Africa has served as inspiration to the fashion industry for many years, and it doesn’t seem like that will be changing anytime soon. In 2010 Western designers caught African print fever and painted the runways in bold, colorful ensembles. The trend continued in 2011 and 2012. Do African designers mind that Western designers such as Gwen Stefani, Marc Jacobs and Diane von Furstenberg are gaining recognition for their use of African prints and textures? Some may, but Gareth Cowden is not one of them.

“Yes, we are definitely going through a phase of influencing [and/or] inspiring the world’s bigger fashion houses,” said Cowden. “But it doesn’t offend me that these people get recognition for their designs. These designers have a better platform to be noticed. At the end of the day they are helping African designers [and] designs get noticed.”

Cowden has been in the fashion industry for nearly a decade; however, fashion was not his original career plan. His foray into fashion was purely out of necessity. After obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in Human Kinetics and Ergonomics, he could not find employment. Consequently, he began working as an assistant to fashion stylists in 2002. Since 2004 he has worked as a freelance fashion stylist and in 2009 he founded BABATUNDE. Babatunde is a Yoruba name that means “the father returns.” Cowden believes that it is the responsibility of men to care for their families and their country.

“Many kids in Africa grow up without fatherly influences in their lives due to various reasons,” Cowden said. “In my opinion, this has an adverse effect on disciplinary and respect issues later in life. [Babatunde] is also a reference to our leaders to father and grow our nations rather than growing their own pockets. All in all, we need more fathers to father and nurture Africa to where we deserve to be.”

Cowden is not as dedicated to fashion as much as he is dedicated to helping others. His brand, which features hats, umbrellas, bowties and clutches, is made completely by hand in South Africa. This is not done simply as a measure of pride for his native country, but to provide employment to those in the textile industry, which is vital to developing countries.

“This is done in an attempt to revive the textile and clothing industries in South Africa,” Cowden said. “These industries are slowly dying in South Africa due to cheap labor in countries like China and India resulting in it being a lot cheaper to import fabric and clothing than to manufacture locally.”

It is not only cheaper to import fabric and clothing to Africa, it is cheaper to import Asian immigrants to Africa as well. In 2002 Ramatex opened a factory in Namibia and promised to hire 8,000 workers. Instead of hiring locally, the company imported 25 percent of the employees from Asia. These employees were paid less than the Namibian employees and, to make matters worse, ended up in debt to the company. Due to their low wages, the Asian employees could not afford to pay back the traveling expenses that the company had fronted. Ten years later, Asian immigrants are steadily being imported into the country to provide cheap labor.

Many manufacturing companies in Asia and other countries are relocating to Africa due to a rise in domestic labor costs. Africa has low labor costs, in addition to duty-free access to American and European markets under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act. Cowden realizes the importance of manufacturing in Africa. For this reason, he would never relocate permanently.

“It is very important for me that everything is manufactured in South Africa or Africa,” Cowden said. “This is what makes Babatunde a strong African brand. I would definitely consider relocating temporarily. Travelling is very enlightening and helps with learning and growth, both personally and for the Babatunde brand.”

Also important to Cowden is creating awareness through fashion. He has been able to achieve great success as a designer and has been featured in many acclaimed print and online magazines. The audience he speaks his message to has become slightly larger since singer-songwriter Solange Knowles wore one of his hats during New York Fashion Week 2012.

“Due to popular culture and celebrity culture, exposure and awareness grows when ‘famous’ people wear your brand,” Cowden said. “Celebrities are always being featured in the media, so if they are wearing your products it’s easier for your brand to get noticed.”

Cowden is presently working on expanding the Babatunde brand by including more pieces such as trousers and shorts. For more information regarding Babatunde long onto www.babatundestyles.com.

Image Courtesy of   doigstar1

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Seattle, U.S.A. — After qualifying Wednesday for this weekend’s final in the men’s 5,000 meters, former Sudan Lost Boy Lopez Lomong is ready to use his Olympic fame to help kids back home in Africa. After Saturday’s final, Lopez will focus on a partnership with international Christian charity World Vision, including a trip, tentatively planned for early next year to Kenya and South Sudan to help children living in poverty.

The trip is part of long-term partnership between Lomong’s non-profit, 4 South Sudan and Team World Vision, a program sponsored by World Vision. Lomong hopes to help raise $500,000 to provide access to clean water, health care, education and nutrition.

According to the latest United Nations (UNHCR) estimates, there are more than 660,000 displaced South Sudanese as fighting rages between Sudan and its neighbor, South Sudan. Malaria and diarrhea run rampant in the overcrowded refugee camps. Nearly three children die of preventable illnesses in the camps every day.

At the age of six, Lopez was kidnapped from his Southern Sudan village and held captive as he was being prepped as a child soldier. Too small to undergo training, his fate would most likely have been starvation. But after three weeks, he managed to escape with the help of three other captives. After running three days and nights, they were captured by Kenyan troops and brought to a refugee camp where Lopez lived for 10 years.

He was supported by a U.S. family and brought to this country where he soon discovered he was the fastest kid in school. At track meets he then discovered he was the fastest in the state. Soon he would become one of the fastest in the nation. In 2008, Lomong qualified for the Beijing Olympics in the men’s 1,500 meters. He was voted by his teammates as the flag bearer in the Opening Ceremonies.

Lomong has a new book entitled “Running For My Life” (Thomas Nelson Publisher) http://www.thomasnelson.com/running-for-my-life.html

For more info: 4South Sudan : http://lopezlomong.com/foundation/

Team World Vision: http://support.worldvision.org/site/TR?px=1209501&fr_id=1790&pg=personal

Image Courtesy of   Maxisport / Shutterstock.com

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The fight for the screening and cure of cervical cancer continues with the first ladies in Africa. On July 25, 2012, a conference was held in Lusaka, Zambia to address issues of cervical cancer that have been challenging to women. The first ladies of six African countries took on the responsibility to help overcome this problem. Dr. Kaseba Sata, the first lady of Zambia, committed herself to work hard to see that women are informed about cervical cancer care, screening, and treatment. She said if it could be detected early, it would speed up the process of healing.

However, there are still a number of challenges to face before reaching this goal. One of the challenges is dispelling the myth that a person should not get screenings when they are seemingly healthy, as this may cause someone to get the sickness for which they are checking.

Understanding why women should get regular cervical cancer screenings is very important. During the beginning of HIV/AIDS outbreaks, most people never wanted to test for the diseases due to the stigma that is associated with them. According to Ronda from N’gombe Township, the matter of screening for cervical cancer may be just as difficult as that of AIDS, meaning that more sensitization may be required to reach the masses.

The first ladies pledged to provide resources to the people and to help with treatment for those found in the danger zone. However, the challenges are many, as most developing countries are faced with issues, such as sub-par technology to screen and treat cervical cancer and a lack of skilled workers. Other problems include the mobilization of resources due to bad roads to the remote parts of their countries that have bad health care. The few hospitals that can carry out such operations may not have the right equipment or enough skilled workers.

At the moment, sensitization programs are not yet in existence. This means that a well-planned program must be built from scratch. Dr. Kaseba has promised full support and will work with her partners to see that this disease is reduced in Zambia and Africa as a whole. Nevertheless, the sensitization program has not yet begun full swing in Zambia. During the conference, Dr. Kaseba urged women to make use of existing services and said she will do her best to advocate for the resources to eliminate cervical cancer.

However, the cancer hospital in Lusaka and other district hospitals that are fully functioning have a long wait for someone in need of service. This is another possible reason why women may be reluctant to receive treatment. There is a call on men to work hand in hand in sensitizing everyone to understand the need of screening before the problem is big; they are also being urged to be more involved, as this is a sexually transmitted infection (STI), and they can choose to protect their partners.

Calls for more information on the disease and for both parties to take precaution and prevention measures is being considered among  women. Men should be sensitized to stop living a careless life style and concentrate on their families. In fact, men should help protect women from the diseases and to advance a motherly well-being. Africa requires men and women to work together in reducing the spread of cervical cancer.

Image Courtesy of  Embassy of Equatorial Guinea

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Incorrect conceptions about Africa are common in the West. Some TV shows and media news communicate an erroneous image of Africa to their citizens despite a powerful tool of research, such as the Internet, which holds much accurate information. Western media typically only covers the negative aspects of Africa, and TV programs display the lack of knowledge about other cultures. Here are five typical fallacies about Africa.

Africa is a country. Many citizens around the globe mistakenly categorize Africa as a country. But Africa is a continent, which has 54 independent countries each with their own currency, flag, anthem, food, music, and history. Africa is home to 1 billion inhabitants, who belong to 3,000 different ethnic groups There are thousands of indigenous languages and dialects spoken. Africa’s size is three times bigger than the USA.

Africa is unsafe. It is true that there are conflicts, civil wars, and pirates who kidnap tourists in some countries. But if bigger cities like New York, Madrid, London were rated by their crime rates, not many tourists would visit them. Violent crime against visitors in most African countries is uncommon. In the last two years the Travel State Department in the US has issued countries which are considered risky to travel for American citizens. These are the African countries to avoid: Libya, Kenya, Chad, Burundi, Eritrea, Somalia, Central African Republic, Cote D´Ivoire, Nigeria, Sudan, Republic of Sudan, Congo, Mali, Mauritania, Guinea and Niger.

Africa is extremely poor. Many visitors will be shocked with the poor conditions around them. The problem of the African continent is the distribution of wealth, where there is a lack of middle class (people are either very rich or very poor) in many countries. Many African countries such as Egypt, Nigeria, Algeria and South Africa have many natural resources, good education systems and developed business areas.

