ONE Blog
Taking it to the street
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We have been hard at work with some tech wizards to create the ONE Street Tweeter – a clever robot that can print short tweets, tweetetes if you will, (40 characters or less) on road surfaces. Yes – we want to take your messages on the road. Better still, if we print your message we’ll even send a pic of it back to you to share it with your friends. So, what are you waiting for? You guys are more creative than any of those Mad Men types. Just tweet a message in your own words (no more than 40 characters including spaces) to encourage, rouse, and hustle the G8 to act now on hunger and poverty. Tweet your message to @ONEStreetTweet or if you don’t do that sort of thing then you can type your message into the box below.
Let’s hit the road and get heard. |
One of the biggest creative challenges we face is finding ways to adequately express the spirit and strength of our amazing membership — And more than this, to maximize the impact of member voices to push for the positive changes we are all seeking to achieve. Combine this scenario with a message-saturated G8 Summit and you’ll understand why we’ve had to find something extraordinary to do next week… Ahem, cue Tweet the Street…A Bracelet for a Net: Using Merchandise to Eliminate Malaria
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The following is a guest blog from Noella Moshi, United Against Malaria Malaria kills nearly 700,000 people every year and costs sub-Saharan Africa up to 12 billion dollars in economic productivity, foreign investment, tourism and trade each year. It’s a huge barrier to economic development in affected countries and has life-altering, long-term repercussions for sick children. The good news is that the whole malaria mess can be fixed in our lifetime. Cue United Against Malaria into the picture. United Against Malaria (UAM) is a conglomeration of private sectors, non-governmental organizations, academic institutions and governments who have come together to rid the world of malaria once and for all. UAM was born amidst the explosive excitement of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. We rode this crest of energy and used it to create global awareness of malaria. UAM uses a few key strategies to combat malaria throughout Africa, including educating organizations on malaria-safe practices, distributing mosquito nets (which act to prevent infection), and fundraising for the purchase and wider distribution of nets. Recently, the fundraising arm of UAM expanded to encompass merchandise sales, all in the name of malaria. The United Against Malaria bracelet is a brightly beaded symbol of the cause. With World Malaria Day around the corner (April 25), UAM has powered up like never before in a huge drive to sell UAM bracelets for mosquito net distribution.
Here in South Africa, Cape Union Mart, Nando’s Chickenland, Exclusive Books, and several other private sector organizations, have risen to the occasion by stocking and selling UAM bracelets. Cape Union Mart has recently stocked 50,000 units to sell in the lead-up to World Malaria Day. Their stock is already thinning out; testament to the energy and involvement of every individual who bought a bracelet. Also joining the push to sell bracelets is legendary African Explorer Kingsley Holgate. Kingsley has braved drastic terrain as he travelled through virtually inaccessible parts of the African continent to distribute mosquito nets. As we contemplate World Malaria Day today, , we at UAM experience palpable excitement when we think of the number of nets that UAM bracelet sales will enable us donate. To all you bracelet buyers, past and future, thank you for your heartfelt giving, and for playing an important part in the worldwide plan to eradicate malaria. Share your support for World Malaria Day by following United Against Malaria, Relate and Cape Union Mart on Facebook, and sharing news via Twitter by following @UAMalaria, and @CapeUnionMart. |
Fighting Malaria, One RDT at A Time
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Guest blog post by Jessie Seiler from Stomping Out Malaria in Africa World Malaria Day is today, April 25, which means that Christmas has come in the springtime for those of us working to fight this disease. From Atlanta to Maputo, D.C. to Dakar, New York City to Phnom Penh, we’re looking around at the work being done to end malaria in our lifetimes and realizing that we’ve got a lot to celebrate. I have been lucky enough to spend the last several years watching as the fight against malaria changes, first in a small African village and now as a part of a major initiative to wipe out malaria, and so today is a day of happy memories and joyous expectation for me. Here’s why. Before I came to the West African country of Senegal as a Peace Corps Volunteer, I didn’t know anything about malaria. During a brief but intense training period, experienced volunteers, Senegalese educators, and local community health workers showered us with the basic information about the disease: it’s characterized