PREVENTABLE CHILD DEATHS IN THE HORN OF AFRICA ON THE RISE

14 July 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Actions and policies are urgently needed to avert the soaring child death rates in the Horn of Africa. According to the United Nation’s Children Fund (UNICEF), a lethal mix of drought, expanding conflict, rising food and energy prices, disease, and high poverty is pushing children and their families in this region of the world to the brink of disaster. “Ethiopia and Somalia are the worst affected, but parts of Eritrea, Djibouti, Kenya and Uganda show ominously similar signs,” states a recent UNICEF press release. Many of the countries in the Horn of Africa have chronic and long-running child malnutrition problems, and “cycles of drought and floods have taken a heavy toll on much of the population living on the land and children are especially vulnerable when there are food shortages,” Patrick McCormick, UNICEF’s Emergency Coordinator Officer, told MediaGlobal. Malnutrition compounds the risks to survival that children in this region routinely face, including pneumonia, diarrhea and other infections. Recent years have seen an increase in acute watery diarrhea and cholera in many of these countries affecting tens of thousands of children, reports UNICEF. The agency calls on the international community to help stop and reverse these dangerous trends before another major humanitarian disaster strikes. “The time to act is now,” said Per Engebak, UNICEF’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, “to save children’s lives. Committed, proactive, and decisive action on the part of national governments and international partners can mitigate the multiple threats to children and families in the Greater Horn of Africa. The signs are there and governments and international partners must heed them and act on them.”

SUDANESE HOUSEHOLDS TOLD TO PRIORITIZE HYGIENE TO PREVENT DISEASE

14 July 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: With the onset of rains in Sudan, the United Nation’s Children Fund (UNICEF) is urging households to prioritize personal and household hygiene in order to impede the spread of water-borne diseases. “The start of the rains increases the likelihood of water-borne diseases, which can lead to fatalities especially amongst children,” said UNICEF Representative Ted Chaiban in a recent press release. In 2007, a combination of water treatment programs and improved hygiene education prevented a serious incidence of acute water diarrhea and cholera in the country, reports UNICEF. “Hygiene promotion encourages the community to engage in safe hygiene practices – such as washing of hands before handling food and after going to the toilet. Many common diseases and illnesses can be transmitted from person to person through poor personal hygiene,” Tania McBride, UNICEF’s Northern Darfur Communications Officer, told MediaGlobal. In addition, maintenance and rehabilitation of existing water and sanitation and the establishment of new facilities, hand pumps, water yards, protected wells and springs, in rural communities and vulnerable communities, schools and health centers are key focuses for improvements in water and sanitation – ensuring a holistic approach to tackling disease and illness in communities, adds McBride. An estimated 28 percent of children under the age of five in Sudan will experience diarrhea during a year, reports UNICEF, but a number of simple measures that families can take to protect themselves from water-borne diseases, can bring this number down.

WORKING TOWARDS ELIMINATING VIOLENCE IN EL SALVADOR

14 July 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The toy guns some children play with are harmless. But it’s another matter when real and lethal small arms are used in the same manner as toy guns. Small arms in the hands of criminals and insurgents are used as if they were harmless, and the Small Arms Survey 2008: Risks and Resilience – which was launched at the United Nations this week – underlines the danger of the diversion of small arms into the hands of such criminals and insurgents. A prime example of this danger is El Salvador. By the late 1990’s, the country had become one of the most violent countries in the world: there was a stunning 56.2 homicides registered for every 100,000 residents in 2006. Recognizing that the situation in El Salvador could worsen if appropriate action was not taken, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) worked with local Salvadoran organizations to launch the Arms Free-Municipalities Project in 2005. There have been some successes, such as the creation of 64 arms-free spaces and a reduction of 47 percent of homicides in one municipality. “The programmes you mention are aimed at restricting the carrying of weapons in public places and creating arms free zones as a way of reducing the incidence of violence within particular communities, so there’s very specific targeted programmes within communities that were noted to have higher rates of violence,” Jennifer Hazen, Senior Researcher for the Survey, told MediaGlobal.

