As South Africa’s health system is crippled by strikes the Government warns health workers of contributing to murder. HIV/AIDS treatment access has also been halted as the health system ceases to function. Strikers are demanding increased pay due to their insubstantial compensation. Should they be paid more?

Army Medical Teams Move into Strike-Bound Hospitals

Health Minister Warns of Murder as Staff Strike at Hospitals

Strike Jeopardizes HIV Treatment

Government Threatens Action Against Health, Security Strikers

National Public Sector Strike Hits HIV Treatment

Nation Becomes a Victim of its ARV Treatment Success

Public Health Strained by Nurses Strike

Botswana: Acquiring a Taste for Recycled Water

The Water Utilities Corporation in Botswana is breaking ground on a facility to treat waste water in order to supply a water source for the country. Many citizens have expressed disgust at the thought of drinking waste water, but the program holds great potential as water scarcity increases across the continent and around the world.

Hillary’s “new approach” to Global Health

David Rieff takes on the US Secretary of State’s approach to global health and development calling it naive, contradictory and muddled.

Donor Fatigue New Threat to HIV/AIDS Fight

Doctors Without Borders has raised the alarm that this is, “No time to quit! The HIV crisis is far from over.” As economic recession hits, many countries around the world  are decreasing their aid funding for HIV/AIDS treatments. The Obama Administration has come under fire for their cuts to HIV/ AIDS and PEPFAR funding.

• Is Obama Failing on AIDS?
• Optimism as U.S.  HIV Program Lifts Funding Caps

Mozambique: Maputo Central Hospital Bans Use of U.S. Dollars

Patients in Mozambique will no longer be forced to use U.S. Dollars to pay for treatments. This is an important move to increase access to health care in the country.

Cholera Outbreak Grips Nigeria

The need for clean water is demonstrated as cholera rapidly spreads across Nigeria and neighboring countries. As a common disease and treatable disease, the recent cholera outbreak calls for greater access to clean water sources for impoverished communities.

Cholera claims 352 lives

Cholera Outbreak Highlights Vulnerability of Children, Mothers

Cholera Outbreak – FG Moves Drugs, Officials to Bauchi, Borno

Cholera, Measles claim more lives

Cholera Outbreak hits 3,000 in Three Nations

The area in need of the most emphasis in South African life skills classes is HIV/AIDS. As my last post discussed, HIV/AIDS is an epidemic plaguing Africa greatly and the magnitude of calamity being experienced is causing much global attention. This attention is indeed merited, as the continent is home to a country with the greatest of number of HIV/AIDS positive people in the world-  South Africa (Kates et al. 2006). Despite this astonishing fact, HIV/AIDS prevalence is higher in other countries (Kates et al. 2006).

Unfortunately though HIV/AIDS is included in life skills curricula, time allotted for these classes is spent either on other subjects or life skills is taught ineffectively as is the case in townships, and other places that need it most, due to funding and staffing problems (Tiendrebéogo et al. 2003). Teachers are often uncomfortable with the sensitive nature of HIV/AIDS and are ill-trained to discuss such matters with youngsters (Prinsloo 2007). Thus the goal in South Africa’s National Strategic Plan to reduce new HIV infection in youth ages 15-24 by 20%, being that they represent 50% of new infections, hardly seems on its way to being met. Though South Africa has allotted money for life skills classes, it is having a hard time establishing and monitoring it (Prinsloo 2007).

As those between 15-25 years of age are an important focal group to the South African government, with respect to reducing new infections, so are those between 6-14 years of age. In some cases this includes those as young as 5 years of age. They are referred to as the “window of hope” (Tiendrebéogo et al. 2003). Children younger than 15 are thought to not yet be sexually active and so are more likely to take to learning and internalizing preventative measures against HIV contraction.

