Africa Fellowship Program targets young talented African nationals who are completing or recently completed a Ph.D. in an area relevant to the World Bank’s work. The fellowship program has been very successful since its inception, building a strong pipeline of young African talent interested in a career in development, in international institutions, African governments, think tanks, and academia.

The program offers chosen fellows a six-month assignment at World Bank Group (WBG) offices in Washington D.C. or in country offices to gain hands-on experience in the operations of the WBG. This includes knowledge generation and dissemination, design of global and country policies, and the building of institutions to achieve inclusive growth in developing countries. While benefitting from research and innovation in multiple sectors, fellows will also work on research, economic policy, technical assistance, and lending operations that contribute to the World Bank’s goal of eliminating poverty and increasing shared prosperity. Through the fellowship, we aim to build the capacity of the next generation of African change makers in development, policymaking and promote the goals of reducing poverty in the region.

The 2023 WBG Africa Fellowship Program expects to host up to 15 fellows. This year, with the support of the Think Africa Partnership, a private sector window provides support for 10 additional fellowship positions with a special focus on private sector development and finance. The additional 10 fellows will work on improving the macroeconomic, business and financial frameworks to enhance private sector investment, strengthen economic policy making and ultimately promote economic growth across the region.

Type: PhD, Fellowship

Eligibility: A candidate of the World Bank Africa Fellowship must:

• Be a recent Ph.D. graduate (within three years of completion) or be enrolled in the last year of the Ph.D. program.
• Have an excellent command of English, both written and verbal 
• Possess strong quantitative and analytical skills 
• Be under the age of 32 by the closing of the application period

Selection Criteria: The following additional attributes are highly desirable:

• a command of an additional World Bank official language
• national from fragile and conflict-affected countries
• candidates from refugee and internally displaced communities and/or with proven experience on forced displacement

The selection process consists of two phases: 

In the first phase, a short-list of candidates will be made available for hire for the different units of the WBG depending on applicants’ specialization. Applicants will be notified of about the status of their application or whether they have been shortlisted or not.

In the second phase, the final list of fellows will be selected in consultation with the various units of the WBG. When the selection is complete, all shortlisted candidates will be informed of their selection status. 

Number of Awardees: 25

Value of World Bank Africa Fellowship Programme: Selected candidates will then be notified and, upon acceptance, will be hired as short-term consultants for six months starting January 2023. Fellows are eligible to receive consultant fees, round-trip economy class air travel to Washington, D.C. or a WBG country office from their university or institution, and worker’s compensation insurance.  

Duration of Fellowship: Fellows will spend a minimum of six months. The fellowship period of engagement is January-June 2023.

How to Apply for World Bank Africa Fellowship Programme: Apply for the Africa Fellowship Program now

Visit Fellowship Webpage for details

Commonwealth Professional Fellowships 2022/2023

Application Deadline: September 2022

About the Award: Commonwealth Professional Fellowships are for mid-career professionals from low- and middle-income countries to spend a period of time at a UK Host organisation working in their sector for a programme of professional development.

Purpose: To provide professionals with the opportunity to enhance knowledge and skills in their given sector, and to have catalytic effects on their workplaces.

Type: Fellowship

Eligibility:

To be eligible for these Fellowships, prospective fellows must:

• Be a citizen of or have been granted refugee status by an eligible Commonwealth country, or be a British Protected Person
• Be permanently resident in an eligible Commonwealth country
• Have at least five years’ full-time, or equivalent part-time, relevant work experience, in a profession related to the subject of the Fellowship programme, by the proposed start of the fellowship – voluntary work experience will not be counted towards this minimum
• Be in employment at the time of application at an organisation that they will return to upon completion of the Fellowship
•  If nominated for a Professional Fellowship, prospective Fellows will be required to provide at least two references, (one of which must be from their current employer). Prospective Fellows will be contacted directly by the CSC if required to submit references. The Host organisation Fellows are applying to might also contact them to request a reference when considering their application
• Not have undertaken a Commonwealth Professional Fellowship within the last five years (at the time of taking up the award)
• Not be seeking to undertake an academic programme of research or study. Academics are eligible to apply for the scheme, but only to undertake programmes of academic management, not research or courses relevant to their research subject
• Be available to start and complete their fellowship within prescribed dates

In addition to the above, prospective fellows must ensure they meet any eligibility criteria set out by each individual host organisation.

