Africa, drawn to scale: Why a map vote matters more than it looks

Agency is respected when Africa writes the resolution, as it did here, instead of waiting to be written about. It is denied when solutions for Africa are designed in rooms where Africans are guests.
Dignity is respected when Africans are described accurately, at their true size and in their full complexity. It is denied when the continent is reduced to a single story of crisis and need.
Systems are respected when African institutions such as courts, central banks, universities and regulators are trusted to do their work. They are denied when every African process is assumed to need outside supervision.
Delivery is respected when Africa is judged on what it has achieved, from mobile money to vaccine logistics to peacekeeping. It is denied when success on the continent is treated as the exception and failure as the rule.
Identity is respected when Africa defines itself on its own terms, including its diaspora and people of African descent everywhere. It is denied when the continent is known mainly through someone else's projection, in every sense of the word.

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