European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) Career Development Fellowships for Researchers in Sub-Saharan Africa 2018

Application Deadline: 21st November 2017

Eligible Countries: sub-Saharan African countries

About the Award: Application for a Career Development Fellowship must be submitted by an organisation with an established legal entity in sub-Saharan Africa (‘the applicant legal entity’) on behalf of the prospective fellow employed by that organisation.

The grants are awarded to the host organisation with the explicit commitment that this organisation offers appropriate conditions for the fellow to direct and manage its funding for the duration of the fellowship.

The purpose of this Call for Proposals is to provide funding to actions that aim to support junior to mid-career researchers (‘fellows’) to train and develop their clinical research skills.

The objectives are:

1. To promote career development and retention of postdoctoral researchers and postgraduate medical researchers in the research field and in sub-Saharan Africa;
2. To equip the fellows with the ability to establish themselves as independent researchers and with the skills to initiate and manage their own research at host organisations in sub-Saharan Africa.

Type: Fellowship

Eligibility: 

• The applicant must be an organisation with an established legal entity in sub-Saharan Africa (the applicant legal entity).(3)
• The fellow must be employed or have guaranteed employment by the applicant legal entity (the host organisation) where they intend to remain working for a minimum of two years after the expiration of the grant
• Fellows must:
  • be resident of or be willing to relocate to a sub-Saharan African country;
  • be either a graduate in a subject relevant to the EDCTP2 programme, with a PhD and up to five years’ relevant postdoctoral research experience, or a medical doctor with up to five years’ research experience;
  • have at least one publication in an international peer-reviewed journal;
  • not have been funded under this fellowship scheme before.

• The requested EDCTP contribution per action shall not exceed € 150,000.
• The maximum fellowship duration shall be 36 months.

Selection Criteria: Following an admissibility and eligibility check, letters of intent and full proposals are evaluated by external, independent experts. Proposals are evaluated according to the criteria Excellence, Impact and Implementation. Each criterion is scored between 0 and 5.

The following aspects are considered under the evaluation criteria:

1. Excellence

• Fit with the scope and objectives of the EDCTP2 Programme, the EDCTP strategic research agenda and the call topic description.
• Importance, relevance/pertinence and clarity of the objectives.
• Soundness of the concept and credibility of the proposed approach/methodology.
• Suitability of the candidate, considering their track record, degree of independence and/or potential, and how the fellowship will further the individual’s career.
• Quality of the project and its fit with the fellow’s expertise and career development plan, including acquired competencies and skills to be developed further.

2. Impact

• The extent to which the outputs of the proposed work would contribute, at the European, African and/or International level, to each of the expected impacts listed in the work plan under the relevant topic.
• Likelihood to result in major advances in the field.
• Contribution of the fellowship to the fellow’s clinical research skills and career development.
• Contribution to strengthening clinical research capacity at the home or host organisation.
• Effectiveness of the proposed measures to exploit and disseminate results generated during the fellowship (including management of IPR), to communicate the fellowship activities, and, where relevant, to manage clinical data.
• Sustainability and retention of capacity post-award.

3. Quality and efficiency of the implementation

• Quality and effectiveness of the work plan, including extent to which the resources assigned to work packages are in line with their objectives and deliverables;
• Appropriateness of the management structures and procedures, including risk and innovation management, and how responsibilities for research data quality and sharing, and security will be met.
• Complementarity of the participants within the consortium, and the extent to which the consortium as whole brings together the necessary expertise.
• Appropriateness of the allocation of tasks and resources, ensuring that all participants have a valid role and adequate resources in the project to fulfil that role.
• Feasibility and appropriateness of the methods and project management to achieve the objectives within the timeframe of the grant.
• Compliance with national and international standards of research, Good Clinical Practice, ethics and safety related issues.
• Participants have the operational capacity, to carry out the proposed work, based on the competence and experience of the individual participant(s).
• Suitability of the fellow’s home organisation to support the fellowship project.
• Intention of the fellow’s home organisation to develop and commit to a career post-fellowship or re-integration plan.

Number of Awards:  17-19

Value of Award: 

• Call budget: €2.5 M
• Maximum funding: €150,000
• Funding level: Up to 100% of eligible costs

How to Apply: This is a single-stage application procedure. Proposals must be submitted by 21 November 2017 via EDCTPgrants. Evaluation results are expected to be made available by 16 April 2018.

The host organisation (applicant) must provide a support letter confirming that the organisation is supportive of the proposed action and willing through its financial and administrative systems to enable the fellow to direct independently the proposed action and manage its funding for the duration of the fellowship.

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: EDCTP

$150,000 Google Research Awards in Sciences and Engineering for Academic Institutions Worldwide 2018

Application Deadline: 30th September 2017

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: All

To be taken at (country): respective institutions worldwide

Eligible Fields of Research: The intent of the Google Research Awards is to support cutting-edge research in Computer Science, Engineering, and related fields. Applicants are to categorize their proposals into one of the following broad research areas of interest to Google:

• Economics and market algorithms
• Geo/maps
• Human-computer interaction
• Information retrieval, extraction, and organization
• Machine learning and data mining
• Machine perception
• Machine translation
• Mobile
• Natural language processing
• Networking
• Policy and standards
• Privacy
• Security
• Social networks
• Software engineering
• Speech
• Structured data and database management
• Systems (hardware and software)

About Google Research Award: Google is committed to developing new technologies to help users find and use information. As part of its vision to maintain strong ties with academic institutions worldwide pursuing innovative research in core areas relevant to our mission, the Google Research Awards program aims to identify and support world-class, full-time faculty pursuing research in areas of mutual interest.

