8/5/11

Steps Toward an Environmental Scan of Rotary’s Opportunities in Africa

1. Demographics

Over the next 30 years, almost 98 per cent of global population growth is projected to take place in developing countries.  Africa’s high rate of population growth also masks variations within the continent. Rates of growth fluctuate from 2.0 and 1.6 per cent in Northern and Southern Africa to 2.5 and 2.7 per cent in Western and Middle Africa, while the average for the continent is about 2.4 per cent. And while higher rates of population growth are to be found in the Comoros, the Gambia, Guinea, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Mozambique and Western Sahara, fertility is highest in Niger, Malawi, Uganda and Angola, where women have, on average, about 7 children. Africa’s 1999 population of 767 million people is projected to nearly double by 2035. World Bank data on population—by country—is now available at :  http://www.google.com/publicdata?ds=wb-wdi

1. Health Issues

Today, women in most African countries want families smaller than those of their mothers and the use of family planning is increasing, together with access to services. However, burdened by more than a decade of declining per capita food production and stagnating per capita incomes, providing and expanding the reach of health care services is a daunting proposition for the governments of sub-Saharan African countries, one made even more difficult by high infection rates for HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. More than 160,000 African women die from pregnancy-related causes each year. 

Waiving Health Fees for Women and Children. By waiving the requirement for payments — which sometimes amount to hundreds of dollars and clearly represent the main barrier to using health facilities — the Sierra Leone  government appears to have sharply cut into mortality rates for pregnant women and deaths from malaria for small children. The results in Sierra Leone have been “nothing short of spectacular,” said Robert Yates, a senior health economist in Britain’s Department for International Development, which is paying for almost 40 percent of the $35 million program, with most of the rest coming from donors like the World Bank. Since waiving the fees, Sierra Leone has seen a 214 percent increase in the number of children under 5 getting care at health facilities, a 61 percent decrease in mortality rates in difficult pregnancy cases at health clinics, and an 85 percent drop in the malaria fatality rate for children treated in hospitals.

In recent years, Zambia, Burundi, Niger, Liberia, Kenya, Senegal, Lesotho, Sudan and Ghana have gone to some form of free care, particularly for pregnant women and young children, Mr. Yates noted two years ago in the health journal The Lancet. Rwanda has been offering nominal rates for health insurance for over a decade, and after fees were dropped in Burundi in 2006, average monthly births in health facilities rose by 61 percent and Caesarean sections went up by 80 percent, he found. Adam Nossiter, The New York Times, 7/17/2011

But adequate staffing and supplies to meet this increased demand are a continuing challenge in many areas.  Further, for every dollar of foreign aid received, the typical developing country cuts back health funding by 43 cents to address other priorities.  Eighty percent of the world’s maternal deaths occur in 21 countries—15 of which are in sub-Saharan Africa.  U of Washington Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, 2010. The risk of dying in pregnancy/delivery in sub-Saharan Africa is one in 13 compared to one in 4,100 in industrialized nations.  Unicef 2001.

Health-Care Workers.  Sub-Saharan Africa has more than 10 percent of the world’s population, but just three percent of the health-care workers. (Josh Ruxin, New York Times, 7/27/11.)  Part of the issue is training practitioners, and another is the ‘brain drain’.  For example, 60% of the doctors trained in Ghana in the 80s have left the country.  There are more Ethiopian doctors practicing in Washington, D.C. than in Ethiopia.  It would take $2.6B annually in Africa to meet the cost of health care workers by 2015 (Richard Scheffler et al 2011).

Giving midwives simple training through a NIH/Gates Foundation $20,244 grant saved 97 infants in Zambia at a cost of $208 per infant, and it cut deaths from 11.5 per 1000 to 6.8.  Christine Welter, NYT, 5/9/11. In other instances, village midwives were delivering babies in unsanitary conditions without even basic technology.  Rather than bypassing them, a project pays them to take pregnant mothers to community health clinics with sanitary conditions and appropriate equipment. It’s a win-win.

The Impact of AIDS. The overall growth of the global aids epidemic appears to have stabilized. The annual number of new HIV infections has been steadily declining since the late 1990s and there are fewer aids-related deaths due to the significant scale up of antiretroviral therapy over the past few years. Although the number of new infections has been falling, levels of new infections overall are still high, and with significant reductions in mortality the number of people living with HIV worldwide has increased.

New HIV infections are declining.  In 2009, there were an estimated 2.6 million people who became newly infected with HIV. This is nearly one fifth (19%) fewer than the 3.1 million people newly infected in 1999, and more than one fifth (21%) fewer than the estimated 3.2 million in 1997, the year in which annual new infections peaked. In 33 countries, the HIV incidence has fallen by more than 25% between 2001

and 2009; 22 of these countries are in sub-Saharan Africa. In sub-Saharan Africa, where the majority of new HIV infections continue to occur, an estimated 1.8 million people became infected in 2009; considerably lower than the estimated 2.2 million people in sub-Saharan Africa newly infected with HIV in 2001. This trend reflects a combination of factors, including the impact of HIV prevention efforts and the natural course of HIV epidemics.

Five countries—Botswana, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe—showed a significant decline in HIV prevalence among young women or men in national surveys. In eight countries with significant declines in HIV prevalence, the sexual behaviour of either men or women also changed significantly.