With this in mind, should we gasp in shock when we hear that HIV/AIDS Education is being incorporated into the curriculum of children as young as 6? Of course not! They are not being taught the same things the 14 year olds are, such as how to put on a condom. However, they are learning the realities of situations that can put them in danger and how to avoid becoming vulnerable, if possible. HIV/AIDS, depending on race and socioeconomic level, due to South Africa’s Apartheid past, is something a child could deal with on a day to day basis. Why deprive the kids who need it most of a method of protection? Loss of a parent, orphanhood, and sexual exploitation are all undeserved consequences many children have to face (Bhana et al. 2006). You cannot compare South Africa’s HIV/AIDS condition to America’s where there are much fewer infected people and no 6 year old has ever been exposed to a HIV/AIDS infected person.

Furthermore, children are active agents of societal constructions and are not asexual creatures, as much as we adults would like to preserve a veil of innocence (Bhana 2008). They can construct and negotiate matters dealing with sexuality. As such we adults should recognize that they have a right- yes a right- to HIV/AIDS education. To deprive them of that when they are bound to be in situations that make them vulnerable would be irresponsible and silly.

To teachers I say take responsibility. I know in an ideal world the parent would handle such matters, but we’re not not in an ideal world. And if there’s no support, rally for it; petition the school principal and local authorities. Be proactive!

To South Africa’s government I say not only mandate life skills classes and invest in formulating curricula, but monitor them to ensure age and culturally appropriate implementation and evaluate them for efficacy. That way you don’t just set goals, you achieve them!

Works Cited

Bhana, Deevia and Morrell, Robert, and Epstein, Debbie, and Moletsane, Relebohile. “The hidden work of caring: teachers and the maturing AIDS epidemic in diverse secondary schools in Durban.” Journal of Education (2006): 5-23.

Bhana, Deevia. “Sex and the Right to HIV/AIDS Education.” Journal of Psychology in Africa (2008): 439-444.

Kates, Jennifer, Carbaugh, Alicia. The HIV/AIDS Epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa . The HIV/AIDS Policy Fact Sheet. Washington D.C.: The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation:, 2006.

Prinsloo, Erna. “Implementation of life orientation programmes in the new curriculum in South African schools: perceptions of principals and life orientation teachers.” South African Journal of Education (2007): 155-170.

Tiendrebéogo, Georges, Meijer, Suzanne, Engleberg, Gary. Life Skills and HIV Education Curricula in Africa: Methods and Evaluations. Technical Paper No. 119. Washington D.C.: Office of Sustainable Development Bureau for Africa, 2003.

The views in this article are representative of solely the author’s and may or may not represent those of SCOUT BANANA.

However, typically, most of these efforts are reactive, seeking to deal with the epidemic of HIV/AIDS after seeing its devastating effects take toll in the lives of human beings. After much rallying and advocacy, we end up spending the most time trying to find cures or providing forms of support, such as treatment and childcare for those already ridden with HIV/AIDS.

When we fail to become proactive, the reactive approach bypasses the fact that these supportive infrastructures are finite and can be exhausted with time. Thus, much of the challenge today is replace a dwindling workforce and seemingly more critical, the healthcare workforce.

The healthcare workforce is at a high risk for contracting HIV/AIDS, a risk that becomes even higher with a decreasing workforce. This results in decreasing productivity, and finally decreasing GDP which weakens hospitals’ capabilities to provide optimal care, due to lack of government funding. And so at this point healthcare staff are put at the most danger of contracting the virus, a danger that once succumbed to would force them into the downwardly spiraling loss of workforce.

But there is hope! We can establish proactive measures. This means gearing more of our efforts towards preventative approaches like education on safe sex and gender equality.  Furthermore we can begin to address bigger, more overarching issues of poverty that make African people vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. Therefore, giving people the tools to become more actively involved in determining their future disease status is where our best bets lie.

It’s been decades since we’ve been trying to find a cure. We’ve made progress, but treatment is not a viable option for those who  need it most. When we are faced with such ill fated fortunes, I say circumvent the problem. I say answer the question of ensuring no one ever gets infected to begin with.

