Top stories from DAWNS Digest.
Post 2015 Development Agenda Panel Report Due in May
Recommending a new development agenda once the Millennium Development Goals expire in 2015 is daunting task that is being spearheaded by the three world leaders. Apparently, we’ll see the results of their report sooner than expected.“The UN high-level panel to draw up a post-2015 strategy, co-chaired by Britain’s prime minister, David Cameron, is expected to hand in its first draft around March and submit its final report in May, a senior official said on Tuesday. The UN has launched a broad consultation process, which makes the timetable particularly ambitious…Cameron briefly met his two co-chairs, Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, at the UN general assembly in September. London, where the theme will be household poverty, will be the first substantive meeting of the panel’s 26 members and the UN’s special adviser on post-2015 development planning, Amina Mohammed. Subsequent meetings in Liberia and Indonesia will focus on national development and global partnerships respectively.” (Guardian http://bit.ly/PrYghh)
Labor Unrest Heats Up in South Africa, as Mining Company Threatens to Lay Off 12,000
One of the biggest stories of the last several months has been the ongoing labor unrest in South Africa. Wildcat strikes are met with mass layoffs, and sometimes violence. Now, the action is moving to a key gold mining company. “A spokesman for AngloGold Ashanti says the company is set to fire about 12,000 South African workers who have been striking at three of its gold-mining operations outside Johannesburg. Alan Fine said Wednesday that the workers failed to meet a deadline to return to work. He said even as the company prepares to formally dismiss the workers, it is still holding talks with workers’ representatives to save their jobs.” (HuffPo http://bit.ly/QOK0O7)
Oxfam Slams Global Malaria Program
A blistering report from Oxfam calls for an end to an international malaria drug program known as AMFm: “In a new report, Salt, Sugar and Malaria Pills, published today, the international agency says the Affordable Medicine Facility for malaria (AMFm) has shown no concrete evidence that it has been effective at saving the lives of the most vulnerable, or in delaying drug resistance. Despite backing by the Global Fund, Oxfam believes the AMFm, which is currently being piloted in seven countries, is skewing investment away from more effective solutions. Dr Mohga Kamal Yanni, Oxfam’s senior health policy advisor, said: “It is dangerous to put the lives of sick children in the hands of a shopkeeper with no medical training and to pursue a program that doesn’t help those people who need it the most.” (Oxfam http://bit.ly/PrXPDA)