Scientific American: Archaeology Challenges the History of Development and Poverty in Africa – The “challenges of poverty in rural Ghana are tied to a long and rich history of economic development and globalization,” as illustrated by Edward Carr’s “Delivering Development: Globalization’s Shoreline and the Road to a Sustainable Future.” In the 1960s, the villages of Dominase and Ponkrum were prosperous, fertile and well-integrated into the regional economy. Yet by the end of the decade, the “tide of globalization would go out on these villages,” leaving residents poorer and vulnerable to economic and environmental change. (Edward Carr)
NPR: TEDTalks: Africa: The Next Chapter – TED explores the evolving views and misconceptions as well as the present and future of Africa with the help of individuals from outside and in the continent. Together, the three segments work to define Africa’s upcoming realities through understanding, education and foreign aid.
VOA: Clean Water Project Brings Hope to Zimbabwe Village – In one of the poorest regions in Zimbabwe, resident have gone without access to clean water since 1962, relying on dirty river water instead. Yet the United Nations Children’s Fund has source a $50 million grant from the British Department for International Development (DFID) to drill boreholes looking for water sources in the region that could provide access to clean water for the three million Zimbabweans who currently do without. (Sebastian Mhofu)
NYTimes: HIV in the Mountain Kingdom – In Lesotho, aptly named the mountain Kingdom, health centers “are often swarmed with patients, many of whom are unable to trek to the clinics in snow storms,” making the delivery of healthcare quite complex. In the small village of Bobete, a clinic run by Partners in Health treats HIV patients. In Lesotho, 23% of the population is HIV positive – the majority of them women of childbearing age. While antiretroviral drugs are free at this clinic, prevention is becoming increasingly important, especially in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission. (Jordan Schermerhorn)
Devex: Aid effectiveness working group meets to jumpstart new development partnership – A new international body that will “monitor and coordinate international aid efforts is starting to take shape in Paris” as the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation. The creation of the new partnership was one of the key agreements adopted at the Fourth High-level Conference on Aid Effectiveness in Busan this year. (Ivy Mungcal)
