Global Water Challenge

UNICEF, United Nations Foundation, and Water Partners International are just a few of the 24 organizations that make up the Global Water Challenge, a coalition that seeks to revolutionize water and sanitation throughout the world. As the chart above shows, many countries throughout Africa are lacking in clean water supplies. For more than 884 million people around the world, water is a major concern. The goal of GWC is to address these issues and implement lasting changes. Read more about them here.

Progress in Africa

The 2009 edition of the Annual Africa Progress report has just been released. According to the report, the areas of governance, education, health, and food have seen significant change throughout the year. Although there is some progress in these areas, the report also points out that many changes are still yet to be made. For example, there have been many new schools built, yet class attendance is still not at the level it should be. This is on e of the many issues that Africa needs to keep working on, but the recent progress they've experienced provides hope for the future.

Source: AllAfrica.com

Vaccine For Every Child

Last week, the World Health Organization recommended that a vaccine against the rotavirus, a diarrheal disease that takes the lives of half a million children per year, be administered to every child around the world. The recommendation came after a studies done in South Africa and Malawi showed that the vaccine is effective even in areas of poor sanitation. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation paid for most of the research. Unfortunately, this would not be an easy task- the vaccine costs about $20 even in poor countries, and it must be refrigerated. This poses some difficulties with issuing the vaccine to every child in the world.
Source: NY Times