What We're Reading

Reuters: Drugmakers agree on landmark vaccines deal for poor
Reuters reports that several drug firms have agreed on a landmark deal to supply up to 200 million doses a year of cut-price pneumococcal vaccines to developing nations. The agreement is the first under a new scheme called an Advance Market Commitment (AMC), which provides a guaranteed market for vaccines supplied to poor nations but sets a maximum price that drug makers can expect to receive. According to Reuters, it is likely to pave the way for future deals on recently introduced vaccines against rotavirus and an experimental one against malaria, which combined kill millions in poor countries each year. Said the deputy chief executive officer for the GAVI Alliance (Global Alliance on Vaccines and Immunization) “It’s very exciting news because they are going to make long-term commitments.”

Huffington Post: The Other Health Care Debate
Director of Public Policy for the Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR), Chris Collins, argues that while the domestic healthcare debate continues to make headlines, there is a simultaneous struggle going on for increased funding for global health initiatives. In an effort to refute claims that the global AIDS epidemic has “received too large a share of attention in recent years,” the director emphasizes success stories, which point to the need for increased funding for effective international health programs. Said Collins, Congress “should make a down payment on the President’s plan by significantly increasing funding across global health accounts beyond the President’s budget request, and that includes increased investments in addressing the deadliest infectious diseases, like AIDS, where we have a track record of success and growing international need.”

The Washington Post: In Africa, a step backward on human rights (Op-Ed, Archbishop Desmond Tutu)
Archbishop Desmond Tutu argues that the recent violence and proposed legislative action against homosexual men and women in Africa are “terrible backward steps for human rights.” He emphasized that much like “his beloved continent” rose up against Apartheid, they must do the same to ensure that all people are given equal rights, no matter their sexual preferences. According to the Archbishop, many African gay men and women are being forced to live in hiding, which interferes with their access to essential HIV services. Said Tutu, “The wave of hate must stop. Politicians who profit from exploiting this hate, from fanning it, must not be tempted by this easy way to profit from fear and misunderstanding. And my fellow clerics, of all faiths, must stand up for the principles of universal dignity and fellowship. Exclusion is never the way forward on our shared paths to freedom and justice.”

Financial Times: Japan groups creep into Africa
The Financial Times reports that Japan is the latest country to make an “entry into the scramble for resources and economic influence in Africa,” with Japanese trading companies and manufacturers making slow moves into Africa as “they cautiously pursue some of the same goals as China, India and Brazil: capturing oil, minerals and new markets.” According to the Times, aid for agriculture and infrastructure projects has long been Japan’s defining presence in Africa. However, the Times highlights that aid is getting less emphasis than before as attention turns to the private sector and Japan is rethinking its strategy to become more competitive, including encouraging investment through loans from its state-controlled banks.

Politico: McCain ‘ONE’ with Africa
Politico highlights longtime philanthropist Cindy McCain’s public appearance on Capitol Hill Wednesday to attend a photo exhibit, hosted by ONE, of her recent trip to Africa. McCain traveled with ONE in January to learn more about the current state of women in Africa along with a number of prominent women, including actress Connie Britton and former White House press secretary Dana Perino. McCain has made frequent trips to Africa, but said she is always shocked to discover more hardship with each visit. Said McCain, “I’ve spent a lot of time in Africa, but it sent back home with me how much more there is to do. That sounds like an understatement. Every time you think you have a grasp on Africa, you don’t.” McCain added that “Without organizations like ONE, we’re going to lose a generation.”

The Hill: Gates warns Obama at risk of falling short on global health pledge
The Hill reports that global philanthropist, Bill Gates, warned that President Barack Obama is in danger of falling short on his pledge to double U.S. foreign aid to alleviate suffering around the globe. The philanthropist emphasized that if Congress did not approve of the president’s $9.6 billion for global health in his fiscal 2011 budget request, it would essentially sink Obama’s pledge to double foreign aid to promote health and development around the world. Gates, however, said global health is an issue he believes can still win bipartisan backing, despite stark political divisions over healthcare reform, the economy and climate-change legislation. Gates maintained that a failure to obtain a modest increase would send a strong signal affecting future funding increases for global health, saying “It makes it almost impossible to get there — not impossible, but almost — if you’re not on a path of increase.”

