|
2008 News Archive
 SIGN-UP to receive our eBulletin
Latest News
2007 News Archive
2006 News Archive
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
October 2008
>> Annan: Financial crisis undercuts global food aid
Wealthy nations are reneging on commitments to help feed the world's hungry, former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan has told an international conference in Dublin on combating starvation organised by Concern. Annan, speaking on World Food Day, said 10,000 children in the Third World would die from malnutrition on Thursday alone. And this, he said, should be viewed as a tragedy as great as the collapse of a bank.
Annan declined to identify specific nations and their financial shortcomings on aid. So did several representatives of aid organizations at Thursday's conference. All said it was foolish to risk annoying potential sources of funding. However, U.S. economist Jeffrey Sachs said that the biggest donor, the United States, was also "the No. 1 offender" - because its aid equals just 0.16% of its GDP, the lowest on the table (Jerusalem Post, 19/10/08).
Sachs told The Associated Press that it was predictable — but false — for wealthy nations to cite the cost of bank bailouts as a reason to drop African agriculture down the list. That issue has always been near the bottom of world priorities, he said (AP, 16/10/08).
However, he told the conference that Ireland's commitment to its aid programmes was a "great tribute to Irish leadership and a great message for the rest of the world". He questioned how well-governed the rich world was, and said that it was a nonsense that the whole of Africa was poorly governed. He also said that there are at least 4 billion in a food crisis if one takes into account the 1 billion overweight and the effect of food prices on obesity - the cheaper foods and calories are the least healthy. At the end of the speech, he called on Ireland to be the first contributor to a global fund for smallholder agriculture (watch the speeches by Kofi Annan and Jeffrey Sachs).
Ireland has established a Hunger Task Force to identify the contributions that the country can make to international efforts to reduce hunger. Last month, it presented its report to An Taoiseach, Brian Cowen at the UN in the presence of UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. The report makes recommendations in three key areas:
- improving smallholder productivity in Africa;
- enhancing efforts to tackle maternal and infant under-nutrition; and
- delivering on existing commitments and ensuring coherence in the international architecture to address hunger (Irish Aid).
Context: Foreign aid "the one thing we might have to slow down" - Biden (Connect-World, October 2008), Fall in Irish development assistance. 0.7% target 'on course' says DFA (Connect-World, July 2008). More on the Food Crisis and latest news.
>> 9 million Ugandans, 213 million Africans starving - Ugandan President
At celebrations to mark the World Food Day in Tororo, Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni has said that close to nine million Ugandans are starving due to food shortage caused by the effects of climate changes that threaten Uganda's economy. Mr Museveni said at least 213 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa are starving in a speech read on his behalf (Daily Monitor, 20/10/08).
Museveni's estimate is considerably greater than the 4.6 million Ugandans that are undernourished according to the World Food Programme interactive hunger map. According to the map, there are 820 million undernourished people in the developing world, with the highest concentration in sub-Saharan Africa. Others have made even higher estimates.
>> Uganda elected to UN Security Council
Better news for Uganda was its election to succeed South Africa as the non-permanent member of the United Nations (UN) Security Council for a two year term from the first of January next year. Uganda returns to the Security Council chamber after 26 years of absence. Of the 15 seats in the Security Council, Africa is the only continent without a permanent seat and veto power (SABC News, 18/10/08).
According to the Uganda Ministry of Foreign affairs, Uganda will use its time on the Council to focus on peace and security as well as economic issues (African Press Agency, 18/10/08) with diplomatic officials suggesting that the country will use its position to try to resolve the disputes in Great Lakes region, particularly Burundi, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and further on in Darfur and Somalia, according to an editorial in Uganda's Daily Monitor (20/10/08), and to put increased pressure on the Lord's Resistance Army rebel group, according to VOA (16/10/08).
However, the Ugandan editorial warned that: "Ordinary citizens, civil society and the opposition must ensure that they do not allow government to trade its support to the global superpowers on the Security Council for an unfettered license to be despotic and undemocratic at home."
