PLEBAns thread about Africa...

[Merc]

After the talks in the Bono vs. O'Reilly-thread I thought it would be a good idea to start a thread about Africa, since many people here have oppinions about the continent and HIV/AIDS, trade etc. and how to solve these problems -

So, let's hear your oppinion, post links to websites of grassroot movements, NGO's, organizations etc. that deal with these issues, your stories from Africa - anything!

 

[Jamila]

Merc, this is a GREAT idea!

It's fine to exchange opinions, but opinions should be based on facts and not hearsay.

So much of what we read/see in the medis is either halftruths or biased in some way, so often the best way to TRULY find out what is happening in Africa - the challenges and the SUCCESSES (yes, Africa has MANY success stories) is to go to the websites of groups that are ACTIVELY involved in Africa.

Here are just a few EXCELLENT sources to get started with:

1) http://www.data.org (click on the "Policy" and "Newsroom" icons for links to some of the best info sources on Africa)

2) http://www.allafrica.com

3) http://www.irinnews.org (absolutely BRILLIANT)

4) http://www.globalactionforchildren.org

5) http://www.theglobalfund.org

6) http://www.africanwellfund.org

7) http://www.un.org

8) http://www.worldvision.org

9) http://www.jubileeusa.org

10) http://www.bbc.co.uk (click on the "News" icon and go to the Africa section)

These are some of the websites that I go to frequently to keep up on what is happening on the continent and to get Africa's perspective on what is happening in their countries. Check them out - you'll be glad you did.

Thanks for the chance to learn more on the MOST MAGNIFICENT continent on the globe - and the birthplace of all of us (Humanity)!

 

[Merc]

AIDS is no longer just a disease. It's a human rights issue - Nelson Mandela



A few facts on Debt, AIDS, Trade and Africa from the DATA-site...

Debt:

- Every year Sub-Saharan Africa spends $14.5 billion dollars repaying debts to the world’s rich countries and international institutions. Often they spend so much on debt payments that they have very little left over for health or education– in Nigeria, debt payments are eleven times higher than the national health budget. (IMF)


AIDS:

- HIV/AIDS is a virus, spread primarily by sexual contact, contaminated medical equipment like needles, or from mother to child at birth or through breastfeeding. (UNAIDS)

- Every day in Africa, 6,500 people die and another 9,500 contract the HIV virus - 1,400 of whom are newborn babies infected during childbirth or by their mothers’ milk. Africa is home to 30 million people with HIV—70% of global infections. (UNAIDS)

- More than 11 million African children have lost a parent to HIV/AIDS; this total will reach more than 20 million by 2010. (UNAIDS/UNICEF)

- Women account for 58 percent of all people in Sub-Saharan Africa infected with HIV or AIDS. (UNAIDS)

- AIDS is a preventable and treatable disease. We know what works in the fight against AIDS: Uganda, for example, got communities across the country involved in preventing AIDS and reduced its rate of infection from 15% to 5%. (USAID)

- 4.1 million African AIDS patients are in immediate need of anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) but only 50,000 receive them. These drugs have a ‘Lazarus effect’ and can have patients out of bed, back at work and caring for their families within months. (WHO)

- The world is currently spending less than half the $10.5 billion annually that is needed to fight AIDS globally. (UNAIDS)


Trade:

- Africa cannot trade its way out of poverty without a level playing field. Right now, trade rules are so skewed that cows in Europe receive more every day in subsidies than half the population of Africa has to live on ($2). (Jubilee)


Africa:

-More than 300 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa—nearly half the population—live on less than $1 a day. This number i expected to rise to 400 million by 2015. (The World Bank)

- Africa is home to five of the world’s fastest-growing economies – but also 34 of the world's 49 poorest countries. (UNCTAD)

- In 2000, the nations of the world agreed to a set of "Millennium Development Goals" to reduce poverty, send children to school and ensure that families had access to clean water. Africa is the region least likely to meet these goals. (African Development Bank)


Development Assistance:

- In 1970, wealthy nations agreed to a goal of spending 0.7% of GNP on development assistance. Last year, these countries spent on average just 0.23%; the U.S. gives the smallest percentage of its wealth, 0.12%, to poor countries. (OECD)



And a few more links to some very good sites:

46664 - Give One Minute Of Your Life To AIDS...

