What We’re Reading 6/9/09

Jun 9th, 2009 11:39 AM UTC
By Grace Lamb-Atkinson

New York Times: Developing a Greener Third World
At a forum on climate change, Al Gore said that if the United States and every wealthy country in the world were to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to zero tomorrow and there were no change in the developing world, “the crisis would still overtake us.” The delegates said that the developing world is in many ways the ideal incubator for the sorts of clean-technology innovations that often have a difficult time gaining a foothold in developed markets, where demands for scale can be overwhelming, business models are entrenched and financial incentives favor the established way of doing things.

IRIN: Buying Local Food is Cheaper But Not Always Easier
Buying food aid closer to where it is needed is cheaper and saves time, says a new US government report. Recipient countries in Africa often wait four to five months for food aid to be shipped from outside the region, while commodities bought in the country or region are sometimes available in a much shorter time, according to a new report by the US Government Accounting Office (GAO). The World Food Program also found that the cost of buying food aid locally was cheaper in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the reports add that weak local markets and a lack of reliable suppliers make buying local very difficult.

Washington Post: Mugabe Continues to Haunt Zimbabwe’s Quest for Aid
Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is on his first official visit in Washington this week with a difficult sales pitch – to request funding for a nation which he has said is unfree and unstable. President Robert Mugabe’s coalition with Tsvangirai’s party puts the latter in the difficult position of assuring investors and donors that coffers long looted by Mugabe are safe despite the rocky coalition. It has also posed a predicament for wary donors, including the United States, which are so far unwilling to offer economic aid even though officials in Tsvangirai’s party insist money is vital to help redirect the collapsed nation toward a democratic future.

NY Times: Rotavirus: Every Child Should be Vaccinated Against Diarrheal Disease, W.H.O. Says
The World Health Organization has recommended that the vaccine against rotavirus, a diarrheal disease that kills 500,000 children a year, be given to every child in the world. Rotavirus drops are already routine for babies in the United States. Without them, virtually all children are infected by age 3. It frequently turns deadly for children in poor countries, without easy access to ambulances and hospitals. The W.H.O. announcement will allow donor money to be used for the vaccine. The research was supported by the Gates Foundation.

The Daily Monitor: Citizens Endorse Radical Plan to End Aids
A summit of people living with AIDS, AIDS commissioners, representatives from governments, development organizations and the UN has endorsed a radical plan to end AIDS in Sub Saharan Africa. The summit endorsed various measures for combatting HIV/AIDS, including a universal testing plan, increased accountability on HIV funds, and sustainable financing for HIV response strategies. It also called for donors to channel their AIDS funds through the Global Fund.

-Grace Lamb-Atkinson

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