Research shows that preventing HIV/AIDS infection requires that we begin education as early as possible, meaning with the youngest group of people capable of learning- children. This is a controversial issue, but when circumstances demand it (areas in which HIV/AIDS prevalence is as high as 30%, 1 in 3), we must rise to the challenge in an age and culturally appropriate way.

The views in this article are representative of solely the author’s and may or may not represent those of SCOUT BANANA.

(Photo credit: Allianz Knowledge Partnersite)

How do you measure the worth or suffering of someone’s life? We’ve all seen the ads where a white man walks through desolate streets as malnourished children cling to his hands. He tells us that we can help and that these children can be helped for just a dollar a day. So why do these commercials play year after year if all that is needed is a dollar a day?

The truth is that a dollar a day tells you very little about those children, the reason for their lack of nourishment, or the history or their countries, communities, and families. For years international agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been using the Human Development Index (HDI) created by the United Nations Development Program. The HDI is a set of statistics used to rank a country based on “human development” (i.e. mortality rates, life expectancy, etc.) The original idea was to “to shift the focus of development economics from national income accounting to people centered policies.”

The HDI and its statistics built such programs as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and many had criticisms. Some argued that the HDI was still too nation focused or that measuring material wealth could never promote “human development” thus ending poverty. Just yesterday the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) of Oxford University and the Human Development Report Office of the UNDP announced a new way to measure poverty called the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI). Director of the UNDP Human Development Report Office, Dr. Jeni Klugman, said. “The MPI provides a fuller measure of poverty than the traditional dollar-a-day formulas.” She noted that the MPI assesses critical factors at the family level and it will be used to compliment the HDI by examining broader aspects of well-being.

As our understandings of the root causes of poverty increase so must our means of measuring its affects. While some are focused on pulling our heart strings with “dollar a day” lines, the larger development institutions are working to become more innovative in their approaches to measure poverty.

While the MPI is a positive step in the right direction, it seems that it will still be very broadly focused and may still lose the “people centered” perspective. As large development institutions focus and innovate measures for poverty, why have they not just asked those most affected?

Anti-HIV Gel May Take Years to Hit Market

Is 39% reduction enough? The dust has barely settled after the announcement of the first positive results from a microbicide trial, but scientists and policy makers are already asking themselves, ‘What’s next?’ “It’s very early, we still need to analyze all the data – and the study collected a lot of very good data – and understand it better before we get to the point of developing a product,” Mitchell Warren, head of the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC), said at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna. More:

• Hunting for a ‘Cure” for HIV
• A gel that puts HIV prevention in women’s hands
• Anti-HIV gel a “step forward” for HIV research

A Radical New AIDS Treatment Strategy

UNAIDS has launched a “simpler, more cost-effective approach to HIV treatment” The approach, dubbed “Treatment 2.0″, aims to drastically scale up testing and treatment using current best practices and future innovations in antiretroviral (ARV) drugs and diagnostics. UNAIDS estimates that successful implementation of Treatment 2.0 could avert 10 million deaths by 2025, and reduce new infections by one-third.

African Leaders Seek Solution to Maternal and Infant Mortality

At the 15th African Union (AU) Summit in Uganda leaders and health experts will meet to reassess key health goals. In 2000, African governments agreed to reduce by two-thirds the number of mothers and children who die annually from pregnancy-related complications and preventable childhood illnesses. Ten years later, little has been achieved on that noble commitment, as statistics show an African woman’s risk of dying in child birth is still one in 11 compared to a 1 in 7,300 risk among women in developed countries.

The Buck Stops with Hospital CEOs

In South Africa’s KwaZulu Natal Province, Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo told the heads of the seven major hospitals that they will be held accountable for failing systems at their institutions. “If we want to turn around the tide of health outcomes that are terrible in this country, then you have to look at KwaZulu-Natal,” said Dhlomo. “We have the highest rates of TB, HIV and infant mortality and a large population.”

More than five million people receiving HIV treatment

WHO estimates that 1.2 million more people received HIV treatment in 2009 than in 2008. In addition HIV-related mortality can be reduced by 20% in the next five years if guidelines for early treatment are put into action.