by high, cyclical fevers, horrible headaches, and vomiting. A child dies of malaria every minute. Malaria costs Africa $12 billion dollars every year. It’s particularly dangerous for pregnant women and children under the age of 5, which makes malaria seem almost consciously vicious. And the real kicker? The crazy thing? The fact that fills me simultaneously with rage and hope? Malaria is entirely preventable and treatable. In fact, it was eradicated from the United States – completely wiped out – in 1951. When I first started to understand these facts about malaria, I was filled with anger. It seemed like a tragedy. I couldn’t learn from the story, just mourn over it. But during the next two years of living and working in a tiny Senegalese village called Ndiago, I realized that we are living in a time of great hope and excitement. New technologies, growing awareness and intelligence, and a fresh zeal to eradicate malaria convince me that we’re about to see the disease’s hold on humanity ended, once and for all. When I arrived in Ndiago, I started hearing about malaria’s impact on the community there. Everyone in the village of 300 reported having had a recent battle with malaria, or sibuuru, as it’s called in Wolof. But I quickly learned that when the community members said sibuuru, they really meant any malady characterized by headache, fever, and fatigue. I was amazed. I knew that malaria was a big problem in this part of Senegal, but the people who were suffering from it didn’t have enough information about the disease to tell it apart from the aftermath of a long, hot day of working in the fields. No wonder getting rid of malaria seemed like such an imposing task: we were fighting blind. In the beginning, I wasn’t much use myself. The first health talk I ever gave in village was about malaria, and it went horribly. Each family in Ndiago sent two women to hear me talk about the signs and symptoms of malaria and to watch me make neem lotion, a mosquito repellent made of cheap or naturally occurring ingredients that are easily available in rural Senegal. It was a bust. Having just been installed in the village about two weeks beforehand, I barely spoke enough of the local language, Wolof, to keep myself out of trouble, let alone talk about a complicated disease like malaria. I had made neem lotion before, during our brief but intense time in training, but never before a curious audience, and never by myself. As I poured in the shavings of a bar of soap, which melt in the neem leaf-infused boiling water, an exasperated lady in the front row of the crowd shuffled up to me. Grabbing the large spoon out of my hand and shooing me from the pot, she rolled up her flowing sleeves and started stirring powerfully. Apparently, I needed to be taught how to stir. Watching the soap dissolve, I wondered what exactly I was going to be doing in this village for the next two years. I couldn’t be trusted with the simplest of daily tasks, so it didn’t seem possible that I would be much of a community health educator. Luckily, and to my eternal wonder and joy, humans get better at things as they go along. I spent two years learning Wolof, getting to know the 300 people who chose to share their village with me, and found out more and more about malaria and the role it plays in the lives of the Senegalese people. Together, the community taught me what it was, what the members valued, what they wanted from their lives and from each other. They taught me how they saw malaria, what they thought of this threat to their lives, what they knew to do when they got sick. They helped me understand why they couldn’t pay the $4 to buy a mosquito net, even though they knew that sleeping underneath one every night would protect them from being bitten by the mosquitos that spread malaria. They talked about being too scared to go to the health post to seek treatment for a suspected case of malaria when their infant sons and daughters became ill, even though they knew the disease was so dangerous. They surprised me with their knowledge and resources, and saddened me with their matter-of-fact statements about their perceptions of the limitations on their lives. Over the first two years of my time here, the people of the village turned every idea about public health I had on its head. Not only did I have to learn how to stir a pot of melting soap slivers, I had to start at the absolute beginning when it came to figuring out how health care and malaria prevention education should work. But it was exciting, because as I was learning more about malaria and how to fight it, so was my community. So was the world. There is a health post in Ndiago, a small hospital with one nurse and a couple of trained community health workers. That’s where the people of Ndiago and the surrounding villages go when they’re seriously ill. But the hospital had no quick and easy way of testing for malaria, so anyone who came in with symptoms that looked like they could be caused by malaria were treated for it. It was an expensive system, but it was the best thing to be done. Better to catch