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Uganda Cranes one point away from 2019 AFCON

By
Our Reporter
-

The Uganda National football team, Cranes are one point away from qualifying for the 2019 African Cup of Nations tournament in Cameroon.

Uganda will need at least one point from its last two matches, which will be against Cape Verde (home) and Tanzania (away).
Faruku Miya scored a brace as Uganda Cranes out-muscled Lesotho Likuena (The Crocodiles) 2-0 at the Setsoto stadium in Maseru Stadium on Tuesday night.

Meanwhile Tanzania overcame Cape Verde to move to 5 points, Cape Verde remains on 4 and Lesotho just two points from the four matches played.
Uganda Cranes will return to action next month, on 16th November 2018 against Cape Verde at the Mandela National Stadium.

On the other hand, Tunisia and Egypt wrapped up Group J slots for next year’s final tournament after victories in Day Four matches on Tuesday.

Tunisia recorded a 2-1 win over Niger in Niamey to maintain their unbeaten run while The Pharaohs on sealed their place on the wings of a 2-0 win over Swaziland away in Mavuso.
Meanwhile, Madagascar achieved unarguably the brightest moment in their footballing life after beating Equatorial Guinea 1-0 on Tuesday, to qualify for next year’s final tournament with two matches to spare.

Cameroon (hosts), Senegal, Madagascar, Tunisia and Egypt are the only five countries to confirm their places at the tournament.

The 2019 AFCON tournament will be hosted in Cameroon. The competition will be held in June and July 2019 to move it from January/February for the first time.
It will also be the first Africa Cup of Nations expanded from 16 to 24 teams.

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Police cancels Bobi Wine’s Kyarenga Concert at Namboole

By
Geoffery Serugo
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Bobi Wine

Uganda Police has finally in a letter dated October 16, 2018 ordered Emma Promotion and Marketing Agency to call off Bobi Wine’s ‘Kyarenga Concert’ that was supposed to take place in the night of October 20,2018 at the Mandela National Stadium-Namboole.

In the letter AIGP Asuman Mugenyi, said the Management of Mandela National Stadium has not alerted police on anything to do with Bobi Wine’s concert. “The Management of Mandela National Stadium-Namboole has availed us with a matrix of events they plan to host from September, 2018 to January 2019 but does not include the above music show,” AIGP Mugenyi wrote to Emma Serugo, a director of Emma PromotionZ and Marketing Agency.

Mugenyi said since the stadium management don’t know of Bobi Wine’s concert arrangements there, it cannot go on. “You are therefore advised to call off the music show since you have not made any arrangements with the management of Mandela National Stadium to host the music show on the 20th day of October, 2018,” Mugenyi said.

Despite the letter Bobi Wine accused the police of sabotaging his concern preparations. “As you are all aware, there have been several hiccups in our preparations. These problems have been caused by the inconsistency and lack of transparency on the part of Uganda Police Force,” Bobi Wine posted on his Facebook on Monday.

He said for the past three weeks, the event organizers have been tossed up and about by the police. Indeed, over three weeks ago, we approached the police and informed them about our intentions to hold the concert as required by law,” he said in his post on Facebook.

Much as Mugenyi in a letter said management at Namboole are unware of the concert, Bobi wine says otherwise. “We agreed and made payments to the Namboole Stadium management, and made a booking for the 13th of October. That was our initial date of choice for the show. After making a deposit on venue fees, the Managing Director of the stadium called requesting us to change the date because there was going to be a match between Uganda Cranes and Lesotho on the date we had booked.

Even when we had already recorded adverts mentioning the 13th, we decided that a game involving our national team was very important and it was fit and proper for us to let them access the stadium. We then agreed with Namboole Management and rescheduled our concert for the 20th of October. We started advertising,” he wrote on Monday.

Bobi Wine said he and others have done everything required of them by law “but it is apparent that the people in authority are doing everything possible to frustrate the concert.”

