African Futures Project Launch
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Erin Torkelson
Corruption and Governance Division
Institute for Security Studies, Cape Town
Tel: +27 21 461 7211
Cell: +27 76 445 0089
Email:[email protected]
www.issafrica.org/Futures
African Futures Project Launch
Pretoria, South Africa - 17 February, 2011 - The Institute for Security Studies and the Frederck S. Pardee Centre for International Futures will be launching the African Futures Project (AFP) - the first initiative of its kind dedicated to long-term strategic thinking about human development and sustainability for the continent.
Major transitions are rapidly reshaping Africa. Populations are growing and urbanizing. Economies are expanding and diversifying. New technologies are sweeping across the continent. Longstanding conflicts have been or are being addressed.
Yet major uncertainties face us. How rapidly will we bring communicable diseases under control and advance the education of our citizens? Can Africa successfully move toward manufacturing and the provision of services, while managing the wealth generated by its raw materials? Will climate change increase pressures on agriculture or will we have a green revolution? How will Africa build the extensive infrastructures need? What about the quality of our governance? And will regional integration help or hinder our development?
The Institute for Security Studies and the Pardee Center for International Futures are devoted to exploring these uncertainties through our joint African Futures Project (AFP). The African Futures Project looks across most major issue areas - demographics, economics, sociopolitical change, the environment and human development - and explores further into our future than any other model of Africa has ever done. It provides research and training for our leaders, who are tasked with building a peaceful and prosperous Africa for all.
To learn more about the AFP and how if works visit the new website www.issafrica.org/futures.
For additional information, contact Erin Torkelson
During 2011/2012 the ISS and IFs received project funding from the UK High Commission that allowed the development of the African Futures website, publications and outreach. ISS core funders are the governments of Sweden, Netherlands, Norway and Denmark.
About the African Futures Project:
The African Futures Project is a collaboration between the Institute for Security Studies (www.issafrica.org) and the Frederick S Pardee Center for International Futures (www.ifs.du.edu) based at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. The Institute for Security Studies is a widely recognized pan-African think tank specializing in issues of human security. The Pardee Center is the home of the International Futures model, an integrated approach to understanding human development and the broad implications of policy choices. These organisations leverage each other`s expertise to provide forward-looking, policy-relevant material that frames uncertainty around human development in Africa.
About The Institute for Security Studies:
The Institute for Security of Studies (ISS) is a pan-African organization that undertakes applied policy research, provides teaching and training as well as technical assistance. The Institute is head quartered in Pretoria, South Africa with offices in Cape Town, South Africa, Nairobi, Kenya, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Dakar, Senegal. The ISS works for the advancement of sustainable human security in Africa. It seeks to mainstream human security perspectives into public policy processes and to influence decision makers within Africa and beyond. The objective of the Institute is to add critical balance and objectivity by providing timely, empirical research, teaching and implementation support on sustainable human security issues to policy makers, area specialists, advocacy groups, and the media.
About The Pardee Center for International Futures:
The Frederick S. Pardee Center for International Futures is the home of long-term forecasting and global trend analysis at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies on the University of Denver campus. The core of the Center`s forecasting efforts is the Patterns of Potential Human Progress (PPHP) series. This project produces annual volumes on human development topics, beginning with global poverty reduction, which can be purchased or downloaded for free. The Center works with issue-specific and geographically-based groups around the world that share the Center`s interest in evaluating and exploring the human condition from a long-term perspective.
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