Africa
ONE is hitting the campaign trail to find out where candidates in New Hampshire, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Florida stand on extreme poverty. Stay tuned for more updates like these from our field team and organizers on the road.
On Friday night in Manchester, former American Idol contestant Ayla Brown performed at a downtown bar and restaurant for New Hampshire Senate candidate Jim Bender. I went to speak with Jim about ONE, see some good friends, and check out the Ayla concert, too!
As soon as I got there, I was greeted by none other than ONE’s marine, Michael Castaldo, who was there with his whole family — including Louis, who was sporting an old but hard-earned ONE shirt.
I spoke with Manchester GOP Chairman Cliff Hurst, who has been very supportive of ONE Sabbath and attended our ONE event in Manchester earlier this year. I also ran into ONE member Jason Bloxham, who was fresh off of his last engagement with Bender earlier this week.
Right before the event began, I was introduced to Jim and we spoke about ONE and our efforts to urge continued brave, bold, and bipartisan leadership in the fight against hunger and extreme poverty in Africa. Jim told me that he sees ONE members and volunteers all over New Hampshire and said that he was passed a ONE band the other day while he was campaigning. We had a brief and good conversation, and I hope that he gets even more ONE bands as things continue to heat up on the campaign trail here in New Hampshire.
I had a moment to talk with Ayla about ONE and mentioned how ONE has been featured on Idol Gives Back – this year it was Bill Gates who gave ONE a big shout out. Ayla instantly recognized ONE and even mentioned our sister group, (RED). I spoke with her about ONE’s recent victory in helping to fight corruption in Africa and asked her to thank Sen. Scott Brown for his support in this big victory that will help ensure transparency and good governance in the poorest countries in Africa.
Even though the dog days of August are ahead of us, ONE members everywhere are on the campaign trail to make sure that the United States’ efforts to fight global AIDS and malaria and extreme poverty are celebrated and accelerated.
In the past few years, conservative Republicans and progressive Democrats have come to together, and worked to help save over 5 million lives in Africa – showing to the world just how great American values and actions are. We hope that the next generation of US leaders makes sure that our US efforts are continued to help fight global disease and extreme poverty, and help stand with those who struggle each day to overcome extreme poverty and beat back corruption.
Be sure to connect with other ONE Vote 2010 New Hampshire members on Facebook and Twitter.
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)
In the wake of the G8 in Canada, during which wealthy nations gathered to discuss and pledge their commitments to maternal, newborn, and child health, African leaders met this week in Uganda for the 15th African Union Summit. Dr. Jotham Musinguzi, Africa regional director of Partners in Population & Development, gives us his take on the Summit’s discussions and how he sees momentum from the Summit carrying forward into this fall’s MDG Summit in New York City and beyond.
No more excuses. That was the main message coming out of Kampala this past week after the 15th African Union Summit brought African leaders and high-ranking ministers together under the auspices of “maternal, infant and child health and development in Africa.”
In a debate session that lasted more than twice the allotted time, African leaders discussed the critical role of maternal health in moving the African continent forward. Leaders also agreed to renew the Maputo Plan of Action (PDF), a critical framework that ensures the rights and health of women and girls on issues of education, safe abortion, family planning and economic opportunity. Having it signed, in place and ready to be actualized is absolutely imperative.
No more excuses — we must address maternal health and women’s rights issues in Africa. While there has been outstanding leadership on these issues from all over the continent, our maternal health indicators continue to dwindle at the utmost bottom, globally. The vastness of the African continent, coupled with the severity of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and the levels of poverty in many parts of our countries mean that the road to improving maternal health could not be harder.
