The DEC has been involved in raising funds since an appeal was launched in July this summer to help Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and the Republic of South Sudan, after they suffered from one of the worst droughts recorded in over sixty years.

The public’s generosity so far has enabled this to become the largest total raised for any African appeal, as well as being the largest amount ever raised for a food crisis. The figures also show that this is the third highest total in the charity’s forty-five year history for fund raising; coming after the Tsunami Earthquake appeal and Haiti Earthquake appeal.

Whilst nine million citizens in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia have already received aid from DEC member agencies, this project will continue running for the rest of the year with the hope that money will continue to be donated.

This disaster has affected so many individuals, leaving more than 12million people in need of basic food, water and healthcare. With aid slowly being delivered, there are the first signs of improvement in areas such as Kenya; but there is still a frightening shortage of funds available to help the affected individuals.

The DEC, which represents 14 UK aid groups, has warned that long-term support is needed to enable citizens to rebuild their livelihoods.

The United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP’s) global forum for policy dialogue and South-South learning on development innovations, the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG), has sought to challenge these assumptions. In a paper published last month they looked to use a different methodology in evaluating a country’s apparent failure of meeting their MDG targets. By altering how we view the success of the MDGs they aim to ascertain a more realistic image of the progress being made to target MDGs in sub-Saharan Africa since they were adopted.

The paper aims to adjust the focus of how success is measured in reaching the MDGs, instead of looking at whether or not a country is on track, as most analysis of MDGs do, to reach the 2015 targets. The paper focuses on ‘evaluating the commitment of countries, as measured by their effort to accelerate MDG progress.’ It evaluates success not by measuring how close to succeeding the arbitrary numbers set by the MDGs but how much the country has committed and dedicated itself to achieving the targets and its rate of progress.

For instance the first target of the MDG’s is to halve the amount of people living in extreme poverty and hunger. It is something that would be far easier for a country where the starting point was 20% of its population lived in extreme hunger, than a country whose starting point was 80% of its population and therefore needed to raise 40% of its population out of extreme poverty. Yet under the on track system they would be assessed equally in terms of who had reduced the numbers living in poverty as a percentage of the total population. It is predominately sub-Saharan African countries that have the highest starting rates in terms of extreme poverty and are therefore the most disadvantaged to reach the target of halving it.

In the 2010 MDG report sub-Saharan African countries again ranked amongst the worst in terms of poverty reduction. The percentage of people living in poverty was reduced to just 51% in ’05 from 58% in 1990 with the 2015 target being 29%. Yet by analysing the rate of progress the IPC-IG has shown that, despite not being on target, sub-Saharan African countries are, on the whole, making more progress than others. Of the 10 countries where the rate of progress has accelerated the most, eight are from sub-Saharan Africa with Burkina Faso leading the way.

In analysing the goals using this method, they acknowledge much of sub-Saharan and in particularly the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are making tremendous strides towards the MDGs, which is far from painting a bleak outlook of progress and the course of development in the LDCs of Africa as most reports on MDGs do. This review has shown how the MDG targets have led progress. But as the parameters were set so high in order to fit in with global trends and the starting level for these countries was so low that progress has largely been perceived negatively due to the amount required. Also, by assessing the rate of acceleration being shown by countries in sub-Saharan Africa, the results indicate that after the 2015 target, progress rates will continue to increase.

Kibaki also urged the participants to formulate an action plan that would enable East African Community member States to implement a more focused and coherent regional program on illicit trade with a particular focus on counterfeits, smuggling and piracy.

The Head of State noted that all stakeholders know and understand the challenges posed by the menace of illicit trade hence the need to come up with clear cut long lasting solutions to the problem.

Kibaki called on the law makers of the five members’ states of the East African community to come up with one uniform law which will help in tackling the menace of illicit trade.

The President said, ‘Illicit trade is a big problem in all the five member states of the East African Community, therefore we cannot pretend that we are not aware of this problem, it is now upon us to find a solution to it.’

Kibaki used the occasion to reaffirm his country’s commitment to comprehensively reform national laws and institutions so as to conform to internationally accepted standards.

His country he said had established the Anti-Counterfeit Agency with a wide ranging mandate whose functions were also complemented by other public institutions such as the revenue authority (KRA).

‘I urge businesses to make use of these laws and institutions in fighting illicit trade. Let us all remain vigilant in monitoring and reporting illicit trade practices so that we can improve the competitiveness of our businesses and promote genuine enterprises,’ Kibaki said.

He also expressed confidence that two bills currently being formulated by the East African Community would enhance the region’s capacity to combat the problem of illicit trade and counterfeits.

He concluded: ‘With the establishment of the EAC Common Market, we must now think and act as East Africans so that we can be able to deepen the integration of our region and exploit the benefits of a large domestic market.’

