UN warns on the growing humanitarian crisis in Darfur

The United Nations is issuing a warning on the growing humanitarian crisis in Darfur. The government of Sudan expelled many aid organizations from the country and prevented them from giving aid to the people of Darfur. On top of that, rebel leaders are refusing are help from the Sudanese government.

From the Guardian, Xan Rice tells us about the warning from the UN.

Some of the most vulnerable people in Darfur face a high risk of "increased morbidity and mortality" since the expulsion of 16 aid agencies three weeks ago, the UN's humanitarian co-ordinator for Sudan warned today.

Ameerah Haq said that while the immediate needs of the 4.7 million people reliant on relief in Darfur were mostly being met through stopgap measures, up to 650,000 people were without access to full healthcare. Feeding programmes for malnourished children and pregnant women also remained disrupted.

Many clinics remain closed, while others are being run by local staff at a basic level. One agency today expressed concern at reports that "non-health professionals" in displaced persons' camps were using the medical equipment it had been forced to leave behind.

Some 13 foreign agencies and three local organisations responsible for at least half the aid provision in Darfur were kicked out on 4 March, minutes after the international criminal court issued an arrest warrant for the Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir. Humanitarian officials have warned that Sudan's pledge to fill the aid gap is unlikely to succeed while supplies of food, medicine and water are all under threat. Darfur's main rebel group has urged people to reject all government assistance.

The World Food Programme (WFP) is distributing a two-month ration to 1.1 million displaced people who were served by Care, Solidarités, Action Against Hunger and Save the Children, which have all been expelled. But Rachid Jafaar, a WFP official, warned this was "unsustainable", and the organisation could not guarantee that all the people affected, at 140 sites, would receive food.

The situation has been exacerbated by a surge in attacks on aid workers, which has severely restricted the activities of some of the agencies left on the ground. Three foreign Médecins Sans Frontières workers were kidnapped for several days by a militia supportive of Bashir, and a local employee of a Canadian aid agency was shot dead on Monday night.

NGO officials say Sudan's national security service has been overruling the state humanitarian affairs commission on issues of which aid groups are allowed to work, and where. Haq said Bashir's government, which worked with the UN on the needs assessment mission and is supplying services through the health ministry and water department, needed to take urgent action to improve aid provision.

Creating opportunity for youths in Sierra Leone's slums

A new program in Sierra Leone is creating opportunity for youths who live in slums.

YES or Youth Employment Secretariat has been formed by the countries government with support from the United Nations. The program develops jobs and businesses for the youth who live in the slums of Freetown.

The jobs range from tie-dying to soap-making. The youths can then spin off from the program to create their own money making businesses or non-profits.

The story from IRIN, gives us a clean water non-profit as an example.

Home to 13,000 people, Kroo bay slum in central Freetown had just two running water taps before Sidiki Mansark formed the “West Sie Boys” youth cooperative and set up public showers for slum residents.

“We saw the people lacking, and we decided to do something about it,” Mansark told IRIN. “Now everyone comes to us when they want a shower. We are not rich yet, but water is life and we want to bring it to the people.”

Youth unemployment programmes must move beyond post-conflict skills-training, such as tie-dying, tailoring and soap-making, to identify market opportunities in emerging industries in order to lower the 1.2 million-strong youth unemployment statistics, say youth employment experts in Sierra Leone.

“We need electricians, mobile phone repairers, air conditioning cleaners -- and this requires us to research emerging markets, to attract private sector investment and get more support for apprenticeship schemes,” said Helga Gibbons, International Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor at the government’s newly formed Youth Employment Secretariat (YES).

With 60 percent of the country’s youth population unemployed and many fearful that unemployment compounded by chronic poverty could derail fragile stability, donors and partners are looking for new solutions.

Shifting mentalities

Set up in 2008, YES, supported by the UN Development Programme, has established a fund of US$700,000 to distribute grants and micro-finance loans to youth groups that present viable applications for business start-ups, public works projects or agricultural initiatives.

Hundreds of youth groups who have applied for funding are awaiting approval, among them the Water Sie Boys who requested US$9,000 to open a new community shower.

Gibbons said youths need better business-management training to use this money profitably. “Many youth groups still see themselves as non-profits rather than money-making enterprises…this mentality has to shift,” she told IRIN. Ultimately all business plans will be dependent both on their own merits and on the vagaries of the wider economy, she said.

