Kenya
Cholera outbreak kills 200 in Cameroon: Cholera has killed 200 people in Cameroon and aid agencies feared the outbreak could spread to neighboring regions and nations. The disease is caused by contaminated water and about 70 percent of people living in the country’s far north region, bordering Nigeria and Chad, do not have access to potable water. Sanitation is also limited in the area and recent flooding has aggravated the situation. (CNN)
Reform in Rwanda: The Financial Times argues there are two reasons Paul Kagame was re-elected to Rwandan president with 93 percent of the vote. First, Kagame has turned Rwanda into one of the least corrupt, most secure countries in Africa. Second, he eliminated any opposition. (Financial Times)
Party Says Nigeria President Can Run in Vote: Nigeria’s ruling party is allowing President Goodluck Jonathan to run in next year’s election, despite an informal agreement calling for a Muslim candidate. The unwritten agreement calls for the presidency to alternate between Christians and Muslims. (Wall Street Journal)
Sierra Leone: New Agriculture Plan Sprouts: Sierra Leone’s finance minister has announced the government will increase the agriculture budget from 7.7 percent to 9.9 percent. The budget will go to facilitating and strengthening small and medium scale farmers as well as promoting large scale farming and the development of agri-business. The budget is also intended to facilitate access to markets for selected commodities like rice, oil palm, cocoa and fisheries. (Mohamed Fofanah, AllAfrica.com)
Uganda: Donors Should Review Aid Cut : Development partners plan a 10% cut of their $360M contribution to Uganda’s budget this year because of government corruption. The New Vision argues however that donors should know that the aid cut will impact the poor more negatively than the state officials, as social services will most likely be cut because of budget constraints. (New Vision)
Kenya not out of woods despite constitution vote: Kenya’s long-awaited new constitution is facing a lengthy implementation process that could take years. The law that aims to check presidential powers and curb the corruption, political patronage, land-grabbing and tribalism faces challenges of competing politicians sharing positions on the implementation committee. The concern is whether politicians who opposed the law will try to block it if chosen to be on the committee. (James Macharia, Reuters)
Developing nations must learn to grow food, says official – Agriculture Department Undersecretary James Miller argued that we must help poor countries develop sustainable ways of feeding themselves, highlighting a new U.S. initiative called Feed the Future, which is aimed at boosting productivity and improving regional trade markets. (Heather Hollingsworth, AP)
Kenyan voters approve new constitution – Kenyans overwhelmingly approved a new constitution that promises to bring more accountability and rule of law to one of Africa’s most corrupt nations, with a particular effort to redress long-standing imbalances of power among Kenya’s tribes. (Sudarsan Raghavan, The Washington Post)
Women play critical role in AIDS fight, says Obama – President Obama maintained that empowering women is critical to reducing HIV/AIDS transmission, emphasizing the need to alter behavior to prevent further outbreaks. He emphasized his Global Health Initiative, which focuses on developing workable preventive programs and greater public health infrastructure. (Tabu Butagira, Daily Monitor)
CEOs invited to next G20 Summit – A forum of 100 global business chiefs will be held alongside the next G20 summit to underscore the G20’s role as the top world body for economic cooperation, officials said. The CEOs will discuss their economic concerns with political leaders at what South Korea hopes will become a regular part of the G20 process. (AFP)
More billionaires pledge fortunes to charity – More than 30 U.S. billionaires pledged to give away at least 50 percent of their wealth to charity as part of a philanthropic campaign by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. New pledges include New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, David Rockefeller and media mogul Ted Turner. (Michelle Nichols, Reuters)
Clinton rues Africa corruption, trade barriers –Trade barriers, poor infrastructure and corruption are holding back efforts to boost and diversify Africa’s trade, said Secretary Clinton. She stressed the administration’s efforts to “boost trade and aid effectiveness” through their trade and development strategy. (Reuters)
Obama convenes forum of young African leaders – Declaring that “Africa’s future belongs to its young people,” President Obama met with more than 100 young African entrepreneurs from across the continent Tuesday. On the topic of HIV/AIDS, he stressed the need for successful prevention programs to bolster traditional donor funding. (Stephen Kendrick, ABC)
Kenya Stakes Reinvention on Constitution Vote – Kenyans are voting today on a new constitution that hems in Kenya’s imperial-style presidency, devolves more power to local government and creates a bill of rights. Donor nations, including the U.S., are eager to see it pass, having invested in voter drives and civic education campaigns. (Jeffrey Gettleman, The New York Times)
