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THE CARTER CENTER THE CARTER CENTER NEWS SPRING 2004 One Copenhill 453 Freedom Parkway Atlanta, GA 30307 (404) 420-5100 www.cartercenter.org F ormer U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Mrs. Carter, and Executive Director John Hardman traveled to West Africa Feb. 2-6 to focus international attention on the need to eliminate the last 1 percent of Guinea worm disease remaining in the world and launch a development initiative in Mali. A debilitating disease remaining mostly in West Africa and Sudan, Guinea worm cases are down from 3.5 million in 1986, when The Carter Center began targeting the illness, to fewer than 32,000 today. “Guinea worm disease is unfamiliar, even unimaginable, to most people in the developed world,” said President Carter. “Yet relieving the suffering it causes is as easy as educating people about the disease and providing them with simple solutions to make their drinking water safe.” The Carters spoke with government leaders in each country to learn more about their challenges in combating the disease. “Carter Center experts have predicted for years that the last few cases will be the hardest, requiring extra human and financial resources to overcome,” said President Carter. In a two-day visit to Togo, President Carter met with President Gnassingbe Eyadema, who pledged support to the campaign to step up the fight against the disease, as well as Prime Minister Koffi Sama, Minister of Health Suzanne Aho, and leaders of the national eradication program. As part of its efforts, The Carter Center and the Japanese government signed an agreement ensuring financial aid of more than $100,000 to continue the significant progress already made in the country. Dr. LEE Jong-Wook, director-general of the World Health Organization, and Kul Gautam, UNICEF deputy executive director, representing organizations that collaborate closely with the Center in the fight to eradicate the disease, joined the Carters in Ghana. The most Guinea worm- endemic country in West Africa, Ghana accounts for about 25 percent of the 32,000 remaining cases and threatens Togo’s success as the disease travels across their shared border. At the Guinea worm-endemic village of Dashei, population 841, President and Mrs. Carter met victims of the disease, visited a water source and Guinea worm care center, and participated in health education sessions. “In Ghana, the resources, support, knowledge, and ability to eradicate Guinea worm disease are in place. It is up to Ghana to commit to the challenge by taking swift and immediate action,” said President Carter. Ghana’s minister of health, Dr. Kwaku Afriyie, accepted the challenge, saying, “Ghana must raise public awareness and gain a sense of urgency at all levels to turn its numbers around and no longer hold the title of most endemic Guinea worm country in West Africa.” The Carter Center delegation, including Ed Cain, director of the Center’s IN THIS ISSUE UP FRONT Trip Spotlights Disease and Poverty . . . 1 From the Executive Director . . . . . . . . 2 PEACE Defenders Cite New Pressures . . . . . . . 3 Center Fosters Venezuela Democracy . . 4 Waging Peace Around the World . . . . 5 HEALTH Latrine Use Helps Prevent Trachoma . .6 Guinea Worm Warrior Fights . . . . . . . 7 Altered Corn Helps Ghana’s Children .8 Mental Health Symposium Urges Collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 PHILANTHROPY Endowment Campaign Reaches Goal .10 Donors Promote Good Governance . .10 Gates Foundation Makes Challenge . .11 Ambassadors Circle and Legacy Circle Members Meet . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Multiply the Impact of Support . . . . . 11 NEWS BRIEFS White House Collection Opens . . . . . 12 Bequests Benefit Donor and Center . . 12 Stay Current at www.cartercenter.org 12 Emily Howard Abudul Rahman, 8, learns from his uncle, Kow Mensah, that he must use a pipe filter to avoid contracting Guinea worm disease. Trip Spotlights Disease and Poverty in West Africa continued on page 2

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THECARTER CENTER

THECARTERCENTER

NEWSSPRING 2004

One Copenhill453 Freedom ParkwayAtlanta, GA 30307

(404) 420-5100www.cartercenter.org

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter,Mrs. Carter, and Executive DirectorJohn Hardman traveled to West

Africa Feb. 2-6 to focus international attention on the need to eliminate the last 1 percent of Guinea worm diseaseremaining in the world and launch a development initiative in Mali.

A debilitating disease remaining mostlyin West Africa and Sudan, Guinea wormcases are down from 3.5 million in 1986,when The Carter Center began targetingthe illness, to fewer than 32,000 today.

“Guinea worm disease is unfamiliar,even unimaginable, to most people in thedeveloped world,” said President Carter.“Yet relieving the suffering it causes is aseasy as educating people about the diseaseand providing them with simple solutionsto make their drinking water safe.”

The Carters spoke with governmentleaders in each country to learn more abouttheir challenges in combating the disease.“Carter Center experts have predicted for years that the last few cases will be the hardest, requiring extra human andfinancial resources to overcome,” saidPresident Carter.

In a two-day visit to Togo, PresidentCarter met with President GnassingbeEyadema, who pledged support to the campaign to step up the fight against thedisease, as well as Prime Minister KoffiSama, Minister of Health Suzanne Aho,and leaders of the national eradication program. As part of its efforts, The CarterCenter and the Japanese government signedan agreement ensuring financial aid of morethan $100,000 to continue the significantprogress already made in the country.

Dr. LEE Jong-Wook, director-general of the World Health Organization, and Kul Gautam, UNICEF deputy executivedirector, representing organizations thatcollaborate closely with the Center in thefight to eradicate the disease, joined theCarters in Ghana. The most Guinea worm-endemic country in West Africa, Ghanaaccounts for about 25 percent of the

32,000 remaining cases and threatensTogo’s success as the disease travels acrosstheir shared border.