New Mosquito’s Buzz Worse than its Bite

A malaria-proof mosquito has finally been developed and Kenya is expected to use it to eradicate the disease in seven years. Researchers at the University of Arizona, US, say they have made the perfect insect. The Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation, which starts a national data collection exercise on malaria indicators Saturday morning, says it will use a combination of tools, including bed nets, education, new innovations and medicines to meet the 2017 targets.

Vaccine Trialists Sue US Drugs Firm for Billions

Victims of the 1996 Pfizer meningitis trovan vaccine test which caused over 200 deaths and several others permanent disability have again sued the drugs manufacturing giant for a whopping sum of $384 billion.

You, too, Can Help Fight Niger’s Famine

In poverty-stricken Niger, it comes as no surprise that drought is pushing the most vulnerable people to the brink of hunger. Right? But then you hear a statistic like this one, with the power to shock even the most cynical: right now, fully half of the country’s 13.4 million inhabitants are facing famine.

More: Aid Caravan to the East

Dire Humanitarian Situation Continues to Grip Somalia

Withdrawn aid due to Al-Shabab’s bombings in Kampala have left the Somali people with even less international assistance. It is vital to ensure adequate funding to assist the 3.2 million people – or more than 40 per cent of the population – who rely on international aid, a senior United Nations aid official stressed this week.

Other news:

• How to prevent HIV? Researchers say, try treating it
• When search engines deal in fake drugs

I’ve been given a job title, program, and job description, but nothing about the details of my job are clear yet, and probably won’t be for a long time to come. Part of the model of Peace Corps, and any type of grassroots participatory development work, is doing needs assessments in your community and doing what the people there are interested in and need, not what your international organization deems necessary (radical thinking, I know). So the details of my work are still yet to be determined, but here is the general idea of what I’ll be doing:

Program: Community Health and Economic Development (CHED)
Job Title: Agricultural Extension Volunteer
Your Primary Duties: Volunteers in our Community Health and Economic Development Program work as staff members in a variety of host organizations in Uganda. Uganda’s Ministry of Health, and local and international organizations request Volunteers to assist them with developing and implementing programs with the goals of improving overall levels of community health and economic development, preventing HIV/AIDS among adults and youth, caring for orphans and vulnerable children, and supporting people living with AIDS, their families, and their caregivers. As an Agricultural Extension Volunteer it is important for you to know that more than 80% of Ugandans depend on subsistence agriculture for livelihood.

The info packet then goes on to explain a number of activities with which I could be involved with the overall goal of improving livelihoods through agriculture, especially for people affected by HIV/AIDS and youth. I’m really hoping for a livestock/animal husbandry post (I majored in animal science and plan on veterinary school after Peace Corps)! However, volunteers always get involved with secondary projects, as described below:

While your primary assignment will be work in an advisory role full-time with a local host organization or government agency, there is little that goes on in your community that falls wholly outside of your role as a Community Health and Economic Development Volunteer. Your primary assignment will be the door through which you enter and initially come to know your community, allowing you to identify activities that are of interest to your community as a whole, and that further enhance your sense of fulfillment and professional development…

Oftentimes, secondary projects are among the most fulfilling to Volunteers. Such projects may include working with a local women’s group to improve their health practices; teaching adults basic computer skills; teaching English or basic reading and writing to low-literacy adults in your community; setting up girls’ empowerment or sports camps with students in local schools, to name a few such possible secondary activities.

Hopefully that gives you some insight into what some Peace Corps Volunteers do!  Others going with me to Uganda include economic development, NGO development, youth development, and community health volunteers, so we will all be involved in a variety of projects.  I leave the U.S. on August 10 and will be in training until October 21, at which point I will begin service at my assigned post.  While I’ll be focusing most of my posts on this blog on my actual work, thoughts on development and aid work in Africa, etc., I’ll also be posting more of my personal experiences on my own blog for those who are interested.