The Huffington Post: Something New Out of Africa: A Global Player (Op-Ed, Dominique Strauss-Kahn)
Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, recounts his recent trip to Africa, where he experienced a new sense of African energy and dynamism unlike ever before. And with World Cup fever just beginning to set in, Strauss-Kahn believes that the close to 10 million people expected to visit South Africa this summer will not only boost the country’s economy and image in the world, but allow South Africa to step out as a true “global player.” Despite continuing challenges, including tackling unemployment, reducing inequality and building a flexible, competitive economy, Strauss-Kahn believes that as a member of the G20, South Africa has come to be seen as much more of an emerging market, with the power to influence how global decisions are shaped. Said the Director, “This is a new role for Africa in the world — and a new way for Africa to be seen by the world.”

The Guardian: Half of all food sent to Somalia is stolen, says UN report
Up to half the food aid meant to feed hundreds of thousands of hungry people in Somalia is being stolen, according to a leaked UN Security Council report. The report, seen by the New York Times, says the food is being diverted to corrupt contractors, radical Islamic militants and local UN workers. It advises the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, to open an independent investigation into the organization’s World Food Program operations in Somalia. According to the Guardian, the losses are blamed on improper food distribution and the country’s war-ravaged infrastructure. A spokesman for the World Food Program, which is based in Rome, said it would not be commenting until it had studied the report.

Scientific American: TB or Not TB?: Novel Detector Could Shorten Testing Times, Aid Treatment Efforts
Scientific American reports that University of Colorado researchers have developed a device for use in the field that can identify both active tuberculosis infection and dormant microbes that could flare up into full-blown illness. This “field friendly” device relies on readily available and relatively low-cost components and can find the lethal pathogen in blood in just 20 minutes. A portable detector would greatly aid efforts to fight the infection in developing countries, particularly parts of Asia and Africa where as much as 40 percent of the population carries the microbe, says Robert Belknap, a physician and TB expert in Colorado. “If it works, it’s truly portable and doesn’t require special conditions, it would be a tremendous advance,” he added.

Mmegi Online (Botswana): IMF working on $100bn ‘green fund’ – Strauss-Kahn
Mmegi reports that The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is “working on the idea of a green fund” to raise $100-billion a year by 2020 to mitigate the impacts of climate change on developing economies. IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn pointed out that developing countries would require large-scale, long-term investments for climate change adaptation and mitigation. And while the IMF was not planning to manage the proposed green fund, it intended for this to make a significant contribution in the global debate and for consideration by the international community. Said Strauss-Kahn, “Africa has contributed little to the carbon emissions that endanger our planet, but Africa is already paying the price. Without action, Africa will suffer more from drought, flooding, food shortages, and disease-possibly provoking further instability and conflict. We must take urgent action.”

NY Times—Somalia Food Aid Bypasses Needy, U.N. Study Says
As much as half the food aid sent to Somalia is diverted from needy people to a web of corrupt contractors, radical Islamist militants and local United Nations staff members, according to a new U.N. Security Council report. The report, which has not yet been made public but was shown to The New York Times, outlines a host of problems so grave that it recommends that Secretary General Ban Ki-moon open an independent investigation into the World Food Program’s Somalia operations. It suggests that the program rebuild the food distribution system — which serves at least 2.5 million people and whose aid was worth about $485 million in 2009 — from scratch to break what it describes as a corrupt cartel of Somali distributors.

Washington Post—Bill Clinton and George W. Bush put together team to oversee Haiti aid fund
Former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush announced late Tuesday that they have appointed a six-member board of former Democratic and Republican senior government officials to oversee the humanitarian fund the presidents established in the aftermath of the Jan. 12 earthquake that devastated Haiti. Clinton and Bush have tapped Gary Edson, who served as Bush’s deputy national security adviser and helped establish the anti-poverty Millennium Challenge Corporation, as chief executive officer of the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.

Politico—Gateses to address House Democrats
Bill and Melinda Gates will speak to House Democrats on Wednesday about their Foundation’s work during the Democrats’ closed-door afternoon caucus meeting. Also today, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing on global health with Bill Gates, former President Bill Clinton, Rajiv Shah, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, and Eric Goosby, who coordinates U.S. government activities to combat HIV/AIDS globally.

