The In the Spotlight space on the website features one of the AEGIS member institutions for a few months. Currently in the spotlight is the Nordic Africa Institute (NAI), based in Uppsala, Sweden. NAI has chosen to focus on four key areas its researchers are engaged with: Women in African politics, Empathy in migration research, exploring the NAI Library, and Government funding and independent research.
Women in African Politics: The Challenges of Gendered Violence
Women in African politics face persistent challenges. Researchers from NAI have devoted themselves to this issue and uncovered a disturbing reality: “80 percent of women parliamentarians interviewed across 50 African countries had experienced psychological violence, while 67 percent faced sexist behaviour or remarks”.
NAI’s research explores how gendered violence—both physical and psychological—remains a key obstacle to women's political participation. At the ‘Making Politics Safer’ conference in South Africa in 2024, NAI researcher Diana Højlund Madsen and Professor Amanda Gouws of Stellenbosch University brought together experts to examine the realities of gendered electoral violence and discuss solutions.
NAI’s findings reveal that media bias, political party dynamics, and financial barriers disproportionately affect women in politics. In response, NAI studies policy interventions such as stricter electoral laws, digital voting, and leadership training to create safer and more inclusive political environments. By addressing the deep-seated norms fuelling violence, NAI contributes to policy discussions and advocacy efforts to promote gender equality in African politics.
Read more at: https://nai.uu.se/stories-and-events/news/2024-12-11-women-in-politics---play-the-mens-game-or-change-the-playing-field.html
Empathy and Migration – a divided debate in Europe
Empathy and migration seem as irreconcilable as fire and water in Europe’s current political discourse. The stark contrast makes NAI senior researcher Jesper Bjarnesen’s statement—“Empathy in migration research is key”—sound almost utopian. Yet, for Bjarnesen this philosophy is deeply personal, rooted in his childhood experiences of growing up white in Zambia. There, he felt the weight of being an outsider but also witnessed the profound power of empathy through the warmth and openness of the local community. In contrast, he later observed a far less welcoming attitude toward migrants in Denmark.
These experiences shaped his belief that humans share far more than what divides them and that migration is best understood as mobility. As an anthropologist, he sees empathy not just as an academic necessity but as a crucial perspective, particularly in Europe where migrants are often dehumanised.
Exploring the NAI Library: a wealth of knowledge and hidden treasures
The NAI Library is a treasure trove. In their Uppsala location the library stores 80,000 books, 25,000 pamphlets, 15, 000 official documents and 5,000 fiction books. The NAI Library also holds 500 Africa films and 200 music albums. Users at Nordic higher education institutions have special online access possibilities. But researchers from all over the world can also profit from the library’s large online collections, for example, on banking in Africa: https://nai.uu.se/library/resources/a-guide-to-africa-on-the-internet.html#/subjects/Banks
One can also access and use NAI’s guide to resources on Africa on the internet: https://nai.uu.se/library/resources/a-guide-to-africa-on-the-internet.html#/
A remarkable find is the Hidden Treasures page: https://nai.uu.se/library/about/hidden-treasures.html This contains a dozen small videos about hidden treasures, such as Agroclimatological Atlas from 1972 (Nigeria) and an interesting Biafra collection.
Government funding and independent research
There is no doubt that generous government funding for science and development institutions plays a crucial role in enabling essential international cooperation projects, as exemplified by the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which primarily supports NAI’s work.
Programs like the three-day workshop in November 2024, where young Nordic diplomats collaborated with NAI researchers to assess the quality of science for policy recommendations, highlight the positive impact of these partnerships. Amid shifting geopolitical dynamics, the program serves as a valuable platform for early-career diplomats to network and engage in knowledge exchange with NAI researchers, strengthening Nordic and African diplomatic relations. For more a out the workshop, see: https://nai.uu.se/stories-and-events/news/2024-11-11-young-nordic-diplomats-at-nai-for-a-three-day-workshop-with-researchers.html
However, maintaining academic independence can be challenging given NAI‘s partial government funding. As a public authority, it aligns its objectives with government priorities, including international cooperation and Agenda 2030, while leveraging its research to inform policy decisions on Africa.
(ES)