Eligible Countries: Developing countries

Number of Awards: Up to 25 fellows (in total)

Value & Duration of Award:

Each Fellowship provides:

• Approved return airfare from the fellow’s home country to the UK
• Reimbursement of the standard visa application fee
• Stipend (living allowance) payable monthly (or pro rata) for the duration of the award at the rate of £1,782 per month, or £2,197 per month for those at organisations in the London metropolitan area (rates quoted at 2021/22 levels)
• If a fellow declares a disability, a full assessment of needs and eligibility for additional financial support will be offered by the CSC. See the CSC disability support statement for more information
• Arrival allowance of up to £972.59 (rates quoted at 2021/22 levels), including an element for warm clothing
• For the Clean Energy, Air and Oceans programme a £1,000 travel allowance per fellow to facilitate attendance at events (administered by host organisations)
• A maximum of £3,000 per fellow can be agreed by host organisations for short courses/conferences as well as travel to visit other UK organisations where this forms an integral part of the programme. Host organisations should bear in mind the restrictions set out in our guidance on claimable costs.

All fellowships in this round will be tenable for three months from 22nd February 2023

How to Apply: Applications for prospective Fellows are now open. Please click here to visit our online application system and submit your application.

In the application form, prospective fellows will be asked to:

• List all undergraduate and postgraduate university qualifications obtained (where applicable)
• List up to 10 publications and prizes (if applicable)
• Provide details of your employment history and explain how each job is relevant to the programme you wish to undertake in the UK (up to 100 words per employment)
• Provide a statement on the relevance of your previous work experience to the proposed fellowship (up to 300 words)
• Provide a Development Impact statement in 4 parts.

• It is important to go through all application requirements in the Award Webpage (see Link below) before applying.

Visit Award Webpage for Details

French Politics Since Its Presidential Election

Kenneth Surin

Photograph Source: The White House – Public Domain

After the presidential election in April which returned the incumbent Emmanuel Macron to power, France held elections on 12 and 19 June 2022 to elect the 577 members of its National Assembly.

The results turned out to be somewhat inconclusive.

Macron is the first president not have an absolute majority in Parliament since 1977, and since none of the 4 main alliances won a majority, France has a hung parliament for the first time since 1988.

There were 4 main alliances contesting the parliamentary elections:

+ the centrist presidential majority Ensemble coalition, including Macron’s Renaissance, the Democratic Movement, Horizons, and their allies;

+ the left-wing New Ecologic and Social People’s Union (NUPES), comprising La France Insoumise, the Socialist Party, Ecologist Pole, and the French Communist Party, plus smaller groups;

+the Union of the Right and Centre (UDC), including the Republicans, the Union of Democrats and Independents, and their allies;

+ the far-right National Rally (RN).

The NUPES alliance was formed in the 2 months following the presidential election, where the left-wing vote had been fragmented.

The elections were held over 2 rounds.

In the second round, Macron’s centrist Ensemble coalition obtained the most seats (245) but fell 44 seats short of an absolute majority.

NUPES won 131 seats, while the far-right RN became the single largest parliamentary opposition party (89). UDC suffered losses, but received enough seats (64) to be a kingmaker in the next government.

Political commentators said the outcome was a blow for Macron, and had the potential for parliamentary gridlock.

Macron announced that only parties that have already been in government, together or separately – the Parti Communiste (PC), the green party Europe Ecologie-Les Verts (EELV), the Parti Socialiste (PS), Macron’s Ensemble! and the conservative Les Républicains (LR) – can be part of a “coalition of action”.

As a result, the left-wing La France Insoumise (LFI) and the far-right Rassemblement National (RN), which have never governed, are excluded. The patchwork “government of action” is headed by the prime minister Élisabeth Borne.

The war in Ukraine is potentially a decisive factor in determining this coalition’s future.

The economist Jean Pisani-Ferry says that putting maximum pressure on Russia is likely to reduce France’s national income by 20%, with personal income falling by 2%. It is hardly surprising therefore that Macron prefers to play “the statesman” when dealing with Putin.

The pressure from the Ukraine war on the French economy is reflected in the government’s decision to renationalize the country’s main electricity and nuclear company Électricité de France (EDF)—prime minister Borne said the decision was made in large part because France, though less dependent than its neighbour Germany on Russian oil and gas, could no longer rely on Russia for these.

