The United Nations released its semi-annual World Economic Situation and Prospects Report. The prospects are not so good. From the UN News Center

The deepening credit crisis in affluent countries triggered by the continuing housing slump, the declining value of the United States dollar, persisting global imbalances and soaring oil and commodity prices pose major threats to economic growth around the world, according to a report released today by United Nations economists.

[snip]

Today's report, issued by the UN's Department of Social and Economic Affairs (DESA), predicts that world economic growth will fall steeply to 1.8 per cent this year and 2.1 per cent next year, down from 3.8 per cent in 2007.

The report says that much depends on developments in the US, which remains the prime driver of the global economy, and where a crashing housing market and finance and credit weaknesses set off the global downturn.

A worst-case scenario would see the "world economy come to a virtual standstill" if recent financial measures in the US fail to turn the economy around, and house prices continue to fall, blending with a severe tightening on credit.

Things are poised to go from worse, to very worse. From the UN News Center:

The Darfur conflict could lapse soon into another major cycle of violence and large-scale human displacement unless the parties retreat from their recent state of confrontation, the top United Nations peacekeeping official told the Security Council today.

Briefing Council members on the work of UNAMID, the hybrid UN-African Union mission in Darfur, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guehenno said there has been "a deeply disturbing" recent deterioration in the security situation.

Last weekend's attack by rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) members on Government forces on the outskirts of the capital, Khartoum, illustrated that the conflict -- which has raged on and off since 2003 -- had the potential to move beyond the borders of the Darfur region, which lies on Sudan's western flank.

This is a couple of days old, but I thought I'd flag it anyway. The World Food Program's Josette Sheeran and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes discuss relief efforts in Burma with Charlie Rose.

Robert Kaplan's NYT op-ed today is infuriating on a number of levels. Kaplan argues that the United States and a number of our European allies should consider mounting an invasion of Burma. He concedes that once such an an operation is mounted, the regime might fall so we should also be prepared to impose security afterward. Kaplan acknowledges that a Security Council resolution authorizing an invasion would likely be shot down by the recalcitrant Chinese, but proposes we send a coalition of the willing anyway.

No problem with that, right? It's not like American forces are already fighting two costly wars. As for the Europeans, I foresee two problems. One, it's a big step to think that the Europeans will circumvent the Security Council. They take international law very seriously. Second, European forces are also bogged down around the world in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chad and Lebanon. Fact is, most European (and Commonwealth) governments are under strong domestic pressure to scale back their military commitments oversees. A new "coalition of the willing" for Burma is basically a non-starter.

Also bothersome about the piece is that he believes the fantasy that we can just airdrop food and humanitarian assistance to the affected areas. This is just not so. Without intelligence on the ground (i.e. where to drop the relief) and a ready-to-go distribution mechanism, airdrops can do more harm than good. The strong will fight off the weak and people with guns will sell the relief on the black market. The aid will not go to the people who need it most.

Yes, we do have a moral obligation to help the suffering Burmese. The way to fulfill that obligation is not to froth at the mouth for toppling another odious regime, but by working diplomatic channels to force the junta to relent their obstruction of humanitarian relief efforts. This may mean taking a harder line with China over its support of the junta. It certainly does not mean we need to ready the gears of war to invade and occupy the country. That, frankly is a distraction and counterproductive to first imperative of helping those in danger.

UPDATE: Robert Farley has a couple of thoughts on the wisdom and utility of invading Burma.

From the UN News Center:

Unless more access to Myanmar is granted to allow aid to flow more quickly to victims of this month's deadly cyclone, a second catastrophe could result, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned today.

Despite some progress, efforts to help the 1.5 million people affected by Cyclone Nargis must be enhanced, a spokesperson for OCHA told reporters in Geneva.

Elizabeth Byrs said that, some 12 days after the cyclone struck, the UN and its partners have reached about 270,000 at-risk people, less than a third of those affected. Heavy rains have been forecast, further impeding aid efforts. Ms. Byrs called for an air and sea corridor to channel aid in large quantities as quickly as possible.

The official death toll reported by Myanmar's Government has reached almost 32,000, with over 34,000 others missing.

The Atlantic blogger and author of the Heads in the Sand: How The Republicans Screw Up Foreign Policy and Foreign Policy Screws Up The Democrats talks to UN Dispatch about his new book, explains why Americans need to get in touch with our liberal internationalist roots, and warns against displacing multi-lateral institutions with so-called "concerts of democracies."