Africa has many diseases. The lack of babyhood vaccination programs and basic health care take millions of African lives every year. But that is not the case for tourists, who are up to date with the vaccines recommended by their origin countries. The most common immunizations are Hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella and polio. The way to avoid malaria is to take prophylactics and sleep under a mosquito net.

African politicians are corrupt and incompetent. There are some African countries that are not well governed, just like in Europe and the Americas; and there are many countries that are democratic and well-led which are experiencing economic progress. On the other hand, there are also democratic countries that are not growing, and non-democratic countries that are developing.

Many political crises in Africa can be blamed on colonial legacy, but most of it reveals political power and corruption on the part of incumbent presidents and political parties. To characterize all of Africa based on outliers like Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe, would be like generalizing about Europe based on Berlusconi, the Former Prime Minister Italy.  Nelson Mandela showed the world that Africa is capable of producing an honest leader.

Image Courtesy of   meunierd / Shutterstock.com

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When many think of the continent of Africa, words such as famine, disease, poverty, short life spans and little to no healthcare and poor technological advancement come to mind. However, as of recently, Africa, and Uganda in particular has made great strides toward better living for its citizens as technology in Uganda is growing at a rapidly fast pace.

“Uganda has been ranked among the top three countries with advanced technological and innovation capabilities in Africa,” according to a study conducted by Martin Prosperity Institute of the U.S. And, as Uganda has been known for decades for its high infant and maternal mortality rates, an advanced ultrasound has finally made it’s way to the country in order to help pregnant women and their newborns survive in addition to a healthy pregnancy and safe delivery.

An expanding project known as ‘Imagining the World’ (ITV), based at the Kamuli Mission Hospital, is helping to get ultrasound technology into the country’s health centers.

Andrew Green, a reporter for the ‘Voice of Africa,’ stated, “Until two years ago, health workers at Kamuli Mission Hospital could not even tell a woman if she was carrying twins because there were no ultrasound machines. As a result, women and their families would not know they needed to be near health facilities that can handle complicated pregnancies when it came time to give birth.”

The project is providing ultrasound equipment to the hospital at low costs, so even those who are below the poverty level can still receive basic image scans. “Then the images are compressed and distributed via text message or e-mail to district-level health workers, who examine the images and identify potential problems.

Specialists in the United States provide backup opinions. Health workers are informed early enough that a woman facing a difficult birth can be directed to a higher-level health facility,” according to Dr. Alphonsus Matovu, the medical director of the Kamuli hospital. But before the women can come to Kamuli to receive an ultrasound, they must be screened for a series of health tests, including, HIV, malaria, and anemia, which could affect the outcome of a woman’s pregnancy.

As of last week, ITV has set up new ultrasound equipment in eight more health care facilities, which is estimated to cost 10,000 dollars per facility. Prior to Uganda having access to ultrasound technology equipment, the United Nations Children’s Fund reported that, “for every 1,000 live births, at least 63 infants die before their first birthday in Uganda.

Many of those deaths come from complications that could have been predicted by ultrasound technology. The situation also contributes to the country’s high infant mortality rate, with 310 out of every 100,000 women dying in childbirth.” Because of the great success of this project, ITV is looking into providing prenatal care in other impoverished areas of the world including South America and Asia.

Image Courtesy of  uusc4all

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The past ten years has been a living nightmare for several Zanzibar refugees who have been stuck in the war-torn country of Somalia, living in fear in what is considered the most dangerous city in the world, Mogadishu. Fortunately for those refugees, there is a light at the end of the tunnel as many get to start their lives over by returning to their homeland this past week.

Thirty-eight refugees boarded a United Nations aircraft on Friday after escaping a political war a decade ago. “The returning families have been living in Mogadishu for over 10 years and have now decided that it is time for them to return, their bags are loaded, they are saying their farewells to Somalia, and we will be off soon to Zanzibar,” said Andreas Needham, spokesman for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in Somalia.

Over 2,000 civilians of Zanzibar, the capital of Tanzania, fled the country in 2000 and went to Kenya, where they were then placed in the biggest refugee camp in the world, Dadaab. While some stayed in the refugee camp, others returned to Zanzibar and a few hundred migrated to Somalia and worked low paying jobs just to survive and feed their families. For those that went to Somalia, most lived in unsanitary and impoverished conditions, hiding out in abandoned, crumbling homes while others lived on the streets and sought shelter wherever they could find it.

In recent years, the United Nations Refugee Agency (known as the UNHCR) stepped in and gave aid to those living in Somalia. “Twelve of the original 23 families who approached UNHCR are being voluntarily repatriated,” the UNHCR added in a statement, noting that, “some of the men who remain have married Somali women.” The remainder of the refugees left in Somalia is staying there to see how the war-torn country of Tanzania finds peace before they decide to return to their home country.

According to the UNHCR, “the Zanzibaris’ journey was the opposite of almost a million Somalis who have fled to other countries in the region — the Horn of Africa nation generates the third highest number of refugees in the world after Afghanistan and Iraq.”

A total of approximately 1.36 million refugees from all over Africa have been forced to leave their homelands and are displaced in Somalia.

For the families that are returning home to Zanzibar, they are due to meet with government officials and are expected to receive help in rebuilding their lives. Many more are expected to return in the near future as positive results will be seen from the end of the political war and the election of a new president of Zanzibar.

Image Courtesy of   IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation/TURKEY

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Brussels, Belgium- A youth summit bringing together more than 60 young social entrepreneurs— aged between 18 and 25 years—from Africa and Europe came to an end on June 27, 2012 with the participants gaining hands on skills in project management. The Euro-Africa Youth Summit organized by the Global Changemakers (GCM) Organization in collaboration with British Council sought to introduce young people working as volunteers or owners of non governmental organizations to the environment that they work in and equip them with skills to effectively manage and run their projects.

Involving discussions and presentations from already established social entrepreneurs, the summit also explored the existing relations between Africa and Europe. Enlightening the participants on the Africa- Europe financial environments, Sean Cleary, Founder of the Future World Foundation said it is not about politicians but rather about individuals and how they behave that will shape the future. He urged the participants to take charge and affect the change they want to see in their communities.

Speaking on the kind of partnerships that Euro-Africa is engaged in, Ambassador Ajay Kumar Bramdeo noted that long gone are the days when partnerships were subjected to weighing scales and it was time to welcome participatory democracy. He lamented about the double standards currently applied by the European Union when they react to various issues happening in Europe and Africa.

“When Israel kicks out African immigrants no one says anything, yet when Africa speaks out about sexual orientation there is someone to say something,” Bramdeo quipped. The EU should not be selective when preaching about human rights.

In conclusion, he noted that it is cumbersome for Africa to carry out its regional mandate as a union as it only has had about ten years of evolving against the European Union’s 60 years of evolution.

“Give us time to find our way of evolution. Listen to us and treat us as equals,” Bramdeo implored.

To strengthen their understanding about legislation and the European Union’s policy on the youth, the 60 participants had a rare moment when they visited the European Economic and Social Committee parliament where they were further enlightened on how the EU carries out the legislation. They were also introduced to the world of campaigning for social causes by speakers drawn from various organizations including Oxfam, Climate Action Network, European Youth Press, Friends of the Earth among many other independent social entrepreneurs.

Did the participants have a new look at things?

They sure had learned a lot. And in his speech during the closing ceremony, Oliver Rieche, a Law student from Germany said:

“I’ve been to a few conferences, but for the first time I have met so many Africans at once, which has been one of the most genuine and sincere encounters thus far. I think it is not Africa that needs to learn a lot from Europe, as we Westerners often arrogantly believe, but it is us, Europeans, who need to rethink the way we run our societies and get rid of that elbow society which I experience back home in Germany.”  Thanking the British Council he further said, “You have given us the tools to become the leaders we want to be in the future, now it is time for us to grab those tools and make it happen.”

Global Changemakers is a British Council funded by the global youth network of social entrepreneurs and community activists from 126 countries worldwide. Its mission is to empower youth to catalyze positive social change, something which it achieves through learning and teaching, global and regional summits, community and personal capacity building, supported by free online curriculum.

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Washington, U.S.A. – An experts panel hosted by the Carnegie Endowment and Atlantic Council warned that al-Qaeda terrorists are consolidating their position in northern Mali — buoyed by drug-trafficking, kidnapping ransoms, Libyan arms, and an influx of extremists. As the international community deliberates next steps on the Mali ”meltdown,” analysts worry about the spread of an Arc of Instability across Africa’s Sahel.

“Terrorists are consolidating their position by the day in northern Mali and the international community just talks,” said Maman Sidikou, Niger’s Ambassador to the US. He cited the influx of Libyan arms, kidnappings, and control by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) of drug-smuggling routes. “Al-Qaeda has the resources, arms, and ideology to turn young people’s minds. They are the driving force.” Why would international leaders “wait while this turns into another Afghanistan?”

For Western aid-workers, Rossella Urru of Italy and Ainhoa Fernandez de Rincon and Enric Gonyacons of Spain, it was day 222 of captivity since their Oct. 23 kidnapping from a Polisario-run refugee camp near Tindouf in Algeria, reportedly assisted by camp-insiders. They are believed held in northern Mali by an al-Qaeda offshoot, Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), that threatens to kill one of them if its ransom demands aren’t met. More than half of Westerners kidnapped in Africa are now held in northern Mali, news reports indicate.

“Northern Mali is turning into a Star Wars bar of extremists from across the region,” said Dr. J. Peter Pham, Director, Atlantic Council’s Ansari Africa Center. “The last thing Africa needs right now is another Failed State” attracting bad actors.”  He added that “pragmatism” holds together the ideologically diverse groups now in control — Tuareg-led separatists, Ansar Dine Islamists, AQIM, and MUJAO.