France gets about 70% of its electricity from nuclear sources, a larger share than any other country in the world. In order to safeguard energy sovereignty the government decided to raise its holding in EDF from the current 84% to 100%– EDF is France’s largest electricity producer and operates all its nuclear-powered plants.

The government is planning to upgrade France’s nuclear capacity to compensate for energy shortfalls stemming from the cessation of Russian oil and gas imports. A badly-needed new generation nuclear reactors is part of the plan, not just to deal with this energy deficit, but also because the previous generation of atomic reactors, constructed mainly in the 1980s, is now facing progressively severe maintenance issues.

Reactors are having to be closed down in increasing numbers for repairs to be performed, thereby impacting the nation’s power output at a time when rising inflation is driving up energy costs. At present half of EDF’s existing nuclear reactors are offline.

The government has capped energy prices by forcing French energy companies to keep household electricity price rises to no more than 4% this year.

The government will also increase welfare benefits, place a moratorium on rent increases, and provide subsidies for less well-off households to buy vital food products.

The European parliament recently reclassified gas and nuclear power as “green”, a step requested by the French government. This decision, called “greenwashing” by its critics, will enable the government to tap into subsidies provided by the EU’s so-called green initiatives. The French government has already agreed to inject €2.1bn/$2.1bn into EDF’s budget.

EDF is also Britain’s 4^th largest household energy supplier and is building the UK’s first new (and long-delayed) nuclear power station in a generation.

The main UK energy generation companies are:

+ British Gas (market share:18.23%; UK owned)

+ OVO (market share:15.34%; UK owned)

+ E.ON (market share:12.04%; German owned)

+ EDF (market share:10.74%; French owned)

+ Scottish Power (market share: 9.11%; owned by Spanish energy company Iberdrola Group)

+ Npower (market share: 6.53%; owned by German energy companies Innogy and E.ON)

The UK government has agreed to prolong the life of a coal-fired power station owned by EDF in Nottingham, a move hailed as “hypocritical” by its green critics, given that coal is the most polluting form of power generation.

The UK, unlike France, has not imposed a cap on energy prices, so it remains to be seen if these electricity suppliers (almost 40% foreign-owned), a sector currently enjoying record profits, will take advantage of this lack of action on the part of the Tory government.

Nothing will happen soon. The UK government has been in a state of paralysis since “BoJo” Johnson’s resignation earlier this month.

BoJo’s successor is expected to take office on 5^th September, as the Tories undertake a cumbersome process for electing their next leader, who will also be the new prime minister.

This person, chosen from a pool of patently unqualified individuals, will be the UK’s 4^thprime minister in 6 years.

It is thus hardly surprising that Ukania, tumbling from one clownish crisis to another, is the laughing stock of the world. France has its problems, but laughing stock it isn’t.

Seventh COVID-19 wave sweeps across Canada

Malcolm Fiedler

Little more than three months after provincial governments across Canada followed the demand of the far-right “Freedom Convoy” and dismantled all remaining public health protections, another wave of COVID-19 infections and deaths is raging. Despite drastically scaled back screening measures, data from British Columbia to the Atlantic provinces makes clear that Canada confronts a rapidly escalating summer wave, fueled by the more immune-resistant and transmissible BA.5 variant.

Victoria Hospital in Ontario, Canada. (Wikimedia Commons)

In BC, where testing is limited to only a tiny fraction of the population, cases are steadily rising. Hospitalizations and critical care patients have shot up by over a third in the past fortnight. The independent BC COVID-19 Modelling Group estimates that the BA.5 variant now makes up roughly 80 percent of all cases in the province.

In Quebec, hospitalizations, ICU patients and deaths are rising sharply. On July 8, the province reported 17 deaths, the highest single daily death toll in almost two months. Ontario is witnessing similar trends, with the province reporting sharp rises in hospitalization rates at the beginning of July. The PCR test positivity rate rose to 14 percent, a two month high, with the BA.5 variant making up two-thirds of all genomic sequencing. Most ominously, case rates are rising fastest among people in their 80s, which suggests that the virus has found its way into long-term care facilities once again.

On the Atlantic coast, similar trends are being observed. In New Brunswick, hospitalizations doubled in the second week of July, with the BA.5 variant making up almost half of all sequenced cases.

