November 20, 2019 | Written by - Lauren Izanec '22
Despite efforts to eliminate AIDS in Western and Central Africa by 2030, the number of people affected by AIDS is still on an uptick, with nearly 5 million suffering. Children in the region under the age of 15 are a particular concern, with only 28% of those affected having received any form of treatment. Networks of mothers have come together to keep each other and their children healthy, opening testing clinics that offer aid to those affected. Additionally, Expertise France has partnered with the Civil Society Institute for Health and HIV in Western and Central Africa to bring together 81 organizations from 19 African countries to provide aid to those who need it. Despite local and national measures being taken to combat the AIDS epidemic in Africa, finances remain an issue and the region depends on international donors to obtain funds.
On October 23, Russia hosted the first Russia-Africa summit in Sochi, during which Russian President Putin did his best to charm central African countries with promises of food shipments, weapons deals, and a multitude of investments in fields such as mining, nuclear energy, and agriculture. Putin’s bargaining seems to have worked in the Central African Republic, with President Touadera stating that CAR is “considering the possibilities” of an agreement with Russia. This would involve a Russian military base in CAR in exchange for Russian support of diamond mines and Russian troops training CAR soldiers to put down the civil war that’s been underway since 2012. It would also mean that Russia is creeping back in and spreading influence in Africa for the first time since the Cold War.
Having been driven out of Syria by US and Russian troops, Al-Qaeda and ISIS followers have begun terrorizing northern Mali. Exploiting previous rivalries between the two groups residing there, the Fulani and the Dogon, the terrorists have fomented conflict and ultimately driven people from both groups out of their homelands. The two groups have come together in the Mopti lands, which are in central Mali, and are staying in refugee camps set up by the Mali government in cooperation with UNICEF until conflict is resolved in their homelands.
Flood season has torn through Western Africa, wreaking havoc and displacing 23,000 people in Niger alone. Additionally, the media reports that 100,000 people in southwest Chad and northeastern Cameroon have been affected, with homes being destroyed, roads and bridges flooded, and people having to flee because of the onslaught of rains. Landslides have also hit Cameroon, resulting in the deaths of 42 people. The magnitude of this flood season is likely a result of rising temperatures caused by climate change in Africa.
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