Education key to empowering women – The State Department’s Robert Hormats highlights last week’s African Women’s Entrepreneurship Program, which brought together 34 African women business leaders to connect with peers and U.S. policymakers. He stresses investing in education as critical to empowering more female leaders in the future. (Huffington Post)
Experts roll out malaria map, urge mosquito study – Nearly 3 billion people – two-fifths of the world’s population – were at risk of contracting malaria in 2009 and closer study of the mosquito’s life cycle, including what occurs beyond the blood feeding processes, is needed to combat the disease, maintained researchers in two reports release Tuesday. (Tan Ee Lyn, Reuters)
New literary series views Africa through African eyes – Fourteen African writers have set out to document Africa’s diversity in a series of books and blogs partly inspired by the World Cup, with hopes of highlighting a continent often framed as a monolithic block blighted by conflict, hunger and corruption. (Yinka Ibukun, Washington Post)
Famine in Niger affects 12 million – Expensive imports and aid remain out of reach for 12 million people in Niger – 80 percent of the population – which is facing the worst food crisis in years. Aid organizations say that the immediate obstacle preventing them from meeting urgent food needs is a donor shortfall of more than $100 million. (Afua Hirsch, The Guardian)
Horn of Africa once again polio-free – The Horn of Africa is again polio-free, with Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda having reported no cases for more than a year, said UNICEF. The victory is attributed to a series of multi-country immunization campaigns, along with greater technical support and strong political engagement. (Peter Mutai, Xinhua News)
Make Maternal Health Priority, African Leaders Told – Speaking at last week’s African Union summit, the Deputy U.N. Secretary-General maintained that women and children are the “engines” driving future economic growth on the continent, and that leaders must making meeting the 2015 Millennium Development Goal deadline of improving child and maternal health a priority. (Abimbola Akosile, AllAfrica.com)
Kenyans to Vote on Controversial Constitution – Kenyans will vote on a controversial new constitution this week—the latest step by the nation’s leaders to bring political change to their country to quell tribal tensions. The U.S maintains a new constitution is central to this effort. (Sarah Childress, Wall Street Journal)
New focus on Sanitation in Burkina Faso – Burkina Faso has embarked on the construction of 55,000 latrines each year for the next five years to improve access to proper sanitation by more than 40 percent. The new initiative was spurred by findings that the current pace is insufficient to attain the Millennium Development Goal on sanitation in a context of rapid population growth. (Brahima Ouédraogo, IPS)
We must do better against malaria, says President – Following this week’s African Union summit, Tanzanian President, Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, asserts that leaders must do more to eliminate all preventable malaria deaths, starting with the goal of reaching universal mosquito-net coverage by the end of this year. (The Guardian)
New TB test must reach more people, says WHO – A new diagnostic tool that reduces to two hours the time needed to detect drug-resistant tuberculosis must be made available to populations vulnerable to the disease, a World Health Organization expert said. “These tools are very expensive, but the scale up should be carefully planned,” said one WHO adviser. (Reuters)
Millions awarded for TB and HIV/AIDS fight in Uganda – The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation has been awarded $38 million by USAID to provide integrated TB and HIV/AIDS services in the southwest region of Uganda. The new program seeks to support health service delivery at the district level to provide comprehensive services in the region.” (Rosebell Kagumire, The Independent)
African leaders must focus on maternal health – Ex-Irish president Mary Robinson urged African leaders to boost support for maternal health, during a visit to Sierra Leone where mortality rates are among the highest in the world. “If the African Union succeeds in fulfilling its commitment to maternal health, it will benefit the economies of countries to have healthy populations,” she said. (AFP)
Flower power in Kenya – Slate explores the burgeoning flower industry in Kenya’s Rift Valley, where ambitious plans of turning the country into a global powerhouse are blooming into reality. Though environmentalists may disagree with some of the growing methods, one farmer asserts, “We are branding ourselves as a flower-growing country.” (Alexis Okeowo, Slate)
Kenyan NGO Slums Information Development Resource Center (SIDAREC), recipient of the 2009 ONE Award, is working with the 50×15 Foundation and Architecture for Humanity to build a community resource center that will help end the cycle of poverty in the Mukuru slum settlement of Nairobi. Phase One of the project is nearing completion. Phase Two of construction, including the Internet technology center and radio station, is up next, though it may be held up due to a lack of funding.