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Lack of funding threatens future of HIV drug therapy in developing world – New concerns about the rising costs of antiretroviral therapy dominated last week’s International AIDS Conference, where estimates indicate that there is barely enough money to pay for people currently on treatment, let alone enough to start treatment for about 5 million more. (David Brown, Washington Post)
New HIV/AIDS bill makes saving lives a priority, says Senator – Senator Tom Coburn (OK) highlights new legislation introduced last week – The HIV/AIDS Save Lives First Act of 2010 – which renews our commitment to providing life-saving treatment to millions of AIDS patients. “In these difficult economic times every dollar not spent saving a life or preventing a new infection is a dollar misspent,” said Sen. Coburn. (The Huffington Post)
Women awarded agriculture grants to boost food security – Sixty female agricultural scientists from 10 African countries received fellowships this week from African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD), to help strengthen their research and leadership skills, and enhance their contributions to poverty alleviation and food security across the continent. (The Mail, Ghana)
U.N. assembly asserts water rights, some disagree – The U.N. General Assembly asserted a global right to water and sanitation in a resolution on Wednesday, but more than 40 countries abstained, saying no such right yet existed in international law. The clause called on states and international organizations to “scale up efforts” to provide drinking water and sanitation for all. (Patrick Worsnip, Reuters)
Putting women at forefront of AIDS fight is crucial – Foreign Policy fellow, Isobel Coleman, maintains that the increasing feminization of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa requires that preventative measures address the realities that drive unsafe behaviors, mainly the low status of women. (The Huffington Post)
As promised, here are some pictures taken at this year’s ONE Africa Award ceremony! As you may know, the award created to honour outstanding contributions by Africans towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Development Communications (DEVCOMS) Network, won this year for their excellent work with the media in Nigeria, training and sensitizing journalists and editors to public health care issues, especially for women and children. Directly below is a picture of Mr. Akin Jimoh (left) accepting the award from Mr. K.Y. Amoako on behalf of DEVCOMS.
Read more about the ONE Africa Award here!
More pictures below…
The United States has recently given $91 million in emergency food funds and $21 million in humanitarian aid to Ethiopia, one of the countries hardest hit by the food crisis.
From AllAfrica.com:
According to press statement from the US embassy in Addis Ababa , the donation was in response to Ethiopian government’s revised June 2008 Humanitarian Requirement Report.
This new donation coupled with last month’s announcement of $80 million in emergency assistance brings the total US assistance in response to the drought to [nearly] $200.
“The donations have come in response to continuing humanitarian needs in Ethiopia, where poor end erratic rainfall distribution, high food prices, ongoing conflict, arid limited humanitarian access have negatively impacted food, water, and pasture availability, resulting in increased malnutrition rates, food and water shortage, and heavy loss of livestock,” the statement said.
A majority of the funds will be divided between non-governmental organizations already performing on-the-ground relief work, such as UNICEF and the International Rescue Committee. Through their work, the funds are expected to help over 1 million people, including over 50,000 malnourished children.
-Betsy Avila
New statistics from the GSM Association reveal that cell phone usage is taking off across Africa. The GSMA reported that African cell operators added 70-million users in the past year (a growth rate of 33%) and expanded cell phone coverage by an area the size of France. Around 66% of Africa’s population is now reached by a mobile phone signal, up from 62% in 2007. Some African countries, such as Egypt, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, already have coverage rates well above 90%.
Cell technology has enabled poor African countries to bypass the messy infrastructure and expensive start-up costs of setting up fixed-line systems. As a result, wireless technology is reaching isolated rural areas where fixed lines were never able to penetrate: while the number of African cell phone users reached 282 million in 2008, there are still only 35 million fixed lines on the continent.
For Africa, these new connections have the potential to reap widespread development benefits. Where roads are bad, fixed lines nonexistent and email rare, cell phones are forging communications links that are vital to economic and social progress. Everyone from farmers to health ministers to market vendors is coming up with innovative ways to harness cell technology. In Kenya, for example, the Kenyan Agricultural Commodity Exchange (KACE) linked up with Safaricom, the country’s largest cell phone company, to help farmers access market prices over their phones. For about 20 cents, farmers can use text messaging to get current prices for goods at markets throughout Kenya, allowing them to reduce transaction costs and bypass middlemen, who often charge below-market rates.
Donors are getting the hint that cell phones can help overcome deficits in Africa’s health infrastructure. PEPFAR, for example, is working with African health ministries and the private sector to set up the Phones for Health program, a $10 million initiative that will allow health workers to use cell phones from the field to input health information to a central database. The program is modeled after TRACnet (http://www.pepfar.gov/pepfar/press/84654.htm), an impressive web-based system in Rwanda that collects and disseminates antiretroviral treatment program reporting, drug shortages and CD-4 tests across the country.
In the long term, coverage and usage must expand significantly if African countries are to realize the full economic potential of cell technology. Evidence indicates that high levels of cell phone usage can fuel economic growth and even attract foreign investment. One widely-cited study found that a developing country with an average of 10 more cell phones per 100 people has 0.59% higher GDP growth than an otherwise identical country. Seizing upon this opportunity will require prioritization by both the international community and African governments, who must continue to combat regulatory bottlenecks that constrain the competitiveness of cell operators across the continent.
-Nora Coghlan, ONE.org
