As of November 16, 2009, 09H00 GMT, 29 countries have officially reported 14,950 laboratory confirmed human cases of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 including 103 deaths. The breakdown of confirmed cases and deaths by country is given in the table below.

(1): Is monitoring the pandemic but is no longer reporting individual cases

(2): Data reported on a weekly basis. Week ending at November 1, 2009.

As of November 23, 2009, 09H00 GMT, 29 countries have officially reported 15503 laboratory confirmed human cases of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 including 104 deaths. The breakdown of confirmed cases and deaths by country is given in the table below.

(1): Data received from previous epidemiological weeks. Average of 100 cases reported weekly.

(2): Is monitoring the pandemic but is no longer reporting individual cases

(3): Data reported on a weekly basis. Week ending at November 15, 2009.

As of November 30, 2009, 09H00 GMT, 29 countries have officially reported 15,887 laboratory confirmed human cases of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 including 108 deaths. The breakdown of confirmed cases and deaths by country is given in the table below.

1: Is monitoring the pandemic but is no longer reporting individual cases

2: Data reported on a weekly basis. Week ending at November 22, 2009.

As of December 07, 2009, 09H00 GMT, 29 countries have officially reported 16,031 laboratory confirmed human cases of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 including 109 deaths. The breakdown of confirmed cases and deaths by country is given in the table below.

2: Data reported on a weekly basis. Week ending at November 29, 2009.

This on-line newsletter gathers information about about the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Secretariat (UNISDR) and its partners' activities in Africa.

Inside this issue: (i) Making African Cities Resilient; (ii) 11th RCM meeting in Addis Ababa; (iii) Progress on ministerial report on DRR; (iv) UNISDR/ECCAS agreement; (v) Capacity assessment for ECOWAS; (vi) Update on data sharing protocol; (vii) Head of State retreat Arusha; (viii) CARE launches Adaptation; (ix) KSUP meeting in Nairobi; (x) Mission to Karamoja, Uganda; and (xi) AU and partners hold DRR meeting.

Executive Summary

The mandate of the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture of the African Union Commission is to initiate and promote policies that can contribute to the development of rural economy and improve livelihoods through increasing agricultural productivity, ensuring food security, and enhancing sustainable use and management of Africa’s natural resources.

African pastoralism is defined by a high reliance on livestock as a source of economic and social wellbeing, and various types of strategic mobility to access water and grazing resources in areas of high rainfall variability. Pastoralism is found in all regions of Africa and in some regions, is the dominant livelihoods system. Pastoralists supply very substantial numbers of livestock to domestic, regional and international markets and therefore, make crucial – but often undervalued – contributions to national and regional economies in Africa. Their production systems are highly adaptive, constantly responding to market and climatic trends.
Pastoralist culture is part of the cultural heritage of Africa, and animal and plant resources in pastoral areas comprise one of the most important types of genetic resource on the continent.

This issue of Africa Informs covers disaster risk reduction (DRR) activities in Sub Saharan Africa at regional, sub regional and national level. It is intended to provide an advocacy platform, targeting regional and sub-regional fora, in order to increase the understanding and knowledge of DRR.

This issue includes:

Disaster risk reduction at regional level:
- Africa agrees on an extended Programme of Action for Disaster Risk Reduction
- Inaugural meeting of the reconstituted Africa Working Group on DRR
- Africa Report to the Global Platform outlines high-level commitment for DRR
- Drought Risk Reduction project in the Horn of Africa
- UN agencies in Africa to strengthen efforts to deliver as one
- Highlights from the 13th Africa Ministerial Conference on Environment
- Regional launch of the Global Assessment Report as talks of common voice on DRR fore

Disaster risk reduction at sub-regional level:
- Regional Economic Communities
- Progress in Economic Community of Western African States
- Central Africa endeavors to strengthen its DRR policy & programme
- East Africa Community (EAC)
- Southern African Development Community (SADC)

Disaster risk reduction at national level:
- Local monitoring the HFA: Buzi, Mozambique
- Nigerian Platform reviews national strategies on DRR
- The case of Cape Verde
- Ghana: Building a gender responsive culture in DRR
- Natural hazards training package launched to strengthen disaster management
- Monrovia, Liberia
- Delegates adopt a resolution at a DRR advocacy workshop
- Namibia: Progress in disaster risk management

