TIDI’s Africa Day 2016 Celebrates Human Rights

Posted on: 26 May 2016

This year’s TIDI (Trinity International Development Initiative) celebrations to mark Africa Day (May 25) focused on the African Year of Human Rights, with a particular emphasis on the rights of women.

With the support of the African embassies accredited to Ireland, TIDI hosted a half-day panel discussion to commemorate and celebrate the significant milestones in Africa’s human rights story. It also provided many of the African communities the chance to tell their story, in the hope that future generations will be inspired to make a difference through human-rights based approaches.

Chair of TIDI Professor Carol Newman opened the event in the Arts Block’s Davis Lecture Theatre, and throughout the morning attendees heard from a range of speakers including: Professor Finn Tarp, who has just written a book with Professor Newman entitled ‘Made In Africa: Learning to Compete in Industry’; Ms Nelta Chadamoyo, CEO Africa Centre; Mr Driss El Yazami, Chair National Human Rights Council in Morocco; Ms Mary Lawlor, Executive Director Front Line Defenders; and HE Ms Lela Alem Gebreyohannes, Ethiopian Ambassador.

The latter half of Africa Day was taken up with the official launch of Professor Newman and Professor Finn Tarp’s (University of Copenhagen, Director of UNU-WIDER) new book ‘Made In Africa: Learning to Compete in Industry’, which they wrote in collaboration with academics from United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research, Brookings Institution, the African Development Bank and the University of Gothenburg.

The book is based on key findings from Professor Newman’s Learning to Compete (L2C), a multi-year, comparative research program, and finally tries to answer the question: why is there so little industry in Africa?

The Department of Foreign Affairs’ Director for Southern Africa, Kevin Dowling, was on hand to help with the proceedings.