April 2012
12 posts
4 tags
John Kufuor helps transform Ghana into a model for... →
Kufuor found agriculture to be a catalyst for these solutions. Agriculture is critical to Ghana’s economy, as some 60 percent of the country’s population depends directly on rural agriculture. Kufuor’s administration worked to harness an agriculture transformation to strengthen the nation’s economy.
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Michel D. Kazatchkine: Makings AIDS History... →
10 years ago many were skeptical that treatment could or should be provided in the developing world and had a long list of arguments against providing treatment. They said that making treatment available would be too expensive; that patients would not be able to adhere to treatment leading to drug resistance; that the necessary infrastructure was lacking and could not be built. In short: it...
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Universal Basic Education - NYTimes.com 2011-08-02... →
In underdeveloped countries, every additional year of schooling reduces an adolescent boy’s risk of becoming involved in conflict by 20 percent. According to one study, a country that enrolls more than 87 percent of its children in school decreases its risk of conflict by nearly 75 percent.
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WatchBehind The Rainbow Trailer
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The African Summer - By Calestous Juma | Foreign... →
Sub-Saharan Africa’s democratic march started at a time when the continent’s economic prospects looked gloomy. The twin oil crises of the 1970s had played a key role in worsening macroeconomic balances in various countries. At the same time, demand for democratic reform began, when it became evident in many countries that post-independence promises of prosperity weren’t...
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Uganda Lacks Resources to Prevent Maternal Deaths... →
As Africa’s population swells, so will demand for emergency obstetric care. The United Nations recently estimated that Uganda’s population will almost triple to 94 million by 2050, with tens of millions more babies to be delivered.
February 2012
5 posts
3 tags
U.S. - S.A. Relations | United States Diplomatic... →
As we moved through the first decade of the twenty-first century, U.S. Foreign policy toward Africa has evolved strategically as well. Currently it is centered on five core principles:
Strengthening democratic institutions and protecting the democratic gains of African countries
Fostering broad-based economic growth
Combating disease and improving public health
Preventing, mitigating and...
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Living in the shadows of Cape Town's Table... →
This is also one of the most photographed places in the world, but I wonder how many people truly see the beauty. I purposely didn’t want to write about the sights, the awe inspiring views this week because of that.
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ONE | The African Charter on Democracy, Elections... →
It summarizes and reconfirms existing African engagements on good governance that the continent’s leaders have taken over the last 30 years or so. And the Charter takes them a step further by operationalizing their implementation. Instead of adding to the pile, it tries to rationalize the African good governance architecture and translate it into reality.
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What If Everyone Went To School? The African Org -... →
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Jamie Drummond: Let's Celebrate to Accelerate -... →
But there is no room for smug self-congratulation as the struggles against disease, inequality and illiteracy are far from over, and especially as we learn the lessons of three scandalous oversights: on food security, on trade, and on support for African civil society and their drive for improved transparency and accountability.
January 2012
12 posts
4 tags
How The ANC Lost Its Way - TIME - Alex Perry -... →
With such an underwhelming record in office, how does the ANC win elections? By invoking its legend. The centenary celebrations, like so many other ANC events, hammer home how much black South Africans owe the party. Using such a “powerful legacy” only makes electoral sense, concedes DA leader Helen Zille. “When you’ve fought a liberation struggle and suffered so much and...
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In Nigeria, avoiding a shot could mean going to... →
This news, which was announced at the outset of the government’s four-day vaccination campaigntargeting six million children, marks a shift in government policy toward immunization programs in the north of the country. Nigeria’s polio vaccination program stalled for more than a year after Muslim leaders raised doubts over the inoculations’ safety in the summer of 2003 —...
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BBC News - Cup of Nations to open in Equatorial... →
Africa’s most important football tournament - the Cup of Nations - is about to begin in Equatorial Guinea.
The West African country is co-hosting the event with its neighbour Gabon.
It is the first time either country has staged the competition.
The BBC’s Alex Capstick reports from Bata, where Equatorial Guinea will face Libya in the opening match.
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The Eradication Calculation - By Charles Kenny |... →
A second reason to continue the push is that polio eradication would send a powerful message to the world at a time when a little more belief in the power of global cooperation would be a very useful thing. Despite the complexity of the eradication program, and despite all of the poverty and corruption in the countries where polio remains, the campaign has already suggested that when the global...
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Afghan Taliban support polio vaccination campaign... →
According to World Health Organization, there are four countries in which the transmission of polio has never been stopped: Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan. They face a range of challenges, such as insecurity, weak health systems and poor sanitation.
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Jeffrey Sachs: Breakthrough in Saving Lives in... →
Now the CHWs are seen to be a key part of a functioning primary health system. This system should include a clinic within short walking distance, with supplies, a skilled birth attendant and other staff, electricity, and safe water; an ambulance for emergency transport; an emergency “911” number; a policy of free care at the point of service (so as not to turn away the indigent); and...
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Fake, dodgy drugs drive malaria crisis in Africa -... →
Some of the fake drugs contain artemisinin, but not enough to kill all the parasites in a child’s body. Not only will the child struggle to recover, but the parasites that survive may become resistant to the drug and spread a form of the disease that ACTs (artemisinin combination therapy) will no longer cure.
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Africa Rising: Jeffrey Sachs says Ghana's future... →
Ghana has made economic leaps in the past year due to the commencement of oil production and increasing levels of foreign direct investment. Ghana was one of world’s fastest growing economies in 2011 with an annual growth rate of 14 percent and it achieved middle-income status according the World Bank. Inflation has been on the decline in the past year and the Ghana Investment and Promotion...
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Aid: 'We're not arguing for a culture of... →
It’s really not a time to be a rich rock star talking about poor people, I’ll tell you that, or a film star, or a first lady or a … – there’s just something… it’s like “Why don’t you just piss off back to your chateau” – and so I’m kind of delighted that people keep doing it. Outside the UK, we won’t get much coverage for these issues...
