Full coverage: Development

21.06.2006 Proclaiming a message of “zero tolerance” for child sex tourism in Sri Lanka, the United Nations is supporting a two-year action plan launched by the country’s tourist board to stop such exploitation, targeting visitors, children and adolescents, hoteliers, journalists, families and community leaders

21.06.2006 MOVING away from the traditional role of funding primary and elementary education, the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID) is making silent inroads into special educational projects run by the West Bengal Government by promising ‘‘technical assistance’’.

21.06.2006 An increase in development aid since 2002 has raised health and education standards and hastened gender equality among the world's poorest nations, but overall poverty conditions are not improving, a new United Nations report said.

20.06.2006 Poliittisen ja taloudellisen kriisin kurimuksessa elävä Zimbabwe on torjunut YK:n ehdotuksen luokituksensa alentamisesta kaikkien köyhimpien maiden kastiin. Maailman kehitysmaista 50 luokitellaan nyt vähiten kehittyneiksi eli LDC-valtioiksi, ja niistä 34 sijaitsee Afrikassa.

20.06.2006 The World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have estimated that poverty rate in Pakistan ranges between 25.7 per cent and 28.3 per cent as against the governmentÂ’s estimates of 23.9 per cent.

20.06.2006 Shashi Tharoor, India's candidate for the post of Secretary-General of the United Nations, speaks about his chances and plans to The Hindu. Tharoor reveals that India has been considering his candidature for some time and he being an insider enjoys a distinct advantage.

20.06.2006 India's formal announcement of its candidate for the next U.N. secretary-general has threatened to trigger a nomination from neighbouring Pakistan -- possibly turning the race into an all-too-familiar Indo-Pakistan political battle in the world body.

20.06.2006 Living in a Bhandup slum for the last 10 years, for Sunil and Kaushala, life is a daily struggle. But early this month, when their four-year-old elder son Baadal was admitted to hospital with symptoms of malnutrition, their little world came crashing down.

19.06.2006 UNDP do të asistojë Asociacion e Komunave të Kosovës (AKM) që të bëhen pjesë e organizatës rajonale LOGINCEE, nëpërmes mbështetjes së një projekti i cili u nënshkrua të premten, 16 qershor në mes të Përfaqësuesit të UNDP-së, Frode Mauring dhe Kryetarit të Asociacionit të Komunave të Kosovës, Ismet Beqiri.

19.06.2006 Teachers of community primary schools wearing shrouds continued their fast-unto-death strike in the capital yesterday keeping their educational institutions across the country under lock and key in support of their demand for nationalisation of jobs.

19.06.2006 An educational support centre, started in the Giri Nagar slums, helps not only differently-abled children but also allows regular school-going children from poor families to find a foothold in society

19.06.2006 The Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) along with other organisations and movements plans to hold a National Strategy Meeting in Bhopal on the issue of displacement and development.

19.06.2006 Few would dispute that civil society organisations (CSOs) have grown substantially in number and influence over the past decades. But, are these groups at a point now where they play a determining role, alongside government, in public policy-making?

19.06.2006 The Indian regulatory system is very much modelled on central planning. It assumes that regulatory agencies can second-guess the sectors where demand is likely as well as the appropriate content of education. Ironically, India met some demands of the IT sector, because a large number of private institutions managed to dodge the regulatory system by offering diplomas rather than degrees

19.06.2006 “La desertificazione è una delle minacce più serie che l’umanità si trova ad affrontare. È un problema globale che affligge un quinto della popolazione mondiale in più di 100 paesi” - ha ricordato il Segretario generale dell'Onu Kofi Annan, nel suo messaggio diffuso in occasione della “Giornata mondiale per la lotta alla desertificazione e alla siccità”, che si è celebrata sabato 17 giugno. I deserti sono minacciati come mai prima, mentre potrebbero essere un tesoro di risorse per il pianeta per la produzione di energia solare o piante medicinali sottolinea un rapporto pubblicato dall’Onu nei giorni scorsi. Obiettivo dell’iniziativa, che coincide anche con il 10° anniversario della convenzione Onu per combattere la desertificazione, è anche quello di attirare l’attenzione sulla vita di milioni di persone - soprattutto nell'Africa subsahariana (dove il 66% del territorio è arido o semiarido) ma anche in Asia e in America Latina - che oggi vivono al limite della sussistenza.

16.06.2006 Per qualità dello sviluppo Trentino, Toscana ed Emilia Romagna sono al vertice della classifica del IV Rapporto “Come si vive in Italia?” presentato dalla Campagna Sbilanciamoci!. L’indice “Quars” (Diritti umani, ambiente e politiche sociali) misura la qualità dello sviluppo delle Regioni. “Il benessere di un territorio non dipende solo dalla crescita del Pil. Da quattro anni misuriamo la qualità dello sviluppo nelle regioni italiane in base a questo indice - ha affermato Giulio Marcon di Sbilanciamoci! - e la nostra analisi dimostra come ricchezza e qualità della vita, sviluppo economico e benessere dei cittadini non vadano necessariamente di pari passo”. Quest’anno, oltre ad un indice leggermente cambiato nella sua costruzione, la consueta classifica finale è accompagnata dalle schede regionali: un’analisi sullo stato dello sviluppo regione per regione.

16.06.2006 At a meeting organised by GAATW in Bangkok, Thailand, lawyers and human rights workers, from ten countries, agreed on a plan of action to increase access to justice for victims of human trafficking.

16.06.2006 Are you a young feminist with a commitment to strengthen your organization or movement? If so, you are welcome to participate in a Young Women's Institute on Money and Movements, 5 - 7 November, 2006, Oaxaca, Mexico.

16.06.2006 Just 22, Jai Kumar, a teacher, knows what he wants for his students at the informal school for 'freed' bonded labour near this southern Pakistani city. I'm going to make sure that none of them ever end up working at the young age I was forced to.

16.06.2006 Thousands of women in Madhya Pradesh were elected in the last panchayat elections; since then, the story has taken a dismal turn. More than 1,300 women sarpanchs face false charges of corruption. About 50 have been removed from office through forced no-confidence motions. They have been threatened and humiliated. (report from Women's Feature Service / India Together).