Join us on Wednesday, September 17th at 12:00 PM EST for a virtual discussion that challenges mainstream portrayals and empowers African voices to tell their own stories.

Africa’s wars and conflicts have long been shaped not only by political, social, and economic forces, but also by the narratives constructed around them. Mainstream media and international commentary often frame conflict in Africa through diminishing lenses,emphasizing chaos, tribalism, and victimhood, while obscuring the deeper historical, geopolitical, and local dimensions of these struggles. 

Reframing the Narrative critically examines how war and conflict in Africa are represented in mainstream media. Through this panel we will explore how narratives are constructed,  the impact these stories have on both African societies and global perceptions of the continent and how we can change them.

PANELISTS

Halima Gikandi

Halima Gikandi is an award-winning journalist with nearly a decade of experience covering war, conflict, and politics around the world. From 2019 to 2024, she served as the Africa Correspondent for the American public radio program The World. Based in East Africa, she reported on Sudan’s democratic transition, the war in Northern Ethiopia, youth protests in Kenya, several elections, and more. Her work has also been featured in The Guardian, the BBC, and other media outlets. Gikandi recently relocated to New York City, where she continues to write, edit, and consult.

Lydia Namubiru

Lydia Namubiru is the editor-in-chief of The Continent, and a director of its publishing company All Protocol Observed, a South African non-profit. Prior to The Continent, she was Africa Editor at the UK-based independent news organisation, open Democracy which she joined after several years contributing to several international news outlets, including Al Jazeera, BBC, Quartz and Reuters as a freelance journalist, researcher and documentary producer.

Yassmin Abdel-Magied

Yassmin Abdel-Magied is a Sudanese diaspora writer, broadcaster and award-winning social advocate. The author of several books, including the essay collection Talking About a Revolution (2022), Abdel-Magied's debut literary novel At Sea, will be published in May 2026. Her writing has appeared in publications such as The Guardian, New Lines, and The New Arab, where she writes on issues including the Sudanese revolution and the current war against civilians. 

Founding Youth Without Borders at 16, Abdel-Magied is now an award-winning speaker and globally sought-after advisor on social justice and leadership, delivering keynotes and workshops in 25 countries. Her TED talk has over 2.8 million views and is recognised as one of TED’s top 10 ideas. She created the website eyesonsudan.net and supports sudandigitalarchive.com, a free, open source digital archive for Sudanese collective memory.