(Photo Credit: Amazon)

History has set African health care up for failure. Lack of trained health workers places a massive burden on many African health care systems, inadequate or non-existent infrastructures make provision of basic needs like food and water impossible, debt and limited budgets move health care to a lower financial priority, medications are expensive and multinational pharmaceuticals want to make big profits, colonialism, apartheid, neo-colonialism, and the effects of an oppressed history perpetuate inadequacies in health care.

The varied record of health in Africa over the past century is inseparable from the history of change in control over political institutions and change in the organization of economic production. In the early years of colonial rule some governments relied on forced labor; in parts of colonial Africa, especially in the eastern and southern parts of the continent, male workers migrated from rural homes, leaving their families behind; in the postcolonial years class differentiation has become more pronounced, with some workers permanently separated from their roots in the countryside.[1]

Feierman and Janzen are right on target again in describing the scene of African health in relation to colonialism, politics, and history. African countries inherited health care systems from colonial authorities, but very often there was no health workforce to fill the void of colonial medical professionals. One Frenchman wrote,

La suele excuse de la colonisation c’est la medecin [the only excuse for colonialism is the doctor] – Hubert Lyantey (1926)[2]

If nothing else colonization was a positive in establishing health care systems and providing professional doctors? I wish I could agree, but mission societies that often ran health services relied on negative images of Africans.[3] The famed Dr. Livingstone was a doctor with the London Missionary Society and is best known for his explorations of the continent that allowed colonial empires to penetrate further into and conquer the African interior.

The slow demise of colonization did not end Western interference in Africa. Well into the 1980s and 1990s some African populations remained under the oppressive control of Western and minority populations. This control led directly to the ill health of those populations, notable South Africa and Mozambique. Black South Africans were denied basic health care services, training, and other needs.[4] South Africa fought a proxy war in Mozambique that specifically targeted the destruction of health care infrastructures. In African countries that gained earlier independence there were other powers to face.

[...] the IMF and World Bank have much to answer for. [Their] policies have eroded Africa’s health care systems and intensified the poverty of Africa’s people. – Salih  Booker[5]

Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) and other policies forced by Western institutions made the development from colonialism to independence that much more difficult for African countries. As Hunter writes, these policies often increased the poverty of African populations as opposed to providing for their basic needs. Health became a lower priority as African countries fell into debt because of loans from the IMF and SAPs of the World Bank. Even today with the economic recession African governments are cutting their health budgets to make ends meet. Health services should be the last item cut from a budget as health is central to all other human development.

Health is a major issue in Africa as the basic needs becoming increasingly difficult to provide and there have already been numerous reforms and attempted mechanisms to provide adequate health care.

[2] Hunter, 136.

[3] Ibid, 144.

[4] Hill, 6.

[5] Hunter, 47.

(via HoboTraveler.com)

American Food Aid: Saving Lives, or US Jobs

Change.org takes on US food assistance and its implications for foreign countries. Most often US food aid has very negative and often damaging effects on local communities and economies.

Swaziland: Poor Health Services Hamper PMTCT Progress

While much progress has been made in reducing HIV transmission, many are worried that the lack of adequate health workers and centers will reverse the advances that Swaziland has made.

Who’s Tracking the World’s Biggest ARV Programme?

South Africa runs what is probably the world’s largest ARV programme – over 700,000 people are receiving ARVs at public sector facilities. The South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) reports on the national program to fight HIV/AIDS. With good and bad news, the report demonstrates that there needs to be better implementation, monitoring, and evaluation.

Cameroonians Arrested for Operating Illegal Hospital

The largest issue with this article was not that there was a hospital started by local Cameroonians, but instead that they were distributing unregistered and illegal Chinese medicines. Is this an example of the growing influences of Chinese investment and aid? The hospital registered and defrauded over 2,000 people.

Why Studying Human Migration Can Help Stop Malaria

You may often hear this argument when talking about the spread of Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and other STDs, but not often for malaria. One of Change.org’s authors gives a great history and background on the spread of malaria. The World Health Organization (WHO) has written since 1957 that population movement exacerbates the spread of malaria.