At the Guinea worm-endemic villageof Dashei, population 841, President andMrs. Carter met victims of the disease, visited a water source and Guinea wormcare center, and participated in health education sessions. “In Ghana, theresources, support, knowledge, and abilityto eradicate Guinea worm disease are inplace. It is up to Ghana to commit to thechallenge by taking swift and immediateaction,” said President Carter.

Ghana’s minister of health, Dr. KwakuAfriyie, accepted the challenge, saying,“Ghana must raise public awareness andgain a sense of urgency at all levels to turnits numbers around and no longer hold the title of most endemic Guinea wormcountry in West Africa.”

The Carter Center delegation, including Ed Cain, director of the Center’s

IN THIS ISSUEUP FRONT

Trip Spotlights Disease and Poverty . . . 1From the Executive Director . . . . . . . . 2

PEACEDefenders Cite New Pressures . . . . . . . 3Center Fosters Venezuela Democracy . . 4Waging Peace Around the World . . . . 5

HEALTHLatrine Use Helps Prevent Trachoma . .6Guinea Worm Warrior Fights . . . . . . . 7Altered Corn Helps Ghana’s Children .8Mental Health Symposium

Urges Collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

PHILANTHROPYEndowment Campaign Reaches Goal .10Donors Promote Good Governance . .10Gates Foundation Makes Challenge . .11Ambassadors Circle and Legacy

Circle Members Meet . . . . . . . . . . . 11Multiply the Impact of Support . . . . . 11

NEWS BRIEFSWhite House Collection Opens . . . . . 12Bequests Benefit Donor and Center . . 12Stay Current at www.cartercenter.org 12

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Abudul Rahman, 8, learns from hisuncle, Kow Mensah, that he must use apipe filter to avoid contracting Guineaworm disease.

Trip Spotlights Disease andPoverty in West Africa

continued on page 2

“Both the government and its partnershave made progress, but additional measures are required to improve the effectiveness of aid.”

have easy access to clean drinking waterand could never imagine the horror of oneor more worms emerging from our bodies.

We are a nation of unprecedentedbounty and a society bombarded by mediaimages of health, affluence, and success,where the average household earns about$154 a day. In contrast, more than one-sixth of humanity will try to survive thisday on less than $1.

There are strong economic and development reasonsfor eradication thatimpact not only Africabut also the global community. The WorldBank has estimated,conservatively, thateradicating Guineaworm disease wouldcreate an economic rateof return of 29 percent,primarily throughimproved agriculture.Moreover, traininghealth workers, encouraging safe drinking water, and

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UP FRONT

Every time I go to Africa, I aminspired by the warmth and resolveof the people. Their spirit, resource-

fulness, and ability to persevere indicate an eagerness to work intensely for betterhealth care and overall development, evenin villages far from modern cities.

Yet it is difficult to explain to peoplein the United States why health educationand the eradication of Guinea worm disease are so important in Africa. We

From the Executive Director directly improving health, agriculture, andschool attendance will be strong engines ofdevelopment. We have seen this impact inGuinea worm-endemic countries that haveeither eliminated or nearly eliminated thedisease. Lastly, good health and the promisefor the future that it brings are essential to stability and global security. The work of our health and peace programs goeshand in hand.

Health, education, and agriculture—key building blocks of societies—havebeen devastated by Guinea worm and conflict. A child with Guinea worm suffersand is unable to attend school. His parentscannot harvest crops or attend to youngerchildren. Community life and economicdevelopment falter, and hopelessness leadsto despair and, sometimes, violence.

Why should we care about ridding theworld of Guinea worm disease? Becausepeople who live in grave poverty are real,and they are just as intelligent, creative,and hardworking as you or I. They lovetheir children just as much, and they have the same hopes and dreams for those children—to live healthy, produc-tive, meaningful lives. We can be inspiredby their progress, knowing that the future isabout making a better world for us all.

Dr. John Hardman, the Carter Center’s executive director,and a health worker in Dashei examine a woman with anemerging worm.

Global Development Initiative, also traveled to Mali to meet with PresidentAmadou Toumani Touré and lend supportto the launch of a Development andCooperation Initiative, in which theCenter will work with the government and civil society to strengthen democraticinstitutions, improve development plan-ning, increase citizen input into develop-ment policy, and build the government’scapacity to better coordinate external assistance around national priorities.

“The government of Mali recognizes it needs to undertake reform to reducepoverty, and the donor community under-stands it needs to coordinate its policies to better support Mali’s efforts,” said Cain.

Trip, cont.continued from cover page President and

Mrs. Carterobserve awoman collect-ing pond water.She must filterthe water toprotect her family from contractingGuinea wormdisease.

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Each day of his West Africa trip,President Carter wrote “blogs,” or Web logs, recording his thoughts andimpressions. To read more about the trip,visit www.cartercenter.org.

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PEACE

The U.S.-led war on terrorism hashad a bitter side effect: Countrieshave expanded their police powers,

eroded judicial review of executive orders,and silenced dissent by cracking down onopposition parties, minority groups, andcivil society organizations.

