What We’re Reading 12/16/08

Dec 16th, 2008 1:44 PM UTC
By Steve Wilson

Financial Times—World Food Program in plea for $5.2 billion
The World Food Program has launched an “urgent appeal” to governments to donate a record $5.2 billion as it confronts an increase in aid recipients because of the economic crisis at a time when food prices are high and its coffers are empty. The WFP, the United Nations agency responsible for relieving hunger, said in a letter to donor countries over the weekend that it needed a significant proportion of the money immediately as it does not have enough funds left to spend in early 2009. “We would run out of food for some key operations by March,” Josette Sheeran, the WFP’s executive director, said, warning that countries such as Ethiopia, Congo, Haiti, Sudan and Bangladesh were most at risk.

NY Times—Can Africa Trade Its Way to Peace?
In a NY Times op-ed, Herman Cohen, a former U.S. assistant secretary of state for Africa, writes that like many conflicts, the conflict in the Congo has economic roots, and until the economic conundrum is addressed, there is little prospect to any solution. Cohen proposes that President-elect Obama should appoint a special negotiator who would propose a framework for an economic common market encompassing Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. This agreement would allow the free movement of people and trade, and could be key to ending the war and transforming the region.

Bloomberg News—Doubling of U.S. Health Aid Urged as Foreign Policy
A new report by the U.S. Institute of Medicine says that the U.S. government should double its health aid to poor countries by 2012 and designate a White House global health czar to coordinate the aid with other areas of international affairs, such as trade, the environment and security. The report also said that fulfilling commitments to programs such as PEPFAR will be crucial during a global economic slump likely to have serious repercussions for poor countries.

-Steve Wilson

TAGS: Policy News, What We're Reading