MCI Director Susan M. Blaustein’s blog, “‘Let It Be a Lesson’: The Yearning for Learning as a Force of Nature,” appeared on the Huffington Post. In the blog, authored to help mark the UN’s International Day of the Girl, Susan pays tribute to Pakistan’s Malala Yousafzai and the many girls around the world – both outspoken and… read more

MCI’s latest study, “Water and Sanitation Needs Assessment for Blantyre City, Malawi,” evaluates the progress toward the attainment of MDG 7C, halving the number of people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation, in Malawi’s economic capital. The report identifies a number of challenges facing the country’s second largest city; among them, water… read more

MCI’s latest working paper, “Guidance Paper on Evaluating Sustainable Foreign Direct Investment (Investment Working Paper No. 12/2012),” is intended to provide guidance and an assessment methodology to national level Governments as well as to regional and metropolitan governments seeking to attract sustainable foreign direct investment (FDI). Written by Professor John M. Kline of Georgetown University’s… read more

Two Columbia Masters in Development Practice (MDP) students are interning with MCI this summer in Kisumu, Kenya, helping to map and inventory the city’s 70+ health facilities. The students, Mss. Paloma Ruiz and Mariana Costa, are working closely with MCI’s Public Health Specialist for Kisumu, Ms. Beldina Opiyo-Omolo, to conduct this research. Paloma and Mariana… read more

Six students from Harvard  Summer School and one graduate student from Great Lakes University of Kisumu (GLUK) have made tremendous contributions to MCI this summer, joining MCI Public Health and Social Sector Specialists, Ms. Beldina Opiyo-Omolo and Mr. Shadrack Ngewa, to support three important initiatives in Kisumu. The students are all participants in a six-week… read more

MCI investment experts Dr. Karin Millett, Rene Samek and Joerg Simon led a three-day workshop on Attracting Productive Private Sector Investment in the Millennium City of Kumasi, Ghana, from May 15 to 17, 2012. Ten local specialists from the Kumasi Metropolitan Authority, Association of Ghana Industries, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ghana Investment Promotion… read more

The Columbia University Earth Institute’s Millennium Cities Initiative and Millennium Villages Project to facilitate trainings for health providers in the American Academy of Pediatrics’ groundbreaking Helping Babies Breathe™ protocols Infant mortality remains a critical concern throughout much of the developing world, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where the Millennium Cities Initiative (MCI) and the Millennium Villages… read more

The Regional Partnership to Promote Trade and Investment in Sub-Saharan Africa, a project being implemented by the Millennium Cities Initiative and three of the Millennium Cities themselves with the support of the Government of Finland, held a regional meeting in the Millennium City of Mekelle, Ethiopia, from May 7 to 9, 2012. The meeting, including… read more

MCI joined members of the Helping Babies Breathe Global Development Alliance to advocate for “Every Child Deserves a Fifth Birthday,” created by USAID to end preventable child deaths. The blog below was featured on a number of members’ websites this week, including  PSI Healthy Lives, USAID Impact, MCHIP and Healthy Newborn Network. Every child deserves… read more

MCI and the Millennium City of Kisumu embarked on a new phase of their partnership last week, to focus more intently on accelerating progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Kenya’s third largest city. Kisumu Mayor Samuel Okello, the Town Clerk and City Council technical leadership invited MCI to continue to serve as… read more