Human rights defenders, gathered at a conference at The Carter Center inNovember 2003, said their hard-won gainshave been reversed as the war on terrorismhas led to some startling actions by govern-ments. Governments have adopted securitypolicies that are, in some cases, being usedto crack down on dissidents and humanrights defenders. The justification for theseactions, governments say, is the UnitedStates’ broadening of its own police powersunder the Patriot Act and its detention at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, of prisonerscaptured in Afghanistan.

Human rights defenders from 41countries gathered at The Carter

Center to assess the status ofhuman rights and democracy

movements worldwide.

“After Sept. 11, the United States hasadopted troubling policies of indefinite andincommunicado detention that it wouldnever have accepted from other nations,”said Carter Center human rights lawyerAshley Barr. “It also has deepened ties with several undemocratic governments to increase cooperation on security issues,but these countries have seen this move as a ripe opportunity to quash human rights movements or to deprive citizens ofbasic rights. These issues are not confinedto those developing countries that havebeen known to abuse human rights; they’re worldwide.”

These crackdowns have placed manyhuman rights defenders in increasing dan-ger. For example, Uzbekistan convicted

Human Rights Defenders Cite New Pressuresmore than 100 people in themonths followingthe terrorist attacksin the United Statesfor alleged crimesrelated to religiousworship. Eritreajailed journalistsafter accusing themof having terroristties, and all inde-pendent press outlets were closedin September 2001.And ColombianPresident AlvaroUribe has defendedexpansive policepowers granted to public security forces,arbitrary detentions, and raids of civil society organizations.

“Ironically, the individuals and organizations being targeted are in the best position to press for legal and socialpolicies that will create stable and less radicalized societies,” said Karin Ryan,Carter Center human rights consultant.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carterhas called the escalating threats disturbing.

“There was a general consensus thatthe unconscionable terrorist attacks ofSeptember 2001 have precipitated policychanges in the United States and othernations because of preoccupation with theuse of force as the sole means to combatterrorism,” President Carter said. “This is leading to an alarming erosion of the rule of law in established and emergingdemocracies and giving comfort toundemocratic governments that previously were the subject of intense pressure ontheir human rights policies.”

Participants from 41 countries joinedPresident Carter and then acting U.N.High Commissioner for Human RightsBertrand Ramcharan to assess the status ofhuman rights and democracy movementsworldwide in the wake of the U.S-led waron terrorism and to call upon governments

not to abandon civil liberties and the ruleof law as security efforts are increased. U.N.Special Representative to the Secretary-General on Human Rights Defenders HinaJilani also was a featured presenter at theCenter’s conference, “Human RightsDefenders on the Front Lines of Freedom.”

Other participants included Dr. SaadEddin Ibrahim of Egypt, an activist andprofessor at the American University inCairo, who exposed fraud in the Egyptianelectoral process and subsequently was sen-tenced to seven years in prison, and Dr.Willy Mutunga, executive director of theKenya Human Rights Commission, whoaddressed a proposed U.S.-supported anti-terrorism law that dangerously expandspolice powers in Kenya.

The conference culminated in a public statement, The Atlanta Declaration,outlining proposals to combat the troublingbackslide on human rights that were presented to senior U.S. officials after theconference. In addition to calling for therepeal of all anti-terrorism legislation thatundermines fundamental freedoms, a fundfor the legal defense of persecuted humanrights activists was proposed, as well asU.N. reforms to ensure the high commis-sioner for human rights’ independencefrom political pressure.

Sima Simar, chair of the Afghanistan Independent HumanRights Commission, advocated for the U.S. government and theUnited Nations to include human rights policies as they plan for the rebuilding of her country.

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Venezuelans again turned to TheCarter Center as a neutral organization,having establishedrelationships with thegovernment andmembers of the opposition as electionobservers in 1998 and2000, when Chavezwas re-elected undera new constitution.

“Our helping toensure transparentelections from animpartial perspectiveled the governmentto seek our help witha national dialogueafter the coup,” saidDr. Jennifer McCoy,director of theCenter’s AmericasProgram and theVenezuela Task Force leader. “Wejoined with theOrganization ofAmerican States andthe United NationsDevelopmentProgramme to foster

For nearly two years Venezuela hasbeen a divided country, with esca-lating tension between the supporters

of the president and the opposition thatwants to end his term in office. Along the way, The Carter Center and theOrganization of American States havebeen working with both sides and with the electoral authorities to get consensuson the “rules of the game” at each step of the process so the outcome can berespected as fair and just.

A May 2003 agreement between thegovernment and opposition recognized thata recall referendum on the president’s rulecould help resolve the tensions of thecountry. The Carter Center and OAS were invited by the electoral authority to observe the entire recall effort. Sinceopposition supporters finished collectingsignatures in November to force a recallvote, Venezuela’s National ElectoralCouncil confirmed as valid 1.8 million of the 3.4 million signatures turned in by opposition supporters. They need 2.4million signatures to force a recall vote.The delay in announcing the number ofvalidated signatures and the preliminarydisqualification of many of the signaturesled to massive protests in Caracas thatturned violent in late February.

The Carter Center has worked inVenezuela to reinforce a faltering democracyand sustain confidence in the electoralprocess since 1998. The country’s uncertainpolitical climate led the Center to observethe 1998 presidential elections. Four yearslater, tensions reached the boiling pointwhen masses of government opponentstook to the streets, calling for the removalof what they called an undemocratic leader.The military removed President HugoChávez from office in April 2002. He was restored to office two days later afterforeign governments condemned the coupas an unlawful interruption of democracyand his supporters poured into the streets.