UND: Your book offers a political history of the main foreign policy debates that have dominated Washington for the past decade or so. You survey the current sorry state of American foreign policy and pull no punches in laying blame at the feet of Democratic and Republican party leaders alike. In what ways are the two parties responsible for the mess we are in?

MY: Well, I think the Republican responsibility is pretty clear -- they've been running the show. Democrats, however, were deeply complicit in the biggest mistake of the era -- the invasion of Iraq -- with the bulk of the party leadership endorsing the invasion and even most party leaders who didn't sign on for Bush's folly being unwilling to renounce the big strategic concepts like preventive war and a hazily defined "war on terror" that undergirded Iraq.

UND: Following on that, you argue that one grand strategic vision that we would be wise to reconnect to is idea of liberal internationalism. For the uninitiated, can you spell out what sorts of policies underpin liberal internationalism?

MY: In the most general sense, liberal internationalism holds out an ideal of a world in which international relations is conducted through rules and institutions rather than force and coercion. Ever since the failures of Woodrow Wilson and the League of Nations, smart liberals have recognized that the internationalist ideal is hard to achieve, but in its wiser moments postwar American policy has always sought to bring us closer to that ideal. In that light, the European Union is very much an instantiation of liberal internationalism, as are other less-developed regional institutions.

But most of all, liberal internationalist policies seek to work through, strengthen, and uphold institutions of global or near-global reach -- things like the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund. In this sense, liberal internationalism is a worldview rather than a specific set of policies. But if you look at a specific area of policy like, say, non-proliferation issues, the internationalist worldview leads to the conclusion that the United States must seek to advance its non-proliferation goals through revitalizing the Non-Proliferation Treaty -- including a stepped-up commitment to meeting our own NPT obligations -- rather than through preventive war.

UND: Is this what you mean by "In With the Old?" [a chapter title in the book]. Similarly, by naming one of your chapters "After Victory" are you secretly trying to channel G. John Ickenberry?

MY: I don't think the Ikenberry-channeling is all that secret, I cite him at a couple of points in the text and, yes, the chapter title was a reference to his book -- a reference I think my publishing company didn't get or they probably would have hated it for being too obscure. I titled my last chapter "in with the old" to suggest that contrary to current fashion we don't really need dramatic "new ideas" to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

In part, that's simple humility on my part. The book, structurally, required a chapter of constructive solutions rather than criticism. But it would be silly for a 26 year-old blogger/journalist to claim to have made grand new strides in the theory of international politics. But really I think the main elements of liberal internationalist theory have been in place for a while now. There's been a group of people in this country who, from "rollback" debate in the 1950s on to the "Team B" exercise in the 1980s to today have consistently derided the internationalist approach, but they keep being proven wrong. After 9/11, they were given the opportunity to really seize the political agenda in an unprecedented way and the results have been disastrous. My argument is that we should go back to what was working before.

To cycle this back around to Ikenberry, he has an idea called "strategic restraint" that's very much in opposition to the neoconservative idea that, as Charles Krauthammer puts it, we have it within our power to reshape the world if only we engage in "unapologetic and implacable demonstrations of will." In fact, as we've seen in Iraq we have no such ability. What's more, these kind of demonstrations of will actually tend to push potential allies away from us by making the United States look frightening. To successfully influence events far beyond our borders in a sustainable way, we need to act through means that other regard as legitimate.

UND: One new idea on the table that you criticize in the book is creating a "concert of democracies" to supplant traditional multilateral institutions like the United Nations. Supporters of this idea would contend that creating such a forum would help the United States avoid crippling debates among adversaries like Russia or China. What's so wrong with that?

MY: Well, it's all a bit confusing because oftentimes proponents of the idea deny that they want to supplant the United Nations. But basically, it's true that the U.N. Security Council voting process is cumbersome and, at times, annoying. But it's the very cumbersome nature of the process that lends it it's unique legitimacy. An endeavor that can secure the kind of broad-based support necessary to win the blessing of the [Security Council] can't be dismissed by its targets as reflecting the narrow interests of any one power or any particular ideological quirk.

