As a freelance journalist since 2017, my work has been published in Quartz Africa, Al Jazeera, New Internationalist, and the New Humanitarian, among others. I have also produced podcasts for the International Planned Parenthood Federation, UN Habitat, Farm Radio International and the Royal Bank of Canada.
Below are some of my selected works in Human Rights & Conflict, Gender Issues, Aid & Development and Arts & Culture.
Human Rights & Conflict
Western Sahara’s ‘frozen conflict’ heats up, but world’s attention elsewhere
The New Humanitarian, 2023
Najla Mohamed-Lamin was at home with her newborn son when she received a call that her youngest brother, Hamdi*, had been hit in a Moroccan drone strike in Western Sahara, a forgotten war the international community has effectively chosen to ignore.
What interactive maps and 3D digital models reveal about Mau Mau detention camps in Kenya
Quartz Africa, 2022
“In a new documentary released last month in the UK, Kenyan and British historicans describe how Britain secretly used torture against prisoners in Mau Mau detention camps during the anti-colonial uprising movement in the 1950s. One of the Kenyans featured is historian and digital heritage scholar Chao Tayiana, the founder of the African Digital Heritage Project …
How Kiswahili tech terms are pushing for digital rights in East Africa
Quartz Africa, 2021
When the Kenyan government launched a centralized digital identity project in 2019 to store the biometric data of its nearly 50 million population, the initiative was met with massive resistance from digital rights activists who said it raised questions over human rights, ethics and privacy.
Ntombesintu Mfunzi: A South African athlete’s fight against rape
Al Jazeera, 2021
The hilly and winding trail routes near Mhlakulo village in Eastern Cape, South Africa are challenging for even the most elite runners. In some parts, reaching the summit requires crawling up the rugged gravel paths on tiptoe. Ntombesintu Mfunzi, a 39-year-old ultramarathon runner, is one of the top female runners in the country and she lives and trains in this expansive region.
Human rights activists in hiding amid outbreak of war in Western Sahara
SOAS Spirit, 2020
Several Western Sahara human rights and media activists have gone into hiding from Moroccan forces, who they claim are targeting those involved in a border protest that sparked the end of a decades-long ceasefire and the outbreak of war on 14 November.
What happened in Marawi?
Al Jazeera, 2017
Marawi, situated on the southern island of Mindanao in the Philippines, was the site of a bloody urban battle between ISIL fighters and government forces. Officially known as the Islamic City of Marawi, it is the largest Muslim city in the predominantly Catholic nation.
Three Egyptian human rights activists released from prison amid dire situation for activism
SOAS Blog, 2020
Following widespread international outcry and a solidarity campaign within and outside of Egypt, the Egyptian government on 3 December released three human rights activists after their arbitrary arrest and detention in November.
The problems with media coverage of the Haitian president’s assassination
SOAS Blog, 2021
While Haiti’s political future remains uncertain, Western mainstream media coverage has presented a familiar pattern of marginalization and problematic framing, which has real and lasting influence over the public’s imagination and interpretation of Haiti and its people. Read more
Human trafficking persists during Covid at Indo-Nepal border
SOAS Blog, 2020
Since the signing of the 1950 Indo-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship, the nearly 1,800-kilometre border between Nepal and India has served as an open passage for citizens to migrate freely between countries, start a business and earn a living. There are no barbed-wire fences, thick walls, or heavy military presence; people move freely and unhindered on foot or by road.
Gender ISsues
If representation is a rights issue, why are women still critically underrepresented?
Equal Measures 2030 Blog, 2022
“Leadership is a means, not an end,” wrote the feminist activist Srilatha Batliwala, an India-
based scholar with the Association for Women’s Rights in Development. With this statement in mind, and in order to make sustainable progress on gender equality by 2030, we must not only fix the system that holds women back from positions of power and authority, but also ensure …
How increased surveillance impedes global abortion rights
SOAS Blog, 2022
As digital technologies adapt and evolve alongside our global communications system, so do the threats posed by increased surveillance to press freedom, data and privacy. This is having a profound impact on our collective health and human rights, an issue that is particularly apparent when looking at the recent advances and setbacks of the abortion rights movement.