every case of malaria and treat many people for a disease they didn’t have than to let even one patient die when a treatment was available. The advent of Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs), which came to Ndiago about the time I was getting settled in there, changed everything. With a simple prick of a patient’s finger and a little drop of blood, the nurse could diagnose malaria immediately and start treatment with the appropriate drugs. Not only did the costs associated with malaria in the community begin to drop, but also people became better at recognizing malaria. They knew they could be tested for it, immediately receive treatment, and immediately start to feel better. Now that the people of Ndiago could put a label on their experience, the disease stopped being a mysterious and unpredictable force. These RDTs are becoming more and more widely available everywhere in Africa. For me, for the community of Ndiago, and for the people working to fight malaria all over the world, their presence means that the disease is starting to feel like a more manageable, weaker enemy. Watching the people of Ndiago get better access to diagnosis and treatment was one thing, but we needed something more. Mosquito nets have long been an important part of malaria control programs across the world, but now we’ve got a super weapon of sorts: nets treated with a long-lasting insecticide. Not only do these nets provide a physical barrier between a sleeper and a mosquito, but they also take out any mosquitos that land and rest on them. Basically, they’re mosquito traps baited by sleeping children. NGOs, the Senegalese National Malaria Control Program, and other major players all have been pushing these nets for some time now, but the programs of distribution were not coordinated or thorough. Sometimes, distribution campaigns were aimed at pregnant women and children under the age of 5, who are at the greatest risk of dying from malaria. So when these groups were given free nets, other naturally assumed that they were being skipped over because they weren’t at risk. Men and older children continued to get malaria regularly, and so the disease continued to thrive in communities across Senegal even though there were more nets on the ground and in use. Realizing that there was a better way, a handful of Peace Corps Volunteers joined forces with the local health structure and pioneered what’s now become the standard practice for a distribution: universal coverage of mosquito nets, paired with a comprehensive system of anti-malaria education for the people receiving nets. The nets are designed to last up to five years, and the knowledge about malaria, its symptoms and how to prevent it, will last a lifetime. Instead of giving out nets to pregnant women alone, the new campaign trains health workers to take a census of every sleeping space in the village, whether it’s a bed or a mat on the ground. Those health workers are also charged with talking to families about the symptoms of malaria, what makes it different from other diseases, and how communities can protect themselves from it. Sibuuru is no longer a mystery disease that sneaks children away. We know malaria now, and we know how to fight it. Today in Senegal, local and international partners have covered or are covering 12 of the 14 administrative regions in the country. Malaria rates are dropping everywhere, and the excitement is growing. An ambitious but realistic program in northern Senegal, where malaria rates are already very low, even aims to stop the transmission of the disease by the end of 2013 using SMS technology and rapid diagnosis and treatment protocols. All of these amazing changes in the ways we fight malaria make me think of my own progress. I started out knowing very little, like the community of Ndiago. But the more I learned, the more the people of Ndiago learned, and the more the international community learned, the better we became at fighting malaria. This fight is an example of what I love about humanity: we try something, we learn, we improve, and we try again. We’re getting better at this every day, smarter and more committed. It’s an adventure, and it means that malaria is no match for us. Keep an eye on the people of Ndiago, of Senegal, and of all the other communities that have been ravaged by malaria for so long. You’re going to be amazed by the next few years. Together, we’re going to end malaria. Celebrate with us today, on World Malaria Day, and tomorrow, maybe start thinking about what we should do next. Jessie Seiler lives in Senegal and works for Stomping Out Malaria in Africa, a Peace Corps initiative. For more information, please go to jseiler.blogspot.com or stompoutmalaria.org.
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Angélique Kidjo supports World Immunization Week
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As part of World Immunization Week ONE Africa Policy Advisory Board member and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Angélique Kidjo has recorded a short video on why vaccination efforts are so important. 