Making cities resilient: 'My city is getting ready' World disaster reduction campaign:
- Mayor of Saint Louis named Campaign champion
- 46th ISOCARP Congress highlights urban challenges
- International Day for Disaster Reduction 2010 in Kenya, Ghana, Zanzibar and South Africa

Disaster risk reduction at local level:
- ICPAC meeting emphases on community action
- Nigeria launches Civil Society Coalition on DRR
- German Redcross: DRR takes root in the coastal communities
- CORDAID Community managed DRR
- Community managed DRR in a river basin community, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia
- The threat of changing land use to pastoralists in Ethiopia, Kenya & Uganda
- Investors promote DRR in an entrepreneurial seminar

Views and Reviews:
- Adjusting our reporting angles from 'consequences to causes'
- Good practice documentation, lesson learning and monitoring and evaluation

WHO/AFRO welcome preliminary results of malaria vaccine trials

The World Health Organization’s Regional Office for Africa has welcomed the announcement that trials of a malaria candidate vaccine show promising results by providing protection against clinical malaria in children.

The results were announced at the Global Malaria Forum hosted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle, USA and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Between May 2009 and January 2011, 15460 children from seven countries in Africa, namely,
Burkina Faso, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania took part in the clinical trials. The trials showed that administration of the malaria candidate vaccine called RTS,S was able to prevent about 56% of children from developing clinical malaria. The incidence of severe malaria was reduced by about 35% in vaccinated children. The RTS,S candidate vaccine trial is ongoing and is scheduled for completion in 2014.

Résumé du Rapport

Ce rapport indique clairement que l’amélioration de la sécurité alimentaire en Afrique subsaharienne ne repose pas seulement sur l’augmentation de la production agricole, ni même sur le renforcement de la nutrition, même si ces deux éléments sont essentiels. Il repose sur la mise en place d’un changement structurel profond grâce à l’adoption d’une approche multisectorielle dans toutes les interventions de développement, depuis l’accès à la santé et à l’infrastructure, telle que les routes, à une augmentation des opportunités d'emploi, en passant par l’autonomisation des femmes.

Ce rapport est le résultat d'une vaste consultation avec des professionnels et des experts de l'ensemble des domaines afférents au développement, en Afrique et à l’étranger, et nous espérons qu’il permettra de raviver le débat sur la sécurité alimentaire et qu’il aboutira à une prise de mesure décisive pour éradiquer la faim en Afrique.

A retenir

• La population en Afrique subsaharienne, 856 millions en 2010, devrait dépasser les 2 milliards d'ici 2050.

• Plus d'un habitant sur quatre, soit près de 218 millions d'africains, souffrent de malnutrition.

• Deux raisons majeures expliquent la persistance de l'insécurité alimentaire en Afrique: un penchant urbain marqué, au détriment du développement rural, et un préjugé lié au genre, qui s'inscrit dans le contexte élargi d'une inégalité souvent en progression.

• Les gouvernements africains dépensent entre 5 et 10% de leur budget sur l'agriculture, bien dessous de la moyenne des 20% dépensés par les pays asiatiques lors de la Révolution verte.

• Les femmes sont des productrices alimentaires significatives, mais leur contrôle sur le territoire en Afrique subsaharienne est plus basse que dans n'importe quelle région du monde.

Six million more to go hungry because of global economic crisis, Save the Children says

Six million more people will go hungry as a result of the global economic crisis Save the Children revealed today as leaders prepared to meet at the G20 conference in Mexico. With the developed world’s finances in turmoil, the charity says the knock-on effects are stretching far beyond Europe’s borders, hitting the most vulnerable families in poorer countries hard.

In a new report, A Chance to Grow, the charity says recent downgrades to economic forecasts mean millions more will face hunger by the end of 2013. If the World Bank’s “worst case scenario” should come to pass, meaning two of Europe’s larger economies such as Italy or Spain default on international loans, the number could reach a staggering 33 million.

Many African economies have been growing faster than their European counterparts but the global downturn means 6 million fewer people will be lifted out of poverty and left unable to afford a basic nutritious diet.

Save the Children’s new research analyses the effect of the economic crisis on developing countries. Chief Executive Justin Forsyth said:

“In a world already struggling to cope with hundreds of millions of hungry children, this is devastating news. While the developed world is picking up the pieces left behind by the banking crisis, for families in many parts of Africa and Asia the more pressing concern is how to feed their child.”