“As things stand, the concert has been left in balance. A lot of money and time have been spent in advertisements and preparations,” he said.

On his Monday Fcebook post, Bobi Wine told his followers he was not sure that the concert would take place and now the police has confirmed by way of ordering for its cancellation. “Dear fans and friends, I am not sure when or whether the Kyarenga Concert will happen. But I advise those in authority to desist from these provocations. I am a Ugandan artiste with a legitimate right to stage a concert,” Bobi Wine said.

Below is Bobi Wine’s full letter post on Facebook on Monday after arriving from Nairobi in the previous evening.

STATEMENT ABOUT OUR KYARENGA CONCERT

15th October, 2018

Last night I returned to Uganda after a very successful trip in Nairobi – Kenya. I am very grateful to Kenya for the warm brotherly welcome. Later, I will send out a special message of thanks to the people of Kenya and specific individuals who made our visit memorable.

I know that many of our friends are anxious about the status of our KYARENGA concert which stands scheduled for this Saturday, 20th October.

Upon return to the country, I had a meeting with our team to evaluate and make final decisions about the concert.

As you are all aware, there have been several hiccups in our preparations. These problems have been caused by the inconsistency and lack of transparency on the part of Uganda Police Force. For the past three weeks, the event organizers have been tossed up and about by the police. Indeed, over three weeks ago, we approached the police and informed them about our intentions to hold the concert as required by law.

We agreed and made payments to the Namboole Stadium management, and made a booking for the 13th of October. That was our initial date of choice for the show. After making a deposit on venue fees, the Managing Director of the stadium called requesting us to change the date because there was going to be a match between Uganda Cranes and Lesotho on the date we had booked. Even when we had already recorded adverts mentioning the 13th, we decided that a game involving our national team was very important and it was fit and proper for us to let them access the stadium. We then agreed with Namboole Management and rescheduled our concert for the 20th of October. We started advertising.

Once again our team went to the Police headquarters in Naguru with a written request for the Police to clear the show and provide security on that day. On arrival, the police officers in charge of recieving and filing letters refused to stamp on it to indicate that it had been recieved. Even when we insisted that we needed this for our records, they persisted. Days went by and when we followed up, the team was advised to meet the Director of Research in the Police about the same!

Our team went ahead with other copies of the letter to the Director of Research (Mr. Ochom) who sent us to the Inspector General of Police. The team went to the IGP’s office and he sent them to his assistant who then sent them to afande Asuman Mugyenyi.

At this point, these guys started speaking a different language.
The team was asked to get written clearance from Namboole stadium first and when they approached the Namboole MD for the letter, he in turn asked them for police clearance!

It is a day later that we saw a letter on social media addressed to us from Namboole saying that the 20th of October was also booked for a wedding. We asked for a copy of the letter if it was legitimate and it was not given to us.

The team also visited the Kampala Metropolitan Police office and the KMP head, Moses Kafeero who referred them to his assistant. His assistant told them to go to the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) if they wanted any information concerning police clearance of the Kyarenga Concert!

My team went back to the Police headquarters on Friday last week and they were told to go back today at 10am on condition that I appear with them in person. When they told me, I decided to cut short my trip to Kenya to attend this meeting today. To my dismay, when my team reached the Police headquarters this morning, they were told that the IGP was out of town. I resorted to making phone calls to him all day today but the person who picked my calls kept telling me that the IGP was in a meeting at the Police headquarters board room since 8:00am.

We have done everything required of us by law but it is apparent that the people in authority are doing everything possible to frustrate the concert.

As things stand, the concert has been left in balance. A lot of money and time have been spent in advertisements and preparations.

Dear fans and friends, I am not sure when or whether the Kyarenga Concert will happen. But I advise those in authority to desist from these provocations. I am a Ugandan artiste with a legitimate right to stage a concert.