New infections among children decreasing. As access to services for preventing the mother-to-child transmission of HIV has increased, the total number of children being born with HIV has decreased. An estimated 370,000 children were newly infected with HIV in 2009 (a drop of 24% from five years earlier).

AIDS-related deaths are decreasing. The number of annual AIDS-related deaths worldwide is steadily decreasing from the peak of 2.1 million in 2004 to an estimated 1.8 million in 2009. The decline reflects the increased availability of antiretroviral therapy, as well as care and support, to people living with HIV, particularly in middle- and low-income countries; it is also a result of decreasing incidence starting in the late 1990s.  The effects of antiretroviral therapy are especially evident in sub-Saharan Africa, where an estimated 320 000 (or 20%) fewer people died of AIDS-related causes in 2009 than in 2004, when antiretroviral therapy began to be dramatically expanded. AIDS-related mortality began to decline in sub-Saharan Africa  in 2005. Globally, deaths among children younger than 15 years of age are also declining. The estimated 260,000 children who died from AIDS-related

illnesses in 2009 were 19% fewer than the estimated 320,000 who died in 2004. This trend reflects the steady expansion of services to prevent transmission of HIV to infants and an increase (albeit slow) in access.  –UNAIDS Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic 2010.

Rotarian For Fighting AIDS.  Rotarians from 102 Rotary Clubs in the countries of Kenya and Uganda got together on April 30th, the Rotary-declared Rotarians At Work Day and did something that has never been done before in the history of Rotary – they held a nationwide HIV Testing & Counseling Day at 125 sites throughout the two countries that included many other free health services for the 25,000 citizens that came to this event! They called it the Rotary Family Health Day!  Twenty-five thousand people in the two countries were provided with free HTC services in addition to multiple other free health care services. Out of the 25,000 people tested, 741 of them tested positive and were referred on to linked networks of care. This one to three day pilot event was the vision of District Governor Stephen Mwanje, District 9200 in East Africa. He engaged the support and partnership of RFFA (Rotarians For Fighting AIDS). There were 1,000 Rotarians that volunteered at the 125 sites. In addition, there were approximately 200 Rotaractors (University students) and Rotary Community Corp leaders that volunteered.

FHI (Family Health International) provided seven months of technical consulting services prior to the event, including proposals and budget evaluations.  In Kenya, they provided pro bono testing and counseling throughout the South Rift Valley (84 counselors were used to do door to door testing.)

Child Mortality. About 29,000 children under the age of five – 21 each minute – die every day, mainly from preventable causes. More than 70 per cent of almost 11 million child deaths every year are attributable to six causes: diarrhea, malaria, neonatal infection, pneumonia, preterm delivery, or lack of oxygen at birth. These deaths occur mainly in the developing world. An Ethiopian child is 30 times more likely to die by his or her fifth birthday than a child in Western Europe. Among deaths in children, sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rates. Two-thirds of deaths occur in just 10 countries. And the majority are preventable. Some of the deaths occur from illnesses like measles, malaria or tetanus. Others result indirectly from marginalization, conflict and HIV/AIDS. Malnutrition and the lack of safe water and sanitation contribute to half of all these children’s deaths. But disease isn’t inevitable, nor do children with these diseases need to die. Research and experience show that six million of the almost 11 million children who die each year could be saved by low-tech, evidence-based, cost-effective measures such as vaccines, antibiotics, micronutrient supplementation, insecticide-treated bed nets and improved family care and breastfeeding practices. These measures are the basis for UNICEF’s actions to help children survive, carried through with hundreds of allies and via offices in the field – and well-travelled staff – all over the world. –unicef 2011

1. The Environment and Water

At any level of development, human impact on the environment is a function of population size, per capita consumption and the environmental damage caused by the technology used to produce what is consumed. People in developed countries have the greatest impact on the global environment. The 20 per cent of the world’s people living in the highest income countries are responsible for 86 per cent of total private consumption compared with the poorest 20 per cent, who account for a mere 1.3 per cent. The richest fifth account for 53 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions, the poorest fifth, 3 per cent. A child born in the industrial world adds more to consumption and pollution levels in one lifetime than do 30-50 children born in developing countries. As living standards rise in developing countries, the environmental consequences of population growth will be amplified with ever-increasing numbers of people aspiring, justifiably, to “live better.” Rather than assign blame in the debate over environmental challenges, both current and new consumers need to realize and address the consequences of their levels of consumption.

Some trends are already obvious, however, particularly with regard to the three “renewable” resources on which human life depends: land, water and air. Each year, an estimated 5 to 7 million hectares of agricultural lands are lost to accelerating land degradation and rapid urbanization. A sixth of the world’s land area — nearly 2 billion hectares — is now degraded as a result of overgrazing and poor farming practices. Another 16 to 20 million hectares of tropical forests and woodlands are lost each year.

Water is a finite resource. There is no more water on earth now than there was 2,000 years ago when the population was less than 3 per cent of its current size. During this century, while world population has tripled, water withdrawals have increased by over six times. Today, with water scarcity defined as less than 1,000 cubic metres per person per year, 458 million people in 31 countries face water shortages. By 2025, close to 3 billion people in 48 countries will be affected by critical water shortages for all or part of the year.