“The big question for governments is how they combine putting Europe back on a growth trajectory with protecting the rest of the world from the fallout that is already being felt.”

As the world debates how to do this, Save the Children's new report finds that a key way forward is to help poorer countries to establish, develop and finance social protection systems, which would act as a safety net during times of crisis.

“As the name suggests, safety nets are designed to catch people when they fall. By distributing items such as cash, food or other assets before crisis hits, governments can protect the poorest when it does.” Justin Forsyth said.

Putting these measures in place requires donors, including G20 nations, providing additional funding to the Rapid Social Response trust fund managed by the World Bank and asking the World Bank to improve social protection systems in low-income countries.

“We understand why G20 leaders will spend most of their time debating the European economy, but just because the poorest children don’t have a seat at the table, it doesn’t mean they should be left with the crumbs. Leaders must set time aside to push through these crucial measures.” Forsyth said.

Save the Children researchers explain that a slowdown in private capital flows, increasing food prices, reduced trade from Europe and reduced aid flows have all played a role in transferring the problem towards developing countries.

Social protection helps to reduce poverty and hunger while also strengthening economic resilience for longer term growth. Despite this, investments in social protection have been declining since the start of the global economic crisis, the charity says.

The global crisis, alongside record food prices has already left an extra 75 million people without enough food, the charity says. With food prices edging towards record levels once more, and oil prices already at an all time high, the number of hungry children is likely to grow further.

Since the onset of the economic crisis in 2008, the number of hungry people has increased dramatically from 850 million to almost one billion, a seventh of the world’s population.

Save the Children has spokespeople available at the G20 summit. For interviews in Los Cabos, contact Kate Dooley on +44 (0)78 2583 3667. In London, contact Save the Children’s media unit on +44 (0) 207 012 6841 or out of hours on +44(0) 7831 650 409.

Notes to Editors

Projected rates of growth for 2012 and 2013 have been downgraded between June 2011 and January 2012. For developing countries as a whole, predicted growth has been downgraded from 6.2% in 2012 and 6.3% in 2012, to 5.4% and 6.0%.

It is estimated that if markets were to refuse finance for major European countries such as Spain or Italy, forcing them into unregulated defaults, a much wider financial crisis could result, engulfing private banks and other financial institutions. The World Bank estimates that the impact of such a shock would be to reduce developing country growth by a further 4.2% by 2013.

In order to estimate the effect of the Eurozone crisis on hunger, Save the Children extended the work of a recent World Bank policy research paper (Tiwari and Zaman 2010). This approach uses an income– calorie relationship along with data on average income and income distribution (from the World Development Indicators) to estimate the number of people globally living with insufficient income to meet their calorie requirements, under different growth scenarios.

The recent downgrade to economic growth in developing countries is expected to lead to 6.3 million more people in hunger by the end of 2013 than would have been the case had growth continued as had previously been projected. The potential impact of a severe shock to the Eurozone would be an additional 32.8m more people in hunger.

The increase in the global number of hungry people since the beginning of the financial crisis is based on the difference between the number of people suffering hunger globally as reported in FAO’s “Food and Security in the World Report” 2008 and 2010

The 2010 report is the most up-to-date available data

The difference in total numbers hungry between 2008 and 2010 is 75 million

The term “hunger” refers to undernourishment where calorie intake is below the minimum dietary requirement.

The World Bank’s Global Food Price Index was only 1 percent below a year ago and 6 percent below the February 2011 historic peak. If the current forecasts for increased food production do not materialize, global food prices could reach higher levels, underscoring the need to remain very vigilant. http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:23180612~pagePK:64257043~piPK:437376~theSitePK:4607,00.html

Bangladesh briefing: Social protection and child malnutrition 1.61 MB
India briefing: Social protection and child malnutrition 2.65 MB
Kenya briefing: Social protection and child malnutrition 6.31 MB
Nigeria briefing: Social protection and child malnutrition 1.59 MB

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has launched Open Data Platforms for the following 20 African countries: Algeria, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, Republic of Congo, Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Open Data Platform program is part of the AfDB’s recently launched “Africa Information Highway” initiative aimed at significantly improving data management and dissemination in Africa. Work is on course to complete platforms for the rest of African countries by July 2013.

