Oslo Freedom Form highlights injustices around Africa

The Foundation for Human Rights, in partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation, hosted the first-ever Oslo Freedom Forum in Bryanston.

The forum aims to build partnerships to strengthen human rights in Africa. It was founded on the idea that every person has the right to live free from political oppression. Activists from around the world shared their experiences and how they have tackled various issues in their countries.

.@YusufOmarSA says as citizens we can be in control of our own narratives and tell our own stories with our mobile phones. #OFFinJoburg pic.twitter.com/ZyopjXizRq

— seeking utopia (@shaazebra) March 26, 2018

Thor Halvorssen, who founded the Oslo Freedom Forum 10 years ago, said, “This is not a conference just for human rights, it’s a gathering of people who are disrupting on behalf of freedom. We are here with an array of individuals who aren’t satisfied with the state of human freedom in the world and want to join the struggle to make a difference.”

Speakers included Zimbabwean civil rights activist and #ThisFlag movement leader, Evan Mawarire; former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed; Moroccan-born French free expression advocate and journalist, Zineb El Rhazoui; and Arab Spring writer and journalist, Iyad el-Baghdadi among others.

Mawarire mobilised ordinary Zimbabweans to protest against continuous mismanagement of funds by the government, and injustice. Mawarire helped to organise protests in November last year calling for former president Robert Mugabe to step down. “We realise that our job is not done, Robert Mugabe the person is gone, but Mugabe the system remains. There is no place for the dictatorship we saw under Mugabe to take place.”

.@PastorEvanLive was arrested multiple times – once even during a sermon. #ThisFlag #OFFinJoburg pic.twitter.com/oWahAoPcND

— seeking utopia (@shaazebra) March 26, 2018

Memory Banda, a Malawian girls’ rights activist, has spoken out against child marriage. Banda championed a successful national campaign that culminated in landmark legislation that outlawed child marriage. “I have learned that by working together we can amplify our voices and bring about change in our country.”

.@Memorybanda75 says girls as young as 10 can be married off in Malawi. She speaks of the initiation camps girls have to attend when they reach puberty. #OFFinJoburg pic.twitter.com/m4PCA79CYe

— seeking utopia (@shaazebra) March 26, 2018

Sello Hatang, the chief executive of the Nelson Mandela Foundation added that refugees and economic migration are a result of broken governments and leadership; and that it is important for the South African government to hold Africa’s dictators accountable.

“Until such time that SA realises its responsibility to the continent to hold dictatorships accountable for their actions, we will not have fulfilled the meaning of solidarity,” concluded Hatang.

Details: Human Rights Foundation 011 484 0390.

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