The State of Africa 2003-04: A Thematic and Factual Revision

Abstract

The peoples of our continent, the Cradle of Humanity, cry out every day for a better life of hope rather than despair. And yet millions wake up daily to a life of seemingly unending poverty. Millions have resigned themselves to a life of restless nights and days of lethargy caused by empty stomachs. Even where they only have water to fill the void, as they drink they expose their frail bodies to waterborne illnesses. Millions are ravaged by diseases, which can be cured or managed, but nevertheless envelope helpless millions, imposing avoidable morbidity and early death. They crowd together in urban slums preying on one another through criminal misconduct, like beasts informed by the instinct of the survival of the fittest, slowly suffocating from the foul smell of the open sewers and rotting piles of accumulating refuse and the stench of poverty. The clean air and the quire of the countryside and the pleasing sights of nature hide a reality of life without hope. Unable to...