What We’re Reading: Is malaria twice as deadly than we think it is?

Feb 6th, 2012 12:00 PM UTC
By Emily Walker

Improving Governance Through Budget Transparency – The current fiscal crises in the US and Europe has led to “greater scrutiny of the efficacy of public expenditures,” which will likely have the greatest impact on “foreign aid and development assistance, as countries demand greater accountability for each dollar or euro spent.” This scrutiny has led to a recent surge in government-led initiatives that aim to increase fiscal transparency and make “aid to conflict ridden countries dependent on improved governance.” (Huffington Post, Michael Lipsky)

Is Malaria Twice as Deadly Than We Think It Is? – The news last week that malaria kills nearly twice as many people per year as we had previously thought “plunges the current multibillion-dollars anti-malaria campaign, and the push to reach a 2015 deadline for achieving the eight Millennium Development Goals, into grave doubt.” Previous statistics have underestimated the scope of the malaria problem, believing that it was a disease that primarily afflicted children. (TIME, Alex Perry)

ICYMI: Aid Groups Ask US to Consider Cross-Border Aid Effort in Sudan – A coalition of human rights groups appealed to the Obama administration last week to spearhead a cross-border aid operation in South Sudan to provide critical food and medicine to people living in the region. The organizations urged the US government to continue engaging with the Sudanese government in an effort to convince them to allow international humanitarian aid workers and aid assistance into the South Kordofan and Blue Nile regions. (VOA, James Butty)

South Africa Pauses on Mines – The South African ruling party, the African National Congress, seems to be “pivoting away from the charged politics of mine nationalization in a bid to reassure investors and rev up a weak economy.” South Africa’s economy is in need of foreign investment and capital to increase GDP, and some argue that “investors won’t be ready to ‘embrace’ South Africa until the passage of some time and examples of new mines successfully coming on stream.” (WSJ, Devon Maylie)

The dangers of carving up Somalia – The current build-up of military presence in Somalia of African Union, Kenyan and Ethiopian forces is an unprecedented occurrence, and “could prove counter-productive, given the lack of resources for stabilizing local politics and strengthening the economy.” Several diplomats have warned that “those intervening should not ignore the successes of the regional administrations.” (The Africa Report, Parselelo Kantai and Patrick Smith)

TAGS: What We're Reading