A league of democracies could be a useful supplement to the international arena if its activities were kept on an appropriately modest level. But some have suggested that one function of the league might be to authorize military activities outside the Article 7 process. I'm doubtful that any of the world's major non-U.S. democracies would actually go along with this idea but if they did it would set us on a path for a new cold war style conflict with China and Russia with dire consequences for the world. John McCain appears to think this is a good idea, but the concert of democracies concept has some proponents who don't want to see a new cold war and don't want to reorganize the world around Sino-American conflict but I have a hard time understanding what it is those people think they're doing.

Ivo Daalder and Paul Stares argue for Security Council action on Burma.

The United States and Britain should join with the French government and introduce a resolution in the UN Security Council demanding that the Burmese government immediately allow the entry of international relief supplies and personnel into the country and allow the UN to take charge of the relief mission. To make the case, Washington should show detailed imagery of the suffering and the extent of devastation in Burma (as it did so effectively in the cases of Bosnia and Darfur to shock a disbelieving United Nations).

The resolution should hold open the possibility of additional measures - including air drops of relief supplies - if the government did not comply at once. And the Security Council could commit to return to the matter in 24 hours, assess Burma's response, and consider additional actions.

Their broader point, though, makes sense. Taking this to the Security Council could help pressure to the junta so that they do cooperate with relief efforts. They key here is China. Should Beijing lend its support to a Security Council measure demanding the junta cooperate with UN relief agencies, we may just see the junta budge.

Apparently, in the new Iron Man blockbuster, Robert Downey, Jr. is fighting off villains to defend the United Nations. (To which I joke: checking the IMDB page, though, I don't see Cliff Kincaid or Phyllis Schlafly on the cast roster.) From the Guardian, via All America Blog.

It's nothing new that Iron Man, the latest in Marvel's pop-icon pantheon to hit the big screen, is coming to the rescue of the United Nations. In a specially customised comic book, Ol Shellhead and his costumed cohorts will battle that most terrible of supervillains, a tarnished public image, by demonstrating the UN's positive, proactive roles. Will it work? It's debatable: over the years these earnest, message-laden stories have not always been too effective as weapons of mass persuasion.

[snip]

As for the UN, superheroes have come to its rescue before. In November 1967, The Justice League Of America featured the UN symbol on the cover of issue 57, in a very right-on plea for racial harmony called "Man, The Name is - Brother!" The UN even had their very own team of superheroes devised by Wally Wood for Tower Comics in the 60s. Called the THUNDER Agents (The Higher United Nations Defence Enforcement Reserves), they were led by Dynamo, dressed in the UN's blue and white colours. Rather than relying on Marvel's characters, the UN could have resurrected this team, but THUNDER Agents vanished after only 20 issues and only aging comic collectors remember them now.

One of the original co-authors of the doctrine of the Responsibility to Protect weighs in on the debate over whether or not the situation in Myanmar warrants the invocation of R2P. Gareth Evans:

My own initial concern, and it remains a serious one, with Kouchner's invocation of the "responsibility to protect" was that, while wholly understandable as a political rallying cry - and God knows the world needs them in these situations - it had the potential to dramatically undercut international support for another great cause, to which he among others is also passionately committed, that of ending mass atrocity crimes once and for all.

The point about "the responsibility to protect" as it was originally conceived, and eventually embraced at the world summit - as I well know, as one of the original architects of the doctrine, having co-chaired the international commission that gave birth to it - is that it is not about human security generally, or protecting people from the impact of natural disasters, or the ravages of HIV-Aids or anything of that kind.

Rather, "R2P" is about protecting vulnerable populations from "genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity" in ways that we have all too miserably often failed to do in the past...But here's the rub. If what the generals are now doing, in effectively denying relief to hundreds of thousands of people at real and immediate risk of death, can itself be characterised as a crime against humanity, then the responsibility to protect principle does indeed kick in. The Canadian-sponsored commission report that initiated the R2P concept in fact anticipated just this situation, in identifying one possible case for the application of military force as "overwhelming natural or environmental catastrophes, where the state concerned is either unwilling or unable to cope, or call for assistance, and significant loss of life is occurring or threatened".

In this segment of UN Plaza, Matthew Lee and I discuss the UN's response to the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Burma.

Spencer Ackerman says it well, "The Burmese Junta does what juntas everywhere do...using the catastrophe that killed perhaps as many as 100,000 people -- a death toll too large to be comprehensible -- as a shakedown opportunity." Tragic, but true. Consider this:

"Burma's ruling military junta today impounded United Nations food shipments bound for the storm-ravaged Irrawaddy Delta, and U.N. officials said they would suspend further aid to the country in response.

