The African Union (AU) has declared 2010 to be the “Year of Peace and Security” and is promising extra effort in resolving conflicts and in building a robust architecture for peace and security. AU’s efforts will be focused on Sudan, where it has a chance to crystallize political solutions to the crises in that troubled country.

“Our engineers will not lead by being repairmen,” said TED Fellow and social entrepreneur Dr. Ndubuisi “ND” Ekekwe. Ekekwe believes that Africa has the potential to be a leading innovator in the next wave of electronics design, in 21st century industries like nanotechnology and robotics. But to do so, Africa must reinvent the way it educates electrical engineers, software developers, and technology professionals across the continent.

Ideals and commitment in politics, and in other spheres of life, are considered anachronistic in this cynical era when the public’s view of politicians and politics, or ideals, big or small, is at a very low point. Few are willing to grant that people, especially in public life, are altruistic enough to push for ideals that they sincerely believe would have positive impact on society. This is understandable given that citizens have been cheated, misled, and generally trampled upon by those in positions of power and authority in whom they had placed trust and hope.

The Enlightenment denotes the intellectual trends in 18th century Europe that espoused the use of reason and science as a universal method for obtaining knowledge and solving human problems. The Enlightenment writers argued that the light of reason and science could free humanity from the darkness of ignorance, the burden of false beliefs, and the destructive influence of prejudices and superstition. They believed in liberty, equality, secular society, and democracy, as well as in the potentials of education, science and technology for transforming the human condition by reducing poverty, misery and diseases.

Ambassador Michael Battle is one of those people you meet for the first time and feel like you already know. The moment I walked into his office, located within the U.S. Embassy compound in Addis Ababa, I felt the genuine warmth he exudes that gives the senior diplomat an aura of a Soulful Personality.

The International Fund for Africa (IFA) is a Houston-based non-profit organization dedicated to preventing, alleviating, and abolishing suffering of human and non–human beings. Anteneh Roba, M.D. and his cousin, Ms. Seble Nebiyeloul, founded IFA in 2006, in memory of Amsale Gessesse, their beloved mother and aunt, respectively. Although most of their work is focused on Ethiopia, IFA’s vision includes expanding its work to other parts of Africa.