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AfricaFocus Bulletin: Latest six bulletins

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May 17, 2012  Africa: Jobs, Justice, and Equity
    "The extreme pessimism surrounding Africa a decade ago was unwarranted. So, too, is the current wave of blinkered optimism. Real gains have been made, but governments and their development partners need to reflect on the weaknesses, as well as the strengths ... Countries across Africa are becoming richer but whole sections of society are being left behind. ... The current pattern of trickle-down growth is leaving too many people in poverty, too many children hungry and too many young people without jobs." - Africa Progress Panel, May 2012

May 9, 2012  Africa: Decisive Year for Global Fund
    "We write as global health groups, communities affected by HIV, TB, and Malaria, and researchers from around the world to urge you not to undermine the founding principle of a demand-driven Global Fund. We are united against proposals to set 'envelopes' or 'allocations' for each country, which would result in limited ambition, scaled back or skewed plans, and ultimately a failure to get ahead of death and new infections. Limiting ambition now will only cost more in the future - in lives and money." - civil society letter to Global Fund Board

May 3, 2012  Africa: Pushing Land Deals
    "Whereas WBG's [the World Bank Group's] mandate is to 'reduce poverty and improve living standards through sustainable development and investment in people,' its work largely strays from this mission in that, by promoting investor access to land, it actually tends to threaten rather than improve food security and local livelihoods in developing countries." - The Oakland Institute

May 3, 2012  Sierra Leone: Resisting Land Deals
    "While the government of Sierra Leone says it is now supporting farmers with its smallholder commercialization program, at the same time it is promoting massive foreign direct investment in farmland in the country. It claims this will not harm smallholders or food security. ... Participants at the conference [of affected land owners and land users] strongly disagreed." - The Oakland Institute

Apr 25, 2012  Congo (Kinshasa): Call for Real Security Reform
    An impressive array of Congolese and international civil society organizations have issued a new call for real security sector reform in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to be impelled by more coordinated pressures from African and other international partners as well as Congolese civil society.

Apr 19, 2012  Malawi: Hope in a New Start
    Supporters of democracy and women's rights have good reason to celebrate the peaceful succession in Malawi, in which Vice-President Joyce Banda took office despite fears that she might be blocked by associates of President Bingu wa Mutharika after his unexpected death. The country faces a multitude of structural problems, including donor dependency and the role of tobacco, a major threat to global public health, as the leading export. But for now the mood is optimistic. Malawians as well as outside observers say the country is ready for a new start.