By MediaGlobal
OUTSIDE INVESTMENT REQUIRED FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH IN THE DRC, SAYS SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE
15 April 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: After years of conflict, outside investment is crucial to the economic revitalization of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Alan Doss, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for the DRC, told reporters at UN Headquarters on Tuesday. “Clearly the Congo will not be developed on the basis of state revenues alone,” Doss told MediaGlobal. “It does require an active, responsible private sector.” Foreign governments and businesses, keen on developing the DRC’s natural resources, increasingly fund its private sector, and high value reserves of copper, cobalt and other minerals have attracted considerable investment from China. This week a $9 billion deal was announced, China’s largest-ever investment in Africa, according to the BBC. China will build thousands of miles of roads and railways, as well as hospitals, health centers and universities, in exchange for a large share in the DRC’s mineral wealth. While critics have said the agreement lacks transparency and may benefit the Chinese more that their Congolese counterparts, Doss underscored the need to encourage outside investment, so long as basic standards are met. “Investment makes sense if it produces a reasonable rate of return for the investor, but also takes account of national interests,” he said, adding that national governments must walk the line between encouraging private sector growth and ensuring that it’s benefits are shared – an often difficult balance between deregulation and taxation. “If that national interest is met, whether it’s China or private sector investment, then it’s to be welcomed,” he said.
“BRAIN DRAIN” A CONTINUING PROBLEM FOR HEALTH SECTORS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
15 April 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The notion of “brain drain,” or the movement of skilled workers from developing nations to the developed world, needs to be further assessed, according to a study released this week by the World Institute for Development Economic Research of the United Nations University (UNU-WIDER). The study found that while many skilled workers in developing nations continue to leave their home countries to seek opportunities elsewhere, increasingly they are returning to their countries, bringing with them fresh capital, contacts and knowledge, often resulting in a positive impact on the economy. Thus, says Andres Solimano, Regional Advisor at the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, and Director of the WIDER research project, and editor of the study, in sectors such as industry and technology, instead of the traditional “brain drain” we are seeing a new phenomenon – “brain circulation.” But, he cautioned, so-called brain drain remains an important concern in one sector in particular: health care. “We are seeing a paradox -circulation in some areas, and continued brain drain in others,” Solimano told MediaGlobal. “In many developing nations, at the same time as you have a flourishing private sector because of economic liberalization, you have an atrophying private health system, [and] especially public health system.” So while economic opportunities in sectors such as industry in developing countries are rapidly expanding, there remains a vast divide between opportunities for health care workers in developed versus developing nations. Many developed countries are implementing new policies to try and minimize the brain drain effect. In countries such as the UK, Canada and Australia, a practice known as ‘ethical recruitment’ is gaining recognition, where hospitals won’t hire physicians or nurses from countries like Somalia or Ghana, which have very low income per capita or very poor social indicators. Other countries give money to medical schools in the developing world to help train more health workers there. Now, Solimano said, developing countries are beginning to take action as well. “Developing countries are realizing that they need to invest more in public health. With the current high commodity prices, many countries in places like Africa are going to have higher revenues, and they’re starting to put proportionally more [funding] into health,” he said.
WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME LOOKS TO IMPROVED FARMING TO LESSEN ETHIOPIA’S FOOD CRISIS
16 April 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The rise in global food prices has had effected the world’s poorest people most. But in countries such as Ethiopia, where drought at home has compounded food shortages abroad, improved farming methods and technologies could help stave off hunger. “Regional agricultural development, including increased output by farmers using improved technology, seeds and fertilizers, could lessen the impact of rising global food prices,” Paulette Jones, of the World Food Programme’s office in Ethiopia, told MediaGlobal. If they could increase crop yields, the rising price of imported food could ultimately be to the advantage of Ethiopian farmers, she said. “WFP believes that there may be an opportunity for small-holder farmers in the developing world to benefit from rising food prices, by producing more to meet the increased demand.” In order to do this, farmers will need to adapt to a changing climate, growing crops that require less water and can withstand extreme weather. But new crops bring new challenges, and local tastes, growing conditions and land availability must be carefully considered. Still, a revitalization of the region’s agricultural industry cannot come fast enough. Early summer rains are expected to fail, bringing massive food insecurity to Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya in the coming months. Up to 14 million people are expected to go hungry and many are already facing food shortages.
INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICAL CONGLOMERATE LAUNCHES INITIATIVE TO SUPPORT HEALTH CARE IN DEVELOPING NATIONS
16 April 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) today launched Global Health Progress, an initiative to bring research-based biopharmaceutical companies, global health leaders and policymakers together to build on current partnerships to improve health in the developing world. “What we’re looking to do with this new initiative is to re-enforce a whole range of partnerships, with industries already involved in health care in developing nations,” Guy Willis, Director of Communications for the IFPMA told MediaGlobal. “Many developing nations, which includes all of sub-Saharan Africa, spend very little money on health care, and they spend even less on medicines.” While many of the medicines needed to treat the most common diseases affecting people in the developing world are off-patent and available in low-cost generic form, the development of new medicines for emerging illnesses remains a costly venture for pharmaceutical companies. “For neglected tropical diseases, and even for diseases like malaria, there’s an understanding within the pharmaceutical community that they’re not going to make money on these – that everything, the R&D, is all going to be not-for-profit,” Willis told MediaGlobal. “But even so, you’re still going to need major external donor funding. The research work has got to be done, and that’s time consuming and expensive, and you can’t cut corners on that. The lab time, the scientists’ time, that’s all got to be paid for,” he said. And low-cost medicines alone, Willis emphasized, are not going to be enough unless they are supported by effective delivery and higher quality overall health care. “That’s why we emphasize partnerships, and part of those partnerships has got to be government involvement,” he said.
HEALTH CARE FAILS TO REACH WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN HIGH MORTALITY COUNTRIES
16 April 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Few of the 68 developing countries that account for 97 percent of maternal and child deaths worldwide are making adequate progress to provide critical health care needed to save the lives of women, infants and children, according to the 2008 report ‘Tracking Progress in Maternal, Newborn & Child Survival,’ released today. “Over 10 million women and children still die each year from causes which are largely preventable and treatable. The majority of maternal and child deaths occur in Africa and South Asia, with sub-Saharan Africa increasingly bearing the global burden of mortality,” said a statement released by the UN agencies which collaborated on the report. The publication identified a series of missed opportunities that could have saved lives. According to the released statement, under-nutrition is the underlying cause of 3.5 million child deaths annually, and as many as 20 percent of maternal deaths. Despite these dismal numbers, there is progress being made in some parts of the world as people become more aware of the problem. “Increased immunization has significantly reduced the number of children who die due to measles,” Marie Agnes Heine of the World Health Organization (WHO) told MediaGlobal. “Better access to and availability of antenatal care has also saved many children’s lives.”
LIBERIANS URGED TO SHUN UNDER-AGE FORCED MARRIAGES AS THE “STOP RAPE” CAMPAIGN STEPS UP
16 April 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The nationwide “Stop Rape” campaign in Liberia has been extended to northern Lofa County, urging parents to shun the harmful practice of forced marriages involving minors. “Equality cannot be achieved if our young women, who constitute a significant portion of our society, continue to be abused and their rights violated,” Deputy Minister for Information, Gabriel Williams, told an audience gathered at the campaign launch in Lofa County. The campaign aims to increase awareness of rape and teaches people that the practice of under-age forced marriage is criminal. “The practice of forced marriages involving minors or under-age girls is a harmful practice rooted in tradition,” the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) Spokesman Ben Dotsei Malor told MediaGlobal. “It’s more prevalent in certain parts of the country than in others. In cities and larger towns it is less prevalent. But in some rural areas it could be quite common.” Where such cases are known, the government, in collaboration with the UN and the Association of Female Lawyers, do intervene. Such cases are treated as statutory rape and the parents are also taken to court, Malor added. “Do not compromise on the matters of rape; too much compromising is being done,” Assistant Gender and Development Minister, Patricia Kamara, told attendees at the launch. “You must speak out against early marriage so that our girl-children can remain in school.”
