South Africa

CNN just posted this video from their “Inside Africa” series profiling Ntsiki Biyela, South Africa’s first black female winemaker. You can check it out below and check out CNN’s article for a little more background here.

CNN reports on President Zuma’s attempts to assist Zimbabwe’s unity government, which consists of a fragile power-sharing agreement:

During his three-day visit, Zuma will assess progress “with regards to the implementation of the power-sharing agreement,” according to his office.

Bitter political rivals President Robert Mugabe and opposition party leader Morgan Tsvangirai formed the unity government last February after a disputed presidential election. Tsvangirai became the country’s prime minister and Mugabe kept his seat as president.

Zuma took over from his predecessor, Thabo Mbeki, as facilitator of the fragile unity government deal. The pact was signed in September 2008 following spates of post-election violence, but problems have plagued the forced marriage between Mugabe and Tsvangirai.

Tsvangirai’s party, the Movement for Democratic Change has accused Mugabe’s Zanu-PF of failing to fully implement the deal. And Mugabe has threatened to end the unity government and reclaim power.

Though Mbeki managed to get the two parties to agree to govern jointly, he was accused of being a Mugabe sympathizer.

Before taking office, Zuma showed signs that he might take a tougher stance against the 86-year-old ruler. But critics say Zuma has not and have pointed to recent attempts to get Western leaders to withdraw sanctions against Mugabe and other members of his party.

A month ago I had the opportunity to travel across Ghana and Sierra Leone with Yvonne Chaka Chaka, South African musical legend and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. Despite her modesty, Yvonne would inevitably steal the show at every stop we made, bursting into song in schools, hospitals and factories at the request of our hosts.

Yet it wasn’t until last weekend that I witnessed the true power of Yvonne’s voice on the continent. To help celebrate her 25 years in the music industry, fellow South African musicians Lira and Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse joined Yvonne in Sun City, South Africa. Lira and Hotstix helped warm up the crowd, but it was Yvonne who convinced three First Ladies and a handful of Ministers up to dance on stage and captured the audience with films from her travels to meet women across the continent.

After keeping first ladies and ministers up all night dancing, the next morning Yvonne brought them around a table for a much different purpose: a consultation on integrated preventative strategies to meet Millennium Development Goals 4, 5, and 6, which target the reduction of child mortality, maternal mortality, and the spread of infectious diseases.

Integration might seem like a bland topic to follow-up a concert, but considering the occasion – the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day- the discussion was anything but boring. Women across the continent are perhaps the biggest beneficiaries of integrated, comprehensive approaches to healthcare. Here in DC and in African capitals, programming and funding for health is often compartmentalized into buckets like HIV/AIDS, child survival and malaria; but for women, interventions like clean water, vaccinations, skilled birth attendants and insecticide-treated bed nets are all part of a single package to keep them and their families healthy. Although I was one of the only observers from the Washington, D.C. advocacy community, this conversation felt especially timely given the administration’s commitment to both an integrated and women’s centered approach in the Global Health Initiative outlined last month.

The forum kicked off with three presentations on integrated strategies. First, Debrework Zewdie, Executive Director of the Global Fund, talked about the Fund’s success at promoting integration and supporting health systems in countries like Ethiopia and Malawi, as well as its current financing challenge. She was followed by Sophia Musaka Monaco of UNAIDS, who spoke of the remaining barriers to achieving universal access to HIV/AIDS, treatment, prevention and care and warned that through disease specific interventions we are “treating our people like programs.” Finally, Dr. Eric Lugada presented on a pilot program that CHF International launched in Kenya last year with the help of Yvonne and a firm called Vestergard Frandsen launched last year in a Kenyan community. To tackle the three interrelated challenges of HIV, malaria and diarrhea, the program used a community-based model to deliver CarePacks, which include bed nets, “Life Straw” water purifiers, condoms and educational materials. You can read about it here.

After the presentations, a lively discussion ensued on the impact of poverty and disease on women and what needs to happen to make real progress in healthcare across the continent. The spectrum of topics reflected the diversity of the participants, ranging from greater accountability and spending by African governments and to better incorporating men into women and family health programs, to greater financing for integrated approaches through demand-driven mechanisms like the Global Fund. A need to address women’s health and utilize their role as leaders in their community was central to all these strategies.

The meeting concluded with a commitment by Yvonne to bring everyone back together in August for a second “Leading African Women’s Forum,” and to continue to offer up her voice for not just AIDS or malaria or child health, but for an integrated approach to address the health of women and their families. Ideas and opinions on all these topics will continue in DC and other hubs across the globe, but it takes often someone like Yvonne- a true global health diva- to bring them together and extend them to the communities where they matter the most.

There are 100 days until the 2010 World Cup kicks off in South Africa. The AP has a nice write-up:

South Africans proudly declared themselves nearly ready Tuesday, 100 days before they host football’s World Cup.

Tournament organizers have been repeatedly and sometimes sharply questioned about whether a country with high rates of poverty and crime was capable of hosting football’s premier event.

At the 100-days ceremony in Durban, one of nine host cities, the mood was celebratory and determined. Elsewhere across the country, South Africans performed a dance based on football moves and sang the national anthem, stressing that hosting the tournament requires enthusiasm and national unity.

“As South Africans we have encountered a lot of skepticism but today, as we celebrate this milestone, we can confidently say to the world that we will be ready,” Danny Jordaan, head of the South African organizing committee, said in Durban.

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe said the “brick and mortar” work was finished, and now it was up to all South Africans to prepare to be good hosts.