“The meltdown in the north came in conjunction with the coup in the south,” said Anouar Boukhars, co-leader of Carnegie’s Mauritania working group and assistant professor, McDaniel College. He and panelist Rudolph Atallah, senior fellow, Atlantic Council, outlined the complex history that provided the “ingredients for the conflagration.”

Al-Qaeda’s consolidation in northern Mali underscores growing volatility across Africa’s Sahel.Multiple reports are linking instability in the region to other militants and groups in the Maghreb and Sahel, including members from the Polisario-run camps.

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New York, U.S.A. – Experts and speakers dedicated to the empowerment of African women will gather in Libreville, Gabon.

The Cecilia Attias Foundation for Women, in association with Mrs. Sylvia Bongo Ondimba, the first lady of Gabon, will be hosting the 2012 installment of Dialogue for Action Africa (DFAA) in Libreville, Gabon. Dedicated to helping women in Africa lead safe, productive, and healthy lives, the forum seeks to creatively address the salient issues faced by African women.

In addition to special remarks by Cecilia Attias and Sylvia Bongo Ondimba, DFAA will feature a unique collection of inspiring experts and speakers from academia, government, NGOs, the private sector, and the medical community. Cecilia Attias comments: “The diversity and expertise of Dialogue for Action Africa’s speakers is astounding. Their dedication to women’s issues is truly inspiring and their insights will be enabling to promote African women’s issues through actionable initiatives.”

These initiatives will culminate in a Plan of Action for Africa, which will be presented at the G20 Summit in Los Cabos, Mexico in June. At the G20, DFAA’s conclusions will become part of the global agenda and will be discussed by the world’s most influential leaders and policy makers. Creating this bridge between DFAA and government leaders is key to producing change at an institutional level and is an innovative example of public-private partnerships.

Dialogue for Action Africa will be held in conjunction with the New York Forum Africa, an annual action-oriented assembly of the world’s leading business, economic, and regulatory officials. By collaborating with New York Forum Africa, DFAA is seeking to build crosscutting partnerships between the worlds of business and NGOs.

New York Forum Africa founder Richard Attias comments: “Non-profits and private enterprises have much to share with one another. They can collaborate on a host of topics, from tackling issues related to efficiency and financing to engaging in discussions of mission and ethics. Collaboration between Dialogue for Action Africa and the New York Forum Africa is a step in this direction.”

Image Courtesy of MAINDRU PHOTO [see page for license], via Wikimedia Commons

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Washington, U.S.A. – The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) is launching a $4 million initiative to benefit 35,000 cocoa farmers in three West African countries that are among the world’s largest producers of cocoa.  The announcement comes as part of the Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security, taking place alongside the 2012 G8 Summit in Washington.

“WCF and our Member companies continue to invest in Sub-Saharan Africa and work together with national governments and partners to show our long-term commitment to cocoa farmers in the region,” said WCF President Bill Guyton.  Guyton also noted recent findings that demonstrate a strong link between modern cocoa farming techniques and food security in cocoa-growing areas.

Guyton said, “Cocoa farmers already have mastered concepts essential for producing crops and bringing a product to market.  Cocoa trees are well suited for combining with food crops. Cocoa farmers are uniquely positioned to form a cornerstone of many countries’ food security strategies.”

The new $4 million in WCF support comes in the form of a matching grants program and financial growth fund to provide business training and improved farming techniques to small-scale family farmers in Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, and Cameroon. Program activities will be carried out under the auspices of WCF’s ongoing $40 million Cocoa Livelihoods Program, which is co-funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and 16 leading WCF members.

The investment is matched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Sustainable Trade Initiative and WCF Member company partners, with the aim of doubling farm household incomes. WCF Member companies participating in the matching grants program include Kraft Foods; Mars, Incorporated; Cargill; ADM Cocoa; Barry Callebaut; Armajaro Trading Ltd.; ECOM Cocoa;  and Olam International Ltd.

As a complement to the new program, WCF Member The Hershey Company has developed a text messaging service to support cocoa farmers in the field by providing critical information on fertilizer application, plant husbandry, harvesting techniques and other farming practices, as well as social messaging on topics such as prevention of HIV/AIDS and malaria.

Through the program, WCF also will increase cocoa farmers’ access to credit for fertilizer and other needs. The program additionally provides support to cocoa farmer organizations to expand their outreach to non-member farmers and to improve business operations. The program will be self-sustaining.

Image Courtesy of   Gates Foundation

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Limerick, Ireland – When John O’Dowd’s daughter came home from school determined to help stop African warlord Joseph Kony after viewing the “Kony 2012″ viral video, O’Dowd was intrigued.

As the drama around “Kony 2012″ creator and Invisible Children co-founder Jason Russell unfolded and critics began voicing concerns about Invisible Children’s handling of funds, O’Dowd started conducting his own research. Now, the author has released his findings as a Kindle e-book and paperback as The Amazing Story of the Kony 2012 Phenomenon and the facts of the case are startling.

“Invisible Children posted ‘Kony 2012′ on YouTube on March 5, 2012,” O’Dowd explained. “By March 11, it had 100 million views, making it the most successful viral video ever. Yet only days later, Russell had a public breakdown, and within a month, interest in Invisible Children-promoted protests against Kony waned. From the rise of Joseph Kony to the apparent fall of the Invisible Children founder, it was a fascinating story that needed to be told.”

O’Dowd began by exploring the history of Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), by all accounts a brutal guerrilla organization led by a man whose “army” consists of children forced to commit atrocities across central Africa. He found that Kony had kidnapped more than 104,000 children over the last 20 years, and had 88 wives, most of whom the LRA kidnapped as young girls. However, there was much more to the story.

It turned out there was also more to Invisible Children. The charity which three college students founded with a $70,000 loan and quickly grew into a $46,000,000 organization, faced criticism following the video.

Ugandans spoke out against “Kony 2012,” and survivors of Kony’s violence protested Invisible Children’s tactic of displaying their tormentor’s name and face on bracelets, t-shirts and marketing materials. As he dug deeper, O’Dowd discovered exactly how Invisible Children was spending the donations that poured in after the release of the video. The Amazing Story of the Kony 2012 Phenomenon recounts those findings in detail.

O’Dowd then tackled the social media component of the Kony 2012 phenomenon. “Analysis of the first 1,000 people to re-tweet the #Kony2012 hashtag on Twitter shows that they were clustered around a few southern U.S. cities,” wrote Examiner.com correspondent Peter Kelton in his review of O’Dowd’s book. “… In effect, the evangelical Christian spirit pushed Kony 2012 to record heights, a view confirmed by U.S. analysts … This is not a dry, statistical history, but a lively yet deeply moving story superbly written.”

In The Amazing Story of the Kony 2012 Phenomenon, O’Dowd tells the truth behind the scandals, successes and failures of “Kony 2012.” Readers might open the book out of curiosity, but they will turn the last page armed with knowledge about a watershed cultural phenomenon.

Image Courtesy of   http://ctn.kony2012.com

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Zambia is a country found in the southern region of Africa and has a population of about 13 million people .The change of government in Zambia last year has changed many things, including the way the news is reported.

At the beginning of the year the media opened up many issues that were not publicly discussed previously and one of these includes the issue of gender violence and child sexual abuse, legally defined in Zambia as Child defilement. These issues are frightening to most parents because they are no longer comfortable to leave their children, especially their girl children, alone with any male relative or stranger, as is the custom with most Zambian families.

More and more cases of child defilement have been reported by the local media, with shocking reports of adult men raping children as young as one month old. Offences of defilement have continued to rank amongst the highest; numbers of those reported are very across the country.

This has prompted the Zambian government and ordinary citizens to demand stiffer punishment for culprits. Current punishments for perpetrators of child defilement includes jail sentences of a minimum of 9 years, but this has not deterred the rising cases of defilement, prompting calls for even more hefty prison sentences, hence the need to increase the sentence to 15 years.

However, for many parents their greatest fear is their children’s risk of contracting HIV should they fall victim of being raped. A common belief among some people suffering from HIV/AIDS is that if they have sex with a minor, then they will be cured of HIV. Most children who are sexually abused, later on test positive to HIV. This phenomenon is a destruction of the future generation, even though every adult has the responsibility to protect it. Nevertheless morals have fallen so much that children are not given a chance.

Stakeholders such as churches, and community workers have been lobbying the Ministry of Education to introduce child defilement education in the school syllabus so that children are aware of the danger of child rape and when children are victims they can seek help from social welfare for those who are not in school and to the teachers and counselors for those who are in schools. This education will help children to know when it is wrong.

The children who have been defiled are abused by close members of the child’s family such as uncles, cousins or grandfathers, and in some cases by their own biological fathers or step fathers. According to Save the Children, Cage the Rapists Posted by AllAfrica on January 11, 2012 we are told that civil society, the Church and all activists should lobby authorities so that appropriate remedies could be considered to deal with what can only be described as an epidemic of dangerous proportions.

Image Courtesy of   Espen Faugstad

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New York, U.S.A.- The Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU), a White House initiative founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower for senior business executives to interact with heads of state/government, cabinet ministers and senior government officials, announced the successful completion of a forum in New York City with His Excellency John Evans Atta Mills, President of The Republic of Ghana, and 25 business leaders from across the world.

Sponsored by United States Pharmacopeia and Eni S.p.A., the BCIU forum provided a platform for President Mills to outline the strategic opportunities for investment in Ghana while also addressing the fundamental economic pillars fueling Ghana’s fast growing economy. Business participants similarly outlined strategic opportunities for their companies and industries, while also engaging in a dialogue with the President on investment opportunities.

