World Malaria Day this Friday: Google Hangout with Africa Peace Corps Volunteers

This Friday, in honor of World Malaria Day, the Peace Corps will be hosting a Google Hangout with their Peace Corps Volunteers in Africa. The Hangout will be at 10am on Friday and you can RSVP here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/events/cntvu7l2ejbo5coodrnv4hlv46g

According to the Hangout:

April 25th marks World Malaria Day, an opportunity for people around the globe to raise awareness and reenergize their commitment to ending malaria in our lifetime.
This World Malaria Day, Peace Corps Volunteers and their counterparts across Africa will share their personal and professional experiences combating malaria in their communities during a Google Hangout On Air.
You’re invited to join the conversation! Submit questions before and during the event on Facebook (www.facebook.com/stompoutmalaria) or Twitter (www.twitter.com/stompoutmalaria). Make sure to use the hashtag #MalariaHero

Here are some infographics for more information on malaria:

Live: Meeting Africa's Youth Employment Challenge

Live right now on World Bank Live is "Meeting Africa's Youth Employment Challenge," available here: http://live.worldbank.org/africa-youth-employment-challenge

Event Summary:

Eleven million youth are expected to enter Africa’s labor market every year for the next decade and despite a rapid increase in formal sector jobs, the majority of these youth are likely to work on family farms and in household enterprises, often with very low incomes. What are governments, partners, and civil society doing to address the challenge of youth employment in Africa, and what should they be doing? What do we need to know more about to design better policies and programs? An interactive discussion during the World Bank-IMF Spring Meetings brings together ministers, experts, and the private sector to reflect on the challenge and ways forward.

Follow on Twitter at #Jobs4Africa & #AfricasYouth 

FEATURING

Makhtar Diop

Vice President, World Bank Africa Region

Deon Filmer

Lead Economist, Africa Region, World Bank

Hon. Njuguna S. Ndung'u

Governor, Central Bank of Kenya

Hon. Serigne Mbaye Thiam

Minister of Higher Education and Research, Senegal

Simbarashe Mhungu

Managing Director of Harvest Fresh, Zimbabwe

Louise Fox

Visiting Professor, UC Berkeley; Former Lead Economist, Africa Region, The World Bank

Today: 20th Anniversary of the Start of the Rwandan Genocide

Today marks the start of the Rwandan Genocide, which began April 7, 1994. In honor of the event, the nation will begin a week of mourning, starting today with a ceremony at the genocide memorial in the capital of Kigali. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon as well as Rwandan President Paul Kagame spoke earlier today at the ceremony. A flame has been lit and will remain lit for 100 days, the same duration as the genocide, which did not end until July 1994. According to a BBC report, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stated that the UN is still ashamed over it's failure to prevent the 1994 genocide.

More information:
"Rwanda genocide: 20th anniversary bring a nation together to mourn" (The Guardian): http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/apr/07/rwandan-genocide-20th-anniversary-thousands-mourn-stadium

"Rwanda marks 20th anniversary of genocide" (RTE): http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0407/607166-rwanda-marks-20th-anniversary-of-genocide/

"Rwanda genocide: UN ashamed, says Ban Ki-moon" (BBC): http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26917419

VIDEO: "Ban Ki-moon, 20th anniversary of the Rwanda genocide" (YouTube, United Nations channel):

Girls in ICT Day

ICT International Girls in ICT day will next be observed on 24 April 2014. 

What is ICT?

According to Wikipedia: Information and communications technology (ICT) is often used as an extended synonym for information technology (IT), but is a more specific term that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals), computers as well as necessary enterprise software, middleware, storage, and audio-visual systems, which enable users to access, store, transmit, and manipulate information.


What is a Girls in ICT Day event? 

These are events where girls and university students are invited to spend the day at the office of ICT companies and government agencies so they better understand the opportunities the ICT sector holds for their future. Ministries of ICT, Education, Labour, Youth, National ICT Regulatory Authorities, ICT companies, academic institutions, relevant UN agencies, NGOs and other stakeholders are encouraged to organize Girls in ICT day events on 24 April 2014. The ITU Secretary General invites all ITU Member States and Sector Members to organize events attracting as many girls and young women as possible.

To ensure that interested students can find more information about such events in their country, the ICT Studies and Careers Section includes links to national Girls in ICT Day activities. Public and private sector organizations are encouraged to consult the Girls in ICT Day Toolkit to help plan a Girls in ICT Day event. This Toolkit was developed by WITNET, the Global Network of Women ICT Decision Makers created in line with ITU Plenipotentiary Resolution 70.

Please contact ITU at girlsinict@itu.int for further information and coordination if you’re planning to celebrate Girls in ICT Day in 2014.

There are a ton of information, resources, tool kits, scholarship info, and much more available on the Girls in ICT website, which you can check out here: http://girlsinict.org/

A Public Forum on: “The Privatization of the Post-2015 Development Agenda"

There is an open event to the public to discuss the augmentation of partnerships with private companies to help achieve social justice goals set by the UN member nations. This is a UN Side Event-- it is an event hosted by a non-governmental organization on a subject related to UN policy.

The following information was sent in an email by IBON International:

A Public Forum on “The Privatization of the Post-2015 Development Agenda Issues and Challenges in Partnerships with the ‘Private Sector’”
8 April 2014, 1:15 – 2:45 PM
2nd Floor Conference Room, UN Church Center

“Partnerships” for sustainable development are increasingly being promoted as a major, if not the primary, enabler for the implementation of the successor international sustainable development goals to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. However, a growing number of civil society groups warn against a partnerships approach that places primary emphasis on enticing private sector partiipation and investments as this risks reinforcing the corporate capture of the post-2015 agenda. This one-and-a-half hour Public Forum seeks to provide critical perspectives on the major issues and challenges associated with partnerships with the “private sector” for sustainable development.

 The event is co-organized by Bread for the World, the Campaign for People's Goals, Center for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Board of Church and Society-UMC, Global Policy Forum, IBON International, Misereor, Social Watch and Third World Network.