Tanzania
This photo essay is part of Morgana Wingard’s visual storytelling series, “Proofs.” Keep an eye out for more posts like these here on the ONE Blog.
In this energy project in Zanzibar, Tanzania, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is helping to stimulate economic growth on the island of Unguja by building a second submarine electric transmission cable from the mainland. The current line, which the country is entirely dependent on for their power, is reaching its limits in both capacity and lifespan. This project will double the power capacity of the island and provide reliable and non-polluting energy.
(more…)
On Friday I boarded a plane for a trip to Kenya and Tanzania.
Traveling to Africa with ONE is always exciting but this trip has a special twist to it. In order to start the year off on the in the right bipartisan spirit, ONE is taking four Republicans and four Democrats, all of whom have very strong ties to key leaders, decision-makers and potential presidential candidates within their parties with us.
Man this trip will be interesting and with this much political talent in the house the sky is the limit.
The participants include Dr. Whit Ayres (Republican pollster), Dave Beattie (Democratic pollster), Rich Galen (Republican strategist), Rob Jesmer (Executive Director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee), Anne Lewis (Democratic internet consultant), Jim Margolis (Democratic media consultant), J.B. Poersch (Former Executive Director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee), Alex Vogel (Former Chief Counsel to Sen. Frist and the NRSC).
This is part of a new effort on our part to show key political leaders how much has been accomplished in health and development in Africa – and the challenges that still exist
We will focus much of our trip on US-supported programs, specifically PEPFAR, PMI, GAVI, Global Fund and Feed the Future.
We will also spend time with young African leaders in Tanzania and young bloggers in Kenya. And, working with the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic institute (both DC-based and supported by the US Government), we will meet with a group of Kenyan women who are working to change the way government works in their country.
This is going to be an awesome trip and the post trip work that we need to work on together will be a game changer.
I know that when we return, ONE will have eight powerful new advocates for the continuation of programs critical to African development.
We all will be blogging and tweeting during the trip so be sure to check the ONE blog and follow me on Twitter.
What a way to start the year off. Republicans and Democrats working, learning and looking for solutions together.
Watch out!
See ya.
Mike
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)
The Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) is an African-led initiative to reduce poverty and improve food security. CAADP aims to help African countries reach a higher path of economic growth through agriculture-led development.
This ambitious and comprehensive vision for Africa was kicked-off with the “Maputo Declaration,” a commitment by all African countries to increase government spending on agriculture to 10% of their total budgets and reach an annual growth rate of 6% by 2015. As part of the process of reaching the goals of the Maputo Declaration, countries must go through consultation processes that include all stakeholders – civil society, farmers organizations, women’s groups, private sector companies – to come up with a national plan of action on agriculture. Tanzania has just completed its CAADP compact – a milestone on the path to achieving poverty reduction and food security for all Tanzanians.
AFP reports:
Four African countries on Friday signed a new treaty on the equitable sharing of the Nile waters despite strong opposition from Egypt and Sudan who have the lion’s share of the river waters.
Rwanda, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania signed the new framework while Kenya issued a support statement, an AFP correspondent reported.
Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo were not represented at the meeting in the Ugandan town of Entebbe.
“This agreement benefits all of us and harms none of us,” Ethiopia’s Water Resources Minister Asfaw Dingamo said. “I strongly believe all Nile Basin countries will sign the agreement.”
The upstream countries want to be able to implement irrigation and hydropower projects in consultation with Egypt and Sudan, but without Egypt being able to exercise the veto power it was given by a 1929 colonial-era treaty with Britain.
“We regret the intentional and announced absence of our dear brothers from Egypt and Sudan,” said Stanislas Kamanzi, Rwanda’s water and lands minister.
The new agreement, the Nile Basin Cooperative Framework, is to replace a 1959 accord between Egypt and Sudan that gives them control of more than 90 percent of the water flow.
Our friends at the ONE Germany office just returned from a very successful trip to Tanzania to study the progress being made in the fight against poverty. Carola Bieniek chronicles the trip in vivid detail (and great photos):
Last week ONE Germany organized our first ever Africa trip. We took actress Minh-Khai Phan-Thi, actress and singer Jana Pallaske and musician Rea Garvey to Tanzania. Despite all the differences between the 48 countries South of the Sahara we think that Tanzania can be considered as a good example for much of Africa: the economy has shown steady growth, which is in part due to good governance; child and maternal mortality have dropped; Tanzania has made enormous progress in primary school enrollment. Only a few days after the German general elections and before the new government has been formed we wanted to show our guests how important targeted and effective development assistance is.
We started out on Tuesday morning in Arusha at two local health centers. In Tanzania medical treatment for pregnant women and children under five is free. So we wanted to find out what this meant for the women. At the first clinic we were astonished by the sheer lack of things: there were almost no supplies and even the lab’s only equipment was an old German microscope. But we also met Agnes, a mother of two, who benefitted from the government’s efforts to eradicate deaths through malaria. The clinic informed her of the disease and handed her a voucher to replace the family’s old net. At the second clinic we saw hundreds of women waiting for pre-natal examinations, birth, vaccinations for their newborns, contraceptives or HIV meds. We came to chat with a couple of the women and Dr. Solomon Ole, the district’s Health Coordinator.
Asked what they’d need most we received different answers – a building to protect the women from the weather, an ambulance, an incinerator. And I somehow understood why it’s called development corporation: it takes a good government to set plans to defeat disease and unnecessary deaths but it also takes donors to fulfill their promises to realize these.
In the afternoon we took a tour of Tanzania Pharmaceutical Industries. The company ventures to break Tanzania’s dependence on foreign pharmaceutics. Together with the NGO action medeor they’re building a new plant to produce ARVs.
Day 2 was rather hectic: (more…)
Gabrielle Fitzgerald of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is on the ground in Tanzania with Dr. Margaret Chan, Mr. Ray Chambers, and Dr. Tachi Yamada. She reports back on their second day:
WHO Director-General Margaret Chan greets a mother and her child in the pediatric ward of the Bagamoyo District Clinic, where the Ifakara Health Institute is testing a promising new malaria vaccine.
A one-hour drive from Dar es Salaam, Bagamoyo, is home to stunning crystal-clear water and white sand beaches, and also much history. It was an ancient slave-trading center and the port of disembarkation for American journalist Henry Stanley as he set off to search for British explorer David Livingstone.
Today, Bagamayo is home to a cutting-edge facility, the Bagamoyo Research and Training Center of the Ifakara Health Institute. Salim Abdulla, the impressive doctor who founded the center, gave the delegation a tour of the campus, and described how their medical research is fully integrated in to the district health system – meaning local residents can participate in tests of new medications at their village hospital.
We visited the 16-bed pediatric ward, where we were surprised to see three empty beds. Dr. Abdulla told us that 57% of the homes in the area own nets, and they have seen a decrease in the numbers of children coming to the hospital with malaria.
One of the most exciting activities currently underway at Bagamoyo is a trial of a new malaria vaccine for young children through a partnership of the Malaria Vaccine Initiative, GlaxoSmithKline and the Ifakara Health Institute. Bagamoyo is one of 11 sites across Africa where the vaccine is being tested. The first child was immunized in May, and the trial will eventually enroll 800 children to test this promising new vaccine. Early data shows that it will protect at least 60% of the vaccinated children from malaria.
Learn more about the RTS,S vaccine here.
Learn more about malaria in Tanzania here.
-Gabrielle Fitzgerald