“We as a government are committed to creating the necessary environment to ensure that investors have good returns on their investments,” said President Mills at the forum. “Now that Ghana’s economy has been described as the fastest growing economy in the world, and at a time oil has been struck, let me be quick to say that it is our determination to ensure that this God-given resource becomes a blessing and not a curse.

We want to make sure that you have a credible judicial system, you have the kind of labor which will respond to the needs of the business, that you have a system which will respond to the very needs of investors.”

President Mills affirmed Ghana’s commitment to democracy, the rule of law, and respect for the judicial system, outlining their significance in fostering economic growth, return on investment and job creation.

“We appreciated the President’s unscripted fluency on economic priorities for Ghana and his comfort level in speaking directly and frankly with our members and international investors,” said Peter Tichansky, President and CEO of BCIU. “The interest in accessing Ghanaian market across major industries – and Africa through the Ghanaian gateway – were consistent themes expressed by businesses attending the forum.”

As a result of this and a previous visit by the President with the business community in New York, BCIU announced it is organizing a trade mission to Ghana later in the year with member companies interested in further exploration of opportunities.

“As one of the largest investors in the Ghanaian oil industry from exploration to production, midstream, and power, we were thrilled to support this outstanding forum with President of Ghana,” said Enzo Viscusi, Group Senior Vice President and Representative for the Americas, Eni.S.p.A.

“Ghana’s commitment to democracy, rule of law and sound investment protection principles has made our experience in the country very rewarding and is one we look to build upon without reservation. President Mills’ administration has shown tremendous discipline and leadership, which bodes well not only forGhana but also for the entire continent.”

“While the expansion of the oil and other major industrial industries in Ghana is clearly a major priority, we are very pleased that this administration is also focused on ensuring a thriving healthcare and pharmaceutical industry,” said Brian Hendrix, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, the U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP).

“As a result of this commitment and the stability and economic viability of Ghana, we have announced plans to create the USP-Sub-Saharan Africa Center for Pharmaceutical Advancement and Training (CePAT) in Accra to serve sub-Sahara Africa as an integrated platform for training, education, consulting and laboratory capabilities. From Accra, we will offer a systematic approach to the quality control of medicines in sub-Saharan Africa.”

“We believe Ghana offers terrific opportunities for growth and business development,” said Ed DiSanto, General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer, American Tower. “As such, in December 2010 we entered into a joint venture with Africa’s largest mobile operator, MTN Group Limited (MTN) and launched our operations in Ghana.

TowerCo Ghana currently owns and operates nearly 1,900 wireless communication tower sites and plans to develop several hundred new towers over the next several years. We are pleased with the performance of our investment, and our team of 84 Ghanaians, and indirectly hundreds of others via our vendor relationships, are doing a great job.”

“Not only are international firms interested in Ghana, but Ghanaian entrepreneurs are also investing heavily,” said Humphrey Ayim – Darke, Chairman, Greater Accra Chapter, Association of Ghana Industries. “We are rapidly building our own companies, expertise and resources to serve our fast growing markets and taking advantage of our well-educated, hard working and expanding middle class.

We were delighted to participate in this strategic dialogue with international investors and are eager to make it clear that U.S. companies can find outstanding local partners in Ghana.”

“The Ghanaian agriculture sector, while not as high profile as oil, is nonetheless one of the most promising in the world thanks to President Mills’ and past administrations’ policies,” said Steven Wallace, Founder and President, The Omanhene Cocoa Bean Company. “To this day, European and American chocolatiers buy cocoa beans from Ghana and export them to their chocolate factories throughout the world where the famed Ghanaian beans are transformed into some of the world’s most delicious and expensive chocolate.

Now, for the first time, The Omanhene Cocoa Bean Company, which is headquartered in the U.S., is producing world class chocolate entirely in Ghana and uniquely preserving all the best attributes of the finest cocoa beans in the world.”

Image Courtesy of   United Nations Photo

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Geneva, Switzerland – Despite major security constraints, the ICRC and the Mali Red Cross continue to help people affected by armed violence in northern Mali.

Jürg Eglin heads the ICRC’s regional delegation for Mali and Niger. “Access to health care, food and water is as difficult as ever in this region where food is short,” he explains. People are still having trouble getting hold of water in Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal.

“On 21 April, a Mali Red Cross convoy was able to deliver food and medicines to Timbuktu Hospital,” continued Mr Eglin. “We absolutely have to get access to the people affected by the violence, but we don’t yet have the security guarantees we need before launching a larger-scale humanitarian operation.”

The context is unstable and complex. The ICRC is currently ensuring that all parties understand and accept the neutral, independent, humanitarian work of the ICRC and the Mali Red Cross. It will only be possible to fully meet the huge needs in this region if the parties involved accept this role and give solid security guarantees.

Since 13 April, the ICRC has:

• sent a convoy from Niamey in Niger (on 17 April) that delivered medicines and medical supplies to Gao Hospital, enabling the
hospital to treat between 300 and 500 sick patients and around 100 casualties of the fighting;

• made an ICRC nurse and an ICRC midwife available to the medical team at Gao Hospital;

• delivered medicines to the main health centre in Ansongo, south of Gao, to help the centre resume its work;

• sent a surgeon and a doctor to the areas of Gao and Timbuktu, to treat people injured in the fighting;

• supplied some 5,000 litres of fuel per day to keep the water system in the town of Gao operating and prevent water shortages;

• sent a team to identify the most urgent needs in Kidal.

The ICRC is maintaining smaller teams than usual in Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu, so that it can continue operations in northern Mali. The organization has just opened an office in Mopti and is still operating in Bamako, the Malian capital. Finally, the ICRC is helping Malian refugees in Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Niger.

Image Courtesy of   Hector Conesa / Shutterstock.com

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New York, U.S.A. – As malnutrition reaches emergency levels across the Sahel region of West and Central Africa affecting at least one million children, UNICEF partner UPS has sprung to action to provide transport for the first aerial shipment of lifesaving UNICEF supplies to Mauritania this year, a country within the affected region.

The UPS flight, departing from Cologne, Germany on April 22 early morning contained 102,000 pounds of critical UNICEF relief supplies including nutrition, health, education, water, sanitation, and hygiene items.

UPS worked quickly with UNICEF to coordinate the shipment of relief items from various locations including UNICEF’s Supply Center in Copenhagen, in addition to Madrid, Lier, and Toulouse for delivery to Nouakchott, Mauritania on Sunday, April 22. Flying in supplies dramatically reduces the delivery time to affected communities.

“UPS understands that during humanitarian emergencies, the need to move supplies quickly is essential and can mean the difference between life and death,” said U.S. Fund for UNICEF President and CEO Caryl Stern. “We are extremely grateful that UPS has once again donated its expertise and services, this time to help UNICEF deliver lifesaving supplies to the one million children at risk in the Sahel region, and for their ongoing support in times of emergency.”

UPS has consistently supported UNICEF’s preparedness and emergency relief efforts, responding to the devastating earthquake in Haiti in January 2010 by offering volunteers, logistician experts, and transport services. They also donated a charter flight carrying 24 metric tons of critical UNICEF relief supplies last November from Copenhagen to Nairobi for children affected by the severe drought in the Horn of Africa.

“Logistics plays an incredibly vital role whenever a humanitarian crisis occurs, which is why UPS has lent its expertise for many years to bringing critical logistical support to areas of the world affected by disease, drought, and other disasters,” said UPS International President Dan Brutto, a member of the Board of Directors of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.

“For example, we just completed a temperature-controlled move of flu vaccine from the U.S. to Laos.  With this drought situation in the Sahel region, millions of lives are at stake and UPS is proud to be working with our partners at UNICEF to provide timely, life-saving supplies to the people of West and Central Africa.”

An estimated 15 million people are affected by the drought in eight countries across the Sahel, including Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and northern Cameroon, Nigeria, and Senegal. UNICEF needs more than $60 million for immediate relief operations to save children’s lives and prevent a humanitarian disaster from unfolding.

During a recent visit to the region, UNICEF’s Executive Director Anthony Lake called for an urgent escalation of humanitarian efforts to bring about an end to the crisis. Women and children in the Sahel are suffering from the impact of multiple threats—poor harvests because of drought, high food prices, and insecurity in parts of the region. Due to recent unrest in Mali, approximately 200,000 people have been displaced to neighboring countries – including Mauritania – exacerbating the hunger crisis there.

In January and February, tens of thousands of children were treated for severe acute malnutrition at nutritional rehabilitation centers that are filling up fast with the start of the “lean season”—the period between harvests that is traditionally the worst time of the year in a harsh environment with difficult logistics.

How to help: To make a tax-deductible contribution please contact the U.S. Fund for UNICEF
Website: www.unicefusa.org/sahel
Toll free : 1-800-FOR-KIDS
Mail: 125 Maiden Lane, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10038

Image Courtesy of   hdptcar

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In Africa, homosexuality is frequently treated as a taboo subject, and outspoken opposition to it is a political vote winner. However, according to Richard Dowden, director at the Royal African Society, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that homosexuality was accepted in many societies throughout Africa in pre-colonial times. In his article, ‘Getting Gay Rights Wrong in Africa,’ Dowden wonders if the missionaries in Africa were to blame.

“So, is it the fault of the missionaries? But, the missionaries also preached against theft and corruption, against sex before marriage, against marrying several wives, or covetousness. Why do so many Africans get outraged and censorious about homosexuality, something that isn’t even one of the Ten Commandments, while tolerating so many sins that are?” ponders Dowden in his article.

Homosexuality on the African continent is frowned upon, and those suspected of being gay face dire consequences. Thirty-eight African countries criminalize same-sex conduct, and LGBT people run the risk of lengthy prison sentences for expressing their sexuality. Sudan, Mauritania, and northern Nigeria even impose the death penalty. Despite variations in enforcement, what many African countries have in common is the criminalization of private acts between consenting adults whose sexuality and gender identity are considered “abnormal.”