The Open Data Platform is a user-friendly tool for extracting data, creating and sharing own customized reports, and visualizing data across themes, sectors and countries in tables, charts and maps. Through the Open Data Platform, users can access a wide range of development data on African countries from multiple international and national official sources. The platform also facilitates the collection, analysis and sharing of data among countries and with international development partners. The platform offers a unique opportunity for various users, such as policymakers, analysts, researchers, business leaders and investors around the world, to gain access to reliable and timely data on Africa. Users can visualize time series development indicators over a period of time, perform comprehensive analysis at country and regional levels, utilize presentation-ready graphics or create their own, blog, and share their views and work with others, thereby creating an informed community of users.

The Open Data Platform initiative is a response by the African Development Bank Group aimed at significantly increasing access to quality data necessary for managing and monitoring development results in African countries, including the MDGs. It responds to a number of important global and regional initiatives to scale up the availability of quality data on Africa and so foster evidence-based decision-making, public accountability and good governance.

Once implemented, the Open Data Platform will be used by African countries for all data submission flows to the AfDB and possibly other international development partners, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), EU Commission, World Health Organization (WHO), UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), African Union Commission (AUC) and UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). This initiative presents a unique opportunity for African countries to take the lead in implementation and promotion of international statistical standards across all countries in the region and in enhancing the quality of the data disseminated by African countries.

The initiative will also significantly revolutionize data management and dissemination in Africa, and reposition the continent for more effective participation in the global information economy.

A general overview of outbreaks that occurred within the WHO African Region between January and December 2013 is provided in this issue.

Overview of reported outbreaks in WHO African Region

Based on data received from the Event Management System (EMS)*, 72 public health events were reported to the Regional Office between January and December 2013, of which 89% (64 / 72) were due to infectious diseases; with cholera being the most frequently reported infectious event (33%). The distribution of these events is shown in figure 1 and 2 and table1.

IMF Projects Solid Growth for Sub-Saharan Africa in the Face of Headwinds

Press Release No. 15/179
April 28, 2015

Introducing the April 2015 IMF Regional Economic Outlook: Sub-Saharan Africa, Ms. Antoinette Sayeh, Director of the IMF’s African Department commented today:

“Sub-Saharan Africa’s economy is set to register another year of solid economic performance with growth expected to expand 4½ percent in 2015. The region will continue being one of the fastest growing in the world—second only to emerging and developing Asia. That said, the economic expansion will be at the lower end of the range experienced in recent years, mainly reflecting the impact of the sharp decline of oil and commodity prices over the last six months. But the impact of this shock will be highly differentiated across the region.

“Sub-Saharan Africa’s eight oil exporters have been hard hit by the price decline, and their average growth in 2015 is expected to be about 1¼ percentage points lower than in2014 in response to this shock. However, for most of the rest of the region, growth prospects remain favorable. These countries are enjoying the benefits of lower oil import bills, although some are also feeling the impact of lower prices for their non-oil commodity exports. Growth is projected to be particularly strong in most low-income and more fragile countries, and this will help to reduce poverty levels.

“In Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the Ebola outbreak is beginning to be controlled, with a sharp decline in the incidence of new infections. However, 2015 will be another difficult year, with economic activity expected to be significantly depressed. The IMF has provided $390 million of assistance to help these countries, including $100 million of grants for debt relief—the first instance of such assistance by a development partner.

“While the baseline scenario is for solid growth, policy makers need to remain mindful of risks that could still cloud the outlook. In particular, global financial conditions are tightening just as the region’s frontier markets are increasingly relying on Eurobonds to finance their large investment needs. The deteriorating security situation in some areas could also strain budgets and have an adverse impact on the near-term growth outlook, especially in the agricultural sector, while weakening prospects for foreign direct investment.

“For the region’s eight oil exporting countries, fiscal adjustment is a priority; policy makers should support an adjustment by allowing exchange rates to depreciate, where flexible exchange rate mechanisms are in place. Most countries have already initiated policy adjustment. They should be prepared to take additional steps if conditions warrant, bearing in mind the need to avoid cuts to capital spending. Similarly, frontier markets must remain vigilant to avert the risk of disorderly capital movements, especially in response to changes in U.S. monetary policy. More broadly across the region, countries should take advantage of lower oil prices to eliminate fuel subsidies and put in place flexible energy pricing mechanisms (while ensuring that social protections are in place for the most vulnerable). Not only would that promote efficient energy use, but it would also make room to scale up education and infrastructure spending.

