From Africa Recovery, Vol.15 #3, October 2001, page 32

UN, Annan awarded Nobel prize Both the United Nations and Secretary-General Kofi Annan were awarded the 2001 Nobel peace prize on 12 October. The UN, said the Norwegian Nobel Committee, was awarded the prize because of its efforts to end poverty, protect the environment and secure social justice and because "the organization is at the forefront of efforts to achieve peace and security in the world." In fact, the committee stressed, "the only negotiable route to global peace and cooperation goes by way of the United Nations." Mr. Annan was recognized personally for "bringing new life" to the UN and for emphasizing a host of issues outside the organization's traditional focus, including human rights, terrorism and HIV/AIDS. Mr. Annan is the second UN secretary-general to receive the peace prize, joining Mr. Dag Hammarskjöld, who received the award posthumously in 1961. Although UN agencies or other officials have received the prize on seven previous occasions, this year's award is the first given the UN as a whole. "All of us who work for the UN should be proud today," Mr. Annan told reporters. "But ... the only true prize ... will be peace itself."

A new African agency will insure investments

On 20 August a consortium of seven African countries launched the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) to provide political risk insurance and other financial services to promote trade and investment in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa. The new agency is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, and is backed by Burundi, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. It aims to offer affordable insurance to both African and foreign companies against such risks as expropriation, embargoes, inability to convert or transfer currency, loss or destruction of goods and facilities through war or civil strife, and discriminatory import and export taxes.

With start-up funding of $105 mn from the World Bank and $100,000 each from the seven founding governments, ATI plans to issue its first insurance policies by the end of the year, and become self-sustaining within two years. Other African countries have expressed interest in joining ATI, which hopes to underwrite $5 bn worth of new trade and investment before the end of the decade.

Poverty, conflict worsen mental disorders, says WHO

Mental illness is not only the result of biological and psychological factors, but of social factors as well, says the World Health Report 2001. In Africa, mental health disorders provoked by war, conflict, natural disaster, AIDS, poverty, oppression of women and racism are more likely to occur than elsewhere, argues the report of the World Health Organization (WHO), released in October. Although the problem in Africa is significant, the continent has few personnel or facilities to provide treatment to the mentally ill. The number of psychiatrists for every 100,000 people in Africa (excluding Algeria, Tunisia and South Africa) ranges between none and one, compared with more than ten in North America.

According to the study, stress, anxiety, depression, lack of self-esteem and suicides can be side effects of poverty. Poor people often point out that not being able to provide for one's family is a recurring source of stress. As a result, says the report, "individuals with mental disorders, particularly in developing countries, are commonly poorer than the rest of the population." The relation between poverty and mental illness is complex. The report argues that poverty and mental disorders exist together in a vicious cycle. Economic deprivation, low education and unemployment contribute to mental and behavioural disorders that in turn lead to increased health expenditure, loss of jobs or reduced productivity.

The cycle is hard to break, the report recognizes. Low-income countries have neither the capacity to eradicate poverty nor the resources to provide the needed care for those with mental disorders. The report therefore suggests a creative approach to mental health that includes "training of all personnel, making essential drugs available at all health facilities, and moving the mentally ill out of prisons." In Uganda, for example, mental health was integrated into primary health care in 1996. Such steps do not require many resources, but mainly a change in approach to the problem. Most importantly, argues the WHO report, just as the taboo about discussing AIDS is starting to disappear, it is important to remove the stigma surrounding mental disorders to facilitate public debate about possible solutions to the problem.

FAO reports little progress in easing African hunger

Researchers at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report that a third of Africans are undernourished, and that the percentage has changed little over the past 20 years. The FAO's State of Food Insecurity in the World 2000 put the number of undernourished Africans in 1998 at just under 186 million (see graph), or 34 per cent of the total population, compared to 38 per cent in 1979. Somalia was judged the most malnourished country in the world, with 75 per cent of its inhabitants suffering chronic undernourishment in 1998. Afghanistan ranked second with 70 per cent, followed by Burundi, Eritrea and Haiti. Of the 24 countries with malnutrition rates greater than 35 per cent, 19 are in Africa.

The report also found that severe malnutrition was much higher in Africa than in any other region, with average food deficits greater than 300 kilocalories per day among the undernourished in 46 per cent of African countries, compared with 16 per cent of countries in Asia and the Pacific. Three of the five countries with food deficits above 400 kilocalories per day are in Africa, with Somalia again the worst affected with an average nutrition shortfall of 490.

APPOINTMENT Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi has been reappointed by the UN Secretary-General as his special representative to Afghanistan, a position from which he resigned in 1999. Mr. Brahimi, a former minister for foreign affairs of Algeria, also has led a number of other missions for the UN, including as special envoy to Yemen, South Africa, Zaire and Haiti. During 1989-91, while under-secretary-general of the League of Arab States, he helped mediate the end of the civil war in Lebanon.

Material from this article may be freely reproduced, with attribution to
"Africa Recovery, United Nations".
We would appreciate a copy of the reproduction.

Africa Recovery
Room S-931
United Nations
New York, NY 10017 USA

Tel: (212) 963-6857
Fax: (212) 963-4556
Email: africa_recovery@un.org

Website: www.africarecovery.org
Contact us by email: africa_recovery@un.org