ACCESS TO FAMILY PLANNING SERVICES, NOT FORCED ABORTIONS, ESSENTIAL FOR SUSTAINaBLE GROWTH

14 July 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The horrific stories of forced abortions and sterilizations due to China’s one child policy – introduced by the Chinese government in the late 1970’s – is enough to put caution to a new United Nations report on the world’s population. The report warned that the world’s population would grow to 9.2 billion in 2050 from the current level of 6.7 billion. Such an increase in population growth would put pressure on food, water and fuel supplies and so would be unsustainable. “Countries need family planning,” John Bongaarts, Vice President of the Population Council, told MediaGlobal. Family planning or an imitation of the one child policy practiced in China, where rules restrict couples living in urban areas to one child while rural couples are often allowed two if the first child is a girl? Take Africa, where there is a dire need for population control. “In most African countries, population growth is rapid,” Bongaarts said. So, should these African countries incorporate China’s policy in their respective countries? According to John May, a demographer at the World Bank, female education and access to family planning services make a world of a difference – look at Latin America and Asia, where the provision of both has made an impact on population growth. So Africa does not need to incorporate such a restrictive policy. Instead, it should focus on access to these services. “The problem is the lack of supply of contraceptives,” Bongaarts explained. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), more than 200 million women want access to family planning services, but are unable to get it.

FOOD ORGANIZATION LAUNCHES EMERGENCY RICE PROGRAMME IN WEST AFRICA

15 July 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: In over a year the price of rice doubled in West Africa. Rice is a staple food across the region that most people eat every day. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) data, the 22 member countries of the Africa Rice Center (WARDA) demands for rice were calculated at almost 16 million tonnes in 2006. However, domestic production in West Africa cannot satisfy this great demand and relies on importing for almost a third of its rice supply. This makes West Africa vulnerable to the international price swings that have kept rice out of the reach to many this year. “The increase in rice prices is due to the increased demand in West Africa. Lack of investment in agriculture and rice production has made the situation worse. The poor harvest due to drought and flooding in some areas of West Africa has also contributed to the crisis,” Tom Osborn, Agricultural Officer of Plants and Seeds at the FAO, told MediaGlobal. Responding to this crisis, the FAO has launched an emergency rice program to take immediate steps to revive local production in eleven West African countries. “Focus will be on national level of activities in rice seed production, strengthening of provision of inputs of seeds and fertilizer, extension and linking of farmers to markets. There will be a regional umbrella to provide training, technical support and coordination and monitoring by WARDA, International Center for Soil Fertility (IFDC), FAO and Catholic Relief Services (CRS),” said Osborn. The program is planned to ramp up seed production in the rainy season of August, and again in the dry season of November in areas with adequate irrigation systems. The boost in rice production will finally allow farmers to profit from their harvests and further invest.

COMMUNITY ACCEPTANCE OF CHILD SOLDIERS IS KEY TO REINTEGRATION

15 July 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: After a long campaign of terror against his own people, former Liberian President Charles Taylor is the first leader in history to be tried for conscripting children below the age of 15 into his forces. The case’s chief prosecutor Stephen Rapp briefed reporters at the UN Secretariat on the trial’s progress just hours after his colleague Luis Moreno-Ocampo sought the indictment of Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. Rapp described the proceedings as a model of justice, saying, “It shows that the trial of a former head of state can happen openly and fairly.” As for the conscription of child soldiers, Rapp said, “We need to prevent that crime, and we need to repair the damage done to children.” But the damage, it appears, may take years of sustained effort to mediate. A ten year study by the Harvard School of Public Health on the reintegration of child soldiers due to be released in September found that after a decade, former child soldiers showed roughly the same levels of psychosocial symptoms, including depression, anxiety, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Former female child soldiers showed the highest levels of both depression and anxiety – 68 and 75 percent respectively. Those who experienced intimate violence – whether they were victims or perpetrators – actually showed psychosocial deterioration over the ten-year period. The UN Special Representative on Children in Armed Conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy told MediaGlobal, “Interventions must be community-based. Family and community acceptance is key to reintegration.”