Center Fosters Democracy in Venezuela

Jennifer McCoy and Carter CenterCaracas Representative Francisco Diezattend one of several press conferencesthey have held to keep the Venezuelanpublic apprised of the Center’s work anddevelopments in the recall process.

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this process. But the eventual agreement to focus on constitutional provisions for a recall referendum alone will not resolvethe fundamental problems of Venezuela.Various sectors of society must work to reconcile differences and learn to coexist.”

Matthew Hodes, director of theCenter’s Conflict Resolution Program and member of the task force, said the presence of impartial facilitators andobservers deterred widespread violencesince April 2002.

“I think the involvement of theCenter and the OAS has brought hope toboth sides —that the process, despite itslack of progress at times, is being watchedand that the will of the people is lookedafter,” Hodes said.

If sufficient signatures are verified, arecall vote will occur in the summer of2004; if the president loses the vote, a newpresidential election will take place to electa successor to complete the remainder ofthe term, which ends in December 2006.

Venezuelan anti-government protesters hold flags in front of a mural of Simon Bolivar during a demonstration in Caracas,Venezuela, Wednesday, March 10, 2004. Opposition supporterswere protesting the National Electoral Council’s initial decisionto invalidate more than 1 million signatures.

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Waging Peace Around the World

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PEACE

BoliviaA democracy depends on the freeflow of information, and The CarterCenter has begun working in Bolivia tobolster its proposed access-to-informationact. The Center is supporting the gov-ernment’s efforts to establish greater transparency, through such mechanisms as an interim presidential decree, pilot ministries committed to voluntary open-ness, and, ultimately, a comprehensiveaccess-to-information law. The Centerplans to continue working in Bolivia over the next two years to promote fullimplementation and effective enforcementof the act and widespread civil society usageof this new right to information. Since

1999, the Center has promoted access toinformation, beginning with a project inJamaica that focused on improving draftlegislation and helping civil society tounderstand the value and use of informa-tion. In December, following violentmarches and the abrupt resignation of theformer president, President Carter visitedLa Paz to meet with key political leadersand to speak to the Congress about shareddemocratic ideals and the Center’s work.

GuatemalaFocusing on human rights andcampaign finance—issues critical toequal participation in democracy—TheCarter Center observed the November general elections and December presiden-tial runoff in Guatemala. The Centerheightened domestic and internationalattention to the human rights environmentin a country dealing with the aftereffects ofa 36-year civil war, focusing on protectionof human rights activists, the participationof indigenous citizens, and inclusive civicdialogue about national priorities. TheCenter also assessed Guatemala’s campaignfinance system and monitored related issuesduring the election process. Campaign andpolitical party financing in Guatemala arelargely private and unregulated, with fewdisclosure requirements and no ceiling onprivate campaign contributions.

“The 2003 elections in Guatemalatook place at a historic moment in whichprogress toward sustainable peace, account-ability, democratic development, and thepromotion of human rights has flagged,”said Dr. David Carroll, interim director of the Center’s Democracy Program.“Concrete progress in each of these areas is essential to implement fully the 1996Peace Accords that ended the war.”

MozambiqueMozambique demonstrated itscommitment to sustainable andpeaceful democratization in its well-managed municipal election day in November 2003, The Carter Centerfound. However, electoral authorities face aserious challenge to correct and reconcilethe existing multiple voter registers into asingle voters roll for the 2004 presidentialand national assembly elections. Otherproblems related to tabulation of voteswere observed, including delays and errorsin the announcement of official results,insufficient election observer access to thetabulation process, and a general lack ofpublic transparency.

The project is part of long-term effortsto improve the quality of democracy inMozambique, including supporting civilsociety in its efforts to have a voice in theelectoral process, observing the December2004 presidential elections, and supportingthe national consensus-building initiativeknown as Agenda 2025. The Center alsoobserved the 1999 national elections. “It ishoped that additional electoral reforms will

be implemented to ensure that the 2004elections are conducted in a transparentmanner, free of the political suspicions that arose following the 1999 nationalelections,” said Dr. David Pottie, seniorprogram associate of the Center’sDemocracy Program.

CubaAs a follow-up to PresidentCarter’s historic trip to Cuba, leaders from a dozen politically diverseCuban-American organizations came toThe Carter Center in January to talk aboutpolicy issues. The Center provided a facili-tator for the meeting, which was designedto encourage tolerance of diverse points ofview and to learn about shared perspectiveson various issues. President and Mrs. Carteralso met with the group. “This meeting wasunprecedented for the participants, asmany conversed in a nonconfrontationalsetting for the first time,” said Dr. ShelleyMcConnell, senior associate director of theCenter’s Americas Program.

Since taking office in October, BoliviaPresident Carlos Mesa has sought toimprove governmental transparency withthe assistance of the Carter Center’sAmericas Program.

This sample ballot paper for the mayor of Mozambique’s capital city, Maputo,shows the candidate’s name, photograph,and party logo. The Frelimo party candi-date, Eneas Comiche, won the election.

