Devex: New USAID procurement strategy targets increased work with religious groups “The U.S. Agency for International Development’s new procurement strategy will help facilitate work with faith-based organizations in conflict and fragile settings, the agency’s Deputy Administrator Bonnie Glick said Wednesday. … Glick, speaking at the second annual Ministerial to Advance…

Idaho Statesman: Support for Global Fund imperative as U.S. tries to save lives from TB, malaria, AIDS John Thompson, senior pastor of the Cornerstone Church in Boise, Idaho “…Congress has the opportunity this year to make major progress against [AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), and malaria] in Thailand and beyond. We can…

Associated Press: Trump administration reviews human rights’ role in U.S. policy “The Trump administration said Monday that it will review the role of human rights in American foreign policy, appointing a commission expected to elevate concerns about religious freedom and abortion…” (Tucker, 7/8). Deutsche Welle: U.S. sets up commission for…

Thomson Reuters Foundation: A G20 imperative: Focus on our children Graça Machel, member of The Elders, Mozambican politician, and social and human rights activist “…This year marks the 30th Anniversary of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child. Progress on many fronts is impressive, but with critical gaps.…

Financial Times: Letter: Ebola response in DRC must engage communities Tariq Riebl, Ebola response director at the International Rescue Committee “…The main issue we are facing [in response to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)] is with community engagement and addressing the mistrust the local…

Agence France-Presse: African religious leaders called on to help tackle genital mutilation “Religious leaders in Africa must speak up against the practice of female genital mutilation, which affects millions of children across the continent, an international conference in Dakar said Tuesday…” (6/18). The Guardian: Senior Islamic cleric issues fatwa against…

Slate: The God Doctrine “The Trump administration’s foreign policy really isn’t consistent enough to be placed into any single ideological camp. … [T]here is one group that’s consistently and effectively — if quietly — pushing its foreign policy agenda in Donald Trump’s Washington: evangelical Christians. … The influence of evangelical…

Associated Press: Companies pushed baby formula in Peru despite ban (6/10). Associated Press: When disaster hits, Indonesia’s Islamists are first to help (Wright, 6/11). BBC News: Big data ‘can stop malaria outbreaks before they start’ (Galpin, 6/10). Devex: Tech solutions to fight fake medicines (Ravelo, 6/11). Devex: Q&A: Serve the…

Reuters: As Trump rewrites public health rules, Pence sees conservative agenda born again “In a sweeping social policy shift, the Trump administration is seeking to remake health rules at home and abroad for women, gay and transgender people, restricting access to abortion, curtailing support for contraception, and narrowing the scope…

Agence France-Presse: Over 600 people test HIV positive in Pakistan city (Jaffry, 5/26). Agence France-Presse: Malaria back with a vengeance in crisis-hit Venezuela (5/25). Al Jazeera: Years of war and poverty take toll on Afghanistan’s health care (Latifi, 5/25). BBC News: Working the night shift on malaria’s frontline in Sierra…