The main perpetrators of violence against female MPs in Africa are male MPs
Quartz Africa, 2021
Female MPs in Africa have a lot to fear with 80% of them having experienced psychological violence in parliament, 67% having been subjected to sexist behavior or remarks and 39% of them having faced sexual violence. Disturbingly, the main perpetrators of this violence are their male counterparts.
The new frontline for women journalists
SOAS Blog, 2021
When the journalists Carole Cadwalladr and Rana Ayyub tweeted about participating in a panel about online violence for the UNESCO World Press Freedom Conference 2020, their trolls sprung to life almost immediately. Many of the appalling and abhorrent tweets don’t bear repeating, but they speak for themselves in terms of the urgency of this issue.
Aid & Development
Scientists call for decolonisation of global health funding
SOAS Blog, 2021
In an open letter to international funders of science and development in Africa, a group of prominent African scientists, policy analysts, public-health practitioners and academics have criticized the funding model of the US President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), which recently awarded $30 million to an American NGO to lead a malaria project in Africa.
The former UK health secretary will no longer lead Africa’s Covid recovery
Quartz Africa, 2021
Matt Hancock, the former UK health secretary who was ousted earlier this year after an affair with an aide, has lost another big job. Hancock had controversially been made the United Nations (UN) special envoy for Covid recovery in Africa, but the international body said on Friday (Oct. 16) the appointment “is not being taken forward.”
Amid a tidal wave of austerity, the UK narrative should be one of substance over sum
SOAS Spirit, 2021
The year 2020 dealt two serious blows to the UK aid industry. First was Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s June announcement of a merger between the Department for International Development (DfID) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), which was widely condemned by aid officials for draining the resources of an agency ranked the most accountable aid donor in the world.
Should overseas aid be used to fund public interest media?
SOAS Blog, 2021
There is no denying that the traditional business model of the news industry is on the verge of collapse. According to a 2017 report from PwC, news media globally are expected to lose $23.8 billion in annual advertising revenue between 2017-2021, and more than 10% of those losses (around $3 billion) will be sustained by local news media that provide public interest information for communities worldwide.
Public mistrust could undermine Ebola response in Guinea
SOAS Spirit, 2021
The World Health Organization began administering Ebola vaccines in Guinea just nine days after the latest outbreak was declared in Gouécké in the far southern region on 14 February. The swift rollout of the vaccination campaign came after international calls to action to halt the spread of the deadly disease that ravaged parts of West Africa between 2013 and 2016 and killed approximately 11,300 people.
Women bring light (literally) to rural communities
Barza Wire, 2019
Mabel Akanyinte installs solar panels in remote, off-grid communities in northern Ghana. It’s hard work that sometimes requires climbing on roofs to configure cables and mount light bulbs. Many people consider this men’s work. But Ms. Akanyinte works alongside six other women installation agents in the Northern Region, providing life-saving energy for families that need it most.
New study advises farmers on best practices for adapting to climate change
Barza Wire, 2019
It’s the middle of the dry season in northern Ghana and Mariam Mohammed is tending to her vegetable garden. Mrs. Mohammed lives in Bihinaayili, just outside the regional capital, Tamale. Her garden is lush and green, thanks to runoff water from a reservoir that provides river water for year-round irrigation. In this arid climate, the community is lucky to have access to a watershed that helps them grow crops.
podcasts
Dr. Rania on the frontlines of delivering global humanitarian responses
International Planned Parenthood Federation, 2022
“I recall the first humanitarian crisis that I was part of was in 1988, flooding in Sudan,” said Dr. Rania Abdalla Abu Elhassan, IPPF’s Regional Humanitarian Advisor for the Arab World and Africa Regions. “I was still very young, I was wondering how those tents had arrived, how this food is distributed… my understanding of disasters was very fragile. But that really opened my eyes.”
Breaking down barriers: Addressing the needs of Indigenous students at First Nations University
Royal Bank of Canada, 2022
Many mental health interventions are not appropriate for the specific needs of Indigenous peoples — and youth in particular often lack access to treatment options that are culturally sensitive and appropriate. Dr. Shadi Beshai and a diverse cross-discipline team research mindfulness interventions for Indigenous students.
