TheMDGNetDigest
No.
33 - Your Guide to Network Happenings from 1 November to 30 November
2004
Contents:
- Network Queries
- MDG Happenings and Announcements
- New Members
Network
Queries
Open
Queries:
eDiscussion:
The MDGs: Global Goals to support Local Solutions
-
Dafina
Gercheva, UNDP Bratislava SURF and Enkhtsetseg Miyegombo, UNDP
Albania,
8 November
This
discussion aims to share
concrete experiences on initiatives of localising the MDGs and to identify gaps
where research is needed. During the second half of the discussion,
Enkhtsetseg Miyegombo, our first guest moderator raised the following
questions:
- What stage of the ‘localization’
process is your respective country in?
- What are the important lessons
learned through that experience?
Dafina Gercheva, our
second guest moderator, also raised the following
questions:
- I believe this
discussion will benefit if the good governance dimension of localizing the
MDGs is further strengthened and the relations between governance and MDGs are
explored more in depth. I am very
much interested to know if civil society and local drivers of the MDGs have
been sensitized on the Millennium Declaration. What are the mechanisms to
involve vulnerable groups into the planning and monitoring process? How the
human rights approach has been integrated into the localizing the MDGs process
and how the enforcement of human rights (political, social and economic) has
been ensured (good practices, show cases, failures)?
- While addressing
the issue of development resources the focus is primarily on state budget,
private sector or ODA. Less attention is given to the need for mobilizing and
capturing more effectively and efficiently the small funds from micro and
SMEs, local governments and informal sector. What has been the experience so
far in engaging SMEs in the MDGs localization process beyond the planning
phase?
- How to assesses the
current situation, e.g capacities gaps, institutions deficiencies, resources
availability, legal and regulatory frameworks, etc. The diagnosis will help to
ask the right questions and come to the right solution.
Many
thanks for your responses.
To see the discussion thread and the new questions, go to http://groups.undp.org/read/messages?id=104545.
Further contributions are highly appreciated and can be sent to mdg-net@groups.undp.org.
Queries
with Consolidated Responses:
eDiscussion: The MDGs:
Global Goals to support Local Solutions - Mid-Point
Summary
- Consolidated Reply posted
22 November
Find full discussion ARCHIVES under MDG Net (new users must register) at http://groups.undp.org/read/?forum=mdg-net
MDG
Happenings and Announcements
New MDG Reports
Country
Reports
Namibia
MDG Report – November 2004 (English)
Mongolia
MDG Report – October 2004 (English)
Brazil MDG
Report – September 2004 (Portuguese
& English)
Haiti MDG
Report – 2004 (French)
Regional
Reports
The Pacific Islands
Regional MDG Report – October 2004
The MDGs in the
Eastern Caribbean: A Progress Report – December
2003
Goal
8 Reports
Finland’s
Report on the MDGs –
November 2004 (English)
MDGs:
Progress Report by Denmark – 2004 (English)
To see a full list of MDG Reports, visit
http://www.undg.org/content.cfm?id=79. To view the most updated MDGR Status
Table, go to http://www.undg.org/documents/2762-MDG_Report_Status_Table.xls.
All MDG focal
points are kindly asked to review the information on their respective countries
and to submit any changes by clicking here. Thank you very much for helping us keep
this table updated!
MDGNet
Announcements
NEW Look out for the MDGNet Members Survey – coming up next week
We are in the process of reviewing the performance of MDGNET to ensure the network continues to meet your expectations and needs. Hence, we have designed a survey and encourage you all to fill it out. The survey will be placed on the UNDG.org site. We will send out a separate e-mail informing you of the survey. Thank you for your attention! NEW Additions to our Expert Roster
Please note that we have added some very talented Consultants to our short list of experts in the MDGNet Resource Corner. You can see their CVs at http://www.undg.org/content.cfm (password: mdgnet2003).
3rd
Issue of the One Pager - International Poverty Centre
The
objective of this one-pager is to raise awareness on technical issues of poverty
measurement and policies among a wide audience. It is written in non-technical
language and will hopefully generate public debate. If you have any good ideas,
which can be explained in one page, please make a submission. One-pagers can
also be down loaded from the International Poverty Centre’s web site at http://www.undp.org/povertycentre/newsandevents.htm#one.
Many
thanks to Karla Parra Corrêa and Nanak
Kakwani for sharing this document with us.
2004
Brazilian Monitoring Report on the Millennium Development
Goals
The Brazilian Monitoring Report on the
Millennium Development Goals was launched on 6 October. The elaboration process
of the report has evolved towards a country ownership by the Brazilian
Government, in partnership with the following UN agencies and
programmes in Brazil: IDB, The World Bank, ECLAC, FAO, ILO, PAHO/WHO, UNDP,
UNEP, ITU, UNAIDS, UNESCO, UNFPA, UN-HABITAT, UNICEF, UNIFEM and UNODC.
The report documents the level and the recent trends of the MDG
targets in the country, as well as the official programmes and policies aimed at
their achievement. It owns a distinctive nature for the advocacy campaign,
showing an "X ray" of the Brazilian reality. The purpose is to
put MDGs into public debate and also provide the information needed better to
shape political debate around Brazilian key development priorities. In this
manner, the selected targets and indicators are adjusted to national reality,
which is portrayed by regional disparities. To find out more, read the
report at http://www.pnud.org.br/odm/index.php.
To read the press release on the report, click
here.
Many
thanks to Karla
Parra Corrêa for sharing Brazil’s MDGR with
us.
Survey Invitation to the Millennium
Development Goals Survey 2005
The
North-South Institute (NSI),
an independent research institute in Ottawa is conducting the We the Peoples 2005 Survey, in
collaboration with the World
Federation of United Nations Associations
(WFUNA).
We the Peoples is
an annual survey, which analyses and reports on civil society activities,
achievements and views regarding the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium
Development Goals. 2005 promises to be a year of opportunity. In September, a summit-session of the
United Nations General Assembly will review progress since the Millennium
Declaration of 2000. In July, the
G-7 will meet in the
Many
thanks to John
W. Foster, Pera Wells, and Stephanie
Rossi for informing us of this survey.
UNDP/Millennium
Project/International Energy Agency (IEA) issue joint statement on Energy and
the MDGs
The
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the International Energy Agency
(IEA) and the UN Millennium Project are using the run up to the 2005 review of
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to emphasize the importance of energy.
For the past few decades the number of people impoverished by a lack of modern
energy services - roughly one-third of the world’s population - has remained
unchanged. Unfortunately the international community has not taken this issue
serious enough to establish a specific target for energy services in the
framework of the MDGs. The fact is that without increasing the availability and
affordability of modern energy services, many developing countries will not be
able to achieve the MDGs. The warning to the developing world could not be any
clearer: No energy, no MDGs.
Two
studies conducted by the UNDP and the UN Millennium Project, which are to be
officially released in late 2004 or early 2005, show that access to modern
energy services can have a decisive impact on reducing poverty whether it be
through stimulating micro-enterprises, improving study conditions for children
or reducing indoor air pollution from cooking. The studies, along with the IEA’s
newly released World Energy Outlook 2004
(http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org),
also suggest that
meeting the MDGs will imply the provision of modern energy services to over a
half a billion people by 2015. These findings underscore the danger of
overlooking energy’s role in human development. Efforts to improve the energy
dimensions of poverty are also being accompanied by new attempts at measuring
them. For its World Energy Outlook 2004
the IEA has developed an Energy Development Index (EDI). The index
seeks to capture the quality and quantity of energy services available to
developing countries. Much like the UN Human Development Index (HDI), the EDI
serves as a yard-stick by which a country’s progress toward development can be
measured. When compared alongside the HDI the EDI clearly illustrates the
mutually reinforcing relationship between energy and basic measures of human
development.
Many
thanks to Susan McDade and Minoru Takada for sharing this with
us.
Namibia MDG Report Launched
with Focus on HIV/AIDS Epidemic
On
November 10 2004, Prime Minister, Theo-Ben Gurirab launched the first progress
report on the Millennium Development Goals for Namibia in Windhoek. Mr Gurirab
served as President of the General Assembly during the Millennium Summit, which
was co-chaired by Namibian President, Sam Nujoma. "The
report serves as a reminder of the leadership role that Namibia played in
formulating and coordinating the collective commitment of world leaders
contained in the historic UN Millennium Declaration and serves as one of the
instructive indicators of how far our country has progressed during the past 14
years,” said the Prime Minister. The
MDG report emphasizes many significant achievements that Namibia has made since
Independence in 1990 especially in areas such as provision of basic services.
For instance the country is close to achieving the goal of universal primary
education and gender equality at all levels of education. Access to health
services have improved and good progress is reported on immunisation of children
and the proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel. Moreover,
access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation has increased significantly
especially in rural areas. However,
the report also documents that much progress in human development is being
rolled back by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which is now considered the single most
important challenge to meeting the MDGs. Women and children are especially hard
hit. According to the report, HIV prevalence among 20-24 year old women have
increased from 11% in 1994 to 22% in 2002 and a young girl today has 25% risk of
dying of an AIDS related illness before her 30th birthday. Another result of the
epidemic is the growing number of orphans; by 2005 there will be an estimated
100,000 orphans in Namibia. To read the rest of this message, click here.
Namibia's
MDG Report is available online at http://www.undg.org/documents/5307-Namibia_MDG_Report_2004.pdf.
Also available are the Prime
Minister's speech and the UN
Resident Coordinator's speech from the launch of the report,
at http://www.undg.org/content.cfm?id=703.
Many
thanks to Sebastian Levine for sharing Namibia’s report with us.
Sub-Regional Conference on
MDG1 Localizing in Belarus, 2-3 November 2004
Thanks to
a MDG Regional Knowledge Exchange Facility's grant, the Sub-regional Conference
"Achieving the Millennium Development Goal 1:
Approaches and Strategies" was held in Minsk on 2 - 3 November 2004.
It was organized under the auspices of UNDP with the support of the UN
Children's Fund and the Global MDG Fund. The Conference's 125 participants
represented governments, parliaments, business and academic communities,
religious groups and the civil society of Armenia, Ukraine, Moldova, Russia and
Belarus. The Conference aimed at developing common approaches to adapting the
Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 1 on poverty reduction to regional conditions;
promoting campaign on achieving the MDGs; and drafting recommendations for
integrating country-specific MDG targets and indicators into national social and
economic planning frameworks, including national poverty reduction strategies in
Belarus and other countries of the sub-region. To read more, go to http://groups.undp.org/read/messages?id=104443.
Many
thanks to Ludmila Istomina for sharing a synopsis of this Conference with
us.
