Africa | Peter "Just Loves Flying"

Ebola: Misinformation can spread like virus

September 8, 2014

Peter Singhatey Uncategorized Africa, Ebola, epidemic, People & Society, peter singhateh, Peter Singhatey, Research Leave a comment

Ebola: Misinformation can spread like virus.

Much of the reporting around ebola is rife with rumours and misconceptions. In my experience, there seem to be three main popular misconceptions around the viral outbreak.The first is that it is easy to contract ebola. Due to the gruesome nature in which the virus manifests itself in humans, people are understandably terrified of contracting ebola. Anecdotes abound about how people are scared of being on an airplane in the same confined space as anyone travelling from West Africa. However, ebola is not airborne and cannot be contracted by simply sitting beside someone and breathing the same air. Concern Worldwide have dedicated staff on the ground in both Sierra Leone and Liberia, none of whom have contracted the virus or come even close….

Ebola: Eight facts about American perception and West African reality – The Washington Post

September 8, 2014

Peter Singhatey Articles on Africa Africa, Ebola, People & Society, peter singhateh, Peter Singhatey Leave a comment

Ebola: Eight facts about American perception and West African reality – The Washington Post.

The Washington Post’s Todd C. Frankel writes about what it takes to leave some West African airports: a normal temperature. The cold calculation of health is many travelers’ ticket out of the Ebola-ravaged region

Here’s more about the epidemic, our perception of Ebola in the United States and the reality abroad:

1. The current Ebola epidemic has claimed more lives than all previous Ebola outbreaks combined.

As of last week, the number of suspected deaths (1,552) surpassed the number of confirmed deaths (1,548) from every outbreak since the disease was discovered in 1976, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...

By Sea and by Ladder, Africans Seek Entry to Spain – NYTimes.com

August 16, 2014

Peter Singhatey African Center for Strategic Studies Africa, Gambia, Immigration, Migrants, People & Society, peter singhateh, Peter Singhatey Leave a comment

By Sea and by Ladder, Africans Seek Entry to Spain – NYTimes.com.

Migrants from Africa continued to pour across the Mediterranean this week, and Spain’s sea rescue service picked up 681 people traveling in 70 small boats across the Strait of Gibraltar. Above, a Red Cross worker helped with a feeding at a sports center in the Spanish port of Tarifa. Below, new arrivals stormed border fences with ladders to try to enter Spain’s northwest African enclave of Melilla from Morocco. Around 50 stayed on one of the fences for hours…

Can women make the world more peaceful? | Global Development Professionals Network | Guardian Professional

August 12, 2014

Peter Singhatey African Center for Strategic Studies Africa, Conflict, Conflict Resolution, Development, Gambia, peter singhateh, Peter Singhatey Leave a comment

Can women make the world more peaceful? | Global Development Professionals Network | Guardian Professional.

Do women hold the key to a peaceful society? Much is known about the victimisation of women through rape, trafficking, and early marriages, but much is yet to be discovered about how women can be empowered in conflict settings to bridge the gap towards peace.

I recently conducted research analysing female peacemaking and found that women do hold a significant role in the peace process. However, this role is not always long-term, unless gender equality is institutionalised through quotas. A better understanding of how women can transform conflict situations, and how to create space for them to do so, will be vital for the UN and other concerned actors in the coming years.

Billions promised to Africa – here’s how it would be spent | Africa | Africa | Mail & Guardian

August 8, 2014

Peter Singhatey African Center for Strategic Studies Africa, Development, Gambia, peter singhateh, Peter Singhatey Leave a comment

Billions promised to Africa – here’s how it would be spent | Africa | Africa | Mail & Guardian.

“IT is summit season in Africa. The US-Africa Leaders Summit is the second major meeting this year, following the EU-Africa summit in March, and comes hot on the heels of similar summits with France, Japan and Arab nations last year.

Later this year India will hold its second triennial summit with African leaders, as Beijing’s flagship Forum on China-Africa Co-operation waits in the wings for next year.

These summits have recently been similar in that they are carefully wrapped in varying degrees of “co-operation” and “equal partnership” talk, but despite this the headlines are usually around the money and investment promised.

We take a look at the numbers announced so far: (Quoted exchange rates reflect the time the deal was announced.)

1: United States, ($33-billion), August 2014

President Barack Obama has become the first American leader to convene a summit of such magnitude with African heads of state, with the US-Africa summit themed around investment, security and rights issues.

On Tuesday, Obama announced $33-billion in commitments, with American companies planning $14-billion worth of investments in Africa, and his Power Africa drawing an additional $12-billion in commitments to go with the initial $7-billion it had attracted…”

Who Aids Whom? Exposing the True Story of Africa’s $192 Billion Losses | Think Africa Press

July 16, 2014

Peter Singhatey Uncategorized Africa, Aid, corruption, Development, peter singhateh, Peter Singhatey Leave a comment

Who Aids Whom? Exposing the True Story of Africa’s $192 Billion Losses | Think Africa Press.

“It says something about this country. It says something about our standing in the world and our sense of duty in helping others… in short – it says something about the kind of people we are… And that makes me proud to be British.”

As exhibited by UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who made the above comment on 8 June 2013, governments of wealthy countries like to tell tales of generous aid spending and a common responsibility to help those less fortunate in the world. But there is another story to tell. And it is not a story of what is given to continents such as Africa, but of what is taken away.

Research published today reveals that whilst the continent receives $30 billion in aid a year, this figure pales in comparison to the $192 billion leaving the continent via illicit financial flows, the repatriation of multinational company profits, debt repayments, loss of skilled workers, illegal logging and fishing, and the costs imposed as a result of climate change…

Congo plane crash that killed British pilot may have been caused by escaped crocodile | Mail Online

July 12, 2014

Peter Singhatey Articles on Africa, Aviation Africa, peter singhateh, Peter Singhatey, Plane Crash Leave a comment

Congo plane crash that killed British pilot may have been caused by escaped crocodile | Mail Online.

A plane crash which killed a British pilot in Africa may have been caused by passengers panicking over an escaped crocodile, an inquest heard yesterday…

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2689113/Plane-crash-Congo-killed-British-pilot-caused-escaped-crocodile-causing-passengers-panic-rush-causing-nose-dive.html#ixzz37ISyBfys
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

More Africans in extreme poverty than in 1990: UN – Yahoo News

July 9, 2014

Peter Singhatey African Center for Strategic Studies Africa, Development, Gambia, MDGs, peter singhateh, Peter Singhatey Leave a comment

More Africans in extreme poverty than in 1990: UN – Yahoo News.

United Nations (United States) (AFP) – More sub-Saharan Africans are living in extreme poverty now than in 1990, said a major United Nations report Monday, warning the region will miss most of its development goals.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), set in 2000, strive to halve extreme poverty and hunger in the world by 2015.

They also promote and track progress in tackling issues such as AIDS, maternal and childhood mortality, access to clean water, gender equality and education.

Many targets are within reach by the end of 2015, according to the United Nations’ annual MDG progress report: if current trends continue, targets on malaria, tuberculosis and access to HIV treatment will be surpassed, while the hunger target also looks to be within reach, it said.

But it found that sub-Saharan Africa is lagging behind the rest of the world in its progress, with population growth, conflicts and a decrease in international aid making the timely completion of many goals unlikely…