Africa Goes Digital

Viral Facts Africa, a first of its kind African initiative to combat health misinformation online, was launched recently by the World Health Organization (WHO) and a network of fact-checking organizations and leading public health bodies. By Cristina DuarteUNITED NATIONS, May 7 2021 (IPS) In rebuilding after COVID-19, policymakers must invest in innovative technology to leapfrog obstacles to inclusive development. Africa has enjoyed strong economic growth for most of the 21st century, mainly because of robust global demand for primary commodities. But the “Africa Rising” narrative that accompanied this growth is mostly a story of rising GDP, which is overly one-dimensional. In fact, Africa’s economic growth has failed to generate many good jobs—postponing, once again, the benefits of the demographic dividend of a large working-age population. Because there are fewer old and young people that require support than people of working age, the dividend is supposed to free up resources that can be devoted to inclusive development. Instead, African policymaking continued its now nearly half-century belief that achieving “development” is limited to managing poverty—in other words, equating the business of development to poverty reduction. The shift from the industrialization agenda of the early post-independence period to one of poverty reduction is a major reason for the continent’s economic malaise. As the African Innovation Summit (2018) put it, the development ...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Africa Development & Aid Economy & Trade Education Headlines Health Humanitarian Emergencies Poverty & SDGs Sustainability TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news