Senior
Economist Position for RC Office Yemen
Yemen has been
accepted as the 8th Millennium Project pilot country and is in the process of
preparing a MDG-based PRSP. To do so, a MDG needs assessment is currently
underway, to be followed shortly by the development of a long term
(though 2015) policy planning outlining and identifying the policies building on
the needs assessment and complimented by a thorough consultative process with
government stakeholders as well as the private sector, civil society and the
international community. The UN system in Yemen is currently heavily engaged in
supporting the government this process. To this end, it is important to boost
the capacity of the RC's office with a senior economist. While the TORs attached
spell out in more detail the duties and responsibilities of this position, the
senior economist would provide high-level policy advice to the UN Resident
Coordinator on the socio-economic situation in the country and its bearing on
the UN's development cooperation. The senior economist would have a university
degree in Economics and/or Development Economics, preferably Ph.D., with a
professional background in social and political aspects of development and at
least 10 years of practical experience in economic and social development policy
analysis and international cooperation, preferably in the region. Excellent in
oral and written English is a requisite and working knowledge of Arabic is an
asset. The deadline for
applications for this position is 15
December. CVs should be sent to our HR officer Ms Raga Nasrat - raga.nasrat@undp.org.
Many
thanks to Moin Karim for sharing this job posting with
us.
UNDP
Poland Launched "Emerging Donor" MDG Campaign
On October
8, 2004, representatives of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in
Poland and of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) jointly launched a public
campaign "Millennium Development Goals: time to help others!" This is the first
UN-driven campaign in Central and Eastern Europe where UN builds public support
for the Millennium Development Goals in the context of assistance for poorer
countries. It also happened for the first time in Poland that the issue of
Polish development assistance for less developed countries attracted so much
attention of both the general public and the media. Similar campaigns, also
related to the context of the Millennium Development Goals, are planned by the
European Commission to be conducted in all the new EU member countries over the
next year. Thus, Poland has become a pioneer in this field. The campaign will be
run at least till mid 2005 and its first phase, focused on the nationwide media,
was completed on October 31 this year. Already in the initial period, the
campaign met with tremendous interest of the public and the media as well as
non-governmental organizations (NGO), private sector, and international
organizations. The first goal of the public campaign is to familiarize the
Polish society with the UN Millennium Development Goals and to draw public
attention to the needs of people living in poorer countries. Second goal is to
initiate a public debate in Poland on the role and responsibility of Poland as a
donor of development assistance. A long-term objective, in turn, is to build
public support for the Polish development assistance. The campaign has initiated
this process. The main message of the campaign has been: "Poland is a paradise
for 1.2 billion poorest people worldwide" and "Poland is a country of rich
people for 1.2 billion poorest people worldwide". The campaign has been divided
into two phases. The first one, completed on October 31, was chiefly addressed
to the nationwide media and to the inhabitants of larger towns of Poland. It was
addressed to the opinion-forming circles. At the second phase, the campaign's
message is to be disseminated on the regional and local level all over Poland.
The second phase is mailny made up of debates and discussions organized by
regional authorities, local administration units, NGOs, schools, students'
organizations, etc. For more information on the campaign, download the full
report from phase I (1.7 MB) at: http://www.undp.org.pl/MDG-campaign/raport_eng.doc.
Many
thanks to Jan Szczycinski for informing us of this campaign.
ECLAC's New MDG
Website
The Economic Commission for Latin
America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has a new Web Portal on the Millennium
Development Goals. Focused on a regional perspective, this Portal offers
statistical information on MDG indicators for countries in the region.
Additionally, it shows ECLAC's MDG-related work as well as background
information and links to major MDG websites. This Portal is available in English
and Spanish and is constantly being updated. We invite MDGNet members to take a
look at our website and forward comments and/or suggestions for improvement to
Carolina.RODRIGUEZ@cepal.org.
To
visit this site, go to http://www.eclac.cl/mdg/. The English
version of the site is located at http://www.eclac.cl/mdg/default_en.asp.
Many
thanks to Carolina Rodriguez for sharing this site with us.
Inter Press Service Website
on the Millennium Development Goals
IPS - Inter Press Service has launched a new section of its website that will provide independent news reporting on how the Millennium Development Goals are influencing policy decisions and making a difference on the ground. A selection of updated stories will bring you the latest thinking on the progress towards attaining the MDGs, their relevance, and key stories on the issues from poverty to partnership. Please visit www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/devdeadline. On this site, you may also subscribe to the Inter Press Service (IPS) newsletter focused on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), linking global policy to results at the grassroots. For more information, contact Claudia Diez de Medina at kosi@ips.org.
Many
thanks to Claudia Diez de Medina for informing us of this website.
For Consultation - "Youth
and the MDGs: Challenges and Opportunities for
Implementation"
This
working paper, written by an ad-hoc international taskforce of youth experts
from non-governmental organizations with assistance from the UN Programme on
Youth (DESA), has been submitted to Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the UN
Millennium Project and Special Advisor to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. It provides examples of existing youth
participation, case studies on youth in development, as well as recommendations
as to how young people should be included in the implementation of the MDGs at
all levels. You
are invited to download the paper at http://www.mdgyouthpaper.org and submit comments by January 10 via an online
form. Your input will be used to revise the paper further for use in the 5-year
review of the MDGs. We
are very interested to receive feedback from the practitioners and experts on
this list serve as we will revise the paper for release in the spring. For more
information, contact Emily Freeburg at emilyf@youthlink.org.
Many
thanks to Emily Freeburg for sharing this paper with us.
International Conference on
Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene - Global WASH Forum, 29
Nov – 03 Dec 2004 in Dakar,
Senegal
Safe
water, sanitation and hygiene - WASH issues - are essential to poverty
reduction, for a better quality of life and the overall development process. The
greatest mistake of national and international development efforts over the last
fifty years has been the failure to secure these basic needs. Billions of
dollars expended on water and sanitation have so far failed to bring more than a
fraction of their expected benefits to the developing world. Will this decade be
any different? More specifically, what would it take to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) of halving the proportion of
people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015? The
Global WASH Forum will address these questions in order to propose ways to move
forward. The overall aim of the Forum is to accelerate action in water,
sanitation and hygiene towards achieving the MDGs and the World Summit on
Sustainable Development (WSSD) Plan of Implementation. For more information,
visit http://groups.undp.org/read/messages?id=105191
or one of the following sources:
Water
Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC): http://www.wsscc.org/dataweb.cfm?edit_id=34&CFID=620721&CFTOKEN=52425138
The
'Wash Campaign': http://www.wsscc.org/dataweb.cfm?code=57
Global
Wash Forum: http://www.wsscc.org/dataweb.cfm?code=516
Many
thanks to Henrike Peichert for sharing this information with us.
PAPERS,
REPORTS, BOOKS & REVIEWS
Millennium
Development Goals: Progress Report -
UN Statistics Division, November 2004
The
UN Statistics Division and Department of Public Information have recently
revised and reissued the popular MDG progress report color chart, based on
comments and consultations with partner agencies on the first version. It is
available in PDF at http://millenniumindicators.un.org
under Key Documents" and http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals
under "What's New". The color chart is based largely on the statistical annex to
the Secretary-General's report to the General Assembly this fall,
"Implementation of the United Nations Millennium Declaration" (A/59/282 and
Corrigendum), also available at the sites given above.
Environment
in Poverty Reduction Strategies and Poverty Reduction Support Credits –
World
Bank, November 2004
More than 60 countries are in various stages of preparation and implementation of Poverty Reduction Strategies. This report examines the extent to which countries and the World Bank have integrated environmental considerations into such strategies and their associated documents. The assessment is based on the 53 PRSPs, 21 PRSP Progress Reports and their associated Joint Staff Assessments, and 21 PRSCs available as of June 30, 2004. Of the 53 PRSPs, 39 are full, while the rest are interim. According to these findings, the Progress Reports vary considerably in their degree of mainstreaming. Interestingly, there is only an insignificant positive correlation between the degree of mainstreaming in the PRSP itself and the mainstreaming in the Progress Report(s). In addition to the results, this report containstwo case studies that go beyond the text analysis and review the implementation record in Sri Lanka and the additional environmental analysis done in Ghana that was based on the PRSP. The paper concludes by proposing a set of recommendations. To read this report, click here.
Insurance Against Poverty
Edited by
Stefan Dercon, University of Oxford, November
2004
Poor
people in developing countries are often affected by droughts, floods, illness,
crop failure, job loss, and economic downturns. Informal insurance mechanisms
provide some protection, but are weak in the face of major or recurring
calamities. Most people cannot obtain formal insurance, and the lack of
insurance and social protection therefore constrains investment, growth, and
poverty reduction. Public action to remedy this deficiency is merited, but what
form should it take? This book evaluates alternatives in widening insurance and
social protection provision, including sustainability and poverty effects, in
thorough, up-to-date thematic papers and case studies, development assessments,
and policy analyses. For more information, visit http://www.oup.co.uk/isbn/0-19-927683-8.
Education
For All Global Monitoring Report 2005 – UNESCO,
November 2004
In the
many countries that are striving to guarantee all children the right to
education, the focus on access often overshadows the issue of quality. Yet
quality stands at the heart of Education for All. It determines how much and how
well students learn, and the extent to which their education achieves a range of
personal, social and development goals. This Report sets the quality debate in
its historical context and offers a map for understanding, monitoring and
improving quality (Chapter 1). It synthesizes current knowledge about the
factors that influence quality (Chapter 2) and describes policy options for
improving it, focusing on resource-constrained countries (Chapter 4). The extent
to which the international community is supporting education in these countries
is then analyzed (Chapter 5). As in the two previous editions, the Report
monitors progress towards the six EFA goals adopted at Dakar in 2000, with more
in-depth attention to quality indicators (Chapter 3). The Education for All
Development Index, introduced in the previous Report, provides a summary
overview of progress towards four of the Dakar goals in 127 countries. Please
find this report at http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=35939&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html.
Global
Economic Prospects 2005: Trade, Regionalism and Deveopment –
World
Bank, November 2004
The proliferation of regional trade agreements is fundamentally altering the world trade landscape. The number of agreements in force surpasses 200 and has risen eight-fold in two decades. Today as much as 40 percent of global trade takes place among countries that have some form of reciprocal regional trade agreement. This years Global Economic Prospects report, entitled 'Trade, Regionalism, and Development' addresses two questions: 1) What are the characteristics of agreements that most promote-or hinder-development for member countries? 2) Does the proliferation of agreements pose risks to the multilateral trading system, and if so, how can these risks be managed? The report argues that agreements leading to open regionalism (that is, deeper integration of trade as a result of low external tariffs, increased services competition, and efforts to reduce cross-border and customs delays costs) are effective as part of a larger trade strategy to promote growth. Such regional agreements can complement a strategy that, on the one hand, includes autonomous liberalisation to promote productivity gains and, on the other hand, leverages domestic reforms to enhance market access. The Global Economic Prospects 2005 also features an overview booklet that includes a summary of the Report, the short-and long-term outlook and the regional global outlook. The report will be available in English, French and Spanish and can be downloaded as seperate chapters if required. Find the English version at http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTGEP2005/Resources/gep2005.pdf.