The Economist– Wominnovation
The Economist looks at a new study by the International Centre for Research on Women, which details several innovations in the developing world that can empower women. The study’s authors examine eight inventions that they say have already helped women dramatically, including village mobile phones, microcredit and even scooters.

NY Times—Climate Goal Is Supported by China and India
China and India formally agreed Tuesday to join the international climate change agreement reached in December in Copenhagen, the last two major economies to sign up. The two countries, among the largest and fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, submitted letters to the United Nations agreeing to be included on a list of countries covered by the Copenhagen Accord, a three-page nonbinding statement reached at the end of the contentious and chaotic 10-day conference.

The New York Times: Shower of Aid Brings Flood of Progress
The New York Times spotlights the rural village of Sauri, Kenya, the first of what are now more than 80 Millennium Villages across Africa, a showcase project that was the dream child of Columbia University economist Jeffrey D. Sachs. According to the Times, Sachs’ intent was to show that tightly focused, technology-based and relatively straightforward programs on a number of fronts simultaneously — health care, education, job training — could rapidly lift people out of poverty. The paper maintains that Sachs’ theory seems to be working in Sauri, where a mix of programs focused on agriculture and health, including employing cutting-edge mobile technology to aid in the battle against malaria, is proving successful.

IPS: HAITI: U.S. Acts Quickly on Debt Relief Ahead of Preval Visit
IPS reports that with President Barack Obama preparing to host Haitian President Rene Preval Wednesday, Congress is moving quickly to show support for far-reaching debt relief and additional aid for the earthquake-stricken Caribbean nation. The Senate approved a resolution late last week urging the U.S. representative at major international lending institutions to push for the cancellation of all of Haiti’s outstanding multilateral debt – about 700 million dollars – or about two-thirds of the country’s total outstanding debt of some 1.2 billion dollars. Congresswoman Maxine Waters, who sponsored the House resolution, argued that “Extending complete debt cancellation to Haiti – as well as assistance in the form of grants – will give Haiti a strong chance to put the country on a sustained path to success. I commend my colleagues in the Senate for passing a debt cancellation bill, and look forward to the House acting this week.”

Voice of America: New HIV/AIDS Research Agenda to Better Respond to Women and Children
Voice of America reports that approximately 30 years since the start of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, a new strategy is being launched to better respond to the needs of women and children. The research agenda – called “Asking the Right Questions” – includes 20 specific recommendations to expand and improve care and treatment, with this particular population at the focus. The announcement coincides with Monday’s International Women’s Day and is a joint effort by the International AIDS Society (IAS), U.N. agencies, researchers and civil society. Said the IAS Executive Director, “We’re nearly three decades into the epidemic and we have the depressing news that AIDS is now the leading cause of death of women of reproductive age across the globe.”

IPS: Africa: Five Years to Children Born Free of HIV
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria launched a new report Monday, where they maintain that a world where all children are born free of HIV infection is possible in only five years if donors continue to fund global efforts to combat the virus. They also argue that TB transmission will be halved by 2015 and malaria will be eliminated as a public health problem by 2020 if it increases funding for its programs. “The Global Fund is about getting results. This report clearly shows the world’s investments are making a difference,” said Michel Sidibe, the executive director of the United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS. Sidebe also highlighted the importance of the fund’s replenishment, saying that “a withdrawal of funding on Global Fund-supported projects would be a universal nightmare, as it will mean removing the people who are already on HIV treatment due to lack of funding.”

The New York Times: Counting on Clicks to Finance the Battle Against AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis
The New York Times reports that several foundations and travel companies, in cooperation with the United Nations, are starting a campaign to allow travelers to donate $2 to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, every time they pay for a flight, a rental car or a hotel room. The campaign, called MassiveGood, is asking users of various travel Web sites to click a box to donate when they pay, an act which is estimated to raise $600 million to $1 billion a year within four years. Founded in 2006, Unitaid channels the funds it earns to other groups — including UNICEF, the William J. Clinton Foundation and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria — to pay for drugs for children with AIDS, drugs for adults with drug-resistant AIDS or tuberculosis, and mosquito nets to prevent malaria. The United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-Moon, and former President Bill Clinton last week announced the plan, which has been endorsed by several European governments.