UNAIDS - The Joint United Nations Programme On HIV/AIDS

Médecins Sans Frontieres

And a personal favourite : Pharmaciens Sans Frontieres

 

[verte76]

Thanks for those links Merc. Those people are doing great stuff!

 

[souLnation2002]

Thanks for those links Merc. Those people are doing great stuff!

Amen to that!

 

[Sherry Darling]

Don't forget to send your letter to the Prez and your Rep in the House to become an Angel! Letters should ask them to support the JUBILEE act. A sample letter is on the Action Alert thread in FYM. Feel free to cut and paste. LET ME or QB know when you send your letter, so we can add you to the list.

If you haven't seen the new Angel digs yet, Queen Bee did a great job. As always, you're free to take a banner and use in on your page, in your sig, whatever. The higher profile we can be, the better.

Jamila posted the Jubilee link, and I want to call special attention to this, because we're in the middle of the countdown to Freedom from Debt, Oct 1. This is when the next G7 meetings and, and guys I cannot overstate this: 100% debt cancellation WILL be on the table. It never ever has been before. They are listening, and our opportunity is greater right now than it ever has been to proclaim Jubilee Justice for the poorest of the poor!

SD

 

[Sherry Darling]

Here's the letter. Get writing and calling! You can find contact info at

http://www.house.gov

and http://whitehouse.gov


Representative Jim Moran
2239 Rayburn Building
Washington, DC 20515-4608

August 30, 2004

Dear Rep. Moran:

Recently a bipartisan group of your colleagues, including Representatives Waters, Leach, Franks and Bachus, sponsored a groundbreaking new piece of legislation, HR 4793, the JUBILEE Act. It would significantly reduce global poverty by requiring Treasury to work in appropriate multilateral settings to achieve 100% debt cancellation for a list of 50 developing nations. The bill urges that this cancellation come from the international financial institutions� own resources, and significantly, that no harmful structural adjustment conditions be attached.
This bill will provide impoverished nations the fresh start they need for development. It will significantly reduce poverty throughout Asia, South America and especially Africa, where resources are desperately needed for clinics, schools, infrastructure and fighting AIDS.
As the JUBILEE Act calls in the creditors to cancel debt from their own resources, it does not place a financial burden on the U.S. The IMF and World Bank will likely respond that they cannot afford this, but accounting firms in the UK recently released a report demonstrating that, with their reserves and gold, they can indeed finance this debt cancellation without affecting their ability to lend in the future.
As a constituent, I am asking that you co-sponsor and give your full support to this legislation. A more prosperous world is a safe and more stable world.
Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you on this vital moral issue.

Sincerely,



SD

 

[neutral]

Alrighty, I kept meaning to get around to posting here and I got busy. I feel like I'm always too busy to do anything...

Anyway I watched my recording of Bono/O'Reilly tonight and got inspired again. I must say that no other time I've heard Bono talk has touched me like the talk on the show that night.

I have questions if that's ok. I definitely want to support the the JUBILEE act after watching that interview tonight. All this debt seriously just baffles me, it seems totally pointless. Anyway, does anyone remember the Bono on 60 Minutes interview in 2001? I remember that the reporter talked about how he had gone to meet with Clinton who had agreed in theory (I think that's what she said) to drop a bunch of debt. The interview seemed to imply that the debt never actually got dropped though. Does anyone remember?


Bleh I don't know where to start, all these links (which I definitely want to read when I can) are kinda overwhelming.

 

[Sherry Darling]

Hi Neutral!