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An assessment of the CarterCenter’s latrine project in Nigerhas shown highly encouraging

evidence that after one year, householdlatrines are widely accepted, used, andmaintained. When the Center and thecountry’s ministry of health began the project in 2002, fewer than 5 percent ofhouseholds in rural communities had cov-ered latrines. Now more than 2,900 latrineshave been built in more than 50 villages,and as many as 1,000 more households willbuild latrines as materials become available.

Latrine Use Reduces FliesThat Transmit Trachoma

“We needed to learn how well people are accepting latrines, whether they maintain the latrines, and howhygiene education has had an impact on the communities. The results are prom-ising,” said the Center’s Dr. MamadouDiallo, a physician from Mali with a masterof public health degree from the Universityof California at Berkeley and a graduate ofthe Epidemic Intelligence Service at theCenters for Disease Control.

Beginning in June 2003, the trachomacontrol team visited 200 households, inter-

viewed adults, and met withvillage leaders. They foundthat latrines are welcomed in villages and accepted fordifferent reasons.

• More than 90 percent ofadult men and womenreported always usinglatrines.

• Eighty-two percent of thosesurveyed chose to use themfor proximity and privacy.

• Only 5 percent cited disease prevention as thereason for using latrines.

• Seventy-five percent of thetime, women are in chargeof cleaning latrines.

While only a small percentage of villagers reported using latrines as a way to prevent disease,Salissou Kane, resident technical adviser for theCenter’s Trachoma ControlProgram in Niger, is pleasedwith project results. “Eventhough people are usinglatrines for reasons other than health, they are stillusing latrines,” he said. “Lateron we can help them connect

the impact of latrines on health.” TheCarter Center’s Trachoma Control Programbegan its latrine project early in 2002 to rid rural villages of breeding sites for fliesthat transmit the world’s most commonpreventable cause of blindness. The teamprovides materials and supervises the construction of household latrines.

Forty-nine of 50 village leaders reported they would continue

to build latrines when the project ends.

Trachoma, the world’s leading cause ofpreventable blindness, affects 146 millionpeople, most of whom live in developingcountries in Africa, the Middle East, andAsia. Only cataracts cause more blindnessworldwide but, unlike cataracts, trachomacan be prevented through improvements inpersonal and environmental hygiene. TheCarter Center’s Trachoma Control Programworks with ministries of health and otherpartners in Ghana, Mali, Niger, Ethiopia,Sudan, and Nigeria to promote improve-ments in personal and environmentalhygiene and to deliver antibiotics to people at risk for blinding trachoma.

HEALTH

In addition to the latrines inNiger, The Carter Center has built7,900 latrines in five other Africancountries. The Carter Centerlearned about cultural and regionalinfluences. In some countries,latrine lids get too hot. In southernSudan, where soils are very looseand moist, some latrines have collapsed. Center staff found inMali that separate latrines wouldhave to be built in a home housingmore than one wife or family.Ethiopia and Ghana are experi-menting with public latrines.

Villagers in Niger build latrines surrounded by thatch,decreasing breeding sites for flies that carry blindingtrachoma. The Carter Center and the national min-istry of health will continue to explore ways to makehousehold latrines even more affordable, acceptable,and sustainable.

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HEALTH

Some have called him the “GreatOne.” Living for a week on one smallsack of supplies, getting food from

people along the way, Abdelgadir El Sid is a legend among field workers fightingdisease in Africa.

In the 1970s, he earned his reputationby uncovering the last case of smallpox in a remote village in Somalia. Having beentold that no one there had the disease, hesuspected villagers might be reluctant toadmit the presence of “a pox upon them”out of shame. So he created a commotion,purposely driving his jeep into a ditch,which attracted everyone in the village to witness the scene, including the lastremaining victim of smallpox in the world.

Today, in his late 60s, his savvy hashelped The Carter Center make Guineaworm the next disease to be eradicated. In

Guinea Worm Warrior FightsAgainst All Odds

war-torn southern Sudan, the region withthe largest concentration of remainingcases of Guinea worm, he has astonishedcolleagues with his relentless pursuit of his objectives.

Southern Sudan has only 15 miles of paved roads and no electricity, yet eradicating Guinea worm calls for everyvillage to be assessed and every infectedvillage to be served.

The most difficult part is getting to remote

endemic villages, and the rainy season is the

most challenging time.

“The most difficult part,” Abdelgadirsaid, “is just getting to remote endemic villages. Sometimes you have to sleep inthe forest, get people to help pull yourboat, and hope you can find someone tofeed you during your journey.”

The rainy season is the most challenging time. Navigating swollenstreams strewn with floating tree stumps,avoiding poisonous snakes, and simply finding one’s way over altered courses inwaterways are just a few of the difficulties.

On one weeklong journey, he had toleave his boat and wade for eight hours inwater sometimes up to his neck, carrying abundle of cloth filters to a remote villagewhere they would be used to strain Guineaworm larvae from drinking water.

Cases of Guinea worm disease have decreased from 3.5 million in 1986 to fewer than 32,000 today, thanks

to a worldwide coalition led by The Carter Center,

including WHO, UNICEF, the Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention, the U.S. Peace Corps, and African national ministries of health.

“There was nowhere to rest that wholeday. All I could see around me was water.But that wasn’t the worst part,” he said. “I had to avoid rebel fighters, who mightshoot you for no reason.”