YES’s partner, the NGO International Rescue Committee (IRC), is trying to match urban youths with existing businesses, such as pharmacies, and asking them to open a new branch. Youth development coordinator Annalisa Busati told IRIN that this way, “they [youths] get the backing of the firm’s name, branding and supply chain, and they can avoid common business start-up mistakes.”

Hearing on global food crisis today in Washington

A hearing on food prices around the world is taking place on Capitol Hill today. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee chaired by Senator John Kerry will conduct the hearing.

Last year, food prices generally soared up over 60 percent, pushing millions of people into hunger. Although the prices have since recovered from these record highs, they are still higher than in previous years.

From the Political Intelligence blog at the Boston Globe, Foon Rhee details the hearing.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, under the gavel of chairman John F. Kerry, is holding a hearing today on what the United States can do to help alleviate the global food crisis.

“We’re faced with two disasters—soaring food prices leaving millions hungry every year and an ailing economy. The challenges are overwhelming, but we have to do much more than send emergency food aid to countries facing scarcity,” Kerry said in a statement.

“We live in a world where nearly one billion people suffer from chronic food insecurity,” Senator Richard Lugar, the panel's ranking Republican, added,. “Hungry people are desperate people, and desperation often sows the seeds of conflict and extremism."

He is a cosponsor of a bill designed to improve US and global efforts to increase crop yields, create rural economic opportunities, broaden trade relations, and improve scientific cooperation.

The scheduled witnesses are: Daniel R. Glickman, former Secretary of Agriculture during the Clinton administration; Catherine Bertini, former executive director of the World Food Program; David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World; Robert Paarlberg, professor of political science at Wellesley College; Edwin C. Price, associate vice chancellor and director of Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture; and Gebisa Ejeta, professor of agronomy at Purdue University.

Sudanese aid worker shot dead in Darfur

A Sudanese man who works for a Canadian aid organization serving Darfur was shot dead yesterday, for his cell phone.

It's the latest act of violence against the those who provide aid for the people in Darfur. In March, a group from Medecins Sans Frontieres were kidnapped, but they have since been returned.

From this AFP article that we found at Yahoo News, see learn more about the tragedy.

"He was ambushed on Saturday by men who wanted his Thuraya satellite telephone," Mark Simmons, country director for the Fellowship for African Relief, told AFP.

"They came to his home on Monday evening to take the phone, but it wasn't there. The armed men then opened fire on him."

Simmons said the attack took place in west Darfur, near the border with Chad.

"We've been in Sudan for 24 years and this is the first time that one of our workers is killed," he said.

The killing came after Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir, accused by the International Criminal Court of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, expelled 13 foreign relief agencies earlier this month.

Beshir has stepped up his defiance of the West since the ICC issued an arrest warrant for him on March 4, vowing to expel foreign aid groups and to replace them with Sudanese organisations.

An early start to volunteering; college student spends six months in India

A young woman is spending a half a year in India helping poor children. While there, she continues her college studies via the internet. That is part of the story of Brooke McCall, who stated volunteering and making a difference in high school. She has created a web site about her current effort at Only Today org.

The Daily Press from Orange County California tells us more about the young world traveler, with this story from Greg Hardesty.

In India, her mission is twofold: Teaching English and geography to kids from the slums and refugee camps, and trying to raise $15,000 to send 50 of those students to college.

Her uncle, Chris White, who works at the Irvine office of Cisco Systems, the giant networking supplier, set up McCall to live at the India home of Lea King, a Cisco marketing executive in Bangalore, who connected McCall to several nonprofit organizations.

McCall works six days a week for the nonprofits.

Most of that time is spent at the Indira Gandhi International Academy, which educates about 230 kids from Sri Lanka who are transported each day from a refugee camp.

Outside class, she's raising money for an 8-year- old boy with a severe leg infection. The goal is to keep him in school.

McCall's other miniproject has a similar theme. She's convinced the parents of a 17-year-old girl not to marry off their daughter so that she, too, can stay in school.

Book Review "The Life You Can Save" by Peter Singer

You might remember Peter Singer from the 1970's when he declared that animals have equal rights to humans. Singer continues to try to sway opinions with his latest book "The Life You Can Save." In it, he suggests how Americans can change their charitable giving to help combat world poverty.