Uganda's election follows its ranking this month as one of the fastest risers in the latest Ibrahim Index of African Governance (see next story), putting it in the top 20. Its most notable improvement was in Participation and Human Rights. However Ugandan governance and human rights are not free from controversy (see Girls being "raped for grades", says aid agency and Ugandan land deal under investigation below).
The other UN seats went to Mexico, Japan, Austria and Turkey. Iran and Iceland lost out (Washington Post, 18/10/08) - Iran blames intolerance (Reuters, 18/10/08).
>> Governance improving in Irish Aid program countries
The Ibrahim Index of African Governance 2008 (press release, October 6, 2008) shows that standards of governance are improving in almost two thirds of sub-Saharan African countries.
"Obscured by many of the headlines of the past few months, the real story coming out of Africa is that governance performance across a large majority of African countries is improving" according to Mo Ibrahim, the founder and Chairman of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation which publishes the index. "According to this comprehensive analysis, progress is being made across the continent against a range of key governance indicators."
Mary Robinson, a member of the Board of the Foundation, and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and President of Ireland, says: “It is particularly fitting that during the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights we are seeing the most notable improvement in governance take place within the category of participation and human rights...”
Almost all of the countries where Irish Aid works in Africa have shown an improvement, and in the case of Uganda there has been a significant improvement - it has risen eight places from last year (Irish Aid; see also story above).
>> Botswana's Festus Mogae wins the largest prize in the world
The Mo Ibrahim Foundation established the multi-million dollar Ibrahim Prize, launched in October 2006 as an initiative to support great African leadership. Festus Gontebanye Mogae, the former President of Botswana, has been announced today as the winner of the 2008 Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership (20/10/08). The decision was made by a prize committee which includes Kofi Annan and Mary Robinson.
>> Tsvangirai says Mugabe does not want to negotiate - Zimbabwe summit postponed
An emergency summit to try to end a deadlock in the formation of a unity government in Zimbabwe has been postponed until Oct. 27, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) said on Monday. Morgan Tsvangirai, the head of the MDC, refused to attend, citing the Zimbabwe government's failure to provide him with a new passport (Reuter AlertNet, 20/10/08).
Tsvangirai characterised failed talks to form a unity government with President Robert Mugabe as "a monologue". "The past four days have been a dialogue of the deaf," Tsvangirai told thousands of supporters in the second city of Bulawayo on Saturday (AFP, 19/10/08). "We had to tell Mbeki it was no use continuing with negotiations with someone who does not want to negotiate."
The army is waiting for constitutional change before it will recognise Tsvangirai as Prime Minister (Sunday News, 19/10/08).
>> Movement on African, Caribbean and Pacific (APC) European Economic Partnership Agreement
In Barbados on October 15th, at the fifth attempt, following four years of negotiations, 13 Caribbean countries approved a new Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union. Two more may soon join in (Economist, 16/10/08).
John Agyekum Kufour, president of Ghana and President-in-Office of the 6th Summit of ACP heads of state and government, said the ACP Summit "engaged in high level consultations on the EPA, with a number of EU member states." He said the ACP states have decided to instruct the President of Council and the Secretary-General of the group to explore with key stakeholders of the European Union and the council of Ministers the possible creation of an ACP Free Trade Area (mathaba.net, 06/10/08).
Oxfam Ireland has criticised the EU-APC trade negotiations in the past (press release, 21/04/08).
>> Hundreds quit ANC in Philippi stronghold
Hundreds of ANC members have resigned from the party at a meeting in Philippi where former Gauteng premier Mbhazima Shilowa told the gathering: "Those who think we are few, are making a very big mistake" (Cape Argus, 20/10/08). The discontent has been prompted by leadership divisions within the ANC. See also Motlanthe to replace Mbeki; ANC Split rumoured and Mbeki’s resignation “tragedy” for Mugabe - Analyst (Connect-World, September 2008).
>> Science the key to solving Africa's problems
Science is at the heart of solutions to African problems such as poverty, drought and famine, write Janez Potoaçnik and Jean-Pierre Ezin, the commissioners for science and research in the European and African Unions, in Rwanda's The New Times (SciDev.Net, 14/10/08).
