One African Place

Africa could finally be turning a corner in the sanitation crisis, say civil society groups, ANEW and FAN, NGO WaterAid, Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council and the End Water Poverty Campaign.

A human rights campaign group, Amnesty International (AI), is calling on the African governments to prioritize the need to guarantee the protection of human rights in Gambia.

Africa's current account deficit has grown to 7 per cent going beyond the internationally accepted 4 per cent, according to the African Development Bank report.

Uganda and Kenya prison authorities have supported the abolition of the death penalty contrary to the judicial officers who insist it should stay.

Organizers of the Africa Endeavor 2011 Communication Test exercise on Monday 18th July 2011 conducted a media open day for members of the press at the Gambia Armed Forces Training School in Fajara Barracks.

United States Army General, Carter F.Ham said Africa Endeavor 2011 is so far the largest communication exercise staged in Africa. This year's exercise, said the General,includes 40 African nations, 5 NATO countries and the United States, adding that all the participating nations contributed significantly towards the success of the exercise. Africa Endeavor, he added, is an important exercise in the development of international communication systems between African nations and the African Organisations. He said communication is critical as it adjusts destabilizing issues within nations, regions and all across Africa.

The World Bank yesterday announced it was providing more than Sh45.2 billion to assist drought victims in addition to a Sh960 million in immediate assistance to help those worst hit by the crisis.

The U.S. military's Africa Command (AFRICOM) is building the capacity of partner nations to counter extremist threats, respect civilian control and respond more effectively to humanitarian and security needs across the continent, a senior U.S. Defense Department official told members of Congress.

The French government has cut the list of jobs open to non-European foreigners in a bid to reduce legal immigration.

Oxfam President, Mary Robinson has branded the humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa an "international disgrace" amid increasingly calls for the global community to step up aid.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) calls on the African Union (AU) to play a greater role in providing humanitarian relief to the people of Somalia, who are currently facing a devastating famine that is affecting the entire Horn of Africa.

Down the centuries, songs have been written for all kinds of reasons: to celebrate happy events, to mourn the passing of loved ones, to pray or even to fight for a better world. This is the second in a series of stories by Radio Netherlands Worldwide about protest songs from all over the world and focuses on Africa.

Jaqueline Lima, a young Brazilian, shared her story as an HIV-positive mother who gave birth to a HIV-negative boy at the opening plenary of the Global Fund's Partnership Forum in Sao Paulo, Brazil. We reprint her remarks.

The Global Fund says that, since the introduction of its Affordable Medicines Facility-malaria programme, the average cost of a course of artemisinin combination therapy in private pharmacies has dropped by about 90% in parts of Kenya and by about 40% to 90% in Ghana.

As part of its efforts to get local fund agents to take a more active role in identifying misuse and potential misuse of Global Fund money, the Fund has asked LFAs to identify "red flags" at all stages in the grant life-cycle, and to bring to the attention of the Secretariat any findings or allegations that may be indicative of fraud.

This article provides information on Global Fund-focused technical assistance for Round 11 being offered by some of the major TA providers.

The India-Africa Business Network, launched at the Gordon Institute of Business in Johannesburg last week, is set to boost trade and open new business and investment channels between India and South Africa.

A cultural activity that includes poetry reading and gastronomy will take place on Sunday, in Luanda, under the African Woman's Day, July 31, ANGOP has learnt.

Last week, The Lancet invited the international health community to welcome a "strategic revolution in HIV and global health" following the U.N. high-level meeting on AIDS at which The Lancet said two "turning points" occurred.

In a recent report, Medécins Sans Frontières says that the funding squeeze affecting the Global Fund and the (U.S.) President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief will reduce HIV programmes in low-income countries with high HIV burdens.

Given current pressures to scale up HIV testing, and the likelihood that more and more proposals to the Global Fund will include mass HIV testing campaigns, the Global Fund has an opportunity to contribute significantly to the reduction of human rights abuses linked to HIV testing.

The Global Fund Secretariat had adopted a value-for-money approach for the signing of Round 10 grants. This action is in line with a request made by the Board at its meeting in December 2010 that the Secretariat provide confirmation, as far as can be determined based on data available to the Secretariat, that the budget of newly signed grants is in accord with "value for money considerations including unit costs."

Round 11 applicants seeking to apply under one of the exceptions to the recent funding history criterion must submit a pre-proposal to the Global Fund by 22 July 2011. The Global Fund refers to these pre-proposals as "proposal concepts."

Aviation sector stakeholders are set to gather for the 17th edition of the annual and allied business leadership conference to be held on the 28th, August.The two-day conference is organised by the Aviation & Allied Business Journal, a publication on air transport development in Africa, in partnership with the government of Tanzania and other local and international industry regulators.

In developing economies, livestock is one of the principal sources of food (protein), income and employment. In some African societies, livestock is a symbol of wealth, a source of manure and of recent in countries like Rwanda it is promoted as a source of fuel (biogas).