Like many other nations, new legislation in Liberia calls for punishing homosexuality with longer jail time. Anti-LGBT rhetoric is escalating outside of the Liberian government with a group calling itself the Movement Against Gays in Liberia, or MOGAL, distributing a hit list of people who support gay rights, stating that these people “should not be given space to get a gulp of air.”

Gay rights debate in Liberia began getting this sort of unprecedented attention in the newspapers and radio stations after the U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, announced in December 2011 that America’s foreign aid budget would promote the protection of gay rights. This, according to Tamasin Ford—a freelance reporter for the BBC and Britain’s newspaper, The Guardian, based in Monrovia —prompted speculation that funds would be tied to countries’ rights records and prompting two new laws.

In the two new bills, one would amend the penal code to make a person guilty of second degree felony if he or she “seduces, encourages, promotes another person of the same gender to engage in sexual activities, or purposefully engages in acts that arouse or tend to arouse another person of the same gender to have sexual intercourse.” The second bill put forward by Jewel Howard Taylor, a senator in Liberia, would make gay marriage a first degree crime punishable by up to 10 years in jail.

Over the years, gay people have been attacked and activists for gay rights killed. In 2010, at least four gay men were attacked in Uganda after a newspaper ran a front-page story listing 100 ‘top’ homosexuals with a heading that read ‘Hang Them’, and a gay activist was killed in 2011.

Image Courtesy of    jerekeys

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Africa has become one of the fastest growing regions in the world, now firmly positioned as a global investment destination of choice. In 2012-13 alone, the continent is expected to grow by 5% and it is estimated that Africa’s GDP could be US$2.6 trillion by 2020.

While it is clear that individual countries perform economically with different levels of success, there are significant business opportunities across the continent driven by an insatiable demand for Africa’s resources, a rapidly growing population with an unprecedented rise in consumer demand, and the related infrastructural development that is urgently required in all areas.

Reflecting on these mega-trends shaping Africa’s future, Tim Bashall, Head of Strategy at KPMG Africa says: “We are obviously dealing here with long term investment strategies. The African story still has elements of political and economic uncertainty but overall business opportunities are greatly improving. Investors are therefore thinking in cycles of 15-20 years.”

Tata Africa’s Managing Director, Raman Dhawan explains that they took a conscious decision to expand into Africa since the leadership of the Indian conglomerate acknowledged the need to export.

“We came to South Africa and Africa to build a footprint on the continent, and we are looking at sectors which are untapped, such as the telecoms. We have successfully managed to establish ourselves in about a dozen countries including South Africa which we consider as a benchmark for our operations in other African countries.”

Many investors are still weary of potential risks of putting money into Africa. Says Tim Bashall: “We are aware that people worry about political risks and change of legislation in different African countries. But it has become a lot better.” African countries have become increasingly stable and there are many promising examples of public sector reforms which have helped to improve the business landscape, including improving regulatory frameworks.

Key to mitigating the risks is to have local presence on the ground which creates relevant and adequate capacity to deal with the prevailing realities and challenges. The lack of well-trained human resources offers a chance to build a work force suited to the business environment.

“We pursue a strategy of hiring global business leaders for our African operations who have proved themselves elsewhere. To us, it is not important where the talent comes from as long as we get the talent we need. Of course, human capital is one of the major business risks in Africa, yet corporations have successfully managed this challenge for decades but have failed to tell the success story,” Says Henri Obi, Chief Operations Officer at Helios Investment Partners.

To potential investors looking for opportunities in Africa, KPMG’s Dapo Okubadejo has a number of suggestions. “Buy and build existing companies, invest in value-chains while adopting partnerships in the logistics and distribution sectors, engage proactively with regulatory institutions, thoroughly build your human capital and adopt a portfolio strategy approach.”

“Doing business in Africa requires a lot of patience and time, but the rewards can be very high. It is important to understand the local cultures in African countries where companies want to invest,” further notes Henri Obi.

Image Courtesy of   Attila JANDI / Shutterstock.com

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The April 12, 2012 coup in Guinea-Bissau, in which Prime Minister Carlos Gomez Junior and Interim President Raimundo Pereira were arrested, has been followed by grave violations of the right to information, including threats to journalists, a news blackout and media censorship.

“The military coup has led to serious restrictions on the freedom to report news and information, although this is vital at times of political unrest, Reporters Without Borders said. “A news blackout, in which all radio and TV stations were closed, has been followed by military control of media content. We hope that the return to political and institutional normality promised by the ruling junta will result in full restoration of media activity.”

At a meeting with media executives on April16, the military high command said they could resume operating as long as they did not mention that protests that have been taking place in the capital. The goal of “constructing peace and national unity” was cited as grounds for this restriction. Reporters Without Borders regards it as the introduction of military censorship.

As well as frequent power cuts and disruption of communications that prevented journalists from working properly, no radio or TV station was able to broadcast programmes or news reports during the weekend after the military high command suspended all media activity for the sake of “national cohesion.”

“Anyone contravening these orders would have been exposed to severe reprisals or would have had to go into a hiding,” a media source told Reporters Without Borders. Only Guinea-Bissau’s state-owned Radio Nacionale, which is occupied by soldiers, continued to broadcast music and military communiqués appealing for calm.

António Aly Silva, a well-known blogger, (Didatura do Consenso, “Dictatorship of Consensus”) was arrested and beaten by soldiers while he was photographing military installations on April 13. They released him a few hours later but confiscated his equipment.

A few hours after attacking the prime minister’s residence on April13, soldiers began controlling everyone entering and leaving the premises of RTP-Africa, a Portuguese news media. Soldiers threatened RTP-Africa journalists at gunpoint and stole cameras and other equipment from them.

Ranked 75th out of 179 countries in the 2011-2012 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index, Guinea-Bissau has undergone frequent coups since independence in 1974. As a result of violence by the security forces and by individuals linked to drug trafficking, the climate is rather hostile for journalism and media freedom.

Reporters Without Borders issued a report on Guinea-Bissau in 2007 report entitled “Cocaine and coups haunt gagged nation.”

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Yoga Aid Foundation, an international nonprofit that raises funds for charities through philanthropic yoga events, announced that it will host the first-ever, one day, around the world yoga tour benefiting 15 humanitarian-based charities internationally.

On September 9, 2012, The Yoga Aid World Challenge will unite yogis around the globe in an effort to raise $1million with 100% percent of the proceeds going directly to the selected charitable organizations.

Starting in Sydney, the 24-hour yoga relay will travel around the world and end at sundown in Los Angeles. The Yoga Aid challenge will bring together renowned teachers, studios and students in over 20 countries, creating a united community, while focusing on raising money for charity. During these events, yogi participants will embark on a 2-hour yoga practice as a way to celebrate the funds they raised for the charity partners.

Unlike any other event, all expenses are supported privately – ensuring 100% of donations go straight to the charities.

The Yoga Aid Challenge supports select charities in each country. This year, the Yoga Aid Challenge has chosen four charities that all embrace the power of yoga to support for the USA leg of the world relay:

• Off the Mat, Into the World
• The Africa Yoga Project
• Ganga Action
• Yoga Across America

“The Yoga Aid family is calling on the entire international yoga community to band together and help us host at least 200 events in 20 countries and raise more than $1 million for charities during the 2012 Challenge,” said Clive Mayhew, Co-founder, Yoga Aid Foundation.  “We could not be more excited for the 2012 Yoga Aid World Challenge, as we hope to raise more money through yoga than ever before.”

Those individuals who are inspired by The Yoga Aid World Challenge are encouraged to signup and become Community Ambassadors. Ambassadors bring The Yoga Aid World Challenge home to their communities by creating, organizing and hosting a local event, whether the venue be a nearby park, studio or community center.

Furthering Yoga Aid’s commitment to giving, the Foundation will provide all of the necessary event tools and funding for the creation of any local event scheduled during the September 9th24-hour global yoga-relay.

“The Yoga Aid World Challenge is more than just our way to give back – it is an international charitable platform uniting all yogis for the greater good and activating a sense of joy in giving back to the world.”Eriko Kinoshita, Co-founder, Yoga Aid Foundation.

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Uganda: Millions of Americans are expected to participate in the “Cover the Night” activities outlined in the viral video phenomenon, Kony2012. Christian aid group World Vision released a video warning that, while now-infamous warlord Joseph Kony no longer threatens Ugandan communities, invisible killers continue to stalk the nation’s children – killers with far more reach than Kony’s army, even at its worst.

The violence executed by Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) was maniacal in its brutality. The LRA targeted innocents, abducting children and forcing them to commit inhumane acts of brutality, often against their own families, before using them as child soldiers in its military campaign. While human toll is hard to calculate, during the early 2000s, an estimated 120 to 150 people died every day as a direct result of the LRA conflict, particularly due to conditions in the squalid displacement camps where many fled to avoid LRA attack.

The LRA left Uganda in 2006, and the millions affected by the war have since been rebuilding their lives after a generation of war. But as they do, poverty-related diseases like malaria, diarrhea and malnutrition continue to kill hundreds of Ugandan children every day. Some 4% of infants in Uganda die in their first year of life; 9% die before the age of five.

“I experienced Kony’s violence myself,” said James Odong, who was abducted by the LRA at the age of 19. “I saw children killed – their lives tragically cut short. Today, hundreds of Uganda’s children were taken by the invisible killers of malaria, malnutrition and diarrhea. These deaths aren’t violent, but each loss is tragic.” Odong now serves as World Vision’s associate director for peace building.