The pollution and increasing scarcity of renewable fresh water supplies also threaten human health and welfare. An estimated 1.1 billion people were without access to clean drinking water in 1994; 2.8 billion people lacked access to sanitation services. Waterborne diseases infect some 250 million people each year, about 10 million of whom die. The poor are most exposed to fumes and polluted rivers and least able to protect themselves. Of the estimated 2.7 million deaths each year from air pollution, 2.2 million are from indoor pollution and 80 per cent of the victims are rural poor in developing countries.

The gradual slowing of population growth already under way is part of the answer to this environmental dilemma. With slower growth rates, countries will have more time to prepare for the still inevitable, if smaller, population increases to come – time to build schools, dig sewers and lay water pipes.

For those eking out a living, environmentally sound practices are a luxury, not a choice. Developed countries need to develop technologies which minimize damage to natural systems and make these new technologies more widely available to developing countries. The ultimate goal should be sustainability in all areas of economic activity, including agriculture, industry, forestry, fisheries, transportation and tourism.

Education, basic health care – including family planning and reproductive health care — and access to land, credit and employment are all important to poverty alleviation and, therefore, crucial to long-term economic and environmental sustainability. World Bank,2011

“Sustainable development” connotes the processes by which people satisfy their needs and improve their quality of life in the present while safeguarding the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. For most people, a better quality of life means a higher standard of living, usually measured in terms of income level and uses of resources and technology. Inherent in the concept of sustainable development is the principle of equity: in order to achieve economic and environmental goals, social goals – such as universal access to education, health care and economic opportunity – must also be achieved.

Climate Change.  In six years’ time, the number of people affected by climate-related crises is projected to rise by 54 per cent to 375 million people, threatening to overwhelm the humanitarian aid system. In 2010 we released our report ‘The Right to Survive’ explaining how the world needs to re-engineer the way it responds to, prepares for and prevents disasters. A significant part of our work is responding to natural disasters that can be linked to climate change. The report argues that the world must be better prepared to cope with helping more vulnerable people facing worsening disasters.  (OxFam Annual Report 2010)

1. Hunger, Food Production, and Food Security

For the first time since the 1980s, the UN has declared a famine in Africa. An exceptionally severe drought is the main cause. More than 10m people are directly affected. The epi-centre is in Somalia and Ethiopia—as aid agencies have made abundantly clear in their funding appeals—but the situation in neighbouring Eritrea is almost as desperate and politically much more complicated.  THE UN has declared that two regions of Somalia are now in a state of famine. 11.5m people currently need humanitarian assistance across east Africa, and many more could join them. The failure of rains, in what is thought to be the driest year for 60 years in certain areas, has caused the immediate crisis. But Somalia in particular has other ailments, including rapid population growth, with many girls not staying in school and having children early, insufficient farming investment thanks to the insecurity of two decades of war, increased desertification, because the burning of charcoal in the south has led to a lack of tree cover, and an absence of governance. This is an area that has been living on the edge for some time. The Economist, 7/21/11.

In Somalia, the Shabab insurgent group, which controls much of southern Somalia, is blocking starving people from fleeing the country and setting up a cantonment camp where it is imprisoning displaced people who were trying to escape Shabab territory. The group is widely blamed for causing a famine in Somalia by forcing out many Western aid organizations, depriving drought victims of desperately needed food. The situation is growing bleaker by the day, with tens of thousands of Somalis already dead and more than 500,000 children on the brink of starvation. New York Times, 8/2/2011. 

Food Production. For the past 50 years, food production has kept ahead of rising demand. Today, in a world where two-thirds of the people depend on rice, wheat and/or maize as their staple food, 80 countries cannot produce enough food to feed their own populations from existing land and water resources. According to FAO, world food production will have to double in order to provide food security for 7.8 billion people expected by 2025.

The price of agricultural commodities has surged by more than a third over the past year — cereal prices by 70 percent — surpassing even the levels that sparked widespread food riots in 2008. According to the World Bank, the rise in prices pushed 44 million more people into hunger in the second half of 2010.

In June 2011, G-20 Officials agreed on Steps to Stabilize Food Prices and Improve Supplies, but they did not address two policies that are a big part of the problem: bans on agricultural exports by certain producers and government supports for food-based biofuel production.

The United States, Brazil and several other biofuel makers opposed an agreement to cut support for biofuels. The U.S. is the world’s biggest ethanol producer. The 13.5 billion gallons made here last year used about 40 percent of the nation’s corn crop. Government supports include a nearly $6 billion annual subsidy for ethanol makers.

The participants agreed to set up a system to monitor world food stocks and production to prevent misinformation that can contribute to price fluctuations. They also agreed on a pilot program for an emergency food reserve system to respond to shortages in vulnerable countries.

Research in recent years has established that hunger in the prenatal period and in infancy deprives a child of the nourishment the brain needs to grow properly. For example, babies who were in the uterus during the 1944 “Dutch famine” of World War II did worse on mental tests than those of similar ages — even 60 years later.

There are inexpensive steps that can help avert this kind of hunger—greater encouragement of breast-feeding, which one study says could save 1.4 million lives a year. Governments in the developing world can reduce suffocating corruption that raises transit costs. On both the Mauritania/Senegal and Niger/Burkina Faso borders, we saw huge numbers of trucks lined up, waiting to be “inspected” by customs officials — which in Africa often means paying a bribe. That’s disgraceful and adds to food prices. In Niger, we also visited a village savings-and-loan project established by CARE that helps women start small businesses. Essentially, it’s a microsavings project, so that women have a nest egg when it’s needed to buy food.

