Africa: First Ladies Call for New HIV/AIDS Initiatives

“Three African first ladies, Azeb Mesfin of Ethiopia, Jeanette Kagame of Rwanda, and Maureen Mwanawasa of Zambia, have called for new and further-reaching approaches to combating HIV/AIDS on the continent. Their message, delivered at a panel discussion on Tuesday at the World Bank headquarters in Washington, DC, was presented on behalf of the Organization of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS, formed in 2002.

           
“The first ladies focused on the importance of giving women, children, and communities special attention when designing national plans for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. …   Kagame provided a few practical solutions that new HIV/AIDS plans could potentially incorporate, such as testing and ARVs for fathers, job placement systems, economic assistance, counseling for HIV-positive victims of and rape and trauma. … Mwanawasa emphasized the importance of having all donor groups working under the same framework. Donor groups, she noted, work best when they can work together.

           
“The World Bank is not the largest donor for HIV/AIDS programs in Africa, but it was one of the earliest to design a multiple-country strategy in its Multi-country HIV/AIDS Program. The Bank, recognizing its new role in the changing aid environment, has embarked on a new plan for HIV/AIDS from 2007-2011. The new plan will attempt to incorporate ideas from groups like the Organization of African First Ladies as well as civil society organizations. …” [AllAfrica]

           
In related news, Reuters reports that “Despite some progress, most pregnant African women do not have access to drugs that would prevent passing on the HIV virus to their infants, UNICEF reported on Tuesday. In a 44-page report, ‘Children and Aids: A Stocktaking,’ the UN children's agency said one out of 10 pregnant women living in capital cities in Sub Saharan Africa is infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. In Pretoria, South Africa, for example, one in four children is infected. … According to available data, only seven countries in 2005 provided treatment, known as antiviral prophylaxis, to more than 40 percent of HIV-infected pregnant women: Argentina, Brazil, Botswana, Jamaica, Russia, Thailand and Ukraine. The study found the most successful results in nations that instituted a decentralized approach to service and training, a demonstrated political commitment and incorporated care for the entire family, from prevention to treatment. …” [Reuters/Factiva] 

           
The New York Times adds that “… Of the estimated 2.3 million children under 15 who had HIV in 2005, 780,000 needed antiretroviral therapy, UNICEF said, and only 10 percent of them received it. Untreated, about one-third of infected infants die in their first year, and half die by their second birthday. That translated into 380,000 children dying from AIDS last year, UNICEF said. … Lack of prevention and treatment has left an estimated 15.2 million children as orphans. The number is expected to grow to 20 million by 2010. The actual problem is worse, the report said, because ‘many more children live with parents who are chronically ill, live in households that have taken in orphans due to AIDS or have lost teachers and other adult members of the community to AIDS.’

           
“In issuing the report, UNICEF said it was trying to establish a baseline for future monitoring. Because data from 2005 was the latest available, the agency said it could not provide statistical comparisons for changes in the year since it began its effort. Even so, it said it could make some determinations about progress, of the lack thereof, based on the work it has been doing in the field. An additional problem is that national data on pediatric care and treatment is limited in most countries.” [The New York Times/Factiva]

IMF Confident Of Resilient Growth

“The world economy is proving to be a lot more resilient than many economists predicted, top International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials said Tuesday, expressing confidence that global growth would remain ‘solid’ at close to 5 percent this year.

           
“Rodrigo de Rato, IMF Managing Director, said the US housing market appeared to be bottoming out and a soft landing for the economy as a whole now seemed more assured. He added that ‘spillovers to other countries from slower US growth have, so far, been minimal.’ Economic recovery in Europe had broadened, Japan was broadly on track and emerging market growth remained vigorous, particularly in India and China. Overall, he judged, the global environment looked quite favorable. …” [The Financial Times (UK)]

           
“… But there remains the risk of a ‘disorderly adjustment’ in the global economy, with Asian currency rates still too rigid and oil prices remaining volatile, the IMF Managing Director said. Addressing a New Year press conference, Rato said also the IMF was progressing with plans to make the six-decade-old Fund more relevant to its fast-changing membership. …” [Agence France Presse/Factiva]

           
“… In an interview with Reuters, Rato said the IMF had cut its 2007 price estimate for oil to $52 a barrel from a September estimate of $75.50. … He repeated that China -- now one of the key drivers of global growth -- should let its Yuan currency rise in value both for the sake of its own stability and to keep imbalances from slowing global growth. … Among developed countries in the Group of Seven, Rato said policy-makers need to remain vigilant on inflation even though lower oil prices are helping them do the job. …” [Reuters/Factiva] 

           
“… Rato said countries should take advantage of the strong economic environment to put budgets in order. …” [Dow Jones/Factiva] 

           
“… Against this backdrop, de Rato worried that ‘risks from protectionist sentiment seem to be on the rise’ and he continued to call for the global community to work together to reduce lopsided trade and investment patterns that are a potential risk to the world's long-run economic stability. De Rato also said the IMF would soon be getting another member: Montenegro, located in Southeastern Europe between the Adriatic Sea and Serbia. That would bring the total number of IMF member countries to 185.” [The Associated Press/Factiva] 

           
“ … Paradoxically, writes French daily La Tribune, this good news on the growth front causes difficulty for the IMF whose accounts are deteriorating rapidly. Charged with taking care of international monetary and financial stability, the financial watchman lives to a large extent off of the interests generated by the loans it grants to countries experiencing difficulties. However, soaring world growth - ‘the greatest in three decades,’ according to the IMF’s new chief economist John Liptsky – has considerably reduced the number of the Fund’s customers. …” [La Tribune (France)/Factiva]

UN 'Should Take Lead On Climate'

“The top UN official on climate change says the failure of world leaders to agree on global warming means it is time for the UN to take the lead.

