Why is world attention focussing on Africa?
Pressure generated by civil society organisations in Africa and in developed countries has helped push poverty in Africa to the top of the global agenda. The United Kingdom’s decision to form a Commission for Africa to address poverty and put debt relief on the Summit agenda has provided a window of opportunity to produce solutions. The sense of urgency to improve living conditions for millions across Africa is underpinned by shocking facts: • malaria – a curable illness – kills about 150,000 African children each month; • with 11 percent of the world’s population, Africa accounts for only about 1 percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP); • Africa is home to 25 million people with HIV – 64% of global infections; • every day in Africa, 6,300 people die and another 8,500 contract the HIV virus – 1,400 of whom are newborn babies infected during childbirth or by their mothers’ milk. The United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) provide a framework for action. By the yea