We found a review of the work in the Boston Globe, from freelance writer and book critic Bill Williams.

Peter Singer is on a crusade to convince Americans that they can play a vital role in ending world poverty, without undue sacrifice.

The Princeton bioethics professor's latest book, "The Life You Can Save," offers a stark indictment of extreme economic disparity in a world where 10 million children under the age of 5 die each year from starvation and treatable illnesses.

Americans are generous with their time and money, but little of it is directed at helping those outside US borders. Among industrialized nations, the United States ranks near the bottom in the proportion of national income given as foreign aid.

Like a veteran debater, Singer weighs the reasons why people do not give more, cites examples of noble generosity, and offers a voluntary plan that could raise $510 billion to combat poverty.

One of Singer's favorite examples of American excess is bottled water, which has become a staple in many households. Meanwhile, millions of people do not have access to clean water, sanitation, medical care, and enough food to maintain health.

Some people balk because they think the scale of extreme poverty is so great that small donations would not make a difference, or they are more likely to help the needy closer to home, or they wonder what happens to their donations.

The slowing textile industry in Cambodia

Foreign investors invaded Cambodia with cash to establish a thriving textile industry in the 1990's. The jobs in the clothing factories helped to bring many Cambodians over the poverty level.

Now with the global recession slowing down demand for clothes, many jobs in Cambodia are being lost. Some factories are shutting down while owing their workers back pay.

From this exaustive Reuters story on textiles in Cambodia, writer Ek Madra shows us the impact on the nations poverty line.

The sector represents about 16 percent of Cambodia's GDP, so the factory closures will hurt, with a ripple effect in the countryside as the money sent home by garment workers dries up.

The International Monetary Fund says the economy could shrink 0.5 percent in 2009 and the garment trade slump is a big factor.

But Kang Chandararot, director of the Cambodian Institute of Development Study (CIDS), said even if the double-digit growth of recent years was out of reach, 4 or 5 percent may be possible thanks to a bountiful rice crop in 2008/09 and the record $950 million in aid pledged by international donors for 2009.

"Cambodia could use the aid of nearly $1 billon to invest in infrastructures to stimulate its economy," Chandararot said.

People surviving on less than $1 a day are deemed to be living in poverty. Garment workers earn on average $2.7 a day so the loss of these jobs will hurt.

"More people will be pushed into poverty," said Huot Chea of the World Bank in Cambodia.

Historical data is lacking in Cambodia, but the World Bank says 45 to 50 percent of the people lived in poverty in 1994. Prime Minister Hun Sen says that was cut to 30 percent by 2008 thanks to the garment sector, tourism and agriculture.

Numbers of people in poverty in New York state increasing

A report for areas of upstate New York show increasing poverty in the region. The State's Community Action Association compiled the report using US Census Bureau data and numbers from area aid agencies.

The details show what anti-poverty workers already now, the number of people in poverty in New York state are increasing. From the Schenectady Daily Gazette, reporter Sara Foss gets some reaction.

“This confirmed what we see,” said Deb Schimpf, executive director of the Schenectady Community Action Program.

“It’s what we expected, but it’s still hard to meet the need,” said Mike Saccocio, executive director of the City Mission of Schenectady.

The New York State Community Action Association, which wrote the report, hopes that it will serve as a resource for community-based organizations, elected officials and the public. It was put together using 2005, 2006 and 2007 data from the United States Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, and provides poverty rates for every county in the state, as well as upstate cities.

“Policy makers need good poverty information,” said Denise Harlow, CEO of the New York State Community Action Association. The report, she said, “elevates the issues of poverty.” According to the 2009 New York State Poverty Report, the statewide poverty rate is 14 percent, compared to a national poverty rate of 13.3 percent. More than 2.6 million New Yorkers live in households with incomes below the poverty line — $18,310 for a family of three. Statewide, the median income is $52,944.

In Albany County, the poverty rate is 12.4 percent, in Fulton County 16.4 percent, in Montgomery County 13.1 percent, in Rensselaer County 11.5 percent, in Saratoga County 6.6 percent, in Schenectady County 11.4 percent and in Schoharie County 11.7 percent.

