Africa | Burundi | Crimes

Merck Wants To ‘Empower’ Infertile Women In Africa. Can Music Videos Help?

In June, an unusual email arrived in the inbox of an NPR global health correspondent. The headline was: "Merck Foundation together with First Lady of Burundi release 'Plus Qu'une Mere' an empowering French Song as courtesy to all infertile women in Burundi and Africa." The email had a link to a video of a performance with an all-female choir. Wearing traditional African clothing printed with the Merck Foundation's logo, they sing a song with lyrics that encourage people not to blame women for infertility. They're performing before an audience of maybe a hundred people, most of them in

Africa | Nigeria | Culture

Airport janitor ridiculed, honored for returning forgotten $60,000 to owner

Source: Premium Times

The Lagos State House of Assembly, on Monday held a special session to honour Josephine Ugwu, a cleaner at Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, who returned N12 million she found at the airport toilet. Ms. Ugwu made the huge find, and returned same, in January 2015. She was invited to narrate her story to members of the Assembly. Kolawole Taiwo, the Deputy Speaker, who presided, presented a letter of commendation and an undisclosed amount of money to Ugwu. “For her honesty and patriotism for returning the N12 million on January 23, we find her worthy of honour. “Her

Africa | Kenya | Environment

Single mom wins top prize for forcing toxic plant closure

Source: Pangea Today

Phyllis Omido, a Kenyan single mother, has won the prestigious annual Goldman environmental prize for her arduous but ultimately successful campaign against a battery recycling plant that was exposing inhabitants of a community in the port city of Mombasa to lead poisoning. As an employee of the factory and, therefore, regularly exposed to its harmful toxic effects, Omido was pushed to act after her own baby son was diagnosed with lead poisoning that he received from the breast milk she had been feeding him. She immediately quit her job to launch a concerted campaign, along with other a

Africa | Kenya | Corruption

Tetanus Vaccines Spiked With Sterilization Chemical in Kenya

Source: Women's Vibe

Tetanus vaccines given to millions of young women in Kenya have been confirmed by laboratories to contain a sterilization chemical that causes miscarriages, reports the Kenya Catholic Doctors Association, a pro-vaccine organization. A whopping 2.3 million young girls and women are in the process of being given the vaccine, pushed by UNICEF and the World Health Organization. “We sent six samples from around Kenya to laboratories in South Africa. They tested positive for the HCG antigen,” Dr. Muhame Ngare of the Mercy Medical Centre in Nairobi told LifeSiteNews. “They were all laced

Africa | Nigeria | Ethics

Oops: Nigerian First Lady Wrong to Claim 70 Percent of Ministers Are Women

Source: AllAfrica

Nigeria's first lady Patience Jonathan, trying to drum up support for her husband's re-election campaign, told a women's rally of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) in Kogi state earlier this month that 70% of the ministers in her husband's cabinet are women. At another rally in Sokoto, where Jonathan was represented by women's affairs minister Zainab Maina, local press reported her speech stated that 13 women - less than half of the total - served in the 31-member Nigerian cabinet. Of course, both cannot be right and Africa Check decided to investigate. According to the 2015

Africa | Eritrea | Culture

Christine Umutoni, Eritrea’s UN Rep, Sites Lack of Corruption for Big Healthcare Turnaround

Source: Pangea Today

Eritrea's healthcare system has recorded remarkable improvements in recent years, according to a BBC report. The lack of corruption in the health sector has helped, according to Eritrea’s United Nations country representative Christine Umutoni. Maternal and child mortality rates have dropped dramatically while deaths from common diseases like malaria and chickenpox have also reduced. HIV/AIDS prevalence is also down. The government now covers medical bills for poor people and works to raise awareness about identifying and applying vaccination treatments for various diseases on time