One woman we talked to had started in such penury that four of her children had died of starvation or disease. But with CARE’s help, she started preparing black-eyed peas for sale, branched into growing peanuts and fattening sheep, and with her profits bought a motorcycle that is rented out as a taxi. And in eastern Burkina Faso, we visited a project of Helen Keller International, financed by the United States aid agency, that shows village women how to grow gardens of high-nutrition vegetables. These gardens create a safety net and ensure that babies get vitamin A and other nutrients.

Another crucial need is family planning, which some of the women I talked to hadn’t even heard of. That would reduce the pressure on the land and the number of mouths to feed. — Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times,

1. Post-Colonial Syndrome

Postcolonial theorist Edward Said’s 1978 book, Orientalism, is considered a seminal work in this very complex, unsettled, and still emerging field of scholarship. Essentially, all African countries and their peoples have been influenced—negatively and (possibly) positively—by their respective colonial eras.  Inevitably, the effects of colonial eras are part of the discourse in any current development efforts in Africa.

‘Postcolonialism’ deals with cultural identity in colonized societies: the dilemmas of developing a nationalism after colonial rule; the ways in which writers articulate and celebrate that identity (often reclaiming it from and maintaining strong connections with the colonizer); the ways in which the knowledge of the colonized (subordinated) people has been generated and used to serve the colonizer’s interests; and the ways in which the colonizer’s literature has justified colonialism via images of the colonized as a perpetually inferior people, society and culture. These inward struggles of identity, history, and future possibilities often occur in the metropolis and, ironically, with the aid of postcolonial structures of power, such as universities. One might ask: is a series of autocratic rulers the logical path to democracy for peoples who were formerly colonized?  However one regards the effects of colonialism, with all its complexities, Rotary projects will be planned, implemented, and assessed in the wake of its history and effects –pjs, 2011

1. Neo-Colonial Land Acquisition

Affluent countries like Saudi Arabia, South Korea, China and India have descended on fertile plains across the African continent, acquiring huge tracts of land to produce wheat, rice and corn for consumption back home.   Some of these land acquisitions are enormous. South Korea, which imports 70 percent of its grain, has acquired 1.7 million acres in Sudan to grow wheat — an area twice the size of Rhode Island. In Ethiopia, a Saudi firm has leased 25,000 acres to grow rice, with the option of expanding. India has leased several hundred thousand acres there to grow corn, rice and other crops. And in countries like Congo and Zambia, China is acquiring land for biofuel production.

These land grabs shrink the food supply in famine-prone African nations and anger local farmers, who see their governments selling their ancestral lands to foreigners. They also pose a grave threat to Africa’s newest democracy: Egypt. (NYTimes, June 1, 2011)

1. Technology    

Solar.  A NYTimes report from rural Kenya:  Every week, Ms. Ruto walked two miles to hire a motorcycle taxi for the three-hour ride to Mogotio, the nearest town with electricity. There, she dropped off her cellphone at a store that recharges phones for 30 cents. Yet the service was in such demand that she had to leave it behind for three full days before returning.

That wearying routine ended in February when the family sold some animals to buy a small Chinese-made system for about $80. Now balanced precariously atop their tin roof, a lone solar panel provides enough electricity to charge the phone and run four bright overhead lights with switches.

“My main motivation was the phone, but this has changed so many other things,” Ms. Ruto said on a recent evening as she relaxed on a bench in the mud-walled shack she shares with her husband and six children.

As small-scale renewable energy becomes cheaper, more reliable and more efficient, it is providing the first drops of modern power to people who live far from slow-growing electricity grids and fuel pipelines in developing countries. Although dwarfed by the big renewable energy projects that many industrialized countries are embracing to rein in greenhouse gas emissions, these tiny systems are playing an epic, transformative role.

Since Ms. Ruto hooked up the system, her teenagers’ grades have improved because they have light for studying. The toddlers no longer risk burns from the smoky kerosene lamp. And each month, she saves $15 in kerosene and battery costs — and the $20 she used to spend on travel.

In fact, neighbors now pay her 20 cents to charge their phones, although that business may soon evaporate: 63 families in Kiptusuri have recently installed their own solar power systems.

Internet.  At the 2004 Rotary International Council on Legislation, some resolutions were introduced to promote the use of the Web/Internet for Rotary meetings and training sessions.  At each microphone, representatives from African districts lined up with red cards—opposing the motion, contending that African countries did not have the access necessary to participate.  Ironically, one of the motivating factors was to give African clubs more affordable, less time-consuming access to meetings.  Today, the African world is changing.  Through the use of satellite phones, solar-sourced electricity, and less-expensive appliances, African Rotarians, and their projects, have more immediate access to Internet communications.  –pjs, 2011.

The Special Rapporteur of the U.N. Human Rights Council (2011) believes that the Internet is one of the most powerful instruments of the 21st century for increasing transparency in the conduct of the powerful, access to information, and for facilitating active citizen participation in building democratic societies. Indeed, the recent wave of demonstrations in countries across the Middle East and North African region has shown the key role that the Internet can play in mobilizing the population to call for justice, equality, accountability and better respect for human rights. As such, facilitating access to the Internet for all individuals, with as little restriction to online content as possible, should be a priority for all States.

