Cattle have always held an important role in Rwandan society. They are a key source of protein and an important status symbol. Over the last couple of years, the government, working with Heifer International and other groups, has promoted a policy of "One cow per poor family" in an attempt...

This September marks nine years since leaders from 192 countries around the world endorsed the Millennium Declaration, a commitment to build a safer, more prosperous and equitable world through the achievement of eight objectives - the Millennium Development Goals, by 2015. The endorsement was based on the belief that,...

You may not have heard the siren over the earsplitting clatter of the economic crash in America and the ominous emergence of swine flu, but there's an urgent crisis involving Africa and other parts of the developing world that rely on our donor dollars for public health. The Global...

Could the cost of interrupting the transmission of AIDS in Africa be just 32 cents? That's the revolutionary idea raised in a piece published this week in the journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. The authors write that schistosomiasis -- long considered one of the central Neglected Tropical Diseases...

As the world's poorest countries, particularly in Sub Saharan Africa, fall behind their developed counterparts, their citizens are faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Extreme poverty, fatal illnesses, and deplorable conditions make the prospect of becoming a global player extremely daunting. You can actually take a look at how far some...

This Saturday is World Malaria Day. It's an important milestone; the international malaria community has only two years to meet the 2010 target set by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of delivering treatment and protection to all people at risk of malaria.

That's sobering when you consider recent developments. After...

On the first Earth Day, April 22, 1970, gasoline cost about 35 cents a gallon and a barrel of crude oil cost less than you'd pay for a grande latte today. Even then, people had figured out that burning fossil fuels wasn't a healthy or sustainable way to power our...

As the global economic crisis deepens, developing African nations must adjust for the many new realities they face. It was just a year ago that optimism and promise imbued economic conversations about Africa's promise. With the global economy soaring and the need for basic commodities following, wealth was being created...

In Mayange, Rwanda, rain means hope. In violent downpours when I've sought the shelter of a tree, I've seen kids and adults alike dancing in the puddles. Rainy days there are happy days. Over the last few years, however, rain patterns have become increasingly erratic and crops have suffered as...

This is what happens when a school system can't keep pace with the vast numbers of students that must have an education: half of the classes come to school in the morning and then leave at noon, while other students come into the same classrooms in the afternoon and study...

In 1994, the Peace Corps officially closed its office here in Rwanda. The horrors that followed kept the Peace Corps at a distance until last year when the office was reopened. That return is very welcome, and I'll explain why in a moment.

While the Peace Corps was out-of-sight in...

As we contemplate the inauguration of Barack Obama from here in Kigali, Rwanda, we have been thinking about what it means to us as Americans abroad. We're also seeing what the inauguration means to Africans who are viewing it at a remove, but who may feel for the first time...

The Bush legacy will not be a bright one. Its failed regulatory practices have placed the country and much of the world in economic turmoil, and its main foreign policy effort leaves the incoming administration with two unfinished wars. Taken objectively, the Bush record speaks of little positive.

However, one...

What leapt to mind when you saw this title? Coffee? That checks in at about $3 per pound, at best. Oil? None of that here. This year The Urban Village, a new brand-name fashion business that I'm helping to get off the ground, has come up with a new,...

There is a deep dread emerging in the development community that commitments to reducing poverty, improving global health, and increasing prosperity may be hanging in the balance in the coming year. The keen irony? The combination of prolific government spending and financial catastrophe may prevent us from helping the world's...

Last month, former President Bill Clinton arrived in Rwanda, the latest in a slew of political figures to visit the country. Several weeks ago, Cindy McCain, Tom Daschle, Bill Frist and others toured the country as part of the ONE Vote '08 mission to draw bipartisan attention to poverty issues....

Last month, I wrote about my invitation to attend the Republican National Convention, where I took part in a panel discussion on American leadership in Global Health. I mused before attending that as a lifelong democrat, I would likely feel like a fish out of water in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

While...

Today, I'm asking for your help. I'm traveling from Rwanda tomorrow and headed to the Republican National Convention. To those who know me as a lifelong Democrat, this may seem doubly odd.

But when you consider that I have been invited to participate in a panel discussion on American Leadership...

I wrote last week about a bi-partisan delegation from "ONE Vote '08" that planned to visit Rwanda. Led by the organization's Co-Chairs, former U.S. Senate Majority Leaders Tom Daschle and Bill Frist, the delegation also included Mike Huckabee, Clinton White House chief of staff John Podesta, and Cindy McCain.

We...

Could it be that when it comes to development issues in Africa, liberals are far behind their conservative counterparts? This week, a bipartisan coalition is visiting Rwanda, and I can't help but notice that over the past few years, it seems that Republicans have taken the lead in international development...