UNICEF FINDS NO MEASLES OUTBREAK IN SOMALIA DESPITE EARLIER REPORTS

15 July 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: A report of a measles outbreak in Somalia is said to be false after investigation Tuesday, according to officials at the health section at UNICEF Somalia. Reports were received by UNICEF Monday from Gawey, a village 45 km west of Jowhar, where locals suspected a measles outbreak and reported 18 child deaths due to measles. A local elder from Jowhar told Reuters, “Six children have died this week from measles in Dumal village and 10 others are seriously ill. The other 12 have died in nearby villages.” The following day, a joint health assessment team including local authorities, World Health Organization (WHO) members and partner NGOs went to the supposed affected area to investigate the alert. Robert Kihara, Communication Officer for UNICEF Somalia gave MediaGlobal a statement received from officials at UNICEF Somalia’s health section that stated, “The conclusions of the mission was that there are no measles cases in the village in question and surrounding villages visited by the team.” Since the completion of a mass measles campaign that successfully vaccinated over 3,000,000 children in Somalia, the number of reported cases has decreased over the last two years. Officials at the health section of UNICEF Somalia said the reported finding of Tuesday’s investigation was in line with the routine surveillance reports that are collected on a weekly basis by WHO/UNICEF and NGO partners to monitor measles since the campaign. WHO and UNICEF are planning another measles campaign targeting all children in Somalia 9-months-old to 5-years-old in the coming months.

MUSHROOM FARMING COULD BECOME PROFITABLE BUSINESS FOR NAMIBIANS

16 July 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: At the launch of the Hardap Mushroom Project in Namibia, Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry John Mutorwa called on scientists to change the program’s focus from satisfying basic local needs to creating a cash-crop business. The Hardap Mushroom Project is located in Mariental and is the sixth such project in Namibia; the five other projects are in Katutura, Henties Bay, Okaku, Ogongo and Gobabis. The projects are part of the Zero Emissions Research Initiative (ZERI) Regional Programme for Africa, based at the University of Namibia, and receive additional support from NEDBANK Namibia and UNDP. The program was created based on the concept of using agro and forestry waste as energy for farming, and mushrooms were found to be viable crops in Namibia. ZERI creator Gunter Pauli told MediaGlobal an advantage to mushroom farming is that mushrooms are easy to farm and “mushrooms offer the first harvest already in three to four weeks.” Currently, the main objective of the program is to eliminate malnutrition, and regarding exports, Pauli said the aim is to “only export the top quality at top price, typically not exceeding 10 percent of total production since the goal is to satisfy basic needs of people with what is locally available.” Although the program has been successful thus far at providing food for locals where projects are funded, plant production research officer Lydia Horn reportedly agrees with Mutorwa that mushroom farms could go beyond provision of basic needs and be profitable to producers.

WOMEN BEAR THE BURDEN OF LIMITED ACCESS TO SAFE DRINKING WATER

17 July 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Limited access to safe drinking water still impacts the lives of 884 million people across the world, according to a new report by the United Nations children’s agency and the World Health Organization. But it is women who bear the burden of retrieving water, an often arduous and time-consuming task. Women are more than twice as likely as men to be designated responsible for hauling drinking water, with the highest gender discrepancy in water collection occurring in Guinea-Bissau and Bangladesh, where women collect 94 and 90 percent of the water respectively. “This is the first time we’re really looking at who bears the burden of inadequate water access,” Chief of Water and Environmental Sanitation at UNICEF told MediaGlobal. “What we found corresponded with the anecdotal evidence – that overwhelmingly it is women and girls who do the work of water collecting. On average, women and girls account for 71 percent of all water retrieval.” The study also points out that the lengths people must go to in order to access water can have detrimental impact on the amount of water they consume. In sub-Saharan Africa, for instance, 18 percent of the population must travel upwards of 30 minutes to find safe drinking water and consequently transport home less water than they and their families need.