The meeting follows a call from Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, on August 9^th, for conflicting Darfurian groups to put an end to their volatile clashes. Government forces had been embroiled in a series of violent encounters with rebel group, the Justice and Equality Mission (JEM), who had recently withdrawn from peace talks in Qatar. Rebel group the Sudan Liberation Movement of Abdel Wahid also boycotted the talks. At present, an estimated 2.7 million Dafurians live as internally displaced persons (IDPs) – a term describing an individual who has fled from their homes but continues to live inside their country’s boarders – or as refugees in neighbouring countries, because of the ongoing conflict.

The officials asserted that UNAMID, the African Union and United Nations operation in Darfur, would work closely with the Sudanese government, in the hope that a closer relationship would effectively abate current tension. Gration added that UNAMID and the Sudanese military and police would enjoy a committed and cooperative relationship. While former South African President, Mbeki, stressed the importance of involving Darfurians in the peace process.

A24, ‘Africa’s first online delivery site for material from journalists, African broadcasters and NGO’s from around the Continent,’ is partnering with the African Union (AU), to provide communication support for the programme. The partnership will give the AU access to A24’s vast African and international audience, in the hope of spreading the aims of the programme, in addition to news and information.

In regard to the announcement, the AU Peace and Security commissioner, Ramtane Lamamra asserted the importance of communication to the success of the programme: “Communication is a key driver for the success of this campaign; we are keen to ensure that the message of the Year of Peace and Security is carried to as broad an audience as possible … A24 Media offers the Commission just such a platform,” he said. His sentiments were echoed by A24 Media chairman, Salim Amin: ‘As a private sector player in the media, we are responding to the call by Heads of State and Government of the African Union to ensure that Africans have access to information that empowers them to make a positive change towards peace at every level. Due to our wide network, A24 Media is well placed to partner with Africa’s premier organisation to achieve the objectives of this campaign’.

The announcement comes just 34 days before the AU Assembly plans to demonstrate its commitment to peace on Peace Day, scheduled to take place on September 21st 2010. On this day the Assembly will offer activities such as football games, school children will engage in a Make Peace Happen lesson plan and there will be a minute’s silence for peace across Africa.

In a bid to consolidate and reinforce the positive effects of the initiative, the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the AU took significant steps to increase awareness and participation across the continent. In addition to welcoming the appointment of the Year of Peace and Security advisory council members and peace ambassadors, member states were urged to take responsibility for their role in making the initiative successful. Furthermore, businesses were encouraged to make contributions by signing the AU-initiated Make Peace Happen Industry Charter, while AU partners, humanitarian organisations, civil society, media houses and religious organisations were prompted to contribute to the aims and success of Peace Day.

The mobilisation of resources within the continent was also cited as a priority, consistent with the AU’s ambition to facilitate greater ownership and leadership within Africa. The profound importance of the UN’s International Day of Peace on September 21^st was also highlighted as a platform from which to demonstrate the continent’s dedication to securing peace. As such, activities including the cessation of hostilities in areas continuing to be marred by violence, the handing out of supplies by humanitarian agencies and One Day One Goal football games are set to take place throughout the day.

Developing solutions to the problems currently being experienced in Maternal, Infant and Child Health and Development in Africa is one of the Millennium Development Goals that the AU member states subscribe to achieve by 2015. Their mission is ideally to promote ‘a holistic and human-centred approach to socio-economic development, as well as intra- and inter-sectoral coordination of the social sector with a view to alleviating poverty and improving the quality of life of the African people, in particular the most vulnerable and marginalized’.

There were five areas into which efforts will be concentrated:

The section entitled ‘Health System and Community Involvement’ focuses on the need for Africa to create an integrated, comprehensive and strengthened health system with clear health outcomes for women and children; to make primary healthcare cheap and affordable; and to reposition family planning and promote universal access to reproductive health services, aspects that people living in developed nations take for granted in their own health systems.

‘Nutrition and Food Security’ centres on promoting better nutrition practices, which contributes to empowering women and to reducing discrimination against girls in family feeding practices; and on reducing maternal and child mortality resulting from contributing factors including under-nutrition, HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases.

‘Health Financing’ aims to provide long-term predictable financing for health; invest in good health of women and children; and increase external funding, domestic resources (including the Abuja 15% target) and to ensure use of available resources.

Synchronizing this effort comes under the ‘Framework of Accountability’, which endeavours to create one national coordinating authority with a broad multi-sectoral mandate; adopt maternal and child health as key indicators of a functioning health system; and produce one agreed national monitoring and evaluation system and reporting format. This should help report and regulate national activities and suggest room for improvement.

So now it is up to the AU to implement these progressive changes.

The AU allows African leaders to make the decisions they feel are right for their own people without Western intervention. However, it noted the need to engage with other multilateral and regional partners in recognition of the challenges posed by globalisation and the world economic crisis.

Yet if the AU wants to retain the power and freedom that it has created for itself then its comprising nations need to be prepared to put their money where their mouths are and instigate the actions that lay behind their promising words. It cannot rely on the wider world the whole time, and many AU members are not forthcoming with their efforts.

The Summit urged all members to reach the Abuja target of a minimum of 15% of the national budgets allocated to health care by 2015. The Abuja promise, however, was made in 2001 and according to recent World Health Organisation statistics; only Tanzania, Liberia and Rwanda have met the objective this year. Others are lagging behind.

