Last month, we launched “Vaccines and Voodoo in Benin, Africa,” an original documentary that reports on some of the unique partnerships that the medical officials and voodoo practitioners in Benin have made to help save lives through vaccines. But it looks like those who work on child health in the country will have a lot more work to do in the coming weeks.
Senator Marco Rubio took some time this week to answer a few letters from his constituents in Florida. One of the questions was about foreign aid — and surprisingly, it came from a 14-year-old boy named Will from Palm Bay. “I think it’s crazy that we’re spending all this money to help others when we are the ones who need help,” his letter said. “I’d like to see that money go toward us, the United States of America.”
Sen. Rubio told Will that we have to be more careful where we spend our foreign aid, but our perception of how much we actually spend is exaggerated, and is not the reason why we have growing debt in America. “If it’s done right, it can spread America’s influence around the world,” he said. I won’t tell you his whole answer, so listen to his response in the video below:
UN rights chief says China should have helped bring Sudan’s leader to justice – A top UN human rights official criticized China for failing to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir while on his visit to China, so that he can stand trial on war crimes charges for his part in the civil war in the Darfur region that killed more than 2 million people. China says it is not a member of the International Criminal Court and it is “reserving opinion,” while the UN says China still has a duty to enforce warrants issued by the court. (Associated Press)
China Vows More Sudan Investment – On a visit from Sudan’s President China pledged more investment in the country’s oil and gas reserves. China, which receives more than half of Sudan’s daily oil output, said an agreement was reached Wednesday, but the specifics are unclear. Critics say Chinese investment in Sudanese oil “has perpetuated decades of violence in the Darfur region.” (Brian Spegele and Jason Dean, Wall Street Journal)
Companies and organizations in the development community do some pretty cool things to grab people’s attention. They host flash mobs, hunger fasts, concerts, protests, marathons…you get the idea. But never have I seen a organization host a television-style video series to get the word out.
So, when I first heard of “Stove Man,” I thought it was a funny reality show — something along the lines of “Pregnant in Heels,” “Real Housewives” and “Kate Plus 8.” But actually, it’s a series of webisodes that follow two dudes from a company called the Paradigm Project as they travel the world to implement five million cook stoves in poor countries by 2020.
Sandra Joireman, a professor at Wheaton College, explains why property rights are important for African citizens.
If someone tries to take over part of the land I own in Chicago, I can get the government to remove them, because I have clear proof that I own the property and the government protects my right to the property. However, in many areas of sub-Saharan Africa, it isn’t so easy to protect your land, your house or anything you own. Although law exists to protect people’s property, the government is not strong enough to enforce those rights.
In Ghana, people can spend years involved in court fighting over their rights to homes and land. Because they want to avoid this, many hire “land guards” — armed thugs who prevent anyone from building or trespassing on their land. In Kenya, private security firms exist to protect property where the government does not. These are private responses to the fact that the government does not enforce property rights.
Michelle Obama’s goodwill tour of Africa came to a close on June 26th, but not without a bang. Tons of people are writing and reporting on the success of this trip!
Mrs. Obama ended her trip to South Africa with a trip to the District 6 Museum, lunch at the Cape Town kitchen, and a pretty unconventional meeting with Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
The First Lady and Desmond Tutu discussed HIV/AIDS prevention with Grassroot Soccer, an NGO that uses soccer to educate and mobilize communities against HIV. Instead of meeting indoors, they went out to the field and kicked a few balls. Take a look:
Karen Walrond, mom, photographer and author of “The Beauty of Different,” says that while she may not be a typical activist, she has the courage to remain positive.
A few weeks ago, the good people at ONE sent me an email, asking the following question: “What made you decide to become an activist?”
I’ll admit right now that when I read those words, I quite literally choked on my mug of tea. Me, an activist? I thought. Aren’t activists people who engage in loud protests, long marches and risk getting arrested, firehosed and tased? Trust me, as desperately as I might wish the opposite was the case, I’ve never considered myself that brave. Surely they had made some mistake.
ONE is campaigning to ensure that the Congressional budget does not cut foreign assistance programs like Feed the Future that help people break the cycle of poverty and hunger.
The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 60 years. More than 11 million people, mostly nomadic pastoralists and farmers in south-central Somalia, north-eastern Kenya, and south-eastern Ethiopia, are severely lacking access to food.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
As aid agencies warn more than 9 million people could be affected by a food crisis in East Africa, world leaders are failing to keep their 2009 promises to tackle the causes of chronic hunger and support farmers in the world's poorest countries.