>> Global public goods "chronically undersupplied" - World Bank IEG
Reducing poverty in any individual country is increasingly intertwined with making progress on shared global challenges-fostering global public goods such as climate protection and communicable disease control according to a new report: the World Bank Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) Annual Review of Development Effectiveness 2008: Shared Global Challenges.
"Preventing climate change, controlling communicable diseases, managing a fair trading system-shared global challenges are those major opportunities for the promotion of human well-being and poverty alleviation that require coordinated global action that cross borders. Individual actors at the local, regional, or national level do not have the incentive or wherewithal to take action, and so these global public goods-as they are called--are chronically undersupplied even when there is widespread recognition of the urgency of worldwide collective action", according to the report website. "Progress in agriculture in Bangladesh or Mozambique can be wiped out by natural disasters aggravated by climate change”, explained Thomas O’Brien, the report’s lead author (press release September 26, 2008).
>> Girls being "raped for grades", says aid agency
Girls as young as 10 are being forced to have sex by their teachers to pass exams, and threatened with poor grades if they refuse, according to a report on school violence published by aid agency Plan. In Uganda, researchers found 8 percent of 16 and 17 year-old boys and girls questioned had had sex with their teachers and 12 percent with ancillary staff. The World Health Organisation has previously estimated that 150 million girls and 73 million boys have been raped or suffered other forms of sexual violence (Reuter AlertNet, 10/10/08).
>> The year of the Gorilla
The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (UNEP/CMS), also known as the "Bonn Convention", will declare 2009 the Year of the Gorilla (YoG) on December 1st at its ninth Conference of Parties in Rome. The Year of the Gorilla is part of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (CMS press release, 08/10/08). Contact: Veronika Lenarz, UNEP/CMS Secretariat, T. +49 228 815-2409, F. +49 228 815-2449, vlenarz@cms.int
According to the Year of the Gorilla website, gorillas are not only humanity’s closest relatives but "are keystone species in forests that regulate the global climate. A failure to save them from extinction would truly be an irreversible loss and a bad omen for humanity’s future prospects."
In September, Gabon became the sixth range state to accede to the CMS Gorilla Agreement with effect from 1 November 2008. Gabon joins the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda who are already Parties to the Agreement (CMS, 04/09/08).
The Agreement on the Conservation of Gorillas and Their Habitats is an international treaty that binds the Parties to conserve gorillas in their territories. It was concluded 2007 under the auspices of CMS. The Agreement presently covers 10 range states. The first meeting of parties to the Gorilla Agreement will take place at the FAO headquarters in Rome on November 29 ahead of the CMS Conference of Parties.
>> Ugandan land deal under investigation
A Ugandan land deal is currently under investigation for possible influence-peddling, price inflation and disregard of procurement rules. Security Minister Amama Mbabazi has received the support of President Museveni in the matter of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) - Temangalo land deal which is being investigated by Parliament (Sunday Monitor, 12/10/08). The head of the NSSF wrote to Museveni last month in a letter that has just been published in the Daily Monitor, defending his own actions in the matter and claiming that the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic development exercised significant political pressure and influence on the transaction (20/10/08).
>> West has failed Somalia, say aid agencies
The West has "completely failed" the people of Somalia and must refocus efforts to give humanitarian workers safer access to desperate civilians, 52 aid agencies said in a statement (Telegraph, 06/10/08). Somalia is "most ignored tragedy" says Human Rights Watch (BBC, 06/10/08).
See “We have never been in a situation so severe. Never, ever before” - UNICEF and Somalia tops Failed States Index 2008 - Ireland 4th from bottom (Connect-World, August 2008)
>> Africa and the financial crisis
"In the last eight years or so Africa has become one of the faster growing parts of the world", says Roelof Horne, portfolio manager with Investec in Cape Town. "Obviously, if the western world is in a recession, it will have a negative effect." But for the moment, he says, Africa remains an excellent place to invest (BBC, 02/10/08). Elizabeth Blunt in Addis Ababa considers how Ethiopia and other parts of Africa may escape the worst of the credit crisis (BBC, 04/10/08).
The financial crisis may affect foreign aid and philanthropy with further implications for developing countries. See Foreign aid "the one thing we might have to slow down" - Biden and NGOs call on Irish government to lead fight against global poverty (Connect-World, October 2008) below..
