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…
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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.…
VOICE OF AMERICA Kenyan innovators are betting on digital technologies to attract young people to an agriculture industry that is dominated by an aging population. As a young girl in central Kenya, Peninah Wanja witnessed firsthand the challenge of raising cattle without professional help. Her mother’s cows produced only 2 cups of milk per day. Today, Wanja is an agricultural extension officer and has seen how gaps in information have made farmers continue to rely on trial and error in growing crops and raising livestock. “It’s a gap that I saw, because when you look at the statistics and the…
BBC NEWS AT BBC.CO.UK/NEWS Yam production in Nigeria is thriving, and the United Nations says that Nigeria produces more than 60% of the world’s crop. Despite this, Nigeria is not one of the world’s top exporters. Its neighbor, Ghana, produces far less but exports more yams to European countries, including the United Kingdom, than Nigeria does. Spotting this discrepancy, Nigeria has launched an ambitious yam export plan. It is hoped that exporting more yams will diversify Nigeria’s oil-dependent economy, which has plunged into its worst recession in 25 years because of falling global oil prices over the past couple of…
History shows that wars are not always won with just bombs and bullets. To defeat an enemy and preserve the peace, Soldiers must win the hearts and minds of civilians. This is particularly important in peacekeeping operations where foreign forces can be viewed with suspicion and fear. To overcome this challenge, militaries must invest time and energy in civil-military engagement projects. These can be as complex as building a new bridge or as simple as organizing a football match. No matter the scale, these projects help the local population see Soldiers in a different light. For these efforts to be…