You expressed feeling a bit overwhelmed, and I believe in taking care of activists (we can all have a real atlas complex, if you know what I mean). So if I may, I think I can help offer a couple of simple actions to get you started. Meantime, Jubilee has a "Beginner's Guide to Debt" if you go the the front page and click on "Take Action". It explains the basics of what debt is about and why it must be dropped.

!. Please consider calling the White House and Treasury. Ask them to support 100% debt cancellation.

2. Please consider writing your Rep. (See the sample letter I posted above? It's yours to cut and paste, and you can find your Rep. at house.gov if you just go there and type in your zip code). Ask him or her to co-sponsor the Jubilee Act and give full support to debt cancellation.

I hope this is helpful. Don't hesitate to write back if you have more questions or anything.

Congrats on becoming an Angel!

SD

 

[Jamila]

neutral, the ideas you express are legitimate to share - the only way any of us can learn is by asking questions.

Supporting FULL debt cancellation for the poorest countries in the world is ESSENTIAL so that they can then take these funds and put them back into improving conditions in their countries in areas such as education, nutrition and sanitation (clean water).

But , in addition to supprting FULL debt cancellation, it IS ESSENTIAL that we also strongly support fairer trade with developing nations and, MOST IMPORTANT, Global AIDS programs.

African nations have been systematically undercut over the last 25 years from having their fair share of the world trade market. If African nations could simply have the same share of world trade that they had in 1980, they would be able to TRADE enough in the world market to overtake the humanitarian assistance that they receive from other nations.

And, if the fight against the Global AIDS pandemic is not sufficiently funded by the world community, we will lose the human infrastructure (the working adults) in so many African nations that there will be few people left in many of these countries to benefit from debt cancellation!

So all three of these issues are INTRICATELY INTERTWINED. That is the reason why DATA is such an IMPORTANT organization because it puts all three of these issues on equal footing to secure a POSITIVE FUTURE FOR AFRICA'S PEOPLE.

Thanks for your concern, neutral, for the poorest people in the world - they definitely need ALL OF US TO CARE about them.

http://www.maketradefair.org

 

[neutral]

Jamila, you actually just answered the biggest question I had without me even asking it, about how all these things intertwine. I felt like there must be a strong connection between debt relief and AIDs since Bono works so hard on both of them but I just couldn't think of how to word the question....

Thanks both of you, I'm going to start with what you suggested Sherry Darling.

 

[Merc]

I'm going to start with what you suggested Sherry Darling.

Great job!

 

[starsgoblue]

*BUMP*


(very proud of this thread)

 

[Liesje]

If it were all up to me.......

First of all, I'd cancel debt. However, not just one big sweeping cancellation mind you, but countries would have to at least show me they've thought through the debt cancellation and decided how this would restructure their economies, education systems, heath care, etc. Countries whose debt it cancelled and who's plans are working out will continue to receive large aid packages.

Next, I would promote local grassroots movementes led by Africans. Think of Bono's friend Agnes (an amazing woman whom I've had the pleasure of meeting) - she belongs to a group of HIV+ women who now speak out about prevention and also help care for those who've already contracted HIV. They've made HUGE strides in Uganda. Why? B/c people want to listen to people just like them, not some rich white folks crossing the Atlantic for a service project, however pure their intentions may be. Teens need to help teens. And most importantly, the African men need to get their act together and support each other. <~ this is going to be the hardest step.

Third, in the drug market, something has to give. I don't know much about how the big companies work, but I do know that people aren't going to give a flying fuck about preventing a disease there's no available treatment for. Kinda like how when some people have cancer so bad they'd rather just spend the rest of their days at home, except in doing so, they're not spreading the cancer to countless others. People WILL NOT volunteer to be tested and will not take part in prevention campaigns while the Western world is telling them their life isn't worth trying to save b/c they're not rich and famous like Magic Johnson. For a long time I thought that prevention and better sex ed was the best way to combat AIDS, but when you meet someone who's lost a baby to AIDS, who's son has been either driven to suicide or killed and never found b/c of the stigmatization that goes with AIDS, and who's slowly dying of the disease herself, you can no longer disassociate and convince yourself that "there's nothing we can do, we might as well try to save who we can". I don't believe anyone has the right to that fatalistic, defeatist attitude unless they can say to the HIV+ person "I'm sorry, but your life is just not worth our time". However difficult and expensive, there MUST be meds available to everyone.

