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Tuesday, 20 July 2010 19:10 |
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Bill Gates arrived in Parliament today and, not surprisingly, attracted a large audience when he spoke to a combined meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Groups focusing on development issues. As a member of the International Development Select committee we had the privilege of our own special briefing when we had the opportunity to find out how his Gates Foundation has made such an impact worldwide. It is really interesting to hear how a man who for 14 of the last 16 years was the world's richest man and led one of the most influential businesses in the last 50 years decided to devote his time to saving lives across the world - his clinical mathematical mind gives him a unique perspective on what he believes works best. For him, this is medical vaccinations to stop the horrific impact of disease and improving maternal health. Originally his focus was on stemming population growth but he discovered that investment in basic health rather than focusing soley on family planning was the best way to allow women to make the choice to limit family size Photo top: Matthew Buxton, M.B. Photographic
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Saturday, 10 July 2010 21:24 |
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On Wednesday 7th I chaired a meeting at Westminster organised with the charity War Child to highlight the continuing struggle of young girls and women in Northern Uganda. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) - originally an Ugandan rebel group that is now terrorising civilians in the DR Congo, CAR and southern Sudan - abducted one of the delegates, Juliet, at the age of twelve, from when she spent six years in the Army's captivity. Juliet is now Head Girl at Pader Girls' Academy, a school for former abductees, victims of sexual and gender based violence and young mothers. Achan Alice, Director and Founder of the Christian Counselling Foundation (CCF), the organisation that founded the Pader Girls Academy, accompanied Juliet to London for the visit. Child soldiers are often forced to maim or injure a family member as part of the recruitment process, so denying the child a refuge to return to. Education and normalising activities can provide alternatives to psychosocial inventions that help the girls deal with their experiences. Juliet and Achan focused on the positive effects that education can have for girls in Northern Uganda, examining how access to education for girls in the region can be improved. Despite her horrific ordeal including frequent rape and the loss of her child, Juliet spoke with outstanding courage and composure abour her experience and her efforts to achieve a better life. As she has had a chance to continue her education, she now hopes to attend University and train as a lawyer so she can represent the thousands of girls and women in her community who have been denied justice. Let us hope that the opportunity she has had to develop can be granted to the many other victims of this dreadful conflict. |
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