Despite African leaders in Kampala pledging to reduce out-of-pocket health care expenses, they clearly need to be more committed if they are going to reach their targets and prove themselves committed to the cause. The Sudanese leader (amongst others) was not even there to comment on the proceedings and give his input.

Even South Africa, after hosting one of the most successful and undoubtedly most surprising World Cups in history, does not seem to be participating to a large degree – to go on the governmental website is to see a want of information regarding the Summit. Nothing is available. As a leader of progress in Africa this is unexpected, if not a little disappointing.

Organisation, commitment and desire are needed to successfully implement the AU’s ideals.

Youssouf Quedraogo, advisor to the President of African Development Bank Donald Kaberuka, expressed the fact that ‘Africa leaders [are] unanimous in their call for greater regional intervention in Africa’. Desire Assogbavi, Head of Oxfam’s AU Liaison Office in Addis Ababa had this to say on the matter:

‘While this declaration is a positive step, most of it has been promised before but has never been delivered. Only 10% of AU decisions are effectively implemented. There is a need to immediately put in place comprehensive tracking and monitoring mechanisms to ensure the decisions are fully implemented at national level. African people are tired of rhetoric – now they need to see real change in their daily lives’.

Words are meaningless if African countries do not develop and implement national plans to reduce maternal, newborn and infant deaths, as well as addressing health worker shortages over the next five years. A key step would be to publicly announce timetables and timeframes leading up to 2015, the target date for the U.N. Millennium Development Goals.

However, there were constraints on the conference.

Most notable are the bombings supposedly carried out by the al-Qaeda linked Somali Islamist group Al-Shabab. This not only dominated discussions at the Summit, but also led to a distinct shift in media attention. As previously noted, the Somali crisis was already on the AU’s agenda, but the dramatic and unexpected events of July 11^th were allowed to overshadow the main focus of the meeting to a certain extent.

The rebels had been threatening to strike for some time before the events that took the lives of football fans gathered in a rugby club and a restaurant early last month. Their actions were, therefore, expected. Yet the attacks show that the events in Somalia had a direct impact on the region and global security and, accordingly, strongly imply that Africa needs to band together to fight terrorism on the continent.

As a result AU leaders agreed to deploy an additional 2,000 troops to the East African Nation to support the 6,000 that already manage security there. This will help support the UN backed government currently in power. Will Ross of the BBC believes that ‘this decision is unlikely to make a significant difference on the ground but should help shore up the transitional government, especially if more equipment and troops arrive soon’.

Furthermore, security measures were tightened in the run up to the international cricket match between Uganda and Namibia – it has been relocated by the International Cricket Council to the Namibian capital of Windhoek.

Overall there was an air of reserved optimism.

Africa can implement the changes it has verbally promised at the Summit and it’s in its best interest to do so to ensure a safe future for its people. AU Commissioner for Social Affairs, Advocate Bience Gawanas, rightly said that this Summit needs to ‘be a means to an end’. It cannot continue to put off issues that are internationally recognised as imperative.[/

WACIP, in particular, seeks to diversify and broaden the region’s industrial production base by progressively raising the local content of such products, increasing the manufacturing industry’s contribution to the regional gross domestic product (GDP), improving intra-community trade and increasing the volume of exports of manufactured goods from West Africa to the global market.

The council, on Wednesday 2nd June, also adopted the reports of the president of the community’s commission; the financial controller; the preceding meeting of the administration and finance committee and report of the meeting of the ministers in charge of defence and security, among others.

The 2010 interim report of the commission’s president gave an overview of recent economic developments in the world economy and their implications for Africa, particularly West Africa.

In his welcome address at the opening of the council meeting Monday, 31st May 2010, Nigeria’s minister of state for foreign affairs, Aliyu Idi Hong, stated that under the chairmanship of Nigeria, the region had recorded some measure of success in the areas of peace and stability as well as economic development in virtually all spheres within the region.

While stating that the West African region is facing serious crises, he said it was only through concerted action and collaboration that these problems could be solved by re-energizing the integration process in the region.

The council in their final day of deliberation also endorsed the report of the 11th ordinary assembly of health ministers of the commission, and the recommendation of the ministerial monitoring committee on the negotiation of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) for the creation of a free trade area between West Africa and Europe.

The president of the commission, Nigerian James Victor Gbeho expressed optimism that members of the council would work together as a coherent team towards the achievement of the commission’s Strategic Vision 2020.

At least 11 people died when the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab rebels and government forces shelled each other’s positions in the north of the city. Dozens more were injured.

‘Two of our soldiers died in Thursday (3rd June) fighting and five others were injured,’ Manirakiza Adolphe AMISOM’s deputy public information officer told Reuters. ‘The rebels also burnt two of our vehicles.’

Somalia has had no effective central government for 19 years and western efforts to install one have been undermined by the insurgents.

The African Union force has more than 6,000 troops from Uganda and Burundi. More than 30 peacekeepers have been killed in the Somalia conflict since the mission began in ‘07.