During the conflict, World Vision provided counseling and support to former child soldiers through its Children of War Rehabilitation Program. Outside of Uganda, World Vision offices carried out extensive advocacy campaigns to raise awareness and political support for a peaceful end to the conflict.

Now that peace has returned to Uganda, World Vision’s community development programs – funded by the sponsorships of thousands of children in Uganda – continue to help provide anti-malarial bed nets, clean water systems, rehydration treatment, nutritional education, agricultural training and many more initiatives to combat these silent killers – each and every day.

All of these killers are easily prevented and easily treated with the right resources. Extreme poverty keeps most of these children’s families from accessing the preventative care and treatment they need, but with the support of groups like World Vision and others, many of these families are gaining access to lifesaving resources.

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A new report by 13 leading international and Congolese civil society groups asks the international community and Congolese government to urgently agree upon a new deal to reform the Congolese military. The report argues that the lack of political will to reform the security sector in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) risks not only billions of dollars of international aid but also the stability of the country.

“At the end of the day, many of Congo’s seemingly intractable conflict-related problems can be traced back to dysfunctional security services: the army, police and courts. The Congolese government has failed to take concrete action to reform these vital institutions,” said Emmanuel Kabengele, National Coordinator of the Congolese civil society Network for Security Sector Reform and Justice.

“Yet the international community has continued to sustain the government, investing money and effort with no actual return. It’s high time that donors demand that Congo engage in real army reform.”

The report, Taking a Stand on Security Sector Reform, was completed after extensive research and interviews in DRC and donor countries. It argues that the army not only fails to provide security but actively preys upon the population, being one of the major perpetrators of human rights violations in the country.

“An effective security sector – organized, resourced, trained and vetted – is essential to solving problems from recruitment of child soldiers, internal displacement and rape, to economic growth or the trade in conflict minerals,” says the report.

The report concludes that the main reason for the failure of army reform in DRC is a lack of political will from parts of the Congolese government – notably those elements which have benefited from endemic corruption.

“The very people in senior positions of the government and military who are responsible for effecting reform continue to profit from the current army, either in raking off salaries of servicemen, kickbacks, or involvement in illegal mining, trade or protection rackets” said Dismas Kitenge, President of the Congolese organization, Groupe Lotus and Vice-President of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)

The paper underscores the critical role the international community must play. In just five years, the report documents that donor countries alone have invested more than $14 billion into the DRC.

Yet only 1%, or $140 million, was spent on security sector reform. International aid is now equivalent to nearly half of the DRC’s annual budget. As such, donors have considerable leverage over Congo. Yet despite this enormous investment, the DRC has actually gone backwards. The DRC is ranked last in the world on the UN’s main development index.

“The international community’s investment in DRC has yielded poor results. Numerous armed groups send thousands of child soldiers into battle, and women and children continue to bear the brunt of violence. Adequate health care and personal security remain the exception rather than the rule,” said Ben Affleck, Actor, Director and Founder of Eastern Congo Initiative (ECI).

“Donors must work to convince the Congolese government to undertake drastic military reform. Unless a new course of action is adopted, we run the risk of losing much of the investment that has already been made.”

The costs of accepting the status quo are high, for the Congolese people but also for the international community. In addition to the traditional donors – US, EU, UK, France and Belgium – key partners such as China, South Africa, and Angola all have a vested interest in the stability and long-term prosperity of the DRC.

“The new government must seize the opportunity to refocus attention on implementing sustainable and effective reform,” said Pascal Kambale from the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA). “Now is the time for the international community and Congolese government to work together to reform the police and army so that Congo is capable of protecting its own civilians.”

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In yet another unwarranted act of aggression, South Sudan and its proxy forces again heinously attacked and occupied Heglig on April 10th, an area that is indisputably a Sudanese territory.

The assault comes in the midst of strenuous peace-building efforts exerted by the African Union High-level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) whose chairman recently visited with both countries to push for dialogue. This attack is in direct contravention of those efforts and therefore clear proof that South Sudan is neither serious nor interested in forging peace with Sudan.

This latest incident also reinforces the ominous culture of impunity, which enables South Sudan and its proxies to launch attacks in Sudan killing scores of innocent civilians and there would be no international reprimand.

There hasn’t been a single statement from those that are fond of wielding cameras to battle fields to capture the images of those massacred; nor was there a word from those with satellite imagery regarding the movement of thousands of SPLA troops invading Sudan with very visible tanks and heavy artillery. It is a glaring double-standard that speaks volumes to the Sudanese who as a result are increasingly growing cynical of all the talk of Humanitarianism.

The Government of Sudan reiterates its commitment to peace and opposition to aggression. However it will defend the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country when war is imposed on it, as is clearly the case now. In accordance with the United Nations charter and the International Law, Sudan reserves its legitimate right to respond to this and any further aggression as it sees fit.

The international community is also called upon to bear witness to this provocation and forcefully condemn what is an obvious and blatant act of war. In this regard, it must be recalled that Sudan already has a number of complaints that it has previously submitted to the Security Council regarding South Sudan’s aggression and support of rebels, all of which continue to be ignored.

Sudan also urges South Sudan to realize that it isn’t in the interest of its citizens to wage a war that it clearly cannot win. Neither is this ill-conceived strategy of “attack and withdraw” prudent, as irreparable damage is caused to Sudan and its people whose patience is wearing thin. The Government of South Sudan must change course and shun this aggressive posture before it’s too late.

Image Courtesy of   babasteve

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A matter on many minds is whether the young generation is ready to take up positions of power and live up to society’s expectations. Francesca Martonffy, director at Global Changemakers, says “there is often a misconception, that ‘matters that affect the world’ are something discussed by people ‘in charge,’ in the halls of power of distant world capitals.”

In this exclusive interview with Toonari Post, Martonffy says what the young people do or say is as relevant to the world as the latest meeting of G8 finance ministers. She also speaks about Global Changemakers’ mission to empower young people to create social impact on the societies of the world.

Toonari Post (TP): Tell us about yourself, your studies and your work.

Francesca Martonffy (FM): I come from a family of five sisters and grew up with a sense that what mattered most was using your unique set of skills to give back to the world.

Not surprisingly, I studied political science in university and international security and political economy in graduate school because I thought learning as much about the world as I could was probably a good first step in figuring out how to give back. I’ve worked across sectors – in Washington DC where I helped run an NGO focused on international affairs education, in the policy sphere, at the World Economic Forum, where I was a Global Leadership Fellow and now as Director of Global Changemakers.

While I’ve worked across a large number of issues from foreign policy to education to social entrepreneurship, what drives me continues to be the same values I learned from my mother – learn, give, and grow as much as you can. And never take yourself too seriously!

TP: Global Changemakers was inspired by the fact that young people were not being given a voice at major world events such as the World Economic Forum. Are young people now given a chance to participate in matters that affect the world?

FM: I think there is often a misconception that ‘matters that affect the world’ are something discussed by people ‘in charge’ in the halls of power of distant world capitals. Yet, there are three billion individuals under the age of twenty-five today. Surely, what these individuals learn, experience, and create on a daily basis is as relevant to affecting the world as the latest meeting of G8 finance ministers.

We all – young and old alike – decide on a daily basis how we interact with the world and what kind of impact we make on it. In terms of whether young voices are being heard at major world gatherings, I think institutions are broadening the set of stakeholders with whom they engage and generally doing a better job across the board.

Due to a number of factors, including social media, institutions are finding themselves being held accountable to wider and more diverse sets of stakeholders than ever before.

TP: What is the scope of The Global Changemakers movement?

FM: Global Changemakers is a British Council funded global youth network of social entrepreneurs and community activists from 126 countries worldwide. Its mission is to empower youth to catalyse positive social change, something which it achieves through:learning and teaching; Global and regional summits, community and personal capacity building supported by free online curriculum.

TP: What difference has Global Changemakers made since it came into existence in 2007?

FM: There are currently nearly 800 Changemakers, more than 200,000 young people involved in Global Changemakers activities each year, and four million beneficiaries of projects developed and run by Changemakers. Since its inception in 2007, Global Changemakers has organised and run over 20 regional and global youth workshops across the world – in Amman, Beirut, Cape Town, Doha, Delhi, Gaborone, Harare, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro and London, among others.

Global Changemakers have been invited to participate in World Economic Forum events in Cartagena, Dar es Salaam, Sharm el Sheikh, Cape Town, Rio de Janeiro and Davos, the Clinton Global Initiative, G20, UN World Climate Conference, UNESCO Peace Summits, Women Deliver, and the launch of the World Bank’s Youth Anti-Corruption network, among others.

Individual and group projects address key global issues and facilitate joint working and create shared values: 193 projects in 78 countries supported to date. The Global Changemakers community is represented at high-level events and disseminates best practices in youth-led development

TP: What challenges have you faced in bringing together young people together from all over the world?

FM: Of course, there are the administrative challenges of tickets and passports and visas which can quickly become all-consuming and quite complex when you’re trying to physically bring together individuals from so many different countries, some of whom have never travelled before. But generally speaking, we haven’t faced too many challenges.

It doesn’t mean that the journey of becoming a Changemaker is an easy one. We’ve had many Changemakers tell us that attending a Global Changemakers summit has been quite difficult because they have been forced to confront certain issues or had their views or beliefs challenged in fundamental ways.

The challenge for us as the organizers has been to ensure that we create an environment of respect and openness where all views are fairly heard and where individuals can draw their own conclusions.

TP: What is your opinion on the current efforts of female empowerment in developing countries?

FM: I think it’s important to start by recognizing how much things have progressed for women in the last fifty years – in developed and developing world alike. Yet women still bear the brunt of many of the issues facing the developing world – lack of access to quality education, poor health, poverty, and limited economic mobility.