Google is excited to support the university research, academic development and technological innovation that happens across the globe. Google has teams in China, EMEA, Australia, New Zealand, India and North America who build and maintain relationships with university research and faculty in their regions and support continuing innovation in computer science education.

In EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), the focus is on top computer science research across all EMEA universities.

Similarly, the group in Japan concentrates on extending Google’s global programs to the top universities in Japan.

The focus is on academic development and research through a variety of programs in China, including curriculum development, the student entrepreneurship program, and computer science education outreach program.

In Australia and New Zealand the focus is on excellence in research at leading universities, academic development programs, and STEM outreach initiatives.

The programs in India focus on promoting state-of-the-art research at Indian universities and academic development programs that use the Internet to reach a large number of students and faculty.

Type: Research

Number of Awards: Several

Value of Award: Faculty members can apply for up to 150,000 USD in eligible expenses, but actual award amounts are frequently less than the full amount requested. Most awards are funded at the amount needed to support basic expenses for one graduate student for one year.

How to Apply: The application process for the Research Awards includes filling out an online form requesting basic information and uploading a proposal via the form. As part of the online form, you will be asked to select a topic area from among the 18 areas listed above. Please select carefully, as this will determine which of the review committees will review your proposal.

Before submitting a proposal, please carefully review all the instructions in the link below, including FAQs and proposal advice.

To apply for a Google research award, faculty members should use the general guidelines on this link for proposal submission.

Award Provider: Google

Burkina Faso: 17 dead in terror attack at Ouagadougou

Anthony Torres

Two gunmen allegedly linked to the Islamic State organisation killed 18 and wounded 7 in an attack on the Istanbul restaurant, which is commonly frequented by foreigners in the capital of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou. This attack is a consequence of the war for regime change carried out by NATO and its Islamist allies in Libya six years ago, which has spread since across the Sahel.

There were at least seven Burkinabès and eight foreigners among the dead, said Foreign Minister Alpha Barry. “Besides the seven Burkinabès, there was a Frenchman, a Canadian, a Senegalese, a Nigerian, a Turk, and two Kuwaitis,” Barry stated, adding that there were also “three victims who have yet to be identified.”

No organisation has claimed responsibility for the attack, but press reports stressed that the modus operandi recalled that of the attack on the Capuccino café last year, only 200 metres away from the Instanbul restaurant. That attack claimed 29 lives and was claimed by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

A gendarmerie (military police) official told AFP that “according to multiple witnesses, at least two assailants arrived on a motorcycle around 9 p.m. with Kalachnikov rifles and opened fire on the Istanbul restaurant.” The restaurant, situated on a major thoroughfare, Kwame Nkrumah Avenue, is well known for serving a largely expatriate clientele.

Both gunmen were shot and killed. “The two assailants were young, wearing jeans and armed with Kalashnikovs,” said the police official. The captain and spokesman for the gendarmerie, Guy-Hervé Yé, told Le Monde that “they hid in the building [where the Istanbul café is located] and as the security forces thought they might have hostages, this dragged out the intervention, which terminated around 4 a.m., when both men were neutralised at the back of the building.”

Burkina Faso’s president, Marc Christian Kaboré, said he “condemned with the greatest firmness the repugnant attack which has bloodied Ouagadougou,” insisting that “Burkina Faso will rise up from this test, because its valiant people will resist terrorism without any concessions.”

In a communiqué, Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, the former colonial power, condemned the “terrorist attack.” The Elysée presidential palace added that “French and Burkina authorities remained in close contact throughout the night,” and Macron and Kaboré spoke Monday morning. The French president wrote that Macron “stressed his solidarity in the new tragedy facing Burkina Faso and reiterated his determination to deepen” ties between the two countries.

France Info editorialist Anthony Bellanger wrote that Burkina Faso’s ex-president, Blaise Compaoré, had established a sort of non-aggression pact with the jihadist groups in the region. “They had tables and hotel rooms available to them in Ouagadougou, and negotiations for the release of hostages, for instance, often took place in Burkina Faso. In exchange, the rule was: no attacks. It was not a big secret, everyone knew it in the region. But...no more Compaoré, no more sanctuary for terrorists, no more suites reserved at hotels in the capital, and the jihadists began striking at the heart of Burkina Faso.”

Bellanger added, “In January 2016, a few days after the installation of the new government, they killed 30 people in the same place as the current attack. The message was clear at the time and it is clear today, as the trial in absentia of Blaise Compaoré just opened in April.”

France’s so-called war on terror in Mali and the broader Sahel region is a pile of lies. While the Socialist Party (PS) government of President François Hollande invoked humanitarian reasons to launch the Mali war, sending thousands of soldiers to fight jihadist militias leaving Libya, France’s ally in Burkina Faso was serving as a sanctuary for negotiations with the Islamist militias without any overt criticism emerging of Compaoré’s regime.

The Mali war was one of the devastating consequences of the regime-change war NATO waged in Libya in 2011. The fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime spread war across the region. Starting in January 2012, the Tuareg-nationalist National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) militia launched an insurrection against the Malian state, taking over parts of northern Mali. After a March 2012 coup in the Malian capital of Bamako, they were able to profit from the chaos in the Malian army and take over the cities of Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal.

