In Ghana, clashes over small-scale mining have become a litmus test for China →

A new campaign against small-scale mining, known in Ghana as galamsey, has begun to sour the country's relations with China. Chinese nationals are frequently portrayed as funding and accelerating the boom in small-scale mining operations, which has caused widespread land erosion and contaminated vital rivers. Development experts are worried the rift could lead to disruptions in future funding. It has also put a new government in the difficult position of choosing between a key partner and its campaign promises to crack down on galamsey. Read more.

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HIV advocates fear U.S. cuts and 'gag rule' could undermine global progress →

Even as HIV researchers buzzed about scientific advances and policymakers championed significant gains, the International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science was dominated by concerns over global funding and worries that continued drops might undercut recent progress.

The most acute concerns center around the United States, the largest global donor to HIV care. If Congress adopts President Donald Trump's proposed 20 percent cut in funding for HIV programs in ongoing budget negotiations, the world could see as many as 90,000 additional AIDS-related deaths starting next year, according to some estimates. Read more.

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HIV treatment: Strategies to reach the next 10 million patients →

The world is on track to put 30 million HIV patients on treatment by 2030 — a critical benchmark to actually end the AIDS epidemic. Yet campaigners know that reaching the remaining 10 million people will be harder in some ways than the 19.5 million who are already accessing life-saving drugs. HIV advocates hope that a combination of scientific breakthroughs and experience-informed social outreach can bridge the final gaps in treatment. Read more.

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G20 development pledges overshadowed by climate rift →

World leaders at the G-20 summit reached a consensus on an array of development issues, from investment in Africa to pandemic preparedness, during their two-day meeting in Hamburg, Germany, this weekend.

Yet amid one of the most visible policy rifts between the United States and the rich-country grouping, many analysts and advocates are concerned that those areas of consensus papered over broader disagreements on trade, finance and climate that will ultimately have a greater impact on the developing world. Read more.

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World Bank launches 'Ivanka Fund' for women entrepreneurs →

The World Bank officially announced the creation of a more than $1 billion women’s economic empowerment facility — the brainchild of Ivanka Trump — at the G-20 Summit in Germany this weekend. Read more.

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Germany pushes development for upcoming G20 summit →

The German government has expanded the agenda of next month’s G-20 Summit to include development issues that go well beyond the usual subject matter when the world’s richest countries meet. Climate change, global health, partnerships with African countries and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will be up for discussion as Germany chairs the meeting in Hamburg. Read more.

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G20 Africa summit seeks greater private investment in Africa →

Germany is used its G20 presidency to call on governments and business to boost private investment in Africa, during a two-day conference with leaders from the continent in Berlin this week. Read more.

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Germany's 'Marshall Plan with Africa' →

A proposal from Germany’s development ministry stands to rewrite the country’s — and possibly the G20’s — aid relationship with Africa. The so-called Marshall Plan with Africa would prioritize encouraging private investment on the continent, possibly while reducing or shifting official development assistance. Read more.

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HIV, family planning groups grapple with new WHO guidelines on popular contraceptive →

The World Health Organization's reclassification last month of progestogen-only injectable contraceptives has triggered a critical debate in the family planning community over how to manage the potential link between higher rates of HIV acquisition and one of the most popular birth control methods in many at-risk communities. Read more.

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Civil society groups set advocacy targets for AIIB →

Just over a year since the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank launched, civil society groups across Europe and Asia say their initial wariness toward the bank has deepened. CSOs are concerned about both the way the China-backed bank has rolled out key initial policies and what is actually included in those documents. Read more.

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Insecurity jeopardizes South Sudan famine relief →

In the wake of the United Nation’s declaration of famine in parts of war-torn South Sudan, humanitarian agencies are scrambling to deliver emergency assistance for the 100,000 people currently facing starvation and the more than 1 million more who are on the brink of it. These efforts could be stymied, however, if access issues in the war-torn country continue to prevent aid workers from reaching the people most in need. Read more.

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Somali refugees under pressure to repatriate after U.S. ban →

A U.S. executive order pausing the refugee program and barring nationals from seven countries from entering the United States for 90 days could endanger thousands of Somalis who had been cleared for resettlement, aid agencies and humanitarian workers warn. Read more.

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A new platform for smallholder farmers →

Digital technology has long been touted as the key to helping smallholder farmers around the world overcome barriers that have kept them trapped in poverty, though initial innovations did not always deliver on this promise. Now developers of digital tools for agriculture are trying to refine their offerings, focusing on products that farmers want to use and that align with their priorities. Read more.

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In an apparent crackdown, Tanzania government raids NGO meeting on reproductive rights →

Mysterious visitors started drifting in on the second morning of a mid-December training for Tanzanian reproductive health providers. First, organizers said, a woman entered the conference room of the Dar es Salaam hotel, announced herself as a BBC journalist and took a seat. Then unidentified men started coming and going.

“It should have been a big red flag for us,” said Nguru Karugu, health and rights consultant for the Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa, a human rights-focused grant-maker that organized the meeting.

Despite the interruptions, organizers continued the sessions helping representatives from eight different NGOs chart development strategies. Their organizations had been selected for the training because they provide health services to key populations — vulnerable communities such as sex workers and men who have sex with men, who often face discrimination in public facilities. Though local NGOs, organizers said some of the groups receive funding that originates with major bilateral donors, including the United States.

As the participants broke up for lunch, non-uniformed security officials swarmed the hotel, according to organizers and witnesses. Together with the unexplained attendees, they shut down the meeting and detained eight of the participants.

Read more.

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Health is on the G20's agenda. Now what? →

Concerns over disease outbreaks — and the threat they pose to international security — will for the first time feature prominently on the agenda of the upcoming Group of 20 summit. A coalition of development and relief agencies is using the opportunity to push global leaders for stronger commitments to improve health systems in some of the world’s poorest countries. Read more.

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