See also ANALYSIS - A financial crisis is a matter of life and death (Connect-World, September 2008).
>> NGOs call on Irish government to lead fight against global poverty
On the day that An Taoiseach Brian Cowen attended a UN summit on global poverty, thirty-nine Irish Development NGOs and aid agencies called on the government to demonstrate their commitment to making poverty history, by delivering on Ireland’s promise to invest in overseas development (Dóchas, 26/09/08).
The members of Dóchas presented their Budget Submission to Minister Brian Lenihan yesterday.
>> Zimbabwe talks fail; sanctions remain
Talks between Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and the new Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai have failed to reach agreement on a unity cabinet (BBC, 04/10/08). A spokesman for Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) again called for regional mediators to step in to break the impasse with Mugabe's ZANU-PF (AFP, 06/10/08). Former South African President Thabo Mbeki is expected to return to Harare this week having joked at the signing of the power sharing deal last month that he hoped not to return to Zimbabwe again (SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe, 06/10/08).
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband says that optimism following the initial power-sharing deal is "fast evaporating". Miliband says in a statement released Monday that EU sanctions will not be lifted until Mugabe and the opposition agree on a new administration (AP, 06/10/08). Zimbabweans hopes that the new administration will receive financial assistance but one analyst, critical of past IMF interventions, has argued that "the process and framework for recovery has to be designed and owned by Zimbabweans" (newzimbabwe.com, 06/10/08).
The Zimbabwean government has licensed some merchants to sell goods in U.S. dollars, in an attempt to address the chronic shortage of basic consumer items. Children in Zimbabwe are eating rats and inedible roots riddled with toxic parasites to stave off hunger because of chronic food shortages, Save the Children said on Thursday (Reuters, 25/09/08). Zimbabwe crisis (Reuters Alertnet). UNICEF in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe News and RSS Feeds
>> U.N. wants more troops in Congo as violence mounts
The United Nations' top official in the Democratic Republic of Congo asked the U.N. Security Council on Friday for extra troops to help halt the spread of violence in the country's eastern provinces (Reuters, 03/10/08). There are 17,000 already on the ground, the largest U.N. peacekeeping mission in the world.
The International community is failing to provide adequate assistance and protection to the population in North Kivu says MSF (For more information or to arrange an interview with a MSF spokesperson on DRC, contact Niamh Nic Carthaigh on +353 1 660 3337). In a new report, Oxfam asks whether humanitarian agencies have done enough to help displaced people in host families (September, 2008). For more information about the humanitarian crisis, contact International Committee of the Red Cross's Anna Schaaf on +41 22 730 22 71.
>> US-Indian nuclear deal expected Friday
The Indo-US Civilian Nuclear Deal - or the so-called 123 Agreement - is expected to be signed in Washington on October 10, two days after the US President George W Bush signs into law the corresponding legislation passed by the US Congress last week (NDTV.com, 06/10/08). India failed to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) or the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty but has built and tested nuclear weapons. Peace and disarmament advocacy groups have denounced the deal (OneWorld US, 02/10/08)
The Nuclear Suppliers Group’s (NSG) ban on trade with countries that break the non-proliferation rules has been the chief underpinning of the NPT regime but the NSG OK'ed the deal, a move that the Economist had said would leave the organisation with little point (28/08/08). The anti-proliferation consensus is being ruptured according to the newspaper.
Former US Senator, and non-proliferation expert, Sam Nunn, has argued in the past that "We are in a race between cooperation and catastrophe, and the threats are outrunning our response." Iran has been accused of developing uranium enrichment facilities in a pursuit of nuclear weapons, something it denies. Among the measures Nunn proposes is "a nuclear cartel – made up of states with fuel cycle facilities – that would guarantee nuclear fuel at favorable market rates to other states, thereby removing any pretext for new states to develop enrichment capabilities of their own". See: Let them have nuclear power - Sarkozy spreads good will (Connect-World, February 2008) and Missile crises (Connect-World, July 2008).