The reaction of governments has been to double down on their profits before life, vaccine-only strategy. Every level of government from Trudeau’s federal Liberals on down has made clear from their total indifference to the rampant spread of new variants that they will do nothing to stop mass infection and death, and the widespread devastation to the health of the population that will ensue from cases of Long COVID, which can occur in anywhere from 10 percent to 30 percent of all infections.

Attempts to roll out the second COVID-19 booster vaccine, which offers additional protection against severe acute illness, have fallen flat. In BC, Provincial Health Minister Adrian Dix and Penny Ballem, executive lead of BC’s immunization program, held a press conference on July 8 in which they refused to authorize a fourth vaccine dose to the general public. They then bizarrely granted that anybody who wanted a fourth dose was, indeed, eligible to get one.

In Ontario, while fourth doses were initially limited to the elderly and the immuno-compromised, Chief Public Health Officer Kieran Moore did an about face on July 13 and authorized second boosters for the general population aged 18 to 59. Medical professionals such as Colin Furness and Tara Moriarty were quick to note on Twitter that the province’s failure to offer another dose to anyone under the age of 18 showed a reckless disregard for the danger the virus poses to children.

All three prairie provinces are refusing to expand fourth-dose access to the general population. Alberta’s hard-right government led by Jason Kenney is the most restrictive, limiting fourth doses to people aged over 70.

The homicidal policies pursued by governments from coast to coast have produced a situation in which the number of deaths recorded in 2022, with life-saving vaccines widely available, will far surpass the number recorded in 2021. In early July, Montreal daily La Presse noted that Quebec recorded more deaths from COVID in the first six months of 2022 than the entirety of 2021.

Canada surpassed 30,000 COVID-19 deaths in mid-December 2021, as the omicron wave surged across the country. Since then, more than 13,000 official deaths have been recorded, approaching the approximately 15,000 fatalities registered during 2021. With more than five months of the year to go, including the colder fall and winter months when the virus spreads even faster due to people spending more time indoors, 2022 is on course to be the deadliest year of the pandemic in Canada by far.

This scenario is all the more likely given the obstinate refusal of all public health officials to countenance the revival of any serious public health protections. BC Health Minister Dix, as he has done throughout the pandemic, insisted that avoiding infection was a personal responsibility that had nothing to do with public health. Moore also emphasized that Ontario would not institute any new public health measures to combat the current wave, blatantly lying that most Toronto residents are wearing masks in public settings voluntarily. Quebec’s Public Health Officer, Luc Boileau, similarly claimed that “basic rules” still apply, without specifying what those actually were, and refused to implement new measures.

The current wave is unfolding under conditions in which the national health care system is by all accounts on the brink of collapse. Massive staff shortages, and overcrowded and closed emergency rooms are being reported across the country. Quebec announced that over 7,000 health care workers are currently absent from work due to COVID-19-related reasons. Authorities in Quebec City urged residents to avoid five emergency rooms at hospitals due to staff shortages.

Data released by Ontario Public Health showed that even before the current summer wave, wait times for hospital beds in the province reached an all-time record high in April. Cathryn Hoy, president of the Ontario Nurses Association, told CBC News on June 16, “I don’t think the people of Ontario really know what is going on in the emergency rooms.” In British Columbia, rural communities appear to be bearing the brunt of the health care crisis, as small towns across the province, including Port Alberni, Clearwater, Port McNeil, and Merritt, all reported unexpected ward closures in the past few months due to staff shortages.

As the health care system becomes overwhelmed, demands on nurses and doctors are increasing. The burnout has become increasingly unbearable for many in the profession. One out of every two nurses is seriously considering quitting their jobs because of fatigue and overwork, according to the Canadian Federation of Nurses.

Against the backdrop of a seventh wave of the pandemic, the meeting of Canada’s premiers held July 11 and 12 in Victoria, BC, descended into political theatre. The heads of Canada’s provincial governments issued a call on the federal government to increase funding for the health care system they acknowledged was on the point of collapse. Trudeau’s Liberals, following the example of the hard-right, pro-austerity Harper Conservatives, have ruthlessly enforced real-terms cuts to health care transfers to the provinces since coming to power in 2015. Despite a growing aging population, not to mention inflation, the Trudeau government has restricted annual “increases” to the health care transfers to a meager 3 percent, while making available unlimited funds for Canada’s military, and bailouts to the banks and big business.

