Tag: Africa

Let’s Talk About Malaria

We’ve all heard the phrase: Every 45 seconds, a child dies from malaria.  Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites transmitted by mosquitos. Statistics also show that the number of deaths resulting from this disease has been reduced over the last couple of years. Unfortunately, these statistics serve to remind us that people are still dying from …

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Vulture Funds and Sovereign Debts

A couple of years ago, celebrities like Bono and highly respected individuals like Nelson Mandela brought our attention to the importance of debt relief and what such relief might mean to developing countries. Ironically, at the same time, many countries began to understand the importance of having a secondary market for debt especially when dealing …

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Government & Security – Part III

In my previous post, I spoke about how corrupt governments and conflicts seriously dampen a countries quest to economic development and poverty eradication. While these posts were very general, today I would like to provide you with specific examples from across the world to show you what I mean. Lets begin with India. One third …

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Remembering Rwanda

Yesterday, April 6, marked the17th anniversary of the assassination of Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana which catalyzed a genocide in which 800,000 Tutsis (a Rwandan minority) and moderate Hutus (part of the majority) were systematically murdered in a three month span. A former supervisor of mine was in the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) …

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Responsibility to Protect

Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is a relatively new concept in political theory. Basically, it is the idea that governments everywhere have a responsibility to uphold and protect the human rights of their citizens. And, if a state is unwilling or unable to do so, it is the duty of the international community to step in …

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Government & Security

The Challenge Development in African countries faces a serious barrier. Over the past two decades, democratization has swept across Africa, reaching countries like Egypt, Tunisia and now Libya. But while the international community rejoices, what they need to understand is that democratization is just the first step. The eradication of poverty is not that simple. …

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8th Annual African Economic Forum (AEF)

Friday and Saturday, March 25th & 26th, 2011, were two amazing days in New York City.  On both days, Columbia University held the 8th Annual African Economic Forum (AEF), organized by the graduate school of business, the School of International Public Affairs (SIPA Pan African Network – SPAN), and the Africa Law Students Association at …

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Debt’s Vicious Cycle-Part Two

In my last post, I spoke about the problems that arose through debt burdens, and why countries find it so difficult to rid themselves of that obstacle. Countries that are freed from their debts end up accumulating more debts because of failed promises for development assistance. Whatever the reason, the international community needs to come …

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Human Rights vs. Oil

On March 17th, the United Nations Security Council voted to establish a no-fly zone over Libya, which allows for all measures short of foreign occupation. This is an addition to Libya being referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which I wrote about in my blog on March 3rd, and which itself was unprecedented in …

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Understanding Lenses

On Tuesday I wrote about the “Sexy Disaster Effect,” but during the editing process, it came to my attention that portions of my piece could imply several things, which were unintentional, about the residents and countries I was describing. With more thought on the subject, I would like to add additional points to continue the …

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