EC
Report on MDGs 2000-2004
– Commission Staff Working Document, November 2004
This report provides information on the extent to which the EC has focused its strategies, procedures and instruments on the implementation of the Millennium Declaration and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. It outlines how the EC contributes to progress towards the MDGs, and lists the further actions that are currently foreseen to promote the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals. The report will not address in detail the progress made in and by developing countries, which is the subject of the progress reports drafted by the countries in question. Nor will the report look at the performance of EU Member States, as this will be carried out at national level in the Member State reports. The Member State reports, together with the EC report, will provide the basis for an EU synthesis report, due in early 2005. In contrast with the forthcoming synthesis report, the EC report will not propose new measures, but rather limits itself to an inventory of areas where further action may be considered. Read this report at http://portal.undp.org/server/nis/4649027220148737.
The
Wrong Ointment: Why the EU’s Proposals for Free Trade with Africa will not heal
its Scar of Poverty – by L. Stuart and
M. Griffith, Catholic Fund for Overseas Development (CAFOD), November 2004
This
paper argues that the UK Government's positive focus on poverty reduction in
Africa is being seriously undermined by the inequitable bilateral free trade
agreements currently being negotiated between
the Europe Union and African countries. The paper highlights that the European
Union is asking African countries to liberalise 90% of their markets over 10
years whilst at the same time refusing to discuss its own 'highly protectionist'
Common Agricultural Policy. The paper details the European Commission proposals
that would lead to free trade areas in which the poorest African countries -
including their farmers, producers and companies - would compete openly with the
richest European countries. The authors point out that this will not be an equal
contest, claiming the average EU farmer receives 100 times more in agricultural
support than the average annual earnings of an African peasant farmer. To read
this paper, click
here.
World Disasters Report 2004 - International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, November 2004
The 12th edition of the World Disasters Report examines the capacity of disaster-affected people to cope with apparently hopeless situations and argues that a more inclusive approach to creating disaster resilience is needed. This approach would dispel the myth of the helpless victim and the infallible humanitarian by putting communities in charge of defining their needs and crafting the right solutions when faced with a crisis. According to the report, this paradigm shift can only occur by tapping into local knowledge, skills, determination, livelihoods, cooperation, access to resources and representation. Find the report at http://www.ifrc.org/publicat/wdr2004/.
Defining pro-poor growth: a
response to Kakwani
-
by Martin Ravallion of the World
Bank, International Poverty Centre, November
2004
In this
One Pager, Martin Ravallion presents an opposing view of the meaning and
measurement of ‘pro-poor growth’ than articulated in the IPC’s earlier One
Pager, Pro-poor
Growth: What is it? by Nanak Kakwani, according to whom
growth
is pro-poor if its rate is higher for the poor than the non-poor; roughly
speaking, if inequality falls. To read the most recent One Pager on
Generic
or brand drugs for HIV-AIDS? Southern Africa examples by
Francisco Rossi, visit http://www.undp.org/povertycentre/newsletters/OnePager5.pdf.
Tanzania
- testing ground for new approaches in development? - ‘Inclusive
aid: changing power and relationships in international development’, edited by
Leslie Groves and Rachel Hinton, Earthscan, Institute of Development Studies, by
Leslie Groves, 2004
Tanzania is highly dependent on donor aid. It has one of the highest proportions of donor aid to gross national product (GNP) of any developing country. In recent decades a number of new strategies – from structural adjustment to sector-wide approaches and poverty reduction strategy papers (PRSPs) - have been field-tested
in Tanzania. Yet despite all these efforts at poverty alleviation and a huge donor presence, Tanzania has steadily slipped down the Human Development Index. Should donors pause to consider whether they need to stop trying new approaches and instead focus on long-term activities? For more information on the chapter on Tanzania, visit http://www.id21.org/society/s5clg1g1.html. For more information on this book, visit http://www.ids.ac.uk/ids/particip/research/oc-groveshinton.html.
Globalization,
Poverty, Inequality, and Insecurity: Some Insights from the Economics of
Happiness – by C. Graham, World Institute for
Development Economics Research, UNU/WIDER, October 2004
This paper looks at the relationship between globalisation, poverty and inequality by subjective well-being or happiness studies, as well as the literature on the economics of happiness. The studies in Latin America and Russia examine how the dynamics of poverty and inequality affect well-being. The paper argues that this approach reveals elements of well being which are not captured by income measures alone. The study focuses on income mobility and on reported well being as a way to gauge movements in and out of poverty and distributive trends across time and across cohorts within countries. It concludes that growth is a necessary but not sufficient condition for poverty reduction. For more, visit http://www.wider.unu.edu/research/2004-2005/2004-2005-9/2004-2004-9-papers/Graham-1409.pdf.
Towards
a Fair Deal for Migrant Workers in the Global Economy – ILO, October
2004
This report aims to prompt dialogues for multilateral cooperation on how to better manage the flows in the interest of protecting human rights, maximising migration's contribution to growth and development, and preventing clandestine flows and trafficking. The report discusses background issues on labour migration and its consequences, the conditions of work and treatment of workers, and the international regulation of migrant workers and migration. It draws experience of both origin and host countries in seeking to manage migration to improve the treatment and conditions of migrant workers and members of their families. The report provides a basis for formulating sound recommendations for future action. Find the report at http://www.wider.unu.edu/research/2004-2005/2004-2005-9/2004-2004-9-papers/Deardorff-Stern-1410.pdf.
Globalization’s
Bystanders: Dose Globalization hurt countries that do not participate?
– by A. V. Deardorff and R. M. Stern, World
Institute for Development Economics Research, UNU/WIDER, October 2004
This paper
asks how globalisation by the larger part of the world's economy has affected
those countries that have not participated. It uses a trade theory to examine
the effects of trade liberalisation on countries that do not participate in
multilateral trade negotiations, and countries that lie outside of preferential
trading arrangements such as free trade areas (FTA). It finds that excluded
countries are more likely to lose from globalisation. Find this report at http://www.wider.unu.edu/research/2004-2005/2004-2005-9/2004-2004-9-papers/Deardorff-Stern-1410.pdf.
Good
Governance and the MDGs: Contradictory or Complementary?
–
by Alejandro Bendana, Focus on the Global South, October
2004
Multilateral agencies view "good governance" as crucial to
achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This article asserts that
good governance wrongly portrays economic growth as the primary source of
development. The article further calls for a critical review of obstacles, such
as global neo-liberal orthodoxy, that confront the MDGs. Focus on the Global
South, available at www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/develop/2004/1012goodgovernance.htm.
NGOs:
Fighting Poverty or Hurting the Poor?
–
by Sebastian
Mallaby
, Foreign Policy,
September/October 2004
In developing countries, Western
NGOs have been successful at blocking development projects deemed harmful to the
environment. The halting of these projects sometimes prevents millions of people
from having access to clean water and electricity. This article offers a
reflection on the actions of some NGOs and questions whether they are doing more
harm than good in the war against poverty. Using case studies in Uganda and
China, the author argues that zealous NGOs sometimes undermine the will of the
people and mislead the general public by mounting campaigns that serve nothing
but their own cause. Visit http://www.un-ngls.org/cso/cso5/ngos.htm.
Analysing
Urban Poverty: A Summary of Methods and Approaches –
by Judy Baker and
Nina Schuler, The World Bank, September 2004
This paper
summarises the main issues in conducting urban poverty analysis, with a focus on
presenting a sample of case studies from urban areas that were implemented by a
number of different agencies using a range of analytical approaches for studying
urban poverty. The authors critique the extensive body of literature that has
emerged in the last several years on the definition, measurement and analysis of
poverty. The authors claim that for an individual city attempting to tackle the
problems of urban poverty, the aggregation used in typical indicators is not
sufficient for answering specific questions such as where the poor are located
in the city, whether there are differences between poor areas, if access to
services varies by subgroup, whether specific programs are reaching the poorest,
and how to design effective poverty reduction programs and policies. The authors
argue that answering these questions is critical, particularly for large,
sprawling cities with highly diverse populations and growing problems of urban poverty. The
authors conclude with a twelve-point checklist of issues to consider when
conduction urban poverty analyses. Available online
at:
http://econ.worldbank.org/files/38383_wps3399.pdf.
Country Reporting on MDG7: Ensuring
Environmental Sustainability – UNDP, 2nd
Edition, September 2004
Monitoring and reporting the progress of country
reporting on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is an important step in
achieving the objectives of the Millennium Declaration by 2015. Sixty-seven MDG reports (MDGRs) were
reviewed to provide an overview on the current status of national commitments
for ensuring environmental sustainability (Goal 7). Monitoring and identifying
MDG7 achievements and challenges will assist the UN’s efforts in: highlighting
best practices on adapting the Global Millennium Targets and Indicators to
national priorities and on linkages to national strategies; improving the global
MDG7 target and indicator framework to encourage country-owned and country-led
monitoring and reporting processes; and identifying key areas of support for
providing assistance in developing effective monitoring and reporting
mechanisms. To read this report, visit http://www.undp.org/fssd/docs/mdg7countrepsumm.doc.
PRSP
Annual Progress Reports and Joint Staff Assessments: A Review of Progress
– Overseas
Development Institute, September 2004
This
paper reflects on the poverty reduction strategy (PRS) four years after its
inception. Forty one countries are implementing full PRSPs, and eleven more are
using an interim PRS. Four countries - Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Bolivia and
Nicaragua - have reached the stage of formulating their
second PRS, while Uganda is finalising its third. In terms of JSA assessment,
the authors examine the role and purpose of JSAs, what they should cover and how
they should be conducted. In terms of APR assessment, the authors then examine
their role and purpose, what they should cover and how they should be conducted.
Find this paper at http://www.prspsynthesis.org/brief9.pdf.
Pro-Growth,
Pro-Poor: Is there a Tradeoff? - by H. Lopez, Policy Research Working
Papers, World Bank, August 2004
This paper provides an empirical evaluation of the impact of a series of pro-growth policies on inequality and headcount poverty. It relies on a large macroeconomic
data set and estimate dynamic panel models that allows him to differentiate between the short- and long-run impacts of the policies under consideration on growth,
inequality, and poverty. The author's findings indicate that regardless of their impact on inequality, pro-growth policies lead to lower poverty levels in the long run. However, evidence indicates that some of these policies may lead to higher inequality and, under plausible assumptions for the distribution of income, to higher poverty levels in the short run. These findings would justify the adoption of a pro-growth policy package as the center of any poverty reduction strategy, together with pro-poor measures that complement such a package by offsetting potential short-run increases in poverty. Read at http://econ.worldbank.org/files/38012_wps3378.pdf.