Two planes carrying about 76,000 pounds of high-energy biscuits landed in Rangoon today, but were forced to offload into a government-controlled warehouse, said Paul Risley, a spokesman for the U.N.'s World Food Program in Bangkok. Risley said UN officials were told that only Burma's minister for social welfare could release the aid for distribution.

Imagine that a crowded building is on fire, that people are dying inside, and that a guy with a gun is standing outside the door to prevent firefighters from entering. Now multiply that by a couple million times or so and you can get a feel for what is happening in Burma right now.

The junta has never had a reputation for caring much about its own citizens, but the fact that they are erecting all sorts of bureaucratic hurdles to prevent life saving relief from reaching their own citizens is downright criminal. Given this behavior, I wonder if the Security Council should invoke the "Responsibility to Protect" and authorize the violation of Myanmar's sovereignty by other member states? (This is the principal, agreed upon by UN member states in 2005, that the international community is permitted to violate the sovereignty of a country when that country is unwilling or unable to prevent mass atrocities from being visited upon its own citizens.)

It seems that at least one P-5 member, France , thinks so. The proposal was aired by Bernard Kouchner, French foreign minister and founder of Doctors Without Borders, but quickly shot down by China and Russia. The UN's Top Humanitarian Official, John Holmes, also derided the proposal, saying "I'm not sure that invading Myanmar would be a very sensible option at this particular moment. I'm not sure it would be helpful to the people we're actually trying to help."

True, the immediate goal is to get relief to Burmese citizens as fast as possible. Right now, this means working with the military junta. But if this kind of obstructionism on the part of the Burmese government is not overcome soon, invoking Responsibility to Protect should not be too far outside the realm of possibility.

This Happens:

[World Food Program] now has more than 800 metric tonnes of food stocks available in its warehouses in Yangon, and will deliver these food resources to all areas in need, including the Ayeryawaddy Division, the largest and hardest hit of the five major divisions affected by the cyclone. WFP's $500,000 initial emergency operation will fund the airlifts of food supplies and emergency staff deployments.

The UN refugee agency, for its part, is emptying its emergency shelter material stockpiles in neighbouring Thailand of plastic sheeting and tents for some 10,000 people for urgent dispatch to Yangon. The supplies would be distributed through a Disaster Management Committee that had been established by the Myanmar Government.

Jennifer Pagonis, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told journalists in Geneva that the agency's office in Myanmar yesterday purchased $50,000 worth of urgently needed basic supplies in Yangon for distribution, including emergency tarpaulins, plastic sheeting and canned food.

In addition, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has dispatched teams to make initial assessments in Yangon, Pathein and Bago, and is positioning relief supplies. The agency says it will work with partners and the Government to provide access to clean water, safe sanitation and improved hygiene, and will seek to protect children and help them return to school as soon as possible.

UNICEF's Myanmar field staff have started delivering urgently-need supplies to the Irrawaddy delta, and has provided medicines, first-aid kits and oral rehydration tablets to Laputta township, one of the most severely impacted areas.

It is only slight exaggeration to say that visitors to the United Nations HQ in New York can sometimes see asbestos dripping from the walls. The building is old and decrepit. City officials would have condemned the building long ago if not for the fact that it falls under international jurisdiction. The sad fact is UN HQ, an international symbol and New York landmark, has not undergone a major renovation in fifty years. That is, until now. From the UN News Center:

Shovels in hand and donning blue hard hats, members of the United Nations community, led by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, today broke ground for the construction of temporary conference venue at the world body's New York Headquarters, marking the beginning of a five-year, $1.9 billion overhaul of the landmark complex.

"Today, we turn the soil which the United Nations stands on to mark the rebirth, or renovation, of our Headquarters," Mr. Ban told representatives of Member States, the Host Country, staff and the private sector gathered for the groundbreaking ceremony on the North Lawn.

The construction of the temporary conference building is the first phase of the project, known as the Capital Master Plan (CMP), which aims to make the five-decade old Secretariat and adjacent buildings -- plagued by leaks, safety violations and outdated systems -- safer, more efficient, greener and more modern.