Renewed prospects for peace in Sudanbring hope that intrepid field workers likeAbdelgadir will reach many previouslyinaccessible villages in the war zone, speeding progress toward making Guineaworm disease the first parasitic disease to be eradicated.Abdelgadir El Sid (right) will not rest until Guinea worm disease no longer affects the

people of Sudan. The chart in the background shows progress in the race to rid theworld of this debilitating disease.

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HEALTH

Don Melvin, Cox News Service

The fruits of an agricultural revolution taking place today inGhana can be seen not only in

the growing incomes of farmers but also in the healthy faces of children. With thehelp of the Atlanta-based Carter Center,this revolution has swept over much ofGhana and attracted the attention of other countries in West Africa and beyond.

Powerful forces like AIDS and waroften hinder the efforts of Africans toescape poverty and illness. But those forces are opposed in some small measureby the seed that has taken root in Ghana—an altered form of corn known here as“obatanpa,” or “good nursing mother.”

Scientists call it by a more prosaicname: quality protein maize. It is like normal corn in all respects but two: Ityields more corn per acre, and it containsbetter protein. The higher yield is impor-tant in a country where 60 percent of the

Altered Corn Helps Ghana’sChildren Fight Malnutrition

workers are small-scale farmers. The betterprotein is critical in a country where cornporridge is used to wean babies from theirmothers’ breasts.

The details of proteins can sound technical to the layman. But there is nothing technical about the effects NanaAkosua has seen in her children. The family lives in the village of Sekyedumase,70 miles north of the city of Kumasi.Akosua’s oldest child, a boy namedAugustine, was born before obatanpa wasintroduced to the village and before thegovernment began a program to teachmothers about infant nutrition. When hewas two months old, Akosua started addingkoko, a corn porridge, to Augustine’s diet of breast milk. Unbeknownst to her,normal corn has very low amounts of lysineand tryptophan, two amino acids essentialto human life. Augustine was sick oftenwith diarrhea and fever.

By the time Akosua gave birth to her second child, Phyllis, the village had

switched to obatanpa, which has been bredto have much higher quantities of thosetwo amino acids, making its protein morecomplete. Akosua fed Phyllis exclusivelyon breast milk for six months, as she wastaught. When she weaned the baby, sheused koko made with obatanpa.

Today, Augustine is 13 years old.Phyllis is 10. They are virtually the sameheight. And that’s not all. “The girl is veryclever,” Akosua said proudly. “She is thefirst in her class.”

One of her classmates is Augustine,who has been held back twice. The siblings, three years apart, are equally talland in the same class. Anomalies happen,but Akosua says she knows why her children turned out differently. “I think it is because of the diets,” she said.

There is no anomaly in what has happened in this area. Ten years ago, about half the children in this district were malnourished, said Abenaa Akuamoa-Boateng, a regional nutrition officer for the Ghana Health Service. By last year, therate had dropped to 8.7 percent. Educationhas helped, as have small loans designed toprovide people with income to tide themover between harvests. But, in an areawhere babies were eating sufficient foodand getting insufficient nourishment, thenew corn, too, has helped a lot.

And the reduction in malnutritioncoincides precisely with the period of timethat The Carter Center worked to intro-duce quality protein maize in the region in partnership with the Sasakawa AfricaAssociation, led by Norman Borlaug.Borlaug is the “green revolution” agrono-mist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate bestknown for high-yield agricultural tech-niques that eased food shortages in Indiaand Pakistan in the 1960s.

Scientists began developing qualityprotein maize from a strain of Andean cornfound in the 1960s to have higher-than-normal levels of lysine and tryptophan. Butit was difficult to get a variety that tasted asgood as normal corn, or resisted disease aswell, or offered as high a yield, or hadappealing color and consistency.Women in Ghana sort a variety of corn called quality protein maize. Children weaned

on quality protein maize are larger and healthier than those weaned on normal corn.

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HEALTH

By the 1980s, local experts in Ghana,with help from The Carter Center andSasakawa Association, developed a qualityprotein strain that matched traditionalcorn in taste, texture, and color. “It’s equal to mother’s milk,” said former U.S. President Carter in Ghana. “It’s a complete food.”

And the yield is 50 percent higherthan for normal corn. The economic benefits can be seen in the village ofEnyinase, 10 miles east of the city of Cape Coast. “Our standard of living haschanged,” said Seth Apecu, the secretary of a local farm group. “In this village,everybody who is cultivating obatanpa has put up a new building.” Ernest Asiedu,a Ghanaian seed technologist, estimatedthat 30 percent of the corn in Ghana isnow quality protein maize.

Quality protein maize has 90 percent of the nutritive value of milk. It also has

the taste, texture, and color that people want in corn.

The work in Ghana is now sufficientlysupported by the Ghanaian governmentand local enterprise that the Carter-Sasakawa partnership ended its countryprogram there on Dec. 31. But the partnership, known as SG2000, continuesin the region, said Wayne Haag, anSG2000 official who has worked on quality protein maize for many years.

Ghana is not the only African countrywhich has the potential to benefit fromhigh-protein corn. “We’ve taken seed products from Ghana and introduced themin other countries throughout Africa,”President Carter said.

Officials from other African countries,including Tanzania, Malawi, Ethiopia,Mali, Guinea, and Senegal, are studyingGhana’s experience. “Ghana, in a way, hasbeen a pioneer,” said Haag.