Combining
Methodologies for Better Targeting of the Extreme Poor: Lessons from BRAC’s
CFPR/TUP Programme – by R. S. Halder
and I. Matin, Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), August
2004
This paper
aims to assess the effectiveness and draw lessons from a targeting strategy used
in identifying the ultra poor. This approach ultimately aims to help the ultra
poor develop new and better options for sustainable livelihoods. The authors
suggest that the most innovative feature of this approach has been the
combination of various targeting approaches and drawing from different streams
of knowledge. This study is based on a new BRAC programme called Challenging the
Frontiers of Poverty Reduction-Targeting the Ultra Poor (CFPR/TUP). To read this
paper, visit http://www.eldis.org/fulltext/BRAC_Targeting.pdf.
For other papers in this series, see below:
Stories of
Targeting: Process Documentation of
Selecting the Ultra Poor for
CFPR/TUP Programme
Engaging Elite Support for the Poorest? BRAC’s Experience with the Ultra Poor Programme
Exploring Changes in the Lives of the Ultra Poor: An Exploratory Study on CFPR/TUP Members
Child
Labour, Education And Children's Rights –
Betcherman et al., World Bank, July 2004
This
World Bank social protection discussion paper reviews the international legal
framework relating to child labour and access to education and provides a
statistical portrait of child labour and education participation. The paper
emphasizes that child labour is bad for the health, well-being and development
both of individual children, and of the societies in which they live. It
concludes that, if allowed to persist to its current extent, child labour will
prevent the MDGs of halving poverty and achieving education for all from being
achieved. Available online at http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC16615
Girls’
Education in Africa: What do we know about Strategies that work? –
by E. Kane, World
Bank, May 2004
This paper focuses on examining strategies
that have worked to increase girls'education in Africa. It highlights
international examples, and also discusses what hasn't worked, as well as
making recommendations to various institutions as to how to successfully
implement strategies for girls' education. In brief, examples of strategies that
appear to have a positive impact include cross-sectoral intervention, multiple
interventions, gender-neutral interventions, educational quality improvements,
including programs outside the formal school; bilingual programs; local/female
teachers; and single sex schools/classes, and real community participation.of
results. For more information, visit http://siteresources.worldbank.org/AFRICAEXT/Resources/girls_ed_73.pdf.
Trade and Financial
Development – by Q.T. Do
and A. Levchenko, World Bank, April 2004
This paper
explores the linkages between financial sector development in a country and its
trade pattern. In particular the paper examines whether openness to trade
affects a countries' financial development. In order to do so, the paper
builds a model in which each country's financial system is an endogenous outcome
of entrepreneurs' demand for external finance. This means that when a poor and a
rich country open to trade, the poorer country begins to import the financially
dependent good, rather than produce it domestically. This in turn implies that
demand for external finance decreases, and the domestic financial system
deteriorates. The study provides empirical evidence that trade openness affects
countries' financial systems differentially. In richer countries trade promotes
financial system growth; in poorer countries the effect is the opposite. Find
this paper at http://econ.worldbank.org/files/36469_wps3347.pdf.
Poor
Relations: PRSPs and the response to HIV/AIDS and
Children
– Tearfund HIV/AIDS Briefing Paper No. 2, March
2004
Tearfund
is a Christian relief and development agency working through local partners to
bring help and hope to communities in need around the world.
This
briefing paper:
summarises
the relationship between poverty and HIV/AIDS;
highlights
some of the key features of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers(PRSPs); analyses
the vision and reality of PRSPs in responding to HIV/AIDS; considers the future
of PRSPs in increasing responses to HIV/AIDS; and makes recommendations for
action for DFID and other donors to ensure that support for national PRSPs
maximises the impact of resources in responding to HIV/AIDS, which is a key
driver in increasing poverty and reversing development gains. To read this
paper, click
here.
The
Millennium Development Goals for Health: Rising to the Challenges –
World Bank,
March 2004
The
report provides data on progress and trends in reaching the Millennium
Development Goals for health, nutrition and population. It looks at poor-non
poor disparities; health system reforms as a means of laying building blocks for
the efficient and equitable delivery of interventions; the financing of health
spending through domestic resources and aid; and improving the effectiveness of
development assistance in health. In doing so, the report links the health
Millennium Development Goal agenda with the broader poverty-reduction agenda. In
addition, the report provides an inventory of World Bank activities related to
the health Millennium Development Goals and other relevant activities as well as
the activities of other multilateral and bilateral aid agencies. Non-health
initiatives inside and outside the Bank of relevance, such as the Poverty
Reduction Strategy Papers process, the Millennium Project; etc are also
documented. To find out more, visit http://publications.worldbank.org/ecommerce/catalog/product?item_id=3258283.
The
Rise or Fall of World Inequality: A Spurious Controversy? –
by
B. Capeau and A.
Decoster, World Institute for Development Economics Research, UNU/WIDER, January
2004
This paper explores the divergence of opinion on whether inequality in the world is rising or falling. The authors here attempt to pinpoint what drives the two extreme positions apart. The authors conclude, however, that there seems to be unanimity about the inequality measure(s) to be used for assessing world income distributions. Finally, the authors conclude that the ongoing debate on the direction of (minor) changes in income inequality during the last decades should not make us blind for the fact this inequality remains to reach a disturbingly high level. To read this paper, visit http://www.wider.unu.edu/publications/dps/dps2004/dp2004-002.pdf.
HIV
Prevention in Maternal Health Services: A Training Guide –
EngenderHealth,
UNFPA 2004
This
training manual, produced by EngenderHealth, provides guidance on how to
integrate prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
into maternal health services. Its objective is to build the capacity of
programme managers and staff to meet the HIV and STI needs of women who are
pregnant or who have given birth. It includes a detailed training curriculum,
with step-by-step guidance on each session. Key session themes include: HIV risk
and prevention during pregnancy and after birth, voluntary counselling and
testing (VCT) for HIV, prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of
HIV, safer infant feeding practices, dual protection, condom use and
negotiation, and provision of male-friendly services. A three-day training
agenda, participant evaluation form and handouts are also provided. The guide
was prepared using participatory methods, and is intended for use in a wide
variety of cultural settings. In particular, it highlights the link between
gender inequalities and women's HIV vulnerability. Its overall approach is that
of empowering women and promoting male involvement to reduce the barriers -
social, gender, cultural, economic and legal - that prevent effective HIV
treatment, prevention and care, not only for women but also their partners and
children. For more information, see http://www.engenderhealth.org/res/offc/hiv/prevention/pdf/hiv_prev_training_gde.pdf.
World
Development Report 2005: a better investment climate for
everyone
–
World
Bank, 2004
This
year’s World Development Report focuses on what governments can do to improve
the investment climates of their societies to increase growth and reduce
poverty. It highlights opportunities for governments to improve their investment
climates by expanding the opportunities and incentives for firms of all types to
invest productively, create jobs, and expand. To read this report in Arabic,
Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Russian or Spanish, click
here.
Can
Social Protection Tackle Chronic Poverty? - Institute for
Development Policy and Management (IDPM), Manchester 2004
This paper
explores the extent to which social protection interventions can effectively
address chronic poverty. The authors argue that the distinction between chronic
and transient poverty suggest a bifurcation in anti poverty policy with social
protection addressing chronic poverty, and asset transfer policies addressing
transient poverty. In suggesting that factors behind chronic poverty extend
beyond the direct and indirect impact of risk on households, social protection
can at best constitute a partial response.
The paper
concludes that broad social protection can have an important role in
interrupting risk and vulnerability among the chronic poor. Read this paper at
http://www.sed.manchester.ac.uk/idpm/research/events/february2005/ProtBarrientos.pdf.
MDGs in the
NEWS
High-level
panel poised to present report on global threats to
Annan
- UN News Centre, 30 November
A
high-level panel on Threats, Challenges and Change appointed last year by UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan is poised to officially release "A more secure
world: our shared responsibility", its report on threats to international peace
and security in the twenty-first century and recommendations on how to deal with
them, including two proposals for expanding the membership of the Security
Council. Read more at http://www0.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=12682&Cr=peace&Cr1=security
Italy
backs British development aid plan -
Reuters, 29 November
Italy
threw its weight on Monday behind British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon
Brown's plan to double aid to the world's poorest countries. Brown has been
pressing other rich countries over the last year to back his proposal for an
International Finance Facility (IFF) which would raise annual aid to poor
countries to $100 billion from the current $50 billion. Read more at http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6941759
The
Organization Of The Francophonie Adopts 10-Year 'Strategic' Framework
-
World Bank Press Review, 29 November
The
10th summit of 36 heads of state and government of the International
Organization of the Francophonie (OIF) adopted a 10-year strategic framework
called the "Ouagadougou Declaration" at its 26-27 November meeting in
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, pledging to intensify the fight against poverty and
to ensure sustainable development. The right to safe drinking water, health,
food and minimum education are the new priorities of the OIF. The heads of states and governments also
said microfinance could be instrumental in fighting poverty and fulfilling the
MDGs. Read
more.
Secretary-General
voices hope for access to safe drinking water for all -
UN News Centre, 29 November
UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan today voiced his hope to an international meeting
on water, sanitation and hygiene that one day the world will no longer have to
face the dire consequences of inadequate access to safe drinking water and basic
sanitation. In a message to the first Global WASH Forum, being held this week in
Dakar, Senegal, the Secretary-General noted the meeting’s timeliness as part of
the ongoing effort to achieve the MDGs by the target year of 2015, as well as
the approach the International Decade for Action from 2005 to 2015, under the
theme of "Water for Life." Read more at http://www0.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=12668&Cr=water&Cr1=sanitation
How
to sell the poor -
The Guardian, 29 November
What
do the Vicar of Dibley and the headline "25,000 Africans died needlessly
yesterday" have in common? They are both, in their own way, challenges to the
way we report world poverty. The headline challenge comes from Jeffrey Sachs, UN
special adviser to Kofi Annan on the MDGs. It could be used any day, he said,
and it would be true. He was speaking at a conference last week, organised by
the BBC World Service Trust and the Department for International Development, on
the media and the fight against global poverty. Read more http://media.guardian.co.uk/mediaguardian/story/0,,1361526,00.html
(free
registration)
Ronaldo
and Zidane announce the Match Against Poverty 2004
- UNDP News Bulletin, 26 November
Ronaldo
and Zinédine Zidane, in their capacity as Goodwill Ambassadors of UNDP, are
inviting the world’s biggest football stars to join them for a second edition of
the "Match Against Poverty: Ronaldo & Friends vs Zidane & Friends," on
December 14, 2004 at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, in Madrid (Spain). The Match will promote the Millennium
Development Goals endorsed by governments at the UN in 2000. Read more at http://www.undp.org/dpa/pressrelease/releases/2004/november/pr26nov04.html
UN
agency to carry out major review to help slash hunger in half by 2015
-
UN News Centre, 26 November
The
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is to carry out a major
review of its activities to help ensure achievement of the MDGs, which include
halving chronic hunger around the world within a decade. Read more at http://www0.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=12648&Cr=mdg&Cr1=
China
mounts campaign for International Year of Microcredit 2005
-
UNDP In Brief, 24 November
UN
Emissary, Her Royal Highness Princess Mathilde of Belgium launched the campaign
for International Year of Microcredit 2005 with a visit to a microfinance
project in Tongzhou District, Beijing. The UN is looking at the International
Year of Microcredit "to help galvanize achievement of the Millennium Development
Goals," said Khalid Malik, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident
Representative. Read
more.