Uganda: HIV/AIDS Centers Turn Away New Patients

As a direct cause of the reduction in funding from US government agencies, centers that provide treatment and prevention have begun turning away patients because they have to make budgetting cuts.

Read more about the Obama Administration’s Global Health Initiative that is causing issues across Africa in regards to funding for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention.

Also on Health in Uganda:

• Public Irritated by Yet Another Condom Shortage
• Why Uganda Shouldn’t Criminalize HIV/AIDS Transmission
• Want to Help Uganda? Send Condoms 95% of condoms are supplied by foreign donors

In Mali, Using Cell Phones to Create Patient Records

New Echoing Green fellow Josh Nesbit and his organization FrontlineSMS:Medic have partnered with the Mali Health Organizing Project (MHOP) to streamline and clean up patient records to improve health services.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Troubled Water Aid Watch chronicles the issues with PlayPumps
• A Miner-Led Tuberculosis Crisis
• West Africa: 10 million face Hunger in Region
• Nigeria: Researchers seek ways to End Maternal Deaths
• Africa: Enticing Health Workers to the Outback

Thursday and Friday I attended many of the Africa focused workshops – most were very exciting and engaging. They really brought the African perspective into the ideas of the US Social Forum and made delegates think about the US role in issues affecting communities on the African continent.

24 Thursday 10am-12pm

African Unity Towards What? (Pan-Africanism & Nationalism is not enough!) by: University of Kmt

I still haven’t exactly figured out this group and what they do. They run the Kmt Press which publishes books and journals, but all of their sessions that I attended were focused on teaching with an African historical perspective. Their missions states that they are dedicated to educating the new generation of African leaders. Interesting that they are in Detroit and I wonder if they know of the Detroit Public School (DPS) Initiative starting in 1992 where Africa was integrated into school curriculums from math to literature.

24 Thursday 1-3pm

Prioritizing Africa & the African Diaspora Agenda from Detroit to Dakar (D2D) by: Priority Africa Network (PAN)

This People’s Movement Assembly was geared towards bringing African perspectives into the US Social Forum and continue the discussion as preparations are made for the 2011 World Social Forum in Dakar, Senegal. The room was full of delegates from many African countries, Detroit, and US Africa Advocacy groups.

Briggs Bomba, Director of Campaigns at Africa Action, spoke strongly about building solidarity with those most affected in Africa. He said, “corporate led globalization has harshest effects on those in the perifery, the underdeveloped.” He reminded us that all of us the privilege to attend conferences like these and make the policies need to prioritize the communities most affected.

A delegate from South Africa spoke eloquently about the social apartheid of displacement – ideologically, locations, in decision-making and governments; in voting process lack of people power and transformational action, and in the social mainstream. “We cover many issues, but it is the same struggle. We come from different areas, but share common experiences.” (i.e. colonialism)

Some top issues that came out of the PMA:

• Militarization in the Congo (DRC)
• HIV & STDs from Detroit to Africa
• political economy – effects seen in everyday Africa
• African defense (defend communities), liberation (not yet liberated), and autonomy

An exciting and dynamic session that really makes me excited for the World Social Forum in Dakar!

24 Thursday 3:30-5:30pm

The New Africa Command & U.S. Military Involvement in Africa by: African Security Research Project (aka: Daniel Volman)

This session was an interesting overview of AFRICOM by some leading scholars on the topic of US national security interests in Africa. The attendees were less diverse than the Detroit to Dakar session and most people came to learn more because it looked interesting and had studied Africa to some small degree in the past.

Most interesting was when the discussion turned to private military contractors (PMCs) in Africa responsible for fighting wars in Libera, Southern Sudan, and Somalia. A Ugandan delegate actually talked about being trained by PMCs in Iraq to then return and fight the Lord’s Resistance Army in Northern Uganda. Great to hear the perspective of the Ugandan delegate and Dan Volman as well as to see so many people interested in learning more about African issues!

