GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
In this section:
GDA Collaboration Agreement with Belarus
Long-Lasting Mosquito Nets Repel Malaria
Polio Campaign to Reach 34 Million Children
Group Focuses on Kenyan Children with HIV
Uruguay Gets Disaster Aid
GDA Collaboration Agreement with Belarus
WASHINGTON—The Global Development Alliance (GDA)
Secretariat has signed its first collaboration agreement with
the Fund for Belarus Democracy. USAID has committed $500,000
to the fund, which will be administered by the German Marshall
Fund.
The initiative will provide $1.6 million in small grants
of $10,000 to $25,000 each to grassroots civic groups in Belarus
and neighboring states, starting in January 2005.
Long-Lasting Mosquito Nets Repel Malaria
BANGKOK, Thailand—A factory equipped with new
technology that embeds mosquito nets with long-lasting insect
repellant to fight malaria opened here Sept. 15.
The mechanized process was developed through a public-private
partnership created by NetMark, a USAID-funded program.
Malaria claims a life in Africa every 30 seconds. Worldwide,
an estimated 300 to 500 million cases of malaria are contracted
every year, resulting in up to 2.5 million deaths, mostly
among the very young. In Africa—where 90 percent of malaria
deaths occur—the disease is the leading killer of children
under 5 years of age.
Based on initial trials, the new treatment process, in development
for two years, will bind insecticide to the net for more than
20 washes, resulting in the first-ever mass factory treatment
of finished nets with long-lasting insecticide.
“USAID’s willingness to work with commercial companies
and invest in new technologies will result in many more people,
including the most vulnerable, having access to life-saving
nets,” said Nicolaas Pierson, head of SiamDutch and Tana
Netting, the companies that were contracted to produce the
nets.
Polio Campaign to Reach 34 Million Children
WASHINGTON—The Global Polio Eradication Initiative,
spearheaded by the World Health Organization and to which
USAID is a major donor, began Sept. 13 an ambitious new series
of polio immunization campaigns to contain the spread of the
disease in the Horn of Africa.
The new plan comes as a polio case was confirmed in Somalia,
a country that had been polio-free since 2002, and as cases
rose dramatically in the Horn in 2005.
Immunization campaigns aim to reach 34 million children
in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, and
parts of Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo. They
will be carried out between September and November, with additional
campaigns planned for 2006.
Meanwhile, in Indonesia, around 95 percent of children under
5 were vaccinated against polio in a recent nationwide campaign,
as the number of youngsters paralyzed by the disease continued
to rise to 236, Health Minister Siti Fadilah said Sept. 12.
The nationwide vaccination campaign last month reached “around
95 percent” of the 24 million children targeted, a figure
she said was “quite successful.”
Group Focuses on Kenyan Children with HIV
NAIROBI, Kenya—The African Network for the Care
of Children Affected by HIV/AIDS (ANECCA) launched its first
chapter in Kenya Aug. 10 at the Serena Hotel here. Other country
chapters already exist in Uganda, Ethiopia, and Tanzania.
Established in 2001, ANECCA works to promote quality healthcare
for children in Africa affected by HIV/AIDS.
USAID’s Regional Economic Development Services Office
donated $780,000 to ANECCA between 2003 and 2005 to help fund
its activities.
More than 75 percent of children with HIV/AIDS live in sub-Saharan
Africa, and the number of children with HIV continues to grow
in Kenya. More than 30,000 Kenyan children were infected with
HIV through mother-to-child transmission of the virus in 2004
and 2005. The number of Kenyan children orphaned by AIDS is
projected to increase to 1.54 million by 2010.
At the launch, Stephen Haykin, USAID/Kenya’s mission
director, emphasized the “need to put children on HIV
treatment agendas to mitigate the devastating effects of AIDS”
and pledged that USAID will continue to help Kenyan care centers
fight HIV/AIDS.
Uruguay Gets Disaster Aid
WASHINGTON—USAID will provide an initial $50,000
in disaster relief to assist victims of a powerful and destructive
storm in Uruguay.
On Aug. 23 and 24, a severe and unexpected wind and rain
storm struck southern and eastern parts of the country where
70 percent of Uruguay’s population lives, destroying
infrastructure in the capital, Montevideo, and in the departments
of Canelones, San José, Colonia, and Maldonado. During
the storm, winds reached hurricane force of 175 km per hour,
demolishing homes, tearing power lines, felling trees, and
blocking roads.
According to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs, eight people were killed, thousands of homes lost
their roofs, nearly 1,000 families had no access to drinking
water, and approximately 20,000 households had no electricity
and telephone services.
The storm also damaged communication and security infrastructure,
including knocking over two communications towers and tearing
the roof off Uruguay’s largest prison.
Year-Long African Rainbow Expedition to Fight Malaria
South African explorer Kingsley Holgate launched a year-long
expedition in June to prevent malaria in rural Africa, including
Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia, Malawi, and Uganda.
Holgate’s “African Rainbow Expedition” will
travel thousands of miles, educating families about prevention
of the disease and distributing insecticide-treated nets and
information pamphlets. The expedition uses various forms of
transportation, including a Swahili sailing dhow named the
“Spirit of Adventure,” Land Rovers, and inflatable
boats, to deliver malaria-prevention products.
USAID/Mozambique is providing support during Holgate’s
activities in that country.
The Agency has increased its funding for malaria programs
from $22 million in fiscal year 1998 to about $90 million
in fiscal year 2005.
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