Pacific
island nations lagging behind in development progress, UN study shows
-
UN News Centre, 24 November
After
sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific islands have made the least progress towards
achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), meant to cut poverty and
hunger in half and fight a host of other global ills, according to new
statistics released by the United Nations today.
UN
Sounds Grim Global Warning on AIDS – Mail
& Guardian, 23 November
The
United Nations estimates that by the end of 2004, the AIDS pandemic will have
killed 3.1 million people, the highest death toll since the disease was
discovered in 1981. Even though Asia and Eastern Europe account for the regions
where the virus is spreading the most swiftly, the situation is most alarming in
sub-Saharan Africa, where 25 million people are infected with the disease. For
more, see http://www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/develop/aids/2004/1123unreport.htm.
Global
Fund approves funding proposals for AIDS, malaria and TB
-
IRIN, 19 November
The
Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis (TB) approved on
Thursday the fifth round of funding proposals to combat the three diseases. The
decision was made after a two-day, closed-door meeting of the Global Fund's
Board in Arusha, Tanzania. Presidents Mwai Kibaki of Kenya, Yoweri Museveni of
Uganda and Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania attended the meeting that opened on
Wednesday. Read more at http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/639accead33186eb8c7b41ffbdec1b3b.htm
HIV/AIDS,
greatest challenge towards achieving Millennium goals, says Namibia report
-
UNDP In Brief, 19 November
HIV/AIDS
epidemic is the greatest challenge towards achieving the Millennium Development
Goals, says Namibia’s first progress report launched last week by Prime Minister
Theo-Ben Guirirab. While Namibia has made significant progress in human
development, and is close to achieving universal primary education, HIV/AIDS
remains a formidable challenge. The report estimates there will be 100,000
orphans in 2005 in a country of less than two million people. Read more at http://www.un.na/
Russia
hands Annan ratification of Kyoto climate pact, allowing it to go into force
-
UN News Centre, 18 November
Russia
today formally delivered its ratification of the Kyoto treaty against global
warming to Secretary-General Kofi Annan, enabling the pact that seeks to reduce
so-called greenhouse gases to go into effect in what the United Nations chief
called "a great day for the whole world." "All countries must now do their
utmost to combat climate change and to keep it from undermining our efforts to
achieve the MDGs," Mr. Annan said.
Read more at http://www0.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=12568&Cr=kyoto&Cr1=protocol
MDGs
look out of reach for increasingly impoverished Haiti
- UNDP News Bulletin, 17 November
The
Government of Haiti and the United Nations today launched a joint report that
should serve as a wake-up call to the country and to nations across the world
interested in Haiti’s future. "A Common Vision of Sustainable Development"
presents a detailed report card on the desperate frailty of daily life in Haiti
and projects disturbing downward trends in the country’s health, education,
economic and environmental sectors over the following decade. If trends continue, 1 out of 10 Haitians
will be infected by HIV in 2015 and a quarter of the population will remain
shackled by extreme poverty. Read
more at http://www.undp.org/dpa/pressrelease/releases/2004/november/haitirelease.pdf
World
poverty is in retreat -
By Ashley Seager, The Guardian,
17 November
Developing
countries will enjoy their best year of economic growth in 2004, producing a
"spectacular" drop in poverty around the world, the World Bank said yesterday.
Releasing its annual report on global economic prospects, the World Bank said
developing countries will register growth of 6.1% this year and just above 5% in
2005 and 2006. This compares with overall global growth of about 4% for this
year. Read more at http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,1352716,00.html
(free registration)
Is
More Aid Needed to Solve Africa's Woes? -
By Ed Stoddard, Reuters, 17
November
American
economist Jeffrey Sachs has a novel way to tackle African poverty: Shower more
aid on the world's poorest continent. This may shock critics of African
development who say aid has only made a bad situation worse. Sachs, in a Brookings Institution paper
called "Ending Africa's Poverty Trap," maintains that only a huge infusion of
carefully targeted public investment will pull Africa out of its grinding
poverty. Read more at http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=6840601
UN
agencies pledge to fight rural poverty by boosting education
-
UN News Centre, 17 November
With
billions of rural people caught in a vicious circle of being unable to access
services and opportunities that might take them out of poverty, United Nations
agencies and their partners today pledged greater cooperation to improve access
to basic education for what they called the world's biggest neglected
majority. "Basic education is a
fundamental human right in itself and an essential prerequisite for achieving
the MDGs," Assistant Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO), John Monyo, told a three-day meeting ending today in
Rome. Read more at http://www0.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=12555&Cr=literacy&Cr1=
China-Africa
Business Council to boost trade and investment -
UNDP In Brief, 17 November
China
and UNDP will be establishing a China-Africa Business Council, believed to be
the first public-private partnership in China, to promote trade and investment
and thus help to alleviate poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
UN Coordinator Khalid Malik said at a signing ceremony yesterday that the
Council will lead to "deepening of Sino-Africa trade and investment in a
concrete way." Read more at http://www.undp.org/chinapr.pdf
Developing
nations 'to prosper' -
BBC News, 16 November
Developing
nations are this year set to record their strongest economic growth since 1974,
the World Bank has said. Many countries are on course to achieve the UN
Millennium Development Goals of cutting global poverty in half by 2015, its
Economic Prospect 2005 report says. But "daunting challenges" in sub-Saharan
Africa meant the region was unlikely to see the same effects. Read more at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4017973.stm
UK
Commission Wants Aid To Africa Doubled And More Debt Relief
-
World Bank Press Review, 16 November
The
Commission for Africa, a high-level group chaired by UK Prime Minister Tony
Blair, has proposed that rich countries double aid to Africa from 2006 and that
African countries be given preference in exporting goods to rich countries,
reports Business Day (South Africa). The commission says drastic measures are
needed if Africa is to have any chance of meeting the Millennium Development
Goals. Read
more.
Is
more aid needed to solve Africa's woes? –
by Ed Stoddard, Reuters, 15
November
JOHANNESBURG
(Reuters) - American economist Jeffrey Sachs has a novel way to tackle African
poverty: shower more aid on the world's poorest continent. This may shock
critics of African development who say aid has only made a bad situation worse.
Some analysts say aid has created a continent-wide sense of dependency and that
vast amounts of donor funds have been wasted or stolen by inefficient or corrupt
governments. Africa is desperately poor despite being the recipient of tens of
billions of dollars in aid over the past few decades. The United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) says that sub-Saharan Africa's per capita gross
domestic product in 2002 was $469 (252 pounds) compared to $22,987 for the
affluent members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
But Sachs, in a Brookings Institution paper called "Ending Africa's Poverty
Trap," maintains that only a huge infusion of carefully targeted public
investment will pull Africa out of its grinding poverty. To read more, go to click
here.
World
Bank Warns Millennium Health Targets At Risk
- World Bank Press Review, 12
November
Countries
that pledged four years ago to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS and malaria by
2015 must act quickly or risk falling short of the critical targets, the World
Bank said in a report released on Thursday, reports Reuters. In the study, "Rising to the Challenges:
The Millennium Development Goals for Health," the World Bank said the developing
world was behind schedule on the health targets agreed upon by 189 countries in
September 2000 at the United Nations Millennium Summit. Read
more.
World
Bank reports development deficit
- Inter Press Service News Agency,
12 November
A
World Bank assessment of progress on the United Nation's Millennium Development
Goals reports that women and child mortality rates are still high in many
developing countries, despite relatively inexpensive and proven means of
delivering the health services and education needed to lower mortality. With
just 10 years left until the MDG deadline of 2015, the World Bank recommends the
health ministries of poor countries pool their resources to target delivery of
health services to the neediest populations. Read more at http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=26247
UNDP
promotes international conference on gender and Millennium goals
-
UNDP In Brief, 11 November
The
All Pakistan Women’s Association has received a US$75,000 funding from UNDP to
support an international conference on gender and the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) next March in Islamabad. The conference aims to examine progress
towards achieving gender equality and empowerment of women. Read more at http://www.un.org.pk/undp/news/
Engendering
Change in the Classroom
- DevNews Media Centre, 11 November
Discrimination
against girls in the classroom in the developing world is threatening to
undermine all efforts for gender equity in education. That’s the view of Mercy Tembon, the
World Bank’s focal point for girls’ education in the Human Development Network.
Tembon says an inherent bias against girls in the classroom has serious
consequences. Read
more.
Lack
of energy services for poor could doom development goals, UN experts warn
-
UN News Centre, 10 November
Many
developing nations will fail to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
if they do not take solid steps to ensure the availability of energy services to
the poor, United Nations experts on sustainable development warned today. Read more at http://www0.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=12504&Cr=millennium&Cr1=development
Benn
hails aid plan for Africa -
By Patrick Wintour, The Guardian,
10 November
Ambitious
plans to increase aid to Africa by $50bn a year in the next decade are
achievable, the international development secretary has told the Guardian.
Speaking ahead of a report this week from the Commission for Africa, set up by
Tony Blair to focus international action on the continent, Hilary Benn said he
saw grounds for optimism. Read more at http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,1347391,00.html
(free registration)
AIDS
And Overcrowding Hamper Education Goals -
World Bank Press Review, 9 November
A
combination of AIDS, overcrowded schools and poorly qualified teachers is
responsible for many children round the world dropping out of primary school
without achieving a minimum set of cognitive skills, reports The Financial
Times. An independent report prepared for UNESCO and presented to governments
and professionals meeting in Brasilia Monday said many countries would probably
fail to achieve universal primary education and other internationally agreed
targets set for 2015. Read
more.
Seminar
urges Pakistani students to volunteer for Millennium goals
-
UNDP In Brief, 9 November
Pakistani
Minister of State Dr. Nazim Ashraf and UN Resident Coordinator Onder Yucer urged
more than 200 students at a seminar in Islamabad last Saturday to help Pakistan
achieve the MDGs. The young people can volunteer their skills and knowledge to
help rural communities reduce illiteracy. Additional seminars will lead up to
the International Conference on Volunteerism and the MDGs next month. Read more at http://www.unvolunteers.org/infobase/news_releases/2004/04_11_09PAK_mdg.htm
Engineers
of change -
The Guardian, 8 November
Last
month, on the day nominated by the UN to mark the campaign for the eradication
of poverty, a little known group met in Westminster to discuss whether corporate
social responsibility was an adequate strategy for tackling exclusion and want.