9.  Leading NGOs in Africa—ROTA’s ‘Competitive Environment’

According to the U.N., there are at least 3,776 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in Africa.  Some are single purpose, e.g., Water for Africa, Drop in the Bucket.Org.  Others, like The Hunger Project, have a major focus but also address other basic needs—HIV prevention, microfinance, etc.  Some, like Oxfam, are heavily involved in advocacy for social justice and human rights.

Many, like Rotary, have a comprehensive package of programs, albeit varying the mix depending on local needs.  Action areas typically include: agriculture, health, HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, education/literacy, environment, conflict resolution, and micro-finance.  Other than possibly the U.N., it appears that no NGOs are operating in all 54 countries of Africa.  Here are some of the leading NGOs in Africa today and the number of African countries they serve:

CARE International (28)

Save the Children (11)

Helen Keller International (11)

Peace Corps (29)

Salvation Army (20)

YWCA/YMCA (29)

Red Cross (20)

Heifer Project International (6)

Oxfam International (50)

World Vision (21)

Child Fund International (formerly the Christian Children’s Fund) (15)

Action Aid International (21)

Catholic Relief Services (38)

Lutheran World Relief (6)

Water.Org  (4)

The Water Project (3)

U.N. World Food Program  (41)

The Rotary Foundation Trustees have selected Aga Kahn University, with campuses in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, as a Future Vision strategic partner in Maternal and Child Health in east Africa.  Oikocredit International, which operates in more than 70 countries, has also been selected as a strategic partner because of its relationships with local entrepreneurs and microfinance organizations.  ROTA’s regional teams are well-positioned to identify other strategic partners from among those NGOs working within their regions.  Reid Garrett Hoffman co-founder of Linked-In, says:” You have to know which industries are working and what is happening inside them and then “find a way to add value in a way no one else can. For entrepreneurs it’s differentiate or die — that now goes for all of us.” 

–NYTimes, 7/13/11

1. Observations from Nicholas Kristof     

The New York Times columnist, Nicholas Kristof, frequently writes about issues in developing parts of the world.  After his recent trip to Africa with a graduate student and a teacher, he made the following observations on July 1, 2011:  Africa appears to be turning around.  Africa’s economy is growing significantly faster than America’s or Europe’s.  Six of the ten fastest growing economies are in sub-Saharan Africa.  Other positives he found are:  Literacy is increasing five times faster since 2000 than in the previous ten years;  democratization—in the last decade the number of democratic countries has grown from four to 18; food fortification (iron, zinc, folic acid, and B-12) added to flour is making healthier people; under 5 mortality has declined from 12.4M in 1990 to 8.1M in 2009; anti-retrovirals have reduced AIDS transmission; solar and cell phones transform villages.  Ongoing challenges cited by Kristof are:  civil conflict and insecurity; corruption and suffocating bureaucracy; AIDS; and the lack of family planning.

–New York Times, 7/1/2001.