The Guardian: Britain sends South Africa 42m condoms in HIV fight before World Cup
According to the Guardian, Britain is to give 42 million condoms to South Africa in response to a request for an extra billion as part of an HIV prevention drive before the World Cup. The request for British help in stockpiling sufficient condoms for the expected influx of thousands of soccer supporters in three months’ time was made during President Jacob Zuma’s recent visit to the UK to meet the Queen. The South African government estimates that up to half a million visitors could travel to the country, raising fears of a rise in prostitution and sex trafficking from neighboring countries and eastern Europe, and creating a potential HIV time bomb.

Wall Street Journal–IMF Director Praises Africa’s Fiscal Policies
Africa’s economic engines are emerging quickly from a global recession, powering better-than-expected growth for the bulk of the continent, the International Monetary Fund’s managing director said. Dominique Strauss-Kahn predicted growth for sub-Saharan Africa will hit 4.5% this year. The IMF attributed the improved forecast to the positive performance of South Africa and Nigeria, two of the continent’s biggest economies. Still, the sub-Saharan region is growing at slower rates than before the global slump, and the IMF fears that efforts to reduce poverty will be undermined. For the first time in a decade, per-capita incomes declined on average across the region in 2009.

Politico—Shaping a better future for women (op-ed by Dana Perino)
Dana Perino writes today in Politico about International Women’s Day, focusing on her recent trip to Ghana and Sierra Leone with ONE. She writes, “The hardest part of returning from Africa is pinpointing what I can do to help improve the lives of the women I met. I believe that, as an American woman, I can help bring opportunity to women in the developing world by spreading their stories and urging our country’s lawmakers to make smart investments — like those undertaken by the women in Ghana. From what I have seen, our aid money is being well-spent. They stretch every dollar, spending in innovative ways. That’s why I repeatedly return to Africa, and why I am participating in Women ONE2ONE with the ONE Campaign.”

Roll Call—Advocates Want to Cancel Haiti’s Loans
The Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call writes that ONE and other groups are pleading with Members of Congress and the Obama administration to quickly forget about nearly $1 billion in debt owed by earthquake-ravaged Haiti. The House Financial Services Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy last week cleared a proposal formally asking the Treasury Department to flex its substantial weight with the IMF and other lenders to cancel Haiti’s outstanding financial obligations and provide grants to help the nation rebuild. Tom Hart, ONE’s director of government relations, is quoted: “At this point, it is very difficult to tell when Haiti would be able economically to repay these old loans. But I do not believe it is difficult to tell whether Haiti should pay them back. Haiti plainly needs a fresh start, a chance to rebuild, and will need every dollar over many years to develop. Its current loans were made based on assumptions no longer relevant and intended for projects that are no longer viable.”

AFP—China defends growing links with Africa
China rejected foreign concerns over its growing energy links with Africa yesterday, saying it benefits African nations by bringing badly needed trade and infrastructure development. “I have noticed that in the international community there are some who do not want to see the development of Sino-African relations and always make an issue of China-Africa energy cooperation,” Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said. “The fact is that China’s oil imports from Africa account for only 13 percent of Africa’s total exports, while Europe and the United States account for more than 30 percent,” he told reporters.

Reuters—Global climate battle plays out in World Bank
The United States and Britain are threatening to withhold support for a $3.75 billion World Bank loan for a coal-fired plant in South Africa, expanding the battleground in the global debate over who should pay for clean energy. The opposition by the bank’s two largest members has raised eyebrows among those who note that the two advanced economies are allowing development of coal-powered plants in their own countries even as they raise concerns about those in poorer countries. While the loan is still likely to be approved on April 6 by the World Bank board, it has revealed the deep fissures between the world’s industrial powers and developing countries over tackling climate change.

Reuters—Haiti rebuilding plan expected this week
The first draft of a Haiti rebuilding plan is expected this week. A team of 150 Haitian government officials and 90 international experts are racing to submit a blueprint of the plan to the government by Friday, the World Bank said. The document will then be assessed at a meeting of international technical experts in the Dominican Republic on March 16 before a donor conference in New York on March 31.