The Nineteenth AnnualRosalynn CarterSymposium on Mental

Health Policy convened atThe Carter Center Nov. 5-6,2003, to discuss implementa-tion of recommendations fortransforming the mentalhealth system made by thePresident’s New FreedomCommission on MentalHealth. The commission,announced by President Bushin April 2002, was the firstsince President Carter’s 1978Commission on MentalHealth, with Mrs. Carter asactive honorary chair.

“The New FreedomCommission has done itswork,” said Mrs. Carter. “It is now up to us, the mentalhealth community, to worktogether to implement therecommendations of the report. The task ishuge, and no single sector can do it alone.”

Through panel discussions, question-and-answer sessions, and work groups, themore than 200 symposium attendeesfocused on the current science of mentalillnesses, ways to incorporate science intoservices, and strategies for implementingthe commission’s recommendations.

Dr. Michael Hogan, who chaired the New Freedom Commission, served asthe symposium’s keynote speaker. “Ourcommission review found no fewer than 42 different federal programs that might be used at different times by children oradults,” Hogan said. “We expect people tonavigate this complexity when they are ill.This unintended complexity, coupled withreal gaps in care, is a striking problem thatled us to conclude that the entire systemmust be transformed.”

The concept of recovery is key to that transformation: Some people achievecomplete recovery and remission, and arecovery-oriented approach also helpsthose who live with an illness or disability.The “engine” of recovery is hope—theexpectation of better outcomes for the person, their family, and their mentalhealth professional.

Mrs. Carter noted that presidentialcommissions do not carry with them the means for implementing their recommendations. “It is overwhelminglythe responsibility of the larger communityto ensure that the issues identified stay inthe forefront of the minds of the generalpublic,” she said. “Sharing best practicesand our successes helps us all accomplishour goals.”

Mental Health SymposiumUrges Collaboration

Dr. Michael Hogan, keynote speaker at the RosalynnCarter Symposium on Mental Health Policy, and Mrs. Carter share a keen interest in improving the mental health care system.

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Friends of The Carter Center had reason to celebrate this pastDecember when gifts and pledges

reached and exceeded the $150 milliongoal of The Campaign to Endow TheCarter Center. “It’s a wonderful accom-plishment for The Carter Center, for thefuture of our health and peace programs,and for President and Mrs. Carter,” said Dr. John Hardman, executive director,about the campaign’s success.

Sincere thanks go to the 3,600 individuals and organizations around theworld who participated in the campaign.“We’re grateful to each donor who helpedmake this outcome possible,” said Dr.Hardman. The success of the campaign is important not only for the resources itbrings to the Center but also as a legacy to President and Mrs. Carter. “The Cartersnow have an assurance that the Center’smission of waging peace, fighting disease,and building hope around the world will continue long into the future,” Dr. Hardman added.

Total commitments to the campaign will likely increase.

There is time to be a part of this important effort.

Because several additional major proposals remain pending, the campaign is still active. As friends consider theirresponses, total commitments to the campaign will likely increase in the weeksahead. There is time to be a part of thisimportant effort. Through additional out-right gifts and future provisions in the formof bequests, annuities, and trusts adminis-tered by the Center’s gift planning office,donors may continue to participate in theexpansion of the permanent endowment.

Endowment CampaignAchieves $150 Million Goal

Launched by the board of trustees as a special fund-raising effort to strengthen the Center’s financial foundation, TheCampaign to Endow The Carter Centersought to attract $150 million in new gift monies for permanent endowment.Volunteer leadership to The Campaign toEndow The Carter Center was provided bytrustees John Moores, chair of the San

Diego Padres, and Kent “Oz” Nelson,retired chairman and CEO, United ParcelService. A group of local business and community leaders, several serving as mem-bers of the Center’s Board of Councilors,volunteered time and energy to ensure success of the Atlanta campaign phase.

To learn more about endowment and planned gifts, please contact ArthurWasserman, chief development officer,Major Gifts and Endowment, The CarterCenter, One Copenhill, Atlanta, GA30307. (404) 420-3864 or e-mail:[email protected].

The Carter Center, through the support of the United StatesAgency for International

Development (USAID), the UnitedKingdom’s Department for InternationalDevelopment (DFID), and the governmentof Switzerland’s Federal Department ofForeign Affairs (DFA), will observeMozambique’s national elections inDecember as part of its effort to help establish in the country a credible electoral process that meets internationalstandards. The Center’s observation is the culmination of an 18-month project

Donors Promote GoodGovernance

to help consolidate democracy inMozambique. The Center also observed the 1999 national elections.

The government of Switzerland is an emerging partner that shares the Carter Center’s commitment to promotinggood governance and the management ofelectoral conflicts. The Center also enjoysan ongoing relationship with the govern-ment of the United Kingdom, which hasfunded Center election observations inMozambique, Venezuela, and Jamaica.USAID is a long-time supporter of theCenter, supporting many peace and democracy initiatives since 1990.

The Mozambique project funded byUSAID, DFID, and DFA also supportslocal civil society organizations’ efforts toplay a constructive role in the electionprocess. The Center collaborated with civil society organizations during theNovember 2003 municipal elections inconducting a parallel vote tabulation(PVT), a process of collecting a sample of voting results from some or all pollingstations to verify official results. By con-ducting a PVT, observers are able to holdelection officials accountable and provide a deterrent against manipulation.