In terms of the present efforts, one would have to break it down country-by-country to see what is working, where, and why. Generally, however, most of the new data from development institutions like the World Bank is encouraging. Things are getting better for many women. But there is still much work to do.

TP: Tell us a bit about the forthcoming Euro-Africa Youth Summit in Brussels.

FM: The Euro-Africa Summit in Brussels will bring 60 new Changemakers from 34 countries into the Global Changemakers family. We’re planning five intense days of activities where participants will learn about the key economic, political, and social issues facing Africa and Europe, gain concrete skills like project management and fundraising to better design and deliver their grass-roots work, and connect to other young activists in order to exchange knowledge and best practices.The summit is designed to amp up the current skill set of participants so they return to their home countries able to do even more.

TP: Are there specific requirements for someone to become a member of the Global Changemakers?

FM: Yes. In order to become a Global Changemaker, an individual must be selected for one of our events. Selection criteria are:

• Age (we work with those between the ages of 16 and 25, though different ones of our events target different subgroups in that bracket)
• Track record (individuals must have a proven track record of social entrepreneurship, community activism or volunteer work)
• English (individuals must possess good spoken command of English so that they can share ideas and best practices with their fellow Changemakers)

However, to be active in the larger Global Changemakers community – as over 15,000 are already either on our website and/or Facebook – all you need is an interest in making a positive change. While we will never be able to meet the demand – we have 10-20 times more applications than places available for our events– our wider community and online curricula are a great way for all who are interested to engage and to make effective change in their local communities.

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The talks between Sudan and South Sudan, facilitated by the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP), preparatory to an extraordinary meeting of the Joint Political and Security Mechanism (JPSM) concluded on Wednesday, April 4 in Addis Ababa, with significant progress towards agreement on all items on the agenda.

After several days of bilateral intensive discussion, the Parties  invited the AUHIP to prepare a document for their consideration. Wednesday morning, the Panel presented this document to the Parties, in the form of a draft Joint Decision for Reduction of Tension between the Republic of the Sudan and the Republic of South Sudan.

The talks were conducted against a background of escalating armed conflict along the countries’ common border and in Southern Kordofan State. The Panel is deeply concerned about this fighting, and its humanitarian and political implications.

In developing its draft, the Panel consulted closely with its partners, including IGAD and its Chairman, the United Nations, the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway and the European Union. Building upon the Memorandum of Understanding on Non-Aggression and Cooperation, signed by the parties on 10 February, and on UN Security Council Resolution 2024 of December 2012, and in the light of the Parties’ declared intention to proceed in a “new spirit” of partnership, the Panel’s proposal included the following six agenda items:

1. 1. Immediate implementation of all previous JPSM agreements and decisions;

2. 2. An end to negative media propaganda by both sides;

3. 3. Immediate cessation of hostilities between the two states;

4. 4. The withdrawal of the armed forces of each state that may be in the territory of the other state;

5. 5. The establishment of verification mechanisms including the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mission, which is to be supported by the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA);

6. 6. Preparations for the planned Summit meeting.

The proposal strongly emphasized the immediate activation of implementation mechanisms, including verification and monitoring in the border areas.

The delegation of the Republic of South Sudan accepted the AUHIP’s draft proposed Joint Decision. The Panel commended the delegation for its timely decision.

The delegation of the Government of the Republic of Sudan responded positively and will undertake further consultations in Khartoum before finalizing its position. The Panel acknowledged this position.

The Panel will immediately travel to Juba and Khartoum to meet the two Presidents and discuss with them the forthcoming Summit.

The AUHIP commends the co-chairs of the JPSM on their determination to continue negotiations at this time of heightened tension, in a positive new spirit of partnership, with a commitment to meet and finalize the document in the coming days.

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Echelon Corporation announced two micro grid deployments in India and South Africa that integrate distributed generation to compensate for disruptions in utility-supplied power. The first-of-its-kind in the two countries, the micro grid deployments involve dynamically managing demand and energy supply mix for a residential community and a retail mall to deliver reliable service cost-effectively.

The model micro grid deployments are at Palm Meadows in Hyderabad, India, and Clearwater Mall in Johannesburg, South Africa. Palm Meadows is an 86-acre integrated gated community with 335 homes and residential services. Clearwater Mall in Johannesburg is a retail building with more than 240 stores.

Such micro grids are likely to be a best practice in emerging countries grappling with intermittent power supply, and are also applicable in environmentally conscious countries that are aggressively incorporating renewable and intermittent energy sources into the distribution network.

“Smart micro grids are an ideal way to integrate local generation at the community level and allow for customer participation in the electricity enterprise,” said Michael Anderson, senior vice president of Worldwide Markets for Echelon. “Micro grids sit at the edge of the smart grid and provide real-time analysis, decision making and control.

The Palm Meadows and Clearwater Mall deployments are great examples of how Echelon’s commitment to leading the worldwide transformation of the electricity grid into an energy control network can foster market innovation. The concepts demonstrated in India and South Africa can be replicated worldwide to improve power reliability and to integrate energy efficiency solutions as well as renewable generation.”

The Palm Meadows community ties into the grid at a dedicated substation and sources energy in bulk from the utility. The community also runs diesel generators and will incorporate solar generation in the future. Residences within the community are equipped with Echelon smart meters that connect into data concentrators at distribution transformers and feed near real-time usage information to Echelon’s Networked Energy Systems (NES) system software.

Echelon partner Grene Robotics’ Skynet management application automatically turns on local generation if utility-delivered power is inadequate. The Skynet software interfaces with the NES system software and creates a bill for the customer that reflects the customers’ actual use of lower cost grid power and more expensive locally generated power.

Customers have the option of reducing usage at times when the more expensive energy is being supplied. The Palm Meadows micro grid is providing reliable service even during frequent utility grid outages and enabling the customer to make intelligent trade-offs between comfort and cost.

“When you flip that light switch, turn your television on, or boot up your computer, you expect power,” said Kiran Penmatcha, CEO of Grene Robotics. “Like a national power grid, the Palm Meadows micro grid manages generation, distribution, and the regulation of the flow of electricity to its households.

We are pleased to have helped implement a proven, open and multi-application energy control infrastructure that enables Palm Meadows to become distributors of energy within their community. Today, the community is evaluating the integration of solar generated electricity for the future. On March 29, the community may look to add other applications, such as outdoor lighting control on the same infrastructure.”

The frequency and length of blackouts in South Africa can have devastating effects on its commercial sector. For example, the local South African public utility had to institute a system of rolling blackouts over a period of four months to balance electricity demand, in which supply was interrupted at least once or twice a day on an average of four hours at a time.

The Clearwater Mall tenants, which consist of nine anchor stores, and more than two hundred other local and international fashion and quick serve food outlets, restaurants, banks, electronic goods and other specialty stores, require reliable electricity so they can continue to run their business.

The mall’s new retail micro grid solution based on Echelon partner PMT’s Meteringonline energy management application, employs Echelon smart meters, data concentrators, and NES system software to submeter individual tenant usage, so they can pay only for their actual energy usage rather than the industry norm of paying for energy on a square footage basis. Furthermore, tenants can opt-in to power supplied by local back-up generation when blackouts occur.

PMT’s Meteringonline application interfaces to Echelon’s system software and reconciles usage with energy source, allocating tariffs based on actual use. The on-demand energy services allow the store owners to manage their energy usage and associated costs and maximize revenues.

“South Africa experiences major power shortages with rolling blackouts on a regular basis, therefore implementing a rock solid energy control networking platform for Clearwater Mall and its tenants was of utmost importance,” said Graeme Mellis, director of PMT. “The Echelon solution with our Meteringonline system software created a perfect micro grid solution for Clearwater Mall to deliver multiple applications to its tenants, such as submetering, selective back up generation and consolidated billing.”

According to Pike Research, interest in implementing micro grids is spreading among educational, commercial, government, healthcare, industrial, and research campuses. A new report from Pike Research forecasts that total installed generation capacity for campus micro grids will increase by 164% between 2011 and 2017, rising from 620 megawatts (MW) to 1.6 gigawatts (GW).

By the end of the forecast period in 2017, the clean tech market intelligence firm anticipates that the campus micro grid market will reach $777 million in annual revenue.

“Micro grids are an aggregation and optimization platform that can squeeze the most value out of existing and new distributed energy assets, whether they are solar photovoltaic generation technology or smart meters enabling demand response.

Micro grids are the building blocks of a smart grid whose modularity can shrink energy consumption by 10 to 15% through more intelligent networking,” said Peter Asmus, senior analyst at Pike Research.

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As the situation worsens in the Sahel, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is appealing for 12.3 million Swiss francs (about 10 million euros) in order to bring aid to some 700,000 people in Mali and Niger and thereby help forestall a major humanitarian crisis in the two countries.

“People in Mali and Niger are facing a twofold crisis: the food insecurity that has afflicted the entire region, and the fighting in the north of Mali that is driving massive displacement,” said Boris Michel, the ICRC’s head of operations for North and West Africa.

The armed confrontations that have occurred in northern Mali in recent weeks have forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes in utter destitution and to seek refuge either within Mali, as at least 60,000 people have done, or in neighbouring countries. Those who have fled to Niger are concentrated in the northern Tillabéry region, one of the areas hardest hit by the food crisis and the scene of recent inter-community violence.

“The fighting has resulted in casualties. In addition, people have been taken captive and families have been dispersed,” said Mr Michel. The ICRC’s priorities are to visit people detained in connection with the fighting and to provide care for the wounded either directly, through the Mali Red Cross or by supporting health-care facilities.