Bobi Wine

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Deputy Speaker Jacob Oulanyah lauds NMS for quality work

By
George Mangula
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The Deputy Speaker of Parliament of Uganda, Jacob Oulanyah has commended the National Medical Stores (NMS) for working to ensure that Ugandans access safe medicines and other medical supplies.

Oulanyah made the remarks as he paid a visit to the NMS facilities in Entebbe where he reaffirmed government’s commitment to keep supporting the agency’s activities, innovations and operational efficiency.

He said, “National Medical Stores (NMS), and its management, is a story of hope for Uganda. In this country Goliath is winning all the time. So when David wins we must celebrate. And this is a case of David winning.”

He further applauded the institution’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) campaign where it is to embark on fighting the Nodding Disease syndrome, a mysterious condition whose origin and cause is still unknown.

Nodding syndrome is a severe neurological disorder that manifests as seizures, head nodding, cognitive impairment, and multiple disabilities which affects mostly children.

Oulanyah represents Omoro Constituency in parliament, one of the areas affected by the disease that has attacked especially children.

NMS is mandated to procure, store and distribute essential medicines and medical supplies to all public health facilities in the country. Its mandate has grown to serve 100 percent of government health facilities including the police, army, prisons and vaccine handling.

NMS regularly reports back to the Parliamentary committee about their state of service delivery across the country in order to ensure transparency and accountability to The Ministry of Health, Members of Parliament and other Stakeholders.

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AfDB and peers leverage blended finance to unlock $9b for developing countries

By
Our Reporter
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Such roads need financial support from AfDB

The African Development Bank (AfDB) and other development finance institutions (DFIs) last year used about US$1.2 billion in concessional funds to support nearly US$9 billion in private investment projects in emerging markets, according to a new DFI report that highlights how blended concessional finance can be key to mobilizing private investment in challenging environments.

The report by the DFI Working Group on Blended Concessional Finance for Private Sector Projects offers an extensive set of data on the extent to which blended concessional finance is used by DFIs—including where and in what sectors, and how much private finance is mobilized.

The report reflects data from the Bank and 22 other DFIs—including the Asian Development Bank (AsDB), the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), European Development Finance Institutions (EDFI), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDBG), International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD).

Last year, the DFI Working Group adopted Enhanced Principles on blended concessional finance to ensure concessional funds are used to the minimum extent needed and to crowd in other investors as much as possible and when justified by market failures, demonstration effects in pioneering projects, important affordability considerations, or other economic factors.

Blended concessional finance involves combining concessional funds and commercial financing from DFIs and the private sector. It allows DFIs to support private sector projects beyond what they would normally be able to engage in, particularly in higher-risk countries. For example, the report showed that of the nearly US$9 billion in project financing unlocked by blended finance, more than US $3.3 billion came from private lenders and investors.

DFIs are increasingly leveraging financing of this type to channel private investment into challenging markets—particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and in low- and lower-middle-income countries. The report shows in 2017 projects financed by DFIs using concessional finance included innovative renewable energy projects in Africa and the Pacific, new technologies in Latin America and North Africa, innovative projects to mobilize finance for housing, guarantees for financial intermediaries to stimulate small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) development, and projects to develop agribusiness.

The report also notes best practices and improvements in governance, decision-making processes, documentation, training, and effective monitoring to ensure concessional funds are used efficiently.

The report was released on the sidelines of the Tri Hita Karana (THK) Forum on Sustainable Development in Bali, where attendees endorsed a complementary program called the “Tri Hita Karana Roadmap for Blended Finance.” The THK Roadmap, led by the OECD, covers a broader range of public/private support for private sector projects beyond the use of concessional finance and is fully consistent with the DFI Enhanced Principles.

The DFI Working Group contributed to and supports the THK Roadmap, and sees it as providing important shared values for all stakeholders engaged in supporting private sector projects for development and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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Museveni meets local manufacturers, says gov’t won’t allow products in warehouses

By
George Mangula
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President Museveni

President Yoweri Museveni has said his government will not allow any locally-made product produced in surplus quantities to be bonded in the country.