They call themselves Engineers against Poverty and are backed by those venerable
institutions of mechanical and civil engineers. These engineers see themselves
in key positions to nudge companies towards policies that will help in achieving
the MDGs and building a global partnership for development. Read more at http://society.guardian.co.uk/givinglist/story/0,,1343484,00.html
(free registration)
Spend
$150 Billion Per Year to Cure World Poverty -
New York Times, 7 November
Jeffery
Sachs, economist and Special Adviser to UN Secretary General on the MDGs,
advocates increased official development assistance and African debt
cancellation. While donors and governments question whether aid actually works,
Sachs argues that rich countries need to "push" poor countries out of poverty by
significantly increasing aid money. This New York Times piece portrays Sachs as
a "preacher" of the "push theory" in international aid and a convert from "shock
therapy theory," used in transitions to the market economy in order to foster
development. Read more at the
Global Policy Forum at http://www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/develop/oda/2004/1107sachs.htm
UN
launches International Year of Sport and Physical Education
-
UN News Centre, 5 November
Kicking
off the International Year of Sport and Physical Education, United Nations
Secretary-General Kofi Annan today said athletics are a good vehicle for
promoting education, health, development and peace as part of the overall effort
to achieve the MDGs. Read more at
http://www0.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=12458&Cr=sport&Cr1=
Next
year's General Assembly to focus on the future -
4NI, 4 November
Secretary-General
Kofi Annan declared the 2005 General Assembly was "perhaps our only chance to
ensure a safer, more just and more prosperous world in the new century." The
Assembly will review and assess progress on the UN MDGs. In unveiling his ideas
for holding a high-level review of the 2000 Millennium Declaration, Mr Annan
said the proposed summit - from 14 to 16 September 2005 at UN Headquarters in
New York - was of "decisive importance" for attaining global targets to reduce
poverty. Read more at http://www.4ni.co.uk/nationalnews.asp?id=34823
2005
summit on Millennium Declaration to be 'decisive' to UN's future: Annan
-
UN News Centre, 3 November
When
world leaders convene in 2005 for the sixtieth session of the General Assembly,
five years after agreeing to an ambitious plan to battle poverty and other
global ills, they will be charting the future of the United Nations and its role
in those efforts, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says. In unveiling his ideas for holding a
high-level review of the 2000 Millennium Declaration, Mr. Annan describes the
proposed summit - from 14 to 16 September 2005 at UN Headquarters in New York -
as an event of "decisive importance." Read more at http://www0.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=12431&Cr=millennium&Cr1=
Carrefour
Group and UNDP partnership promotes Millennium goals -
UNDP In Brief, 3 November
The
Carrefour Group, Europe’s top retailer has partnered with UNDP through its
foundation to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals. To date, the
Carrefour International Foundation has provided over US$340,000 to UNDP's
anti-poverty efforts in Malaysia, Eritrea and Ethiopia through training of women
in business skills, micro-credit grants, and access to safe and clean water.
Read more at http://www.undp.org/inbrief.html#November
UN
workshop in Kenya looks at finding $64 billion for Africa's development
-
UN News Centre, 2 November
Difficulties
mobilizing development resources for Africa and ways of improving the
continent's financial systems are being discussed at a workshop in Kenya this
week coordinated by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).
Experts attending the Nairobi meeting, held from 1 to 3 November, are seeking to
identify how African countries can garner the $64 billion in new investment
needed to generate a growth rate of 7 per cent and meet the MDGs designed to
halve extreme poverty by 2015. Read more at http://www0.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=12418&Cr=africa&Cr1=economic
Poverty
Reduction Strategy Papers in Africa: Are They Really Making a Difference to
Policies?
– id21, 1 November (Global Policy)
This
book review looks at a study on Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), which
UK's Overseas Development Institute conducted in seven African countries. The
text argues that PRSPs make aid more effective by reinforcing national
"ownership" of development strategies, but warns of failure if donors don't
commit on a long term basis and include more local organizations. Find it at http://www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/develop/2004/1101prsp.htm.
MORE
on MDGs...
World
AIDS DAY 2004 Focuses on Women and Girls
UNAIDS and WHO recently published their
AIDS
Epidemic Update 2004 which highlights that women are increasingly affected
and now making up nearly half of
the 37.2 million adults living with HIV worldwide. Accordingly, the total number
of people living with the human immune deficiency virus (HIV) rose in 2004 to
reach its highest level ever: an estimated 39.4 million people are living with
the virus. The global AIDS epidemic killed 3.1 million people in the past year.
To read this report in English, French, Russian, and Spanish, visit http://www.unaids.org/wad2004/report_pdf.html.
To find out what happened around the world on AIDS DAY, visit http://www.unaids.org/WAD2004/.
In observance of World AIDS Day,
see also the latest NGLS Roundup entitled "HIV/AIDS: Developing New Fronts
Against an Extraordinary Crisis” at http://www.un-ngls.org/documents/pdf/roundup/RU117-AIDS.pdf.
For more information, visit the ILO AIDS Brief on "Women, girls, HIV/AIDS and
the world of work", December 2004, available at http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/trav/aids/index.htm.
In addition, the Health Resource Centre/Eldis guide has been produced in
collaboration with UNIFEM, and launched to coincide with the 16 Days of activism
against gender violence campaign and World AIDS Day 2004. It highlights key
issues, research and resources relating to violence against women and HIV/AIDS,
and can be found at http://www.eldis.org/hivaids/vaw_consequences.htm.
HIV/AIDS: Developing New Fronts Against an
Extraordinary Crisis – UN Non-Governmental Liaison
Service
Find it
at http://www.un-ngls.org/documents/pdf/roundup/RU117-AIDS.pdf.
Equator
Initiative Newsletter: “Between the Lines” – November
2004
This
special edition of Between the Lines
is dedicated to the topic of “scaling-up”. Few issues have gained
greater, or more rapid, prominence in the development and conservation
communities than scaling up. Despite this, the concept remains relatively
uninvestigated. While we all agree that scaling-up is important, even essential,
what does it really mean to scale-up community action and how can such efforts
really contribute to achievement of the MDGs? The working paper presented in
this issue examines the rise of “scaling-up” and connects it with other
important issues dominating the development landscape, notably the concept of
capacity development and the increasingly important MDG framework. The heart of
the paper is dedicated to an enquiry into the experiences of those people that
know the most about scaling-up – local communities. Using the finalists for the
Equator Prize 2002 as a study group, the paper looks at trends in community
scaling-up and suggests that community experiences in this area may have
important policy ramifications for achievement of the MDGs. For more, visit http://www.undp.org/equatorinitiative/pdf/BetweenTheLines_Issue6.pdf.
Global
Civil Society joins forces for greater effectiveness in achieving the Millennium
Development Goals -
by
Vicente García-Delgado, CIVICUS UN Representative (New
York)
Deeply
concerned by the slow rate of progress and, in some world regions, actual
regress in eradicating poverty and achieving the UN’s MDGs, global civil society
networks and large humanitarian and development NGOs are joining forces to
effectively impact key international events in 2005. For further details,
see
www.civicus.org/new/content/monthcolintro8.htm.
Online
Discussion on Ending Violence Against Women: Achievement and Emerging Challenges
since Beijing – UNIFEM, 8 Nov –
3 Dec 2004
UNIFEM invites women's human rights advocates and practitioners to share their views, experiences and concerns about ending violence against women and girls.
Starting 8 November, UNIFEM is moderating an online discussion to assess achievements and challenges since the Fourth World Conference on Women was held in 1995. As part of a series sponsored by the United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality and hosted by WomenWatch, this discussion will feed into the forthcoming ten-year review and appraisal of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which will focus on implementation at the national level. To register and for more information visit the discussion website at http://www.un.org/womenwatch/forums/review/violence/.
Children's
Well-Being: How Poverty Endangers the Health and Life Chances of Children in
Developing Countries – New Topic in
Development Gateways MDG Series, November 2004
This Special, the 10th in the 2004 monthly series on the Millennium Development Goals, addresses Goal 4, aimed at reducing child mortality for children under five, and Goal 5, aimed at improving maternal health. The well-being of children also includes social protections from exploitation and opportunities to improve children's life chances. In our special interview, Thetis Mangahas, co-organizer of the Mekong Children's Forum on Human Trafficking in October 2004 and Project Manager for the ILO Mekong Project to Combat Trafficking in Children and Women, describes efforts to stem child sexual exploitation in countries along Southeast Asia's Mekong River. This Special coincides with Universal Children's Day on November 20 and World AIDS Day on December 1. Read the Children's Well-Being MDG feature at: http://topics.developmentgateway.org/special/children.
Poverty Mapping – Resources on the re-launched Poverty Mapping webpage - World Bank
Aggregate,
national level indicators often hide important differences between regions or
areas. The analysis of poverty, its determinants and poverty-reducing
interventions therefore requires a focus on poverty information that is further
geographically disaggregated. In addition, poverty and inequality are
multidimensional – consumption and income, education, health, opportunities,
voice, etc. – and have multiple determinants – geographic and agro-climatic
factors, services, infrastructure, etc. The plotting of such information on maps
– poverty mapping – is useful to display information on the spatial distribution
of welfare and its determinants. It is also useful to display simultaneously
different dimensions of poverty and/or its determinants. The PovertyNet Website
has recently relaunched its page on poverty mapping. This page provides
information on what poverty maps can be used for and how these maps can be
built. This page contains a collection of poverty mapping resources including an
overview, tools, methodology, policy applications and regional documents. To
view it, click
here. Other poverty targeting resources
include: World Bank Social Safety Networks website at http://www1.worldbank.org/sp/safetynets/Targeting.asp
and World Bank Publication: “Targeting of Transfers in Developing
Countries:
Review of Lessons and Experience” at http://publications.worldbank.org/ecommerce/catalog/product?item_id=1934206.
New
Tables and Charts on International Hunger Relief – World
Food Programme, October 2004
In 2004
the World Food Programme (WFP) appealed for support to reach 80 million people
suffering critical food shortages due to wars, conflicts, natural disasters,
poverty, and health crises. As governments continued to fail pledging enough
resources, the WFP operations faced serious shortfalls.
Funding
Shortfalls of the 10 Largest Hunger Crises in 2004
Funding
Shortfalls of Hunger Crises in 2004 - The Crises with the Largest Percentage of
Shortfalls
Funding
Shortfalls of Hunger Crises in 2004 - Regional Comparisons
Funding
Shortfalls of Hunger Crises in 2004 - By Program Category
Evaluating the poverty and distributional impact of economic policies – World Bank, May 2004
You can
now view the “Evaluating the poverty and distributional impact of economic
policies” training event on the World Bank’s internet-based broadcasting
service, BSPAN. Arranged by the Poverty and Social Impact Analysis Group of the
World Bank, this one week course presented techniques and tools that can be used
to evaluate the poverty and distributional impact of economic policy choices.