“We also plan to continue to provide aid for displaced people,” added Mr Michel. “We are preparing to distribute food to 84,000 people and emergency supplies to around 60,000. Shelter, clean drinking water, hygiene items and health care will also be made available as needed.”

The fighting in northern Mali is further straining a part of the Sahel already hard hit by a lack of rainfall and by recurrent food crises. “The shortfall in agricultural production and the lack of feed for the livestock are affecting countless families of farmers and herders in Mali and Niger,” said Mr Michel. “Some of them were never able to recover from the effects of the crisis of two years ago. Their situation is particularly difficult.”

The aid that the ICRC plans to provide is intended for people in the Kidal, Gao and Tombouctou areas in the north of Mali, and in the Tillabéry and Agadez areas of Niger. “What we are striving to achieve is not only to save lives but also to provide support for the people’s own resilience,” said Mr Michel.

Accordingly, the plan includes distributing food to over 240,000 people, buying livestock at a reasonable price to preserve the livelihood of 120,000 nomads, and distributing seed to increase the productive capacity of 90,000 farmers. The funds requested will be additional to the 22.3 million Swiss francs (approximately 18.3 million euros) initially budgeted for 2012.

In addition to the emergency actions it is taking in Mali and Niger, the ICRC conducts longer-term activities in the two countries, in particular to help detainees and to improve economic security, access to water and health care. The ICRC has been performing its humanitarian tasks in the region in close cooperation with the Mali Red Cross and the Red Cross Society of Niger since 2009.

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The humanitarian situation in South Kordofan that has garnered international concern, and which some have now exploited to push an agenda of intervention, prompted the formation of a joint assessment team composed of UN agencies (UNICEF, WFP, WHO, FAO), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and NGOs. Their report just concluded that the humanitarian situation in the region is at “Normal levels” and that food security is “good” and stable for the conflict-affected population of 53,220.

The survey covered a sample of 53 villages in the region and found the levels of malnutrition among children under the age of five to be at 4.4 percent, a figure that is far below 15 percent which constitutes the United Nation’s rate of emergency. These sobering findings emphatically refute and contravene the claims of imminent catastrophe claimed by scaremongers.

These encouraging statistics are a function of the humanitarian interventions dispensed by the Government and partners aimed precisely at mitigating the impact of the conflict on the population. The assessment further notes the need for coordination between the humanitarian actors and recommends an extension of the period of food assistance in order to avoid shortages while concurrently generating programs for supplementary and therapeutic diet.

It also calls for creating quick impact projects in host communities to support farmers, pastoralists and traders. While the government and partners continue to provide assistance, there ultimately remains a security threat posed by the rebels who continue to launch attacks against civilians and deliberately destroy their livelihoods. Still, this stresses the need on all stakeholders and the peace-loving to pressure the rebels to abandon this destruction and pursue peace.

Sudan continues to call on South Sudan to recognize its negative role in this crisis and cease its support to the rebels. And in order for the U.S. and those pushing for an intervention to play a constructive role, they must look at the facts on the ground not the exaggerated allegations.

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Cargill’s cocoa & chocolate business – in close cooperation with the Ghana Cocoa Board – is expanding its Cargill Sustainable Cocoa Program with the launch of an extensive four year commitment to farmer training in Ghana.

The training will be delivered in partnership with Ghanaian licensed cocoa buying company Akuafo Adamfo and the non-governmental organization Solidaridad West Africa. This program aims to train 15,000 farmers and support cocoa farming communities over the next four years in the Ashanti and Western regions of Ghana.

In Farmer Field Schools, farmers will receive extensive training to help them rejuvenate cocoa farms and apply best agricultural practices related to pest control, harvest and post-harvest practices. The initiative will also cover social issues like raising awareness of HIV and the importance of schooling for children. Crucially the program will help strengthen farmer organizations and encourage knowledge sharing amongst cocoa growers. All training will be in accordance with the UTZ Certified Code of Conduct.

“Helping farmers adopt better farming practices so they can improve the quality and size of their yields is a central part of the Cargill Sustainable Cocoa Program,” explained Kojo Amoo-Gottfried, Managing Director of Cargill Ghana. “Over the next four years, these training activities will help Ghanaian cocoa farmers to achieve better results and benefit from achieving UTZ certification.”

The target for the first year is to train 5,000 farmers to become independently certified. By 2016 the program aims to have significantly improved agricultural practices adopted by farmers and farmer organizations. Throughout the program, agricultural extension officers from the Ghana Cocoa Board will receive coaching to act as facilitators in order to provide farmers with guidance and best practice examples.

The certified cocoa beans will be processed at Cargill’s state-of-the-art cocoa processing plant in Tema and can be traced throughout the supply chain as they become Gerkens(R) Ghana cocoa powders – used by food manufacturers worldwide. From certified farmer to final product, Cargill is developing a fully traceable and sustainable cocoa supply chain in Ghana.

Anthony Fofie, Chief Executive of the Ghana Cocoa Board, said: “We are pleased to see that Cargill is investing in sustainable cocoa farming practices in Ghana and is strengthening its current efforts. This new program of farmer training will complement our existing initiatives and assist in our development of the industry, by improving the lives and living standards of Ghanaian cocoa farmers.”

The launch of farmer training in Ghana complements Cargill’s successful farmer training activities in Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Vietnam and underlines Cargill’s belief that training farmers successfully is key to building a sustainable supply chain as well as helping increase farmers’ incomes and supporting the future growth of cocoa farming.

The Cargill Sustainable Cocoa Program

The Cargill Sustainable Cocoa Program ensures a better life for cocoa farmers and their families and strengthens the cocoa supply chain for the future, exercising responsible environmental stewardship.

The program increases farmer incomes through efficient cocoa production. It offers tangible customer solutions which enable them to join Cargill in the journey towards a sustainable future for cocoa.

For more information visit: for EMEA http://www.cargillcocoachocolate.com and for North America http://www.cargill.com/food/cocoachocolate

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Dr Duncan Clarke, Chairman & CEO, Global Pacific & Partners, says: “Our focus is on Shaping Africa’s Future, as Africa holds great commercial promise, its destiny to be unlocked by local and foreign investment, enhanced trade and development partnerships, along with competitive business strategies across its landscapes.”

“Africa is not poor, but poorly managed: It needs more growth and investment”

Dr Clarke continues: “The Forum will address leading-edge shifts in Africa’s evolving economies, critical investment and business concerns, and the Continent’s emerging role and strategic position within a highly competitive and rapidly globalising world.”

The 6th Annual Africa Economic Forum will bring together Africa’s leading industries, companies, state players, senior executives, and government officials to interface in a content-rich meeting, including players from countries outside Africa, and so connect fast-growth core industries inside and outside Africa’s economies.

Global Pacific & Partners is delighted to announce CNN International as the Exclusive International Broadcast Partner for the 2012 program.

The 6th Annual Africa Economic Forum will include the 13th Southern Africa Oil, Gas& Energy Conference, as three intensive break-away sessions. These will focus on oil/gas exploration/development both offshore and onshore, shale gas/oil resources, power projects, renewable energy and energy efficiency, downstream oil markets and Southern Africa’s future fuels mix.

The Conference features Keynote Ministerial Addresses from Hon Dr Rob Davies, Minister of Trade & Industry (South Africa) and Hon Elizabeth Dipuo Peters, Minister of Energy (South Africa).

In addition, the 5th Sub-Saharan Africa Business Briefing takes place one day prior the 6th Africa Economic Forum, on Monday 5th March 2012, with unique insights provided on the prospects, potential and future economic outlook for business and investment across the Continent. Presented by Dr Duncan Clarke, Chairman & CEO, Global Pacific & Partners, a leading economic strategist on Africa.

Dr Duncan Clarke has been an Advisor to African governments and oil companies while the Company runs the Continent’s largest annual oil and gas management meeting, the landmark Africa Oil Week, now in its 19th year, held in Cape Town.

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American Jewish World Service (AJWS), an international development and human rights organization, and The Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA), the public affairs arm of the organized American Jewish community, have spearheaded an effort to organize faith-based leaders to warn of an impending humanitarian disaster in Sudan and urge the Obama administration to step up diplomacy aimed at convincing the Sudanese government to allow international humanitarian aid into Sudan’s border regions.

Over the past five months, fighting has escalated and millions remain trapped in the conflict without access to food. The region faces famine unless the Sudanese government allows a resumption of aid.

The AJWS and JCPA released letters to Secretary Clinton signed by over 350 rabbis and Jewish leaders and 15 prominent figures from across the faith community. These faith leaders called on the Obama administration to amplify efforts to reach a negotiated solution with the Sudanese government. If an agreement cannot be reached, the faith community hopes the U.S. will develop alternative plans to ensure aid reaches at-risk civilians.

“The faith community has joined together, calling in one voice for the U.S. to use its leadership and influence to protect the Sudanese people from what appears to be intentional starvation,” said JCPA president Rabbi Steve Gutow. “This disaster is not brought by weather or accidental circumstance, but rather because available food supplies are being prevented from reaching the people of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

We will not stand idly by, watching as entire populations are denied the opportunity to live a full life. Humanitarian groups are ready and able to help, and the U.S. must ensure that they are free to do so.”

“Food is an essential human need, not a weapon of war,” said Ruth Messinger, president of AJWS. “We know that people will soon begin dying and becoming malnourished in staggering numbers. The world cannot and must not passively watch people starve as humanitarian aid supplies are being obstructed and those who wish to flee are blocked. The faith community expects our leaders in government to step up their efforts and their level of urgency to stop this preventable disaster.”

Messinger and Rabbi Gutow will meet with Samantha Power, Senior Director for Multilateral Affairs, National Security Council, to discuss the Obama administration’s efforts in the region.

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