Scholarship applications for Women Deliver’s next global conference–May 28 to 30, 2013 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia– available for applicants under 30

Scholarship applications for Women Deliver’s next global conference–May 28 to 30, 2013 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia–are now available for applicants under 30 (as of May 2013) here.

If you will be aged 30-years-old or older (as of May 2013), you will be offered a separate application that will be available on March 26th, 2012.

Deadline for all scholarships to be received is April 15, 2012 (12pm EST), with no exceptions.

The groundbreaking Women Deliver conferences in 2007 and 2010 were the largest of the decade to focus on the health and empowerment of girls and women. In 2010, we convened more than 3,400 people from 146 countries in Washington, DC, including 75 parliamentarians and government ministers, five UN agency heads, the UN Secretary-General and more than 250 global media outlets. Our third global conference will be even bigger and better, with more than 5,000 public and private sector participants expected from around the world. Our goal is to mobilize action to improve the health and well-being of girls and women everywhere.

In order to maximize participation from those traditionally under-represented, namely young people and those from the Global South, we will be offering full conference support to a select number of participants. This support includes conference registration, round-trip economy class airfare, hotel accommodations, and a fixed stipend for visa fees and other incidentals. Scholarship winners must:

- Attend the conference in its entirety.
- Be able to communicate in English, both orally and in writing. We will have translation available at plenary sessions, but this will not be - possible for all breakout sessions.
- Have regular access to email, as that will be our way of communicating with you about deadlines, registration, hotel and travel arrangements.
- Possess an interest in global development issues.
- Conduct themselves in a professional manner.

Please note:
- Your participation will require you to respond to our emails in a timely way. Failure to do so will result in your space being forfeit.
- We are only able to offer economy-class airfare from your point of origin to Kuala Lumpur and returning from Kuala Lumpur to your point of origin, and hotel accommodations during the length of the conference only. Any modifications or extensions will be at your own expense.
- For information on visa requirements, please click here.

De-fragmenting Africa- World Bank Report

A new report from the World Bank highlights wide-spread opportunities for African countries to trade goods, services and investments across borders.

KEY FINDINGS

• The African market remains highly fragmented; preventing enormous opportunities for cross-border trade from being exploited and in turn generating new jobs.
• Effective regional integration is more than simply removing tariffs—it is about addressing the barriers that undermine the daily operations of ordinary producers and traders of both goods and services.
• The incidence of barriers to regional trade fall most heavily, and disproportionately, on the poor and on women, and is preventing them from earning a living in activities where they have a comparative advantage—catering for smaller, local markets across the border.
• Action is required at both the supra-national and national levels. Regional communities can provide the framework for reform but responsibility for implementation lies with each member country.
• The donor community can help countries understand the political economy resistance that lies behind the fact that despite public pledges for integration, actual barriers to trade remain in place.

Full Report http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTAFRICA/Resources/Defrag_Afr_English_web_version.pdf

Read More Here http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/AFRICAEXT/0,,contentMDK:23092452~pagePK:146736~piPK:226340~theSitePK:258644,00.html

Innovating Africa: Verone Mankou Creator of Africa's First Tablet Computer

Verone Mankou. 26 years old inventor from the Congo-Brazaville is the genius creator behind the Way-C tablet computer. The tablet is called the Way-C - "the light of the stars" in a dialect of northern Congo.

Currently you can only purchase the Way-C from Airtel Congo stores in Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire, a private mobile telephone company which is a subsidiary of the Indian group Bharti.
The Way-C will cost you US $299!

Read More Here VMK Official Website

Isn't it about time Africa started to manufacture its own ARV treatment for HIV/AIDS?

The UN has warned against the high dependency by African countries on external sources for HIV and Aids funding.The organisation’s agency mandated to tackle the disease, UNAids, described the continent’s over-reliance on donor aid as unsustainable.

"African governments invest less on HIV/Aids than expected. For the continent as a whole, about five per cent of health budgets are allocated to the scourge, despite its causing a median of more than seven per cent of the overall burden of disease across countries," stated part of a brief posted on the agency’s website early this week.

The brief, titled Aids Dependency Crisis: Sourcing African Solutions, reveals that two-thirds of all HIV and Aids expenditure in Africa comes from external sources.

International support for the disease in the continent dropped by 13 per cent between 2009 and 2010 from $8.7 billion to $7.6 billion (Sh667 billion to Sh583 billion).The cut in funding, the first time in its ten-year history, was attributed to the global economic crisis. About Sh900 billion will be needed annually by 2015 to prevent new HIV infections and scale up treatment in Africa. Additionally, Sh307 billion more than the current expenditure is needed to effectively fight the disease.

The agency also noted that procurement of anti-retroviral drugs was highly dependent on external funding. In 27 countries for which accurate data was available, 84 per cent of expenditure for ARV therapy originated from international sources.

In Kenya, where it is estimated that 1.5 million people are infected with HIV, development partners support 85 per cent of the HIV budget. Over 400,000 people are receiving ARVs while another 600,000 require the drugs but cannot access them.Among the measures mooted by UNAids to help reduce over-dependence on donor support is development of a common drug regulatory authority that would ensure access to quality, life-saving medicines.

"Investing in local manufacturing and simplifying market access to drugs across the continent will boost the economy, reduce costs and ultimately save lives and money,"

Read More Here http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000051305&cid=4&ttl=UN+wants+Africa+to+manufacture+its+own+ARVs

Image from Panos.org