From the UN News Center:

The United Nations has offered its assistance to Myanmar authorities in responding to the deadly cyclone which struck the South-East Asian nation on Friday, leaving death and widespread devastation in its wake. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Cyclone Nargis made landfall in the Irrawaddy delta region, some 250 kilometres southwest of Yangon around 4 pm on 2 May. With winds of over 190 kilometres per hour, the storm hit Yangon later that same night, tearing down tears and power lines and causing widespread flooding. Thousands have reportedly been killed.

File this under dog bites man: conservative critics are falsely accusing Barak Obama of supporting a non-existent UN plan to impose a global tax on American citizens.

Here's the story. A number of right wing blogs are suddenly re-circulating months old columns by anti-UN propogandists Phyllis Schlafly and Cliff Kincaid which excoriate Barak Obama for introducing the Global Poverty Act. Kincaid Calls it "Obama's Global Tax Plan" and Schlafly says its "Obama's Sovereignty Giveaway Plan."

So which is it? Neither, of course. In December 2007, Obama sponsored the thoroughly bi-partisan Global Poverty Act, which does not impose a global tax on Americans. It would, however, "require the President to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to further the United States foreign policy objective of promoting the reduction of global poverty, the elimination of extreme global poverty, and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal of reducing by one-half the proportion of people, between 1990 and 2015, who live on less than $1 per day."

The UN-bashing horde quickly seized on the bill's reference to the Millennium Development Goals to advance one of their favorite canards: that the organization will impose a tax on American citizens. Says Schlafly,

"By adopting the Millennium Goals in 2000, the U.N. escalated its demands to impose international taxes. Specifically, the Millennium called for a "currency transfer tax," a "tax on the rental value of land and natural resources," a "royalty on worldwide fossil energy projection -- oil, natural gas, coal," "fees for the commercial use of the oceans, fees for airplane use of the skies, fees for use of the electromagnetic spectrum, fees on foreign exchange transactions, and a tax on the carbon content of fuels." to the UN to tax American citizens.

No, it doesn't. The Senate bill states specifically that by "Millennium Development Goals" it is referring to the goals set out in this document, a General Assembly Resolution adopted in September 2000. No where does the document say anything about a currency tax, royalties on fossil fuels, or airplane fees. No where. Search for yourself. She's just making this up to tarnish the United Nations and her domestic political rivals.

Why bloggers are deciding to re-circulate this dreck right now, I have no clue.

UPDATE: Via Kathy G, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri is planning to award Phyllis Schlafly with an honorary doctorate. Oy.

Our friends at Global Voices Online asked us to pass along the following announcement:

Rising Voices Seeks Micro-Grant Proposals for Health-Related New Media Outreach

Rising Voices, the outreach arm of Global Voices, in collaboration with the Open Society Institute Public Health Program's Health Media Initiative, is now accepting project proposals for the third round of microgrant funding of up to $5,000 for new media outreach projects focused especially on public health issues involving marginalized populations.

More info after the jump.

Ideal applicants are dynamic NGOs or individuals who:

* Represent the vital voices of communities affected by stigmatized health issues whose stories, viewpoints, and experiences are often marginalized, unheard, or misrepresented in mainstream media. These communities include people living with HIV and AIDS and/or tuberculosis, people with mental illnesses or intellectual disabilities, injecting drug users, sex workers, LGBTI individuals, people in need of palliative care services, and Roma facing discrimination in healthcare settings.
* Are enthusiastic about using new, interactive modes of communication to build relationships and establish dialogue on the important advocacy issues of their community.
* Envision and highly prioritize media and communication strategies to achieve the advocacy goals of their organization.

Pre-requisite for the competition:

* Organizations must have their own website or participate in a network website.

Rising Voices and OSI aim to bring new voices from new communities and speaking new languages to the conversational web, by providing resources and funding to local groups reaching out to underrepresented communities. Examples of potential projects include:

* Working with a tuberculosis or HIV clinic or local drop-in center with the offer of training health workers, local harm reduction or sex worker outreach workers, patients, and their families to blog and upload video, in order to document their work, their experiences, and their community.
* Use blogs, podcasts, and online video to help give voice and representation to LGBTI communities and advocate for their rights.
* Distribute mp3 recorders to a local NGO working on palliative care issues, and help them produce monthly audio testimonials and/or interviews featuring stories and experiences of participants, for uploading to the NGO's website.
* Organizing a regular workshop on blogging and photography at a legal aid center representing the rights of people living with mental disabilities. Part of the budget could be used to purchase affordable digital video cameras and internet café costs, so that participants can describe their challenges and life experiences to a global audience.
* Purchasing an affordable digital video camera and teaching a group of local Roma community outreach workers how to produce an ongoing video-blog documentary about their work, which could then be posted to the organization's website and linked to other networks' websites.