However, the criticism made by the premiers of the federal Liberals rings hollow. These are the very same premiers who, for the past two and a half years, have prioritized the health of the economy, the big banks and investors over the health of the general public. It is their ruinous pandemic policies that have helped push the health care system into an unprecedented crisis by sickening wide swathes of the public and overworking health care workers to the point of collapse.

Chinese officials raise “military” response to planned visit by US House speaker

Andre Damon

In yet another move by the United States to end the one-China policy that has governed its relations with China for decades, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will travel to Taiwan next month, the Financial Times reported.

As part of the one-China policy, the US has had no formal diplomatic ties to Taiwan, and high-level US officials have not traveled to the territory. The Trump administration set about systematically dismantling the policy, sending Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to Taiwan in 2020. At the time, Azar was the highest-ranking US official to visit Taiwan in decades.

Pelosi, however, is second in the presidential line of succession, and would be far and away the highest-profile US official to visit Taiwan in over two decades.

China’s foreign ministry pledged to respond to Pelosi’s trip with “resolute and strong measures.”

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said, “If the United States insists on going ahead, China will have to take firm and forceful measures to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

China’s Global Times newspaper, speaking for significant factions within the Chinese state and military, responded to the planned visit by declaring that the response from China would be “military but also strategic.”

The newspaper quoted Hu Xijin, its former editor-in-chief, as proposing that China “should send military aircraft to accompany Pelosi’s plane to enter the island of Taiwan and fly over the airport where Pelosi lands, and fly back to the mainland from the island.”

He added, 'When sending PLA aircraft to fly across the island, we [China] must be fully prepared for an all-out military confrontation.'

He continued: “If the Taiwan military dares to open fire against PLA aircraft, then Taiwan military aircraft would be shot down and Taiwan military bases will be destroyed. So if the US and Taiwan authorities want all-out war, then the time for Taiwan liberation will come.”

Were such a conflict to erupt, US President Joe Biden has indicated that the United States would go to war with China.

Asked in May whether the United States would use force to defend Taiwan, Biden replied, “Yes… That’s the commitment we made.” Asked the same question last October, Biden replied, “Yes, we have a commitment to do that.”

The Chinese side has likewise expressed willingness to go to war over Taiwan. Last month, Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe told US officials at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, “If anyone dares to secede Taiwan from China, we will not hesitate to fight, and we will fight at all costs.”

But Pelosi’s planned visit is only the most provocative in a series of moves meant to massively escalate the US conflict with China.

On Friday, the Pentagon said the State Department had approved over $100 million in US arms sales to Taiwan, and China has demanded that the US cancel the sale.

On Monday, the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Benfold carried out a freedom of navigation exercise through the Taiwan Strait, triggering condemnation from Beijing.

Major US and global corporations have already begun pricing in the odds of a full-scale war between the two nuclear-armed powers. In an article in the Financial Times headlined, “Corporate jitters over Taiwan and China on the rise,” the newspaper cites corporate risk analysis that put the odds of war in the near term at one in five.

The FT writes, “Consultants and China experts in the US have seen a wave of requests for briefings since the war in Ukraine began, as the Financial Times reported last week. Demand for political risk insurance over potential conflict in the Taiwan Strait is also rising sharply, according to reports.”

The FT quoted an “executive at a western technology company” as saying, “The main lesson from Ukraine is that the west will hit an aggressor with very significant sanctions. Apply what we have seen in Russia to China, and you have Armageddon for the Chinese economy and for the global economy.”

The Biden administration’s reckless effort to stoke the US-China conflict has prompted warnings from former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who told Bloomberg in an interview, “Biden and previous administrations have been too much influenced by the domestic aspects of the view of China,” adding that preventing “Chinese… hegemony” is not  “something that can be achieved by endless confrontations.”

Previously, Kissinger warned that the US-China conflict risked triggering a  global “catastrophe comparable to World War I.”

The massive escalation of tensions with China comes against the backdrop of the continued escalation of the US proxy war against Russia in Ukraine. During a visit to the UK, Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, Vladimir Gavrilov, pledged to use US-supplied heavy weapons to destroy the Russian Black Sea fleet and retake Crimea.

“We are receiving anti-ship capabilities and sooner or later we will target the fleet. It is inevitable because we have to guarantee the security of our people,” he said. “Russia will have to leave Crimea if they wish to exist as a country,” Gavrilov insisted.

Even as the Biden administration is flooding weapons to Ukraine in the US’s proxy war with Russia, it is threatening to open up a new front in what is increasingly a globe-spanning conflict.

