The World Bank: A ‘global leader’ in maternal health? – A closer look into World Bank investments in maternal and child health shows that the bank spent only $96 million on maternal health projects in 2011, which represents a mere 0.2% of the bank’s overall budget for that year. The majority of the aid was “provided as loans instead of grants, mostly to already indebted sub-Saharan African countries.” In order to be a global leader in this field, the World Bank needs to reevaluate its priority countries and provide more aid as grants. (Devex, Ivy Mungcal)
Girls at risk: Starting a revolution for teenage mothers – Sierra Leone and Liberia have “some of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, with 15-24 year olds accounting for 40% of such deaths.” Many aid agencies are calling for improved signage for “sexual and reproductive health services, for girls-only spaces, for health education and promotion programs to counter myths and misinformation, for confidence and self-esteem building initiatives, and for vocational training to foster economic independence.” (CNN, Seri Wendoh)
A Priceless Investment: Protecting and Empowering Adolescent Refugee Girls – There is increasing evidence that “investing in girls is a positive ‘force multiplier’ effect for their families and for their communities,” as educated young women can be “uniquely powerful agents for stability, prosperity and peace.” Young women displaced by conflict are especially vulnerable, and programs like the one launched by the Women’s Refugee Commission are aimed at providing a “strong framework for more equitable integration of the needs of adolescent girls . . . into all U.S. humanitarian and development work.” (Huffington Post, Sarah Costa and Samuel Witten)
Congress should strengthen US role as world leader in providing food aid to famine victims – While we cannot control the droughts and poor harvests plaguing the Sahel region in West Africa, we can urge “Congress to protect food aid funding and to pass a farm bill that improves the nutritional quality of food aid and reduces costs and inefficiencies.” Food aid programs should follow in the footsteps of Feed the Future, and focus on improving nutrition for the most vulnerable groups, pregnant women, new mothers, and children under the age of 2, to “achieve the strongest possible nutrition and development outcomes with the limited resources available.” (The Hill, Rev. David Beckmann)
