Japan’s TICAD: Alternative Global Framework for Africa’s Development?

Since 1993, Japan has sought to aid Africa’s development through the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD). TICAD is a multilateral, donor-recipient framework within which Japan interacts with Africa on a range of development issues. It represents the Post Washington Consensus approach as an alternative donor strategy and development model, with the hope of replicating the East Asian development miracle in Africa. TICAD makes Japan an important source of development assistance to Africa and for facilitation of South-South cooperation. This article discusses TICAD’s principles, objectives and programmes. It focuses on TICAD’s achievements in terms of its impact on African development and the extent to which it can be viewed as an alternative development mechanism

Pitfalls of parliamentary democracy in Botswana

'Botswanas Mehrparteiendemokratie wurde von Experten (im In- und Ausland) oftmals als glänzendes Beispiel für eine funktionierende Demokratie in Afrika dargestellt, und doch zeigen sich eine Reihe Fallstricke, wenn man diese afrikanische Modelldemokratie genauer untersucht. Auch wenn die Autoren würdigen, was in Botswana bisher erreicht wurde, weichen sie von dem allgemeinen Trend ab, Botswanas Demokratie zu romantisieren. Sie bemühen sich, die entscheidenden Fallstricke des politischen Systems zu identifizieren, und legen dar, dass noch einiges getan werden muss, um die Qualität der Regierungsführung in Botswana zu verbessern. Angesichts der Bedeutung von guter Regierungsführung und im Lichte der neu entstehenden parlamentarischen Demokratien in Afrika und anderswo müsse Botswanas Demokratie neu eingeschätzt werden. Ein demokratisches System braucht tief verankerte, funktionierende Kontrollmechanismen, doch im Fall Botswana sind genau diese ineffizient.' (Autorenreferat)'Botswana's multiparty democracy has been portrayed by various scholars (within and beyond) as a shining example of a living democracy in Africa, yet it has a number of pitfalls that make one to interrogate this African model of a democracy. Although this article appreciates what Botswana has achieved so far, it seeks to deviate from the general trend that romanticizes Botswana's democracy. It attempts to identify some of the major pitfalls Botswana's democracy is faced with. It argues that a lot remains to be done to improve the quality of Botswana's governance. Its democracy needs to be reassessed in the light of the need for good governance and emerging parliamentary democracies in Africa and beyond. This is because democracy has more meaning when there are checks and balances in place, but in Botswana these are ineffective.' (author's abstract)

Improving the Ghanaian Safe Motherhood Programme

Prior to the Ghana Ministry of Health scaling up the country’s Safe Motherhood program, they requested support from the Population Council’s USAID-funded Frontiers in Reproductive Health program to undertake an operations research study to evaluate and compare the cost-effectiveness of two training approaches and other performance improvement interventions. The study measured and compared changes in provider knowledge and skills and the costs of implementing a three-week residential vs. self-paced learning (SPL) approach. The SPL approach costs more per trainer than the traditional residential approach, both in financial costs alone and when opportunity costs are added, however, a cost-effectiveness analysis showed that for improving provider knowledge, the SPL approach was clearly more cost-effective. At a dissemination meeting, stakeholders agreed that the SPL and residential approaches are not mutually exclusive—both approaches have their strengths and weaknesses. Training for safe motherhood should be developed based on the strengths of the two approaches

Activity-dependent compartmentalization of dendritic mitochondria morphology through local regulation of fusion-fission balance in neurons in vivo

Neuronal mitochondria play important roles beyond ATP generation, including Ca2+ uptake, and therefore have instructive roles in synaptic function and neuronal response properties. Mitochondrial morphology differs significantly between the axon and dendrites of a given neuronal subtype, but in CA1 pyramidal neurons (PNs) of the hippocampus, mitochondria within the dendritic arbor also display a remarkable degree of subcellular, layer-specific compartmentalization. In the dendrites of these neurons, mitochondria morphology ranges from highly fused and elongated in the apical tuft, to more fragmented in the apical oblique and basal dendritic compartments, and thus occupy a smaller fraction of dendritic volume than in the apical tuft. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this striking degree of subcellular compartmentalization of mitochondria morphology are unknown, precluding the assessment of its impact on neuronal function. Here, we demonstrate that this compartment-specific morphology of dendritic mitochondria requires activity-dependent, Ca2+ and Camkk2-dependent activation of AMPK and its ability to phosphorylate two direct effectors: the pro-fission Drp1 receptor Mff and the recently identified anti-fusion, Opa1-inhibiting protein, Mtfr1l. Our study uncovers a signaling pathway underlying the subcellular compartmentalization of mitochondrial morphology in dendrites of neurons in vivo through spatially precise and activity-dependent regulation of mitochondria fission/fusion balance.</p

Pharmaceutical availability across levels of care: evidence from facility surveys in Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda.

OBJECTIVE: In this study we use facility-level data from nationally representative surveys conducted in Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda to understand pharmaceutical availability within the three countries. METHODS: In 2012, we conducted a survey to capture information on pharmaceuticals and other facility indicators from over 200 facilities in each country. We analyze data on the availability of pharmaceuticals and quantify its association with various facility-level indicators. We analyze both availability of essential medicines, as defined by the various essential medicine lists (EMLs) of each respective country, and availability of all surveyed pharmaceuticals deemed important for treatment of various high-burden diseases, including those on the EMLs. RESULTS: We find that there is heterogeneity with respect to availability across the three countries with Ghana generally having better availability than Uganda and Kenya. To analyze the relationship between facility-level factors and pharmaceutical stock-out we use a binomial regression model. We find that the factors associated with stock-out vary by country, but across all countries both presence of a laboratory at the facility and presence of a vehicle at the facility are significantly associated with reduced stock-out. CONCLUSION: The results of this study highlight the poor availability of essential medicines across these three countries and suggest more needs to be done to strengthen the supply system so that stock remains uninterrupted

Pharmaceutical Availability across Levels of Care: Evidence from Facility Surveys in Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda

In this study we use facility-level data from nationally representative surveys conducted in Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda to understand pharmaceutical availability within the three countries

Women's Role in Post-Independence Zambian Politics

This article examines the participation of Zambian women in politics by comparing the Second and Third Republics. A comparison of the two political periods illustrates that democratization and political liberalization by the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) in Zambia have not radically improved the role of women in politics and may have worsened the political situation of Zambian women.Cet article etudie la participation des Zambiennes en politique en comparant la deuxieme et la troisieme Republique. La comparaison des deux periodes politiques demontre que la democratisation et la liberalisation politique par le "Movement for Multiparty Democracy" (MMD) en Zambie n'ont pas encore radicalement ameliore le role des femmes en politique et aurait peut-etre empire la situation politique des Zambiennes