“There should be no bonded warehouse for sugar or any other product that we have produced in abundancy in Uganda. The practice of bonding such products is due to corruption,” he said while meeting a delegation of Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA) at Entebbe State House.

The president said that the government would impose taxes on all imported goods once it is established that such commodities are produced in large quantities locally such as pharmaceutical and scholastic products.

The meeting was attended by Trade, Industry and Cooperatives Minister, Amelia Kyambadde, of Finance and Economic Development, Matia Kasaija and that of State for Privatization and Investment, Evelyne Anite.

His remarks followed the manufacturers’ complaints over some Government officials who have frustrated the policy of Buy Ugandan Build Uganda, adding that those officials have persisted in procuring imported products even when there are good quality ones produced locally. Mr. Museveni made it clear that he would sack such Procurement Officers.

He said total demand was vital for businesses to progress. He told the meeting that the NRM Government is building roads, railways and expanding electricity generation and supply, among others, with the aim of reducing the cost of doing business in the country. He said that the Government is fully committed to the reduction in the cost of providing transport, electricity, bank loans, water and telecommunications for the benefit of all stakeholders.

He assured the UMA delegation that electricity rates would soon go down as Ayago power dam nears completion. He revealed that Uganda today generates electricity about 2,000 megawatts and that in the next 4 to 5 years, the country’s power generation will have been expanded to 5,000 megawatts. He added that plans are also underway to produce about 1,000 megawatts of electricity from geothermal energy.

Museveni told the UMA delegation that soon all industries, regardless of their size in operations, would enjoy a low rate of US5 cents per unit of electricity.

On communications, he disclosed that the railway link from Mombasa to Kisumu will soon be commissioned and that neighbouring Tanzania has also advanced in the extension of the railway from Dar-es-Salaam to Mwanza. He observed that given that progress, Uganda was assured of utilizing water transport to link with Kisumu and Mwanza at a low cost.

He also told the meeting that Government has already provided funds to the Uganda Development Bank and plans underway to avail it with more funds so as to reduce the cost of commercial loans for industries. He said the agricultural sector would also benefit from that line of credit. He was optimistic the cost of credit would further go down.

He talked of the need to skill the available human resource. He said that government has addressed the matter of skilling by facilitating the construction of technical institutes. He congratulated the UMA delegation for the reduction in the national import bill from US$7 billion to US$5billion per annum adding that Government policy is to ensure import substitution.

UMA boss Ms. Barbra Mulwana, said manufacturers in the country face a number of challenges that range from high costs of doing business and capitalization.

Sugar producer, Abeid Alam, expressed pleasure to note that increased electricity generation will assure Uganda of more value addition to a host of products. He disclosed that Uganda has the potential to become a sugar production hub in the region.

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Museveni prepares to commission The Source of the Nile Bridge

By
Isaiah Mwebaze
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Source of the Nile Bridge

The Source of the Nile Bridge is to be commissioned on Wednesday by president Museveni as chief guest, accompanied by a high-level delegation from Japanese government that sponsored the building of the bridge at 80 percent cost.

Since its construction started in April 2014, the bridge has simply been referred to as ‘The New Nile Bridge’ until cabinet chaired by Museveni days ago zeroed on “The Source of the Nile Bridge”, having asked people from Busoga to name the bridge.It will replace the Nalubaale Bridge, which was built in 1954.