The Gates Scholarship 2022

Application Deadline:

15th September 2022

Tell Me About Award:

The Gates Scholarship (TGS) is a highly selective, last-dollar scholarship for outstanding, minority, high school seniors from low-income households. Each year, the scholarship is awarded to exceptional student leaders, with the intent of helping them realize their maximum potential.

What Type of Scholarship is this?

Undergad

Who can apply?

To apply, students must be:

• A high school senior
• From at least one of the following ethnicities: African-American, American Indian/Alaska Native*, Asian & Pacific Islander American, and/or Hispanic American
• Pell-eligible
• A US citizen, national, or permanent resident
• In good academic standing with a minimum cumulative weighted GPA of 3.3 on a 4.0 scale (or equivalent) 

 Additionally, a student must plan to enroll full-time, in a four-year degree program, at a US accredited, not-for-profit, private or public college or university.

*For American Indian/Alaska Native, proof of tribal enrollment will be required.

How are Applicants Selected?

An ideal candidate will have:

• An outstanding academic record in high school (in the top 10% of his/her graduating class)
• Demonstrated leadership ability (e.g., as shown through participation in community service, extracurricular, or other activities)
• Exceptional personal success skills (e.g., emotional maturity, motivation, perseverance, etc.)

Where will Award be Taken?

USA

How Many Scholarships will be Given?

Not specified

What is the Benefit of Scholarship?

Scholars will receive funding for the full cost of attendance* that is not already covered by other financial aid and the expected family contribution, as determined by the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), or the methodology used by a Scholar’s college or university.

*Cost of attendance includes tuition, fees, room, board, books, and transportation, and may include other personal costs.

How to Apply for Scholarship?

Apply below

Visit Award Webpage for Details

U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF) Africa Grants 2022

Application Deadline?

31st July 2022

Tell Me About Award:

The U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF) invites proposals from African cooperatives, producer groups, and enterprises for grant financing and local support for innovative solutions that extend their own capabilities to increase revenues, create jobs, improve farmer incomes, and achieve sustainable market-based growth.

What Type of Scholarship is this?

Grants

Who can apply?

• The organization must demonstrate that it has successfully worked together for a minimum of 1 year, have a minimum of 100 active members or suppliers, and has the capability to effectively use grant funds.
• The ownership and management must be in agreement on the problem to be addressed and have a commitment to benefit their community.
• The organization must have basic functional management and financial controls for a minimum of 2 years to demonstrate the capability to account for USADF funds.
• Organizations must be 100% African-owned and led.

Successful Proposals Must 

• Have a clearly defined market opportunity to grow revenues that can increase incomes.
• Have a clearly defined plan of how they can increase revenues and incomes in 2- 4 years.
• Be able to make significant cash or in-kind contributions to the project.
• Be able to directly impact hundreds of people and community members.
• Be able to identify a path for growth after the USADF grant ends.
• Special consideration will be given to applications that incorporate innovative strategies to make use of new approaches and technologies, including complementary finance and information technology. 
• Special consideration will also be given to women-owned organizations and applications that promote youth.

Which Countries are Eligible?

Uganda, Congo DRC, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria

How Many Scholarships will be Given?

Numerous

What is the Benefit of Scholarship?

US$50,000-US$250,000

How to Apply for Scholarship?

Apply via the application forms in the Link below!

Visit Award Webpage for Details

The Rise of BRICS: The Economic Giant that is Taking on the West

Ramzy Baroud

Image by m.

The G7 summit in Elmau, Germany, June 26-28, and the NATO summit in Madrid, Spain, two days later, were practically useless in terms of providing actual solutions to ongoing global crises – the war in Ukraine, the looming famines, climate change and more. But the two events were important, nonetheless, as they provide a stark example of the impotence of the West, amid the rapidly changing global dynamics.

As was the case since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, the West attempted to display unity, though it has become repeatedly obvious that no such unity exists. While France, Germany and Italy are paying a heavy price for the energy crisis resulting from the war, Britain’s Boris Johnson is adding fuel to the fire in the hope of making his country relevant on the global stage following the humiliation of Brexit. Meanwhile, the Biden Administration is exploiting the war to restore Washington’s credibility and leadership over NATO – especially following the disastrous term of Donald Trump, which nearly broke up the historic alliance.