The rates are much higher in area cities. In Albany, the poverty rate is 26.7 percent; approximately 39.2 percent of children live in poverty. In Saratoga Springs, the poverty rate is 8.4 percent; approximately 25.4 percent of children live in poverty. In Schenectady, the poverty rate is 21.1 percent; approximately 28.7 percent of children live in poverty.

A Sari designing NGO to empower the women of India

We learned of the work of a non governmental Organization that works in India that helps to improve the lives of women. The NGO called "Hosur Development Foundation" helps women to design sari clothing so they can go on to form their own sari crafting businesses.

The story from Andhra News gives us more details on the NGO.

A self-help group has been training rural women in sari designing in Tamil Nadu to make them self-reliant.

Under patronage of the Tamil Nadu Government and the Central Government, a non- government organization 'Hosur Development Foundation' is running the self-help group for the socio-economic development of women and their empowerment.

A group of 140 women are working in this self-help group for making designs on the saris.

"We are making designs on saris and tailoring it. The Central and the State Government have provided their assistance to us. Earlier, we faced quite a lot of difficulties, but now we are earning 2000 rupees per month. We are hoping to earn more," said Seetha, member of the self-help group.

With the help of government subsidies the women are successfully engaged in the jobs.We are providing the State and the Central Government subsidies for the members.

They can use it for their economic growth, cultural development and economic status," said Arumugam, Assistant Project Officer, self-help group, Krishnakiri District.

Comment on the aid expulsions from Darfur

A very under-reported story that has been going on in recent weeks are the expulsions of aid grounds and NGO's who provide much need food and support to the people of Darfur. The government of Sudan has been kicking out the aid groups and leaving a vacuum of need for the refugees of Darfur.

We normally don't leave commentaries up through the weekend, but Jim Wallis wrote a piece for God's Politics that has been weighing on our minds lately. Again, our blog's goal is to shed light on a very under-reported subject in the American press. The actions of the government of Sudan seem to have been forgotten in all the news of the global recession, so we felt led to give this commentary some attention through the weekend.

Here we are again, and again, and again. It is not a new message or a new concern. People have been suffering, starving, raped, beaten and killed year in and year out. There are those who have committed years, entire lives, to the cause. They have preached, they have marched, they have sung, they have divested, and they have been arrested to make their voices heard. Politicians, celebrities, faith leaders, and activists have joined together to stand up and speak out. The campaigns have gone on so long and the education so effective that 58 percent of Americans can now locate this remote country on a map. But, “never again” has turned into “once again,” and history repeats itself with genocide in Darfur.

Over the past few weeks, 13 international humanitarian organizations have been expelled from Sudan at the dictate of Omar al-Bashir, president of Sudan. These actions came soon after the International Criminal Court handed down an indictment of al-Bashir and issued a warrant for his arrest for crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Darfur. As a result, 1.1 million Darfuris are without food, 1.5 million without health care, and more than 1 million without access to clean drinking water. If there was any doubt as to whether or not he was truly acting in the best interest of his people, his use of food and water as weapons of war show that he just does not care about the people of Darfur.

Over the past month, officials have spoken to me about invoking Article 16 of the Court’s statutes which would allow the U.N. Security Council to defer proceedings for a year or even more. They argue that this would allow the Khartoum government to take positive steps forward in taking care of its people and moving toward peace. With the expulsion of these humanitarian organizations, al-Bashir has shown that he has no interest in the well-being of the people of Darfur or in bringing piece. These actions show that once again there comes a time when a political leader has so violated standards of international law and morality that he should no longer be treated as a sovereign, even in his own country, but as a criminal. Actions like this show that he should no longer be president, but prosecuted and brought to justice like the international fugitive of the law he now is. If he was serious about peace and progress, the first thing he should do is welcome the aid organizations back into his country, and without that he has ensured that this warrant will be pursued.
...

Again, and again, and again. The unacceptable has been accepted, atrocities have been ignored. When the dust clears and the bodies are buried, burned, or left to rot in forsaken camps, the whole world will mourn for what has been done. But, what Sudan needs is not apologies in the future, but hope today. Until the killing has stopped and peace restored, Sudan needs people of conscience across the world who will stand in solidarity today, tomorrow, and the day after that – again, and again, and again.