Starting in January 2013, Paris sent waves of troops to the region with the support of Washington. Operation Serval, the French invasion of Mali, served as the spearhead of a major expansion of French militarism in its former colonies in West Africa. In exchange for French “aid” to stabilise northern Mali and fight various rebel militias, Paris demanded and received the right to deploy its troops throughout the country. Its aim is to re-establish the colonial order first established by French imperialism in the region at the end of the nineteenth century.

Compaoré, who had ruled with French support for decades, was forced to abandon power in 2014 at France’s request after opposition parties’ calls for demonstrations unleashed mass protests and riots. The protests were called against Compaoré’s attempt to amend the constitution to run for a fifth term in office. The opposition was horrified, however, when a protest call designed to strengthen its position in the political establishment provoked a broader response. It rapidly sought to re-establish control of the situation, negotiating an accord with elements of the Compaoré regime.

Compaoré fell as the Islamic State militia was preparing a series of deadly terror attacks in Paris in 2015, and the various Islamist militias subsequently lost the support they had enjoyed in Burkina Faso. The attacks now carried out by the Islamist forces are the bloody consequences of these reactionary manoeuvres of French imperialism and its neocolonial client states in Africa.

Law to “moralize” French politics: A fig leaf for austerity

Francis Dubois 

The law to “moralize” political life, approved August 3 and 9 by the two houses of the French parliament, is a desperate and farcical attempt to spread illusions in a political establishment that is nothing more than a tool of the banks and the financial oligarchy.

The campaign to “re-establish confidence” that produced this law began after the “Penelope affair,” launched against conservative candidate François Fillon over his pro-Russian positions, but which revealed endemic corruption in the French ruling elite. The drafting of the bill was given over to François Bayrou, the leader of the Democratic Movement (MoDem), who has since resigned as charges surfaced that his party illegally organized no-show jobs at the European Parliament.

The law was approved last Wednesday by a vote 412 to 74 with 62 abstentions. Most conservative The Republicans (LR) deputies voted against; Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s Unsubmissive France (UF), the Stalinist French Communist Party, and the New Left group (Socialist Party and allies) abstained. After the vote, the deputies gave the government a standing ovation.

The law is a purely cosmetic measure aimed at covering up the most embarrassing faults of the system, while giving the financial aristocracy all the powers it needs to buy the parliament. Sections of the law do, however, give a revealing look at the practices of the French regime.

The suppression of the “parliamentary reserve,” a €150 million slush fund placed at the disposal of the deputies and senators to fund various retinues in their districts, could not be avoided; otherwise the entire exercise would have been discredited. It was in part motivated by the fact that its distribution was creating growing tensions within the political establishment. It was opposed by LR, which apparently had the most to lose.

The measure on the official and pervasive lobbying activities of major corporations—who each year pay out considerable sums of money that are rarely declared and produce amendments that are then submitted by parliamentarians—is a “corrective” that will correct nothing. The ban on lobbyists paying the salaries of advisors of the president, of parliamentarians, and of members of ministerial staffs will not prevent the financial aristocracy from making the laws. A deputy will no longer be authorized to participate himself in lobbying activity.

Parliamentarians’ lucrative “consulting” activity will not be banned, but will be subject to certain restrictions. A member of parliament will not be able to engage in consulting during his or her term in office, or to advise firms bidding for state contracts. Otherwise, everything remains the same as before.

As for pantouflage, the revolving door between top jobs in the state bureaucracy and in finance and industry—of which president Macron, a former Rothschild banker, is a classic example—the law changes nothing.

The new law prevents parliamentarians from financing a “close relative” via an advisor position, though they can hire nephews, nieces, cousins or members of the families of other deputies. In this case, they are simply obliged to report it to the High Authority for the Transparency of Public Life. A priori, nothing prevents a pair of parliamentarians from financing each other’s families: they will only be required to state that they are doing it.

Expenses up to €5,840 per month will no longer be paid to National Assembly deputies. They have €5,782 monthly salary, a credit line of €9,500, the right to up to €2,800 monthly for local salaries, the right to travel first class in trains and to take taxis and flights (up to 80 per year) for free. Previously they had to give their word that this was being used for their official functions. Now expenses will only be reimbursed if the deputies provide receipts.

At the same time, the law reintroduces the famous “Bercy lock,” which gives the Finance Ministry at Bercy, instead of the justice system, the right to investigate budgetary infractions. This makes the ministry a key tool for factional political warfare.

For the financing of political parties, the government is creating by decree a “Bank for Democracy,” to regulate party financing and prevent scandals like the Liliane Bettencourt affair, in which LR presidential campaigns received illicit funding directly from France’s wealthiest woman. Public subsidies, as before, will be based on how many parliamentarians belonging to the respective parties, thus favoring the established parties. It is safe to say that this bank’s loans will not in any way hamper the financial aristocracy’s financing of parties that are favorable to it.

The moralization law is an attempt to give limited political credibility to a political establishment and parliament directed controlled by the ruling elite and led by cabals that are nostalgic of the monarchy and the Nazi-collaborationist Vichy régime and aspire to build a police state. This system of representation is largely rejected by the population, and above all by the working class, as was shown by the massive abstention in both rounds of the June legislative elections.

