The World Bank is reviewing its strategy for Africa, which is outlined in the Africa Action Plan.

The strategy is being reviewed against a backdrop of changes in the global economy, in Africa and the World Bank.

As part of its review and preparation, the Bank is consulting with a wide array of stakeholders to seek their views and input.

The process, outlined in our Consultations Plan, is expected to be finalized in late 2010-early 2011. You can help by sharing your views on how the Bank can best support Africa reach its development goals.

To read more about progress on the current action plan, please click here.
They would like you to answer the following questions:

1. What do you see as Africa’s development challenges and what role do you see the World Bank playing in supporting African countries, especially post-conflict and fragile states, build more resilient and globally competitive economies in the 21st century?

2. How can the World Bank help build skills for African workers, promote job creation, especially for young people in post-conflict and fragile states, and empower African women to create and run successful businesses?

3. What do you think the World Bank should do to improve intra-African trade, foster regional solutions especially for infrastructure such as energy, while ensuring that climate change issues are taken into account and Africa’s competitiveness with the rest of the world improved?

4. How can the World Bank foster social protection mechanisms that protect the most vulnerable Africans from economic and health shocks (HIV/AIDS, malaria, maternal mortality, road accidents, etc.)?

5. What can the World Bank do to boost demand by citizens, by journalists, media outlets and civil society organizations for good governance and accountability?

6. What other suggestions or comments do you have?

You can email your answers to Africaconsult@worldbank.org or submit your answers through the World Bank website by copying and pasting the URL below into your web browser.

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/AFRICAEXT/0,,contentMDK:22578261~pagePK:146736~piPK:146830~theSitePK:258644,00.html

For more information visit http://go.worldbank.org/R2L5D0USC0

Would you like to attend a child friendly, free and fun family event this 4th of July weekend? Well, if you’re in the Baltimore area you can, if not, it will soon be coming to a US city near you soon.

The 2010 Lego games tour began today in Baltimore city. The tour promoting the new Lego board game line, features life size adaptations of classic and new Lego characters. It is located right in front of Port Discovery Children’s Museum at 35 Market Place, Baltimore, MD 21202

Walk through the labyrinth, climb to the top of the Ramses Pyramid and defeat the Mummy King, outsmart the Minotaur in Minotaurus, race to the finish line in Race 3000, win great prizes and enjoy great music.

From the young to the old, the event is a fun family event everyone can enjoy for free.

Lego wants you to build, play and change. Create and customize your own gaming experience. Play your own way!

For more information including the full schedule, visit http://games.lego.com/en-us/News/ReadMore/Default.aspx?id=196275

The National Law Journal, www.nlj.com is seeking nominations for the "Washington's Most Influential Women" report.

Candidates should be lawyers based in the Metropolitan Washington area - in private practice, government, public interest groups, lobby shops or academia - who have made a national impact in the law and legal business.
Holding high office or another position of authority isn't enough; we're looking for women who have made things happen.

Send a one-page summary of the nominee's qualifications by May 26 to Elizabeth Engdahl at eengdahl@alm.com

I was watching TV recently when three news anchors, two females and one male, began speaking about Madonna’s new clothing line inspired by Lourdes, her teenage daughter. What upset me was that she was inappropriately referred to as an “aging rock star” by the two news anchors and their co-anchor standing by the sidelines. It started with the female anchor, sarcastically stating, “If you want a line by an aging rock star……”

I feel her tone of voice and choice of words was unnecessary and insulting to Madonna and to women as a whole because it screams of sexism. I’m not even sure I can call it sexism because it was perpetuated by women on a fellow woman.

It’s no news that the music industry is struggling and everyone including Madonna must find ways to reinvent themselves to remain relevant and make money by connecting to a wider audience and including younger demographics, however her creating a clothing line shouldn’t induce such negative comments.

Madonna at 61 is no spring chicken, but saying she’s “an aging rock star” is unfair. Who refers to Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger or Bono as aging rock stars? These men are all in the same category of recording artists who have passed their prime, but men “don’t age” only women do. In fact, as they get older they are considered hot. Ke$ha in her recent hit song, Tik Tok sings, “And now, the dudes are lining up cause they hear we got swagger. But we kick em to the curb unless they look like Mick Jagger.” At 66, Mick Jagger as far as Ke$ha and so many other women worldwide are concerned is still a hottie. Though in reality age is nothing but a number, we see the double standards clearly.

