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Pharmaceuticals Are Not Always What They Seem ADF STAFF Dolphin Anyango of Kenya woke up to find that an infection around her left eye had begun to swell. She knew she needed medicine to treat it, but she did not have time to go to a hospital. So she went to a local pharmacist instead in Nairobi’s Kibera neighborhood and got some medicine. “After taking the medicine for two days, I thought it was going to stop the swelling,” she told a BBC reporter in 2018. “But unfortunately, it swelled more than the way it was before. The wound here…

This summit is held under the theme “Strengthening Partner Networks” and has brought together about 300 delegates from Africa. This theme resonates well with our conviction as the government of Botswana that partnerships are critical. It also resonates with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and, indeed, the African Union’s belief that unity is strength. As a government, we are alive to the reality that today’s security challenges are complex, and their solutions can only come through cooperation and partnerships with others. As such, in SADC, military integration is achieved through regional and bilateral cooperation. For instance, the SADC Standby…

THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION Tunisia is making a push to protect its endangered archaeological sites and rich cultural heritage.  These sites often are looted or damaged during illegal nighttime excavations by people looking for goods to sell on the black market. The issue was brought to the forefront in 2011, when Tunisia’s ousted dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was found to have been hoarding a range of archaeological artifacts.  Today, Tunisia’s National Heritage Institute (INP) is increasing its efforts to protect the country’s history. The organization has recovered more than 25,000 archaeological items since the 2011 revolution.  Objects of significant…

VOICE OF AMERICA A U.S.-based nonprofit is helping hundreds of blind South Sudanese see again by hiring a local doctor to perform surgeries on patients in the Jonglei State capital, Bor. Sixty-year-old Mary Ayak Thie lost her vision about three years ago. Ayak said it returned after the doctor removed cataracts from her eyes. “Before the operation, everything was dark and I could not see, but now it is better,” she said. “I can see my food; I can go to the bathroom by myself. So I thank the doctor who has helped me see again.” Dr. Santino Malang was…

WORLD BANK Six million people call the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam home, making it one of the largest cities in Africa. Its growth rate of 6.5% will see the number of residents rise to more than 10 million by 2030. Due to this rapid growth, along with an underdeveloped road network, an increase in cars and trucks, and a historic lack of efficient public transport systems, city residents must contend with serious congestion and mobility challenges.  Some residents have complained of having two-hour commutes each day. But with the progress made under the $300 million Dar es Salaam…

BBC NEWS AT BBC.CO.UK/NEWS The Confederation of African Football says Côte d’Ivoire has agreed to host the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, instead of the 2021 event. The move allows Cameroon, which was stripped of the right to stage the 2019 event, to take on 2021 instead. Côte d’Ivoire had resisted the two-year delay, going as far as filing a case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The confederation took the 2019 edition away from Cameroon because of security concerns and severe delays in building stadiums. The 2023 deal was reached after Ivoirian President Alassane Ouattara met with confederation…

KENYA MINISTRY OF DEFENCE The Kenya Navy ship Jasiri delivered nearly 6 tons of medical supplies to Mozambique, a country that still is recovering after being hit by cyclones Idai and Kenneth.  Speaking during an event in May 2019, Kenyan Defence Cabinet Secretary Ambassador Raychelle Omamo said the two countries need to deepen their cooperation to defend against natural disasters. “We need to improve cooperation between African countries to mitigate challenges that our respective countries may face from time to time,” Omamo said. “We need strong working relations between our defense forces.”  In March 2019, Kenya responded to the disaster…

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A Kenyan science teacher from a remote village has been named the world’s most outstanding educator and has received a $1 million prize. Peter Tabichi beat 10,000 applicants to win the 2019 Global Teacher Prize and was given the award in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, at a ceremony attended by the country’s crown prince. To pay for school supplies and help his students, Tabichi had been donating 80% of his salary. Tabichi teaches science to high-schoolers in the semi-arid village of Pwani, where almost a third of children are orphans or have only one parent. Drought and…

UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAM On the outskirts of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Mariama Mamane sat in the dust tinkering with a blue generator. The 29-year-old environmental engineer attached a large blue square bag containing biogas to a generator with a long tube. She was trying to kick-start the machine branded “Jacigreen” — the name of her company founded in 2016. “It will work!” she urged. Jacigreen tackles the problem of invasive water hyacinth plants that choke the city’s water supply. Her invention cuts up water hyacinth, fermenting it into a fertilizer and compost for farmers called Jacigrow. The byproduct of the…

THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION Researchers are using a monitoring tool that tracks water supplies worldwide and factors in social, economic and demographic data to forecast water-related conflict.  The tool being developed by the Netherlands-based Water, Peace and Security partnership (WPS) was tested in Mali’s Inner Niger Delta and successfully predicted more than three-quarters of conflicts. Many deadly conflicts begin as disputes over scarce natural resources, and the group hopes the tool will allow for early intervention and mediation.  Artificial intelligence can predict where conflicts will break out up to a year in advance and allow action to prevent them, researchers say.…