Rotary Clubs, Interact Clubs, Rotaract Clubs, Rotary Community Corps in Africa, Zone 20
Northern and Sub-Saharan Africa
COUNTRY	Region	DISTRICT	# of Rotary Clubs (Active)		# of Rotaract Clubs		# of Interact Clubs		# of RCC Clubs		# of Rotarians
			Q4 (30 June)	Q1 (30 Sept.)	Q4 (30 June)	Q1	Q4 (30 June)	Q1	Q4 (30 June)	Q1	Q4 (30 June)	Q1
Comoros	E	9220	1	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	16	16
Djibouti	E	9220	2	2	1	1	–	–	–	–	40	57
Eritrea	E	9200	1	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	32	32
Ethopia	E	9200	11	11	13	15	4	4	3	3	281	275
Kenya	E	9200	39	39	27	27	45	45	66	66	1.048	1.031
Madagascar	E	9220	20	19	10	10	4	4	1	1	368	359
Mauritus	E	9220	14	14	11	11	9	9	4	4	384	391
Mayotte	E	9220	2	2	–	–	–	–	1	1	68	69
Reunion	E	9220	17	17	4	5	1	1	–	–	492	484
Seychelles	E	9220	1	1	1	1	1	1	–	–	29	29
Tanzania	E	9200	40	40	16	16	11	11	17	17	840	874
Uganda	E	9200	63	63	51	52	124	125	93	93	1.885	1.878
Algeria	N	9010	12	12	8	9	1	1	–	–	175	176
Egypt	N	2450	79	75	43	43	24	24	39	41	2329	2265
Mauritania	N	9010	4	3	2	2	1	1	–	–	67	54
Morocco (Incl. Western Sahara)	N	9010	30	30	21	22	2	2	8	8	558	559
Sudan	N	2450	2	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	55	57
Angola	S	9350	1	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	50	50
Botswana	S	9400	5	5	1	2	2	2	–	–	97	94
Lesotho	S	9320	2	2	1	1	4	4	–	–	39	39
Malawi	S	9210	5	5	3	3	1	1	–	–	129	129
Mozambique	S	9210, 9400	6	6	2	3	1	1	–	–	111	118
Namibia	S	9350	7	7	–	–	2	2	1	1	135	133
South Africa	S	9270, 9320, 9350, 9400	230	229	46	42	269	270	7	7	4.911	4.859
Swaziland	S	9400	5	5	4	4	5	5	–	–	110	112
Zambia	S	9210	23	23	6	6	20	20	2	2	477	465
Zimbabwe	S	9210, 9400	27	27	8	8	66	67	–	–	612	608
Benin	W	9100	13	13	6	6	2	2	–	–	383	381
Burkina Faso	W	9100	7	7	7	7	1	1	1	1	193	197
Burundi	W	9150	3	3	1	1	2	2	–	–	83	84
Cameroon	W	9150	15	13	6	6	4	4	–	–	275	246
Cape Verde	W	9100	4	4	1	1	1	1	–	–	126	126
Central African Republic	W	9150	2	1	1	1	–	–	–	–	33	13
Chad	W	9150	1	1	1	1	–	–	–	–	28	29
Cote d’Ivoire	W	9100	17	17	15	15	6	6	2	2	470	466
Democratic Republic of Congo	W	9150	22	21	10	10	1	1	–	–	463	430
Equatorial Guinea	W	9150	1	1	1	1	–	–	–	–	22	15
Gabon	W	9150	6	6	2	2	2	2	–	–	124	129
Gambia, The	W	9100	2	2	–	–	1	1	–	–	47	48
Ghana	W	9100	21	21	18	18	7	7	5	5	681	684
Guinea	W	9100	4	4	1	1	–	–	–	–	82	82
Guinea-Bissau	W	9100	1	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	17	16
Liberia	W	9100	3	3	–	–	–	–	–	–	98	99
Mali	W	9100	9	9	5	5	1	1	–	–	243	232
Niger	W	9100	4	4	2	2	1	1			73	73
Nigeria	W	9110, 9125, 9140	245	236	281	283	212	213	35	35	5554	5487
Republic of Congo (Brazzaville)	W	9150	4	4	1	1	4	4	–	–	100	98
Rwanda	W	9150	5	5	2	2	–	–	–	–	146	137
Sao Tome and Principe	W	9150	1	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	10	10
Senegal	W	9100	8	8	2	2	1	1	–	–	202	191
Sierra Leone	W	9100	3	3	–	–	–	–	–	–	81	77
Togo	W	9100	10	10	3	3	1	1	4	4	229	229
Tunisia	W	9010	24	23	17	17	6	6	–	–	464	443
TOTAL			1.084	1.063	662	668	850	854	289	291	25.565	25.235
Blue font indicates an increase
Red font indicates a decrease
Libya		Non-Rotary Country – Open for Extension
Somalia		Non-Rotary Country – Open for Extension
TOTAL SUMMARY
2009-10 Quarter 4	2010-11 Quarter 1		+/-
Rotaract Clubs	662	668	+ 6
Interact Clubs	850	854	+ 4
RCC Clubs	289	291	+ 2
Rotary Clubs	1084	1063	-21
Rotarians	25064	25094	-330

 

POLIO SUMMIT

The  Polio  Summit  has  come  and  its purpose  to  generate  additional  and sustainable  momentum  owards  the final  interruption of  the wild poliovirus in  Nigeria  and  in  other  remaining countries  of  the  world  was,  from feedbacks  received,  very  much achieved. Indeed the summit has been
described  as  the  BEGINNING  OF  THE END TO POLIO.. HIGHLIGHTS … POLIOPLUS is a “Do- Something” programme… “We must  do  it… We  can  do  it… We can be Winners… Let’s Do It!” So says Rotary  International President Ray  Klinginsmith  at  the  opening ceremony of the PolioPlus Summit held on  Tuesday  21st   September  2010  at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja. The  RI  President  in  a  speech  which provided  a  detailed  history  of  the PolioPlus  programme  from  its  very conception,  its  travails  and  challenges before  being  accepted  as  a  Rotary International  programme  called  on  all Nigerian  Rotarians  to  be  the  bulldogs to  ensure  that  it  is  finished  and  that we do not have a case of polio.   “….If  you  (Nigerians)  do  not  succeed locally,  he  said,  “we  (Rotary)  cannot succeed  globally…  And  so  the  Future of  Rotary  is  in  your  hands  here  in  Nigeria.  You  have  to  continue  to support this  to the end.” Earlier,  President  Ray  had  praised
Nigeria’s  success  this  past  year which he  described  as  astonishing  but cautioned  that  “Nigeria  is  still  on  the list  of  the  4  remaining  endemic countries and so,” he said, “we cannot let  down  our  guard.”  He  then  gave  2 reasons why Rotary must succeed  1.The  children  themselves  who are
being saved, and  2. Polio Eradication has put Rotary on the  world  stage,  and  if  we  do  not succeed,  if  we  do  not  eradicate  the disease, we are going to lose face, we are  going  to  lose  credibility,  we  are going  to  damage  our  reputation  and our  own  members  may  lose confidence. This  was  well  stated  by  an  attendee Chris McLucas ‘Failure is not an option’  For us to make sure we end this polio campaign  as WINNERS…  Rotarians  in POLIO UPDATE AUGUST & SEPTEMBER 2010 2