 

[Jamila]

Good ideas, LivLuvandBootlegMusic!

It's good to see so many of us who are trying to become as knowledgeable about issues of world poverty / fair trade / debt cancellation / Global AIDS, etc. and are trying to DO WHATEVER WE CAN to help make our world a better place for everyone!

KEEP IT UP! The poorest people in our world deserve our help and I'm sure appreciate our concern and activism for them.

 

[starsgoblue]

Jamila Girl, you must be a walking heart on legs! I love your spirit.


LivLovBootlegMusic, yes I totally agree about the big pharmacuetical companies. It's like Bono said, we aren't expecting them to be philanthropists but at the same time they need to stop being so feckin' greedy and they need to make it affordable and available to everyone. The fact that one can't get treatment because they were born in the wrong geographical area is just plain wrong.

And I'm climbing up on my soapbox here, but seriously this is just a little bitty virus and we're running scared from it. Earlier generations had things like polio virtiually eliminated because people were aggresive in taking care of this. It makes me sick that people are letting Africa rot because theres nothing in it for them and "not in thier interest' to help. This isn't about philanthropy or charity or anything like that--it's just the right thing to do. Period. Love needs to be our motivation to do anything...anything at all. It's true, when U2 says that's all you can take with you....I want to take as much with me as I can.

1 John 3:17; “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?”

*climbs off her soapbox*

 

[Jamila]

stars, thanks for seeing my heart with your heart.

I am simply a person who has had a Love and respect for Africa for now (30) thirty years when I took a "World Cultures" class on Africa in high school.

Since then I have read many books/mags on Africa and followed the news from the Continent closely.

I have also had many friends (dozens actually) from Africa over this time who have broadened my knowledge and respect for the various countries and cultures on the Continent.

Jamila is a Swahili word from Eastern Africa which means "beautiful". It was given to me many years ago by a friend from Africa who thought the word described me accurately. (this is truth)

During the last thirty years, I have also LOST SEVERAL FRIENDS from the Continent because of AIDS, so when I post about these issues I talk about them from some personal experience.

My only motive to post about these issues is to share ideas and encourage others here to pick up the same struggle which Bono and I and so many others around the world share - the struggle to save the Future of an entire continent - the ORIGINAL CONTINENT of humankind (Africa).

I did not join this struggle because of Bono - I loved Africa several years before I ever heard of Bono or U2. But it is SUCH A BLESSING for me to know that the issue closest to one of the persons that I truly Love and Respect in the world also shares the same sincere passion and advocacy for Africa.

I encourage you, stars, to grow in your awareness and advocacy - you have the Heart of Love within you.

 

[Sherry Darling]

I am simply a person who has had a Love and respect for Africa for now (30) thirty years when I took a "World Cultures" class on Africa in high school.

I've said it before, and it bears repeating. Education is THE key to it ALL! Crime, poverty, hate, isolation, alienation--education is the key.

Anyway

SD

 

[Jamila]

Sherry Darling, I don't think I've said it enough what a bright light of activism for Africa and the Poor of the world you are in what you do to mobilize the U2 community with Bono's Angels.

Everything that we can do to help stop the suffering of these innocent People we must. As Bono has said, history is judging us and God is watching us.

Let's put our individual difference aside and UNITE for the good of those who suffer from extreme poverty. Let's BECOME ONE and help to lighten the load that Bono carries on his shoulders.

We can be THE WIND BENEATH HIS ANGEL WINGS!