The bridge is located at Njeru, a suburb of Jinja across the Victoria Nile, between the source of the Nile to the south and Nalubaale Power Station (old bridge) to the north. This is adjacent and immediately north of where the Uganda Railways line crosses the Victoria Nile. It is located on the proposed Kampala–Jinja Expressway, approximately 82 kilometres (51 mi), by road, east of Kampala,

The Nalubaale Bridge is one of the only two road crossings across the Victoria Nile in Uganda, the other crossing being the Karuma Bridge, approximately 285 kilometres (177 mi), by road, to the north.[7]The road crossing at Jinja is of national and regional significance because it is part of the “Northern Corridor”, a highway across east and central Africa linking the Indian Ocean at Mombasa, Kenya, to the Atlantic Ocean at Matadi, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The old bridge, commissioned in 1954, is in bad structural shape and has outlived its expected lifespan. The new bridge will carry a four-lane dual highway with pedestrian sidewalks. It will be the longest bridge in Uganda at 525 metres (1,722 ft) long and 22.9 metres (75 ft) wide. The feasibility studies were conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

In November 2013, the Uganda National Roads Authority awarded the construction contract to the Zenitaka Corporation of Japan and Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company of South Korea. Construction was expected to last four years. On January 28, 2014, the construction was launched by Museveni.

As of August 2017, the construction was 40 percent complete, according to the bridge contractors. During an inspection tour of the construction site by the Japanese ambassador to Uganda, the contractors revealed that they had started using steel, after the product met the contractors’ standards.

Source of the Nile Bridge

Other infrastructure developments associated with the new bridge, include a “roadside station” or service centre on the Jinja side, which will host a restaurant, supermarket, public toilets, and an exhibition area. The station will also accommodate a chamber for bridge maintenance, security and an emergency response unit.

The development also calls for surface roads on the Njeru side to connect to the Nyenga-Njeru Road and the proposed Kampala–Jinja Expressway as well as the existing Kampala–Jinja Highway and the Mukono–Kayunga–Njeru Road. Road connections to the town of Jinja will be constructed, east of the road service centre.

As of 28 September 2018, the major physical construction had concluded. Minor electrical and surface markings remained, with official commissioning of the completed bridge planned for October 17, 2018.

Construction costs

The total cost of the New Jinja Bridge was budgeted at US$125 million. The government of Japan financed 80 percent of the cost, in the form of a soft loan of US$100 million at an annual interest rate of 0.01 percent, repayable in ten years but extendable to forty years. The government of Uganda’s funding is US $25 million (20 percent), out of its own coffers.

In March 2018, the Ugandan parliament authorized a supplementary loan from JICA, amounting to JPY: 3.891 billion (Shs133 billion or US $36.721), to complete this project. The bridge was completed and is to be officially commissioned on 17 October 2018. The cost of construction was quoted at US$112 million (about Shs41.1 billion) and has a projected lifespan of 120 years.

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Global health organizations commit to new ways of working together for greater impact

By
Our Reporter
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Ugandan nurses at Butabika Hospital

Eleven heads of the world’s leading health and development organizations Tuesday signed a landmark commitment to find new ways of working together to accelerate progress towards achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Coordinated by the World Health Organization, the initiative unites the work of 11 organizations, with others set to join in the next phase.

The commitment follows a request from Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of Ghana, and Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway, with support from United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, to develop a global action plan to define how global actors can better collaborate to accelerate progress towards the health-related targets of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

“Healthy people are essential for sustainable development – to ending poverty, promoting peaceful and inclusive societies and protecting the environment. However, despite great strides made against many of the leading causes of death and disease, we must redouble our efforts or we will not reach several of the health-related targets,” the organizations announced Tuesday at the World Health Summit in Berlin.

“The Global Action Plan represents an historic commitment to new ways of working together to accelerate progress towards meeting the 2030 goals. We are committed to redefine how our organizations work together to deliver more effective and efficient support to countries and to achieve better health and well-being for all people.”

The group has agreed to develop new ways of working together to maximize resources and measure progress in a more transparent and engaging way. The first phase of the plan’s development is organized under three strategic approaches: align, accelerate and account.

Align: The organizations have committed to coordinate programmatic, financing and operational processes to increase collective efficiency and impact on a number of shared priorities such as gender equality and reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health.

