Together, the 15 high schoolers formed a team for the first World Smarts STEM Challenge. That's a science competition run by IREX, a global development nonprofit that strives to promote student enthusiasm for science, tech, engineering and math (aka STEM). Each of the 17 teams had teenagers in the D.C. area partnering with Ghanaians to identify and solve a real-world problem. 

There's a new way of doing diplomacy in Ethiopia's capital, one that forsakes speeches in favour of music, sweat and bare feet. A troupe of New York-based dancers arrived in the capital Addis Ababa earlier this month to boogie their way to closer ties between the United States and Ethiopia, a major East African economy and counterterrorism partner for Washington.

The Korea-Africa Business Forum and Cultural Exchange in Busan, has the specific goals of making the Bank's 53rd Annual Meetings successful by promoting the Korean general public's and private sector's interests in Africa. [...] The AfDB has put a lot of efforts to support the Korean private sector's investment ventures in Africa. For instance, the Bank's Asia External Representation Office (SNAR) has been providing the latest information and news to the private sector and hosting events about "Doing business in and with Africa."

Global health programs — supported by U.S. and other donor countries — helped leaders to prioritize health, particularly when they supported grass-roots health advocates in Africa. Global efforts establish the expectation that governments should promote health. Funding and technical assistance from Western donors, U.N. agencies and NGOs empower national efforts.

The World Bank reports the African region will receive $45 billion of the $75 billion allocated for development purposes. It says other recipients will include small Pacific island states threatened by climate change and fragile countries in the Western Hemisphere, such as Haiti. [...] The fund, which runs from July 1 through June 30, 2020, also will support specific development projects in 82 additional fragile states, including Guinea, Nepal, Niger, and Tajikistan.

This week, prime minister Hailemariam Dessalegn had presented a six-month performance assessment report of his government to the House of Peoples Representatives. Foreign relation and diplomacy were among the overarching themes. [...] Efforts were channelled towards helping the country enjoy finance either in a form of loan or aid for trade, investment, tourism. In general, the activities were focused on economic diplomacy.

VOA began radio broadcasting in 1942, to combat Nazi propaganda. Per its charter, it is mandated to “serve as a consistently reliable and authoritative source of news.” Since WWII, it has been the front-edge of America’s informational interface with citizens around the world, particularly those battling dictatorships and tyranny. [...] VOA is the largest public diplomacy program of the United States government and broadcasts in more than 40 languages.

President Donald Trump’s proposed deep cuts to humanitarian aid go against the global development goals the United States committed to in 2015, the European Union’s international development chief warned Friday. “Any withdrawal or cut in the development assistance would actually go contrary to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals agenda,”