Global AIDS is the worst public health crisis that mankind has faced in 700 years, and no end to its escalation is in sight TB and malaria also kill millions annually. In 2001 Kofi Annan proposed a Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the Fund started operations in January 2002. Even though Kofi Annan is Secretary General of the United Nations, the Fund is not part of the UN.

The Council on Health Research for Development (COHRED) is looking for experienced professional volunteers and for interns to participate in its programme of health research systems strengthening with developing countries. If you are interested in being considered for work as a COHRED intern or volunteer, please send an e-mail to [email][email protected] with ‘interns and volunteers’ in the subject line.

With its new research programme entitled ‘The Political Economy of Poverty and Wealth in Africa’, the ASC’s Economy, Ecology and Exclusion theme group is working towards a better understanding and critical analysis of poverty and the creation of wealth in Africa.

The United States signed an agreement November 13 with President Amadou Toumani Touré of Mali to provide $461 million over five years to fund three sustainable development projects in the West African democratic nation. The $461 million agreement -- or compact -- with Mali "embodies ... our commitment to democracy and development," said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at a signing ceremony at the State Department.

A new report by the World Bank predicts that remittances to developing countries will rise to almost $ 200 million by the end of this year, but is enough being done to make that money stretch even further to aid development? People in developing countries do more to help themselves than they are given credit for, despite the desperate images of a poverty-stricken Africa projected by aid agencies and charitable organisations.

Third World Network Africa has a transcript of an interview with Yao Graham on its website. Speaking about China, Graham says: "The thing is if we look at how China has been able to get where it has, there are important lessons and possibilities that we could get from the relationship. There are some lessons that are clearly standard: planning very carefully for the long-term; liberalizing and de-regulating in a phased way; recognizing an important role for the state in supporting private capital development, and the whole economy as a whole; a selective attitude to the inflow of FDI and foreign capital, and in general, a sense of guiding it into the sectors that you think would be most beneficial, rather than a free-for-all; and also targeting the way in which you develop technology, and to apply it."

The Sauve Scholars Fund is an opportunity for highly-motivated people, under thirty, of demonstrated leadership potential, to come to Montreal for eight months to research, reflect, question and enlarge upon their understanding of the state of the world and their roles in effecting positive change.

The Living on the Margins conference will bring together current knowledge and cutting edge research on the dynamics of economic marginalization and its implications, and will interrogate the adequacy of dominant accounts of marginalization.

The government of Kenya is being accused of failing to act on evidence of an alleged banking fraud worth $1.5bn, dwarfing other recent scandals. The alleged scam, involving money laundering and tax evasion, was exposed by whistle-blowers as early as 2004. Investigators believe tax evasion and money laundering worth 10% of Kenya's national income are involved.

The 2006 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), launched this week by Transparency International (TI), points to a strong correlation between corruption and poverty, with a concentration of impoverished states at the bottom of the ranking. “Corruption traps millions in poverty,” said Transparency International Chair Huguette Labelle. “Despite a decade of progress in establishing anti-corruption laws and regulations, today’s results indicate that much remains to be done before we see meaningful improvements in the lives of the world’s poorest citizens.”

As every year, World Science Day for Peace and Development is being celebrated worldwide on 10 November. Since its inception, the Day has proved to be a great opportunity to reflect on the latest advances in science and the challenges science has yet to overcome.

The Association of Progressive Communications (APC) has released an internet rights charter. "APC believes that the ability to share information and communicate freely using the internet is vital to the realisation of human rights as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1976), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1976) and the Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW, 1980)."

A list of 13 "enemies of the internet" has been released by human rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF). For the first time, Egypt has been added to the list while Nepal, Libya and the Maldives have all been removed.
Report Link:

China's economic expansion in Africa increasingly is accompanied by strategies for extracting much-needed raw materials to fuel the Asian giant's growth, according to a panel of trade and African experts. But the West still holds an advantage for equity or stock ownership deals in Africa, they concluded. After decades of building stadiums for dictators and providing the occasional railway line and paved motorway to African countries in return for supporting some policies, China's interest in Africa is now almost purely economic, a panel of Africanists and trade experts concluded at a November 1 forum sponsored by the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute (AEI).
Related Links:
* China comes to stay

* Western leaders monitor China-Africa summit

There is an interesting tendency within Black America to engage in wishful thinking when it comes to our feelings about many of our leaders. Let me give you an example. When Clarence Thomas was nominated to the Supreme Court there was a split within Black America. Despite a very conservative record—and actually very little demonstration of legal vision—there were some of us who took the position that being Black, soon-to-be Justice Thomas deserved our support. I can remember the debates now.

It's easy to start a weblog. It's harder to have it be of strategic value. To most people, even the words "blogging" and "weblog" don't sound strategic. Blogging's conflicting reputation as either the future of journalism on the one hand or personal gossip rag on the other makes it hard to see where it fits in our communication plans.

Registration of organizations and activities for the WSF 2007 event is now open. Please note that organizations – not individuals – can register activities. Registration of organizations that have access to the Internet is done in Detailed guidelines on how to register organizations as well as activities are found on the website.

At its recent annual meeting, World Bank officials spoke extensively about corruption. Joseph Stiglitz, in an article appearing in the Namibian, gave recommendations for the World Bank if it is to successfully take up the fight against corruption. First, corruption takes many forms, so a war on corruption has to be fought on many fronts. Second, it's fine for the World Bank to deliver anti-corruption sermons, but policies, procedures, and institutions are what matter.

Latin America and the Caribbean leads the developing world in the provision of pre-school education, according to the annual Education for All Global Monitoring Report, published by UNESCO last week. However, despite well-documented benefits for child development and well-being, the Report finds that this area remains the forgotten link in the education chain in many regions, and that half the world’s countries have no early childhood care and education policy for children under age three.

Amnesty International bestowed its most prestigious honour -- the Ambassador of Conscience Award 2006 -- on former president Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg on Wednesday (1 November 2006). The award recognises exceptional individual leadership in the fight to protect and promote universal human rights. Amnesty International spokesperson Bill Shipsey said Mandela had come to symbolise all that was hopeful and idealistic in public life, more than any other living person.