As social inequality reaches ever more monstrous proportions, it is less and less compatible even with the trappings of democracy. The pretense of “moralizing” the French capitalist class is absurd. It is an operation intended to give a veneer of legitimacy to the attacks on basic social and democratic rights that Macron aims to impose, with his unilateral decrees to rewrite French labor law and his creation of a permanent state of emergency.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s Unsubmissive France (LFI) participated in this operation, trying to provide another layer of whitewashing to the ruling elite, proposing various amendments to the bill. LFI did everything it could to insist that “citizen control” over the parliament is possible. Mélenchon—a close collaborator of the late president François Mitterrand, the founder of the PS and master of political corruption—proposed to pay parliamentarians the minimum wage and give the citizens the right to recall them at any time.

Mélenchon personally tried to participate in talks with Bayrou on modifying the bill after the May presidential election. LFI ultimately abstained, however, after having suggested at the end of July that it would oppose the moralization law by presenting two censure motions.

LFI’s main concern was that the veneer of morality was too thin and already beginning to crack. Clémentine Autain of LFI told France Info: “We voted for a certain number of things, but what bothers us is that this law will not allow us to address the basic issue, which is the massive popular distrust of the political system and institutions. So we abstained, because that is our way of saying that we are not happy.”

Mélenchon hopes to profit from this cynical word-juggling. His perspective for a parliamentary “opposition” to Macron, alongside toothless street protests policed by the union bureaucracies and various NGOs, is based on this conception of parliament as an institution that can be pressured to fight for marginal modifications and improvements in social conditions.

Antiquated signalling system leads to another deadly train crash in Egypt

Jean Shaoul 

A horrific train collision just south of Alexandria, Egypt’s second city, on the Mediterranean coast, left at least 41 people dead and 179 injured on Friday.

The crash was no “accident” but the product of the truly atrocious state of the transport infrastructure, the dilapidated and antiquated signalling system and the failure to enforce even the most basic railway safety standards in Egypt, the most populous country in the Middle East, which has seen numerous deadly accidents in recent years.

In November 2013, a collision between a train and a bus killed 27 people in Badrashin in Giza, near Cairo. That came just months after a train carrying soldiers was derailed, killing 17 of the conscripts, and another collision between a train and school bus on a rail crossing in the town of Manfalut in Upper Egypt in 2012 that killed 51 people, most of whom were children.

While that accident was blamed on a signal operator, both the transport minister and the head of the railway authority were forced to resign. The government set up an investigation into the accident to pacify the anguished parents, but did absolutely nothing to improve the railway system. In 2002, in Egypt’s worst rail disaster, a fire swept through a passenger train killing around 360 people.

On Friday afternoon, the train travelling from Cairo to Alexandria crashed into the back of a stationary train near Khorshid station that was travelling from Port Said in the east to Alexandria, causing the two trains to mount into the air, “forming a pyramid,” according to eye-witnesses.

The Port Said train driver said he had halted because the railway signal, of a very old design, was on stop and notified the other driver. He repudiated suggestions that the train had malfunctioned. The Cairo train driver, who crashed into the Port Said train, said he had received no notification that the other train had stopped and could not stop in time.

On Saturday, Transport Minister Hesham Arafat implicitly supported the Cairo train driver, saying that the crash was caused by the railway’s manual-operation system and poorly developed infrastructure. In the now time-honoured tradition, he ordered an investigation into the crash, pledging to “hold accountable” whoever was responsible.

He clearly did not mean top government officials who for years have starved the railways of cash and allowed them to fall into decay. On Sunday, an administrative prosecutor suspended eight railway officials, while prosecutors in Alexandria ordered the 15-day detention of the main scapegoats, the drivers of the two trains, along with their two aides. The driver of the Cairo-Alexandria train had already surrendered himself to the police.

The police released other railway staff after questioning, including the chairman of the Railway Authority, Medhat Shousha, who later resigned. The transport minister announced his replacement the following day amid suggestions that others would also be sacked.

Social Solidarity Minister Ghada Wali announced that the ministry would give a derisory compensation of 50,000 Egyptian pounds (US$2,800) apiece to the families of those killed, while compensation for the injured would be determined on a case-by-case basis.

The train crash took place amid mounting political, economic and social strife, demonstrating the crisis-ridden character of the military regime headed by President Abdel Fatteh el-Sisi.

In the past several weeks, Sisi has appointed judges to head the State Council, the Supreme Judicial Council, the State Lawsuit Authority and the Administrative Prosecution Authority, overriding the wishes of the judiciary, many of whom oppose the new presidential powers that undermine the independence of the judiciary and the separation of powers. His opponents believe that the appointments will render the judiciary subordinate to the country’s vast security apparatus, thereby creating a one-man dictatorship.

For the last four years, Egyptian forces have been fighting an ISIS affiliate in the Sinai peninsula, leading to more than 6,000 deaths, many more than the number of Islamist militants in the area, who are believed to number around 1,000. Media access to the region is restricted. Journalists who deviate from official accounts about Sinai and elsewhere, with reports of torture, forced disappearances and killings at the hands of the Egyptian army, have been criminalised under anti-terror laws.

Last month, pictures of an Egyptian man found two days after he was arrested, showing what appeared to be evidence of torture, emerged on social media. It was the second such incident in a week.