The facility will give residents Internet access, computer and technology training, health clinic services, early childhood development programs, and a community theater. A radio station and recording studio will top out the construction project, beaming SIDAREC’s radio station 99.9 Ghetto FM to more than 650,000 local residents and countless listeners around the world.
The youth of Mukuru say the center is like a rain cloud, “One raindrop will not do much, but a number of raindrops falling down within a community is enough to allow seeds to grow into new plants.”
The center will address the needs of the young people living in the slums of Nairobi, where the AIDS/HIV pandemic is critical. According to the World Bank, only one in every two Kenyan youth is enrolled in secondary education, and one in ten adolescent females gives birth.
Local architects and contractors are heading up construction efforts. They have erected the building walls and community residents soon will be able to see the technology center take shape. Leaders from the sponsoring organizations are raising funds to complete the structure. They feel an added sense of urgency since a devastating fire burned down SIDAREC’s original center in Nairobi, which housed 99.9 Ghetto FM, a library, computer lab, health clinic and afterschool program. Thousands of children and youth were left without services or a safe place to gather.
The lead organizations are seeking sponsors to help fund completion of the structure. They hope DJs, musicians and other music professionals will take special interest in helping ‘raise the radio’ for the youth of Mukuru. To find out more visit ttp://openarchitecturenetwork.org/projects/sidarec.
-Barb Alvarado, Development Director, Architecture for Humanity
A few weeks ago, I got a chance to meet with Megan White, a social entrepreneur originally from Connecticut who now lives in Kenya, where she established ZanaAfrica, a terrific organization making a big difference for girls in the region. She’ll be checking in periodically to tell us about what she’s seeing on the ground through her great work in Africa:
What one thing in this world, being given, would make you feel the whole world loved you? What one thing in this world would be important enough for you to have to prostitute yourself to get if that was the only recourse? For girls in Kibera slum in Nairobi, and likely across the developing world, the answer is disarmingly simple: sanitary pads.
Over 150 million girls drop out of school every year across the globe; an untold number of these may be due in large part to the social injustice of the high cost of sanitary pads: the cost of 2 days of labor to buy one month’s supply. I can’t imagine this number of girls; however, I know Muthoni, who in 2008 sadly and resignedly stated, “When a boy approaches you [for sex] you cannot refuse because you need pads, you need them, you need them.” As her voice trailed off, and a tear trailed off my cheek, I knew I was on the right path for my life: solving this challenge by providing low-cost, eco-friendly sanitary pads for girls in school, and their mothers, in a way that celebrates the intellectual and environmental resources within Africa, and that can be rolled out across nations. Providing dignity, protecting dreams, promoting working solutions within Africa: what could be more worthwhile?
What’s so important about educating girls anyway? Why not tampons? What do girls use otherwise? What is so bad to the environment about sanitary pads? What solutions are out there? What’s it really like to live in Kenya? How can someone not in Kenya help to make difference? Find these answers and as you follow me here, on ONE, and see a window to another world. I hope as I share my journey it will help you take the right risks on yours.
About the author: Megan White, a social entrepreneur, was raised in Connecticut, attended Harvard College, and dabbled in internet start-ups before buying a one-way ticket to Nairobi in 2001. She has served in several grass-roots organizations across Kenya in various capacities. The result of living among and learning from Africans resulted in her founding ZanaAfrica, whose mission is to identify and scale up African-led innovations for national, sustainable, and replicable solutions to poverty. Learn more on www.zanaafrica.org.