Rising Voices outreach grants will range from $1,000 to $5,000. Special consideration will be given to proposals from Sub-Saharan Africa and the Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Caucusus. Please be as thoughtful, specific, and realistic as possible when drafting your budgets.

Successful projects will be prominently featured on Global Voices.

Completed applications will be accepted no later than Sunday, June 1st in either English or Russian. Please submit your application on the Rising Voices apply page. Russian-language proposals should be submitted here. All applicants will receive a confirmation email by June 3. Grantees will be announced on June 28 at the Global Voices Citizen Media Summit in Budapest, Hungary.

***

The OSI Public Health Program's Health Media Initiative aims to increase public awareness of health issues, especially stigmatized health issues involving marginalized populations. The initiative focuses on supporting health NGOs to develop their relationships with journalists across all media platforms so they may communicate health and human rights issues effectively with the public. Where the media environment is especially hostile, OSI also supports "community journalism" initiatives to encourage NGOs to use digital technology to communicate their stories and issues to each other and to the world at large. The initiative also seeks to build the capacity of media professionals to report responsibly on public health issues.

Rising Voices aims to help bring new voices from new communities and speaking new languages to the conversational web, by providing resources and funding to local groups reaching out to underrepresented communities.

The Vodafone Foundation and the United Nations Foundation released a new report on innovative uses of mobile technology by NGOs working to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals. The report identifies emerging trends in "mobile activism" through 11 case studies, and highlights the results of a global survey of NGO usage of mobile technology.

Here's a taste of some of the findings from three of the case studies:

Cell-Life, a non-governmental organization based in Cape Town, South Africa, created its "Aftercare" program to work with the public health system and its health workers to provide home-based care for HIV/AIDS patients receiving Anti-Retroviral Treatments. Each Aftercare worker is assigned to monitor 15 to 20 patients. The worker visits the patient in his or her home, and in a one on one session discusses the patient's current treatment. Using their mobile phones for data capture, Aftercare workers record information about patient medical status, drug adherence, and other factors that may affect a patient's ART therapy. Aftercare workers then relay this information via text message to a central Cell-Life database. The data sent via text message reaches the Cell-Life server, where a care manager uses a web-based system to access and monitor the incoming patient information. The manager can also respond to Aftercare workers' questions and provide supplemental information to improve patient care. The information collected not only facilitates individual patient care, but is also used to build a database of information on the severity and prevalence of the South African AIDS epidemic in these regions.

More examples like this after the jump.

EpiSurveyor
In 2002, Dr. Joel Selanikio teamed up with computer scientist Rose Donna to form the DataDyne Group, a non-profit dedicated to increasing access to public health data through mobile software solutions. Inspired by an earlier Centers for Disease Control product called Epi Info, Selanikio created EpiSurveyor, a free, open source mobile data collection software tool. EpiSurveyor offers health data collection forms that can be downloaded at no cost and modified by anyone with basic computer skills.

Through the pilot, thirty provincial health supervisors in Zambia and Kenya were trained in how to use EpiSurveyor on Palm Zire handheld computers. The health officers then used EpiSurveyor to collect management data about public health clinics--such as medical supply quantities and levels of staff training. In both countries, officers went beyond the purpose of the pilot to gather additional health data as new needs arose. In Zambia, for example, the supplied PDAs and EpiSurveyor software were used by health officers to conduct a post-measles vaccination campaign coverage survey--the very first time that such a survey had been independently conducted by in-country staff using PDAs.

HOW IT WORKS: EpiSurveyor incorporates a Windows- based "Designer" forms creation application, and a Java-based engine that can run on personal digital assistants (PDAs), smart phones, and soon, common mobile phones. Users start by downloading the software from the DataDyne.org website (www.datadyne.org). Then, using a desktop or laptop computer, they enter the health survey questions into the Designer program. The resulting form can then be published to a mobile device. For data that is collected via PDA or smart phone, once data is collected from the field the mobile device is synchronized with the computer. Data from multiple handsets can then be combined into a single data table for analysis.