Nunn is Co-Chairman of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, one of the backers of the newly launched World Institute for Nuclear Security (press release, 29/09/08) to focus on rapid and sustainable improvement of security at nuclear facilities around the world. The Economist says of the initiative: "It took the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine for the nuclear industry to focus collectively on reactor operating safety. Preventing security lapses that would mean an even bigger catastrophe ought to be a winning cause" (02/10/08).
>> Corruption an “ongoing humanitarian disaster” - TI
Persistently high corruption in low-income countries amounts to an “ongoing humanitarian disaster” according to Huguette Labelle, Chair of Transparency International (TI). “In the poorest countries, corruption levels can mean the difference between life and death, when money for hospitals or clean water is in play,” he said. TI's 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index highlights the fatal link between poverty, failed institutions and graft.
See also The dirtiest secret about corruption is just how little we know about it (Connect-World, August 2008) and Aid, Governance and Corruption (Connect-World). Background.
>> Foreign aid "the one thing we might have to slow down" - Biden
The $700 billion Wall Street bailout might force Democrat Barack Obama to reassess his promise to double foreign aid if elected president, his vice presidential running mate Sen. Joe Biden said on Thursday (Reuters, 02/10/08). It was "the one thing" they might have to slow down. See Significance of presidential race for US-Africa relations questioned (Connect-World, September 2008).
Former president Bill Clinton has expressed concern that the economic downturn could undermine major charitable investments around the world just when help is particularly needed (Washington Post, 23/09/08).
>> Obama dominates global election again ...and again
In the last eBulletin Connect-World reported that all countries in a BBC World Service poll prefer Obama to McCain. In another survey, the Reader's Digest polled 17 countries and found 16 backed Obama though the US gave McCain a slight edge. The Economist has given every country a vote on its website in the style of the US electoral college system. The results as of October 6: Obama 8455; McCain 16. The sample sizes may be small, however: Obama currently leads 80% to 20% in the US according to the website.
See also Obama Runs Constructive Criticism Ad Against McCain (Onion satire; video)
>> Poverty-linked diseases come back in Argentina
Poverty-related diseases such as Chagas, rabies and yellow fever are making a comeback in Argentina because prevention campaigns cut during a deep economic crisis seven years ago have still not recovered (Reuters, 03/10/08). Related: ANALYSIS - A financial crisis is a matter of life and death (Connect-World, September 2008).
>> Guardian's Katine online project wins award
Guardian News and Media has won an award from the Association of Online Publishers for its work with the Ugandan village of Katine (Guardian, 02/10/08). The guardian.co.uk Katine project, to follow a three-year scheme by the African Medical and Research Foundation and Farm-Africa to improve the lives of 25,000 villagers, was named launch of 2008.
>> Bittersweet return for Kenyan Olympic star
The most celebrated woman in Kenya is not a politician, nor a pop star. She is a humble 18-year-old with a devastating sprint and a million dollars in the bank (Guardian, 04/10/08). The latter has attracted controversy and attention. Hers is a rags-to-riches tale. Her mother had had to sell her last cow to enable Jelimo to sit her school exams.
In what could be a first in the world, scientists have caught evolution in the act of creating a new species in Lake Victoria as animals and plants try to cope with increased pollution and the effects of climate change according to an article in Kenya's Daily Nation (06/10/08). The article refers to the cover story in the current issue of Nature indicating that differences in vision could give rise to new species (01/10/08).
Kenya News and RSS Feeds
September 2008
>> Drop in under-5 mortality rate continues... to 9.2 million
According to UNICEF data, 12.7 million children under five died around the world in 1990, and in 2007 child deaths declined to about 9.2 million. However, the bulk of these deaths are still easy and inexpensive to prevent according to an IMF analysis.
>> ANALYSIS - A financial crisis is a matter of life and death
It was a clever wheeze to package subprime loans in such a way that their risks were opaque. This made them easier to sell on, and therefore less risky to issue. However, the risk of default on such loans was unchanged. Worse, a lending boom that was also helped by low interest rates fuelled a house price boom that made house ownership simultaneously less affordable and (apparently) more desirable. It was inevitable that the bubble would burst, sinking many over-exposed borrowers into negative equity and foreclosure.
