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Meeting Minutes and Project Update

The final stages of our project are currently underway! Our group will be presenting our progress report to our INDV 410 class tomorrow afternoon. Earlier this weekend, our group met to discuss our presentation, and we will each be talking about a specific aspect of the project tomorrow. We met this evening to put some finishing touches on the presentation, and will be meeting again this week to continue working on the final paper. We are still putting together our final website critique for the Fund, and will include our list of questions in the paper, which we will turn in to our professors on Tuesday, December 11. Continue looking for more updates on our progress!

UN Secretary General Call for Ugandan Arrests

Today, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon announced for everyone "to do everything in their power" to capture the five suspected Ugandan generals accused of crimes against humanity in the developing nation. Though the International Criminal Court has issued warrants for their arrest, Uganda has no intention of turning over members Lord's Resistance Army rebels who have signed peace agreements.

This matter has potential to spur unrest once again in Uganda, especially in those who have devastatingly tramatized by the ongoing civil conflict. Because the ICC can only prosecute offenders when the host consents, the five accused will remain free . Until the government of Uganda complies with the courts decision, the ICC has no jurisdiction to proceed with the charges. However, the men with outstanding warrants will not be forgotten, and the case shall remain open.

Source: The International Herald Tribune

ICTs To Fight HIV/AIDS

Yesterday, people around the globe honored December 1 as World AIDS Day. This year in 2007, approximately 33.2 million people are living with HIV and 2 million people died from the virus. With such devastating numbers, organizations such as USAID are increasinly turning to ICTs as a tool for both prevention of HIV/AIDS and care of person with AIDS.

USAID ICT activities in HIV/AIDS currently include:

-Strengthening HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention campaigns

-Using GIS to support disease surveillance

-Communicating guidelines and training materials for doctors, nurses and midwives for proper treatment of persons with AIDS

-Providing access to the latest medical information to the medical community and the general population

-Supporting diagnostic tools to disseminate and track test results

Also, one major program worth looking at is UNESCO's project "ICTs Helping to Fight HIV/AIDS" More really good information about this can be found at http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001414/141417e.pdf

WHO Health Priorities in Uganda

A recent assessment conducted by the UN emphasized the need to restore and construct new health and education facilities. There are approximately 1,000,000 people who are still displaced from the conflict that has tormented the country for several years. This displaced population is living in camps in the Acholi region located in Northern Uganda. These camps are breeding grounds for disease. People are living in close quarters with little to no sanitation and resources are often scarce. These conditions pose a serious threat to those living in the camps. It is absolutely crucial for the Ugandan government and outside organizations such as UNICEF to take urgent actions to reduce morbidity and mortality from communicable infectious diseases such as Influenza and Tuberculosis. In Uganda, Tuberculosis has a prevalence rate of 559 for every 100,000 in comparison to that of the United States which has a rate of 3 Tuberculosis infections for every 100,000.

The possibility of laptops...

I recently found a great article on BBC.com that describes efforts of One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) in Nigeria. We have mentioned programs like this one before in class and I found it really reassuring to actually see positive results in the news. This article can be found at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7115348.stm
Although the BBC article concentrates on efforts made in Nigeria, I think it can be easily transferred to the Ugandan situation. OLPC is great in general because it allows for more efficient, successful and up-t0-date schooling. Currently the Fund does not work with a program of this sort. However, after studying about what happens to former child soldiers when they return to their hometowns I think that something along the same lines as OLPC could be immensely helpful. Schooling for former child soldiers is a huge problem. Not only do most of these children or young adults have problems fitting in to their communities and schools but they generally have missed years of their education. In addition, many families in northern Uganda have been forced to migrate in order to stay away from the Lord's Resistance Army. Obviously, this increase in movement has caused lapses in education. Consequently, a program like OLPC could be used successfully to jump-start education efforts in war-torn areas.

Uganda in the News- The Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit came to a close today in Kampala. Though deemed a success by most, the 3 day event did attract some strict criticism directed mainly toward the host country, Uganda.

The Khaleej Times Online highlighted some of the similarities between Uganda and Pakistan, who was recently suspended from the Commonwealth Group until "rule of law" is reestablished. Public protests surrounded the buildings demanding that the human rights within their very boarders not go unnoticed. With more than 50 nations represented, the leaders continued with their agenda. President Museveni remained composed in the midst of the unfavorable crowds outside.

Overall, leaders were able to discuss issues of international concern. Climate change was on the top of the list for this year's agenda. Though Uganda underwent public scrutiny from its people for hosting the event, the international publicity they received for playing host was well worth the controversy for the developing nation.

For more information on the Summit, go to AllAfrica.com.
Sources:
<http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/opinion/2007/November/opinion_November97.xml&section=opinion&col=>

<http://voanews.com/english/2007-11-25-voa19.cfm>