What We’re Reading: Child labor and chocolate

Oct 8th, 2010 10:16 AM UTC
By Robyn Mitchell

The golden years: South African Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu, who used his church pulpit as a platform to help bring down apartheid, officially retired from public duties this week. He will continue to work as a council of global statesman known as The Elders.

Power shot: Vaccinating more than 250 million children in developing countries by 2015 is a realistic goal, but it cannot be left up to the countries themselves, says one doctor. He calls for further support of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), which is set to roll out three more life-saving vaccines.

The connection gamble: With hopes of entering into the global economy, Rwanda and Kenya have invested heavily in IT infrastructure to bring more high speed internet connections to their countries. Yet, nobody knows whether the East African gamble on IT and outsourcing will pay off.

Passing the hat: Global Fund Director, Michel Kazatchkine, vows to keep seeking more money for the Fund, saying he will look to Britain, who has yet to commit any money, as well as the U.S., who’s intriguing call to improve the Fund’s transparency and efficiency offers another “ray of hope.” 

A-maize-ing: South Africa must review its biofuels policy to include maize to allow farmers to use their surplus crop for energy production, the agriculture minister said, emphasizing that “agriculture is not only about food production but also concerns energy.”

Bittersweet chocolate: West Africa’s cocoa industry is still trafficking children and using forced child labor despite nearly a decade of efforts to eliminate the practices, according to an independent audit by Tulane University, which found that many child workers “live in substandard conditions and receive little or no pay.”

TAGS: What We're Reading