And here in the United States
SexInfo
It was while standing in front of the Mission High School near her home in San Francisco, California that Deborah Levine, executive director of internet Sexuality Information Services (ISIS-Inc.), a nonprofit she founded that develops "high-tech solutions for sexual health education," conceived of a potential solution to a pressing public health problem.

Levine had recently been approached by the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) to develop a website to address rising rates of sexually transmitted diseases among at-risk youth. In 2005, rates of gonorrhea among African-American youth, ages 18 to 25, had gone up over 100 percent, with African-American women being infected by the disease at 12 times the rate of American women of Caucasian descent. With 85 percent of the city's youth owning a mobile phone, a text-based approach simply made sense.

ISIS hired HipCricket, Inc., a mobile marketing firm in Australia, to program a service it developed known as SexInfo. Next came the task of working with mobile operators to provide mobile phone subscribers with access to the service. HipCricket offered to let ISIS-Inc use its five-digit 'short code' during the project's
start-up phase. Levine was then able to work through an aggregator in the United States to obtain the short code (61827) now being used to access SexInfo.

During the first 25 weeks of the project (April–October 2006), 4,500 individuals accessed the service, with 2,500 taking the steps to retrieve content and referrals. The top three messages accessed were: "What 2 do if ur condom broke,: "2 find out about STDs" and "if u think ur pregnant."

Eight more case studies are examined in the report. And be sure to check out our interview with report co-author Katrin Verclas.

It seems I was being a bit sanguine yesterday when I wrote, "The Council will likely recommend the Secretary General appoint a Special Representative to monitor the harassment of Mugabe's political opponents and, eventually, help mediate a transition of power." In fact, the Council was divided over what to do about the situation in Zimbabwe, giving Mugabe's a brief diplomatic victory. South Africa banded with China and Russia to block a American and British proposals to send a special representative.

Still, as I pointed out at the time, the fact that the opposition was invited to address the Security Council while South Africa was president of the Council is a step forward. Further, the official MDC spin on the meeting does not seem to far off. As an MDC official told Reuters, "the mere fact that the matter was brought forward to the UN Security Council is testimony to the fact that there is a crisis which cannot and should not escape the international community's eye and attention." A baby step, perhaps, but we are at least moving in the right direction.

The Secretary General urged donors to fund a UN appeal as first step in tackling global food crisis. From the UN News Center:

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on donors to urgently provide the $755 million in emergency funds needed for the United Nations to feed millions of hungry people worldwide, as the first of a series of measures to tackle the global food crisis.

"The [27 heads of UN Agencies] call upon the international community and, in particular, developed countries to urgently and fully fund the emergency requirement of $755 million for the World Food Programme and honour outstanding pledges," said Mr. Ban, standing alongside WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran and other leaders of UN bodies on the frontline in dealing with food security.

Did Mugabe alienate his oldest international ally? Today, for the first time in a very long while, the situation in Zimbabwe is set to be discussed in the Security Council. The opposition MDC, which won last month's elections, will address the council to air their grievances. The Council will likely recommend the Secretary General appoint a Special Representative to monitor the harassment of Mugabe's political opponents and, eventually, help mediate a transition of power. Why is this so significant? South Africa, traditionally Mugabe's strongest international supporter, is presiding over the Security Council this month. As Council president, South Africa has a leading role in setting the schedule of the Council--and in the past has strongly resisted bringing the situation in Zimbabwe before the Council.

According to South Africa based-writer Geoff Hill, South Africa's shifting attitude on Mugabe can be partly explained by the fact that SA President Thabo Mbeki is a lame duck and that incoming President Jacob Zuma is calling the shots. More broadly, though, there seems to be a recognition that Mugabe's time is up. As Hill notes, African states recognize that Mugabe has been mortally wounded and are treating MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai as if he is the next president of Zimbabwe -- hence the MDC's invitation to address the Council today.

In this segment, Matthew Lee speculates that speculators have had a hand in the rapid increase in food prices. Mathew explains:

Over at the Huffington Post, the University if Chicago health care economist Harold Pollack gets into the spirit of World Malaria Day.

One of the few brights spots these days is that millions of Americans finally realize the importance of global health. Today is world Malaria Day. If you're reading this, you probably already know that this is a huge killer, particularly of kids in sub-Saharan Africa. I was hoping to party with Brad and Angelina to celebrate the occasion. That probably won't happen since my daughter has soccer.

