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AfricaFocus Bulletin
April 17, 2014 Mali: Polls Show Turn to Optimism
"In an Afrobarometer survey in December 2012, three quarters of adult
Malians were worried that the country was moving in 'the wrong
direction.' At that time, at the depths of a profound national
crisis, most Malians thought the future looked bleak. A year later,
however, a follow-up survey reveals newfound hope in the future. By
December 2013, two thirds of all Malians now consider that that the
country is headed in the 'right direction.'"
April 14, 2014 Lesotho: "Model" Project Drains Health Budget
A new hospital in Lesotho, touted as a model for public-private
partnership by the World Bank's International Finance Corporation
(IFC), is already draining the country's health budget and
diverting resources from rural health, charges Oxfam International
in a new report released on April 7. Cost overruns, high earnings
by the private partner, and clauses imposing additional financial
risks for the government offset the advantages of the new hospital
in improved hospital care in the capital Maseru, the report
contends.
April 7, 2014 Nigeria: Security Forces and Insecurity
"Boko Haram is both a serious challenge and manifestation of more
profound threats to Nigeria's security. Unless the federal and
state governments, and the region, develop and implement
comprehensive plans to tackle not only insecurity but also the
injustices that drive much of the troubles, Boko Haram, or groups
like it, will continue to destabilise large parts of the country.
Yet, the government's response is largely military, and political
will to do more than that appears entirely lacking." -
International Crisis Group, April 3, 2014
March 31, 2014 Africa: Accountability for User Fee Damage?
"In contrast to the untested economic theories of the World Bank's
health economists in the 1980s, it turns out the critics had been
correct all along: user fees do not raise substantial revenue for
the health sector, nor do they make public health interventions
more effective." Rather, argues Richard Rowden in a 2013 paper,
user fees "turned out to be inequitable and sharply limited access
to health care for the poor." Those who imposed these policies, he
suggests, should be held accountable.
More on:
politics&human rights|peace&security|health|economy|ict
AfricaFocus Archive:
by date | by place | by topic
March 25, 2014
Nigeria: Corruption & Its International Partners
March 17, 2014
Africa/Global: The Right to Food
March 13, 2014
Central African Republic: UN Force Delayed
March 13, 2014
USA/Africa: Military Perspectives
March 4, 2014
South Sudan: Deadly Conflict Continues despite Ceasefire
February 26, 2014
Africa: Tracking Toxic Pollution
February 17, 2014
Burundi: Rising Threats to Democracy, Peace
February 8, 2014
Africa: New Development Goals
February 5, 2014
Somalia: Threat to Remittances Lifeline
January 27, 2014
USA/Africa: Exporting Homophobia
January 27, 2014
Africa: Challenging Homophobia
January 21, 2014
South Africa: Renewables Rising, Coal Still King
January 13, 2014
South Sudan: Reflections on Crisis
December 19, 2013
Central African Republic: Violence Continues to Spiral
December 12, 2013
Africa/Middle East: Saudi Migrant Expulsions
December 12, 2013
Africa/Middle East: Sinai Trafficking
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