A controversy erupted after a politician with no development background was nominated to the management board of the German Corporation for International Development, or GIZ, underscoring the increased domestic scrutiny of the sector. Read more.
An introduction to Germany’s new Global Health Hub, which is intended to spur collaborations between a range of sectors and to generate new approaches to tackling existing health challenges. Read more.
A leader in lymphoma research. Born in Le Puy-en-Velay, France, on March 26, 1947, he died of lung cancer in Lyon, France, on Jan 2, 2019. Read more.
Scientists released an ambitious plan to transform the global food system by 2050. The report, published in The Lancet, drew together 37 experts from 16 countries to consider whether it was possible to construct a diet derived from an environmentally sustainable food system that could simultaneously keep the projected 10 billion people living on earth in 2050 healthy. Read more.
The United Nations AIDS agency ended 2018 in crisis. It is unclear how it will recover.
The troubles center on the contents of a report, published by an independent panel in December, documenting how the program's leaders failed to prevent or respond to allegations of sexual harassment, bullying, and abuse of power. That includes sexual assault allegations against long-time Deputy Director Luiz Loures, and heavy criticism of Executive Director Michel Sidibé for his muted handling of the situation. Loures, who denied the allegations, left without reprimand when his contract ended last year.
Global health activist and founding member of the People's Health Movement. Born in Kolkata, India, on July 5, 1958, he died in a swimming accident in Goa, India, on Nov 28, 2018. Read more.
All of my coverage from the 2018 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Katowice, Poland:
Uganda was praised for its open-door policy to refugees fleeing South Sudan’s civil war. New evidence indicates, though, that response was marred by lapses in accountability and disregard for institutional safeguards. Read more.
As the U.K. works to secure new and better trade deals in the run-up to its departure from the European Union, many headlines have focused on the potential of African markets to buoy a post-Brexit economy, raising hopes of a boost for Africa, too.
But four months before the departure date, many campaigners say that yet another opportunity to build more sustainable trade relationships between the U.K. and African countries has been missed as overwhelmed officials focus on maintaining the status quo. Read more.
Influential public health researcher who focused on perinatal epidemiology and maternity services. Born in Cardiff, UK, on Feb 15, 1941, she died from complications of Alzheimer's disease in Melbourne, VIC, Australia, on Oct 25, 2018. Read more.
While much has been made of the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, it was the left-wing Greens that recorded the biggest gains in last week’s state elections in Bavaria. By winning more than 17 percent of the vote, the Greens nearly doubled their total from Bavaria’s last elections in 2013. Their success amid the ongoing collapse of Germany’s political center was a sign that across the spectrum, and not only on the right, voters are beginning to harden around the political extremes. Read more.
A demonstration in Berlin becomes a test of whether a liberal opposition can be sustained in the wake of increasing extremism. Activists are ready to channel the outrage of a newly engaged silent majority, but their enthusiasm is tempered by a growing frustration with Germany’s political class. Read more.
Ugandan surgeon and hospital director. Born in Kiryasaka, Uganda, on April 9, 1948, he died after a series of heart complications in Kampala, Uganda, on Nov 10, 2017. Read more.
Former UN Secretary-General and Nobel Peace Prize recipient. Born in what is now Kumasi, Ghana, on April 8, 1938, he died in Bern, Switzerland, on Aug 18, 2018. Read more.
Investments in health care and infrastructure are an essential component of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation discussions. The results of those commitments can be difficult to track, though, which is exactly what China wants. Read more.