Accelerate: They have agreed to develop common approaches and coordinate action in areas of work that have the potential to increase the pace of progress in global health. The initial set of seven “accelerators” include community and civil society engagement, research and development, data and sustainable financing.

Account: To improve transparency and accountability to countries and development partners, the health organizations are breaking new ground by setting common milestones for nearly 50 health-related targets across 14 Sustainable Development Goals. These milestones will provide a critical checkpoint and common reference to determine where the world stands in 2023 and whether it is on track to reach the 2030 goals.

The Global Action Plan will also enhance collective action and leverage funds to address gender inequalities that act as barriers to accessing health, and to improve comprehensive quality health care for women and girls, including sexual and reproductive health services.

The organizations that have already signed up to the Global Action Plan for Healthy Lives and Well-being for All are: Gavi the Vaccine Alliance, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Global Financing Facility, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, Unitaid, UN Women, the World Bank and WHO. The World Food Programme has committed to join the plan in the coming months.

The final plan will be delivered in September 2019 at the United Nations General Assembly.

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Businesses need employee engagement more than process

By
Guest Writer
-
Martin Zwilling

By Martin Zwilling

The days of leadership without engagement are gone. With interactive social media and video everywhere, everyone needs to feel they have a relationship with their leaders, and every brand needs leader personification for customers to relate. Soon you won’t be able to name a business as one of your favorites if you can’t personally visualize and relate to company leadership.

In the same way, great entrepreneurs and company leaders should no longer rely on faceless and nameless processes to drive business strategy and innovation to stay competitive. The old way doesn’t work, and results more than ever in slow decision-making, lack of real connection with employees, and ignorance of what customers really want.

The new principles of engagement, as well as the dysfunctions of the old, are well illustrated in the insightful classic book, “Why Are There Snowblowers in Miami?” by Steven D. Goldstein. He speaks from a wealth of personal experience in private equity, as well as top executive positions at American Express, Sears, and Citigroup.

He found the dysfunctional engagement that sent snow blowers to his store in Miami every year. As a result of this incident and many others, he defined five key engagement principles which resonate with me as just as relevant for new business founders as mature business executives. Here is my adaptation of his engagement principles for all the aspiring entrepreneurs I advise:

Learn to adopt an outsider’s perspective. Every entrepreneur, even though confident in his domain, needs to fight complacency in a world that changes almost daily. You need to look at everything through fresh eyes, continually ask questions not usually asked, and actively listen to contrary views. No change means you are falling behind as a leader.

Interact with employees and customers on a regular basis. Authentic communication at all levels and encouraging feedback is how you find out what is really going on. More meetings in your conference room won’t get to the truth as well as simply talking to people who interact with customers directly. Never be too busy to talk to real customers.

Focus on two or three pertinent metrics in any situation. Keeping it simple is the best course. No one can remember your top ten priorities and measurements. Unbundle projects into smaller elements, and personalize the top couple of metrics for each team. These simplified targets are crucial to motivating a team, and getting the focus you need.

Help people know more, so they can do their job better. Knowledge is power, and good information flow and collection tools are of the utmost importance. Information that is relevant and timely needs to be shared widely and efficiently. It’s also important to share the evaluation insights, and to tie the next action steps directly to current results.

Accept that whatever speed you are going is too slow. Time is the enemy in today’s global marketplace. Follow the guiding motto of Andy Grove at Intel, “Only the paranoid survive.” It’s vital to get quick wins, learn rapidly from failures, and get comfortable with constant change. Waiting is never an option, as competitors will always be moving.

In the same fashion, these engagement principles must be applied to customers. More and more, I see evidence that customers want to be pulled to your company by engagement, rather than feel that you are pushing yourself on them. There are a multitude of opportunities through social media to engage your customers, as well as getting out of your office into the marketplace.