Immunization is one of the most successful and cost-effective health interventions and prevents debilitating illness, disability and death from vaccine-preventable diseases such as diphtheria, hepatitis A and B, measles, mumps, pneumococcal disease, polio, rotavirus diarrhoea, tetanus and yellow fever. But whilst many of us take vaccines for granted, millions of parents around the world are not able to access vaccines for their children, with devastating consequences. Please share Angélique Kidjo’s video and find out more about World Immunization Week on the ONE Blog. |
What does Uganda think?
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Last month we asked ONE members in Uganda to tell us what they thought organisations like ONE should work on that would have a direct impact on their lives. After all the attention the Kony 2012 campaign had put on Uganda, we wanted to see how Ugandans thought our advocacy work across the world could best work for them. We received a fantastic response with replies coming in from across the country. Of ONE’s current priorities top of the list with 23% of the votes was ‘Enforcing transparency and fighting corruption in the oil and minerals sector’, followed by ‘Encouraging African and world leaders to keep their promises to fight hunger and promote investment in agriculture, food security and nutrition’ with 19%. We are also received some wonderful suggestions on other areas where you think we should work. Here are just a few we received:
Thanks again to all the ONE members who took the time to share their views. We really appreciate your feedback, which will help guide our campaigns in the future. We will also share your thoughts with our partners. |
Thriving Africa: Farm the Future
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Today ONE launches its most ambitious campaign yet – Thrive: Food, Farming, Future. In Africa, this follows our pilot campaign ‘Hungry No More’, which culminated in a petition delivered on 2nd March 2012 in Dar es Salaam to Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete, signed by over 16,000 ONE members on the continent. Millions of people die from hunger on the continent every year. In 2011, more than 30,000 children died in just three months due to the famine in the Horn of Africa alone. Millions more continue to be locked in the vicious cycle of hunger and poverty. This year a staggering 178 million young children in the world will be stunted as a result of poor nutrition, their bodies and brains never fully recovering. The numbers are staggering. A lot of the time we deal with symptoms of a deeper problem hoping it will go away. What we need is to deal with the root causes of hunger and poverty to make sure that these problems become history. We need your voice to help us urge world leaders—African and donor governments alike—to put in place and fund well tested, costed and affordable plans for smart agriculture and nutrition. Thankfully, there is already, a growing realization in many African communities of the need to go back to farming in order to lift themselves out of poverty. A couple of weeks ago, ONE’s Africa Team had the opportunity to visit a community in KwaZulu Natal (a province in South Africa) where local subsistence farmers said that all they required was assistance from government with the simplest of things, like fencing, farming implements and extension services. For them, the future is in farming and farming is cooler than being jobless in the city. How really cool! We also had the opportunity to speak with King Goodwill Zwelithini who called upon people in his kingdom to go back to farming and encouraged his chiefs as well as the government to assist people with this, while also calling upon African leaders to make agriculture a priority. Watch our short documentary here: The onus is on us to collectively use our voices to urge our leaders to make this a priority because we CAN break the cycle of hunger and poverty and put an end to malnutrition for 15 million children, most of who are on our continent. Each one of us has a part to play in making our continent thrive, as we know it can. |
Pomegranates in Pomeroy
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Last week, ONE’s Africa Communications Manager, Wangui Muchiri and I had the opportunity to trek down to rural KwaZulu Natal (KZN), the province that has Durban as a favorite holiday destination for many. Our assignment took us deep into the midlands and hills of KZN, landing in Pietermaritzburg then a three hour drive to eMsinga, Pomeroy. We arrived, promptly dumped our bags and immediately got on the road to talking to our first villager before the sun set and lost natural light good enough to film. To our surprise and amusement, we arrived at one of the homesteads to find Mr. Ngidi who had a field of pomegranates growing naturally in his backyard! The trees dotted across his field, were laden heavy with the hard, big, red fruit, some already cracked open with chickens continuous pecking as they flew up to get a snack. The pomegranates apparently grow naturally in this particular area, even the chickens have pomegranate rubies for a mid afternoon snack! Gives a new meaning to free range grain fed chickens! The intriguing thing was that Mr. Ngidi did not realize the value of the pomegranates and had never thought of even selling them to the local food store or neighboring villagers. He was pleased to hear he was sitting on a little nest egg!