We women are sometimes our own worst enemies. These two female news anchors who are relatively young now think its funny referring to Madonna that way but what they forget is that they are all in the very vain looks based entertainment industry and as my mother says, when I laugh at the many things she can no longer do, “keep on living, your time is coming.” Needless to say, these tactless news anchors won’t be young forever, and they will become aging news anchors fearing being replaced by younger perkier versions.

If the male correspondence started it, I would have said he was just a male chauvinist pig being insensitive, but a female news anchor started it and he just laughed. When the other female news anchor repeated what the first one said, I just shook my head in disbelief. If the male news anchor had made the statement, I would’ve expected one or both of the women to make remarks to put him in his place but no, we woman can do a good job of saying something offensive to depict our fellow woman in a negative light as if we don’t have enough negativity coming at us already.

We all know that to men, women’s youth and beauty are prized possessions. That’s why many men trade their wives in for newer models, as aptly depicted in the movie, The First Wives Club but when women are the first to make unprompted disparaging remarks about another woman’s youth or beauty, I find it particularly offensive.

If you haven’t been privy to watching women talk negatively about other women’s looks, watch a couple of episodes of America’s Next Top Model. That will fill you in. Keep in mind that these are all gorgeous girls vying to become top models and you’ll be amazed at how they often have no problem bad mouthing each other’s looks so I guess after watching that, Madonna being called an aging rock star shouldn't be too surprising to me.

As people, we all age, Madonna included. I say shame on these news anchors that have nothing better to do than to make fun of her instead of commending her on how hard she works to look as good as she does for her age and her strength for staying relevant in the ever tumultuous entertainment industry for as long as she has.

I would like to implore all women to consciously remember to be kind when talking about other women. This is one of the simplest ways to pay it forward for other women.

The recent article by Melissa Hahn on Veteran Suicides really touched a nerve in me. Like the Edwin Starr song says, War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing, nothing rings more true now. This situation is really unfortunate.

I really feel for these soldiers and his families. I pray that God in his infinite mercies will comfort and compensate them for their loss. It is really a shame to lose another life, this time not in combat but in a self inflicted suicide death.

I remember when the decision was made for America to go to war, I was at work and a group of co-workers gathered in my office to discuss it. As we talked it was pretty clear that I was the only one who knew that America was not that invincible. The others said it would be easy for America to go into Iraq, do what it wanted to do and come out.

Having schooled in Northern Nigeria amongst Muslims, I remember thinking to myself, ignorance is bliss; these people don’t know who they are dealing. When the war began I was watching a TV show about the lost boys of Sudan when one of the host parents said that before the war began the boys were very scared and he was telling them not to worry because the war would be an easy win for America.

However, they told him the same thing I knew, you don’t know who you are dealing with because they had been exposed to Islamic fanatics in Sudan. He said that as the war is progressing he is rethinking his stance. This TV show aired several years ago, I’m sure by now reality has dawned on him.

The person who made the decision for America to go to war made the decision in a nicely protected oval office as president. He had nothing to lose. Neither him nor anyone close to him was going to be part of the war, so oh well, let other people and their children go, and if they perish they perish. While people were being emotionally traumatized, losing limbs and dying on the battle field, he and his family members were enjoying their lives. He has retired back to Texas.
His daughters graduated from college while enjoy good press coverage in fashion magazines. In these times of war, his kids are doing very well. Jenna got married at a lavish wedding and has even become a correspondent on The Today show, the velocity with which she ascended the career ladder to get that position is magical. Barbara after working with pediatric AIDS patients in many parts of Africa returned to be president of Global Health Corps, non-profit organization. God bless her for having such a serving spirit.

I can only wonder how Mr. Bush, as a man and a parent feels about his decision with all the lives that are continually perishing physically and emotionally on and off the battle field. The bible says, blessed are the peace makers for they shall be called children of God. The good book does not say anything about war starters but I'm sure they get theirs.

Many times these naïve kids enlist as soldiers in the army with no knowledge of what they are getting themselves into. I have read that young men especially have deceptively low perception of fear and this adds to their bravado in wanting to go to war.

As one soldier who went to Iraq as a young handsome man but returned with both legs amputated and no control of his bowels or bladder said, “I went to Iraq to kick butt but it was my butt that was kicked”. Now he is like a toddler who relies on his mother to change his diapers every couple of hours. However, at least I guess they have something to be thankful for because he is alive and where there is life, there is hope, which is not even the case for many.