Extending credit to farmers without collateral established in Uganda

A new credit program will begin to extend credit to farmers in Africa who are without collateral. The hope is that small farmers will be able to borrow money for improved seeds and fertilizer. The improved tools should be able to provide the farmers enough food to live on for a full year, and maybe a little extra to sell.

The lending program will operate in Uganda, Ghana, Mozambique and Tanzania.

The Standard Bank of South Africa put up the money for the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa who will conduct the program. $100 million dollars will be put into the fund over the next three years.

Kofi Annan is a chair person for the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa. He spoke at the unveiling ceremony which was attended by reporter Hellen Mukiibi of New Vision.

"Inflation, food shortages, and trade imbalances all pose huge social, economic, and political risks. But while credit is frozen worldwide, Africa cannot wait for a thaw," Annan said at the unveiling event in Accra on Wednesday.

"Programmes such as this, which increase the productivity of smallholder farmers and help catalyse an African Green Revolution, will ultimately enable Africa to achieve food security and stability, and thus improve the entire global outlook."

Standard Bank Group boss Jacko Maree said "as a leading emerging markets bank, our goal is to perform a transformative role in the continent's agricultural sector in partnership with other organisations.

Transforming small scale farmers into medium-sized enterprises is essential to address the food security and to stimulate economic growth." Similar to farmers in developing countries, the Uganda small land holders lack access to finance.

This been the worldwide major obstacle preventing farmers from investing in basic inputs, such as good seeds, fertilisers and small-scale irrigation needed to raise farm productivity and generate profit.

As a result, their yields poor, estimated at one-quarter of the global average leading to pervasive hunger and poverty across Africa.

Food giveaway has to turn people away

A food giveaway in Georgia saw such a huge demand that people had to be turned away.

The giveaway is part of an USDA Emergency Food Assistance Program. The program distributes food through community action agencies and food banks. The recent food bill and economic stimulus packages increased the number of giveaways the USDA conducts.

From the Athens Banner Hearld, writer Merritt Melanco shows us how great the need is.

More than 200 people gathered at Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2872 at dawn Thursday to pick up bags to free groceries from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and several dozen were turned away after food ran out.

"The last couple of these, we had to go out to the corner and hold up signs, flag people down just to get them in here to get the groceries," said Gwen Maxey, community services coordinator for ACTION Inc., the agency that handles the USDA's local commodities distribution. "So this, to me, is just a sign of the times."

As the line snaked around the VFW parking lot, volunteers handed out numbered tickets representing one household's allotment of groceries. It was clear by 8:15 a.m. that there weren't enough tickets to go around. The scene was similar at a Oconee County grocery pick-up location, where volunteers ran out of groceries by 10 a.m. - a first in Oconee County, said Elaine Whitmire, ACTION Inc.'s community services coordinator for the county.

With more and more companies laying off employees and the state reaching an all-time high of 9.2 percent unemployment, Maxey isn't surprised to see new faces in the line, she said.

They are all sorts of people: Construction workers who haven't found a job in months; people who were laid off and are trying to make their savings last as long as they can; grandparents who need the extra food because their children and grandchildren have moved back home.

"It's just really bad out there right now," said Billie Riley, who retired after 22 years working at a local hospital. "My daughter lost her job, so she had to move in with me. We're all in the same house now, which is fine. But I've only got Social Security coming in."

Afghan women taking desparate measures

A gruesome story in the BBC today really shows the plight of women in Afghanistan. The story describes women burning themselves or self-immolation to escape their lives.

Even though the nations constitution makes equal rights a priority, it doesn't match the reality in the lives of the countries women. Many women are in poverty, illiterate or are victims of domestic abuse. A large number of the women who burn themselves are ones who are about to be married. Many take to burning because they dont see a way out or any way to improve their lives.

From the BBC, Martin Patience looks at the work of a burn center practitioner, Dr Mohammed Jalili.

At the hospital, Dr Jalili was treating two women. He had operated on 20-year-old Anargol three times, including a skin graft operation on her badly scarred neck.

Anargol says she had committed self-immolation after arguing with her husband.

When asked whether she had a message for other women, she had a shocking response.

"Don't burn yourself," she said, lying on her hospital bed. "If you want a way out, use a gun: it's less painful."

It was an absolute cry of despair, and something rarely heard from women in this deeply conservative society.

