millennium cities
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MCI’s Signature S2S Program Kicks Off its Third Year with a Series of Trainings
MCI’s signature School2School Connectivity Project (S2S), a partnership with global communications giants Ericsson and Airtel Ghana, the City of Kumasi, Ghana, the Kumasi Metropolitan Education Directorate, Columbia University Teachers College and selected New York City public and private schools to teach the uses of the computer and the Internet in the teaching of the STEM…
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Making Connections and Celebrating Literacy, City to City
Across sub-Saharan Africa, where MCI is working to help selected secondary cities attain the Millennium Development Goals, more than 150 million adults, or 38% of the adult population, lack basic literacy skills. Fortunately, a number of organizations are working hard to change this. LitWorld, a NY-based NGO dedicated to improving global literacy and a long-time…
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“Standing Up for Girls” – and their Right to the Education they Deserve
For many in the developing world, education isn’t taken for granted. Around 35 million girls are out of school, the World Bank says, almost half of them in sub-Saharan Africa. In support of girls’ education, MCI joined the literacy organization LitWorld and other partners, including Connect To Learn, Asia Initiatives and the Children of Kibera…
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Millennium City and U.S. Students Chat and Read Aloud Online, Celebrating World Read Aloud Day
Words – and worlds – were shared in celebration of the second annual World Read Aloud Day, organized by LitWorld, on March 9, 2011. As part of LitWorld’s much larger celebration of reading, literacy and learning, students from across the Millennium Cities connected with students in the United States via Skype, to share stories and…
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My Work as a GSK Volunteer for MCI: Gathering Baseline Data on Maternal and Neonatal Health Services in Kisumu, Kenya
The following is a guest blog, authored by Mayuko Hashimoto, a GlaxoSmithKline PULSE volunteer from Tokyo, Japan, who is working with the Millennium Cities Initiative for six months in Kisumu, Kenya to further maternal and neonatal survival. As a volunteer with GlaxoSmithKline, I’ll be in Kisumu for six months to support the Millennium Cities Initiative…
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MCI’s MDG Hero Series: MCI’s Kisumu Social Sector Specialist Makes Strides in Education and Infrastructure
Kisumu, Kenya’s third largest city, has one of the highest poverty levels and worst set of health indicators in the country. As such, its needs are significant. Ben Obera, our social sector specialist in Kisumu, has worked tirelessly to address the many challenges confronting the city. In an effort to fill some of the gaps…
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MCI’s MDG Heroes Series: Kumasi Metropolitan Health Director Reduces Maternal Mortality
In the Millennium City of Kumasi, Ghana, the Maternal Mortality Ratio was on the rise until 2009. But a sustained and dedicated effort on the part of the Kumasi Metropolitan Health Directorate and its director, Dr. Kwasi Yeboah-Awudzi, has resulted in dramatically reduced maternal deaths over the last 18 months. Dr. Yeboah-Awudzi’s direction included upgrading…
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Fostering 21st Century Learning in sub-Saharan Africa
The following is a guest blog, authored by Jim Teicher, Executive Director, CyberSmart! Africa. Disclaimer: The views expressed by the author in this blog do not represent the opinion of the Millennium Cities Initiative, the Earth Institute at Columbia University or any of its professional consultants. How can every school in Africa deliver a 21st-century…
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Columbia Planning Seminar on Accra, Ghana, Sparks Ideas to Further the City’s Development
Accra, Ghana, MCI’s newest Millennium City, presents a unique set of challenges in its quest to attain the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. With a population of well over three million, Accra has had to deal with public sector challenges typical of many urban areas in sub-Saharan Africa, including finding solutions to the many pressing…