           
Yvo de Boer, head of the UN Climate Secretariat, wants a summit of world leaders to talk about what happens when the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. Despite rising sea levels, there is no agreement on how to deal with global warming's long-term threat. In fact, de Boer says, the process is getting more and more stuck. De Boer says it is vitally important for the world to agree on how carbon emissions should be curbed after 2012. But, he points out, there are so many different countries with different needs: developing nations, for example, want their economies to grow and they do not want to take any action that might make them uncompetitive; while the US and Australia have backed away from even endorsing Kyoto. De Boer says only the UN can bring all the competing groups together. …” [BBC News Online]

           
“… Ban Ki-moon, who took over as the UN chief on January 1, met de Boer on Monday and told him that ‘the need to act is urgent and the basic scientific consensus on climate change is well established,’ UN Associate Spokesman Farhan Haq said. Ban has repeated several times that climate change will be a priority on his agenda. De Boer said Ban did not say yes or no to taking on a leadership role. ‘I think the Secretary General has to make the assessment whether he would have enough backing, enough support, to fulfill that kind of role,’ he said. …” [The Associated Press/Factiva]

           
“… De Boer said Ban emphasized during their meeting that the consequences of warming were going to be very serious and that the cost of action now would be much lower than the cost of inaction later. Ban also told de Boer he would try to raise the issue in his various meetings with world leaders. Ban went on to mention global warming in a meeting with US President George W. Bush in Washington later on Tuesday, telling reporters in Bush's presence that he hoped to work closely with the US to address climate change, among other pressing world issues. …” [Reuters/Factiva]

           
“[The United State’s] top Democrat and Republican on the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee have introduced a resolution calling on the US to return to international talks on climate change, illustrating bipartisan support for action on the issue in Congress. The resolution, introduced Tuesday by committee Chairman Joseph Biden and its ranking Republican, Richard Lugar, says the consensus within the scientific community of a human role in global warming should compel the US to take a lead in reducing emissions. …” [The Associated Press/Factiva] 

           
“US President Bush will outline a policy on global warming next week in his State of the Union speech but has not dropped his opposition to mandatory limits on greenhouse-gas emissions, the White House said on Tuesday. ‘It's not accurate. It's wrong,’ White House spokesman Tony Snow said regarding media reports suggesting that Bush would agree to mandatory emissions caps in an effort to combat global warming. Such caps could require energy conservation and pollution curbs….” [Reuters/Factiva]

           
Meanwhile, Les Echos writes that Paris will host a conference on the environment from February 1 to 2 in order to mobilize the creation of an organization capable of coordinating specifics and reflecting upon global norms. [Les Echos (France)/Factiva]

           
La Tribune notes that “… Promoted by Jacques Chirac as a means to raise awareness of the dangers which threaten ‘the great ecological balances of the planet,’ the Paris conference will specifically mark the launch of a French campaign in favor of a global organization for environment, following the example of the World Trade Organization, able to write rules and coordinate international action which are currently shattered. …” [La Tribune(France)/Factiva]

Merkel Calls For New Partnership Agreement With Russia, Doha Deal, Constitution By 2009

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday outlined an ambitious program for Germany's European Union presidency, saying the bloc needed to set a timetable for adopting an EU constitution, and revive talks on a global trade deal as well as a partnership agreement with Russia. 

           
“Addressing the European Parliament, Merkel also said the EU must strive for solidarity within its 27 nations, and resist political extremism and religious intolerance. …  Merkel said completing global trade talks would be one of the priorities of her country's six-month EU presidency, saying Europe must ‘take a resolute stand’ to achieve a successful outcome. ‘There is too much to lose for us and the developing countries,’ she said, adding that only a short window of opportunity existed to complete trade talks. …” [The Associated Press/Factiva] 

           
“Merkel warned European parliamentarians on Wednesday of an ‘historic mistake’ if the bloc fails to agree on an EU constitution by early 2009. …  Merkel vowed that an agreed plan for moving the constitution forward would be in place by the end of Germany's EU presidency. … European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who also attended the parliamentary meeting, echoed the need for a ‘common road map toward an institutional settlement’ before the 2009 elections. ‘But we need not just a roadmap, we need a settlement to clear the clouds of doubt which hang over parts of Europe. To show vitality and confidence to our partners and to make the European Union more transparent, more effective, more democratic and more coherent in the world,’ he said. …”  [Agence France Presse/Factiva]