Politico—Women and girls are key to security (op-ed by Ann Lewis and Susan Molinari)
Political veterans from opposite sides of the aisle, Ann Lewis and Susan Molinari, write today that investing in women and girls in the developing world is important to U.S. national security. They write, “There’s a connection between America’s security and smart, effective development. Encouraging education, economic opportunity and good governance helps to build a more secure and safer world. Investment in women and girls’ education and empowerment is increasingly recognized as a linchpin to advancing social, economic and political progress in most poor countries.”

AFP—Burden of AIDS hits Zimbabwe’s women hardest
A recent study by the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition looking at the living conditions for women with HIV in developing countries finds that women often suffer doubly, not only from the disease, but from abuse from their spouses and isolation by their communities. The study also finds that even efforts to prevent the spread of HIV can pose problems for women, who are often reluctant to tell anyone that they have the disease.

The New Statesman (UK): A weapon against half the world
In honor of International Women’s Day on March 8, co-founder of Justice for Women, Julie Bindel, calls for a global movement against sexual violence. According to Bindel, violence against women is an international epidemic and has been identified by the World Health Organization as a grave health issue, affecting more people than HIV and AIDS. Bindel highlights the connection between poverty and violence, including a new surge of sexual aggression in South Africa, arguing that the poorer the woman, the more vulnerable she is to exploitation and sexual violence. Said Bindel, “If a woman has to fight for clean water, she may be pressured to swap this for sexual favors. If there is no work in her town or village, she could be targeted by traffickers promising her a better life overseas.”

The New Times (Rwanda): Improving Sanitation Will Accelerate MDG Targets – Experts
The New Times reports that with only five years left to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) target, experts have urged regional countries to prioritize programs that aim at increasing access to safe water and sanitation if the goals are to be achieved. This was suggested during the on-going second East African sanitation conference that is taking place in Kampala, Uganda. According to the Regional Director of UNICEF, major goals such as reducing child mortality rates and eradicating global poverty rely heavily on improving sanitation among the population in the region. Said the Director, “Access to sanitation facilities is a right as it safeguards human health and dignity. Every 10 seconds a child dies as a result of sanitation-related diseases, therefore there is need to urgently accelerate efforts to achieve development goals.”

The Telegraph: Sierra Leone: learning curve
Telegraph journalist Chris Harvey highlights the work of World Vision, a charity which is helping children overcome poverty and ignorance in Sierra Leone after decades of corruption, exploitation and civil war have left their mark on the rural country. According to Harvey, World Vision has been restoring school buildings in an effort to rehabilitate the education system, helping to pay teachers’ salaries and sponsor others to take the distance learning qualifications due to the fact that approximate 90 percent of teachers in the area are unqualified. Funds have also just been procured for health work, such as the distribution of insecticide-treated mosquito nets to protect against malaria and to help reduce the astounding maternal-mortality rate of 2.1 percent, the highest of any country in the world.

Reuters: African poverty falling “faster than we thought”
Africans are getting wealthier more quickly than previously believed, according to a new study that also suggests the poorest continent’s riches are spreading beyond the narrow confines of its elite. The research, which assesses poverty levels and income distribution from 1970 to 2006, lends weight to a belief among local and foreign investors that Africa is finally beginning to build a new foundation on its own. The study also challenges the suggestion that strong African growth over the last decade or more has done little to alleviate grassroots poverty due to the countervailing effect of equally strong population expansion. Said the study researchers, “Africa is reducing poverty, and doing it much faster than we thought. The growth from the period 1995-2006, far from benefiting only the elites, has been sufficiently widely spread that both total African inequality and African within-country inequality actually declined over this period.”

The Associated Press: WHO: 85 million African children to get polio shot
The World Health Organization says more than 85 million children under five in west and central Africa will be vaccinated against polio in a new vaccination campaign funded largely by Rotary International. The agency says the massive campaign in 19 countries by U.N. agencies and the Red Cross will involve more than 400,000 volunteers and health workers. WHO says a 2008 polio outbreak in Nigeria spread throughout western Africa up to Mauritania, with previous vaccination programs failing to stop the outbreak.

