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America All Set To Reduce Military Aid To African Nations

A San (Bushman) who gave us an exhibition of t...

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America is contemplating a reduction in military aid to its African allies. In fact, the proposal covers allies all over the world in a bid to reduce the military budget of the country. However, this move has come in for criticism considering the fact that American aid of more than a billion dollars to Egypt for the past thirty years also has helped get a play an important role in the peaceful settlement of the Egyptian crisis.

The Egyptian military stayed out of the crisis and retained the respect of the masses. America stayed in contact with Egyptian military and participated in behind the scene talks to bring an end to the crisis.

In such a scenario, the reduction in debt is only going to reduce the leveraging capacity of the American government. It is also going to affect the ability of the African nations to combat internal security issues and narcotics trade.

Another factor that will affect the decision is the growing influence of China in the continent. Africa is set to become the next big global market and China has been investing a lot of money in the Sub Saharan region. Its economic contribution is also helping made maintain political clout.

Considering this, it is only expected that American aid to the military will reduce. The aid to governments for development will continue. A reduction in the total contribution is only going to increase the influence of China in the continent. Unlike America, China does not allow democratic ideals to affect its operations in foreign countries. This is going to make it difficult for peaceful revolutions in other African countries to occur.

 

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Filed Under: Government, International Affiars Tagged With: , ,

How USAID is Helping Africa

Everyday, USAID works to provide assistance in dozens of African countries. The organization, which also provides assistance in Latin America, Asia and the Middle East, aims to help African countries through regional missions, each with a goal to build sustained states that can respond to the need of their people and reduce widespread poverty. USAID works with African governments and institutions to develop strategies to improve health, the environment, economic growth, agriculture and education.

USAID is involved with many different initiatives on the African continent. One such initiative is the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. The largest facet of the United States’ Global Health Initiative, PEPFAR‘s goal is to transition AIDS relief from an emergency response to a sustainable program that governments can have in place to prevent the spread of the disease. PEPFAR also aims to expand the prevention and treatment of AIDS and integrate HIV/AIDS programs into more schools and institutions in Africa to foster a better awareness of the illnesses among children and young adults.

Another USAID initiative is the Congo Basin Forest Partnership. The Congo Basin covers six countries and 700,000 square miles, making it the second largest contiguous tropical forest in the world. While the forest is largely intact, it still faces a variety of threats, including unsustainable timber and mineral extraction and land clearing for agriculture. On top of that, there is not a strong government system in place to protect the forest. The Congo Basin Forest Partnership is working to improve forest governance and to create financial mechanisms to support the forest preservation.

 

Filed Under: Government, International Affiars Tagged With: , ,

Vulture Decline in Masai Mara

The number of vultures in Africa’s most critical animal reserve have begun to decline by sixty percent recently, creating a dangerous situation for the area’s ecosystem. Researchers working in the United States based Peregrine Fund discovered the the cause may be linked to farmers using poison to deter carnivores from attacking their cattle. They were using a pesticide name furadan to taint the bodies, but which sadly also contaminated the birds. One carcass with furadan on it can kill up to 150 vultures who may stop to feed on the body.

The vulture, though seen as an ugly, gross member of the life cycle actually play a key role in the ecosystem of the area. Their ability to clean up numerous dead carcasses of animals keeps disease from spreading and reuses the food left behind in the body of the animal. When these birds are taken out of the mix, the situation left behind can be a devastating one. Recently, in South Asia, 95% of the population there was wiped out from medicine used to treat cattle. Wild dogs filled the spot, feeding on the bodies left behind. This created the opportunity for rabies to spread throughout the area.

The African branch of the Peregrine group has called for banning of the use of furadan in the area. They are critical in the Mara reserve as they ingest 70% of the dead meat that is found on the reserve. If they continue to decline, there are no other scavengers in the area that can handle that amount. Efforts are being made to mark and track vultures on the reserve in order to keep better count on the population. Discoveries of birds that have been poisoned continue. The birds travel far distances, up to 250 kilometers, to feed and once off the reserve have no protection.

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