1. What is the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, and who is participating?
The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition is a commitment by G-8 members, African countries, and private sector partners to achieve sustained and inclusive agricultural growth to lift 50 million people out of poverty over the next 10 years. It builds upon the progress and commitments made in 2009 at the L'Aquila G-8 Summit, and offers a broad and innovative path to strengthen food security and nutrition.
The New Alliance includes specific commitments from:
- African leaders to refine policies in order to improve investment opportunities and drive their country-led plans on food security; - Private sector partners, who have collectively committed more than $3 billion to increase investments; and - G-8 members, who will support Africa's potential… more »
Counterfeit, falsified, and substandard drugs are a dangerous threat to people around the world, including Americans. These drugs may include toxins or inert substances that do nothing at all. They may contain too much of an active ingredient or not enough. They may also be copies of prescription drugs or over-the-counter medications, imitating brand name drugs or generics. The people selling counterfeit medicine are depriving patients of life-saving or life-sustaining therapies. They also endanger global health by creating an environment for diseases to become resistant to drugs used to treat them. Given that 80 percent of the active ingredients in medications used in the United States originate abroad, primarily in China and India, we have a vital interest in ensuring the safety of an ever more complex global drug supply chain.
What is the greatest gift we can give a mother this Mother's Day? There are many answers, but one is to help her live and help her children live a healthy life.
As we celebrate Mother's Day and think about mothers around the world, the American people are working through the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to make every day Mother's Day. This program is quietly saving lives every day, restoring the health and hope of mothers and children.
Today, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner joined their Chinese co-chairs, Vice Premier Wang Qishan and State Councilor Dai Bingguo, for the fourth joint meeting of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED). Secretary Clinton said, "Our relationship has grown closer and more consequential, and the web of connections that link our nations is increasing."
She continued, "As a result, this dialogue is… more »
Last year PEPFAR and UNAIDS joined with other partners to launch the Global Plan, an initiative to eliminate new HIV infections among children and keep their mothers alive. Last week I was proud to take part in a two-day mission to Nigeria with Michel Sidibe, UNAIDS Executive Director. (As I described in this post last week, our visit was interrupted by the tragic bombings.)
Each year, nearly 400,000 children are born with HIV globally, and prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) is a particular challenge in sub-Saharan Africa, an area characterized by weak health systems. Incredibly, Nigeria alone bears about one-third… more »
I am writing from Abuja, Nigeria, where all are mourning the victims of the tragic bombings of a local newspaper's offices here and in the city of Kaduna. Innocent lives were lost to these terrible acts of murder. At the time of the blast, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe and I were commemorating the victims of the 2011 United Nations House bombing, which also took the innocent lives of primarily the UN's Nigerian staff.
I can't help but reflect on the juxtapositions life sometimes presents after experiencing this tragic event. It not only occurred while we were having a ceremony for our fallen UN colleagues, but during a mission to strengthen the Nigerian plan to reduce the 72,000 pediatric HIV cases born each year. To have such a senseless loss of life, in one brief moment, made me reflect on how fragile and precious life is. And it sharpens my resolve to ensure… more »
In the past five years in Afghanistan, there have been impressive gains in key health indicators, and a dramatic decrease in infant and child mortality rates due to the efforts of the Afghan Ministry of Public Health, with the support of the United States and the international community. Now many more Afghan women survive pregnancy and childbirth. These dramatic improvements serve as a good reminder to the international community that with sound investments to tackle Afghanistan's still-daunting humanitarian and development needs, progress has been and will continue to be achieved.
Today, I had the honor of joining with the Afghan Minister of Public Health, Dr. Suraya Dalil, who has a very impressive resume, working most recently at UNICEF, to sign a Memorandum of Understanding that serves as another step forward for Afghanistan. In the Memorandum, our countries have… more »
On a stifling hot March evening in Kumasi, Ghana's second largest city, I joined Peace Corps volunteers David Kalpakchian and Hannah Braun and Ghanaian volunteers to hand out and hang up insecticide-treated nets (ITN). We know that insecticide-treated nets are a highly effective way to protect people from malaria infection. Because of this, Ghana is working to achieve "universal" coverage, meaning one ITN is available for every two people. This effort is important to the kayayei and other groups whose socioeconomic and transient status make them much less likely to have access to ITNs.
Malaria does not threaten boys and girls in the United States, but in Ghana and across Africa, the lives of could-be future presidents, scientists and nurses are lost prematurely, and their hope for making an impact on the world is greatly diminished. In Ghana, where malaria is a leading… more »
Today the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and several partners including UNICEF launched "Every Child Deserves a 5th Birthday". The premise of this awareness-raising campaign is simple: every child should have a chance to reach five. Over 7 million children -- most of them in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia -- didn't reach their 5th birthday last year. That number is equivalent to the entire population of New York City.
At an event this morning at the Kaiser Family Foundation, USAID Administrator Raj Shah talked about his own three children. Dr. Shah mentioned his second child, Amna, who will turn five next year. I celebrated reaching five with a carousel cake and a Smurf-themed… more »
Recently, I met with my fellow Global Fund Board members in Geneva and I am buoyed by the reform that is happening at the Fund under the leadership of new General Manager Gabriel Jaramillo. As everyone knows, the United States has been pushing aggressively for reform, linking our historic pledge of $4 billion from FY 2011 -- 2013 to it. I am pleased to report that while we have been encouraged by the significant reforms the Fund has been pursuing over the past year, the pace of reform has now quickened -- meaning that the Fund will be able to save even more lives.
The Fund remains absolutely committed to ensuring the disbursement of approximately $10 billion in its current funding period, 2011-2013 -- $2 billion more than it disbursed between 2008 and 2010. This includes money for new,… more »
May 23: The State Department, through its office of the U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), is pleased to announce $1.5 million in funding to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to support open governance and political participation in the Middle East and North Africa. more »
May 23: Today, Russia was invited to join the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) at a ceremony hosted by its parent body, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris. ã more »
![U.S. President Barack Obama announces the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition at the Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security on May 18, 2012, at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C. [Chicago Council photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0423_potus_food_security_m.jpg)
![An unidentified National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, (NAFDAC) official shows samples of seized fake drugs at the NAFDAC warehouse in Lagos, Nigeria, Aug. 30, 2005. [AP File Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0522_drugs_m.jpg)
![Woman enters mobile healthcare clinic in Johannesburg, South Africa, Nov. 29, 2010. [AP File Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2011_0218_health_clinic_m.jpg)
![Nigerian mother, a victim of AIDS, holds her HIV-free daughter, at the Abuja National Hospital in Abuja, Nigeria, July 12, 2003. [AP File Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0430_nigeria_pmtct_m.jpg)
![Ambassador Eric Goosby and UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe remember lives lost during the 2011 United Nations House bombing in Nigeria, April 26, 2012. [Photo Courtesy of UNAIDS/P.Ekpei]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0427_goosby_nigeria_m.jpg)
![An Afghan doctor checks on a newly born baby at the Malalai Maternity Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, in November 2011. [AP File Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0425_Afghan_Doctor_Baby_m.jpg)
![Children peek from beneath mosquito netting in sub-Saharan Africa. [Photo Gilbert Awekofua]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2009_0424_mosquito_netting_m.jpg)
![An unidentified resident of Pamplona, Spain, holds a red symbol of the fight against AIDS during events for World Aids Day, Dec.1, 2011. [AP File Photo]](http://blogs.state.gov/images/Dipnote/behind_the_scenes/2012_0409_aids_ribbon_m.jpg)