Mr. Ngidi was very animated as he talked about the importance of farming for him and his family and that if the government could provide him assistance with fencing his homestead to keep away the goats and cattle from eating his crop, there would be no need to have a formal job as he and his family would be self sufficient. In his words, “we would grow what we eat and eat what we grow; we’d be healthy and happy”. Mr. Ngidi was sure that farming would erase poverty from his backyard, his children and generations after them would never need to rush to the city looking for jobs. Next up, we spoke to the village headman, who had the same sentiments as Ngidi. He spoke of how people were now eager to go back to farming as they had realized the importance of farming in the fight against hunger. He mentioned that people often spoke to him about getting assistance with water and fencing. By this time evening shades had set in and we called it a wrap for the day.
In the deliberations that ensued, King Zwelithini impressed upon his amakhosi (chiefs) and traditional leaders he had gathered there, to return to farming as the means of fighting poverty. With all the land available to the community, he encouraged everyone to deal directly with poverty by farming for sustenance as well as for commercial purposes. He told amakhosi that the kingdom had to unite in the war against poverty and hunger and asked for their assistance as he couldn’t do it on his own. Of particular interest, was that King Zwelithini presides over a board called the Ingonyama Trust Board. The Board is the landowner-in-law of some 2,700,000 hectares of land spread throughout KwaZulu Natal. The mission of the Ingonyama Trust Board is to” improve the quality of life of the people living on Ingonyama Trust land by ensuring that land usage is to their benefit and in accordance with the laws of the land.” About 4, 500.000 people live on the Trust land and 250 Traditional Councils have jurisdiction over it. The Board owns land in all District Municipal areas within the Province. The Ingonyama Trust legislation also requires that formal consent of the relevant Traditional Council be obtained before a mining tenure rights application can be processed.
Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi (Traditional Prime Minister of the Zulu nation) continued from where the king had left off and spoke about the government needing to commit to assisting the community to ensure that even small subsistence farmers are able to get the best out of farming and to lift themselves out of poverty. Finally, the premier of KwaZulu Natal, Mr. Zweli Mkhize rounded the morning session up by going into the facts and figures of the potential output that could come out of the land if utilized optimally. It would be enough to keep the province self sustained and even go into major exports. Wangui had the opportunity to have one to one Q & A sessions with King Zwelithini, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, and the chief of Zondi. The short documentary is currently in production to be launched on April 10. On day three we had the opportunity to have a conversation with a local woman who grows corn, sugar cane, groundnuts, pumpkin and beans in her homestead. With the corn she grows, she makes corn meal, corn bread and basically sustains herself and her family with the homegrown produce. She also sells the excess to enable her to send her children to school. For her the importance of farming lay in the fact that she could provide food for her family. Finally, we paid a visit to a local cooperative, where farmers get together to assist each other with farming commercially. These farmers have clubbed together to grow a range of produce to supply the local supermarkets and vegetable markets. They have received assistance with farming implements like tractors, a water pump to access water from the nearby river and training on agriculture and crop growing. They are currently looking into farming pomegranates commercially. This marked the end of a very informative and eye opening trip that gave some great insight and opportunity to hear from the traditional leaders’ point of view. |
Senegal: Democracy 3.0
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Please welcome Aliou Goloko to the ONE Blog. Aliou is a Senegalese journalist who his passionate about Africa and football. He offers his take on the Senegal elections. Image courtesy of SeneNews:
Wade, victim of his supporters Sall defeated incumbent president Abdoulaye Wade, who ran an unsuccessful campaign for a third term after nearly twelve years in office. Many ordinary citizens, along with the opposition, denounced his campaign. The outgoing president’s supporters, most notably his family, only made matters worse by behaving poorly in the public spotlight. Wade’s stubborn defense of his controversial son, politiican Karim Wade, cast a dark cloud over his candidacy. Other members of his entourage have been arrested for financial misconduct and physical assault, but have yet to stand any punishment. To these stains we must add the stress of increasing demand for staple foods and resulting price hikes, the skyrocketing unemployment rate, and the luxurious lifestyle enjoyed by state offcials. The N’diguël: End of a tradition? Senegal’s population breaks down into 94 percent Muslim, 5 percent Christian, and 1 percent animist. During election season, politicians tend to seek the public approval of religious leaders, who