Customer business leadership through brand icons, such as Ronald McDonald and Aunt Jemima, is fading fast. Customers as well as employees want to relate and engage with real people as leaders, and business leaders need to interact with real employees and customers to stay vital and current.

As an entrepreneur, you need to start this focus early, with the same passion you currently apply to your new idea and solution. Have you taken a hard look recently at where you are spending most of your time?

The writer is a veteran startup mentor, executive, blogger, author, tech professional, and Angel investor. Published on Forbes, Entrepreneur, Inc, Huffington Post, and others.

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Nearly half the world lives on less than $5.50 a day-WB report

By
George Mangula
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Nothing to eat

Economic advances around the world mean that while fewer people live in extreme poverty, almost half the world’s population — 3.4 billion people — still struggles to meet basic needs, the World Bank (WB) said.

Living on less than $3.20 per day reflects poverty lines in lower-middle-income countries, while $5.50 a day reflects standards in upper-middle-income countries, the World Bank said in its biennial Poverty and Shared Prosperity Report, “Piecing Together the Poverty Puzzle.”
The World Bank remains committed to achieving the goal of ending extreme poverty, defined as living on less than $1.90 a day, by 2030. The share of the world’s population living in extreme poverty fell to 10 percent in 2015, but the pace of extreme poverty reduction has slowed, the Bank warned on Sept. 19.

However, given that economic growth means that a much greater proportion of the world’s poor now live in wealthier countries, additional poverty lines and a broader understanding of poverty are crucial to fully fighting it, the report says.
“Ending extreme poverty by 2030 and boosting shared prosperity are our goals, and we remain committed to them,” said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim. “At the same time, we can take a broader view of poverty at different levels and dimensions around the world. This view reveals that poverty is more widespread and entrenched, underlining the importance of investing in people.”

While rates of extreme poverty have declined substantially, falling from 36 per cent in 1990, the report’s expanded examination of the nature of poverty demonstrates the magnitude of the challenge in eradicating it. Over 1.9 billion people, or 26.2 per cent of the world’s population, were living on less than $3.20 per day in 2015. Close to 46 per cent of the world’s population was living on less than $5.50 a day.

The report also goes beyond monetary measures of poverty to understand how access to adequate water and sanitation, education, or electricity affect a family’s well-being. And since the burdens of poverty often fall most heavily on women and children, the report analyzes how poverty can vary within a household.

The report finds that the incomes of the poorest 40 percent grew in 70 of the 91 economies monitored. In more than half of the economies, their incomes grew faster than the average, meaning they were getting a bigger share of the economic pie. However, progress in sharing prosperity lagged in some regions of the world. The report also warns that data needed to assess shared prosperity is weakest in the very countries that most need it to improve. Only one in four low-income countries and four of the 35 recognized fragile and conflict-affected states have data on shared prosperity data over time.
The new measures allow the World Bank to better monitor poverty in all countries, in multiple aspects of life, and for all individuals in every household.
“Piecing Together the Poverty Puzzle” is being released on End Poverty Day and will be accompanied by a launch event to be webcast on World Bank Live at 12:30 p.m. EDT (4:30 p.m. UTC/GMT).
REGIONAL SNAPSHOTS

Sub-Saharan Africa: A third of the countries in the region experienced negative income growth for the bottom 40 per cent of their populations. The region with the largest number of extreme poor, Africa saw its population nearly double between 1990 and 2015, with one of the largest increases in population being for those living on less than $3.20 and more than $1.90. The poor suffered from multiple deprivations such as low consumption levels and lack of access to education and basic infrastructure services.

