A new era in digital health →

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More than a decade of experimentation in digital health has seen the rise of a range of innovations that build on the promise that emerging technologies can dramatically improve health care, especially in low- and middle-income settings.

What has also emerged is a range of challenges, as innovators have wrestled with everything from building partnerships to reproducing successful programs in new settings. One of the biggest hurdles has been how to channel the lessons from the proliferation of projects that never grew beyond their pilot stage into scalable interventions. Read more.

Refugee women create economic opportunities →

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In 2008, when fighting broke out near her home in North Kivu province, in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo’s, Kathy Mbweki fled with her family to neighboring Uganda. Mbweki and her husband struggled to pay rent and to feed their five children in the capital, Kampala, and after two years decided to move to a refugee settlement in western Uganda.
They received a plot of land and made some money selling the produce they grew, but Mbweki said it was still a constant struggle to stay afloat -- especially because the children were constantly falling sick. So two years later they decided to try to make it in Kampala again -- except this time she had a plan.

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Israel's forgotten refugees: African asylum seekers trapped in limbo →

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Thousands of African asylum seekers have fled to Israel, only to be systemically ostracized by a government that has made it clear it wants nothing more than for them to leave. The situation is especially difficult for women, who sometimes experience abuse from their partners and their employers or have particular health concerns, but without access to vital social services. Read more.

Yellow fever continues to spread in Angola →

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Although an emergency meeting of health experts last month stopped short of calling the yellow fever outbreak in Angola a global public health emergency, humanitarian groups on the ground warn the epidemic is still far from over. Even as the number of newly reported cases declines, the disease continues to spread. If it reaches areas with low vaccination coverage, the outbreak could flare up again. Read more.

Protests and clashes likely just the start of political unrest in Kenya →

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Kenya’s national elections are more than a year away, but political tensions are already rising. Starting in late April, the main political opposition group began organizing a near-weekly protest against the commission charged with organizing the vote. It has accused the commission’s members of being in the pocket of President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is set to stand for a second term. The recent demonstrations have consistently been met with widespread police brutality; at least three protesters were killed during the latest incident late last month.

Following those deaths, Kenyatta’s government and the opposition have started negotiations, and future demonstrations have been temporarily suspended. Even if they reach a compromise on this issue, though, there is every reason to suspect it is only the first in what promises to be a year of political clashes. Whether those battles tip over into further physical violence is up to the country’s leaders. Read more.

Why South Sudan faces a critical drugs shortage →

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South Sudan’s health system faces a crisis nearly a year in the making. Health centers across the country are experiencing dangerous stock outs of the medicines needed to treat the most basic health problems. Beyond leaving patients without immediate medical care, it also means parts of the country are now unequipped to stem potential disease outbreaks. Read more.

Is social media the newest front in Uganda's war with the press? →

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The night before Uganda’s February 18 presidential vote, David Tumusiime went to bed with a firm plan in place for the next day’s coverage. The website editor for Uganda Radio Network, a syndicate of more than 20 correspondents spread across the East African country, Tumusiime had set up a WhatsApp group to collect video clips and audio reports from his team. Then he would use URN’s Facebook page and Twitter feed to share that information with the news organization’s thousands of followers.

But there was a hitch. When he woke up on Election Day, someone had turned off the country’s social media.

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