It’s been 20 years since Nelson Mandela was released from prison. As the country gears up for the 2010 World Cup, NBC Nightly News interviewed some young South Africans about their future:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Meanwhile, CNN takes a look at South African President Jacob Zuma’s recent State of the Nation address (for which Nelson Mandela was in attendance) and the state of poverty and corruption in the region:

NBC ran this segment about Alicia Keys and the work she’s been doing in Africa and India with the “Keep a Child Alive” program. The program is “dedicated to providing life-saving anti-retroviral treatment, care and support services to children and families.”

Definitely worth checking out:

Later today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will land in South Africa (the second stop of her 11-day trip to Africa) and meet with leaders to discuss the issue of HIV/AIDS, an epidemic that has hit South African particularly hard.

Approximately 6 million people are currently living with HIV in South Africa—more than any other country in the world. Women make up the largest number of those infected, but rates are high for children, too (nearly 300,000 children are infected). Tuberculosis (TB)—the leading cause of death in South Africa—is responsible an estimated 13 deaths every hour.

South Africa’s response to HIV/AIDS began early in the pandemic: the first AIDS Advisory Group was formed in 1985. And while the government has occasionally been criticized for its response to the epidemic, the past five years have seen consistent increases in HIV/AIDS funding. By 2011, domestic financing is scheduled to reach nearly $1 billion a year, but concerns linger over what effects the current recession (the first in 17 years) will have on the upcoming health budget. Observers remain cautiously optimistic that the new health minister, Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi, will follow in the strong footsteps of former health minister Barbara Hogan.

Donor financed health initiatives have played an important role in South Africa’s efforts to provide HIV prevention, care, and treatment services to its people. The country is one of the 15 focus countries for the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), receiving nearly $600 million in 2008. Looking ahead, Eric Goosby, the new head of PEPFAR, said that focus countries should expect to see a greater emphasis on prevention, country partnerships and strengthening health systems.

Since 2002, South Africa has also received $228.6 from the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS and TB—and this aid, combined with that from PEPFAR and other donors, appears to be working, as the number of people living with HIV under the age of 20 has dropped. But as the global financial crisis threatens to overturn this progress, continued U.S. support for these programs is critical.

Stay tuned to the ONE blog for further updates on Secretary Clinton’s travels through Africa.

-Lisa Fleisher

The State Department has announced that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will “travel to Africa next week on a seven-nation tour aimed at highlighting the Obama administration’s commitment to the continent.” Clinton plans to visit 7 countries including Kenya, South Africa, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Liberia and Cape Verde.

You can read more details of the trip here. We’ll bring further news as it develops.

-Chris Scott

I read this story in Sunday’s New York Times on children fleeing Zimbabwe “for lives just as desolate” in South Africa, and wanted to share it here on the ONE Blog.

Below are some excerpts but you can read the full piece on their site.

With their nation in a prolonged sequence of crises, more unaccompanied children and women than ever are joining the rush of desperate Zimbabweans illegally crossing the frontier at the Limpopo River, according to the police, local officials and aid workers.

What they are escaping is a broken country where half the people are going hungry, most schools and hospitals are closed or dysfunctional and a cholera epidemic has taken a toll in the thousands. Yet they are arriving in a place where they are unwelcome and are resented as rivals for jobs. Last year, Zimbabweans were part of the quarry in a spate of mob attacks against foreigners….

South Africa’s national police force is exasperated by the crimes… most victims do not file complaints. After all, they are here illegally, unless remaining in the Showgrounds. “Last week, I had 1,500 ready for deportation,” he said.

The captain stood up, walking over to a computer screen. “We keep photos of the refugees killed near the border.”…

Mention of the children seemed to feed his exasperation. “Street kids, more all the time,” he said. “They come in as if they are playing in a game.”

He asked, “What do we do about these kids?”

-Virginia Simmons

By 2010, over 20 million children will have lost a parent to AIDS. The vast majority of these children live in developing countries, with eighty percent in sub-Saharan Africa alone. Less than one in ten of these children receive any form of external support. Without a safety net, these children are more likely to drop out of school, to be malnourished, to lose their homes, to face discrimination and abuse, and to contract HIV themselves.

The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR in short, offers hope to children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS. By providing key funding, PEPFAR enables its implementation partners to reach needy children and their families with life-saving treatment, prevention, and care.

Thanks to such support, Claire and her siblings in Rwanda are on the path to a brighter future. Claire’s parents died of AIDS when she was 17 years old, leaving her to care for her three younger siblings and two cousins. HIV positive herself, Claire was forced to rent their house for income and move her family into the backyard shed. In 2005, FXB International stepped in and provided the family with food, educational support, health care, HIV treatment, and grants to operate a small business. Today, Claire is a student at the Kigali Institute for Science and Technology, where she studies dietary therapy for people living with HIV. FXB continues to send her siblings and cousins to school, so that the children now enjoy a better chance of achieving their full potential.

In urban slums in South Africa, students like Nomthandazo are benefiting from HIV prevention and school support programs. In her early teens, Nomthandazo’s father passed away and her mother later died from AIDS. Although Nomthandazo’s aunt helped ensure that her basic needs (food shelter, medicine) were met, Nomthandazo had no one to teach her about sex, AIDS, and other sexually transmitted infections.

Fortunately, Nomthandazo’s teachers recognized her need for guidance and support. Nomthandazo was enrolled in an after-school program operated by FXB International. Through the program, Nomthandazo was able to learn important health and life skills including HIV/AIDS education and received counseling to help her cope with her grief and growing pains. She is now confident that she has the knowledge to make informed and safe choices in life.

Stories such as Claire’s and Nomthandazo’s demonstrate the need for HIV prevention, treatment, and care in resource-poor settings. Success stories like theirs can be repeated on a larger scale with full funding from Congress for PEPFAR, including orphans and vulnerable children programming.

-Kathleen Letchford, FXB USA

*Names and/or photos have been changed to protect privacy.