But according to Soraya Balaigh, director of the provincial department for women's affairs, it is an emotion that many women relate to.

"Pressure is often put on these women by their husbands or the mothers-in-law," she says.

"Violence is common and many women are desperate. I had a woman in this office who begged me to kill her here rather than send her back."

Surveying hunger in the states

A new survey is being taken nationwide to examine hunger in America. People who ask for food assistance at food pantries across the nation will be surveyed to see the extent of hunger in the states.

From the Gazette Extra in Janesville Wisconsin, reporter Shelly Birkelo tells us more.

People seeking help at ECHO on Tuesday might have helped others.

Clients looking for food or emergency lodging were asked to take the 82-question Hunger in America survey.

The nationwide survey is taken every four years to measure how much food assistance available to low-income people, said Gina Wilson, director of agency relations at Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin.

The information will be used “by advocates, legislators and people who are trying to secure more funding for assistance for people who need help with food,’’ she said.

“We learn a good bit in the client interviews about what client circumstances are,’’ she said.

The information is kept confidential.

“We will not share information about you with anybody else, including this agency, and the information you give will not be used to determine your eligibility for benefits from any program,’’ according to a copy of the survey.

A food bank profile: Sparrow Serivces in Lake Oswgo, Oregon

A profile on a food bank caught our eye this morning. The Oregon newspaper Lake Oswego Review profiled Sparrow Services which is based out of Hope Community Church.

The story echoed what we are hearing from many food bank leaders, that there is a new face of hunger in America due to the recession. People who were once well off now have to receive donations to feed themselves, some do it in secret.

Reporter for the Lake Oswego Review Cliff Newell, interviewed Sparrow Services leader Keith Dickerson for the story.

Certainly, Sparrow Services is doing great work by feeding the hungry. Yet perhaps what is most unique about it is who these hungry people are.

“We don’t get many transients any more,” Keith Dickerson said, “where we just give them some popup cans of Vienna sausage or some chili.”

Instead, Sparrow Services receives people who live in Lake Oswego. Not down-and-outers, but people who not long ago were well off and who often still live in fine homes. But in these times they are going hungry.

“There’s a big demand in Lake Oswego,” Keith Dickerson said. “I’ve pastored in Illinois, Minnesota, and Georgia, and our food ministry in Lake Oswego is different from anywhere else. Hungry people here are in the stealth mode. They want to be anonymous, and we often find out about them from a neighbor or co-worker.

“Sometimes people who need food the worse are the last ones to let you know. They’re meek and quiet and appreciative. They come in softly and leave gratefully. They are people in great need.

“Approaching them is an art, it’s a different dance. You can’t do it brazenly but quietly. The art is giving them the permission to take what the community has for them.

“Some live in nice homes, but they’re tax assessment poor. Sometimes they short themselves on things they need.

“These are people now having to say to themselves ‘I could go hungry.’ That’s been an awakening for us.”

Stimulus in the Philippines

In our searches today, we found part of the plan the Philippines has to keep their economy thriving during the global recession.

A cash transfer program in the Philippines will give mothers and their children money if the parents promise to keep their kids in school.

From Business World Onlne, Maria Eloisa I. Calderon fills us in on the program, as well as gives us the latest poverty stats for the country.

The program involves handing out cash — P500 for healthcare and P300 per child for education (a maximum of P1,400 per family) — to mothers on condition that their children are sent to school.

"We have identified 320,00 households this year but the President [Gloria Macapagal Arroyo] gave an order for us to double it to P700,000," Ms. Pablo told BusinessWorld, adding the additional budget will be drawn from the President’s social fund.

The DSWD, which has drawn up a five-year plan to 2012 for the conditional cash transfer program, will need an estimated P10 billion every year for every 700,000 families, she said.

In its latest MDG progress report, the National Economic and Development Authority said the proportion of people living in extreme poverty had fallen to 13.5% in 2003 from 24.3% in 1991.

The UNDP is currently conducting a survey to get an estimate of how many people in the Asia-Pacific region have fallen back to poverty as a result of the crisis. Mr. Chhibber pointed out that a "significant part" of the roughly 400 million people who have risen out of poverty in recent years on the back of buoyant economic growth would be adversely affected.

