Marissa Glauberman is a rising senior at the Elliot School of International Affairs at the George Washington University. She is majoring in International Politics with a concentration in Middle Eastern affairs. This past semester, Marissa studied human rights, NATO security, and international development at the American University of Paris. She has worked at the World Council of Peoples for the United Nations, the Save Darfur Coalition, and Planet Forward. This past summer, she traveled to Accra, Ghana where she volunteered at a police hospital and an orphanage.
Last week, I had the huge honor of hearing Robert Zoellick, president of the World Bank, speak at the Society for International Development (SID) World Conference. Mr. Zoellick’s speech, which kicked off a weekend of workshops and panel discussions with the NGO community, spoke directly to SID’s mission to reappraise and challenge the fundamentals behind development policy. ONE fellow and Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson moderated the conversation, and touched on issues such as poverty, food security and long-term development.
Franz Kafka once said, “All knowledge, the totality of all questions and all answers, is contained in the dog.” For any intellectually inclined animal lover, these words definitely ring true — especially for young South African photographer Daniel Naudé. Naudé takes striking, solemn and noble photographs of stray dogs in South Africa and other farm animals. Take a look:
As we learn more about the Horn of Africa crisis, it’s clear that world hunger is a much larger issue than most people realize. To help illustrate this notion, Benjamin D. Henning, a researcher at the University of Sheffield, used data from the Poverty Mapping Project at Columbia University to create this unsettling map of hungry children across the globe. Take a look:
The map illustrates the estimated total number of underweight children under the age of five living in that area. As you can see, the problem of undernourished children is just as pressing in South and Southeast Asia. Take a look at some of Benjamin’s other maps on his blog, Views of the World.
The growing famine in Somalia has already led to the deaths of tens of thousands of people and has put nearly 12 million lives at risk. Unfortunately, media coverage of this devastating crisis is limited, and it is difficult to discern the magnitude and geographic reach of this worsening famine.
Keeping track of key numbers in the HIV/AIDS epidemic can sometimes be a tricky task. That’s why this new infographic The Changing Face of AIDS from Good Magazine is incredibly useful in understanding the successes and ongoing challenges in the fights against HIV/AIDS.
Using information gathered from the Kaiser Family Foundation, UNAID, avert.org and The Economist, this chart provides readers with accurate and timely information about the current state of HIV/AIDS in the world.
A lot of the information is very encouraging. The annual growth of the virus is declining and AIDS related deaths have been falling since 2004. The infographic also includes information about US public perception about HIV/AIDS. You might be surprised to learn that in 1985, 31 percent of Americans believed HIV could be transmitted through touching a toilet seat. But the stats show that people are better educated today.
But don’t just take it from me; check out the infographic for yourself and get the inside scoop on the facts, stats and numbers that show the many successes in fighting this deadly disease.
As you know, our A-List series isn’t just about music, film, literature and fashion — it’s about the culinary arts, too. So, in honor of National Ice Cream Month, we’re highlighting a few of our favorite ice cream recipes from Africa. Some of them require an ice cream maker (or a bit of elbow grease if you don’t have one), and some of them don’t. Either way, the flavors all have a tropical twist to them and are sure to please.
Avocado ice cream: The University of Pennsylvania’s Africa Studies center has an online cookbook featuring desserts from all over Africa. One of them is a simple recipe for avocado-flavored ice cream. Fold in two cups of chopped avocados with a quart of softened pistachio ice cream and refreeze. A nice twist on a classic flavor.
L’Afrique: Another one from the University of Pennsylvania’s online cookbook. This Senegalese dessert is a dish of ice cream, blended with orange and chocolate and garnished with mandarin orange slices.
Papaya ice cream: The folks at Triple Motion, an ice cream blog, wanted to see if they could make ice cream from papayas — and found out that they certainly could — at a national park in Cederberg, South Africa. The recipe is outlined in detail on their blog. You’ll need an ice cream maker for this one (or you can use the freeze-and-beat method).
Lightly spiced guava ice cream: If you’re interested in creating a recipe from scratch and you happen to love guavas, then we’ve got the perfect flavor for you: cinnamon and anise-spiked guava ice cream. This recipe, which can be found on the Scrumptious South Africa blog, has received rave reviews for having an incredibly light, refreshing and fruity taste.
After you’ve tested out a few of these flavors, comment below and let us know what you think. Who knows, they might turn out to be your new favorite summer treat. If you have any other suggestions, share them in the comments below.
The image above is a very cool vintage album cover for a 1960s South African soul music compilation, “Ice Cream and Suckers.”
Poop. Yep, you read that right. Today’s blog post is about poop, a topic I’m pretty sure no one wants to discuss. But before I begin, take a look at this hilarious and informative video compiled by the Gates Foundation to get the conversation going about a not-so-appetizing, but very important issue.
Right now, some of the world's biggest oil companies are fighting to keep some of their deals with foreign governments secret. Let's tell big oil we won't be bullied.
Cuts to poverty-fighting programs won't balance the budget, but they will set back progress on Canada's development priorities and risk jeopardizing existing investments.
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.