issue voting instructions called the n’diguël. Previous presidents, including Wade, used this opportunity to consolidate their power. This election proves that today’s voters, especially youth, don’t’ see the n’diguël as a mandate. Even with religious sanctioning, Wade still lost the election — which means that religious leaders’ hold on the voting booth is loosening. Macky’s plebiscite After a political career serving Wade, Sall stands as the future leader of the Senegalese state. A real plebiscite, Sall was supported by the 12 other candidates and claimed nearly 66 percent of the vote — a clear victory that prompted his opponent to congratulate him even before the official declaration of results. His political career was impressive even before this feat. His resume includes stints as a minister, member of Parliament, prime minister, founder of the Alliance for the Republic party, and president of Parliament. During his tenure as head of Parliament, he summoned Karim Wade to court to testify about supposed misuse of ANOCI funds (National Agency for the organization of the Islamic Conference). For that bold move, he fell out of favor with Wade — but into favor with the Senegalese people. What awaits President Macky… Sall will have to tackle many challenges head-on to satisfy an electorate that is increasingly demanding and aware of its rights and duties. Sall will have a lot on his plate to fulfill the many commitments he made during the campaign. He has spoken about the restoring republican values, limiting the lifestyle of state officials, championing good governance, ending impunity, rehabilitating the education system, reducing cost of living, and improving access to health care. No small feat. After a tense election season, Sall will have much to do to reestablish a peaceful and stable political climate. Frictions will undoubtedly rise up in the redistribution of responsibilities. As Sall manages the transition to his new administration, he will have to continually evealuate the political climate and its many diverse characters. Democracy 3.0 The second generation of the Senegalese political elite brough Wade to power; the third generation has ended his career with the assistance of new media, especially social networks. Like Web 3.0, new citizenship in Senegal — Democracy 3.0 — is more interactive, more participatory and more informative. New media have played an important role in achieving democratic change in Senegal, allowing all citizens to participate in the political process and advocate for the change they want to see as Senegal negotiates the third democratic shift in its history. The number three appears time and time again in this election cycle. Sall’s upcoming presidency, the third since independence, derailed Wade’s third term. The new president enjoyed support from a strong campaign made up of three components: youth movements (Y’en a marre), broader citizen movements, and coalitions of political parties. These voters are passionate about their so-called third generation rights: healthy food, decent housing, fair education, health care and employment. Undoubtedly, this is the birth of Senegal’s “Third Republic,” one that values justice, labor and solidarity as advocated by Macky Sall. A newly invigorated democratic era that distances itself from electoral fraud, this participatory democracy is imbued with autonomy and freedom. Who wrongly said that democracy was not meant for Africa? Africans are eager for it, and here it is: Democracy 3.0 |
After several months of uncertainty and tension, the Senegalese people have again expressed themselves through the ballot box. The election of their fourth president, Macky Sall, stands as another fine example of African democracy.Interview: GAVI’s Mercy Ahun talks Ghana’s upcoming vaccine milestone
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Last week I had the opportunity to sit down with Mercy Ahun from the GAVI Alliance Secretariat. When I first met her two years ago, she was GAVI’s Director of Program Delivery, but recently she was named GAVI’s Special Representative to GAVI-Eligible Countries. In this role, she serves as a bridge between GAVI, countries receiving GAVI support, and donors, and she works to develop customized approaches that deliver even more effective results on the ground. ONE is really excited that in less than 1 month, Ghana will become the first country to roll out pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccines at the same time. Especially as a Ghanaian, what does this milestone mean to you? It’s been exciting! I remember the first time I was talking to Ghana’s EPI (Extended Program on Immunization) Manager about this, and I said, are you sure you want to do this? And he said yes—we are close to achieving MDG 5 (reducing child deaths); doing this allows us to hit two birds with one stone. And when I started looking at their vaccine programs, and saw that they already had achieved high coverage levels of other vaccines, I said yes, I think the system is strong enough to do this. And I think it is important to document the process in Ghana so then others can learn from it. I go to Ghana about six times in a year, and we have an excellent relationship not just with the EPI Manager but with other groups in the Ministry of Health and with the partners. When we’re in Ghana, you can catch the excitement. I remember that one person said to me, “It feels like the whole world is looking at us”, and to that I just think: wow.
