What We’re Reading
MSF Alarmed Over Plans to Cut US AIDS Program – Medical aid organization Doctors Without Borders expressed concern that proposed budget cuts to a U.S. program for HIV treatment threatens the progress being made against the pandemic in Africa. While President Obama “has pledged to expand PEPFAR to include more people, his budget proposal for the fiscal year 2013 cuts more than a half-billion dollars from the program.” PEPFAR senior advisor Tom Walsh emphasized that “PEPFAR has made dramatic gains in efficiency, and that the budget requested for 2013 is the amount needed.” (VOA, Gabe Joselow)
Opinion: Biotech Can Safeguard Africa’s Breadbasket – While the population on the African continent continues to grow, the “average yield of grain crops [in Africa] hasn’t increased since the 1960s. African nations should “embrace agricultural biotechnology and also make sure farmers have ready access to fertilizer” in order to safeguard against crop failures and pest outbreaks. African farmers have the opportunity to reduce waste and increase trade opportunities by relying on better science. (WSJ, Gilbert Arap Bor)
Crisis Warning on North Africa – Northern Africa’s Sahel region risks being plunged into a dramatic humanitarian crisis unless aid for those affected by drought, conflict and poverty is increased immediately, UN officials warned Tuesday. The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Margaret Chan, explained that “droughts in 2005 and 2010 meant many of the 15 million people affected in the impoverished region have already sold off their reserves to survive.” (AP)
Malawi’s New President Faces Obstacles to Improving Women’s Rights – Previously a women’s rights advocate, Malawi’s President Joyce Banda has been sworn in “at a time when . . . there are . . . very conservative forces that work against advancing rights for women.” Increasing privatization in the nation has eliminated government subsidies for social services that focused on helping women, “such as improving access to healthcare, housing and water.” Malawi’s women “need an advocate for their access to low-cost, high-quality HIV medications,” as nearly 60 percent of adults living with AIDS in Malawi are women. (VOA, Ricci Shryock)
UN agencies warn of ‘dramatic’ crisis brewing in Africa’s Sahel region – UN officials warned Tuesday that “Northern Africa’s Sahel region risks being plunged into a dramatic humanitarian crisis unless aid for those affected by drought, conflict and poverty is scaled up soon.” UNICEF reports that “at least 1 million – and possibly up to 1.5 million – children in the region face acute, severe malnutrition, putting them at risk of death from starvation or disease.” (AP)
Instability continues to cost Mali in aid – A growing number of donors and aid agencies, including Switzerland and World Vision, are suspending development activities in Mali, “pending the resolution of the political and security crisis there.” Earlier this week, ECOWAS lifted their sanctions on Mali, which Oxfam warned could “potentially lead to a triple food, security and political crisis. (Devex, Ivy Mungcal)
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New alliance to help weather food insecurity in the Horn – At the Intergovernmental Authority on Development conference in Nairobi, Kenya last week, USAID partnered with other development organizations to form The Global Alliance for Action for Drought, Resilience and Growth. The Alliance aims to “reduce food insecurity, build new partnerships with the private sector and spur economic activity in the Horn of Africa.” Donors at the conference pledged over $4 billion to the new initiative. (Devex, Jenny Lei Ravelo)
South Sudan HIV Treatment Hurt by Lack of Money – In South Sudan, “tens of thousands of HIV/AIDS patients are eligible to start anti-retroviral therapy,” but the country’s primary source of funding for the drugs – the Global Fund – suspended its latest round of grants. As a result, South Sudan has been forced to “stop enrolling new patients in anti-retroviral programs.” At present, UNAIDS reports than 49,000 people qualify for anti-retroviral treatment, but less than 4,000 are currently enrolled. (VOA, Andrew Green)
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World food prices just keep rising – The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization reported that global food prices rose in March for a third straight month, “adding to fears of hunger and a new wave of social unrest in poor countries.” A spokeswoman for the UN’s World Food Programme explained that “prices are a big concern and have remained a large reason why people are food insecure,” as “higher food prices mean higher import bills for the poorest countries, which do not produce enough food domestically.” (Reuters, Svetlana Kovalyova and Veronica Brown)
US Gives New AID to Horn After Poor Rains Predicted – The US government reported Thursday that it would “provide almost $50 million in additional aid to refugees and drought-affected communities in Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya.” This announcement comes two days after the Famine Early Warning System Network projected that March-to-May rains in the region will be 15 to 40 percent below average. (VOA)
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The Crisis in Europe took a Big Bite out of Foreign Aid – A new report from the OECD shows that “among wealthy countries, foreign assistance dropped 2.7 percent in 2011.” Among countries “plagued by debt woes, only Italy managed to become more generous to the rest of the world, boosting aid by 33 percent.” Even though the US provides more development assistance than any other country,” when “you look at aid as a percentage of ‘gross national income,’ the most generous countries in the world are still Sweden, Norway, Luxembourg, Denmark and the Netherlands.” (Washington Post, Brad Plumer)
Drought affecting millions in Africa’s Sahel – Across the Sahel region of Northern Africa, rising food prices, crop failures and drought have left more than 10 million people in danger of starving to death and 1 million children at risk of malnutrition. UNICEF has launched the #SahelNOW campaign in hopes of raising $120 million to treat and feed the region’s children. At present, the organization has only $30 million on hand. (CNN, David McKenzie)
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After Ten Years of Peace, “Angola’s Future is Dark” – Angola celebrates 10 years of peace on April 4th, yet “experts fear that parliamentary elections later this year could return the country to violence and instability.” Despite economic growth, only a small, elite group of the population has benefited, while two-thirds of Angolans still live on less than two dollars a day. Angola has one of Africa’s fastest growing economies, though there have been countless setbacks in democracy, human rights, and social development in the country over the past ten years. (IPS, Kristin Palitza)
Gates gives $12mn grant to boost yam production – The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gave a $12 million grant to a “project aimed at boosting yam production and doubling the income of West African farmers of the crop.” The project’s initial focus will be on 200,000 smallholder family farms in Ghana and Nigeria, where yams are the most important source of dietary calories. While most of these farmers currently “cultivate yams mainly for household consumption,” increasing “yields, while also improving marketing conditions,” will provide the farmers with a steady income as well. (AFP)
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UNICEF aims to raise awareness of children at risk in Africa’s Sahel region – The United Nations Children’s Fund launched a worldwide social media campaign on Tuesday in an effort to “raise awareness about children in the Sahel region in northern Africa who are in urgent need of food aid.” The campaign, #SahelNOW, asks users to spread word of the crisis though social media to raise the $120 million needed to save the lives of the 1 million children in danger. (CNN)
Angola’s booming postwar economy leaves many behind – In the ten years since the end of Angola’s three-decade civil war, “which killed and displaced millions, [and] destroyed nearly all infrastructure,” the country has had an impressive post-war recovery, “as billions of dollars have been poured into repairing roads, railways and airports, and building new schools, hospitals and universities.” Despite these gains, the majority of Angolans still live in extreme poverty, with no access to clean water, as 20% of children die before the age of 5. (AFP, Louise Redvers)
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