This precipitated the current banking crisis. The boom in easy credit and house prices in the US (just as in Ireland) did not correspond to a matching reduction in the risk of lending or increase in the ability of people to manage mortgages that are large multiples of their incomes.
However, the human costs of a financial crisis extend further. Economic growth in developing countries is liable to suffer from any slowdown or recession in the US or the EU. While another clever wheeze of adding melamine to baby milk is making news, it may be worth pondering the potential costs of a global recession: an IMF study found that, between 1980 and 2004, over a million extra deaths in total occurred in the developing world in countries that experienced economic contractions of 10 percent or above (Connect-World, December 2007). As with the milk, regulators have also been blamed for the banking crisis (Guardian, 29/11/07).
MJ, a user of South Africa's News24 website, writes "The entire world economy has slowed down, causing financial woes for countries including our own, and it can be argued that it was caused by a select few institutions outside of our borders who were reckless and errant and irresponsible" (17/09/08). South Africa's markets have also been affected recently by rifts and uncertainty within the ANC leadership (Reuters, 22/09/08; see next story).
>> Motlanthe to replace Mbeki; ANC Split rumoured
The African National Congress party told parliament it will elect a replacement Thursday, when the party expects to make Mr. Mbeki's resignation effective. A caucus spokesman for South Africa's ruling party, the ANC, said early Monday that the party would nominate ANC deputy leader Kgalema Motlanthe to replace outgoing President Thabo Mbeki (Wall Street Journal, 22/09/08). In August, Motlanthe said the ANC was in danger of losing its way (Connect-World).
South Africa's Sunday Times reported some of Mbeki's supporters may split from the ANC and contest elections as a breakaway party, leaving the ruling party to more radical elements. However that could take time, and many analysts doubt it will happen at all (Reuters, 22/09/08). Background: Rise and fall of Thabo Mbeki (BBC, 20/09/08).
>> Mbeki’s resignation “tragedy” for Mugabe - Analyst
Thabo Mbeki who has been at the heart of the Zimbabwe crisis as the mediator and also the President of the major power in the region, resigned at the weekend after receiving an ultimatum from the ANC. Last Monday, Mbeki successfully brokered a power sharing deal between Mugabe's ZANU PF and the two MDC formations. His departure, just a week after the deal was signed, still leaves the Zimbabwe issue up in the air, as it is yet to be implemented. The new Zimbabwe government has already hit a serious snag because the Mugabe regime is refusing to share the key ministries. The MDC has in the past complained about Mbeki’s mediation and analysts predict these latest developments may work in Morgan Tsvangirai’s favour (SW Radio Africa, 22/09/08).
However, the FT's Tony Hawkins and William Wallis write that "Mbeki's departure from office could hardly have come at a worse time for the Zimbabwe settlement negotiations" which are "threatening to unravel" (FT, 21/09/08).
Zimbabwe News and RSS Feeds
>> Moon proposes UN force to replace EUFOR in "fragile" Chad
The situation in Chad remains fragile and there has been no notable progress towards implementing a year-old agreement between the Government and the main rebel groups, a senior United Nations official said today. “Moreover, instability and insecurity are likely to increase with the end of the rainy season when roads will become passable again and rebel activities will resume” (UN News, 19/09/08). Mr. Ban proposed sending 6,000 UN troops to replace a European Union (EU) force in Chad and the CAR.
The United Nations and the European Union have failed to protect civilians from violence in eastern Chad and should urgently strengthen policing operations there, international charity Oxfam said on Tuesday (Reuters, 09/09/08).
Latest Sudan/Chad/EUFOR/Darfur news
>> 75 million added to global hunger rolls
Rising prices have plunged an additional 75 million people below the hunger threshold, bringing the estimated number of undernourished people worldwide to 923 million in 2007 (FAO 18/09/08). In addition to the devastating social cost of hunger on human lives, empirical evidence points to the negative impact of hunger and malnutrition on labour productivity, health and education, which ultimately causes lower levels of overall economic growth.
To break the hunger-poverty trap, action is urgently needed on two fronts, FAO says – making food accessible to the most vulnerable, and helping small producers raise their output and earn more.
More on the Food Crisis and latest news.