The Guardian: Africa begins to make poverty history
The Guardian reports that as Africa prepares for the World Cup in June, it seems the image of an economically vibrant region the hosts are keen to project “is closer to the truth than tired stereotypes suggest.” In a new study released Wednesday, two US-based academics found that in the past decade, poverty rates fell rapidly and inequality declined across the continent. The researchers emphasized that Africa may even meet the Millennium Development Goal of halving the number of people living on $1 a day ahead of the 2015 deadline. Said the researchers, “Our results show that the conventional wisdom that Africa is not reducing poverty is wrong. In fact, since 1995, African poverty has been falling steadily. Moreover, contrary to the commonly held idea that African growth is largely based on natural resources and helps only the rich and well-connected, we show that a great deal of this growth has accrued to the poor.”

The Citizen (Tanzania): Shein: Help Africa cope with climate change
Tanzania’s The Citizen reports that the developed world has been urged to assist African countries cope with the emerging environmental challenges triggered by climate change, which is blamed for prolonged droughts and devastating floods. Vice President of Tanzania, Ali Mohamed Shein said Wednesday that the continent could not fully embrace the new practices and technologies to stave off climate-related disasters because of low technical capacity and limited resources. He further emphasized that Africa, the world’s poorest continent, was highly vulnerable to the impact of climate change, with agriculture – its economic backbone – having to contend with poor rains, floods, pests and diseases, leading to poor yields overall. He added that unpredictable weather patterns were largely to blame for food insecurity and heightened risks of famine for much of sub-Saharan Africa whose agricultural productivity had not been good even in the best of times.

Inter Press Service (IPS): U.N. Women’s Agency Remains Politically Paralyzed
According to IPS, a longstanding proposal for the creation of a special U.N. agency for women – officially called a “gender entity” – is apparently moving at a sluggish pace. The proposal – originally conceived by a high-level panel of U.N. experts back in 2006 – has remained a theoretical exercise for so long that a coalition of women activists is spoofing it in a fake electronic newspaper being circulated at a U.N meeting on gender empowerment here. The satirical newspaper’s editorial column says the paper “provides an example of news that women’s rights advocates from around the world have wanted to read for years.” The proposal for the new agency was part of a set of far-reaching reforms for “coherence and coordination” in the U.N. system in several fields, including economic development, humanitarian aid, gender empowerment and the environment.

Angola Press: Over 150,000 Mosquito Nets Distributed Under Malaria Program
The Angola Press reports that more than 150,000 insecticide-treated mosquito nets have been distributed since January by the Public Health Department and Control of Disease, as part of their newly invigorated anti-malaria program. Speaking in Angola’s capital Wednesday, department officials said that the majority of distributed nets have been given to pregnant women and mothers of children under the age of five. Anti-malaria tablets and vitamin A were also distributed with the nets. According to officials, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is providing support for the program, which is helping to reduce growing rates of malaria within the country.

BBC News: UN warns HIV/Aids leading cause of death in women
According to the UN program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), HIV has become the leading cause of death and disease among women of reproductive age worldwide, prompting the agency to launch a five-year action plan addressing the gender issues which put women at risk. One of the key issues, it says, is that up to 70 percent of women worldwide have been forced to have unprotected sex. In sub-Saharan Africa, 60 percent of those living with HIV are women; In Southern Africa, for example, young women are about three times more likely to be infected with HIV than young men of the same age. The program – which will include improving data collection and analysis of how the epidemic affects women, and ensuring the issue of violence against women is integrated into HIV prevention programs – will be rolled out in a number of African countries.

The New York Times: U.N. Is Faulted as Lacking Coordination of Aid and Security in Haiti
A new independent assessment released Tuesday found that humanitarian efforts by the United Nations in Haiti have lacked sufficient coordination with local organizations in delivering aid and establishing security. One consequence was a surge in the sexual abuse of women and girls living in camps for the displaced, with some young girls trading sex for shelter, said Emilie Parry, an aid consultant who helped write the evaluation. Ms. Parry maintained that closer work with Haitian organizations, as well as better knowledge about conditions, would help to enhance the ability of local groups to deal with problems long after international groups leave. The report also suggests a number of ways to improve the delivery of aid, including allowing more participation by Haitian organizations whose leaders are now living among as many as several million displaced earthquake victims.

