Dear colleagues and friends,
At the end of today, I complete ten years of service as Pan Africa Director to Oxfam.
It has been an honour to have been associated with the growth and impact of Pan African civil society over the last decade. I can recall vividly the struggles to secure a just global trade regime (WTO), debt cancellation and better development financing (G8) and to hold Governments accountable for the ratification and implementation of progressive continental human rights and policy standards (African Union and African Member States).
I have also enjoyed the opportunity to work for an international organisation whose values and mission has never strayed from the search for social and political justice and an end to misery of impoverishment, neglect and conflict. I remember with pride both our work to protect civil society leaders threatened by autocratic Governments and to promote public servants with a vision for their societies. There will be time to recall those moments in more detail one day.
I leave a team of great colleagues, definitely the best team I have ever worked with. Working with Monique van Es, my successor Janah Ncube (jncube@oxfam.org.uk) is already poised to take the team forward to the next level. Guided by a new strategic vision, the team will continue to accompany the over 30 pan African coalitions and organisations to work with Governments and Organs of the African Union in the interests of a unified, just and prosperous Africa.
I thank you for all that you have contributed to this chapter in my life and seek your forgiveness for any shortcomings on my part. I hope we continue to run into each other.
Ahead of me lies a clearing to do some writing, consulting and a new position to work from. You can reach me on Email: irungu.houghton@gmail.com and Twitter: @irunguhoughton
Warmly,
Irũngũ Houghton