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01 July 2021
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Story Dikgapane Makhetha
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Photo Supplied
This year, the young people of South Africa celebrated 45 years of the annual commemoration of
Youth Day. The University of the Free State (UFS)
Community Engagement (CE) office on the
Qwaqwa Campus has engaged a number of stakeholders in the call to use football as a means of bringing people together, transforming lives, and enthusing communities. Through partnerships, community organisations have great potential to create opportunities for breaking down barriers and inspiring social cohesion, initiating enablement through the development of social projects, and promoting education and health awareness.
On 16 June this year, local community organisations collaborated in the hosting of a soccer event for the youth of Qwaqwa at the FIFA Football for Hope Stadium in Tsheseng.
The Agape Foundation for Community Development,
Love Life,
Right to Care,
Youth in Action, Qwaqwa FIFA Project, and the Tsheseng Athletics Club were all stakeholders who diligently joined forces to ensure the successful launch of the tournament. Community development practitioners, who are trainees in the UFS Qwaqwa Department of Community Development, were garbed in departmental branded gear and have cautiously facilitated adherence to COVID-19 protocols. About 250 people, including football fans and participants, attended and enjoyed the entertaining games. Through the partnered recreational project, the Qwaqwa Campus CE office responded to the 2021 Youth Day theme: ‘Growing Youth Employment for an inclusive and transformed society’, by enhancing opportunities for networking among stakeholders. Football is popularly known for promoting transformational social projects in diverse communities across the globe.
Prof Solomon appointed to board of flagship journal of UNECA
2016-10-06
Prof Hussein Solomon, member of the Editorial
Board of the Afro-Arab Social and Economic
Review. He is also the author of Islamic State
and the Coming Global Confrontation.
Photo: Charl Devenish
“I cannot say I worked towards it – I just did my work, and I guess someone noticed.” These are the words of Prof Hussein Solomon from the Department of Political Studies and Governance at the University of the Free State (UFS), who was recently appointed to the Editorial Board of the Afro-Arab Social and Economic Review.
On an editorial board with people he quoted
This is the flagship journal of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). The mandate of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) is to promote the economic and social development of the states which are regarded as members of the United Nations (UN). Prof Solomon says the board consists of people that he used to quote when he was a student, and to serve alongside them is a privilege.
Book launched in Greece, Japan, and Indonesia
His book, Islamic State and the Coming Global Confrontation, was earlier published by Palgrave Macmillan in London and launched in Greece, Japan, and Indonesia in June and July 2016 respectively. It analyses the origins and organisational structure of the Islamic State (IS), ans examines its military triumphs and success in securing new recruits via social media.
Exploit of IS vulnerabilities to combat organisation
Prof Solomon says the IS makes use of the winning hearts and mind (WHAM) principle where they earn the trust of residents by providing basic services, and the only solution we have is to “exploit the Islamic State’s vulnerabilities and to highlight their atrocities.”
He mentions that a lot needs to be done to overcome the IS. It is vital to have boots on the ground and an acceptance that countries will splinter. An overarching strategy needs to be in place which allows for regional variations, good governance, and the countering of extremism.