News from Madagascar

28 March 2009

Over the past two months, Madagascar - a small island in the Indian Ocean - has been the scene of violent political unrest, which has left 170 people dead. Although the capital, Antananarivo, has become calmer over the past few days, the situation remains unstable.

The YMCA centre in Ankazomanga, which was recently built with support from Y Care International.

Violent protests broke out in January following calls from the Mayor of the capital for the removal of the government, accusing them of stifling democracy and clamping down on press freedom. This led to a fierce power struggle for the country’s presidency. The opposition leader and former Mayor, Andry Rajoelina, took power last week and is in process of establishing a transitional government.

Lantonirina Rakotomalala, National General Secretary of our partner organisation Madagascar YMCA, reports on how recent events have been affecting their work.

Although things are generally calmer now, the situation remains tense and the former governing party have held demonstrations this week. The future of Madagascar on the world stage looks bleak, as the country has been suspended from the African Union and two of Madagascar’s major international donors – the governments of the USA and Norway - have frozen aid in protest against the way in which the former Mayor has taken power.

Madagascar YMCA centres and offices have been severely disrupted by the situation and our office in Ankazomanga had to be closed for a few days in early March due to intense fighting in the area. There were gun battles between the police/army and demonstrators and constant tear gas grenades were being let off outside our office. Many young people from the community were reportedly given money by the opposition to demonstrate and fight against government forces.

It has been very distressing for all of us. The road in front of my house was also the scene of violence as demonstrators destroyed cars and even robbed bus passengers. Most people are shocked at what has been happening; nothing like this has ever happened here.

The area around the YMCA centre which saw violent protests, pictured here in calmer times.

Because of the volatile situation, an emergency law has made it illegal for young people to come together to meet, which means that we are extremely restricted in what we can do with young people. The most affected project is our vocational training project, supported by Y Care International. We have had to delay starting project activities, which will help 250 vulnerable young people per year to access much-needed training and employment opportunities. While our young beneficiaries understand this, they are disappointed that the situation in the country is interfering with their future and their development.

Marie Hélène Raharivololona is 17 years old. She left school early, just after primary school because her parents could not afford her fees. She is saddened by the present situation and life is now even more expensive. She says that this is the reason why a lot of young people have been participating in robberies and looting, just to be able to survive and find food.

Marie Hélène's biggest concern is the general strike. "It will block everything, including my chance to have this vocational training through the YMCA. The country is going to sink into a serious economic crisis and people are going to become even more aggressive." Marie Hélène witnessed how this happened in her own family. Her father works as a pousse pousse man (‘pousse pousse' is a traditional cart), transporting goods such as furniture or vegetables. As the tradesmen now don't sell much, there are fewer things to transport. Before, her father used to earn 15,000 Madagascan Ariary per week (US $8), but last week he only earned 5,000 Ariary (US $2.5). Worse still, her mother didn't understand, and they were fighting all week. Marie Hélène says they still manage to eat twice a day, but they have decreased the amount they eat.

Another young person, Iva Niaina Randriakotoarivony, who’s 20 years old, speaks of his own difficulty in helping his mother to secure food for the family. Since his father's death, he had to work on small jobs to help his mother. He dropped out of school very early. Iva Niaina’s mother works for a textile company and she was forced to stop because the company reduced the number of its employees. She received only 20,000 Ariary, which was not even sufficient for one week. And since the crisis, Iva Niaina gets less as well. He was looking forward to becoming a mechanic through the YMCA vocational training programme, and is very disappointed that we have had to delay our schedules because of the situation.

Our young beneficiaries have been seriously affected by the crisis. And although the situation has calmed down, things are still uncertain and it’s difficult to know what the future holds. Jose Rambinintsoa, Chair of YMCA Madagascar’s Board says: “The YMCA is committed to serving our beneficiaries as best we can in these trying times. This is the time when the youth need us most as they are amongst the worst affected by the unrest and instability.”