FORENSIC FRIDAYS

FORENSIC FRIDAYS

Ed. 2, 27 January 2023

I have just finished recording a podcast with the "Queen of Crime", Nicole Engelbrecht, 'that voice' behind the ever popular podcast series,  True Crime South Africa. It was such fun turning the mike on this seasoned podcaster and author to chat about some of Nicole's behind the scene stories, her most fascinating cases (of course with DNA!) and hear how she manages to disassociate herself from recounting the horrors of some the most heinous of crimes committed. Be sure to catch this fascinating conversation with Nicole when it drops on her True Crime South Africa podcast on Spotify and other popular podcast platforms on the 10th Feb 2023.
 
I am often asked "what is DNAforAfrica?" and "what do we do?" - well to help answer that question, this week we have created a catchy one minute video that explains how we offer DNA data and policy information to key stakeholders in Africa  - #CATCH our mission below and let us know what you think!
 
I am also very excited to announce our two incredible partners for this year's annual DNAforAfrica event: ICRC and UNODC - both of which will be contributing to and participating in our much anticipated DNAforAfrica Forensic DNA conference - this year to be held in our beautiful city of Cape Town, South Africa. Please SAVE THE DATE of 6-9 of June 2023 to be sure you don't miss out. Details will be shared soon.  
 
Finally, thank you for the overwhelming and positive feedback we received from last week’s first edition of FORENSIC FRIDAYS - please continue to share our news with your forensic friends to help our quest to put Africa on the forefront of Forensics. We also encourage you to share with us any exciting events and happenings in the forensic space in Africa.
 
Together we are stronger; together we are DNAforAfrica. 
 
Yours in forensics
Vanessa

C A T C HOUR MISSION EXPLAINED

DATA PROJECTA MAP OF DNA PROGRESS IN AFRICA

Help us in our mission to gather accurate information on the forensic status of countries in Africa e.g. which states have DNA laws, the size of their DNA databases and number of forensic science labs in place. We aim to build an up-to-date map to accurately reflect the status quo of all regions in Africa and would love your help by asking you to submit details from your country in our below webform, which will be used to generate a forensic data map. 
CONTRIBUTE TO OUR DATA PROJECT HERE

PUBLIC AWARENESS INITIATIVES

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Public Forensic Forum II 
Join Vanessa for a free virtual panel discussion  on forensic science in Africa via Zoom this Saturday 29th Jan. 2023. The panel will be talking about how to create a successful DNA database for crime control. 

REGISTER

The Confident Scientist Outreach
We loved how art was used in this novel outreach program for the youth in Ghana to simply communicate complex concepts around forensic science, and highlight how DNA can help solve crime!

FIND OUT MORE

SAVE THE DATE Forensic DNA Symposium, 6-9 June 2023, CAPE TOWN, South Africa

We are hosting the next annual Forensic DNAforAfrica Symposium in Cape Town - June 6-9 2023
 
ICRC and UNODC will be partnering with us this year as part of a series of DNA events we have hosted, spanning North, South, East and West Africa. The aim of our next event is to provide a platform for key forensic specialists and change advocates to share solutions to the unique challenges faced by many countries in Africa in the fight against violent crime and GBV, as well as humanitarian crises such as human trafficking, migration and missing people.  
 
STAY TUNED

#DNA CRUSADER OF THE WEEKMbali Shongwe, Change Advocate, South Africa

Mbali Shongwe is a young South African who has lent her voice to DNA policy reform and was the recipient of our #MyVoiceForJustice 2021 campaign. Mbali serves as an example of advocacy leading to real action, with the passing of both the mandatory sampling of arrestee and convicted offender DNA laws in South Africa as well as highligthing how DNA backlog's delay justice. 
 
 "I believe that my purpose in the activism space is to evoke hope and actionable positive solutions to the harrowing situation we find ourselves in. Forensic DNA introduces fairness and surety into the criminal justice as being the one element that can not be manipulated or contested." 
- Mbali Shongwe 
 
READ MORE ABOUT MBALI HERE

SPOTLIGHT:CONVICTED OFFENDERS STILL NOT BEING SAMPLED

    
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Despite heralding the signing of the Criminal Law (Forensic Procedures) Amendment Act 8 of 2022 to close out last year, this act has not yet been declared operational by the President of South Africa. This crucial act mandates that convicted offenders may not be released without having their DNA samples taken and added to the DNA database.  Help us to continue pushing to ensure this critical Act is operationalised. Please follow our social media to share posts urging Cyril Ramaphosa to get sampling of convicted offenders back on track. 
 
JOIN OUR CAUSE AND SHARE OUR NEWS

Together we are DNAforAfrica, and together, we are UNSTOPPABLE! 

Follow our Journey @DNAforAFRICA