"A global recovery from this crisis is going to take much longer ... and therefore, much more Asian solutions to this crisis must be found," he said.

The bloody transition of power in Madagascar

We have been watching for a few days now a bloody transition of power in Madagascar.

Madagascar's new president Andry Rajoelina has been installed by the military's actions. The nations military stormed the former President's palace where he was forced to resign.

From the International Herald Tribune, we get details of the overthrow, and reaction from the international community.

The nation's worst unrest in years killed at least 135 people, devastated a $390 million-a-year tourism sector and worried multinational firms with investments in its mining and oil industries.

The outcome was also a slap against the African Union, which has censured recent violent transfers of power that have damaged the continent's reputation with investors. Experts said Western donors could consider cutting aid to the world's fourth-largest island, but only in the short term.

"With so many people below the poverty line, I can't see the international community abandoning Madagascar in the long run, and he knows this," said Lydie Boka, of the Paris-based risk group StrategieCo, referring to Mr. Rajoelina.

While the military was crucial in installing the opposition leader, analysts said he also had the backing of Didier Ratsiraka, the exiled former president, and his allies. Some analysts said that France, the former colonial ruler, had also given him tacit support.

Mr. Ravalomanana's whereabouts on Wednesday were unclear. The opposition had accused him of corruption and of losing touch with the majority of the population who eke out a living on less than $2 a day.

There was a heavy military presence at the palace where Mr. Ravalomanana capitulated. A Reuters TV witness saw broken windows and furniture, as well as a crowbar lodged in the door of a safe. It was not clear whether departing presidential guards, the army or the public had ransacked the building.

For the new president's first speech, Rajoelina said that he would make poverty reduction a top priority. Corruption in the face of poverty is a factor in the whole transition to begin with.

From the paper Easy Bourse, this AFP story tells us Rajoelina's comments.

Madagascar's acting president, Andry Rajoelina, said Wednesday in his first speech since being swept to power by the army that fighting poverty on the island would be his priority.

"I will do everything I can to ensure that Madagascans are lifted out of poverty," Rajoelina told around 15,000 supporters during a rally in the capital Antananarivo.
"We will do everything we can to ensure that the standard of living of Madagascans starts improving as soon as possible," he added.

The 34-year-old leader, who was confirmed as acting president by the constitutional court earlier Wednesday, vowed to bring food prices down, notably rice.

One of the most symbolic measures he announced during his speech was his decision to sell outgoing president Marc Ravalomanana's plane.

"For the good of the Madagascan people, I will sell Force One," he said, adding that the money would be used "to establish a hospital for the people's health, which is a higher priority."

Force One is a Boeing 737 that Ravalomanana recently purchased from Disney World for $60 million.

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Tuberculosis amongst the homeless in America

Most often the disease tuberculosis is associated with poverty in the under-developed world. But it does exist in America, and our homeless population is often at risk.

From the Stockton Record, writer Jennifer Torres details a new tuberculosis scanning program that is ongoing in California homeless shelters.

Tuberculosis affects far fewer Americans than it does residents of developing countries. Still, the United States has experienced somewhat recent epidemics; the number of tuberculosis cases reported nationally rose sharply in the late 1980s and early 1990s, an increase linked in part to the spread of HIV as well as increased immigration, poverty and homelessness.

Rates of tuberculosis - a contagious disease caused by bacteria, which typically affects the lungs - have dropped in the years since, but progress, at least in California, has slowed.

Now, as poverty continues to spread and funding for prevention programs is threatened, some public health advocates warn that gains in fighting the treatable disease could be lost.

San Joaquin County has the fourth-highest tuberculosis rate in California, according to the most recent data available from the state Public Health Department. It is one of 10 counties with a tuberculosis rate higher than the statewide average of 7.2 cases per 100,000 residents. (That rate, meanwhile, is much higher than the U.S. average of 4.4.)

"I think it's good that they check us for tuberculosis," Carlos Salazar said as he put his public health card back into his wallet and carried his backpack to a bed at the homeless shelter. Salazar, originally from Guatemala, has lived in the United States for 19 years and at the homeless shelter for about two months. "If they find out you have it, you can get the right treatment."

Since fall 2007, single men at the Stockton shelter have been required to be tested for tuberculosis through the county public health office within three days of checking in. If their test comes back negative, they receive a clearance with their photo on it.

