Reducing high population growth was at the top of the international development agenda in the 1960s and 1970s. As a result, successful population programmes were implemented in Asia and Latin America and population growth fell from about 2.5 per cent per year in the 1960s to 1.2 per cent today. By contrast, benign neglect from African leaders and elites translated into late, weak and ineffective programmes and the population growth rate in sub-Saharan Africa has remained about 2.5 per cent per year over the past half century, except in southern Africa.

In part because of the success of the Asian and Latin American programmes, international attention has shifted to other urgent issues, such as the HIV/Aids epidemic, humanitarian crises and good governance. Recent concerns about climate change have further overshadowed the demographic dimensions of African development.

For full article, visit:
http://us.ft.com

Mr Ban said the trend would hinder progress towards the millennium development goals (MDGs), which aim to halve extreme poverty by 2015.

The UN World Food Program (WFP) and other agencies may be forced to ration food aid, he said in a BBC interview.

He said shortages might be eased by a “green revolution” to transform farming methods in Africa.

For full article, visit:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/in_depth/7288959.stm

Soul Beat Africa has a summary of the study, “Participatory Assessment of Gugar Goge, an Entertainment-Education, A Radio Soap Opera in Nigeria: Qualitative Assessment Report” in the evaluations section of their website, at:
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/269041.

The HIV seroprevalence among women aged 15-24 years was compared according to their pattern of contraceptive use in four African countries: Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Data were derived from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) conducted between 2003 and 2006 on representative samples, totaling 4549 women.

It is indicated that users of depo-medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) have a significantly higher seroprevalence than nonusers [odds ratio (OR)=1.82, 95% CI=1.63-2.03] and higher than users of oral contraceptives and users of traditional methods. The results were confirmed in a multivariate analysis including as controls, age, duration since first intercourse, urban residence, education, number of sexual partners in the last 12 months and marital status.

For full article, visit:
http://www.contraceptionjournal.org/article/S0010-7824(08)00061-9/abstract

The January 2008 issue of Population Reports carries a feature article on Population Media Center’s Ethiopian radio serial Yeken Kignit (“Looking Over One’s Daily Life”). The publication can be found at http://www.infoforhealth.org/pr/j56/j56.pdf.

Many thanks to NaHyun Cho, who authored the article.

Ned Lundquist recently sent the message below to the 10,000 members of his newsletter for communication professionals (The Job of the Week). It includes many members of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). It is already yielding numerous donations of communication resource materials for Population Media Center’s resource center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I thought I would share it with you in case you wish to send something for this small but growing library.
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The Job of the Week (JOTW) network is embarking on a noble effort to obtain communication resources (books, manuals, CDs, DVDs), to expand the materials available at the Population Media Center resource center in Ethiopia. This resource center is open to any professional communicators in Ethiopia, and so would be serving the general business community in Addis Ababa.
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The article below appears in the current issue of Communication World, the magazine of the International Association of Business Communicators. Congratulations to Dr. Negussie Teffera for this publication!

Hearing Is Believing (PDF, 2 MB)

The January 2008 issue of Population Reports carries a feature article on Population Media Center’s Ethiopian radio serial Yeken Kignit (“Looking Over One’s Daily Life”).

The publication can be found at http://www.infoforhealth.org/pr/j56/j56.pdf.

Many thanks to NaHyun Cho, who authored the article.

Launched in 2002, Dramatool is a web-based platform described as “an international meeting point for drama/theatre education”. Available in Amharic, Chinese, English, French, Kiswahili, and Spanish (as of this writing), this website is an effort to empower drama and theatre practitioners through networking. Dramatool is run by a team of 11 people from 5 countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Sweden, Tanzania, and Uganda) who have experience in working with drama and theatre as a tool for an inclusive and humane society.

Dramatool aims to be an open forum, which is available to anybody who is interested in and works in the area of drama education and performing arts.

Contact: info@dramatool.org

For full article, visit:

http://www.comminit.com/en/node/265376

In Ethiopia, it can be dangerous for a girl to leave the house. Not because of war, or weather, but “weddings”—specifically the long-standing cultural tradition of marriage by abduction.
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