BBC News: The health risks of a big carbon footprint
Dr Tony Waterston, Chair of the UK Advocacy Committee, Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health, explores the growing area of research which suggests that global warming poses health risks to populations in the developing world, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. BBC reports that the Lancet medical journal has had two special editions on the subject during the past year, which show that children, the most vulnerable in any community, are already dying in large numbers in poor countries as a result of a warming world. Women involved in agricultural work are also severely affected. Dr. Waterston highlights a WHO assessment of the burden of disease caused by climate change, which suggested that the modest warming that has occurred since the 1970s was already causing more than 140,000 excess deaths annually by 2004.

Vanguard (Nigeria): Sidibe highlights Nigeria’s role in combating HIV in Africa
Vanguard News reports that Nigeria and other African countries have been called upon to adopt the Universal Access approach in implementing strategies to manage the HIV/AIDS challenge. Executive Director of the United Nations Program on AIDS (UNAIDS), Mr. Michel Sidibe, stressed that Africa has what it takes to produce its first HIV free generation by 2015, but warned that African countries must “take ownership of its national HIV/AIDS response,” referencing the fact that 94 percent of its citizens receiving anti-retroviral drugs are being financed by donor countries. U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, Ambassador Eric Goosby, commended Nigeria’s efforts, saying “It is gratifying to hear that Nigeria has developed a robust, orchestrated response at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels…Despite the global economic meltdown we remain firmly committed to Nigeria ’s response to HIV/AIDS.”

Reuters: Malawi, Zambia set for big US infrastructure aid
Malawi and Zambia are set to win hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. infrastructure grants in the next two years due to steady improvements in the way they are run, U.S. aid officials said on Tuesday. Malawi and Zambia, both of which are democracies committed to opening their economies to trade and investment, were on track for promotion, allowing grants into the hundreds of millions of dollars, MCC officials said. The MCC was set up in 2004 with the goal of helping lift incomes in poor countries through infrastructure grants. Although the deals are government-to-government, work is carried out by private firms after an open tender process. The World Bank says Africa needs to invest more than $90 billion a year dragging its roads, railways and power grids into the 21st century. In November, China announced a $10 billion, three-year infrastructure investment and aid package.

GenomeWeb (New York): NSF, Gates Foundation Come Together to Fund Agricultural Research for the Developing World
GenomeWeb reports that the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have teamed up to fund research that will enable agricultural development, particularly in the developing world. This joint $48 million program, called BREAD, will fund upstream, agricultural research with a focus on synergistic — especially international — partnerships and innovative approaches. To understand what it is that small shareholder farmers need, be it flood or drought-tolerant crops or to increase a crop’s nutrient level, NSF and Gates are encouraging applicants to partner with researchers at local universities. According to one Gates official, the ultimate goal of the project is to have “food in tummies and money in pockets.”

The Chronicle of Philanthropy: Fund-Raising Efforts for Chile Off to Slow Start
The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports that donations are starting to trickle in to aid survivors of the massive earthquake in Chile—but at significantly lower levels than after the January 12 earthquake in Haiti. The slow pace of donations is largely because the government of Chile is in a better position to deal with the destruction than Haiti, said a spokeswoman from Oxfam America. As of Monday, Oxfam America had raised $3,499 for relief efforts in Chile, as opposed to the $2.9 million they raised in the same time period for Haiti. The fact that the Chilean quake happened over the weekend is also a factor in giving, according to a spokeswoman from World Vision U.S. She further explained that the government of Chile had requested assistance from the United Nations, but not from international humanitarian groups. Whether the country asks for such help will determine how aid groups will proceed in the coming weeks.

Reuters: Weak Doha trade deal would hurt WT0, U.S. says
Reuters reports that the United States on Monday defended its position in the eight-year-old Doha round of world trade talks, saying it could not agree to a weak deal because that would damage the World Trade Organization (WTO). According to the article, a number of WTO member countries accuse Washington of failing to engage in the talks and being too vague about what further concessions it needs from advanced developing countries to conclude a deal. The United States countered such criticism by calling for better offers from advanced developing countries in service sectors such as finance, information and communication technology, distribution, energy and express delivery in order to better define what market openings key emerging markets would make if the deal is passed.