How the global recession will impact Asia

The Asian Development Bank has released a study that examines the effect the global recession will have in Asia. The bad news is, that it will increase the already high level of poverty in the region. The good news is, that many economies in Asia are isolated enough from the global financial system that their economies will continue to grow.

From IPS, reporter Prime Sarmiento unpacks the report for us.

The AsDB study, presented at a forum here earlier this month, expects a 6.7 percent growth for South Asia in 2009. This may be modest compared to the 8.6 percent growth posted in 2007, but still implies that the AsDB does not expect the sub-region to fall into recession anytime soon.

Participants at the forum were agreed that the poor, especially in countries like Nepal and Bangladesh, whose economies depend heavily on remittances from its nationals working abroad, were likely to be worst hit.

"While some countries in South Asia have had relatively less exposure to the crisis from the adverse impacts of capital flows, more than half of the 900 million people in developing Asia who survive on 1.25 US dollars a day live in the sub-region, so any tempering of growth is a serious cause for concern," AsDB president Haruhiko Kuroda said at the forum

In a speech delivered at the forum, Arun Shourie, member of India's parliament and former minister of public sector divestment, noted that behind all the macroeconomic data are people who will lose their livelihoods or cannot send their children to school.

South Asia may be home to some of the world's growing economies but positive fundamentals have not done much to improve the plight of the sub-continent's poor.

India, one of Asia's economic powerhouses, has posted an impressive eight to nine percent growth in the past few years. But 30 percent of India's one billion populace subsists on less than two dollars a day.

The situation is worse in poorer economies like Nepal and Bangladesh where nearly 40 percent of the population live below the poverty level, experts at the forum said. The crisis will further intensify inequities with the wealthy remaining unscathed and the poor suffering more.

Mental Health in Africa

It's tough enough to receive care for a physical illness in Africa. A story from the Associated Press shows just how difficult care is for mental illness.

Several factors stand in the way of the mentally ill receiving care. Poverty of course is a factor, either the ill are too poor to purchase care, or governments are too poor to provide it to the public.

Social stigmas against the mentally ill still exist in some areas. The ill may be treated less than humanely, being accused of being cursed or possessed. In some cases a mentally ill person will seek a witch doctor, only to suffer abuse from the witch doctors treatment.

In this AP article that we found in the International Herald Tribune we learn of some of the funding available for the mentally ill in Africa, and even catch glimpses of the abuse. Please be advised that our snippet is graphic.

In Kenya and many other African countries, poverty, lack of access and the stigma of mental disease prevent many patients from getting the help they desperately need. Despite some recent progress, just 0.01 percent of Kenya's health budget is spent on mental health, compared to around 6 percent in the U.S., for example.

Yet about a quarter of Kenyans seeking medical help have problems with mental health, says Dr. David Kiima, director of mental health. He estimates that about 10 percent of Kenya's people have mental health issues, and about 1 percent have disorders serious enough to warrant inpatient treatment.

The problem is worse in some other African countries such as Liberia, which suffered 15 years of brutal civil war and had numerous child soldiers. The World Health Organization says up to 85 percent of mentally ill people in the developing world never get treatment.

"The community does not see these people as human beings. They do not see their suffering," says Edah Maina, who heads the Kenya Society for the Mentally Handicapped.

Over the last seven years, the organization has forcefully taken more than 3,000 children and adults with mental disabilities from homes where they were abused. The organization tries to educate families to accept their mentally ill relatives back and treat them well. But some refuse, and the mentally ill may then end up in a government hospital for the rest of their lives.

The bland beige binders lining the walls in Maina's busy Nairobi office hide a litany of nightmares. In one photo, a 16-year-old autistic girl is led from a dark shed into the sun but can no longer see the light that warms her. After being locked up by her mother for 12 years, she has gone blind.

A grainy video shows a man with mental disabilities chained in a dog's kennel by his parents for a decade. In another incident, rescue workers open a corrugated iron door to reveal a chained, emaciated man with schizophrenia. His legs dangle uselessly after 15 years of malnutrition and confinement.

Countless other files show insects feeding on tied-up, swollen limbs and open sores festering under plastic bags used as diapers.

"Sometimes we can't sleep for days after an intervention," Maina admits.