Another mother of a soldier who was killed in battle, whose body was flown in close to the time Jenna Bush was getting married said as she sobbed on the radio, “The Bush’s are planning a wedding in the white house, while I’m planning a funeral.” Well, as unfortunate as it is, such is life.

It’s easy to instruct someone else do the dirty job. In biblical times kings physically led wars so I’m sure the need for any war was well through before being embarked upon. That rule should be reinstated because if you know you will physically lead a war you will think twice about it, as your life is at stake along with the others.
The financial, emotional and physiological toll this war has put on this country in every facet is disheartening.

It is said that there are too few men and much more women in America already and this war has produced a slaughter house for these too few men so there will be even fewer men to go around. We will all reap the consequences as single women and fatherless children abound.

It’s just such a shame. The worst thing is that even after everything Obama said about bringing the troops home before he won the election, the reality is that the military can’t even pull out of Iraq now, because they are in too deep and backing out will destabilize the country. More importantly, backing out without catching Osama Bin Laden will look bad, so they forge ahead hoping to pull out responsibly at some point with no end date in sight. I’m sure Obama had good intentions but as with so many issues he has been facing since assuming office, things appeared so much simpler before he had to deal with them.

There’s nothing we can do now except pray for divine intervention to end this war and subsequently end the trauma and loss of lives and limbs accompanying it.

Happy Belated New Year! I'm so happy you made it to the New Year. We should be thankful we made it because so many people didn't.

It's the beginning of the year and as we all lists of New Year’s resolutions we hope to implement. I hope one of your new year's resolutions is to conserve water, go green/recycle and save energy.

If you were not too concerned about how dire the global warming situation is, consider the following.

1n 1910 we had over 150 glaciers. We now have fewer than 30!

The snow on Mt. Kilimanjaro will be gone soon due to global warming

By 2050 we could lose more than one million plants to extinction

75% of the annual increase in CO2 is due to burning fossil fuels

Global warming will lead to more severe floods and droughts

By the end of the century the North Pole may no longer be frozen

Right now the entire planet is out of balance – Bob Corell

The seas will continue to rise and displace millions of people

Do your part to support this cause. Recycle; conserve water, energy and whatever else you can.

Don't be an architect of the world’s misfortune. We can still turn the negative tide around now. Join me in reclaiming the world!

In the news today, they stated that Michelle Obama’s popularity is slipping. They said this is mostly because many feel she is not doing anything tangible as the first lady. Aside from being the first lady, wife and mother to her two children, her focus has been promoting gardening/healthy eating, military families and Chicago’s failed bid to host the Olympics.

They said many couldn’t relate to her because they don’t have gardens, are not military families (God bless them!) or didn’t care that much if Chicago hosted the Olympics or not. Even though I’m just glad she’s the first lady, I feel sorry that this woman’s abilities are not being harnessed for the good of the country perhaps just so she doesn’t do anything that could be perceived negatively.

No one including Michelle Obama can please everyone, but the close calls she had during the campaign that the media made a field day out of has made her unwilling to take on many issues. As the saying goes, once bitten twice shy and Michelle is very shy now. Tabloid covers labeled her as an angry black woman. Many in the media branded her very negatively to the point that she didn’t want to give them more ammunition to attack her with.

Now, her carefully crafted public image is one that is very self-conscious, more like a black Barbie doll. We all know that Michelle is a very strong, educated and articulate woman who could have done a million times what she’s doing now if the media had not gone after her prematurely.

This is an extremely intelligent woman who I can only hope will go back to who she really is after her husband’s term in the white house. Though I don't know what occurs behind the white house walls, for now in the public eye Michelle is functioning below capacity and her abilities are being under utilized.

While she’s looking stunning on the front covers of magazines and on her husband’s arm at events, I mourn for what we all are missing from this lady who I have no doubt in my mind would have been willing to roll up her sleeves in more ways than she is currently doing and work hard to make the USA a better place.

I was recently watching the news about the debt crisis in America. We all love nice things which cost money. They featured a family with $60,000 worth of credit card debt. They owed some money, couldn't keep up and then the fees and penalties made it worse.

