A draft law leaked earlier this year would require German companies to take more responsibility for monitoring their subsidiaries and contractors abroad for human rights violations or risk fines or even jail time for their executives. Read more.
Conceived during Germany’s 2017 Group of 20 presidency, a new hub for efforts to combat antimicrobial resistance is now taking shape in the country's capital, Berlin. Read more.
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.
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.
All of my coverage from the 2018 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Katowice, Poland:
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.
In late 2017, Ugandan police raided the offices of three NGOs the government had accused of conducting illicit financial transactions and working to destabilize the country.
Inside the building, officers demanded that staff provide passwords to computers and cell phones. Outside, civil society representatives gathered. By the time they were allowed inside, it was too late. The police had stripped the office of whatever data they could find.
Remittances are already a lifeline for many people in developing countries — but with reforms to the system, leaders across Europe and Africa believe they could become a key driver of global development. Read more.
All of my coverage from the 2017 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany:
For Dr. Twalib Ngoma, innovation emerged from simplicity at this year’s World Health Summit in Berlin. At an event showcasing everything from medical record technology to artificial intelligence, it was a mere speculum, acetic acid, and "good eyesight” that struck him as a game-changing combination.
With those widely available tools, a health worker can conduct a simple cervical cancer screening. Ngoma is the executive director of the Ocean Road Cancer Institute in Tanzania, where cervical cancer is the most common form of female cancer.
Advocates for universal health coverage this week lauded the way that global political agendas have integrated health issues in recent years. But participants in this week's World Health Summit in Berlin — including Nobel laureates, health ministers from around the world, and leaders of international agencies — warned that, without political will, few countries will be able to deliver on those pledges. Read more.
Germany is positioning itself as a key player in antimicrobial resistance research with the expected launch of a Research and Development Collaboration Hub, likely to be housed in Berlin. Read more.
Under 12 years of Angela Merkel's chancellorship, Germany has emerged as a leader in global development. Merkel's party, the Christian Democratic Union, has touted this rise in the current national election campaigns as evidence of her commitment to human rights and global development issues.
But other parties have expressed concern about a development policy they say is too focused on a single issue: stopping the influx of refugees and migrants to Europe. They warn that by roping ODA into a key domestic policy debate, Merkel and her CDU party have politicized development.
Development experts are frustrated at how little airing these issues have had during the current campaign, even as Germany's approach to them becomes increasingly significant. Read more.
Ghana is at the cutting edge of a global push to introduce CHWs in a bid to achieve universal health coverage. The model has been around for decades, but health officials here say there is much to learn from previous attempts — especially better integration into existing health systems — to ensure these new efforts will actually help deliver better health coverage. Read more.