This conference featured speakers presenting tools that help quantify the trade
offs and consequences of
economic
policies that affect countries through various channels. Each session addresses
a specific evaluation techniqueand its applications. For more information,
visit
http://info.worldbank.org/etools/bspan/EventView.asp?EID=626.
Quarterly External Debt Statistics
– The
World Bank and IMF
The Quarterly External Debt Database, jointly developed by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, brings together detailed external debt data that are published individually by countries that subscribe to the IMF’s Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS). The benefit of bringing together comparable external debt data for a large number of SDDS-subscribing countries in one central location, is to facilitate macroeconomic analysis and cross-country data comparison. Fifty-two SDDS subscribing countries have agreed to participate in this database. Non-SDDS subscribing countries may be asked to participate in the centralized database at a later stage. To find out more, visit http://www.worldbank.org/data/working/QEDS/sdds_main.html.
Economic
Policy and Gender Materials
– The World Bank
he
World Bank Gender and Development Group is pleased to announce the availability
of online materials on economic policy and gender. The policies covered include:
Trade and competitiveness; Public expenditure; Public sector downsizing; Labor
markets; Pension reform; Safety nets and transfers; and Child labor. Background
papers, summaries of key findings, operational experience, and in some cases,
tools are available for each of these topics. To access these materials, visit
www.worldbank.org/gender.
Get
Ahead for Women in Enterprise Training Package and Resource Kit –
A Bauer, G
Finnegan, and N Haspels, ILO 2004
This
training project, organised by the ILO, aims to expand work and income-earning
opportunities for women and men in enterprise in families and communities;
enable low-income women entrepreneurs and their families to shift from marginal
low income generation to profitable business development; and contribute to the
social and economic empowerment of populations in poverty. The authors aim to do
this by mobilising business and gender networks and partner organisations in ILO
member states, and increasing their capacity to promote women's entrepreneurship
and gender equality in business and development services for disadvantaged
groups. For more, visit http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/library/pub4.htm.
Volunteer
Opportunities -
Unite for Sight
Several
new volunteer opportunities are available with Unite For Sight during the
Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall of 2005 in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and
Latin America. Volunteers prescribe
eyeglasses as well as screen for eye disease and coordinate and fund diagnosis,
treatment,and surgery by doctors.
The volunteers also implement Train the Trainer programs for teachers and
educate children and adults about eye health and ways to prevent blindness. For more information, contact
JStaple@uniteforsight.org and consult www.uniteforsight.org
Capacity
Development for MDGs
– Development Gateway
Don’t
forget to take a look at this website’s resources, as they constantly update
their information on the MDGs. Visit http://topics.developmentgateway.org/mdg
EVENTS, CONFERENCES and
CALL FOR PAPERS
Second
Meeting of the High Level Forum on Health MDGs –
Abuja,
Nigerian, 2-3 December 2004
The
second High-Level Forum on the Health Millennium Development Goals is now under
way in Abuja, Nigeria. Main topics to be discussed include coordination of
funding for health development, as well as urgent action to address the massive
shortage of health workers and countries affected by crisis. To find out more
about this meeting, visit their website at http://www.hlfhealthmdgs.org/December2004Mtg.asp.
International Conference on Volunteerism
& MDGs -
Islamabad, Pakistan, 5-7 December 2004
A
three-day conference on how volunteerism can help achieve the Millennium
Development Goals will take place in Pakistan on 5 December 2004, International
Volunteer Day. Some 200 people, including Pakistani government officials,
parliamentarians, civil society representatives, volunteers' organizations, UN
officials, journalists and students will attend the meeting, organized by the
National Commission for Human Development and the UN System, including UNDP and
UN Volunteers. Read more at http://www.worldvolunteerweb.org/development/mdg/mdg_pakistan.htm
Videoconference:
Youth, Gender and Universities: Achieving the MDGs – Global
Development Learning Network (GDLN) Video Dialogue, December
2004
The
objective of the GDLN series, that will bring together university students from
7 countries, is to enhance the participants' awareness of Gender and MDGs and
discuss the role that Youth and Universities could play for the achievement
of the MDGs. Anticipated topics
include the MDGs, governance and gender equality. Areas of interest and key
findings from the GDLN series will serve as background for a subsequent
international workshop on Gender, Governance and Leadership to be attended by
participating university student leaders, policymakers, and other experts. The
GDLN series will be held on December 6, 9,
and 15, 2004. Each session will be a half-day, from 7:30 to 10:30 AM
(Washington local time). Sessions will be held at local World Bank GDLN or
selected university videoconference centers. Training support will
be
provided
by countries in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia where similar
issues are prevalent and where effective mechanisms to address these have been
adopted. The first session scheduled for December 6, 2004 will address the
following: MDGs Status in each country; Challenges ahead; Key questions on MDGs
and Gender Equality; Selection by Youth from each participating country of one
MDG they consider most important and for which they, as Youth, feel they can
make a difference. An electronic discussion forum will follow the
videoconference dialogues, to support further knowledge exchange and problem
solving related to specific issues of MDGs discussed at the session. Please RSVP
your attendance by December 2nd to Tooba Mayel only (do not reply to all), World
Bank Institute tmayel@worldbank.org.
The Second Annual Human Rights Film Festival
(HRFF) – Kiev,Ukraine, 9-13 December 2004
This
festival seeks to showcase ethically and socially committed productions on the
following key themes:
1) Health (HIV/AIDS, TB),
2) Women (trafficking, domestic violence, discrimination etc), 3) Children
(street children, child labor, children in institutes etc), and 4) Vulnerable
Groups (refugees, migrants, minorities, disabled people, Roma people etc). For
more information, please contact Ruken Tekes
UNDP Ukraine.
Conference on Eradicating
Poverty Through Profit - Making Business Work for the Poor –
San Francisco, USA, 12-14
December 2004
This
conference is organized by the World Resources Institute (WRI) in partnership
with a number of leading international organizations such as the Schwab
Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, USAID, World Economic
Forum, the World Bank, and the World Business Council for Sustainable
Development. As the conference aims to demonstrate, the private sector is also
important in addressing specific development challenges through new business
models that can deliver appropriate products, services and solutions for the
poor. Without creative private sector solutions, it is unlikely that there will
be affordable and adequate provision of telecommunications, energy and
electricity, financial services, water and sanitation, consumer products and so
on. For more information, please see http://povertyprofit.wri.org/.
In
association with the Eradicating Poverty through Profit conference being held in
San Francisco, there will be a virtual, online conference to facilitate the
participation of experts unable to attend the meeting in person. This will
enable an exchange of ideas between NGOs, community groups,
entrepreneurs and small/medium-sized enterprises, and university experts from
developing countries. These online messages will then be inputted into the
face-to-face discussion. Information on how to participate is available the
World Resources Institute website at http://povertyprofit.wri.org/news/conference_news.html.
Call
for Papers: Globalization, Violent Conflict and Peacebuilding: Research
Competition – Eldis
IDRC is
calling for research proposals on 'Globalisation, Violent Conflict, and
Peacebuilding'. It aims to support research on the various conflict-related
impacts of globalisation. Principal
Researchers must be affiliated with a developing country institution or an
international institution based in a developing country. Principal Researchers
must be citizens of developing countries and not permanent residents of a
developed country. Proposals must be for evidence-based research and cannot be
geared solely to advocacy activities. Those proposals adopting a comparative
case study approach will be given clear preference, provided they are based on a
rigorous
comparative methodology. Up to two
grants of a maximum of CAD $400,000 will be awarded. For further details, see www.gdnet.org/online_services/funding_opportunities/funding_news/idrc_global.html
or contact: Peacebuilding and Reconstruction Program Initiative, International
Development Research Centre (IDRC), 250 Albert Street, P.O. Box 8500, Ottawa,
Ontario, Canada K1G 3H9. Email: globalization@idrc.ca. Fax:
0011-613-567-7748. Closing date: 17 December
2004.
Call
for Research Grant Applications from Young Scientists :
IFS & the
CGIAR Challenge Program on Water & Food – IFS & CIGAR
2004
The
International Foundation for Science (IFS) and the CGIAR Challenge Program on
Water & Food are pleased to issue a call for research proposals open to
young scientists. The purpose of the grants is to provide opportunities for
young researchers to contribute to the generation of scientific knowledge
relevant for achieving food security and poverty alleviation as expressed in the
formulation of the Challenge Program on Water & Food. Applicants should be
at the beginning of their research career, have a minimum academic degree of an
MSc/MA or the equivalent, and preferably be younger than 40. Researchers from
natural science and social science disciplines are welcome to apply.
Applications for this first round of research grants must be received by
IFS no later than 31 December
2004. For further information please refer to
http://www.ifs.se/Programme/ifs_cpwf_researchcall.asp.
Training
in Making Governance Gender Responsive - Manila,
Philippines, 9-15 January 2005
The Center for Asia Pacific
Women in Politics (CAPWIP) is providing a training course on "Making Governance
Gender Responsive”. The course is designed for middle and senior level
government executives, people working in local governments, political parties,
research and training institutes and civil society organisations who are leading
or participating in governance reform initiatives in their respective countries.
The training is being offered and designed for a small group of about 25 to 30
participants. For more information, e-mail trainings@capwip.org or
capwip@capwip.org or capwip_trainings@yahoo.com.
Education
for a Sustainable Future
(ESF)
– Centre for Environment Education, Ahmedabad, India, 18-20 January
2005
Centre
for Environment Education, India, is organising an international conference
Education
for a Sustainable Future (ESF)
from 18-20 January 2005, to mark the launch of the Decade of Education for
Sustainable Development (DESD). The Conference is being organised in partnership
with the Ministries of Human Resource Development, and Environment and Forests
(Government of India), UNESCO and UNEP. The
conference is planned as a forum that will draw on the rich experience from Asia
and the world over, through participation of governments, educators, NGOs and
other stakeholders. It will provide an opportunity not only to take stock of
what has been done so far, but also set the course for the future. Several
thematic workshops, in collaboration with key partners, will help focus much
needed attention on the integral role of Education and Communication (E&C)
in the success of any strategy towards attaining a sustainable future. For more
information, visit http://www.ceeindia.org/esf/.
Microfinance Donor Training Course
schedule for 2005: “Building Financial Systems for the Poor: How Donors Can Make
a Difference.”