The New York Times: For Pennies, a Disposable Toilet That Could Help Grow Crops
The New York Times reports that a Swedish entrepreneur is trying to market and sell a biodegradable plastic bag that acts as a single-use toilet for urban slums in the developing world. Once used, the bag can be knotted and buried, and a layer of urea crystals breaks down the waste into fertilizer, killing off disease-producing pathogens found in human waste. According to UN figures, an estimated 2.6 billion people in the developing world – about 40 percent of the earth’s population – do not have access to a toilet, which contributes to 1.5 million children worldwide who die yearly, largely because of poor sanitation and hygiene. The entrepreneur successfully tested the bags in Kenya and India and says he plans to mass produce the bag this summer, selling them for two to three pennies each, comparable to the price of a plastic bag.

Business Day (South Africa): Little Progress in Alleviating Poverty in SA
A new study found that South Africa has hardly made a dent in easing poverty at the poorest levels. The poorest group of adults shrank in terms of their earnings between 2007 and 2009, and while the more affluent did not appear to grow richer, the poor had a definitive drop in their income. According to the study, the figures highlight the difficulty of job creation. Those whose incomes are rising are the educated and skilled who find jobs in South Africa’s growing service industries. Said one study researcher, “The best hope is to encourage more private-sector investment, local and foreign, in those industries, develop them, and raise the skills and wages of their workers.”

The Wall Street Journal: Maximum Impact
In light of Bill Gates’ commitment to donate $10 billion over the next decade for vaccine development and distribution, The Wall Street Journal asked prominent philanthropists and charity executives – including African entrepreneur Mo Ibrahim and Dame Barbara Stocking, chief executive of Oxfam GB – how they would spend the large sum to achieve the biggest and longest-lasting impact on the world’s problems. The paper labels the interviewees “philanthrocapitalists,” leaders in the worlds of business and finance, who are looking to apply the same zeal to donating money as to making it, bringing with them concepts like due diligence, transparency and accountability—ideas that thrive on quantifiable data. According to the Journal, however, “traditional charities balk at the inferred superiority of market economics over human generosity and worry that profit-seeking might obscure the primary aims of philanthropy.”

The New York Times: Learning From the Sin of Sodom (Op-Ed, Nicholas Kristof)
Author Nicholas Kristof argues that while “save-the-worlders” have traditionally been Democrats and Liberals, the last decade has seen this divide dissolved, in ways that many Americans haven’t noticed or appreciated. According to Kristof, Evangelicals have become the new internationalists, pushing successfully for new American programs against AIDS and malaria, and “doing superb work on issues from human trafficking in India to mass rape in Congo.” The author argues that liberals tend to harbor a “snobbishness” attitude towards faith-based organization, which makes them not readily accepting of their emergence into the development field. Kristof concludes by saying, “If secular liberals can give up some of their snootiness, and if evangelicals can retire some of their sanctimony, then we all might succeed together in making greater progress against common enemies of humanity, like illiteracy, human trafficking and maternal mortality.”

The Telegraph: Somali insurgents ban WFP as four million go hungry
The Telegraph reports that Somali insurgents on Sunday barred the World Food Program from the famine and war-plagued Horn of Africa country, where the UN says four million people – half the population – needs emergency food aid. The Shebab movement, which controls most of central and southern Somalia, said food distributed by the UN agency had undermined local farmers and accused it of acting with a political agenda, alleging that its operations was disguised support for the weak UN-backed transitional government. The WFP Africa spokesman told reporters that the organization remained determined to help up to one million people who are in need of food aid in southern Somalia, “as long as it is safe for our staff to do so”.

University World News (UK): AFRICA: Diarrhoea vaccine reduces deaths, study finds
University World News reports that hopes in Africa of a decline in infant deaths from diarrhea have been raised by a study that found a 61.2 percent reduction in deaths among babies given the RotarixTM vaccine. The research results were cited as one of the reasons why the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have committed $10 billion over the next 10 years to vaccines. The research reported on a clinical trial involving nearly 5,000 infants from high mortality, low-income settings in South Africa and Malawi. Its aim was to examine the efficiency of the vaccine among infants during the first year of life. Said the clinical trial study author, “The priority is to ensure that children in Africa, who account for 40 percent of the 530,000 deaths that occur annually from rotavirus, gain access to this life-saving vaccine.”