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        <description><![CDATA[The Conversation is a network of not-for-profit media outlets that publish news stories written by academics and researchers.]]></description>
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            <title>How can governments tackle poverty when climate change, conflict and economic shocks hit all at ...</title>
            <link>https://www.polity.org.za/article/how-can-governments-tackle-poverty-when-climate-change-conflict-and-economic-shocks-hit-all-at-once-2026-08-13</link>
            <description><![CDATA[Multiple and often overlapping crises such as floods or drought due to climate change, violent conflict and economic instability are creating new forms of vulnerability. Collectively they’re known as a polycrisis. These have severe effects on countries in sub-Saharan Africa with high poverty levels where weak institutions and limited public resources make it harder to respond effectively.  Vidya Diwakar is a senior research fellow at the Institute of Development Studies and the deputy director of the Chronic Poverty Advisory Network. Her research focuses on poverty dynamics, violent conflict and intersecting crises, gender and education. She answers questions about her book Poverty in Polycrisis: Dynamic Pathways for Lasting Change.]]></description>
            <author>Creamer Media Reporter  </author>
            <category>The Conversation</category>
            <pubDate>Thu, 13 Aug 2026 11:05:00 +0200</pubDate>
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            <title>Africans migrate for jobs mostly within the continent: why regional skills partnerships are needed</title>
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            <description><![CDATA[In 2024, 25.1-million Africans were living in other countries on the continent. Labour migration has long been a defining feature of Africa’s economic landscape.  Migrant workers on the continent are concentrated in certain sectors: agricultural and manufacturing together absorb roughly a fifth of migrant labour. Most migrants hold medium-skilled jobs alongside high and low skilled occupations.]]></description>
            <author>Creamer Media Reporter  </author>
            <category>The Conversation</category>
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            <title>This South African river has a bacteria count off the charts: a natural filter is cleaning it ...</title>
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            <description><![CDATA[Every day, millions of litres of polluted water flow through many South African rivers and disappear into the sea.  In South Africa, the small Stiebeuel River in Franschhoek, about 75 kilometres east of Cape Town, is badly polluted. Sewage and polluted rainwater run into the river because of inadequate sanitation and drainage systems serving the nearby informal settlement of Langrug. About 26 000 people there live in densely populated housing, where ageing and overstretched infrastructure struggles to cope.]]></description>
            <author>Creamer Media Reporter  </author>
            <category>The Conversation</category>
            <pubDate>Thu, 13 Aug 2026 10:56:00 +0200</pubDate>
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            <title>Nigeria’s border closure failed to stop smuggling. Here’s why</title>
            <link>https://www.polity.org.za/article/nigerias-border-closure-failed-to-stop-smuggling-heres-why-2026-08-13</link>
            <description><![CDATA[Border closures don’t always produce the intended objectives. The idea is usually to control illegal movements and prohibited goods, lessen informal trade, reinforce customs operations, and regain control of national borders. But history shows that in cases as diverse as England, the Asante Kingdom, the US and colonial Nigeria/Benin, stiffer border regulations can instead bring about smuggling and multiply criminal networks.  Where people share ethnic, language and kinship ties across state boundaries, closures disrupt everyday livelihood structures. Where state institutions are weak, corruption disrupts the enforcement processes. The rules become a means of private gain. Closures create artificial scarcity, inflate operational hurdles and drive demand towards underground operators and networks.]]></description>
            <author>Creamer Media Reporter  </author>
            <category>The Conversation</category>
            <pubDate>Thu, 13 Aug 2026 10:54:00 +0200</pubDate>
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            <title>Wind and solar projects in Kenya and South Africa don’t always benefit the communities that ...</title>
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            <description><![CDATA[Private investment in clean energy projects is growing: in sub-Saharan Africa, it’s approaching US$40-billion a year. These “green transition” investments in solar and wind power are meant to benefit the environment and develop the communities where they are based.  I am a specialist in natural resource governance and in a recent paper I looked at whether local communities in South Africa and Kenya benefited from these investments.]]></description>
            <author>Creamer Media Reporter  </author>
            <category>The Conversation</category>