Tens of thousands of textile workers have been on strike and organised sit-ins for more than a week in pursuit of higher wages and better working conditions, in defiance of General Sisi’s brutal dictatorship, which has the full backing of the imperialist powers.

The strikers include 16,000 workers at the Misr Spinning and Weaving Company (MSWC), Egypt’s largest state-owned textile mill, located in the Nile Delta city of Mahalla al-Kubra, not far from Alexandria. The strike is costing the company over 5 million Egyptian pounds (US$280,000) a day.

Mahalla al-Kubra has long functioned as the epicentre of working-class struggle in Egypt, with the textile workers mounting massive strikes against the regime of former dictator Hosni Mubarak in 2006 and 2008. They played a key role in the mass revolutionary struggles in 2011 that brought down Mubarak. In December 2012, amid rising working-class opposition to Islamist President Mohamed Mursi, workers and students in Mahalla declared themselves “autonomous” from what they called Mursi’s “Muslim Brotherhood State.”

The textile workers have refused to accept management’s deal with the unions for a 10 percent basic salary rise, saying they would only end the strike if they won demands for an increased share of the company’s profits, an increased food allowance, and other delayed bonuses and changes in promotion policy, as promised by el-Sisi and parliament in June. Public business minister Ashraf el-Sharkawy had announced that the workers would not receive the increase because they had received an end-of-year profit share instead. The textile workers rejected this, saying they would stay on strike until they were paid what they are owed.

The Egyptian authorities deployed troops to the entrances and exits of Mahalla, along with secret agents, in preparation for any mass marches or protests.

So far, the unions have managed to stop the workers, who had threatened to escalate their action with demonstrations, alongside thousands of their families, outside the factory until their demands were met, from taking further action. Dozens protested outside the company’s headquarters in Talaat Harb Square in downtown Cairo until the company’s security forces “persuaded” them to leave.

Social tensions are escalating as Egypt suffers its deepest economic crisis in more than a decade: inflation has reached 33 percent, an increase of 8 percentage points since the beginning of 2017.

Prices for essential food items, medicine, transit and housing have soared after the Egyptian pound lost half its value after being floated by the government last November. The pressure on working class and poor Egyptians has been further exacerbated by cuts to fuel subsidies that have led to a 50 percent increase in fuel prices, and the implementation of a new value-added tax.

The Egyptian government began enforcing this latest raft of austerity measures in order to secure the release of US$12 billion in loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), part of an agreement signed in November. The results have been devastating, with families struggling to make ends meet, and angry protests last March demanding bread subsidies.

According to official figures that are but a pale reflection of the reality, more than 27 percent of the population already live below the poverty line, with commentators noting that is set to rise unless the economic conditions improve. Unemployment stands at 27 percent for young workers aged 18 to 29, who make up around 24 percent of Egypt’s nearly 90 million population. Most of the unemployed are highly educated, with around 38 percent holding graduate and postgraduate degrees and 30 percent holding vocational high school diplomas.

War in Yemen: Half a million stricken in cholera epidemic

Niles Niemuth

The number of recorded cholera infections in Yemen this year surpassed half a million on Sunday, in what the World Health Organization (WHO) has called the “worst cholera outbreak in the world.” Some 2,000 people have been killed by the disease since the outbreak mushroomed in April when the sewage system of the capital city of Sanaa suddenly stopped functioning.

While the number of new infections reported per week has begun to somewhat subside due to emergency interventions by the Red Cross and other humanitarian organizations, nearly 24,000 new cases were reported last week. The disease has spread to almost every corner of the country, affecting 22 out of 23 governates.

The conditions for the deadly outbreak have been created by the savage war waged by Saudi Arabia and a coalition of Gulf monarchies, now in its third year, with the full backing of the United States, which has provided intelligence and aerial refueling flights.

Pursuing its stated goal of reinstating the deposed government of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, the Saudi coalition has devastated the already deeply impoverished country with round after round of air strikes and a ground invasion spearheaded by the United Arab Emirates. Hadi fled the country after Houthi insurgents and elements aligned with former dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh took control of significant portions of the country, including Sanaa.

According to the UN, between March 2015 and March 2017 at least 10,000 civilians were killed as a consequence of the Saudi-led assault, accounting for a majority of fatalities. More than 2 million people have been displaced since 2015.

From the outset of the war, the Obama administration made sure that the Saudi armory remained stocked with billions of dollars in bombs, weapons and equipment. The military support structures put in place by the Obama administration have been maintained and expanded under President Donald Trump.

In March, US Defense Secretary James “Mad Dog” Mattis issued a memo calling for stepped-up US support for the criminal war, which the US is backing as part of its drive to isolate and ultimately topple the regime in Iran.

In May, Trump visited Saudi Arabia and ostentatiously hailed the totalitarian monarchy as a bastion of stability in the region and linchpin in a US-led crusade against Islamist terrorism—the pretext for their joint war for regime-change in Syria and efforts to destabilize Iran. Trump praised Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies for having “taken strong actions against Houthi militants in Yemen.”

In Riyadh, Trump and the Saudi monarchy finalized a number of agreements, including a $110 billion arms deal that includes an option for the Saudis to purchase $350 billion worth of US weapons over the next 10 years. Following his visit, Trump backed the Saudi regime and its allies in the region when they imposed sanctions and a blockade on Qatar in an attempt to force that regime to cut off relations with Iran.