25 Friday 1-3pm

Power-sharing Deals in Africa: Implications for Democracy – The Case of Zimbabwe & Kenya by: Africa Action

This was by far the most organized session that I attended at the US Social Forum. The Africa Action team did an amazing job of gathering great speakers, formatting the session, and bringing people into the room for the discussion. Many African voices were heard from delegates representing Zimbabwe and Kenya.

In both cases of power-sharing, the speakers agreed that the power-sharing deal was a sigh of relief that stopped the fighting and opened their doors to the international community and economy again. However, they also all recognized that power-sharing was a positive in the short-term, but can be positive as in the case of South Africa when Mandela and de Klerk signed a power sharing deal until the national democratic elections.

Here are some take-aways:

• A weak state can and will be manipulated (i.e. Museveni in Uganda – waiting for a similar situation as Kenya and Zimbabwe soon, elections next year)
• “The people” are separated from the power – people-centered in needed
• Power-sharing allows for lessened tensions and time to create national unity towards something better
• Coalition governments show defeat of “people power”

There are a number Africa-related organizations represented at the US Social Forum focused on bringing Africa into the larger US social justice context and ensuring that there are African voices represented. During the June 22-25 conference there will be 14 workshops presented by: Africa Action, TransAfrica, HealthGAP, Support Darfur Project, All African Peoples Revolutionary Party, University of Kmt, Priority Africa Network, Community Alliance for Global Justice, African Security Research Project, Athletes United for Peace, Detroit to Dakar, and International Development Exchange (IDEX). See list below:

24 Thursday (10am-12pm)

• Africa & Pan- Africanism in this hemisphere: fighting neo-colonialism, racism, class, and gender oppression
  • All African Peoples Revolutionary Party @ Cobo Hall – Rm. W2-61
• Building a Pan-African Solidarity Movement in North America
  • Support Darfur Project @ WC3 – Rm. 317
• AIDS isn’t over: Solidarity in the fight for justice for people with AIDS worldwide
  • HealthGAP @ WA – Rm. 1472
• Gender Militarism and US Corporate Violence in Oil Producing States
  • Priority Africa Network (PAN) @ Cobo Hall – Rm. O2-40

24 Thursday (1-3pm)

• Africa Unity Toward What? (Pan-Africanism & Nationalism are not enough!)
  • University of Kmt @ Cobo Hall – Rm. O2-38
• The Politics of Exploiting Need: AGRA (Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa), the Gates Foundation, & the Food Crisis
  • Community Alliance for Global Justice @ UAW – Rm. Taurus
• Migration & Militarization of U.S. and European Borders: A Comparison & Contrast
  • Priority Africa Network @ Cobo Hall- Rm. O2-40
• Youth-led Activism in NYC’s Public High Schools
  • Support Darfur Project @ WBC – Rm. WB2
• The World Cup, Sports & Social Justice: The Beautiful Game & Beautiful Struggle, Together
  • Athletes for Peace @ WSU S – Rm. 29

24 Thursday (3:30-5:30pm)

• International Financial Institutions & Climate Change: Community Impacts in the Congo
  • Africa Action @ WC3 – Rm. 337
• The New Africa Command & U.S. Military Involvement in Africa
  • African Security Research Project @ UAW – Rm. Pres

25 Friday (1-5pm)

• Prioritizing Africa & the African Diaspora Agenda from Detroit to Dakar (D2D)
  • Priority Africa Network @ Cobo Hall – Rm. W2-69
• Educating African People: K12 through Ph.D. levels
  • University of Kmt @ Cobo Hall – Rm. O2-38
• GM Crops – the poisoned chalice: perspectives & victories from South Africa
  • International Development Exchange (IDEX) @ Cobo Hall – Rm. D3-23
• Power Sharing Deals in Africa: Implications for Democracy – The Case of Zimbabwe & Kenya
  • Africa Action @ WSU S – Rm. 261