PHILANTHROPY

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PHILANTHROPY

Ambassadors Circle and Legacy CircleMembers Get First-hand Overview

The seventh annual ExecutiveBriefing and Presidential Receptionwas held on April 16, 2004, for

members of the Ambassadors Circle—donors who contribute $1,000 or more inunrestricted gifts—and the Legacy Circle—those who have made planned gifts tothe Center.

The event attracted 247 donors from26 states and from England and Canada.Highlights included briefings by programdirectors and an update from PresidentJimmy Carter and Mrs. Rosalynn Carter,followed by a question-and-answer period,photographs with the Carters, and tours ofthe Center and Presidential Library. ThePresidential Reception allowed participantsthe opportunity to speak to the Carters one on one.

Donors praised their experience andcommented on how the event gave them a strong sense of ownership of the Center’s work.

Gates Foundation MakesRiver Blindness Challenge

The Bill & Melinda GatesFoundation recently awarded a $10 million challenge grant to The

Carter Center to eliminate river blindnessin the Americas by the end of this decade.The Center, through the OnchocerciasisElimination Program of the Americas,works to treat river blindness in the sixendemic countries of Latin America.

The Gates Foundation helps improveglobal health and expand learning oppor-tunities for young people. Since 2000, thefoundation has been a committed partnerto the Center in its efforts to fight diseaseand alleviate suffering.

The grant challenges the Center toraise $5 million in matching funds to

secure a total of $15 million for the project. “We hope that this challenge grant will inspire other donors to supportthe Center’s efforts to eliminate this debilitating, blinding disease in theAmericas,” said Dr. Regina Rabinovich,director of the foundation’s InfectiousDiseases Program. “The elimination of river blindness would mark a critical milestone in public health and pave theway for future progress in the region’shealth and development.”

With help from partners such as theGates Foundation, The Carter Center has delivered more than 55 million treat-ments of the drug Mectizan® in Africa and Latin America.

For more information about theAmbassadors Circle, please contact SeemaShams at (404) 420-5134. For informationabout the Legacy Circle, please contactRhonda Schultz at (404) 420-3868 or visitwww.cartercenter.org.

Many companies offer current andretired employees a matchingoption that can double or even

triple a donation to The Carter Center,providing critical funds that help providepeace, health, and hope for millions around the globe.

Participation in a matching giftsprogram creates hope for many.

Contact your employer’s humanresources office to learn if the organizationoffers a program. A partial list of partici-pating companies is available on our Web site at www.cartercenter.org. Obtain a matching gifts form, complete it, and send it along with your donation.Please call 1 (800) 550-3560, Ext. 109, with questions.

Multiply theImpact of Support

River blindness is spread through the bite of a small, black fly that breeds inrapidly flowing rivers and streams alongthe most fertile riverbanks. The economicand health consequences of the diseaseare devastating, as adults cannot farm or care for their children.

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“It was wonderful to learn about all the activities of the Center andprogress made.”

—Ambassadors Circle members Ronaldand Debbie Rudolph of Kensington,Md., attended with their daughter,Olivia Bozik.

“The Executive Briefing was veryeducational.”

—Ambassadors Circle members GayeLaurell and Daniel Reiber are fromCleveland, Ohio.

“The Carters make you feel peace is possible.”

—Legacy Circle member Una MariePierce lives in San Diego, Calif.

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NEWS BRIEFS

The Carter Center’s 12thannual Winter Weekend auction held Feb. 28 inSnowbird, Utah, raised more than $823,000 to helpsupport the Center’s work toadvance peace and healthworldwide. Jim and CaseyMargard (left) purchased theYamaha guitar signed by manytop music stars, including theB-52s and Willie Nelson.Elijah Holyfield (right) proudly shows off a footballjersey signed by PeytonManning and purchased by his mother, Janice Holyfield.Manning is the only NFLquarterback in history tothrow for 12,000 yards in his first three seasons.

New on the Carter Center Web siteare the 2002-2003 Annual Report,the final report on the 2003

Mozambique municipal elections, andPresident Carter’s trip report from WestAfrica, Feb. 2-7, 2004. Visit the site oftenfor up-to-the-minute information and awealth of research material.

If you have remembered The CarterCenter in your will, we encourage you to review the language of the

designation to ensure your gift will bedirected to the Center properly. A bequestshould list our name as The Carter Center,Inc. or The Carter Center and indicate our location in Atlanta, Ga. For moreinformation on bequests, visit our Web site at www.cartercenter.org or call Rhonda Schultz in the Office of GiftPlanning at (800) 550-3560, Ext. 868.

Planned GivingBenefits Donorand Center

Stay Current at www.cartercenter.org

The first official White House crafts collection will be presented at the Jimmy Carter Museum in

Atlanta May 15-Aug. 15. This outstandingcollection, exhibited in the White Housebetween 1993 and 1995, reflects thenation’s longstanding tradition of craftmaking and the richness and diversity ofthis important aspect of American artisticheritage. Using glass, wood, clay, fiber, andmetal, artists such as Dante Marioni, DaleChihuly, David Levi, Sonja Blomdahl, BobHawk, Sam Maloof, Cheryl C. Williams,Edward Moulthrop, and many others dis-play the skill, imagination, and vitality ofAmerican craft in the 1990s.

The Museum exhibit showcases 70 works of the

hand by 75 of America’s leadingcontemporary crafts artists.

White HouseCollection ofAmerican CraftsOpens at Museum

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