What does a country like Ghana need to do to prepare itself for a vaccines roll out? I think one of the most important parts is having the needed cold chain equipment for the new vaccines. Giving out two vaccines at once requires a major expansion, and Ghana planed it so that the major 10 regions in Ghana will each have the right fridges and storage units. The Ghana Health Service also partners with WHO, UNICEF and others; together with community groups, they have developed 8 committees that are planning for this launch. There are groups focused on logistics, training, and communication which meet separately, and they also brought in a professional advertising company from the private sector to guide them. They have done a survey of local knowledge, attitudes, and practices, and they are using the findings to design appropriate messages for communities. So much is on the line that needs to be done, but things are on track.
How have you seen African leaders respond to GAVI’s work? What do they say about vaccines, and their own governments’ role in supporting them? I think African leaders recognize the importance of immunization. President Kibaki of Kenya launched a new vaccine himself in Kenya last year. I was in Cameroon and it was the First Lady’s office which led the charge there. Ghana is expecting the President to do the launch in April. But we also know that it’s about more than just the launch, and more than just about Presidential leadership. We know that when countries apply for GAVI support, all the ministers of health and finance need to sign the application too, because GAVI support is not for free. They need to make a commitment of their own. Since we introduced a co-financing policy in 2008, almost all countries have provided financial support for vaccines, which shows their own commitment. Come 2016, we expect that 16 countries will have a ceremony because they will be off of GAVI’s support and increasing their own contributions to immunization financing. I think it’s fantastic. In your time working for GAVI, what have you found to be the most rewarding? I think the most rewarding thing has been working with others. We are an alliance. We bring together the strengths of organizations from the public sector (like WHO or UNICEF), from the private sector, from foundations, and from other partners to develop immunization plans with countries. I have found that most rewarding because I think when you involve your recipient countries in the policy-development process, it is more likely to be sustainable because they feel ownership over the programs. You and your colleagues carry a lot of responsibility at GAVI, ensuring that the world’s poorest children receive life-saving vaccinations. What do you like to do on your days off? I have three kids—two are teenagers who are still home with me—so I like chatting with them. We are Ghanaians in Switzerland, so sometimes there are cultural challenges, and we discuss these things with each other. I like singing, dancing, attending church services. Really I try not to look at my blackberry, especially on the weekends, and enjoy myself. |
Video: ONE in Tanzania
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When ONE and ANSAF delivered a petition earlier this month on behalf of more 16,000 African citizens to Tanzania’s State House, our message was received with the urgency it deserved. President Jakaya Kikwete had invited several African Ambassadors and the donor community to witness this event and it was clear to us from the word go that the president was indeed taking the issue of food insecurity in Africa very seriously. An event that was supposed to take about an hour, ended up with us being at Ikulu for more than three hours with President Kikwete having time for each and everyone present. He took time to mingle and speak not only with the Ambassadors present but also the small holder farmers personally. These informal meetings and conversation saw President Kikwete ask the farmers to return the very next day, so that he could hear first hand what they would like to see his government do to boost agriculture in the rural areas. This humble gesture left us rest assured that the petition could not have been in better hands. As if to confirm this notion, President Jakaya Kikwete went ahead and did two things:
For us this was a clear demonstration of an African leader taking responsibility and showing leadership on an issue that has the potential of transforming the whole continent. |
TAGS: Africa, G8, Thrive