Los Angeles Times—Developing nations’ gains at risk in global recession
The World Bank warned yesterday that a global recession could turn the clock back on poverty reduction by years. The Bank also cautioned that the cost of helping poorer nations in crisis would exceed the current financial resources of multilateral lenders. In a report, released ahead of a major summit of finance ministers in London this week, the Bank called on developed nations struggling with their economic routs to dedicate 0.7% of the money they spend on stimulus programs toward a “Vulnerability Fund” to help developing countries.

Financial Times—Aid groups get to grips with epidemic
The Financial Times reports hopeful news on the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe. Slowly, the paper reports, non-government organizations and local health officers are getting a grip on the disease as public awareness of the crisis has improved, tablets to clean contaminated water are more widely available, and victims are being treated faster.

Boston Globe—Continuing leadership in world AIDS fight
The medical director of the NGO “Partners in Health” writes in the Boston Globe that now is the time to fully fund the U.S. global AIDS initiative, PEPFAR. The writer says, “Congress and President Obama made a promise to expand the US commitment by reauthorizing PEPFAR in 2008. Fulfilling this significant commitment to the health and development of the world will go a long way toward promoting economic stability and good will for the United States.”

Financial Times—PM warns of Kenya’s ‘failure’ after killings
Raila Odinga, Kenya’s prime minister, has warned that his own country is “hurtling towards failure as a state” after the assassinations of two human rights activists who had campaigned against extra-judicial killings by the Kenyan police. The brazen assassinations were the latest in a series of events that have outraged civil society activists and ordinary Kenyans this year, underlining how the post-election bloodshed of 2008 has been replaced by a growing crisis of impunity and bad governance, the Financial Times reports.

Mail & Guardian—Women’s Day marks crisis of poverty and violence
Women rallied worldwide on Sunday to demand equal rights and protest against domestic violence and growing poverty in the global economic crisis as they marked International Women’s Day. Thousands gathered in public squares from Bangalore to Kinshasa to the capitals of Europe, drawing attention to fears facing women in their respective countries.

AFP—IMF conference to mull strategy as global crisis hits Africa
With the full force of the global financial crisis starting to hit Africa, leaders will gather Monday in Tanzania for an International Monetary Fund conference convened to tackle the issue. African banks invested little in the so-called “toxic” assets that sparked the crisis, shielding the continent from the credit crunch. But with no hope of recovery from the global downturn before 2010, a bitter cocktail of dwindling remittances, shrinking export markets and looming investment cuts is threatening to hit the world’s poorest continent.

-Steve Wilson