The World Bank officially announced the creation of a more than $1 billion women’s economic empowerment facility — the brainchild of Ivanka Trump — at the G-20 Summit in Germany this weekend. Read more.
The German government has expanded the agenda of next month’s G-20 Summit to include development issues that go well beyond the usual subject matter when the world’s richest countries meet. Climate change, global health, partnerships with African countries and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will be up for discussion as Germany chairs the meeting in Hamburg. Read more.
It begins with furtive promises by Israeli authorities of asylum and work opportunities in Rwanda and Uganda. Once the Sudanese and Eritrean asylum-seekers reach the East African countries, they describe a remarkably similar ordeal: They meet someone who presents himself as a government agent at the airport, bypass immigration, move to a house or hotel that quickly feels like a prison, and are eventually pressured to leave the country. For the Eritreans, it is from Rwanda to Uganda. For Sudanese, it is from Uganda to South Sudan or Sudan. The process appears designed not just to discard unwanted refugees, but to shield the Israeli, Rwandan, and Ugandan governments from any political or legal accountability.
My year-long investigation into Israel's secret scheme to discard Eritrean and Sudanese asylum seekers. Read more.
Update: I spoke to PRI's The World program on July 5. Listen here.
A proposal to cut funding for the John E. Fogarty International Center from the upcoming United States federal government budget by President Donald Trump’s administration has prompted an outcry from academics and educators across Africa.
For decades Fogarty, part of the US National Institutes of Health, has been instrumental in developing medical teaching and research capacity on the African continent. And while its shuttering could have an outsized impact on Africa, academics say everyone – including Americans – would feel the impact of its closure. Read more.
Germany is used its G20 presidency to call on governments and business to boost private investment in Africa, during a two-day conference with leaders from the continent in Berlin this week. Read more.
Outbreaks of infectious diarrheal diseases in Yemen, Somalia, and Ethiopia are devastating communities already suffering from conflict, drought, and potential famine, global health officials have warned. Read more.
A proposal from Germany’s development ministry stands to rewrite the country’s — and possibly the G20’s — aid relationship with Africa. The so-called Marshall Plan with Africa would prioritize encouraging private investment on the continent, possibly while reducing or shifting official development assistance. Read more.
On May 12, officials declared an outbreak of Ebola virus disease in a remote area of the northern DR Congo. The WHO reported 37 cases of infection, including one confirmed and three probable deaths from EVD. The outbreak triggered a response involving more than 13 international agencies and could prompt the roll-out of an Ebola vaccine candidate, pending government approval of its use. Read more.
Working through the Global Fund Advocates Network, tuberculosis advocates are looking to strategically advance efforts to combat the disease and take advantage of several key international meetings over the coming 15 months. Read more.
Uganda has been celebrated for its progressive approach toward refugees. But its open-door policy is being tested by the ongoing flood of arrivals from neighboring South Sudan. Read more.
The World Health Organization's reclassification last month of progestogen-only injectable contraceptives has triggered a critical debate in the family planning community over how to manage the potential link between higher rates of HIV acquisition and one of the most popular birth control methods in many at-risk communities. Read more.
Leading Ugandan psychiatrist and advocate for health professionals. Born in Jinja, Uganda, on Oct 25, 1957, she died from colon cancer in Chennai, India, on Feb 4, 2017, aged 59 years. Read more.
Just over a year since the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank launched, civil society groups across Europe and Asia say their initial wariness toward the bank has deepened. CSOs are concerned about both the way the China-backed bank has rolled out key initial policies and what is actually included in those documents. Read more.
As the government revises guidelines for services to key populations, HIV prevention and treatment programming for MSM are put on hold. Read more.
It has been 15 years since South Africa introduced its first proposed quotas to encourage the mining industry to hire women. The quotas, which were included in the country’s draft mining charter, were a marked change in a country that once prevented women from even entering the industry.
Some elements are still missing, though — including the enforcement of sexual harassment policies, which researchers say continues to fuel inequalities and can put the lives of women working underground at risk. Read more.