It is increasingly clear that the cholera outbreak in Yemen is not an unintended consequence of the Saudi-led war, but is being used as a weapon in the US-backed coalition’s efforts to subjugate the country.

Domination of Yemen is crucial to the control of the Bab el Mandeb Strait, a geo-strategic waterway through which much of the world’s oil must pass.

Coalition air strikes and shelling have deliberately targeted civilian residential areas, hospitals, schools, markets, sewers and other critical infrastructure. This unrelenting assault has made it impossible to properly dispose of trash, which has piled up in the streets.

Individuals contract cholera by consuming water that has been contaminated by human feces. At least 14 million people have been blocked from regular access to clean water by the war, putting them at risk of cholera and other water-borne diseases. The dramatic decline in sanitation conditions and the breakdown in access to water supplies resulting from the Saudi onslaught have fueled the rapid spread of cholera.

With the aid of the US Navy, Yemen has also been subjected to a blockade that has curtailed exports and threatens a collapse in the import of staple foods. Yemen relies on imports to meet more than 90 percent of its grain supply.

Exacerbating the situation, the main international airport in Sanaa has been closed since last year, when the Saudi coalition established a no-fly zone over Yemen. Limited amounts of aid from humanitarian organizations have been allowed into the country via the airport only after the approval of the Saudi monarchy. However, those in need of emergency medical aid available outside of the country have been blocked from leaving.

All of this has pushed Yemen to the brink of famine. The World Food Programme has determined that 17 million Yemenis, more than 60 percent of the country’s population, do not have enough food to eat. UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Justin Forsyth reported in July that 1.8 million children are threatened with acute malnutrition and another 385,000 confront severe acute malnutrition.

The humanitarian disaster in Yemen is being compounded by the collapse of the health care system. Forty-nine of the country’s 333 districts do not have a single doctor, and health workers nationwide have not been paid in many months.

Last week, it was reported that without a rapid infusion of supplies and money, Yemen’s main blood bank, the National Blood Transfusion Centre, would be forced to close its doors, denying life-saving treatment to approximately 3,000 people every month.

Doctors Without Borders recently handed off responsibly for maintaining the facility to the WHO, but supplies have been blocked from reaching the facility by the Saudi embargo. If the blood bank is shuttered, thousands of patients suffering from war wounds, cancer or kidney failure will be condemned to death.

The enormity of the war crimes being carried out in Yemen make all the more stark the silence of the mainstream media, the political establishment and their hangers-on in the pseudo-left. While they clamor for war crimes charges against Bashar al Assad and demand regime-change in Syria, they give a pass to the United States and Saudi Arabia to destroy an entire society, sinking Yemen into one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent history, with no apparent end in sight.

MIT/MasterCard Foundation Zambezi Prize for Sub-Saharan African Entrepreneurs 2017

Application Deadline: 30th September 2017

Eligible Countries: Sub-Saharan African countries

About the Award: The Zambezi Prize raises awareness of entrepreneurship and financial inclusion, encourages the flow of capital to financial inclusion ventures, and advances entrepreneurship and financial inclusion to fuel broad-based prosperity.

Type: Entrepreneurship

Eligibility: 

• The venture must help advance financial inclusion.
• The venture must have a presence in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• The venture must have a founder or co-founder that work or plan to work full-time on the venture.

If selected as finalists, ventures must have a founder or co-founder to attend MIT’s Entrepreneurship Development Program in Boston in January 2017

The prize is open to a wide spectrum of financial inclusion ventures demonstrating innovation and potential for impact, financial sustainability, and scalability.

• The venture must advance financial inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• The venture must be in its early stages, having progressed beyond concept.
• Ventures could include – but are not limited to – electronic payment systems, customer-centered payment plans, new financial products, or mobile banking instruments.

Number of Awards: 3

Value of Award:  $200K USD

The first place winner receives $100K USD. An additional $100K USD is divided among second and third place winners and a small group of finalists.

Duration of Program:  January 1 – March 31, 2018

Important Dates:

ROUND 1: Application Deadline: September 30, 2017

A selection committee reviews online applications and selects semi-finalists.

ROUND 2: Semi Finals
Notified: October 15, 2017
Supporting materials due: Nov 1, 2017

Semi-finalists submit supporting application materials. Selection committee members rank semi-finalists and conduct interviews.

ROUND 3: Finals
Notified: Nov 15, 2017
Finalist announcement: Dec 1, 2017

All finalists will attend MIT’s acclaimed Entrepreneurship Development Program in Boston.

WINNERS ANNOUNCED: Dec 16, 2017

How to Apply: 

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: The Zambezi Prize is presented by the Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship at MIT and The MasterCard Foundation.

Columbia University Ochberg Fellowship for Journalists Worldwide 2017/2018. Fully-funded to New York

Application Deadline: 22nd September, 2017.

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: Countries in Central and South America, Europe, the Asia Pacific region, Africa and the Middle East.

To be taken at (country): Columbia University in New York City, USA.

Eligible Fields: Reporting on violence, conflict and tragedy.

About the Award: The Dart Center Ochberg Fellowship is a unique seminar program for veteran and mid-career journalists who wish to deepen their knowledge of emotional trauma and psychological injury, and improve reporting on violence, conflict and tragedy.