The five-day workshop, covers global good practices and focuses on how donors
and funders can play an effective role in supporting financial systems that work
for poor people. The 4 courses include: 7-11 February 2005: Benin - for the first
time in French!; 4-8 April 2005: Kazakhstan; 7-10 June 2005: New York; 6-10
November 2005: Jordan. Colleagues making arrangements to attend the
courses should not hesitate to contact the preparation team at UNCDF - Mila Co
(Mila.Co@undp.org, +1 212 906 3630) for
courses in English language, and Deborah Adalla (Deborah.Adalla@undp.org, +1 212 906
6182) for the French course. For more information, visit the UNCDF website at http://www.uncdf.org/english/learning/.
"Eyes
on International Collaboration: Promoting Health From Campus to Lab to
Field"
- 2-3 April,
2005
The
Unite For Sight Second Annual International Health Conference will be held at
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. For more information, visit http://www.uniteforsight.org/2005_annual_conference.php
Training on Poverty
Reduction and Civil Society Participation – Institute of
Development Policy and Management,
Antwerp, Belgium, 4-13 May 2005
The
Institute of Development Policy and Management of the University of Antwerp
(Belgium) will be holding its second International Training Programme from the
4th – 13th May 2005. The programme targets senior staff
from civil society organizations in countries where a PRSP has been produced,
but others may apply. Up to 15 participants from the South will receive a full
scholarship. For more information, visit http://www.ua.ac.be/main.asp?c=*IOBPRSP.
Conference
on Global Democracy 2005: Civil Society Visions and
Strategy - The Montreal
International Forum, Montreal, Canada, 29 May – 1 June 2005
G05, or
Global Democracy 2005 are holding a conference, titled "Global Democracy: Civil
Society Visions and Strategies", which will take place between May 29th and June
1st, 2005 in Montreal, Canada. It
will offer the opportunity for international civil society to identify the means
of implementing a constructive agenda for world citizenry. It will attempt to go
beyond reaction and to plant the seeds for a democratic, participatory form of
global governance. It will put civil society practitioners in dialogue with
participants from different backgrounds, to devise new visions of global
democracy. Together, they will identify the strategies needed to implement these
visions. For further information, and to register, please follow the link to
full text at http://www.g05.org/.
Call
for Papers: MENA Economies, Past Perspectives and Future
Challenges – EcoMod
Network, University of Brussels, 2-4 June 2005
EcoMod Network is holding a conference on 'Middle East and North African Economies: Past Perspectives and Future Challenges'. The conference will take place at the Free University of Brussels, on June 2-4, 2005. The conference aims to promote and stimulate an exchange of ideas in economic research of the Middle East and North
African (MENA) countries. Deadline for abstract submissions is January 15, 2005. Deadline for submission of full papers is April 15, 2005.
For
further details, see their website at http://www.ecomod.net/.
International
Year of Sport and Physical Education -
2005
At
the launch on 5 November of this new International Year, it was recognized that
athletics are a good vehicle for promoting education, health, development and
peace as part of the overall effort to achieve the MDGs. The UN Special Adviser
on Sport for Development and Peace, Adolf Ogi, along with Carol Bellamy,
Executive Director of UNICEF, co-chaired a task force that produced a report on
how to maximize the use of sport for UN objectives. For more information see http://www.un.org/themes/sport
MDG
Net now has 1900 members!
A
very warm welcome to:
Tarek
Murshed, UNDP Bangladesh
Wilson
Siahaan,
UNDP
Indonesia
Lyubomir
Sirkov,
Applied
Research and Communications Fund (ARC Fund), Bulgaria
Eduard
Jongstra,
UNFPA
Nepal
Tania
Sharmin dina, UNDP Bangladesh
Kinuko
Mitani, UNV India
Thuraya
Ismail, UNDP Saudi Arabia
Dina
Deligiorgis,
Consultant
(PDB, TSD, UNFPA)
Ram
Shankar,
UNDP
Nigeria
Christopher
Mwaijonga,
UNFPA
Tanzania
Sherif
Ayoub,
UNDP
New York
Aishath
Jennifer,
UN
Maldives
Peter
Gustafsson,
UNDP
Nordic Office, Denmark
Kazuo
Kojima,
UNDP
New York
Yuexin
Du,
UNDP
China
Fazle
Chowdhury,
UN Azerbaijan
Lourdes
Ferrer,
PAHO,
Washington DC
Ross
Strick,
Canadian
International Development Agency, Canada
Joana
Chagas,
UNIFEM
Brazil
Ryo
Nakamura,
International
Development Research Institute, Foundation for Advanced Studies on International
Development, Japan
Genevieve
Painter,
Canada
Astrid
Schwietering,
ActionAid
International, South Africa
Gulnur
Bolyspayeva,
UNIFEM
CIS, Kazakhstan
Diana
Apatsa Nyirenda,
UNDP
Malawi
Janette
Trujillo,
Netherland
Embassy, Bolivia
Roy
Cabonegro,
WWF Philippines
Robert
Leigh,
UNV,
Germany
Madalina
Darvaru,
Black
Sea University Foundation 50, Romania
Adib
Nehmeh,
UNDP
SURF Lebanon
Andrew
Mabey,
Interact
Worldwide, United Kingdom
Michael
Tewoldemedhin,
UNDP
Eritrea
Pedro
Manuel Moreno,
UNDP Ecuador
Dafina
Gercheva,
UNDP Bratislava
Gnilane
Ndiaye,
UNAIDS Burkina Faso
Pieter
Lauwaert,
The
University of Gent, Belgium
Sibongile
Maseko,
UNDP
Swaziland
Sukhjargalmaa
Dugersuren,
UNDP
Mongolia
Mpho
Sedibe,
UNDP
Swaziland
Caroline
Kent,
Millennium
Campaign, UK
Joel
Vargas Via,
UNDP
Bolivia
Blanca
Cardona,
UNDP
Colombia
Elena
Malanova,
UNDP
Russian Federation
Elia
Villanueva,
Cap
2015, UN Mexico / Panama
Markus
Gottsbacher,
Cap
2015,UN Mexico / Panama
Jose
Romero,
Cap
2015, UNDP Panama
Lenyara
Khayasedinova,
IFAD,
Italy
Oscar
FIESTAS-TEJADA,
UNDP
Afghanistan
Achikbache
Bahjat,
UCTI,
INSEE, France
Fredrick
Abeyratne,
UNDP
Sri Lanka
Charlotte
Duncan,
UNDP
Bangladesh
Don
Mahleka,
Parliament
of Zimbabwe
Nouzha
Lamrani,
University
Mohamed V, Morocco
Amareswara
Rao Munagala,
UNV
Germany
Nugroho
Wienarto,
Farmer's
Initiatives for Ecological Livelihoods and Democracy,
Indonesia
Sascha
Mueller,
UNDP
Nepal
Fadhl
Bashir,
UNICEF
Yemen
Heather
Anderson,
Planned
Parenthood Global Partners, Washington DC
Carol
Barton,
Women's
International Coalition for Economic Justice, New York
Itzá
Castañeda,
UNDP
Mexico
Jennifer
Aulwes,
Planned
Parenthood Federation of America, Global Partners, Washington DC
Anthony
Mawaya,
W.H.O
Africa Region, Congo
Neil
Pakenham-Walsh,
International
Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications, UK
Amir
Farmanesh,
South
Asia Youth Environment Network-United Nations Environment Program, Iran
Nosh
Nalavala,
Human
Advocacy, USA
Audax
Rutta,
UNDP
Tanzania
Disa
Weerapana,
UN-Habitat
Programme
Hari
Ramalu Ragavan,
UNDP
Malaysia
Emmanuel
Bor,
UNDP
NY
Argine
Nahapetyan,
UNDP
Macedonia
Ousmane
Niang,
UNDP Central African Republic
Jennifer
Staple,
Unite
For Sight, USA
Sonomi
Tanaka,
Asian
Development Bank, Philippines
Joylyn
Ndoro,
Royal
Netherlands Embassy, Zimbabwe
Jurgita
Peciuriene,
The
Women's Issues Information Centre
Samar
Abdulhadi,
Programme
of Action to Reach Rural Women in NENA Region
Elaine
Salo,
University
of Cape Town, South Africa
Nela
Kacmarcik,
UNDP
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Archana
Singh,
Devi
Ahilya University, India
Tarik
Alami,
UN
ESCWA Lebanon
Rosalie
Callway,
Local
Government International Bureau, UK
Fruzsina
Molnar,
The
World Federation of United Nations Associations, New York
Lene
Schumacher,
WFM-IGP:
the International Secretariat of the World Federalist Movement, New
York
Wolfgang
Haas,
UNDGO,
New York
Izaskun
Elizondo,
UNDP
El Salvador
Val
Ingham-Thorpe,
VERITAS,
Zimbabwe
Yechi
Bekele,
UNDP
HQ
Ian
Foucher,
UN
Non-Governmental Liaison Service (UN-NGLS), New York
Lourdes
Ferrer,
PAHO/WHO,
Washington DC
Kim
Mullard,
Homeless
International, UK
Claudia
Diez de Medina,
IPS
- Inter Press Service global news agency, Italy
Matti
Ojanen,
AstraZeneca
Plc, UK
Catherine
Bordeau,
Franciscans
International, New York
Marcus
Lenzen,
Bureau
for Crisis Prevention and Recovery, UNDP NY
fernandel
carbonell,
Bureau
of Management, UNDP NY
Rawaa
Al-Saadi,
UNDP
Syria
Mohamed
Azzedine Salah,
UNICEF,
Moldova
Melina
Laboucan-Massimo,
TakingITGlobal,
Canada
Carol
Nelson,
Solomon
Islands National Council of Women (SINCW), Solomon Islands
Lejla
Somun-Krupalija,
IBHI-BiH,
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Juliet
Hunt,
Independent
Consultant, Australia
Siddiga
Ahmedova,
UNDP
Azerbaijan
Irma
Van Dueren,
Netherlands
Embassy, Yemen
Amy
Augustine,
Calvert
Group, Ltd USA
Christopher
Louise,
UNDP
Cairo
Sophia Huyer,
Women
in Global Science and Technology, Canada
Encourage membership and participation in your UN Agency, Fund or Programme by adding a link to the MDG Net site at http://www.undg.org/content.cfm?id=80 to your website. We highly encourage civil society organizations, governments, donors and development think tanks to join us in discussing and finding solutions for the achievement of the MDGs within the framework of the Millennium Declaration. Those interested in joining should send a request along with info on their duty station, organization, and e-mail address to: mdg-net@groups.undp.org
Many
thanks to those who contributed to this issue!
Any
materials/ideas for our next issue? Please send them to elham.seyedsayamdost@undp.org
To
post a message to the network, write to: mdg-net@groups.undp.org
VISIT THE MDGNET RESOURCE CORNER ON the UN
Development Group website at:
http://www.undg.org
To register, simply enter your e-mail
address
Password for access to the Resource Corner:
mdgnet2003