Pamela (not her real name), a resident of Kenya's largest slum, Kibera, continues to experience pain and discomfort one year after she was gang-raped when election-related violence erupted in the country. "The saddest part of the experience is that I don't know the rapists so I can't even say I am waiting for justice; they pushed my head under the bed and so many of them raped me until I fainted; when I came to, they had fled," Pamela said.

Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ojo Madueke, has recently denied the existence of gay people in Nigeria. He said this at the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review meeting, held in Geneva from 2-13 February, where he claimed that gay people are not visible in that country and that they do not have any registered organisations.

With increasing demand for resources to tackle the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, questions arise as to where such resources are to be found and whether they can be fully absorbed and spent. One major source of financing for HIV and AIDS control is external aid. The debate continues as to whether increased external assistance causes macroeconomic instability.

This paper makes the case that attending to fundamental issues such as social exclusion and gender inequity is crucial to the effort to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The challenge is to inspire the public and professionals alike to step up efforts - not by focusing solely on the goals themselves, but, rather, by broadening the perspective through linking the MDGs to leading global development debates.