The Fellowship is led by a core faculty of prominent journalists and mental health professionals associated with the Dart Center, along with a visiting faculty.

Reporting responsibly and credibly on violence or traumatic events — on street crime and family violence, natural disasters and accidents, war and genocide — is a major challenge. The Ochberg Fellowship enables outstanding journalists from around the globe to explore these critical issues during a week of seminars held at Columbia University in New York City. Program activities include briefings by prominent interdisciplinary experts in the trauma and mental health fields; conversations with journalist colleagues on issues of ethics and craft; and a variety of other opportunities for intellectual engagement and peer learning.

Offered Since: 1998

Type: Fellowship

Eligibility: 

• The Ochberg Fellowships are open to outstanding journalists (with at least five years experience) working across all media.
• Past Fellows have ranged from small-town and regional general-assignment and crime reporters to war photographers and foreign correspondents for international news organizations. Applicants’ work must demonstrate journalistic excellence and a strong track record of covering violence and its impact on individuals, families or communities.
• Fellowships are open to print, broadcast and digital reporters, photographers, editors and producers with at least five years of professional journalism experience are eligible to apply. Approximately half of the Fellows will be based in North America, with the balance drawn from Central and South America, Europe, the Asia Pacific region, Africa and the Middle East.
• All fellowship seminars are conducted in English. Fellows must be fluent in spoken English to participate in the program.

Selection Criteria: Participants are reviewed by a judging committee comprised of Dart Center staff, Fellowship faculty and past Fellows. Selection is not based on any single factor. Judges’ consider a variety of factors, with an emphasis on whether applicants:

• demonstrate consistent and thoughtful journalistic engagement with issues of violence, conflict, tragedy and their aftermath;
• have demonstrated journalistic excellence and leadership;
• will likely benefit personally and professionally from the Fellowship experience and contribute meaningfully to the program.

Other considerations may include geographic and other diversity, and overall group composition.

The judging committee will review applications and select 12 fellows for 2016-2017. Selected fellows will be notified by email in early-November.

Number of Awardees: Several

Value of Programme: The Ochberg Fellowship covers roundtrip travel, lodging, meals and expenses directly related to participation. The program does not cover travel or health insurance, additional nights of lodging beyond the Fellowship’s duration or ground transportation in fellows’ home cities.

Fellows attend an intensive weeklong program of seminars held at Columbia University in New York City. Program activities include briefings by prominent interdisciplinary experts in the trauma and mental health fields; conversations with journalist colleagues on issues of ethics, craft and practice, and and a variety of other opportunities for intellectual engagement and peer learning.

Duration of Programme: The program will be held from January 15 – 20, 2018

How to Apply: Click here to apply.

Visit Programme Webpage for details

Award Provider: The Dart Center for Trauma in Journalism

UN System Staff College Internship for International Students 2017 – Italy

Application Deadline: 10th September 2017

Eligible Countries: International

To Be Taken At (Country): UNSSC Turin, Italy

About the Award: The selected intern will apply her/his skills in instructional design and educational technology, and gain understanding of the UN work and the development of learning programmes for UN
personnel. The incumbent will report to a Course Coordinator and contribute to the design, development, coordination and evaluation of these learning programmes.

Specifically, the intern will be responsible for, but not limited to, the following:

1. Participate in the design of e-learning products
2. Assist resource persons on how to use technology and better conduct online courses
3. Publish and update content on UNSSC learning platform (Moodle)
4. Design questionnaires to measure learning impact
5. Perform learning analytics, compile and visualize data, and code qualitative data
6. Create video and multimedia content to support learning programmes
7. Organize webinars for participants while coordinating with professors and content experts
8. Assist with administrative tasks as required
9. Any other duties as assigned by the supervisor.

Type: Internship

Eligibility: Applicants can be considered if they meet one of the following:

• Are enrolled in a Master’s or in a Ph.D. programme; or
• Are enrolled in the final year of a Bachelor’s programme; or
• Are within one year after graduation from a Bachelor’s, Master’s or Ph.D. programme in instructional design, adult education, communication, web design, graphic design or other related areas from an accredited college or university.

Experience:

• Previous work experience is not required. Portfolio or evidence of skills is highly desirable.
• Previous experience in qualitative data analysis is an asset.

Language competencies: Fluency (written and oral) in English.

Computer skills: Excellent computer skills in the Microsoft Office suite. Familiarity with online learning and social media tools. Mobile app development experience is an asset.

Other skills and competencies:

• Ability to learn and act in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to work effectively as part of a team.
• High motivation, with a desire to learn and grow professionally.

Selection: Candidates for the Internship Programme are selected on a competitive basis. Only those candidates who meet the requirements of the position will be short-listed and interviewed. The candidates will be informed of the result of the selection process as soon as it is finalized.

Number of Awards: Not specified

Value of Award: Interns who are not financially supported by other institutions shall receive a stipend from UNSSC intended to assist in covering basic subsistence costs. The monthly amount of the
stipend is fixed at 450€.