Nigeria  have  been  called  upon  to  do the following: 1.  Advocate  with  national,  state governors and LGA chairmen 2. Support  traditional  leaders  (Emirs, district and ward heads) 3.  Help  supervise  ‘Independent Monitors” and vaccination teams PRE-EVENTS… Participants  started  arriving  in  Abuja from  the  17th   September  in  time  to participate in  key pre-Summit events: i.  the Sub-National Immunization Plus Days  (SNIPDs)    campaign  on  the 18th ,  19th  & 20th  September. ii.   Welcome  the  RI  President  Ray Klinginsmith  and  the  Rotary leadership  to  Nigeria.  A  reception was  hosted  by  Past  RI  President Jon.  B.  Majiyagbe  and  his  spouse Ayo at their residence. SEPTEMBER  2010  ROUNDS  OF SUB-NATIONAL  IMMUNISATION PLUS DAYS (SNIPDs) SNIPDs  using  bivalent  oral  polio vaccine  (bOPV)  took  place  in  all  19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory  (FCT) of Abuja  and  environs from the 18th to 21st  September 2010. Many  participants  who  came  from  all parts  of  the  country  and  abroad  for the  summit  seized  the  opportunity  to participate  in  the  just  concluded  IPDs in  Bwari  Area  Council  and  Nomadic Fulani  Settlements  of  FCT, Karu  Local
Government  Area  of  Niger  State  and Suleija in Niger State.  Participants  took  part  in  advocacy visits to the traditional leaders, districts and  wards  heads,  Local  Governments authorities  as  well  as  participate  in immunization and monitoring activities over  the  3-day  period  18-20 September  2010.  The  direct  experience  of  polio  immunization activities  at  these  levels  has  been described as very beneficial.  Some of  the  participants  included  the Vice Chair IPPC John L. Sever, Trustee
David Morgan,  Director  Keith  Barnard Jones,  Chair  ARPPC  Ambroise Kasongo,  ARPPC  member  Nahu Senaye Araya, Carol Pandak, a number of  state  representatives  and  several Nigerian Rotarians. RI President’s Visit: The  RI  President  Ray  arrived  in  the country  by  the  Ethiopian  Airline  on Monday 20th  to a  rousing welcome by a  large  group  of  Rotarians  including international  officers.    He  was accompanied  by  RI  Director  Sam Owori  and  others.    Also  at  hand  to welcome  him  at  the  airport  was  a cultural group. From  the  airport,  his motorcade went straight  to  the National  Strategic  Cold Store  where  he  was  taken  round  by top  officials  of  the  National  Primary Health  Care  Development  Agency (NPHCDA).    From  the  Cold  Store,  he
was  taken  to nearby  village where he met  with  the  village  head  and immunized some children before going to the Hilton. 3  That  evening,  the  RI  President  and Rotary  leaders  were  hosted  to  a cocktail party by Past President of   RI Jon B. Majiyagbe and his spouse Ayo. The Summit By  9.00am  on  Tuesday  21st September  2010  the  day  of  the Summit itself, over 430 Rotarians and guests were  already  in Abuja  and by lunch time, there were 499 registered participants  in  the  Congress  Hall  of the  Transcorp  Hilton  –  venue  of  the Polio Summit  The Summit was   declared opened by the Minister of State  for Health, Alhaji Sulaiman Bello  representing  President Goodluck  Jonathan  who  could  not attend  due  to  the  MDG  meeting  in New York.  Participants  came  from  the  broad spectrum  of  the  stakeholders  in  polio eradication  in  the  country  including present  and  past  leaderships  of  the government  and  its  agencies., Traditional  leaders  as  represented  by the  Emir  of  Zaria.  Members  of  the Diplomatic corps. The leadership of the spearheading  partners WHO,  UNICEF, CDC/USAID as well as  representatives of developmental partner agencies, Dr.
Bruce Aylward from WHO Geneva and, of  course,  Rotarians  from Nigeria  and the globe etc. Some extracts of the addresses: From  President  Goodluck Jonathan  read  by  Hon.  Minister  of State for Health “My  administration  is  committed  to sustaining  the  progress  and  finishing  the job  of  polio  eradication.   We  will  not  be the  country  with  the  last  case  of  polio, working  together;  I  can  assure  you  of that! There  is  still  important and  hard work  to do—and  I  know  everyone  is  fully committed  to  put  in  that  extra  effort  on behalf  of  our  children—so  let’s  take  our hats  off  to  the  past while we  roll  up  our sleeves to the future—and finish the job of polio  eradication  in  Nigeria  once  and  for all”. From  the  Hon. Minister  of Health –Rotarian& Prof. Dr C. Onyebuch
Chukwu …read  by  Dr.  Henry  Akpan “My fellow Rotarians, I thank you for your steadfast  commitment  to  making  Nigeria polio  free—we  are  almost  there.  It  is my honor  to host  you  this evening  for dinner to  recognize  the  success  to  date—and encourage you all to work even harder to finish the job.  Courtesy Call on Vice-President of Nigeria:   Rotary  International  paid  a  courtesy
call on  the Nigeria Vice President, Arc. Namadi  Sambo on  Tuesday 21st  Sept. 2010  at  the  Aso  Rock  Village.    The Rotary  team-  led  by RI  President  Ray Klinginsmith  included  PRIP  Jon  B. Majiyagbe and  spouse Ayo, Vice-Chair TRF  John  and  spouse  Judy  Germ,  all visiting  RI  Officials  (Directors  & Trustees),    Vice Chair  IPPC, members of the ARPPC, the  3 District Governors in Nigeria and   a good number of  the PDGs.  Appreciation: On  behalf  of  the  Nigeria  National PolioPlus  Committee,  the  Summit Organizing  Committee  and  indeed  the 4 entire  Nigerian  Rotarians,  I  wish  to express  our  sincere  gratitude  to  RI President Ray, The  Rotary  Foundation Trustees,  all  the  Trustees,  Directors and  IPPC members  that  attended  the Summit,  the  ARPPC  members,  the visiting Rotarians, all our partners,  the diplomatic  missions,  the  Traditional Leaders, and all other guests  for  their support in ensuring  the success of  the Summit. And  to  the  Rotary  leaders  in  Nigeria, the  Summit  Committee  chaired  by Rotary  Coordinator  Ben  Aghazu  and the LOC  it is a big thank you for a job well done.   NNPPC MEETING:
The  PolioPlus  Summit  provided  the opportunity  for  the  Nigeria  National PolioPlus  Committee  to  hold  its  first meeting for the Rotary year 2010-2011 on Sunday 19th September 2010 at the Rockview Hotel, Abuja.  Carol  Pandak,  Manager  PolioPlus Division  from  Evanston  was  in attendance. ARPPC MEETING: The  African  Regional  PolioPlus Committee  also  took  the  opportunity of the Summit to hold its first meeting for  the  Rotary  year  in  Abuja  and  this on Wednesday  22nd  September,  2010 at the Transcorp Hilton. The  committee  congratulated  Nigeria
for hosting a successful Polio Summit.    DAN  MARAYA  JOS  ADVOCACY TOUR TO NORTHERN STATES