 

[starsgoblue]

jamila I can't stop hugging you!!!!

 

[Jamila]

stars


IT'S NOT WHAT YOU'RE DREAMING....IT'S WHAT YOU'RE GONNA DO.

 

[Sherry Darling]

Sherry Darling, I don't think I've said it enough what a bright light of activism for Africa and the Poor of the world you are in what you do to mobilize the U2 community with Bono's Angels.

Thanks so much for your support!

SD

 

[starsgoblue]

This is my fav. thread! Wonderful people here....and they say PLEBA has a bad rep

 

[Merc]

LivLovBootlegMusic, yes I totally agree about the big pharmacuetical companies. It's like Bono said, we aren't expecting them to be philanthropists but at the same time they need to stop being so feckin' greedy and they need to make it affordable and available to everyone. The fact that one can't get treatment because they were born in the wrong geographical area is just plain wrong.

Hmm, whenever the subject turns to this, I kinda feel like I'm standing with one foot in each camp... and that is not easy

So far I've spent 4 years learning how to produce medicine, which has taught me some of the reasons why original medicine is so expensive (and yes, I believe that greed is a part of the problem too, but not the entire reason why medicine is expensive) -


It takes approx. 12-15 years to develop a new pharmaceutical, and a patent runs for 20 years or max. 25 years if you can get a supplementary protection certificate. That gives the companies 5-8 years and max. 10-13 years to earn the money that they spend on developing the new pharmaceutical.

These days it costs around 1 billion USD/EUR to develop a new pharmaceutical...



I couldn't agree more that latitude and longitude nor money shouldn't be the reasons why the people who really need the pharmaceuticals doesn't get them - I am just supplying the above as general information

 

[Liesje]

I'm not really that interested in the development of new drugs. We pretty much let the chance to pour resources into finding a cure slip out the window 20 years ago. I'm thinking more along the lines of letting smaller, more local (as in, not US or western European) companies be allowed to produce and sell generics at an AFFORDABLE (affordable to a rural African) cost. We learned a term for this in Politics of AIDS in Africa class but I foget....compulsory licensing?

 

[Merc]

I'm not really that interested in the development of new drugs.

I was only giving the above information to show that pharmaceutical companies is not all about greed - that's all...

... IMHO, it's important to see a subject from both sides, and I was just supplying information from 'the other side'.

We pretty much let the chance to pour resources into finding a cure slip out the window 20 years ago.

I agree that it's not so 'finacially attractive' (if you can call it that?!) to find the cure for AIDS these days as it may have been 20 years ago, but I have a strong belief that a cure will be found "soon" (<--- putting " " around, 'cause we're not talking today or tomorrow or in a year, but...)

I'm thinking more along the lines of letting smaller, more local (as in, not US or western European) companies be allowed to produce and sell generics at an AFFORDABLE (affordable to a rural African) cost. We learned a term for this in Politics of AIDS in Africa class but I foget....compulsory licensing?

Yeah, I've heard about that and I like the idea! I see a few minor problems but it's a really great idea!




...did any of you see the latest news?! The number of HIV/AIDS+ in South Africa is rising again!

 

[verte76]

Definitely, some things need to change to make these drugs more affordable for people in Africa. Money shouldn't be in the way of saving lives in Africa. Maybe we should sign petitions or something and let the politicians know what we think. That's just me, I always start thinking about petitions and other hell-raising type of tactics.

 

[Merc]

That's just me, I always start thinking about petitions and other hell-raising type of tactics.

Well, whatever works...

 

[Merc]

Girls, you gotta see this thread:

http://forum.interference.com/t97855.html

It's about the speach at the labour party congress...

...It's every bit as noble as your grandparents fighting the Nazis...

 

[Merc]

*bump*

This thread needs a *bump* more than any other (and normally I would never *bump* my own threads! )...

... especially after the "Bono in Africa"-thread!


Don't stop posting here girls We need ya'!