Duration of Program: 6 months (starting as soon as possible)

How to Apply: Eligible candidates interested in doing an internship at the United Nations System Staff College must submit in English:

• An up-to-date curriculum vitae (resume);
• A motivation letter;
• For applicants who are currently enrolled in a degree programme, an endorsement from their University or Sponsoring Institution is required;
• Applications should be submitted by e-mail to: recruitment@unssc.org or by fax: (0039) 011 65359 02.
• Please indicate in the subject “Application for Internship vacancy announcement 006”

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: UNSSC

Important Notes: Interns are responsible for making travel and accommodation arrangements and for obtaining the necessary visa for entering Italy or the country of any other duty station to which they have been assigned. UNSSC will facilitate the process of obtaining entry visas for countries of assignment.
The intern is responsible for ensuring that he/she has all the prescribed vaccinations for travel to the assigned duty station. Interns are also responsible to obtain medical insurance coverage in accordance with the requirements for entering Italy or the country of any other duty station to which they have been assigned. The cost of travel, visa, accommodation, vaccines, health insurance and living expenses are the responsibility of interns.

University of Toronto Art and Science Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme 2018 – Canada

Application Deadline: 6th December, 2017

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: International

To be taken at (country): Canada

Eligible Field of Study: Any research discipline across Faculty of Arts & Science at the University of Toronto.

About the Award: The Arts & Science Postdoctoral Fellowships are designed to provide outstanding recent doctoral students advanced training in their field of study. These fellowships are not discipline specific, but rather can be held in any department or research unit across the Faculty of Arts & Science at the University of Toronto. Applicants must secure sponsorship of a supervisor, or supervisors, from the professoriate within the Faculty of Arts & Science.

Type: Fellowship

Eligibility: 

• As these fellowships are designed for relatively recent graduates, candidates must have completed all requirements for their doctorate degree no earlier than May 1, 2016.
• Candidates cannot currently hold a tenure-track or continuing faculty position at a college or university.
• Candidates may be citizens of any country, and from any university. Please note that successful international candidates must be able to meet all Canadian immigration requirements.
• The application deadline is December 6, 2017, with start dates no earlier than May 1, 2018 and no later than December 1, 2018. Decisions will be made in mid-March 2018, and successful applications will have 6 weeks from the time the decisions are announced to accept or decline the fellowship.
• Fellowships are only tenable within FAS at the University of Toronto. Proposed supervisor(s) must have a tenure-track or tenured appointment in FAS (i.e., fully appointed at the St. George campus) at the University of Toronto.

Number of Awardees: Not specified

Value of Scholarship: These fellowships pay a stipend of $45,000 per year

Duration of Scholarship: Maximum of two years.

How to Apply: 

• Submit your CV and a completed Arts & Science Postdoctoral Fellowship application form (www.artsci.utoronto.ca/graduate/postdoctoral-fellowships) to the office of the Vice-Dean Research & Infrastructure (research.artsci@utoronto.ca)The form includes a one page research proposal where you should describe your proposed research project and highlight the importance and impact of the research, and how this research fits into your academic goals. Please note that reference list or bibliography are not necessary for the proposal.
• Arrange for your proposed supervisor(s) to send the Arts & Science Postdoctoral Supervisor form to the office of the Vice-Dean Research & Infrastructure (research.artsci@utoronto.ca).

Supervisors

• Submit a completed Arts & Science Postdoctoral Supervisor form (www.artsci.utoronto.ca/graduate/postdoctoral-fellowships) to the Vice-Dean Research & Infrastructure (research.artsci@utoronto.ca).
• In the space provided, please comment on the applicant’s research potential, the quality of the proposed research, the research environment and resources that will be available to the applicant, and how the fellowship will advance the applicant’s career development.

Visit Fellowship Webpage for details

Award Provider: University of Toronto

Andela Uganda Paid Fellowship (Cohort IV) for Ugandan Tech Students 2017

Application Deadline: 28th August 2017.

Eligible Countries: Uganda

About the Award: The Andela Fellowship is a full-time employment opportunity that will enable you to own your learning as you hone the skills you need to become a global technology leader. We seek out exceptional people from a variety of backgrounds who are committed to unlocking their full potential and improving the world through technology.

Through four years of intensive learning and real work experience on the world’s leading engineering teams, you’ll master the professional and technical skills needed to become a global technology leader.

Type: Fellowship

Eligibility: 

• You must be 18 or older
• Andela does not have any degree or diploma requirements.
• Andela is a full-time, four-year commitment, so if you have any major commitment such as school or work, we recommend applying when you have graduated, stopped school or ended other commitments
• Most importantly, you must embody Andela’s values: Excellence, Passion, Integrity and Collaboration

Number of Awardees: Not specified

Value of Fellowship: Through extensive training and work experience with top global technology companies, you’ll master the professional and technical skills needed to become a technology leader, both on the African continent and around the world.

We are training future leaders committed to helping others succeed. As you advance in the program, you’ll mentor and support the next generation of Andela fellows. The Technical Leadership Program prepares you for endless career paths, including founding your own company, moving into management positions at Andela, and taking leadership roles at local and global tech companies. Graduates become a part of an exclusive alumni network and have access to career support, advice and opportunities.

• Competitive monthly salary
• High speed fibre internet
• Financing plans for accommodations and a Macbook Pro
• Breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday
• Healthcare coverage
• Savings account ($5,000 USD upon completion of Fellowship)
• A community of excellence
• A chance to change the world

Duration of Program: November 6th, 2017 – November 2021

How to Apply: Join the Andela movement by applying via Fellowship Webpage link below

It is important to go through the Application Procedure and FAQs before applying.

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: Andela

Important Notes: Please note that this position will require extensive travel and off-site skills training outside of Uganda.