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN REMAINS A MATTER OF CONCERN GLOBALLY
20 April 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: April marks the fourteenth anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, which began in 1994. Roughly 800,000 people perished, and concerns remain over the violence women suffered during the period, when sexual crimes were committed by the hundreds of thousands. These crimes also identified a broader problem of violence against women – something that occurs in every nation. “Violence against women threatens the lives of more young women than cancer, malaria or war,” said Annie Lennox, a British singer. Nanette Braun, UNIFEM Communications Specialist, told MediaGlobal, “Violence is literally an issue that transcends borders, religion, race [and] gender.” One in three women around the world is subjected to violence. When asked why this is such a problem, Braun explained that one cause is unequal power dynamics. “If you boil it down, it’s about gender equality,” she said. UNIFEM is sponsoring a mini-series, broadcast on BBC World, called ‘Women of the Frontline,’ that reveals the lack of awareness of gender-based violence. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, launched a campaign two months ago to begin eliminating violence against girls and women. “The gaps in addressing violence against women are in terms of political will, resources and the strong involvement of men and boys in insisting on zero tolerance,” said Joanne Sandler, Executive Director of UNIFEM.
WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME FOOD TRUCKS TO BE REDUCED IN DARFUR DUE TO ATTACKS BY BANDITS
20 April 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The World Food Programme (WFP) has announced that it will reduce the amount of trucks carrying food rations to the Darfur region. The agency reported that attacks by bandits were preventing massive amounts of rations from reaching people and 26 drivers were unaccounted for. At least one was killed. Bettina Luescher, a spokesperson for WFP in New York, told MediaGlobal that the reason for the reduction was simple: they could not get food to the people. More than 2.4 million people were given WFP food assistance in the Darfur region this past March. Between May and September, it is believed that food aid will need to reach more than three million people. “The truck drivers themselves are not armed,” said Luescher. “Attacks on the WFP food pipeline are an attack on the most vulnerable people in Darfur,” said Josette Sheeran, WFP’s Executive Director, “We call on all parties to protect the access to food.” Since January of 2008, 60 WFP trucks have been sabotaged and 39 trucks are still missing. “If the security situation on the road improves, we will be able to restore the ration levels,” said Kenro Oshidari, WFP Representative in Sudan.
GLOBAL HAPPENINGS
NEW: Project for Nuclear Awareness’s Conference Philadelphia, PA (10 May 2008): MediaGlobal is co-sponsoring a one-day, multidisciplinary conference together with the Project for Nuclear Awareness and a dozen partner organizations to “connect the dots” on the environment, security, and global health. Experts, advocates, and interested citizens will be brought together at the Sheraton University City Hotel Ballroom in Philadelphia, PA for a discussion on engaging more people in these critical issues. For tickets information, click: www.projectfornuclearawareness.org/news.aspx/pub/4/id/45
The Global Travel and Tourism Summit – Dubai, UAE (20-22 April 2008): Set in a unique format – The Round – the Summit will engage invited participants in real dialogue on issues that affect the industry and the world at large. Invited participants include the Chairs and Chief Executives of the Travel & Tourism industry, heads of government, international experts and the global media. Website: http://www.globaltraveltourism.com/
Africa: International Conference on African Culture and Development – Kumasi, Ghana (21-26 April 2008): The conference is designed to draw attention to a missing link in attempts to develop the African continent – culture. Website: www.icacd.ccoghana.org
Rethinking Poverty: Making Policies Work for Children – Conference and Call for Papers. New York, USA (21-23 April 2008): UNICEF and the Graduate Program in International Affairs at the New School will jointly host an international conference to review and mobilize the international agenda on ending child poverty and reducing disparities. Website: www.crin.org
Global Youth Enterprise Conference – Washington, DC. September 15-16, 2008. Call for proposals is open! Deadline: April 18, 2008.
Designed as a participatory learning event, this conference aims to support youth enterprise and entrepreneurship programs and policies achieve greater effectiveness around the world. Website: www.youthenterpriseconference.org
SOURCE: South-South Solutions http://tcdc1.undp.org/enews/index.html
Development agencies and non-governmental organizations are welcome to send details of upcoming conferences for inclusion in our HAPPENINGS column.
Contributors: Nosh Nalavala, Joseph Deaux, Sheana Laughlin, Adelia Saunders and Sarah Long
MediaGlobal is a leading provider of information on global development issues facing vulnerable countries in Africa and Asia. Leaders of developed countries, the global media (with media in developing countries), policymakers in donor countries, non-governmental organizations, Permanent Representatives of Missions to the United Nations and key personnel in the United Nations Secretariat, its agencies and managers in the field worldwide read MediaGlobal’s newswire stories. Contact: media@mediaglobal.org . United Nations, Room S-301, New York, NY 10017. Tel: (212) 963-9878. Fax: (609) 716-1297 Website: www.mediaglobal.org
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