Full Coverage: Development

30.12.2004 Poverty and HIV/AIDS are the biggest challenges to Namibia meeting the Millennium Development Goals, Prime Minister Theo-Ben Gurirab has stated. Although the country suffers the 7th highest infection rate in the world, development aid is dropping, due in part to Namibia's classification as a middle-income country. The country has islands of wealth in a sea of poverty.

29.12.2004 H.E. Mr. Robert Bosscher, Ambassador of the Netherlands and Mr. Jens Toyberg-Frandzen , UNDP Resident Representative, announced the financial contribution from the Netherlands to the UNDP’s Srebrenica Regional Recovery Programme totaling 4 million Euro for recovery of the Srebrenica Region. The funds will be used for economic development, public infrastructure and house reconstruction and for improvement of public services.

29.12.2004 Indian officials involved in rescue operations on the Andaman and Nicobar islands find that not much is known about the fate of the rare tribes living on the various islands.

27.12.2004 World Bank has approved a loan of US $ 620 million to upgrade the national highway between the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and the eastern state of in the state of Bihar to give an impetus to trading activities within the nation.

23.12.2004 A combination of Washington's gaping federal budget deficit and unanticipated humanitarian crises overseas means that U.S. food aid programs designed to lift millions of people out of absolute poverty and chronic malnutrition are being sacrificed to meet more urgent needs in life-and-death situations.

23.12.2004 Australian aid agency AusAID has in a major policy shift allowed recipient countries’ organisations to bid for tenders for various projects.

23.12.2004 Some 201 million women worldwide want to limit their family size but lack access to the means to do so. In Bangladesh, the estimated $62 the government spends to prevent an unwanted pregnancy is one tenth what it would otherwise spend on social services for mother and child. Investing in family planning benefits the environment, society, and governments, says the Earth Policy Institute's Janet Larsen.

22.12.2004 Recent three- and five-week online workshops on web design and using the internet for human rights and development work brought new skills to advocates in dozens of developing countries. "This workshop is evidence of what we can achieve by using the technology we have at our disposal," said Sheree Trotman from Barbados.

22.12.2004 Trade and technical assistance between developing nations has become one of the most significant factors driving development worldwide, prominent UN officials and other diplomats have said. "South-South trade is becoming a dominant factor in the international economic relations," said the chairman of the UN's Group of 77 developing nations, noting that trade between developing countries grew at more than twice the rate of world trade in 2003.

21.12.2004 On a visit to Europe, representatives of Haitian civil society have called for a more inclusive approach to aid projects.

21.12.2004 Ecomwel Orthopaedic Centre, a non-governmental organisation in India providing Comprehensive Health Care and Community Based Rehabilitation programmes for uplifting rural poor and the underprivileged welcomes assistance to empower people with disabilities.

21.12.2004 An Indian NGO, Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action (YUVA), is going to host a public debate on 'Making Peace with Diversity and Development' on January 10, 2005 in Mumbai.

21.12.2004 The absence of both government regulations and consumer awareness in developing countries creates soft entry conditions for producers of GM crops - this biotechnology industry perspective is not unaware of the reality.

21.12.2004 Besides engaging people in voluntary actions, governments must raise awareness about the ongoing worldwide volunteer movement to help reach the MDGs says Ad de Raad, Executive Coordinator of the United Nations Volunteers programme.

21.12.2004 The government of India has consented to a proposal made by the ministry of Human Resources to initiate e-learning classes in secondary schools.

21.12.2004 The World Bank should play a more central role of leadership in promoting universal access to reproductive health as a necessary, efficient and just means of achieving all the Millennium Development Goals, according to a new report from the Global Health Council.

20.12.2004 Wangari Maathai spoke at an event in London on her way home after collecting the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. OneWorld UK was there.

20.12.2004 Rich country governments are proving predictably reluctant to fund the costs of achieving the Millennium Development Goals through aid budgets. There is another way which plays to their traditional stengths. Taxation.

20.12.2004 India is in the process of amending the existing Domestic Violence Bill that would inflict severe penalties on abusive husbands. The new Bill clearly defines domestic violence and gives powers to a wife to drive a spouse out of the house.

20.12.2004 The Indian government has instructed the states to redraft laws that would help the farmers to enjoy direct marketing, contract farming and participate actively in the private and cooperatives sector markets.