What made this family stand out was how much they owed. Even in America $60,000 is a lot for credit card debt. If the amount owed was due to a medical illness, school loans or a mortgage no one would have flinched an inch. However, what they owed was substantial because the average family owes credit card debt of $10,000 and to top it off 6.5% of American families are more than 30 days past due, thanks to the recession.

I really can't blame these people as credit card companies have a way of targeting and seducing both old and young people to apply for the cards regardless of if they can need or can manage having a credit card. Credit card companies are now feeling the pinch as settlements of up to 70% off what is owed are now being offered and accepted by credit card companies from their debtors.

The family with the $60,000 debt paid $16,000 to end their debt nightmare. They were able to do this because some credit cards companies are willing to get something now instead of nothing later.

However, I believe debt is undesirable when not absolutely necessary. Debt should be a last resort because it is a form of slavery. The creditor has a hold over the debtor. In the Bible, Proverbs 22:7 “The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender” this shows debt is a negative that should be avoided if possible.

The way America is structured; student loans, mortgage loans and car loans are often necessary and using credit cards to pay for health care expenses is acceptable. However, using credit cards to keep up with the Joneses is ridiculous especially when the number one cause of divorce and relationship problems is financial.

The number 7 holds a special place because it is said by many to be a lucky number and the number of completion.

I was too busy to wish everyone a happy New Year on the 1st so decided to hold off till today, the 7th day of the New Year. When I thought about it, I was like, wow! Is it the 7th already?

This goes to show that this year will be fast moving one. This is not the year to take life as it comes, we must grab it by the horns.

I hope all my hard working sisters out there have started it with a big bang, charging forward to accomplish all dreams and desires.

However, if some of us have not, well all is not lost. There is still plenty of time to fall off the wagon and get back on. As long as we keep moving forward we will be just fine.

Remember that success is a journey not a destination, so enjoy the 2009 part of your life’s journey.

Have a great year everyone!

Spread the holiday cheer by giving the gift of free music to a Soldier in the U.S. Army this holiday season, free of charge by going to http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/specials/soldier/sendasong.shtml

Billboard's got the free tunes. You choose one message from: We support our troops! Happy Holidays! Or Happy New Year! And they will send your message and a unique PIN Code for two free music downloads to a currently enlisted Soldier. The program runs through December 31st 2008.

Thanks for encouraging our troops!

If you go to www.LetsSayThanks.com you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it send it to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq. You can't pick who gets it, but it will go to a member of the armed services.

How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!! It is FREE and it only takes a second. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these?

Whether you are for or against the war, our soldiers over there need to know we are behind them. This takes just 10 seconds and it's a wonderful way to say thank you. Please take the time to send them a card and please take the time to pass it on to others as well. We can never say enough thank yous to them.

Thanks for taking the time to support our military!

We are in a recession but the inauguration is still coming and there has been much talk about Michelle Obama's inauguration dress. Well as you know designers will do anything for publicity and now many are vying to dress the first-lady elect for the inauguaration including the established designers. Not that is any of my business however, I totally don't agree with her choosing one of the dresses offered by these brand name designers.

To go with the Obama's "Change" theme, in my opinion Michelle should not go with a brand name designer. If not for her position they would never have paid her any attention. Just like her and her husband were a longshot at one point and put in the position by everyday people, she should select an unknown designer who is good and use this as an opportunity to launch the person's design career.

We all see that her husband's emerging cabinet is full of people who are part of the established Washington elite and we really can't blame him for that because he needs the best experienced hands to do that, but for something like the inaugural dress, this is the time to shine the light on an unknown.

On the flip side of this is the fact that I believe since so many people are being financially challenged right now the celebrations should be toned down and all excesses cut out. These monies and others such as the money for redoing the white house to suit them should be put to more neccessary use. When America is back to where it used to be, there'll be plenty of time for partying and excesses.

I am very passionate about women's issues because I come from a culture where women are often treated as second class citizens. Where did the notion that a woman's life is worth nothing come from?

It always breaks my heart when I read about how women are being mistreated all over the world. It happened again today as I read about the honor killings occuring in Iraq. After reading the story, I googled and was appalled to read of the honor killings occuring everywhere including right here in America.

I am blogging today to as a reminder to the WIP community that our sisters are being mistreated and killed all over the world and we have to continue to be the voice of these women who cannot speak for themselves.

To all the women who have been victims of honor killings, may your souls rest in peace.