East Asia and Pacific: The region was one of the best performers in shared prosperity: The incomes of the poorest 40 per cent of the population grew on average 4.7 per cent between 2010 and 2015. East Asia not only had the largest reductions in extreme poverty, but also in the proportion of people living on less than $3.20 and $5.50 per day. While extreme poverty is very low, the region saw a higher percentage of people lacking access to sanitation.
Europe and Central Asia: Many countries in the region suffered setbacks in the growth of incomes of its bottom 40. On the other hand, several economies whose bottom 40 suffered large declines because of the financial and the debt crises were recovering. Among developing regions, Europe and Central Asia had the lowest percentage of people living under the $3.20 and $5.50 poverty lines. However, in the share of people lacking schooling enrollment, it performs less well than either East Asia and Pacific or Latin America and the Caribbean.
Latin America and the Caribbean: The region saw less shared prosperity from 2010 to 2015 than in previous years as its economies were impacted by a slowdown in global commodity prices. The region had almost 11 per cent living on less than $3.20 a day and over 26 per cent on less than $5.50 a day in 2015. Poverty in non-monetary dimensions such as lack of access to drinking water, adequate sanitation or electricity was much less associated with monetary aspects.
Middle East and North Africa: Even though the region saw an increase in the number of people living on less than $1.90 a day, levels of extreme poverty remained low. However, the region had more people living on less than $5.50 per day in 2015 than in 1990. Additionally, almost one in seven people lacks adequate sanitation.
South Asia: the region saw impressive growth of the incomes of its bottom 40 between 2010 and 2015. Despite a 35-percentage point decline in extreme poverty between 1990 and 2015, the region registered only an 8 per cent decrease in people living on less than $3.20 a day, and over 80 percent of the region still lived below $5.50 per day in 2015. Also, the number of people in the region living in households without access to electricity or adequate sanitation was far greater than those living in monetary poverty.

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Cristiano Ronaldo sex biscuits’ served in UK cafe

By
Agencies
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Cristiano Ronaldo

A UK cafe has been accused of making light of rape after selling biscuits shaped to depict Cristiano Ronaldo having sex. The Portuguese star is currently fighting allegations of sexual assault against a US woman.

Worcester cafe ‘Our Taste of Portugal’ released the biscuits shaped to show the Juventus player having sex, with owner Jose Goncalves saying the snacks were intended as a joke.
“Our idea was to make 30 cookies and play with the situation with our friends and clients, in which it was well accepted and everyone found a joke,” Goncalves said.

The cafe reportedly sold more than 70 of the biscuits for 50p ($0.66) each, claiming that the Portuguese “laugh off everything.”
However, the stunt has left a bad taste in the mouths of some, with people accusing the cafe of making light of sexual assault.

Lydia Johnson, who works at local a sexual assault referral center, condemned the cafe, saying: “I couldn’t really believe it when I saw it on Facebook, I was disgusted to hear about it.”
“There’s really no circumstance when it’s ever going to be OK… it’s disappointing and infuriating really to think anybody would think it was a good idea,” Johnson added, according to Worcester News.

Others writing on BBC Hereford and Worcester’s Facebook page said the sense of humour behind the treats was “weird,” and that they “cannot believe anyone would find these biscuits funny.”
Goncalves, who is Portuguese but has lived in Worcester for 10 years, posted an apology on the cafe’s Facebook page, but hit out at reports on the scandal: “I love Cristiano Ronaldo. I’m going to defend Ronaldo because I believe in his version [in the rape claims].

“Regarding cookies, radio used the word ‘rape’ of its own free will. I have nothing to do with it. Our idea was to make 30 cookies and play with the situation with our friends and clients in which it was well accepted and everyone found joke. One day only!

“It was very malicious what radio posted on the page. I did not authorize it. I am homosexual and abused as a child. If there are people who do not like to hear that word, then I am one of them. I’m sorry if I made people feel bad. I just have to say sorry to everyone.”
3, stands accused of anally raping Kathryn Mayorga in a Las Vegas hotel room after a night spent partying in 2009.

The footballer has categorically denied the allegations, claiming that the encounter was consensual. Lawyers for the player recently said that details of the case, first reported by German news magazine Der Spiegel, were “complete fabrications.”
Las Vegas police have confirmed they have re-opened an investigation into the case.

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