The African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), in partnership with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), is pleased to announce the seventh call for applications for the African Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellowships (ADDRF). The ADDRF Fellowship Program seeks to facilitate more rigorous engagement of doctoral students in research, strengthen their research skills, and provide them an opportunity for timely completion of their doctoral training. [Read More]
3rd Health Systems research Symposium Call for Individual Abstracts - Deadline is March 3rd2/27/2014
Don’t miss the opportunity to share your ideas on the science and practice of people-centred health systems at the Third Global Symposium on Health Systems Research in Cape Town, South Africa! The theme of the symposium is the science and practice of people-centered health systems, chosen to enable participants to address current and critical concerns of relevance across countries in all parts of the world. From September 30th to October 3rd, researchers, policy-makers, funders, implementers and other stakeholders, from all regions and all socio-economic levels, will work together on the challenge of how to make health systems more responsive to the needs of individuals, families and communities. Deadline for submissions of individual abstracts is Monday, March 3rd. [Read More]
West Africa: WAHO Delegation Visits Liberia - Ahead of ECOWAS Assembly of Health Ministers2/17/2014
A two-man delegation from the West African Health Organization (WAHO) arrived in Liberia on Sunday, on a five-day visit. The delegation's visit runs from 16 to 21 February, 2014.
A dispatch from WAHO Advocacy & Communications Department in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, says the delegation is comprised of Dr. Johanna Austin Benjamin, the Director of WAHO Department of Primary Health Care, and Mr. William Towah, the organization's Budget Officer. The five-day visit, according to the dispatch, is a forerunner to the fifteenth edition of the ECOWAS Assembly of Health Ministers meeting which is scheduled to be hosted by Liberia for the first time in April this year, the dispatch indicates. ECOWAS is Economic Community of West African States. [Read More] The African Development Bank (AfDB) is proud to be an anchor partner of Power Africa, a five-year United States of America Presidential initiative aimed at supporting economic growth and development by doubling access to power in Sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, the Bank’s work with the US Government on African development issues spans four decades. The AfDB’s contributions to Power Africa run broad and deep, including contributions to the initiative’s focus countries in the form of investments, support for policy reforms, advisory services and guarantees.
Last year alone, this support included the conversion of the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) into a multi-donor trust fund; providing US $64.5 million for the Africa Renewable Energy Fund (AREF); issuing a loan of EUR 115 million for the 300 MW Turkana Wind Power Project in Kenya, along with a partial risk guarantee (PRG) of EUR 20 million; issuing a PRG Program of US $184 million along with a concessional loan of US $3 million to support Nigeria’s power sector privatization program; providing EUR 145 million for the Côte d’Ivoire–Liberia–Sierra Leone–Guinea Electricity Interconnection; and making US $58 million available for Tanzania’s Governance and Economic Competitiveness Programme. [Read More] Donald Kaberuka, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), is a member of the commission established under the aegis of the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the scientific journal The Lancet. As such, he took part in the latest series of consultations in London. On February 13, Kaberuka emphasized the importance of human capital in creating wealth and inclusive growth.
On February 13, Kaberuka emphasized the importance of human capital in creating wealth and inclusive growth. He also called for the international community, including multilateral development banks, to help build an enabling environment for improved fiscal policies and safety nets at the domestic level. “If you want to build a self-sustaining economy, which ends poverty – ‘shared prosperity’, to use the words of my friend [World Bank President] Jim Kim – it takes more than money. International funding must leverage domestic responsibility,” Kaberuka said. “In our assessment, the time is right. Today, two-thirds of Sub-Saharan African countries will be growing at 6.2%. [Read More] Today the United States joined 26 countries, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), to accelerate progress toward a world safe and secure from the threat of infectious disease, and committing to the goals of the Global Health Security Agenda.
“Global health security is a shared responsibility; no one country can achieve it alone,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said. “In the coming months, we will welcome other nations to join the United States and the 26 other countries gathered here in Washington and in Geneva, as we work to close the gaps in our ability to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats.” Over the next five years the United States plans to work with at least 30 partner countries (containing at least 4 billion people) to prevent, detect and effectively respond to infectious disease threats, whether naturally occurring or caused by accidental or intentional releases of dangerous pathogens. [Read More] Gender should be integral part of all AfDB operations, says AfDB’s Special Envoy on Gender2/12/2014
As part of the efforts to invite the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) staff members to take ownership of the institution’s new Gender Strategy for the period 2014-2018, the institution’s Special Envoy on Gender, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, held a meeting on February 11, 2014, in Tunis, Tunisia, calling on her colleagues to make gender an integral part of the institution’s operations.
Opening the ceremony, AfDB’s First Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer, Emmanuel Mbi, said the meeting was an opportunity to “address the shared responsibility and collective commitment required to deliver on the Bank’s Gender Agenda.” For Mbi, gender equality is important because it increases productivity and improves economic and social outcomes for society. [Read More] The three Regional Economic Communities of COMESA, EAC and SADC have launched a US $7.5 million Tripartite Capacity Building Programme to increase intra-Tripartite trade. The programme is aimed at accelerating intra-tripartite trade between the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the East African Community; and the Southern African Development Community.
The launching ceremony took place in Lusaka Zambia, Friday 17 January 2013. African Development Bank (AfDB) provided the funds which will support the on-going trade negotiations process, trade facilitation instruments and industrial cluster action plans in the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA). It will also support the participation of the private sector in the tripartite process through regional business councils. [Read More] The 24th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the African Union continued for a second day yesterday. The Council in its second day meeting adopted the five items proposed by member countries. Ethiopia's proposal to for the establishment of Establishment of an African Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (African CDCP) was among the proposals adopted by the Council. Speaking to the Council, Ethiopia's Health Minister Dr.Kestebirhan Admassu, noted that the establishment of the Center will help to coordinate continent wide efforts of tackling health problems and enhances Africa's self reliance in disease prevention and control. The other items are: Adoption of the implementation of the Integrated African Strategy for the Seas and Oceans 2050 (Strategy AIM 2050), Extension of the Pan African E Network Project within the Frameworks of Partnership between India and Africa, Evaluation of Ouagadougou 2004 Declaration and Plan of Action on employment and the fight against poverty and the adoption of the Encyclopedia Africana Project. [Read More]
Last week, people around the world gathered to recognize World AIDS Day, honor those whose lives have been lost to this tragic disease, reflect on the tremendous strides being made, and recommit to achieving an AIDS-free generation. As I arrived in South Africa to help open the 17th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA), we also noted the passing of a great leader and champion, Nelson Mandela, whose personal leadership and outspoken courage helped to break the silence surrounding HIV/AIDS, and brought hope and inspiration to millions of people living with the disease. - See more at: http://blogs.state.gov/stories/2013/12/12/week-inspiration-and-hope. [Read More]
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