Even the fact that several African countries are becoming vulnerable to famines  – as a result of the disruption of food supplies originating from the Black Sea and the subsequent rising prices – did not seem to perturb the leaders of some of the richest countries in the world. They still insist on not interfering in the global food market, though the skyrocketing prices have already pushed tens of millions of people below the poverty line.

Though the West had little reserve of credibility to begin with, Western leaders’ current obsession with maintaining thousands of sanctions on Russia, further NATO expansion, dumping yet more ‘lethal weapons’ in Ukraine and sustaining their global hegemony at any cost, have all pushed their credibility standing to a new low.

From the start of the Ukraine war, the West championed the same ‘moral’ dilemma as that raised by George W. Bush at the start of his so-called ‘war on terror’. “You are either with us or with the terrorist,” he declared in October 2009. But the ongoing Russia-NATO conflict cannot be reduced to simple and self-serving cliches. One can, indeed, want an end to the war, and still oppose US-western unilateralism. The reason that American diktats worked in the past, however, is that, unlike the current geopolitical atmosphere, a few dared oppose Washington’s policies.

Times have changed. Russia, China, India, along with many other countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and South America are navigating all available spaces to counter the suffocating western dominance. These countries have made it clear that they will not take part in isolating Russia in the service of NATO’s expansionist agenda. To the contrary, they have taken many steps to develop alternatives to the west-dominated global economy, and particularly to the US dollar which, for five decades, has served the role of a commodity, not a currency, per se. The latter has been Washington’s most effective weapon, associated with many US-orchestrated crises, sanctions and, as in the case of Iraq and Venezuela, among others, mass hunger.

China and others understand that the current conflict is not about Ukraine vs Russia, but about something far more consequential. If Washington and Europe emerge victorious, and if Moscow is pushed back behind the proverbial ‘iron curtain’, Beijing would have no other options but to make painful concessions to the re-emerging west. This, in turn, would place a cap on China’s global economic growth, and would weaken its case regarding the One China policy.

China is not wrong. Almost immediately following NATO’s limitless military support of Ukraine and the subsequent economic war on Russia, Washington and its allies began threatening China over Taiwan. Many provocative statements, along with military maneuvers and high-level visits by US politicians to Taipei, were meant to underscore US dominance in the Pacific.

Two main reasons drove the West to further invest in the current confrontational approach against China, at a time where, arguably, it would have been more beneficial to exercise a degree of diplomacy and compromise. First, the West’s fear that Beijing could misinterpret its action as weakness and a form of appeasement; and, second, because the West’s historic relationship with China has always been predicated on intimidation, if not outright humiliation. From the Portuguese occupation of Macau in the 16th century, to the British Opium Wars of the mid-19th century, to Trump’s trade war on China, the West has always viewed China as a subject, not a partner.

This is precisely why Beijing did not join the chorus of western condemnations of Russia. Though the actual war in Ukraine is of no direct benefit to China, the geopolitical outcomes of the war could be critical to the future of China as a global power.

While NATO remains insistent on expansion so as to illustrate its durability and unity, it is the alternative world order led by Russia and China that is worthy of serious attention. According to the German Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Beijing and Moscow are working to further develop the BRICS club of major emerging economies to serve as a counterweight to the G7. The German paper is correct. BRICS’ latest summit on June 23 was designed as a message to the G7 that the West is no longer in the driving seat, and that Russia, China and the Global South are preparing for a long fight against Western dominance.

In his speech at the BRICS summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed the creation of an “international reserve currency based on the basket of currencies of our countries”. The fact that the ruble alone has managed to survive, in fact flourish, under recent Western sanctions, gives hope that BRICS currencies combined can manage to eventually sideline the US dollar as the world dominant currency.

Reportedly, it was Chinese President Xi Jinping who requested that the date of the BRICS summit be changed from July 4 to June 23, so that it would not appear to be a response to the G7 summit in Germany. This further underscores how the BRICS are beginning to see themselves as a direct competitor to the G7. The fact that Argentina and Iran are applying for BRICS membership also illustrates that the economic alliance is morphing into a political, in fact geopolitical, entity.

The global fight ahead is perhaps the most consequential since World War II. While NATO will continue to fight for relevance, Russia, China, and others will invest in various economic, political and even military infrastructures, in the hope of creating a permanent and sustainable counterbalance to Western dominance. The outcome of this conflict is likely to shape the future of humanity.