ONE Blog

BBC News: G7 nations pledge debt relief for quake-hit Haiti:
“Canada’s finance minister announced at a summit in Iqaluit, northern Canada, that Group of Seven countries planned to cancel Haiti’s bilateral debts. Jim Flaherty said he would encourage international lenders to do the same.”

Washington Post: In Haiti, cooperation among aid groups is unprecedented:
“There has been an unprecedented degree of cooperation among aid groups in Haiti, especially in comparison with the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, the only rival to this catastrophe in terms of outpouring of medical help. Three things are responsible — the nature of the injuries, improvements in communication and an awareness that victims will suffer if relief groups don’t cooperate.”

The East African: Bottom-up poverty plan for Africa needed:
“European leaders and US President Barack Obama, who has called for a new global plan to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, are already on board. A new plan can avoid the pitfalls of past top-down approaches — if it supports a more bottom-up, citizen-led strategy for sustainable development.”

Ghana Agency News: UNICEF launches $1.2 billion appeal to help women and children in crises:
“Accra, Feb. 5, GNA – The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Thursday launched an appeal for $1.2 billion to provide life-saving emergency support to women and children impacted by severe humanitarian crises around the world, including the Haitian earthquake.”

NYT: Bill Clinton, in Haiti, Emphasizes Urgent Need for Sanitation and Health Care:
“Mr. Clinton praised the progress being made in the relief effort, especially in addressing the need for food, shelter and security, but he expressed a growing sense of urgency about the country’s requirements for sanitation and health care. ‘We learned a lot from the tsunami relief effort, and the United Nations and the international community worked in a far more coordinated fashion this time,’ he said while touring the Gheskio health clinic in the Bicentenaire neighborhood. ‘But we can still do better, and one of the areas that I think we have to improve is sanitation.’

The Financial Times: Chilly response to Canada’s G7 agenda
The Financial Times reports that the Group of Seven (G7), conscious of its increasing irrelevance, will today get back to basics when finance ministers and central bankers from the world’s biggest industrialized economies gather to discuss financial regulation and global imbalances. But the location of this weekend’s meeting – a small town south of the Arctic Circle – is anything but ordinary and has raised more than a few eyebrows. According to Jim Flaherty, Canada’s finance minister and host of the meeting, the choice of location was partially political, saying “It’s one of our government’s priorities, the assertion of our sovereignty in the Arctic.” According to the Times, the agenda includes financial sector reform, protectionism and a forum on development issues, focusing on how to help Haiti after last month’s devastating earthquake.

The Citizen (Tanzania): World Bank wants revision of ties with Africa
World Bank President Robert Zoellick said Thursday that the World Bank has reiterated its desire for a shift in its relations with Africa and other clients in order to make its services more effective. Mr. Zoellick, who has been touring Africa this week, said that he came to the continent to better understand Africa’s needs so as to make the bank’s assistance more responsive. According to the Citizen, the Bank President’s indication of a change of direction on the World Bank’s relations with Africa comes hot on the heels of increasing criticism from activists that aid programs from multilateral institutions and wealthy nations have failed to make a difference in Africa.

The Canadian Press: Climate change likely to make it harder to feed 1 billion hungry: CIDA chief
Head of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Margaret Biggs, said that poor countries are still gripped by the food crisis of two years ago and climate change will only make things tougher in the coming years. According to the Canadian Press, her remarks are some of the strongest to date by a Canadian official on the subject of climate security, including the notion that climate change will have serious security effects such as forcing mass migrations of people, loss of coastal areas and possible conflict. Food security is expected to be a key part of the G8’s outreach to poor countries at the summit Canada is hosting this summer. Said Biggs, “In some areas, climate patterns are exacerbating some of these tendencies. Arable land and water is becoming scarcer in some cases because of climate change. It doesn’t mean we can’t adapt…but that’s a major new dynamic.”

The Canadian Press: US puts locals in charge of AIDS spending; groups say that could mean savings in tough times
U.S. and South African AIDS workers argue that putting more of the decision-making in local hands can help stretch donor money, amid concerns international giving will be limited because of the global recession, the Canadian Press reports. Since 2004, the U.S. government has funded a project for AIDS patients in rural South Africa through the U.S. charity organization, Catholic Relief Services (CSR). However, in a significant shift made official this week, the U.S. will now directly pay South Africans with whom the U.S. Catholics have been working. What may seem like a small bureaucratic step is significant, said Ruth Stark, head of CRS in South Africa. Stark said she has already seen savings as officials prepared for the hand-over, including new jobs. “The cost difference is huge,” Stark said.

The Punch (Nigeria): Nigeria to distribute 63m mosquito treated nets in 2010 – Minister
The Nigerian Minister of Health said Thursday that 63 million mosquito treated nets would be distributed throughout the country this year, of which 15 million have already been distributed in several states. The Minister expressed concern over the fact that malaria has continued to remain a major cause of death in Nigeria. He also highlighted several other factors which result from high rates of malaria, including absenteeism from schools, low academic performance and strain on hospitals throughout the country.