US reopens embassy in Somalia, and other news (8 October 2019)

Rwanda provides four million new textbooks for primary schools, and US reopens embassy in Somalia after 28 years

Each week we highlight some of the international development stories from across the globe that have caught our attention.

  • Supported by DFID funding, Rwanda’s government has printed almost 4 million textbooks for distribution to public and government-aided primary schools. The scheme aims to provide subject specific textbooks to every student by May 2020, which will include toolkits for teaching staff to improve the quality of education. Read more in New Times (Rwanda).
  • The United States is opening an embassy in Somalia, after closing its previous one in 1991 during Somalia’s civil war. This comes as almost $257 million is being provided by the US government for humanitarian assistance in Somalia, following the country’s worst harvest in 25 years threatening extreme hunger for 2.1 million people by December. Read more in The Citizen (Tanzania) and Somalia Affairs.
  • Uganda’s third national development plan, which will come into effect in June 2020, will prioritise increasing nutrition performance, through assistance from the National Information Platforms on Nutrition (NIPN). The NIPN provides financial and technical support from the EU and international experts to tackle poor nutrition. Read more in New Vision (Uganda).
  • Addressing a United Nations Committee last week, Liberia’s permanent representative to the UN declared that Liberia is on track to achieve sustainable and inclusive social development. This is being achieved through cash transfers and food supplementations to improve food security, increased maternal services, and other social security measures. Read more in Front Page Africa.