Instead, to honor the occasion I am buying bednets for some African kids. You should too. These cost maybe $7 each, and are among the most gloriously cost-effective things you can ever do to save lives and improve health. The charity link is [here.]

This is a great organization.

Oh, buy buy a mosquito net in honor of your actual or hoped-for significant other. The UN Foundation will send him/her a cool email. Your love object wil receive this missive, and believe you are way cooler than you actually are.

As my wife will attest, it works for me. You can see my picture. So this must be working.

Just a few weeks ago, a peace deal between the brutal Lords Resistance Army and the government of Uganda was as close as ever to being sealed. The peace process failed, though, when LRA leader Joseph Kony refused to attend the signing ceremony. Now, according to the invaluable Institute for War and Peace Reporting, the Lords Resistance Army is once again gearing up for another fight.

IWPR reports that over the last few weeks, the Lord's Resistance Army has kidnapped hundreds of children in the Central African Republic and Southern Sudan and transported them to military training facilities in lawless eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The LRA, is it seems, is once again committed to war, not peace. To make matters worse, the article suggests (and I've heard experts speculate as well) that the government of Sudan is backing the LRA in an effort to destabilize Southern Sudan, which holds a referendum on independence in 2009.

In an interview with The East African Enough analyst Julia Spiegel -- who just spent a month observing the peace talks in the small border town of Ri-Kwangba -- explains what can be done to reign in Kony. The interview is not available online, but a portion is extracted after the jump.

What do you think should be done to Kony in order to salvage the talks?

First, a concerted effort must be made by the Ugandan government and key international players to press Kony to make a choice about his future. He can either sign the peace deal and begin assembling his LRA forces in Ri-Kwangba; agree to a third country asylum arrangement representing exile or banishment
from northern Uganda as a consequence for his crimes, thus removing himself from the battlefield and giving peace a real chance; or walk away from the agreement and formalize his status as a regional warlord, which will trigger a regional manhunt that will leave him on the run for the rest of his life.

But ultimately, he must feel a cost for his failure to meet deadlines and uphold agreements; he has continually rejected carrots and has faced no real sticks. As a result, Kony has been able to gain time, money and medicine out of these peace efforts without making any real commitments or deliverables. Now Kony must be forced to make a choice. But this requires an effective communication channel to be made between the government, the international community and Kony himself. If he rejects these negotiation attempts in the next few months, then it will be clear that all peaceful options for resolving this conflict will have been exhausted, and thus the international community should, with regional states and UN peacekeeping missions in neighboring countries, rapidly develop a containment and apprehension strategy focused on capturing Kony and the other LRA leader's indicted by the International Criminal Court.

(Image viaDismal World)

The head of the United Nations relief agency in Gaza warned that food aid to 650,000 people and sewage and garbage collection will have to be suspended today if the Israeli fuel blockade is not lifted. A Libyan diplomat in the Security Council did not help matters when he compared Gaza to a Nazi death camp, prompting the walkout of the entire western contingent. In typical diplomatic understatement, a British official said afterwards, "A number of Council members were dismayed by the approach taken by Libya and do not believe that such language helps advance the peace process."

Meanwhile, prior to the walkout, Assistant Secretary General Angela Kane had this to say to the Security Council. From the BBC

"[The UN relief agency] Unrwa's fuel supplies will be exhausted on 24 April, and in an effort to save fuel, Unrwa has prioritised food distribution, solid waste removal, and sewage projects...

"Unless petrol is allowed in, Unrwa will discontinue its food assistance to 650,000 refugees, as well as its garbage collection services, which benefit half a million Gazans,"

"Another 500,000 Gazans are already living in 12 municipalities without any solid waste management capacity - largely due to the lack of fuel."

Hospitals and clinics will also run out of fuel within a week, she warned.

Public transport has been severely curtailed by the shortage of vehicle fuel, meaning that children cannot get to school and adults to work. Some car owners have converted their engines to run on cooking oil.

Interpreter star and UN Goodwill Ambassador Nicole Kidman is back at the United Nations today to promote the UN's "say no to violence against women" campaign. Most coverage of this visit, though, seems to focus on the fact that Kidman is six months pregnant--and shockingly is showing a "baby bump." Amazing how that works.

For a more thorough account of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)'s ongoing campaign to combat violence against the women, check out the website. You can even sign the petition.