The  Rotary  Polio  Ambassador  Dan Maraya  Jos embarked on an advocacy tours  to  3  northern  states  of  Jigawa, Kano  and  Kastina  to  sensitize  and encourage  all  stakeholders  on  the need  to  support  the  polio immunization programme.   Reports  from  the  states  indicated  that Dan Maraya  Jos  was  well  received  at every  stop  and  his  messages  were useful and fruitful. From  Jigawa  state  we  had  this report…  “…  the  team  comprising  of  the  state officials,  partners,  Rotarians  Dan Maraya visited the Emir of Ringim who fortunately is a Rotarian.  The meeting with  the  Emir  was  very  interesting.  The  Emir  took  time  to  enlighten  his councilors and the audience in general
on  the  activities  and  objectives  of Rotary.  From Katsina… …  the  team  also  visited  Riko  ward,
Kufan  Dan  Settlement  in  Jibia  Local Government  where  the  officials  also joined the visiting team.   The Community was known to be Non compliant  in  nature  they  all  promised to give  their maximum  support  to  the program  and  the  youth  from  the settlement  and  neighbouring  villages will  assist  to  enlighten  the  non compliant  households  in  their respective  villages  and  Improve immunization  activities  and  they were very  glad  having  Dr.Adamu  Dan Maraya Jos all the way to their village. …And from Kano. In  company  of  the  Rotarians  led  by Vice  Chair  Sagab  Ahmed,  DMJ  visited 5 the high  risk LGAs of DAWAKIN KUDU and  WARAWA  on  16th  &  17th  Sept.
respectively.    The Kano  state Ministry of  Health  provided  the  team  with transport with  Public Address System. The team paid a courtesy call to the  2 L.G.As officials  and the district heads.  DMJ entertained the populace together with    KOROSO  INTERNATIONAL TROUPE which drew up a lot of crowd including children and parents.   Conclusively,    the  campaign  with  the live performance  of Dr ADAMU DAN MARAYA  JOS  was  a  perfect introduction into the POLIO Eradication effort  and  which  has  started  showing positive  influence  on  the  non-compliance settlements. DISTRICT  GOVERNORS  MEET WITH MINISTER OF HEALTH..: On  August  8,  all  the  3  District Governors met with  the Hon. Minister of  Health,  Prof.  Onyebuchi  Chukwu.  Also  in  the  team  were  NNPPC  Chair, PDGs  Joshua  Hassan  &  Kola  Owoka, DGN  Lawrence  Okwor  and  Tayo Olofinlade, Abuja Polio Coordinator.   The  Minister  called  on  the  Rotary leaders  to  assist  in  mobilising Rotarians  to  support  primary  health care  activities  essential  to  sustain  the gains  of  polio  eradication.  He  wanted the  communities  sensitised  and mobilized  to  use  the  health  centres around  them. This  is expected  to also help  strengthen Routine  Immunization in Nigeria. The  District  Governors  promised  that
Rotary  Clubs  all  over  the  country would be mobilized  to adopt, at  least, one  PHC  for  effective  onitoring, motivation  and  support  to  be  able  to deliver  sound  health  services  to  the people.
ROTARY/UNICEF    WORKPLAN MEETING/WORKSHOP In  order    to  sensitize  the  present Rotary  leadership  on  the  PEI,  for better  and  effective  utilization  of UNICEF  support  for  our  Polio Eradication  activities  and  other  health concerns,    a  2-day  Workshop    was organized in Lagos on  September 5 – 8, 2010.   Participants  at  the workshop  included – District Governors, District Governor Elects,  District  PolioPlus  Chairmen, District  Chairmen  for  Health  Task Forces,  key  NNPPC  members,  Zonal Representatives  and  the  PolioPlus Programme Coordinators.  EPIDEMIOLOGY REPORT   8    wild  polioviruses  have  been confirmed  in  5  states  in  2010 compared  to    388  WPV  cases confirmed in 27 states in 2009. And  the  last  word  from  President
Ray…     LET’S DO IT!
‘BUSUYI ONABOLU
CHAIRMAN