Last month, we launched “Vaccines and Voodoo in Benin, Africa,” an original documentary that reports on some of the unique partnerships that the medical officials and voodoo practitioners in Benin have made to help save lives through vaccines. But it looks like those who work on child health in the country will have a lot more work to do in the coming weeks.
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I’m sure you’ve already heard this news by now, but Benin was hit with the worst flood the country has seen since 1963. The annual rainy season — which also affected other West African countries — hit Benin the hardest, killing more than 50 people, destroying more than 150,000 homes and affecting nearly 680,000 people, says the Independent.
Relief groups have sprung into action, providing humanitarian aid for those affected by the floods. UNHCR has provided 1,500 tents for those displaced from their homes, and UNICEF is making bed nets available to help stop the spread of malaria among other things.
Take a look at some of the photos from the Benin flooding on the World Bank’s Africa Can … End Poverty blog and stay tuned to the ONE Blog for more updates on the crisis.
Photo courtesy of Daniel Sellen from the World Bank.
Hi there,
President Bush took off for Benin last night, and will also visit Rwanda, Ghana, Tanzania, and Liberia in the next 6 days.
We expect the trip to cover several of the bipartisan programs ONE supporters have been supporting for years, such as PEPFAR, PMI, the MCA and AGOA.
The ONE policy staff, who we love, put together briefs on all of these topics so that you can peruse at your leisure during the next few days. As news pours in as to what our president is doing day-to-day on his Africa trip, I’ll likely be referring back to the stats in these quick, easy-to-read briefs.
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-Virginia Simmons