LOCAL OPINION DIVIDED ON INDICTMENT OF SUDANESE PRESIDENT

17 July 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: This week’s indictment of Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of genocide has sparked fierce debate among political leaders, legal analysts and aid workers around the world as to whether the prosecution of Sudan’s leader will help or hurt the country’s chances for peace. But the opinions of the Sudanese themselves must not be overlooked, Bruno Stagno Ugarte, President of the Assembly of States Parties of the ICC, told MediaGlobal. Communal catharsis is a key aspect of rendering justice, and public opinion is critical to the success of the Court. “It’s very important to have a population of a situation country informed as to what is happening, who are those people that are charged [and] what they are charged with,” Stagno said. The ICC’s outreach programs are integral to the court’s mandate, “so that civil society and society in general can understand why there’s a situation in their own country, why it’s important to have justice. And in most cases, it’s society that wants justice to be done,” he said. Reports of the Sudanese reaction to Bashir’s indictment have been mixed. While the people of the Darfur region generally welcome the indictment, pro-Bashir demonstrations have broken out in other parts of the country, Bishop Antonio Menegazzo of El Obeid, a town in western Sudan, told the Catholic Information Service for Africa. In Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, “even those opposed to Omar al-Bashir will support him against the interference by the ICC. Even the peace process for Darfur will suffer,” Menegazzo said.

SURINAME JOINS INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

17 July 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: As the International Criminal Court (ICC) celebrated the tenth anniversary of the Rome Statute, a 1998 treaty giving it the responsibility to prosecute the world’s worst war crimes, the Statute gained a new signatory, the South American nation of Suriname. “With the accession of the Rome Statute, Surinam has finally become, once again, a full player in the human rights protection system,” Henry Mac Donald, the Permanent Representative of Suriname to the United Nations, told reporters at UN Headquarters on Thursday. He added that while Suriname has signed other treaties protecting human rights, the Rome Statute is the first to address individual responsibility for mass atrocities. “It is important that Suriname will now be a full member of the entire spectrum of human rights protections,” Mac Donald told MediaGlobal. Ruth Wijdenbosch, President of the Foreign Affairs and the National Defense Committee of Suriname and a major force behind adoption of the statute, described it as an important assurance to the people of Suriname that even those in power are not immune to prosecution. “We had very difficult years in my country, we had a military dictatorship during the 80’s [and] there was a fear of violence against human rights during that period,” Wijdenbosch told MediaGlobal. “I want to leave for my people and institutions like the ICC to ensure that the perpetrators will never go unpunished.” Suriname is the 107th nation to join the ICC.

GLOBAL HAPPENINGS

FOR JULY

Achieving a Sustainable Future: Managing Aquaculture, Fishing, Trade, and Development
Nha Trang, Vietnam (22-25 July 2008): The International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade (IIFET) and Nha Trang University (NTU) of Vietnam will host this Fourteenth Biennial Conference. Presentations will range from the theoretical to applied policy about the seafood industry, aquaculture, and development issues about this topic. Perspectives from all of the world’s major fishing regions will be represented.
Website: http://www.internationalpeaceandconflict.org/events/event/show?id=780588:Event:57499

Zaragoza International Water Exhibition
Zaragoza, Spain (14 June-14 September 2008): This study and discussion forum will look for solutions to the major problems derived from bad use and shortage of water. The main focuses of the exhibition will be water’s role in civilization, life, control, progress and sustainment.
Website:
http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/france-priorities_1/environment_1097/events_2130/water-and-sustainable-development-international-exhibition-in-zaragoza-spain-14.06-14.09.08_10025.html/

ECOSOC Development Cooperation Forum
Building Sustainable Futures- Enacting Peace and Development
University of Leuven, Belgium (15-19 July 2008): The International Peace Research Association (IPRA) will host this conference made up of plenary sessions, focusing on the peace and conflict process as well as development. Tentative plenary sessions include Human Security and Development, African Peace Building, Peace Research in Latin America, Listening to the Middle East, Peace and Intellectual Solidarity, Effective Non-Violent Policy-Making, Youth and Conflict/Peace, and Faith in Peace.
Website: http://soc.kuleuven.be/iieb/ipra2008/conference/index.php

The Canadian International Development Agency: International Day of Cooperatives
Worldwide (5 July 2008): The International Day of Cooperatives is celebrated on the first Saturday of July every year. Its aim is increase awareness about cooperatives and to highlight the complementary goals and objectives of the UN and the international cooperative movement. This day reaffirms that cooperatives play an important role in economic, social, and cultural development, particularly by providing a framework for facilitating the mobilization of human, financial, and other resources.
Website: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/social/intldays/IntlCoops/index.html/

