It is estimated that by the end of 2003 there were just under 38 million people living with HIV/AIDS, with all but two million of these people of working age. This report, prepared by the ILO Programme on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work, sets out global estimates of the impact of HIV/AIDS on the labour force and the working age population in 50 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean and in more developed regions. Issues discussed include: the implications for the private and public sectors, on agriculture and concerns for food insecurity and on the informal economy; on women and children; policy implications and examples of responses to the problem in a variety of workplace settings; provision of antiretroviral therapy in conjunction with HIV prevention in the workplace and the potential for expanded access to workplace-based treatment.
Throughout history, communicable diseases have devastated armies and weakened the capacity of state institutions to perform core security functions. Today, the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa has prompted many of the affected countries to initiate policies aimed at addressing its impact on their armed forces, police, and prisons. This volume explores the dynamics of how the security sectors of selected African states have responded to the complex and multifaceted challenges of HIV/AIDS. Current and impending African HIV/AIDS policies address a range of security-related issues: * The role of peacekeepers in the spread or control of HIV * The dilemma of public health (the need to control HIV) versus human rights (protection against mandatory medical testing) needs * The gender dimensions of HIV in the armed forces * The impact of HIV on the police and prisons The chapters in HIV/AIDS and the Security Sector in Africa are written by African practitioners, including commissioned officers who are currently serving in the armed forces, medical officers and nurses working in the military, and African policy and academic experts. While the book does not comprehensively address all aspects of the impact of HIV/AIDS on the security sector, the contributors nonetheless highlight the potentials and limits of existing policies.
This report examines women's political representation on the African continent, and shows how quotas have contributed to increasing their access to political power. The documented evidence from Africa is very encouraging: more than 20 countries on the continent either have legislated quotas or have political parties that have adopted them voluntarily. This report details the different quota types that are being implemented in different political contexts in 17 countries, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Rising densities of human settlements, migration and transport to reduce distances to market, and specialization and trade facilitated by fewer international divisions are central to economic development. The transformations along these three dimensions density, distance, and division are most noticeable in North America, Western Europe, and Japan, but countries in Asia and Eastern Europe are changing in ways similar in scope and speed. 'World Development Report 2009: Reshaping Economic Geography' concludes that these spatial transformations are essential, and should be encouraged. The conclusion is not without controversy. Slum-dwellers now number a billion, but the rush to cities continues. Globalization is believed to benefit many, but not the billion people living in lagging areas of developing nations. High poverty and mortality persist among the world's 'bottom billion', while others grow wealthier and live longer lives. Concern for these three billion often comes with the prescription that growth must be made spatially balanced. The WDR has a different message: economic growth is seldom balanced, and efforts to spread it out prematurely will jeopardize progress. The Report: documents how production becomes more concentrated spatially as economies grow. proposes economic integration as the principle for promoting successful spatial transformations. revisits the debates on urbanization, territorial development, and regional integration and shows how today's developers can reshape economic geography.
Gender budgeting is an initiative to use fiscal policy and administration to address gender inequality and women’s advancement. A large number of sub-Saharan African countries have adopted gender budgeting. Two countries that have achieved notable success in their efforts are Uganda and Rwanda, both of which have integrated gender-oriented goals into budget policies, programs, and processes in fundamental ways. Other countries have made more limited progress in introducing gender budgeting into their budget-making. Leadership by the ministry of finance is critical for enduring effects, although nongovernmental organizations and parliamentary bodies in sub-Saharan Africa play an essential role in advocating for gender budgeting.
The fifth of the series (ARIA/V) has come at a time of renewed enthusiasm for shortening the period of the vision of the Abuja Treaty. Its overall objective is to provide an analytical research publication that defines frameworks for African Governments, the African Union and the Regional Economic Communities, towards accelerating the establishment of the African Common Market through: the speedy removal of all tariff and non-tariff barriers, obstacles to free movement of people, investments and factors of production in general across Africa, and through fast-tracking the creation of an African continental Free Trade Area
Sustainable infrastructure development is vital for Africa s prosperity. And now is the time to begin the transformation. This volume is the culmination of an unprecedented effort to document, analyze, and interpret the full extent of the challenge in developing Sub-Saharan Africa s infrastructure sectors. As a result, it represents the most comprehensive reference currently available on infrastructure in the region. The book covers the five main economic infrastructure sectors information and communication technology, irrigation, power, transport, and water and sanitation. 'Africa s Infrastructure: A Time for Transformation' reflects the collaboration of a wide array of African regional institutions and development partners under the auspices of the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa. It presents the findings of the Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD), a project launched following a commitment in 2005 by the international community (after the G8 summit at Gleneagles, Scotland) to scale up financial support for infrastructure development in Africa. The lack of reliable information in this area made it difficult to evaluate the success of past interventions, prioritize current allocations, and provide benchmarks for measuring future progress, hence the need for the AICD. Africa s infrastructure sectors lag well behind those of the rest of the world, and the gap is widening. Some of the main policy-relevant findings highlighted in the book include the following: infrastructure in the region is exceptionally expensive, with tariffs being many times higher than those found elsewhere. Inadequate and expensive infrastructure is retarding growth by 2 percentage points each year. Solving the problem will cost over US$90 billion per year, which is more than twice what is being spent in Africa today. However, money alone is not the answer. Prudent policies, wise management, and sound maintenance can improve efficiency, thereby stretching the infrastructure dollar. There is the potential to recover an additional US$17 billion a year from within the existing infrastructure resource envelope simply by improving efficiency. For example, improved revenue collection and utility management could generate US$3.3 billion per year. Regional power trade could reduce annual costs by US$2 billion. And deregulating the trucking industry could reduce freight costs by one-half. So, raising more funds without also tackling inefficiencies would be like pouring water into a leaking bucket. Finally, the power sector and fragile states represent particular challenges. Even if every efficiency in every infrastructure sector could be captured, a substantial funding gap of $31 billion a year would remain. Nevertheless, the African people and economies cannot wait any longer. Now is the time to begin the transformation to sustainable development.