Wirepullers: la fine del colonialismo poteva coincidere con l'inizio di una nuova stagione di prosperità per il continente africano. Al contrario le potenze coloniali hanno lasciato dietro di sè una situazione disastrosa, i cui effetti sono ben visibili ancora oggi. Povertà, instabilità endemica, guerra civile sono solo alcuni dei tratti in comune tra molti paesi africani. Foreign Policy e The Fund for Peace, un istituto di ricerca indipendente, hanno redatto una lista di stati "falliti". Vediamo una panoramica di quelli appartenenti al continente nero, seguita da un focus sull'Eritrea. (1)SOMALIA
A window into failure: Children peek through an artillery-battered wall of Mogadishu's Bakara Market, the country's largest open-air forum. Sellers and buyers used to be well-stocked with food staples and other daily essentials. Today, the strongest product line is weapons -- everything from handguns to rifles to rocket-propelled grenades. Such arms have been the quickest means to power and subsistence in Somalia since chaos erupted 18 years ago. As Somalia claimed the No. 1 slot on the Failed States Index for a second year in a row, militant attacks had forced the country's fledgling transitional government literally into a corner; by December 2008, it controlled merely a few blocks in a country of 627,000 square kilometers.
A window into failure: Children peek through an artillery-battered wall of Mogadishu's Bakara Market, the country's largest open-air forum. Sellers and buyers used to be well-stocked with food staples and other daily essentials. Today, the strongest product line is weapons -- everything from handguns to rifles to rocket-propelled grenades. Such arms have been the quickest means to power and subsistence in Somalia since chaos erupted 18 years ago. As Somalia claimed the No. 1 slot on the Failed States Index for a second year in a row, militant attacks had forced the country's fledgling transitional government literally into a corner; by December 2008, it controlled merely a few blocks in a country of 627,000 square kilometers.
ZIMBABWE
Burden of disease: On top of the flurry of political turmoil that followed Zimbabwe's contested presidential elections in the spring of 2008, another crisis soon erupted. Cholera, a preventable water-borne disease, broke out as thousands fled their homes, many trying to emigrate. Not surprisingly, the epidemic struck with particular strength near the refugees' destination: the South African border. By January 2009, 57,702 people had been infected, leaving more than 3,000 dead, according to the World Health Organization. The family here buries a relative who died of the disease 25 km from Harare in December 2008.
Burden of disease: On top of the flurry of political turmoil that followed Zimbabwe's contested presidential elections in the spring of 2008, another crisis soon erupted. Cholera, a preventable water-borne disease, broke out as thousands fled their homes, many trying to emigrate. Not surprisingly, the epidemic struck with particular strength near the refugees' destination: the South African border. By January 2009, 57,702 people had been infected, leaving more than 3,000 dead, according to the World Health Organization. The family here buries a relative who died of the disease 25 km from Harare in December 2008.
SUDAN
Life on the run: Conflict in Sudan has left 4.9 million of the country's 40 million people internally displaced; another roughly 400,000 have fled beyond the country's borders. Most, like this woman, have arrived in neighboring Chad, which borders Sudan's Darfur region. The security of refugee camps both within and outside Sudan remains tenuous. Rape and abduction have been widely reported in Darfur, where refugee women must travel miles from the camps for firewood and other supplies. Peace negotiations between government and Darfur rebel forces came in stops and starts in 2008, leaving little hope that the conflict would abate.
Life on the run: Conflict in Sudan has left 4.9 million of the country's 40 million people internally displaced; another roughly 400,000 have fled beyond the country's borders. Most, like this woman, have arrived in neighboring Chad, which borders Sudan's Darfur region. The security of refugee camps both within and outside Sudan remains tenuous. Rape and abduction have been widely reported in Darfur, where refugee women must travel miles from the camps for firewood and other supplies. Peace negotiations between government and Darfur rebel forces came in stops and starts in 2008, leaving little hope that the conflict would abate.
CHAD
Feuding neighbors: A Chadian soldier looks on as protests fill the Chadian capital of N'Djamena on May 13, 2009, where President Idriss Déby denounced his eastern neighbor, Sudan. Just a few weeks earlier, the two countries had agreed
to end years of proxy battles on each others' territories. But two days later, Chad accused Sudan of attacking its forces along the border. The neighbors' spat has helped exacerbate conflict that has now spread from Darfur into eastern Chad and the Central African Republic.
Feuding neighbors: A Chadian soldier looks on as protests fill the Chadian capital of N'Djamena on May 13, 2009, where President Idriss Déby denounced his eastern neighbor, Sudan. Just a few weeks earlier, the two countries had agreed
to end years of proxy battles on each others' territories. But two days later, Chad accused Sudan of attacking its forces along the border. The neighbors' spat has helped exacerbate conflict that has now spread from Darfur into eastern Chad and the Central African Republic.DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Fatal neglect: The magnitude of crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is staggering. Some 45,000 people die every month, the International Rescue Committee estimates, putting the total dead since 1998 at 5.4 million -- more than in any conflict since World War II. All but 0.4 percent of the deaths come from preventable diseases and malnutrition -- a phenomenon that has arisen due to horrid conditions in displacement camps that lack infrastructure, basic supplies, and proper medical care. The displaced children seen here, in a camp in eastern Congo, are among the 1 million displaced from North Kivu province alone.
