INFORMATION FLOW FROM THE SOUTH TO THE NORTH: IS IT A MYTH, A CHALLENGE OR A REALITY?
Today, the question of information has become crucial in North – South relationships. The process of relationships among States, countries, continents and peoples has known various changes. This is why the debate is discerned in different ways. For some people, the 21st century will be that of the war of civilizations: conflict linked to Islamism, contrast of social and philosophical values. Others, on the contrary, think that time has come for countries setting side by side through the dialogue of cultures, civilizations and information sharing. Hence, the idea of creating the direct South-North flows of information. This is the bet of the Norwegian Missions Society (NMS) in relationship with the NGO Eveil represented by Boubacar Ba, a development activist in the Mopti region.
This method of information sharing or “direct information flow from the South to the North” comes just at the right moment in a world where everything is close (with sophisticated means of transportation, with planes, high-speed trains, the new technologies of information and communications, internet, ….); but also, where everything is often removed away with “persistent clichés” (about the history of Southern countries, with sometimes the rhetoric that Africans badly started History, the negative speeches about the development of Africa with sad images broadcast in television concerning the wars in Somalia, RDC or in Burundi, reports sometimes erroneous of some journalists from Northern countries about an Africa of despair, lie and silence, messages often negative, spread everywhere …). It often happens that people bet on Africa’s development. Yet, it’s this same Africa that is considered as the cradle of humanity… The theme of direct information flow from the South to the North is various : from the peoples’ history passing by the discovery of climatic changes, the mobility of pastoralists in the Niger Inland Center, women’s place in Macina in a changing world, the importance of conflicts in the society, the role of social actors with the emergence of citizenship, governance and the state of right in Mali, the role of the Evangelist missionaries and the religious dialogue in the society in movement, the perceptions of development between the North and the South … In one word, which society do we want to live in ? or which society should we live in ?
Here, the idea is not to justify on the existence of Africa’s history or Africans’ capacity to enter history, but rather to create a type of dialogue or information about real life experience, the practice of local population. The question is to support through analyses, thoughts, field investigations, what reflects the dynamics of a society: from the family to the community, from the village to the commune, passing by the region, the nation …
First of all, as indicated in Hippocrate’s oath, the following expression: Primum non nocere : meaning : do not destroy what you found on the spot. In one word, do not damage before wanting to repair. Here is the challenge of all the process of development of African countries and the relationships kept with researchers, academics, developers from the West. This means that societies have been built on the basis of realities, rather different, with movements, confrontations, appeasements and various historical evolutions: the Vikings’ history in Norway is not the same as that of the Kingdom of Mali with its glorious past with Timbuktu in the North and Hamdallahi in the Macina. Thus, there are enriching evolutions with Latin America with endogenous Indians, the Maya or with the China of the Mings.
The course of history which crosses the periods and eras makes us near. Direct information edifies us in our certainties and our convictions that knowledge sharing is the base of dialogue among peoples and cultures. And the debate remains open.
Today, the question of information has become crucial in North – South relationships. The process of relationships among States, countries, continents and peoples has known various changes. This is why the debate is discerned in different ways. For some people, the 21st century will be that of the war of civilizations: conflict linked to Islamism, contrast of social and philosophical values. Others, on the contrary, think that time has come for countries setting side by side through the dialogue of cultures, civilizations and information sharing. Hence, the idea of creating the direct South-North flows of information. This is the bet of the Norwegian Missions Society (NMS) in relationship with the NGO Eveil represented by Boubacar Ba, a development activist in the Mopti region.
This method of information sharing or “direct information flow from the South to the North” comes just at the right moment in a world where everything is close (with sophisticated means of transportation, with planes, high-speed trains, the new technologies of information and communications, internet, ….); but also, where everything is often removed away with “persistent clichés” (about the history of Southern countries, with sometimes the rhetoric that Africans badly started History, the negative speeches about the development of Africa with sad images broadcast in television concerning the wars in Somalia, RDC or in Burundi, reports sometimes erroneous of some journalists from Northern countries about an Africa of despair, lie and silence, messages often negative, spread everywhere …). It often happens that people bet on Africa’s development. Yet, it’s this same Africa that is considered as the cradle of humanity… The theme of direct information flow from the South to the North is various : from the peoples’ history passing by the discovery of climatic changes, the mobility of pastoralists in the Niger Inland Center, women’s place in Macina in a changing world, the importance of conflicts in the society, the role of social actors with the emergence of citizenship, governance and the state of right in Mali, the role of the Evangelist missionaries and the religious dialogue in the society in movement, the perceptions of development between the North and the South … In one word, which society do we want to live in ? or which society should we live in ?
Here, the idea is not to justify on the existence of Africa’s history or Africans’ capacity to enter history, but rather to create a type of dialogue or information about real life experience, the practice of local population. The question is to support through analyses, thoughts, field investigations, what reflects the dynamics of a society: from the family to the community, from the village to the commune, passing by the region, the nation …
First of all, as indicated in Hippocrate’s oath, the following expression: Primum non nocere : meaning : do not destroy what you found on the spot. In one word, do not damage before wanting to repair. Here is the challenge of all the process of development of African countries and the relationships kept with researchers, academics, developers from the West. This means that societies have been built on the basis of realities, rather different, with movements, confrontations, appeasements and various historical evolutions: the Vikings’ history in Norway is not the same as that of the Kingdom of Mali with its glorious past with Timbuktu in the North and Hamdallahi in the Macina. Thus, there are enriching evolutions with Latin America with endogenous Indians, the Maya or with the China of the Mings.
The course of history which crosses the periods and eras makes us near. Direct information edifies us in our certainties and our convictions that knowledge sharing is the base of dialogue among peoples and cultures. And the debate remains open.
No comments:
Post a Comment