>> Indian city plans pedestrian walk
Hundreds of people in the south Indian city of Madras (Chennai) are to walk for the "rights of the pedestrian" (BBC, 19/09/08). Road deaths are the no.1 killer of young people aged 10-24 worldwide (Connect-World, April 2008).
>> Flood victims face caste discrimination
" Let me be born again as an animal rather than as a harijan (dalit). We face more humiliation than they," says Tetar Rishidev, a dalit from Mirzawaa village, in the district of Supaul. In this emergency, when everyone should be provided with food, certain groups are denied access (BBC, 12/09/08). Background and News on the S. Asia Monsoon (Reuters).
Christian Aid and its partner organisations are including two dalits in the cooking teams in the relief camps they run - thus ensuring that they are not excluded. However, another aid agency running a relief camp said it wouldn't have a dalit cook because it felt that not everyone would eat food cooked by dalits.
>> 60% only vaguely aware of Lisbon issues if at all
30% of the electorate were only vaguely aware of the issues involved with Lisbon while a further 30% did not know what it was about at all according to research conducted by Millward Brown IMS on behalf of the Department of Foreign Affairs (RTE, 10/09/08). Only 18% of Yes voters and 10% of No voters claimed to have a good understanding. COMMENT: Informing the public is no easier than it sounds (Connect-World, June 2008).
More on the Lisbon Treaty
>> All countries in poll prefer Obama to McCain
All 22 countries in a BBC World Service poll would prefer Democratic nominee Barack Obama to be elected US president instead of his Republican rival John McCain. The margin in favour of Obama ranges from 9% in India to 82% in Kenya (BBC, 10/09/08).
>> Sri Lankan army cracks down on Tamil Tigers
Sri Lankan troops have fought their way towards the Tamil Tigers' headquarters in the north of the island and killed 59 insurgents, the military said. Eight soldiers also died in the fighting. The rebels could not be reached for comment. Meanwhile, thousands of Sri Lankans who have fled the country's war zones, nearly all Tamils, lined up to register on Sunday under what police say is an essential security measure to crack down on Tamil Tiger militants. Last week police ordered all who had fled five war-affected districts in the past five years to come and be counted. Police estimate 100,000 people will need to register (Reuters).
>> The "Fleet St legend" who hit Ali and was chased by Mugabe
"The one thing I think I have pulled off over the years is to get people interested... You have to make readers, who understandably couldn't give a fig about pipeline politics in Azerbaijan, say: 'That could have happened to me. Or to my nan'" - Dame Ann Leslie (Independent, 21/09/08).
>> Kashmir's mobile phone chroniclers
As the mainly Muslim Kashmir valley erupted into protests last month after a row over transfer of land in the region snowballed into a movement for freedom from India, armies of mobile-phone toting youngsters began trawling the city to record the events (BBC, 19/09/08).
>> The 10 most decadent dictators
A revolving gold statue, pink champagne and a "Pleasure Brigade" of nubile retainers all feature in Times Money's list of history's most decadent dictators. While their people suffered, these men - and sometimes their wives and children - agonised over how best to spend their ill-gotten gains... (05/09/08).
>> Trade and development aid commitments unmet ahead of UN meeting
As world leaders prepare to review gains in global development in New York later this month, a new UN report, Delivering on the Global Partnership for Achieving the Millennium Development Goals, finds significant progress in providing debt relief to the world’s poorest countries, but not in fulfilling trade and development aid commitments. Donors will need to increase their development assistance by $18 billion a year between now and 2010 if they are to meet their previously agreed pledges (press release, 04/09/08). Aid to poor nations has slumped even as higher food and energy prices and slowing global economic growth have made such assistance more urgent (New York Times, 04/09/08).
A High Level Event on the UN Millennium Development Goals, will take place at the UN headquarters on September 23-25 alongside the UN General Assembly Meeting. Media Accreditation. Taoiseach Brian Cowen is due to attend the General Assembly. Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin and Minister of State for Overseas Development Peter Power will also be attending official UN engagements. Mr Cowen is expected to update the UN on Ireland’s commitment towards reaching its overseas development aid spending target of 0.7% of GNP by 2012 (PA).
| 
