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 * Name: Dr. Luis Sambo- World Health Organization Regional Director of Africa **


 * Country: I am representing The Democratic Republic of the Congo. **


 * Geography: The D.R.C is located in Central Africa bordered by the Central African republic on the north, Sudan on the northeast, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania on the east and by Zambia on the southeast and south, and also Angola on the southwest and the Cabinda enclave of Angola on the west. **


 * Economy: The Democratic Republic of the Congo is enriched with many natural resources that should create a good economy for the country. However, a war in 1991 made the economy go downhill. Reports from the CIA show that the country is bringing in a gross domestic product of 18.84 billion dollars per year. The leaders of the country are still trying to fix the economy. **


 * Population: 64,606,759 **


 * Social Structure: The majority of the people of the D.R.C are Bantu although there are over 200 different ethnic groups. The other major ethnic groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are the Kongo, Luba, and Mongo. There are also over 600,000 Pygmies, the aboriginal people of the D.R.C, in the country. Several hundred languages are also spoken despite the national language of French. Some of these languages consist of Kongo, Swahili, and Lingala. **


 * Background Information: Originally from Angola, I was elected as the World Health Organization’s regional director of Africa on February 1st, 2005. I became a medical doctor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Angola and then went on to receive a Diploma of specialist in Public Health from the Portuguese Medical Association. After schooling I worked many jobs in health services including being appointed to be the Chair of the National Health Committee, a position in which I held for 5 years. I am also a member of the Angolan Medical Association, the Portuguese Medical Association, and the International Society of Systems Sciences and Member of the International Editorial Board. Also, I am fluent in French, English, and Portuguese in both speaking and writing. **


 * References: **


 * United Nations: The United Nations would support Dr. Luis Sambo in receiving the prize for being an advocate of Africa because the United Nations promote better living conditions for humans, and social progress. By reducing disease and finding ways to prevent and treat Tuberculosis, Sambo would be making social progress in technology and also be progressing to better and safer living conditions for not only the people of the D.R.C but also other countries in Africa and around the world. **


 * African Union: The African Union would support Dr. Luis Sambo in receiving the prize for being an advocate for Africa because one of the goals of the African Union’s is to, “ advance the development of the continent by promoting research in all fields, in particular in science and technology.” This goal would be on its way to being accomplished through Dr. Sambo’s research for prevention and treatment in Tuberculosis. **


 * Dr. Margaret Chan (WHO Director-General): Dr. Margaret Chan would be another resource for Dr. Luis Sambo to win the prize from the Mo Ibrahim Foundation because she works for the World Health Organization which works within the United Nations to help solve global health problems. With Dr. Sambo’s prize money going to research for the prevention and treatment of Tuberculosis it would greatly benefit the goals of the World Health Organization. **


 * Benchmarks: **


 * Safety and Rule of Law: Although the Democratic Republic of the Congo does not have a very good Judicial system which is a main component of Safety Rule and Law and have not had a very good history of safety and security due to neighboring country’s wars they are making steps to improve their government situation with the help of the United States. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has recently established new institutions in the government and is now a stable presidential democratic republic. Also according to the rankings of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation The Democratic Republic or the Congo has made improvement in the past few years. **


 * Participation and Human Rights:The Democratic Republic of the Congo is not known for the best human rights. It is largely known as one of the worst countries for sexual abuse towards women and children. Rape is a huge problem in the D.R.C and that clearly shows that women’s human rights are not a priority in the country. Not only that many civilians are being killed in war, however there has been a decrease in killings and attacks in the past years. Human rights in politics and voting were also being restricted as it came closer to election time this past year in the D.R.C. In the participation aspect of this benchmark the D.R.C was only ranked slightly below average instead of well below average as it is in most categories. **


 * Sustainable Economic Opportunity: The Democratic Republic of the Congo is ranked very low in the Sustainable Economic Opportunity according to the Mo Ibrahim Foundation. Progress was trying to be made in the Infrastructural development of the country by broadening its hydroelectric potential, transportation network, harbor facilities, and oil refining capabilities. These were all great ideas except due to poor planning little progress was made in the area of Infrastructural development. Agriculture supports over two-thirds of the population of the country but it is still ranked just below average on the Mo Ibrahim Foundation. This is due to the poor internal transportation of the D.R.C that prevents the country from developing an urban food supply system that works. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is also ranked very low in both of the subcategories of Public Management and Business Environment. **


 * Human Development: The Democratic Republic of the Congo is also ranked very low in Human Development and each subtopic of Education, Welfare, and Health. Education is so poor in the country due to the fact that fewer than 10% of school-age children completed the six years of elementary schooling. Health went downhill when many European health and medical personnel left the country. Another factor that influences the poor health in the country is that only an estimated 2.8% of yearly income in the country is spent on health. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has made improvements in the health department however, fewer than 50% of the population has access to safe drinking water. So, there are still many improvements to be made. **

** Works Cited  **
 * "AU in a Nutshell." African Union. African Union, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. **


 * "Congo, Democratic Republic of the (DROC)." Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations. Ed. Timothy L. Gall and Susan Bevan Gall. Online ed. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Global Issues In Context. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. **


 * "Regional Director Biography." World Health Organization. World Health Organization, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. **


 * "UN, United Nations." UN News Center. UN, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. **
 * United States. Department of State. Bureau of Public Affairs. U.S. Department of State. U.S. Department of State, 03 Dec. 2012. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. **
 * ** World Health Organization. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.  **  **