Tortured, Abudcted, Killed : this is the fate the innconet pople of Eswatini are facing right now. In lieu of the pro-democarcy protest sweeping the streets of Eswatini, protestors and innocents are being abducted for their “tretorious” ways agasint the royal family. As we know Eswatini is one of the last absolute onarchies in the world. An absolute monary is a govenremntal system where the monarch in charge has complete say and power over laws and its people. Right now the citizens of this country are tired of the oppression by the royal family and are protesting to change to a democracy. The citizens are prtsting for basic human rights. At least 20 preotestors have been killed, 150 serisly hospitalized, and more. 

This is a cry for help from Eswatinis people over their oressive gomernt. Alhouthg there is not much coverage on this, many articles have said the same things. Citizens are finally advocating for themselves in getting the basic human rights. There has been no intervetin from other ocuntires so far. Becus there has been little to no coverage on this; the people of this circumstance have dubbed it The Silent Genocide. 

Hello Everyone! As we all know climate change is a pressing matter for all countries right now. We are racing to solve problems we have been ignoring for years, but how does climate change affect one of the world’s last Absolute monarchies? Let’s see.

In this post I will be covering the climate data from the years 1991-2020, which is a fairly  operative time of today.

In this graph alone one can see that the average max temperatures from 1991 have risen from an average of 25C and 26C, to heavily displaying records of the average max temperature for the year being 26 C and above.

Eswatini is at risk of hydrometeorological hazards and natural disasters. These disasters are pointing to lay more effect on the agricultural front for this country. These disasters induced flooding, m periods of mass drought, violet storms, epidemic disease, and forest fires. The drought is obviously a sustainable problem due to the fact that Eswatini is experiencing  severe food insecurity and needs all the yields they can get, and face father challenges in trying to receive aid. 

But how do all of these factors and impacts connect to climate change? For one according to eh IPCC, “human induced-climate change is already affecting many weather and climate experts words the globe.” Not Only this but the rising temperatures and the rising sea temperatures lead to more water vapor in the atmosphere which is just a light to gasoline for hurricanes and heavy storms/rains. All in all climate change is a leading factor to these said natural disasters.

To reel it all in let’s look back at the question at hand: How is climate change affecting Eswatini?

The answer to that is simple, the evident climate change is cursing a rise in natural disasters that leave Eswatini with agricultural shortages and a whole country. Climate change leaves yet another household food insecure, and without basic needs. Climate change is not only worsening the quality of life in this country, it is running all over the way of life and keeping Eswatini’s people from getting necessities. 

“World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal.” Summary | Climate Change Knowledge Portal, https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/country/eswatini

“World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal.” Vulnerability | Climate Change Knowledge Portal, https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/country/eswatini/vulnerability. 

.Jazmin Mason

Protests in Eswatini 

Today Eswatini is one of the last monarchs left in Africa. But due to police brutality and constant abuse of monarchical power, the peoples of Eswatini have been protesting for Pro-Democracy. 

Before we dive deeper into this situation; What is Pro-Democracy? Pro-Democracy is denoting or relating to political activism directed toward the establishment of democratic government in a country. In this context the established government in the country is an absolute monarchy where the royal family says what goes and controls the brutal police. And the people are relating to/wanting to live in a more democratic society where they have a say in their daily lives. 

The King of Eswatini in under fire for demanding dusk to dawn curfews and utilizing a deadly police force against his own people. Protestors, reports, innocents are being shot. Fires are having to be put out by helicopters. In this One Man’s Land no one is safe and no one is free. 

Works Cited

Al Jazeera. “Tensions Run High in Eswatini as pro-Democracy Protests Continue.” Protests News | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 30 June 2021, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/30/tensions-run-high-eswatini-pro-democracy-protests-continue. 

Jazmin Mason

Ideologies of Eswatini

Eswatini is the last Absolute Monarch country in all of Africa. Here the King and the Queen Mother use their power to veto the branches of government. There are political parties in Eswatini but they are forbidden under law  to run in any elections. Due to this there are many social issues in the country right now. This includes lmiiteated political partificaption, freedom of speach, child labor, and crimlinaliztion og the LGBTG+ just to name a few. The citizens of this country are unable to help themselves build their economy due to the royal families interference and laws. There is no way for the people to express their genveinves, opinions, and feelings. Not only are the people stuck in their struggling economic state, the police forces are so underfunded and under trained that many citizens are faced with police brutality on a day to day scale. But even though all this the MOnarchy is accepted in almost all areas.

Christianity was introduced to Eswatini in the 1820’s during the reign of King MSwati ll. After inviting missionaries into the country almost 90% of them identified as Chrsitian. Because there are still citizens who identified with other religions, they were not given the same spintires to openly practice them. As for political participation there are 30 seats in the senate; 10 chosen by the house and the other 20 chosen by the king. And the house itself is composed of 65 seats, only 10 of those appointed by the king.

All in all, the ideologies of the people itself re hard to gather  complete consensus on due to the arboute monarchical regime that is in Eswatini. The King himself sees that he and his family’s views are above the law, and that their “divine right” compels them to count this type of fiefdom type ruling. 

Work cited 

“BTI 2022 Eswatini Country Report.” BTI 2022, https://bti-project.org/en/reports/country-report/SWZ. 

Jazmin Mason

Hello Everyone! In this action of the blog I will be covering topics and events that pertain to the country of Eswatini formerly known as Swaziland. Eswatini is a country in the region of Southern Africa

 and is landlocked between the countries of Mozambique to her east and South Africa to her south. As seen in the picture Eswatini is a very small country and the capital is Mbmabne. The official Languages of this country are Swati and English. The type of government seen in Eswatini is of a Monarchical Structure. The royal family and the house they reside in is known as the House of Dlamini. Here King Mswati and the Queen Mother otherwise known as Indlovukati. The currencies being used here are the South African rand and the Swazi lilangeni. According to the United NAtions office of the coordination of Humanitarian affairs or OCHA says that, “The country has a national poverty rate of about 63 per cent and an unemployment rate of 41 per cent. HIV prevalence is at 31 per cent.” The climate is subtropical due to its exposure to the maritime tropical air, not only the weather nice this country is

the best watered country in the southern africa region. There are both dry and wet forests in the country wh house a vast amount of wildlife. The ethnic breakdown of Eswtini is very intestine. There are 70 different clans residing here. As stated before the hierarchy is the type of government in this country, this royal family are of the biggest clan known as the Dlamni. Other clans include Sotho, Nguni, Zulu and much more.​​ The main religions are Roman Cathlolic and protestant. 

As of right now Eswatini is famously known for the best place to see rhinos in Africa. Not only that but the Hlane National Park is the place to go to see all types of animals. There are other activities to take part in such as other safaris, culture tours, souvenir shopping, wildlife sanctuaries, mountain biking, and so much history to delve into.

Eswatini has a rich history that feeds its even richers culture.I am very excited to start this project and I hope you all can come along with me. 

Jazmin Mason