           
“… In her speech, Merkel gave no details on how she would reach many of her goals. She made no hints whether she would push for a cut in EU farm spending, what diplomats say represents a key ingredient in any global trade deal. …  German officials have said they will give more details at the 50th anniversary of the EU's founding Treaty of Rome in March in Berlin and then try to forge an agreement at a summit in June. …” [Dow Jones/Factiva] 

           
Reuters notes that “… With French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair set to leave office this year, Merkel has emerged as Europe's most influential leader. But German officials say what she can achieve depends on who is elected French president on May 6, almost two years after French and Dutch voters stopped EU institutional reform in its tracks by rejecting the draft constitution in referendums. …” [Reuters/Factiva] 

Nicaragua Promises To Ease The Plight Of The Poor

Nicaragua's newly appointed Finance Minister Alberto Guevara, told The Financial Times in his first interview that, ‘Combating poverty is the central theme. In fact, combating poverty is the logic behind everything we are going to do.’

           
“With about 80 percent of Nicaragua's 5.2 million population surviving on less than $2 a day, there is little doubt that reducing poverty is the greatest challenge facing the new government. … All over Nicaragua, it seems, extreme poverty is on display. Even in San Juan del Sur, by national standards a prosperous tourist destination on the Pacific coast, almost every household has to supplement its meager income with whatever it can dream up. …

           
“Guevara says that as finance minister he will channel every available resource to improve the lives of the poorest Nicaraguans. He intends to provide incentives and assistance for small and medium-sized companies, which account for much of the country's gross domestic product. Yet he says that specific policies for ensuring that more assistance reaches the poorest families ‘will be the product of the widest possible consensus, and we believe that an obvious point of that consensus is maintaining macro-economic stability.’ …” [The Financial Times (UK)]

Also in this Edition: Also reports...; Briefly noted...

Also Reports… Migration can benefit both sending and receiving countries and reduce poverty among migrants if it is better coordinated between countries, according to a new World Bank report released on Tuesday. The report, named ‘Migration and Remittances: Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union’, said remittances are one consequence of migration that benefit both the migrants' families and their home countries. "For many of the poorest countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia they are the largest source of outside income and have served as a cushion against the economic and political turbulence of the past 15 years," it said. Remittances represent over 20 percent of GDP in Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina and over 10 percent in Albania, Armenia, and Tajikistan, the report added.  [Xinhua (China)/Factiva]

NDTV.com (India), Sofia Echo (Bulgaria), Trend News Agency (Azerbaijan), Prime-News Business (Georgia), UzReport.com, Le Monde (France), Le Temps (Switzerland), Global Agenda (UK), and Reuters also report on the World Bank report, ‘Migration and Remittances: Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union’

Briefly Noted… African Union ministers adopted a united front for global trade talks at a Tuesday summit, calling on Western countries to scrap agricultural subsidies to allow African imports to compete. In a declaration that was unanimously adopted at a summit in Addis Ababa, the ministers called for "the rapid elimination of all forms of export subsidies." "We urge the main commercial partners to demonstrate flexibility and to show the necessary political will to facilitate the full resumption of talks and to bring them out of the impasse," the declaration said. The ministers had chosen a message of "firmness and unity," a AU Commission official told AFP. [Agence France Presse/Factiva]

           
With reference to the World Bank’s Chad-Cameroon Oil and Pipeline project, The Guardian reports that although the World Bank promised that the success of the project would be measured by effective poverty reduction and not by the number of barrels of oil exported, there is no system in place to monitor the impact on the poor, rural communities, let alone to restore their livelihoods. It has been left to Chadian human rights workers to stand up for the affected villagers, many risking jail and facing death threats.  [The Guardian (UK)/Factiva]

           
Uruguay sees rapid expansion of the Mercosur trade bloc as the best way to advance the cause of regional integration in South America, the country's foreign minister told EFE Tuesday. "The incorporation of Bolivia is a basic, natural point because it lends very significant characteristics to the South American integration process and creates an extraordinary sphere that represents three quarters of the continent's territory," said Reinaldo Gargano in an interview on the eve of the Mercosur summit in Rio de Janeiro.  [EFE News Service/Factiva]

           
Rafael Correa assailed Washington's free-market policies in his first speech as president of Ecuador, promising to push for an "economic revolution" that would emphasize renegotiating the country's foreign debt. He said some of the loans arranged by previous governments had been lost to corruption, and an international tribunal should be set up to decide what debt should be repaid. During the campaign last fall, Correa threatened to cut ties with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and said he would not rule out a moratorium on foreign debt payments unless foreign bondholders agree to lower Ecuador's debt service by half. [Dow Jones/Factiva]

           
China will spend more than $1 billion over the next two years in a bid to stamp out animal-borne epidemics such as bird flu which it hopes to "eradicate" by 2015, state media said on Wednesday. [Reuters/Factiva]

           
Some 30 trade ministers will attend talks in Switzerland next week aimed at reviving stalled negotiations to free up global trade, the Swiss government said on Tuesday. US Trade Representative Susan Schwab, European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and ministers from India, Brazil and Japan amongst others will meet on January 27 in the Alpine resort of Davos, on the sidelines of the annual World Economic Forum gathering of business and government leaders. [Reuters/Factiva]