November 23, 2009
Melissa Engle/MCC
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently released a report that revealed AIDS to be the leading cause of death and disease for women and girls worldwide. According to an AP article, a WHO analyst stated that
Women enjoy a biological advantage because they tend to live six to eight years longer than men. But in many parts of the world they suffer serious disadvantages because of poverty, poorer access to health care and cultural norms that put a priority on the well-being of men.
Addressing the particular issues and vulnerabilities that women face – including gender based violence, economic disempowerment, lack of education, etc – is crucial in developing HIV/AIDS policies, budgets, programming, and performance monitoring and evaluation.
This is the third in a series of weekly blog posts leading up to World AIDS Day on December 1. Click here to learn more about MCC’s HIV/AIDS programming and here to learn more about HIV/AIDS policy.
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HIV/AIDS, News Stories | Tagged: WHO, women, World AIDS Day | 
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Posted by Mary Stata
November 20, 2009
John Filson writes about Iraq in Third Way Cafe:
A Kurdish family bids their guests farewell after sharing an evening meal.
Iraqis are amazingly generous hosts who truly “do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers.” (Hebrews 13:2). But they are also keen observers, assessing the character of their guests very quickly.
As a visitor, if your intentions toward your hosts are sincere and loving, it literally doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from—they will trust you. But if you fail to demonstrate this, Iraqis will smile politely, keep feeding you, and quietly close their minds. As a guest in Iraq for nearly two years I witnessed this dynamic over and over again.
This is the story of U.S. involvement in Iraq. Whatever the reasons were—weapons of mass destruction, oil, “democracy,” or thwarting terrorism, the U.S. did not invest hundreds of billions of dollars and thousands of American lives in Iraq because its primary concern is the well-being of ordinary people who live there.
Click here to continue reading.
Leave a Comment » | Articles, Middle East | Tagged: Iraq, Third Way Cafe | Permalink
Posted by Mary Stata
November 19, 2009
The Senate released its long-awaited version of a health care reform bill last night, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The New York Times has a good interactive table, comparing the Senate bill with the House bill. Here are the highlights:
- Individual mandate (with exemptions for native Americas and people with religious objections)
- No employer mandate (but employers with 50 or more employees would have to pay a penalty for workers buying subsidized insurance in the exchange – read more about this provision)
- Exchange – states would create their own insurance exchanges (House bill creates a national exchange)
- Public option – states allowed to opt out
- Subsidies for purchasing insurance in the exchange available to those making up to 400% of the federal poverty level (on average the Senate subsidies are about $1000 less per person as compared with the House bill)
- Expands Medicaid to cover everyone with incomes less than 133% of the federal poverty level ($29,327 for a family of four); House bill expands to 150%
- Restricts federal funding of abortion – unlike the House bill, the Senate plan allows individuals to purchase policies that cover abortion on the exchange, with federal subsidies, but mandates that the revenue has to be segregated; i.e., only money from private premiums can pay for abortion services
- Prohibits undocumented immigrants from purchasing insurance in the exchanges (House bill allows them to buy insurance with their own money)
- Read the rest of this entry »
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Abundant Life, Health Care, Legislative Updates, News Stories | 
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Posted by Tammy Alexander
November 19, 2009
Women are the drivers of GDP, they’re the drivers of economic growth…And the corollary of that is that investments in women have the greatest positive correlation to enhancing a country’s general prosperity and poverty alleviation.
- Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, in an interview with the Washington Post
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Posted by Mary Stata
November 18, 2009
Theo Sitther writes about Colombia in PeaceSigns:
Melissa Engle/MCC
Colombia is home to one of the longest running internal armed conflicts. The war is fought between various armed actors and has displaced more than four million people, creating one of the worst humanitarian crises in the Western Hemisphere. Each year many Colombians are assassinated, kidnapped, threatened and displaced. A rural Colombian church member explains, “What you experience only in your nightmares is our daily reality”…In spite of such courageous efforts, government policy and actions have often undermined genuine peace building activities. The United States, for example, has provided significant military support (over $5 billion) for the Colombian government. After more than eight years, this policy has proven to be ineffective and a failure.
Click here to read more.
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Articles, Latin America | Tagged: Colombia, PeaceSigns | 
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Posted by Mary Stata
November 16, 2009
Source: Wikipedia
MCC has reported of an ongoing state of crisis in the northern Colombian province of Córdoba. Church and community leaders have come under increasing threat and violence carried out by alleged paramilitary groups.
Adam Isacson from the Center for International Policy wrote a blog post last week summarizing the state of violence and an overview of the emerging paramilitary groups in this region.
Here’s an excerpt:
This post, compiled by CIP Intern Hannah Brodlie, offers a troubling update on the security situation in the department of Córdoba in northwestern Colombia. Córdoba is a cattle-ranching region where President Álvaro Uribe spends much of his spare time, as he owns a large ranch on the outskirts of the capital, Montería.
Córdoba was a stronghold of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) paramilitary group, whose paramount leaders, Carlos Castaño and Salvatore Mancuso, had earlier founded the ACCU, or United Self-Defense Forces of Córdoba and Urabá. The southern part of the department, particularly the town of Santa Fe de Ralito, served as the site of demobilization negotiations between the AUC and the Colombian government between 2003 and 2006.
Because it was undisputed territory, ruled with an iron paramilitary fist, Córdoba had lower levels of violence than most Colombian departments during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Today, however, Córdoba is aflame.
Read the entire post>>
Leave a Comment » | Latin America | Tagged: Colombia, Cordoba, paramilitary | Permalink
Posted by Theo Sitther
