Daily Archives: October 8, 2009
Blogging for pay – new rules in US
There’s a new post on the Web of Language:Â Blogging for pay by Dennis Baron. I know this is not Africa specific but it may affect anyone who reviews African books or products.
The Federal Trade Commission has issued new rules requiring bloggers to disclose any compensation they may receive for product placements, endorsements, and testimonials.
According to the FTC rules, after December 1, “the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service.”
Read the rest of this post, with its shocking revelations, on the Web of Language: http://www.illinois.edu/goto/weboflanguage
And don’t forget to subscribe to the Web of Language so you can get prompt notification of new posts and comments.
Sierra Leone: The cost of maternal health
A new report from Amnesty International, Out of Reach, The Cost of Maternal Health in Sierra Leone (2009), focusses on the cost of maternal care in Sierra Leone which is above the means of many women.
This report is about maternal mortality as a human rights issue. It focuses on the urgent need to remove financial barriers to health care and in particular emergency obstetric care; the accountability of the government of Sierra Leone, given its obligations to address maternal health care and to ensure the availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of health care services, facilities and goods; discrimination and other social factors that contribute to undermining women’s right to health.
You can download a free pdf of the report HERE
Related articles
- Sierra Leone launches fistula hotline (guardian.co.uk)
Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Economic Outlook, IMF paper
Sub-Saharan Africa region — October, 2009: Sub-Saharan Africa has been hit hard by the global recession, but signs of resilience remain. While South Africa and some other middle-income countries were caught in the turbulence of international financial markets, and oil exporters saw government revenues plunge, some countries with wider commodity bases have so far escaped the worst of the crisis. Also, and reassuringly, with stronger initial fiscal and external positions than in past downturns, most countries in the region have been able to partially absorb external shocks by allowing fiscal deficits to rise and reducing interest rates. Exchange rates have generally been allowed to adjust. With many families affected by the crisis, however, progress toward the Millennium Development Goals has receded. Looking ahead, fiscal policy must balance support for the recovery with enhancing future growth prospects, debt sustainability, and poverty reduction. Published biannually in May and October.
How to get a copy
Download a free pdf copy of the paper HERE
More information
IMF Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa Expresses Cautious Optimism
Press Release No. 09/348
October 3, 2009
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) today released the October 2009 Regional Economic Outlook: Sub-Saharan Africa. Ms. Antoinette Monsio Sayeh, Director of the IMF’s African Department commented on the report’s main findings:
- The global economic crisis has hit sub-Saharan Africa hard, reducing economic growth to just 1 percent in 2009 after a period of sustained high economic growth. Oil exporters and middle income countries in the region have been particularly badly affected, and most low-income countries somewhat less so. In all SSA countries, however, the crisis will likely slow, if not reverse, progress on poverty reduction. Unemployment and under-employment, already endemic, have likely risen across the region. But playing-off the global economic recovery, we expect growth in sub-Saharan Africa to rise to 4 percent in 2010 and 5 percent in 2011.
- In many countries the prudent macroeconomic policies pursued in recent years have provided some policy space to counter the effects of the slowdown. Accordingly, most countries have been able to maintain or even raise public spending, allowing fiscal deficits to widen temporarily. Where possible, monetary policy has also played a supportive role.
- There are significant downside risks, however. Therefore, wherever possible, IMF staff recommends that fiscal and monetary policies remain supportive until the economic recovery is well-established. As the recovery gains strength, the emphasis of fiscal policy will need to shift from stabilization to medium-term considerations, including debt sustainability. In countries with binding financing constraints, the room for fiscal policy is more limited and the primary focus will need to remain on reducing macroeconomic imbalances. Financial sectors have been for the most part resilient, but prudential supervision will need to remain vigilant in the face of the impact of the economic slowdown on the quality of banks’ portfolios.
- Scaled-up financial support from the IMF has buttressed countries’ policy response. The doubling of lending limits and more flexible policies have facilitated a rapid response to countries’ needs, and new IMF commitments to sub-Saharan Africa have reached over US$3 billion so far this year, compared to some US$1.1 billion for the whole of 2008 and only US$0.1 billion in 2007. Looking ahead, it will be critical that other development partners support this effort and those of other international financial institutions.†Ms. Sayeh said.
The full text of the October 2009 Regional Economic Outlook: Sub-Saharan Africa can be found on the IMF’s website, www.imf.org.
Africa Architecture : flood surviving float house
One blog I follow is INHABITAT partly because I love architecture (and you’ll find stuff on African architecture HERE), but partly because it showcases lots of green architecture. This week has seen World Habitat Day 2009 and over the last few months we’ve been reading and responding to various floods around the world. In Africa we saw really bad flooding in Burkina Faso among other countries. One of the tragedies of the floods, apart from the number of deaths, is the desolation caused by the floods to housing and infrastructure.
This post on Inhabitat today focusses on an innovative house by the Make It Right Foundation inspired by the New Orleans hurricane disaster. The house is able to break free and float up to 12 feet on two guideposts. It also has emergency battery power for up to three days. The house is
built on a chassis of polystyrene foam and covered with glass-reinforced concrete. During hurricane flooding conditions, the home could break away from its electrical lines, gas and plumbing and rise with the flood waters. Anchored to its site by two guideposts the home could sustain 12 foot high flood waters.
Innovative float house
The house is built from sustainable materials and at first look a version of it could be helpful in Africa for areas that are prone to flooding.