News Archive - Latin America and Africa in the News

RAND researchers often write commentaries for publications on a variety of topics. This page lists commentaries and op-eds about or related to Latin America and Africa. For a complete list of commentaries and op-eds by RAND staff, visit the RAND Newsroom.

How Does the Private Health Sector Affect Access and Equity in Developing Countries?
Dec 14, 2010

Researchers analyzed data on child and maternal health care use from 34 African countries and found that private sector participation in the health care system is associated with increased access to health care facilities and reduced disparities in care.
Rebuilding Haiti
Oct 18, 2010

In this October 2010 Congressional Briefing, RAND experts discuss how the billions of dollars in aid pledged to help Haiti rebuild after the January earthquake can be used to create a resilient state that is capable of responding effectively to natural disasters and providing public services like education and health care.
Rebuilding Haiti
Oct 18, 2010

RAND experts discuss how the billions of dollars in aid pledged to help Haiti rebuild after the January earthquake can be used to create a resilient state that is capable of responding effectively to natural disasters and providing public services like education and health care.
African First Ladies Meet Former U.S. First Lady Laura Bush and Discuss PRGS Fellowship
Sep 24, 2010

The first ladies of Lesotho, Namibia, and Sierra Leone met with former U.S. First Lady Laura Bush to discuss efforts to support their work, including a new RAND Corporation fellowship that aims to help first ladies and their staff develop skills for managing an effective office and learn practical policy-analysis techniques.
Survey Examines Rural Guatemalan Attitudes toward Childhood Illness and Pregnancy
Sep 15, 2010

The Guatemalan Survey of Family Health was designed to examine the way in which rural Guatemalan families and individuals cope with childhood illness and pregnancy, and the role of ethnicity, poverty, social support, and health beliefs in this process.
An Old Scourge Needs a Modern Solution
Sep 3, 2010

Piracy is a crime at sea, but it starts on land. To thwart the Somali piracy career path, the world community should put funds toward protecting local fishing grounds and building a national coast guard capability in Somalia, writes Peter Chalk.
Keith Crane and Laurel Miller Discuss Building a More Resilient Haitian State
Aug 13, 2010

RAND Senior Economist Keith Crane and RAND Senior Political Scientist Laurel Miller discuss developing a Haitian state-building strategy. They identify the main challenges to more capable governance and suggest ways the influx of aid money can be used for long-term improvements, as well as offer other insights from their latest report, Building a More Resilient Haitian State.
Rebuilding Haiti Requires New State-Building Strategy
Aug 13, 2010

Haiti's future prosperity and peace depend on its ability to build a more resilient state, one capable of providing public services like education and health care as well as responding effectively to natural disasters.
Reconstruction Under Fire: Case Studies and Further Analysis of Civil Requirements
Jun 24, 2010

Building on a framework for integrating civil and military counterinsurgency (COIN), this volume presents an approach to the civil component, illustrated with three case studies from Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Role of Faith-Based Organizations in HIV Prevention and Care in Central America
Jun 1, 2010

Faith-based organizations such as churches and religious relief and development groups can play an important role in the response to HIV and AIDS in Central America, despite the fact that many do not support certain prevention measures such as condoms.
Al Qaeda Tipping Point? Still a Long Way to Go
Apr 26, 2010

We are still too close to the events to discern the long-term trajectory of the campaign against al Qaeda. And almost nine years after 9/11, analysts are still remarkably divided in their assessments of al Qaeda's current situation, writes Brian Michael Jenkins.
A Month After the Earthquake: Opportunities Slipping Away
Feb 24, 2010

Previous efforts by the international community to stabilize Haiti have met with little or only short-term success. This time, following the earthquake, the U.S. response could actually leverage the response and recovery opportunities into a broader international plan, write Agnes Gereben Schaefer and Anita Chandra.
Skip the Graft
Jan 17, 2010

The latest disaster to befall Haiti creates the opportunity to combine bipartisan accord on Haiti in Washington with keen and perhaps sustained American public interest, writes James Dobbins.
On Dry Land - The Onshore Drivers of Piracy
Jul 3, 2009

Piracy is a growing international problem, primarily around the Horn of Africa. The international response has been largely military in nature and focused exclusively on the maritime theatre, ignoring key land drivers of piracy, which will resurface once the military actions end, write Peter Chalk and Laurence Smallman.
BRIC-Ã -Brac
Jun 16, 2009

The leaders of the BRIC countries Brazil, Russia, India, and China hold their first stand-alone summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on Tuesday, June 16, but the timing of this meeting is hardly coincidental, as discussed by Andrew Weiss for ForeignPolicy.com .