World Population Day
Worldwide (11 July 2008): Countries around the world have observed World Population day for 19 years to raise public awareness and draw the attention of policy makers to population issues such as poverty, reproductive health, education, and HIV/AIDS.
Website: http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/population/index.html/

International Conference on Research for Development
Bern, Switzerland (2-4 July 2008): More than 200 participants from around the world will attend the conference hosted by the National Centre of Competence in Research for Development to address five principal research themes: Governance/Statehood and conflict transformation, Health, vulnerability, resilience, and environmental sanitation, livelihoods, globalization and urban planning, natural resources in sustainable development and research approaches and methodologies for sustainable development.
Website: http://icrd.unibe.ch/default.asp/

Environmental Life Cycle Assessment as a Tool for Evaluating the Sustainability of Ecosystem Services (Seminar II)
University of Bath, UK (9 July 2008): The Economic and Social Research Council (ESFC) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) will host this conference considering the application of Environmental LCA for evaluating the environmental consequences of products and services and their utilization in supporting and developing national and international legislation to ensure sustainability for future generations.
Website: http://www.bath.ac.uk/research/seminars/esrc/

Gender Equality and Audit
Sydney (9-10 July 2008), Melbourne (15-16 July 2008): The Australian Council for International Development is providing this forum for NGO’s in the aid and development sector to take stock of progress and successes on gender equality and take steps to do more.
Website: http://www.acfid.asn.au/training/acfid-training/gender-equality-July08/

WIDER Conference on Southern Engines of Global Growth: China, India, Brazil, and South Africa (CIBS): Financial Flows and Capital Markets
Rio de Janiero, Brazil (11-12 July 2008): The third conference of the UNU-WIDER project on ‘Southern Engines of Global Growth’ will focus upon empirical and conceptual studies exploring the roles of capital flows in its various forms—portfolio investment, foreign direct investment, and banking activities—in these four countries. The conference will also explore the contributions of capital flows to the growth of the CIBS and other nations. Intra- and inter-regional issues relating to capital flows are also welcome.
Website: http://www.wider.unu.edu/events/2008-conferences/southern-engines-II/en_GB/southern-engines-of-growth/

Umguhubo Festival
Durban, South Africa (1-6 July 2008): The Umgubho Festival is Africa’s annual international event. It is a unique celebration of competitive sports, indigenous games, modern and contemporary performing, visual and audio-visual arts, cultural arts, development, fashion, entertainment, business, and platform for awareness campaigns. The festival is an African Renaissance in action and New Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD) in motion event.
Website: http://www.foundation-development-africa.org/africa_upcoming_events/1_7july_2008.htm/

African Compensation Benefits and Total Reward Conference
Johannesburg, South Africa (2-3 July 2008): The Foundation for the Development of Africa will endorse this event themed “Attract, Motivate, and Retain”. Workshops and panel discussions will take place emphasizing that organizations must recognize the need to offer an extensive range of rewards, and benefits, not just financially oriented, to attract new recruits and retain a first class talent pool.
Website: www.equilibriumint.com/

International Youth for Global Development
Cairo, Egypt (2-8 July 2008): The International Youth Leadership Forum (IYLF) and Ket Foundation International with Regional Office in Cameroon (KFI) organized this conference for youth participation in Global Development.

Financial Statement Analysis
Johannesburg, Bedfordview, South Africa, (3-4 July 2008): Endorsed by the Foundation for the Development of Africa, this workshop will equip learners to detect financial inconsistencies, improve their financial planning, projection skills, as well as conduct thorough financial assessments.
Website: www.abelusi.co.za/index.php?ID=164/

SACATS
Johannesburg, South Africa (7-9 July 2008): The Foundation for the Development of Africa has themed this year as “Back to the Classroom”. South Africa’s leading experts in education will share new thinking about teacher development and success in the classroom. It will offer a variety of practical experiences to enhance the critical role of Curriculum Advisors and other involved in teacher support.
Website: www.spintelligent-events.com/sacats2008/en/index.php/

Development agencies and non-governmental organizations are welcome to send details of upcoming conferences for inclusion in our HAPPENINGS column.