IMAGE HIV/AIDS and Microfinance in South Africa

The Intervention with Microfinance for AIDS and Gender Equity (IMAGE) is a public health and development programme that is designed to reach disadvantaged women and their households. It combines the introduction of a poverty-targeted micro-finance programme with a participatory learning and action curriculum called Sisters for Life. The combined intervention aims to be mutually reinforcing, seeking to strengthen individual client agency and to improve household well-being, communication and power relations. IMAGE is made available to communities in Limpopo province of South Africa, and women from the economically poorest households are identified and then encouraged to join the programme. IMAGE is jointly administered by the Small Enterprise Foundation (SEF) and the Rural AIDS and Development Action Research Programme (RADAR).

Yemen: More Than a Global Security Threat

Why is the U.S. pledging to back a foreign military whose special operations forces have been accused of egregious human rights abuses?

Earlier this month, the U.S. promised to help the Yemeni military beef up its special operations forces. The Pentagon has been offering Yemeni security forces handouts all year: In February, for example, the Pentagon appropriated $150 million in military assistance for Yemen — an $83 million dollar increase over the previous year. Unfortunately, very little was offered to explain what would become of such a large chunk of change. (All that in addition to the Obama administration’s recent decision to sanction the targeting of Anwar Al-Awlaki, an American cleric residing in Yemen. )

Such funds, it’s been reported, are intended to help the country target Al Qaeda. But we’re talking about Yemen here, a country that ranks 111th on the 2009 U.N. Human Poverty Index. It’s a country that’s received far less U.S. aid than most in the region. When it comes to Yemen, it seems the U.S. sees little more than a security threat.

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