“The current circumstances also highlight the urgent need for policies that favor structural transformation to diversify sub-Saharan Africa’s production base and promote greater integration into global trading networks. This will help the region create jobs for the rapidly growing young population as the region is set to experience a significant demographic transition in the next decades. By 2030 or so, the number of people reaching working age in the region will exceed that in the rest of the world combined. This offers a tremendous opportunity for sub-Saharan Africa, which, if properly tapped, could create a powerful engine for long-term growth.”

IMF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT
Public Affairs
E-mail: publicaffairs@imf.org
Fax: 202-623-6220
Media Relations
E-mail: media@imf.org
Phone: 202-623-7100

Birger Fredriksen and Sukhdeep Brar
with Michael Trucano

This book offers policy options that can help reduce textbook costs and increase their supply. The book explores, in depth, the cost and financial barriers that restrict textbook availability in schools across much of the region, as well as policies successfully adapted in other countries. The book also provides a thorough assessment of the pros and cons of digital teaching and learning materials and cautions against the assumption that they can immediately replace printed textbooks.

The Secretary-General has the honour to transmit to the General Assembly the report of the Director-General of the World Health Organization, submitted in accordance with General Assembly resolution 69/325.

Report of the Director-General of the World Health Organization on consolidating gains and accelerating efforts to control and eliminate malaria in developing countries, particularly in Africa, by 2015

Summary

The present report is submitted in response to General Assembly resolution 69/325. It provides a review of progress in the implementation of the resolution, focusing on the adoption and scaling-up of interventions recommended by the World Health Organization in malaria-endemic countries. It also provides an assessment of progress towards the 2015 global malaria targets, including Millennium Development Goal 6, targets set through the African Union and the World Health Assembly, and goals set through the Global Malaria Action Plan of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership. It elaborates on the challenges limiting the full achievement of the targets, and provides recommendations to ensure that progress is accelerated towards the goals of the Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016-2030 in the coming years.

I. Introduction

1. While malaria is a preventable and treatable disease, it continues to have a devastating impact on people’s health and livelihoods around the world. In 2015, approximately 3.2 billion people were at risk of the disease in 95 countries and territories, and an estimated 214 million malaria cases occurred (uncertainty range: 149 million-303 million). The disease killed 438,000 people (uncertainty range: 236,000-635,000), mostly children under 5 years of age in sub-Saharan Africa. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a multi-pronged strategy to reduce the malaria burden, including vector control interventions, preventive therapies, diagnostic testing, quality-assured treatment and strong malaria surveillance.

2. The present report highlights progress and challenges in the control and elimination of malaria in the context of General Assembly resolution 69/325. It draws on the World Malaria Report 2015, issued by WHO in December 2015. The analysis is based on the latest available comprehensive data (2014) received from malaria-endemic countries and organizations supporting global malaria efforts and includes projections to 2015 where it is feasible to do so. Data from 2015 are currently being collected and reviewed by WHO. Projections for 2015 were also published in The Millennium Development Goals Report 2015.

3. Between 2005 and 2015, malaria received worldwide recognition as a priority global health issue. Under the umbrella of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, endemic countries, United Nations agencies, bilateral donors, public-private partnerships, scientific organizations, academic institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the private sector worked together to scale up WHO-recommended interventions, harmonize activities and improve strategic planning, programme management and funding availability. A steep rise in international funding enabled endemic countries to expand their malaria programmes. Since 2010, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) has provided more than $4 billion for malaria interventions, while the Governments of the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland have been the second and third largest bilateral funders.

4. The success of efforts to control and eliminate malaria is measured through an analysis of trends in the disease burden and intervention scale-up, and a review of progress made towards a set of global goals and targets, which have been designed through intergovernmental processes or set in the context of global initiatives. For the period 2000 to 2015, the four main sets of goals and targets were: Millennium Development Goal 6, targets set through the African Union and the World Health Assembly, and goals set by the Roll Back Malaria Partnership through the Global Malaria Action Plan. Further details are provided in section IV of the report. Regional and subregional targets for malaria control and elimination are not addressed here.