IMF chief seeks fresh funds for poor countries – The head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, renewed a push to fully fund the $17 billion lending package for poor countries, the IMF’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust. Lagarde encouraged wealthy countries to reinvest their profits from the IMF’s sale of gold last year into the trust in order to “finance concessional loans for the low-income countries.” The decline in aid and foreign direct investment, rising oil prices, and “drops in both the quantity and price of exports” have had a very negative impact on many economies in Africa. (Reuters, Alexandra Alper)
Aid groups: Nearly $200 million still needed to fight hunger in Africa’s Sahel region – A coalition of aid agencies reported Monday that they need almost $250 million to provide proper assistance to people suffering from the growing hunger crisis in Africa’s Sahel region, which spans eight countries. The UN estimates that 1 million children will require lifesaving treatment for acute malnutrition in the region this year. (AP)
New Test for Malaria Could Make Diagnosis Faster, Simpler and Cheaper – A team of researchers have developed a new, low-cost instrument that could diagnose malaria patients and allow them to receive treatment more quickly. The current standard technique for diagnosing malaria requires special training and expensive equipment and can only be applied in hospitals. This new device, which will likely consist of a portable microscope and disposable microchips, could be used almost anywhere. (VOA, Naomi Seck)
Senate allocates $53B for foreign operations – A vote of 17-2 in the Senate Appropriations Committee closed the spending allocations for the 2013 state-foreign operations budget at $53.017 billion. The approved funding level is 3.1 percent below President Obama’s request. The U.S. Global Leadership Coalition predicts that the Senate’s allocation will be in “stark contrast” to the House’s, which is likely to approve a much lower budget. (Devex, Jenny Lei Ravelo)
