Editorial
Working Towards the CODESRIA of the Future: Transcendence in a Time of Crises
This issue of CODESRIA Bulletin has been released at a very critical moment for our continent and for the world. The outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease in West Africa, which has claimed thousands of lives, is bringing to the fore old questions about global inequalities and unequal access to healthcare and many other indices of social well-being. Unfortunately, it is also increasingly posing new questions or re-phrasing old questions concerning the meanings of panAfricanism, pan-African solidarity and regional cooperation in the face of severe threats.
The Ebola outbreaks in West Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo came against a background of violent conflicts in South Sudan, CAR, the north of Nigeria and recent troubles in Mali amongst other places. Further afield, recent hostile exchanges between Hamas and the Israeli Defence Forces that exacted a very heavy toll on the civilian population of the Gaza Strip implicated Egypt, which played a leading role in the negotiation of a cease fire.
Indeed, the continent is undergoing significant transformations spanning the political, economic, social and cultural realms. Countries as well as their regional and continental groupings are being called upon to refashion themselves in drastically changing environments.