Project Rajo Podcast
UN HABITAT, 2019
Project Rajo, a UN-Habitat construction and life skills training project that has trained young Somali women and men has been written about and photographed. Now this story has been turned into a podcast. Rajo means hope, and the podcast is a refreshingly optimistic insight into the potential and ambition of the youth in this country. It’s a lesser-known narrative – this story is one of a country rebuilding.
The Young Journalists’ Global Podcast Challenge: The Left Behind
Farm Radio International / WUSC, 2019
One year after the global #MeToo movement went viral, women around the world have shared their experiences with sexual violence. The movement has been a platform for people to speak out, but some voices have been left out of the narrative. In Ghana, it’s school-aged children and in Canada, it’s Indigenous women. These are the stories of some of those left behind.
arts & culture
Buzigahill: Revamping Africa’s fashion industry
Quartz Africa, 2022
For decades, international aid agencies have sought donations of secondhand clothing from the global North for use in the global South. The donations, which aimed to help alleviate poverty and create jobs, have created a problematic industry valued at $1.84 billion in 2021, up 28% from the previous year.
King of Carnival
boom saloon, 2022
Pax Nindi, master of African reggae and highly respected ‘king’ of carnival, has a lengthy list of accomplishments. As one of the world’s leading carnival experts, he consults, mentors and creatively directs carnivals globally – shaping an artform that relies on traditions of masquerade for social commentary and critique of power.
Unscrambling Africa for Africans First
boom saloon, 2022
“The idea that urbanity is tied down to progress or civilization I think is wrong,” said Kenyan photographer Mutua Matheka in an interview from his home in Nairobi. “I’m curious about what urbanity is for us.” A former architect, Matheka uses his style of photography to capture architecture, cityscapes, landscapes and urban life in African capital cities to change people’s mindsets about their cities.
What the early days of covid-19 revealed about racial fears in Kenya and South Africa
Quartz Africa , 2022
The first recorded cases of covid-19 in South Africa and Kenya in March 2020 spawned a maelstrom of tweets reflecting some people’s fears and anxieties about the virus, as well as surfacing other deeply rooted prejudices. “Imagine dying from an overseas disease when you don’t even own a passport #COVID19SouthAfrica” tweeted one user.
Decolonising the archive of British ethnographic collections
SOAS Blog, 2021
The movement surrounding the restitution of cultural artifacts from museum archives across Europe and the United Kingdom is intensifying amid renewed calls to decolonise cultural institutions. But while these debates have been largely confined to academic and political spaces, a new exhibition at the South London Gallery aims to engage with diverse young people in London…
The Golden Globes snub of ‘I May Destroy You’ is Shameful and Regressive
SOAS Blog, 2021
The omission of Michaela Coel’s groundbreaking series I May Destroy You from any of this year’s Golden Globe award nominations is a stunningly blatant example of just how far the TV industry has to go in terms of celebrating true diversity and representation both on screen and in production.
The ‘invisible impact’ of Covid-19 on Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Communities
SOAS Spirit, 2020
While many minority communities have been disproportionately impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK, there is no formal data collection when it comes to the infection and death rate among Britain’s Gypsies, Roma, and Travellers (GRT). As a result, the impact on the highly stigmatised community remains largely unknown and unacknowledged in government.
A postcard to Guelph from Nepal
Guelph Today, 2020
Early morning in Kathmandu, Nepal, begins with the gentle chime of a prayer bell. Then, a dog barks. Then another and another. Soon a chorus of street dogs, bells, horns, shouts and whistles will awaken even the deepest of sleepers.
At Home, At Last
DamnMag, 2018
Ghanaian singer-songwriter Ria Boss is sitting cross-legged on a bed in front of a laptop emblazoned with a We Are Wakanda sticker. She lights a joint with her left hand, the knuckles tattooed with the letters “B-O-S-S.” She inhales. Exhales. She softly croons, “My tea’s gone cold, I wondering why I got out of bed at all.”
