Renowned Muslim Anti-Apartheid Activist Passes !
The most popular and recognizable Indian South African Muslim woman over the past five decades” and “a true Gandhian,” Fatima Meer passed this week at the age of 82.
 
She combined oppositional activism with a politics of bridge-building. In 1946, Meer joined other South African Indians in a passive resistance campaign against apartheid.

MONROVIA, Liberia,— IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, said today it will launch its Business Edge training product in Liberia by March 2010 deepening its support for businessmen and women in the country and helping them acquire the skills they need to succeed.
 IFC is currently seeking partners to deliver Business Edge training in Liberia, where it is supporting private sector recovery and growth.

Digital Impact Group: Persistent Digital Divide Among Low-Income Individuals

By Greg Goldman

There is a persistent digital divide among low-income individuals, households, and communities throughout the US, as it relates to “always on” high-speed Internet access in homes. Over 100 million individuals representing over 40 million households do not use broadband because they cannot access it, cannot afford it, do not know how to use it, or are not aware of its benefits.

 By staff writer

It is going to be a historic election for the State in general and for the African community in particular to see many of their fellow community members who are entering these races in a record number. Some of these candidates include Peter Idusogie, Hussein Samater and Mohamoud Wardere.  
Peter Idusogie, energetic & outspoken, British born Nigerian, is eying on the Governor’s seat. Peter is already campaigning  widely all over the State. In the past few weeks, he has been seen in almost all the Somali Malls in South Minneapolis, attended Liberian functions, met MIND (Minnesota Institute of Nigerian Development) members, spotted at the 1st Cup Café last Friday night where he spoke in front of a large East African Coffee sippers,

Child and Family Wellness Shops, sometimes called CFW shops, a project spearheaded by the HealthStore Foundation appoints new leaders For the CFW shops in Rwanda.
Health Store wants to improve access to essential drugs, basic healthcare, and prevention services for children and families in the developing world using business models that maintain standards, are geometrically scalable, and achieve economies of scale.

By Dane Smith & Jennifer Godinez

Once upon a time, many Americans seriously believed that not everybody needed to learn how to read, or attend school, or advance very far toward a formal education.
In the 19th century, this actually was our public policy with regard to girls and racial minorities of both sexes.
This foolish and oppressive exclusion applied in various forms and at various levels to almost everybody who did not belong to the “white Anglo-Saxon protestant” male oligarchy.
Well into the 20th century, it was a common belief that not everybody really needed to attend high school. Until very recently, there were those who thought it unnecessary for everybody to finish high school. We have made progress and have much to celebrate, but we also have a ton of work to do.

Families who are not proficient in English have a new user-friendly resource to help them with their child’s health care needs.  Beginning March 1, Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota is offering dedicated interpreter phone lines that give Hispanic and Somali callers immediate access to trained healthcare interpreters who can connect them with any department or clinic at Children’s.
Interpreters have always been available at Children’s, but callers had to call a main line first where they would most likely reach someone who does not speak their language.  The family had to communicate the need for an interpreter and would be placed on hold while an interpreter was called.  Sometimes calls would be lost or the families would hang up.

Accurate Census Data on Children Critical to Billions in Federal Funding and Community Planning 

The U.S. Census Bureau today launched a “Children Count Too” public awareness campaign reminding parents to include babies and young children on their 2010 Census forms. Most of the nation’s 120 million households will begin receiving census questionnaires by mail between March 15 and March 17.
 “A complete and accurate count of our nation’s youngest is critical to their health and education, and the future strength of our communities and labor force,” said Census Bureau Director Robert Groves at a news conference at Mary's Center, a nonprofit maternal and child care center serving immigrant communities in Washington.

Somalia* has an estimated population of seven million. The territory, which was recognized as the Somali state from 1960 to 1991, was fragmented into regions led in whole or in part by three distinct entities: the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Mogadishu; the self-declared Republic of Somaliland in the northwest; and the semiautonomous region of Puntland in the northeast. The TFG was formed in late 2004, with a five-year transitional mandate to establish permanent, representative governmental institutions and organize national elections. In January an expanded Transitional Federal Parliament (TFP) extended the TFG's mandate until August 2011. For the first time, the Transitional Federal Institutions were all located in Mogadishu after the TFP relocated from Baidoa in February.

In a newly-published interview in a British newspaper, the former wife of Nelson Mandela confessed her “disappointment” in her former husband whose name she even appeared to regret having.
 
"This name Mandela is an albatross around the necks of my family,” Winnie Madikizela-Mandela said in an interview with the London Telegraph. “Mandela was not the only man who suffered. There were many others, hundreds who languished in prison and died.

Federal Highway Money to assist nearly 150 DBE firms through new Business Development Program
Minneapolis – Congressman Keith Ellison (5th Congressional District) announced that the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MNDOT) will receive nearly $900,000 from the Federal Highway Administration to boost the growth of 145 under-utilized Disadvantaged Business Enterprise firms (DBE).

ARUSHA, Tanzania — A technical officials session of the joint meeting of the EAC Monetary Affairs Committee (MAC), Fiscal Affairs Committee (FAC) and Capital Markets, Insurance and Pensions Committee (CMIPC) to consider the final report on the establishment of a Monetary Union among the EAC Partner States concluded at the Snowcrest Hotel in Arusha, Tanzania.
 

Long time community activist Peter Idusogie joins the already crowded race to the State’s top seat. Former host of the popular Inside Minnesota podcast since last year knows the challenges ahead and wants to accomplish two things: To make history by becoming Minnesota’s first African immigrant leader and taking the State’s ever increasing deficit down to the drain.