The Turkish Prime Ministry released a report outlining Turkey's humanitarian aid to Gaza and Iraq that amounted to over $8 million. The country's state-run aid agencies and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are spearheading efforts to help victims of Israel's constant bombings in the Gaza Strip and people displaced by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) offensive in Iraq.

When African leaders arrive in Washington this week to meet with President Obama, one of the most politically sensitive issues expected to be discussed is the future of the U.S. commitment to global efforts to deal with HIV/AIDS. For more than a decade, the United States has taken the lead in this fight, providing significant funding — $52 billion so far — to the cause through a program known as the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

It is an established fact that despite the mammoth assistance, both military and economic, the US has failed miserably to achieve its objective of winning hearts and minds here. In contrast, China is perceived by the general public as a trustworthy and long-standing ally even though the aid and loans provided by China are nothing close to that given by the US. 

President Barack Obama announced that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will invest more than $38 million toward four regional Leadership Centers that will train thousands of Africa’s emerging leaders and foster connections, creativity, and collaboration in sectors critical to Africa’s growth and development, according to USAID.

The new economic program seems intended to counter China's recently growing influence over Caribbean countries. Beijing has diplomatic relations with nine of the 14 countries, with President Xi Jinping having paid a visit to Trinidad and Tobago last year. Abe explained Japan's policy of proactively contributing to global peace, security and prosperity, and reiterated Tokyo's appeal to the international community to resolve territorial and maritime disputes peacefully and in accordance with international laws, and not by force or intimidation.

His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has launched an international project for immediate food aid for all those affected by crises across the globe. Shaikh Mohammad directed that the project start in Gaza, which is currently under Israeli aggression, in cooperation with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and the UN World Food Programme.

In September next year, the United Nations plans to choose a list of development goals for the world to meet by the year 2030. What aspirations should it set for this global campaign to improve the lot of the poor, and how should it choose them? In answering that question, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his advisers are confronted with a task that they often avoid: setting priorities.