Girls in South Sudan Urge Families Against Dowries
In South Sudan, dowry prices are increasing rapidly and now girls are finding that the high price their families can get from marrying them off encourages parents to accept dowries for younger girls. Not only is this a problem, but the increasing prices can also easily bankrupt a family. While many South Sudanese girls are now arguing for the elimination of dowries, there are some dissenting voices as well – some girls rely on dowries as the only way to pay back their parents for sending them to school. Read full article here.
Kenya Announces Laptops for Schools Plan
Recently, Kenya announced a new plan to deliver 1.3 million laptops to schoolchildren. The budget for this plan claims that the government has made e-learning the new priority for their educational strategy. Despite free primary education, over 1 million children are not attending classes. While having a well-educated population is a way for Kenya to help itself out of poverty, many are still questioning whether e-learning is a sensible strategy because it does not seem to address underlying structural problems. Read more here.
Obama Unveils ‘Power Africa’ Initiative
Yesterday, President Obama announced a 7 billion dollar initiative to bring electrical power to sub-Saharan Africa. The program will also include 9 billion dollars in investments from private companies. The president cited that two-thirds of the population in sub-Saharan Africa does not have household electricity and that the initiative will help plug the continent into the global economy. The initiative will focus on six African countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria and Tanzania. Read the full story here.
Urban Farming Project in Ethiopia May Feed Africa’s Poor
Smallholder farmers, who are some of the world’s most impoverished people, are being introduced to innovative approaches to combating food insecurity. Many of these approaches focus on conservation practices and adapting to climate change. For example, a successful women’s farming project in Ethiopia is serving as a model for training other urban farmer groups all over Africa on how to adapt to climate change. These practices will be extremely useful because, according to the FAO, smallholder farmers already contribute to 80 percent of food production on the continent. Read the rest of the article here.
Political Crisis in Nepal Takes Toll on Economy
Although Nepal abolished the monarchy and became a democratic republic five years ago, the country is still facing political instability. Political leaders have squandered key opportunities to define a new state structure that would lead to stability, development and economic growth. A major impact of the struggling economy is that Nepal’s young people are leaving the country for work because it is difficult finding a job once they finish their education. Furthermore, frequent strikes called by political parties make it difficult for students to attend classes. Find out more here.
Ethiopia & Uganda Plan to Use Nile for Irrigation
Ethiopia continues to plan their controversial dam, while Uganda is ready to ratify an agreement that would allow water from the Nile to be used for irrigation. Both of these projects are greatly opposed by Egypt, causing tension between the involved nations. Until now, upstream countries like Uganda have been unable to harness the Nile without having to ask Egypt for permission. Therefore, irrigation projects have been all but impossible. The Ugandan Minister of Water and Environment said the old agreements were unfair to countries upstream and that none of those countries want to hurt Egyptians by accessing the Nile. Full story here.