            <pubDate>Tue, 11 Aug 2026 12:05:00 +0200</pubDate>
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            <title>Burundi refugees talk about life in South Africa after their long journey: hope and heartbreak ...</title>
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            <description><![CDATA[Over 250 000 people were registered as asylum seekers and refugees – people displaced by force – in South Africa in 2024. About 4% of them were from Burundi, some 3 000km away. When people think about refugees, they often imagine families fleeing war and finding safety in another country. As social scientists, we’re also interested in what happens after they arrive. Does finding safety also mean finding a place to belong?]]></description>
            <author>Creamer Media Reporter  </author>
            <category>The Conversation</category>
            <pubDate>Thu, 06 Aug 2026 10:31:00 +0200</pubDate>
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            <title>How white farmers still dominate land ownership in South Africa in spite of land reform – new ...</title>
            <link>https://www.polity.org.za/article/how-white-farmers-still-dominate-land-ownership-in-south-africa-in-spite-of-land-reform-new-research-2026-08-03</link>
            <description><![CDATA[More than 30 years after South Africa achieved democracy it remains one of the world’s most unequal countries. The democratic transition has not produced the transfer in wealth and ownership from a white minority to Black majority population that many had hoped for.  Land is at the centre of the debates about this lack of transfer of wealth. During apartheid, because of racist laws around land ownership, Black South Africans could only own land in 13% of the country’s territory even when they made up 80% of the population.]]></description>
            <author>Creamer Media Reporter  </author>
            <category>The Conversation</category>
            <pubDate>Mon, 03 Aug 2026 15:53:00 +0200</pubDate>
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            <title>South Africa’s privacy laws are evolving, but vulnerable people are being left behind</title>
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            <description><![CDATA[Imagine receiving a message from your bank about suspicious activity on your account, only to discover that someone has accessed your personal information after an organisation you trusted suffered a data breach. Or finding that your medical records or identity details have been exposed online without your knowledge. As more South Africans use digital services for banking, healthcare, education and social media, such incidents are becoming an increasing concern.  Privacy breaches involving personal information do not affect everyone equally. Some people are more vulnerable than others because of their social circumstances, limited digital literacy, economic dependence, or the sensitive nature of the information they share online.]]></description>
            <author>Creamer Media Reporter  </author>
            <category>The Conversation</category>
            <pubDate>Mon, 03 Aug 2026 15:52:00 +0200</pubDate>
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            <title>Africa shaped the global 2030 development agenda. How it can influence what comes next</title>
            <link>https://www.polity.org.za/article/africa-shaped-the-global-2030-development-agenda-how-it-can-influence-what-comes-next-2026-08-03</link>
            <description><![CDATA[All United Nations member states adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015. They cover poverty, health, education, inequality, climate change, peace and other global issues. The goals are now approaching their 2030 deadline.  The goals matter because they shape national plans, international cooperation and decisions about development funding. The question of what should follow them can no longer be postponed.]]></description>
            <author>Creamer Media Reporter  </author>
            <category>The Conversation</category>
            <pubDate>Mon, 03 Aug 2026 15:50:00 +0200</pubDate>
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            <title>How Ethiopia can make COP32 the summit that actually delivers</title>
            <link>https://www.polity.org.za/article/how-ethiopia-can-make-cop32-the-summit-that-actually-delivers-2026-07-30</link>
            <description><![CDATA[The world’s governments will arrive in Addis Ababa in late 2027 for COP32, the first African-hosted climate summit in five years. Ethiopia’s presidency is on behalf of the African Union, the continental body. Addis Ababa has the chance to show what a Conference of Parties (COP) can deliver. But for that to happen the work needs to begin now.  At the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, we work with governments, multilateral institutions and coalitions of financiers on the planning, investment, policy and financial architecture that climate and development goals require. What we’ve learnt from this collaborative effort provides insights into what’s required to organise a successful COP32.]]></description>
            <author>Creamer Media Reporter  </author>
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            <pubDate>Thu, 30 Jul 2026 11:28:00 +0200</pubDate>
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