Fatal neglect: The magnitude of crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is staggering. Some 45,000 people die every month, the International Rescue Committee estimates, putting the total dead since 1998 at 5.4 million -- more than in any conflict since World War II. All but 0.4 percent of the deaths come from preventable diseases and malnutrition -- a phenomenon that has arisen due to horrid conditions in displacement camps that lack infrastructure, basic supplies, and proper medical care. The displaced children seen here, in a camp in eastern Congo, are among the 1 million displaced from North Kivu province alone.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
The middle seat: A man squats in a refugee camp in the northern Central African Republic (CAR), after a rebel raid sent refugees fleeing. CAR is surrounded on all sides by conflict -- and the small country of just 4.5 million has suffered greatly as a result. In addition to CAR's own homegrown rebellion, Sudan and Chad's conflicts have pushed both refugees and fighters into the country's north. In the southeast, Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army has made incursions into CAR as it flees Ugandan and Congolese attempts to expel it from their own territory.
The middle seat: A man squats in a refugee camp in the northern Central African Republic (CAR), after a rebel raid sent refugees fleeing. CAR is surrounded on all sides by conflict -- and the small country of just 4.5 million has suffered greatly as a result. In addition to CAR's own homegrown rebellion, Sudan and Chad's conflicts have pushed both refugees and fighters into the country's north. In the southeast, Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army has made incursions into CAR as it flees Ugandan and Congolese attempts to expel it from their own territory.
GUINEA
Leading by force: A coup in December 2008, which followed the death of longtime Guinean President Lansana Conté, put Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara at the helm of West Africa's least stable country. Although little was known about Camara when he declared himself president of Guinea, New York Times journalist Lydia Polgreen offers some insight: "The captain likes to sleep late. Most days he rises well into the afternoon. Sometimes it is not until after sunset. He governs in darkness, his aides whisper, because that is when coups happen, like the one he staged early one December morning."
Leading by force: A coup in December 2008, which followed the death of longtime Guinean President Lansana Conté, put Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara at the helm of West Africa's least stable country. Although little was known about Camara when he declared himself president of Guinea, New York Times journalist Lydia Polgreen offers some insight: "The captain likes to sleep late. Most days he rises well into the afternoon. Sometimes it is not until after sunset. He governs in darkness, his aides whisper, because that is when coups happen, like the one he staged early one December morning."
IVORY COAST
A toxic mess: A woman and her daughter carry food near a toxic waste site in the Ivory Coast. Tens of thousands fell ill after a massive amount of toxic waste was dumped in the country over three years ago. The incident, first reported in September 2006, was appalling: "[A] ship unloaded 500 tons of petrochemical waste into a number of trucks which then dumped it in at least 15 sites around Abidjan," the United Nations said. The offending company has since agreed to pay $198 million in reparations for the country's government, but the health effects resulting from the mess will not disappear so easily.
A toxic mess: A woman and her daughter carry food near a toxic waste site in the Ivory Coast. Tens of thousands fell ill after a massive amount of toxic waste was dumped in the country over three years ago. The incident, first reported in September 2006, was appalling: "[A] ship unloaded 500 tons of petrochemical waste into a number of trucks which then dumped it in at least 15 sites around Abidjan," the United Nations said. The offending company has since agreed to pay $198 million in reparations for the country's government, but the health effects resulting from the mess will not disappear so easily.
KENYA
Clean and clear: Children play in Nairobi's vast Korogocho slum, located on the banks of the Nairobi River. Kenyan authorities have begun a massive slum clearance program in an effort to clean up the river's heavily polluted waters. Their efforts could force more than 125,000 people to lose their homes, according to Amnesty International. Half of Nairobi's population lives in similar slums, the organization found, crammed into just 1 percent of the city's land area.
Clean and clear: Children play in Nairobi's vast Korogocho slum, located on the banks of the Nairobi River. Kenyan authorities have begun a massive slum clearance program in an effort to clean up the river's heavily polluted waters. Their efforts could force more than 125,000 people to lose their homes, according to Amnesty International. Half of Nairobi's population lives in similar slums, the organization found, crammed into just 1 percent of the city's land area.
NIGERIA
Fire fights: In the dusty streets of Nigeria's northern city of Bauchi, a woman walks past a neighborhood whose houses were burned in recent sectarian violence. The city, located near the cusp of Nigeria's majority Muslim north and its majority Christian south, has often been the seat of conflict in recent years. Tensions picked up in February 2009 when a series of attacks and reprisals between Muslims and Christians left 4,500 displaced.
Fire fights: In the dusty streets of Nigeria's northern city of Bauchi, a woman walks past a neighborhood whose houses were burned in recent sectarian violence. The city, located near the cusp of Nigeria's majority Muslim north and its majority Christian south, has often been the seat of conflict in recent years. Tensions picked up in February 2009 when a series of attacks and reprisals between Muslims and Christians left 4,500 displaced.
ETHIOPIA
Desperate thirst: Drought is one of many problems that continually afflicts the northern African country of Ethiopia. Lack of water not only kills crops, meaning starvation, but also causes violent conflicts over scarce vital resources. Inadequate sanitation has made water-borne diseases the No. 1 cause of infant deaths in the country -- where 300,000 children under age 5 die every year. Here, a boy near the town of Moyale drinks from a muddy puddle.
Desperate thirst: Drought is one of many problems that continually afflicts the northern African country of Ethiopia. Lack of water not only kills crops, meaning starvation, but also causes violent conflicts over scarce vital resources. Inadequate sanitation has made water-borne diseases the No. 1 cause of infant deaths in the country -- where 300,000 children under age 5 die every year. Here, a boy near the town of Moyale drinks from a muddy puddle.
Autori: Elizabeth Dickinson, Annie Lowrey, Joshua Keating
Fonte: www.foreignpolicy.com
Per leggere l'articolo intero: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/art/2009/06/22/the_2009_failed_states_index/
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