October 2008
1 post
Ask The Readers: How Can We Help Beat Poverty? --... →
March 2008
18 posts
Ethiopia: Minister Highlights Need of Integration...
Biruk Girma, Addis AbabaEast African integration is crucial to successfully attain the UN-set Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Ethiopian State Minister of Finance and Economic Development said on Monday.In his opening speech to the 12th meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts (ICE) which kicked off here at the UNCC, State Minister Mekonnen said the issue of integration was of a...
Zambia: Adult Education Lacking Policy Direction
Nebert MulengaTHE absence of appropriate infrastructure and educational materials for adult literacy in Zambia is now forcing many determined adult learners to go into formal schools where they have to mix with their own children.Clara Moyo, 50, a resident of Chipata town in Eastern Province, stopped school at a tender age. She got married as an illiterate person, gave birth to 11 children and in...
Food costs soaring, so poor hurt
By BAN KI-MOON The price of food is soaring. The threat of hunger and malnutrition is growing. Millions of the world’s most vulnerable people are at risk. An effective and urgent response is needed. The first of the Millennium Development Goals, set by world leaders at the United Nations summit in 2000, aims to cut the number of hungry people in half by 2015. This already was a major...
progress report on the MDGs in Ethiopia
ISLAMABAD, March 22 (Xinhua) — Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said Saturday Pakistan is committed to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 through a variety of interventions. The interventions include real per capita income growth, expansion of schooling particularly for girls, decreasing pupil-teacher ratio, improving nutritional status of children and providing...
DEVELOPMENT: Climate Change Deepening World Water...
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 19 (IPS) - When U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last January, his primary focus was not on the impending global economic recession but on the world’s growing water crisis. “A shortage of water resources could spell increased conflicts in the future,” he told the annual gathering of business tycoons,...
Kazakhstan - Improving water supply and sanitation
Improving water supply and sanitation in poor countries is essential to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and reducing poverty. What lessons to help meet this challenge can be learnt from a recent survey of water and sanitation in Kazakhstan? Research from the University of Nottingham in the UK and the United Nations Development Programme in Kazakhstan reports the findings of a...
India lags behind in meeting UN development goals:...
NEW DELHI: India is lagging behind in meeting the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals for bringing down infant and maternal mortality rates but is on course to achieve all other targets, Government said on Monday. Minister of Women and Child Development Renuka Chowdhary also informed the Rajya Sabha that the Government is planning to merge two schemes for adolescent girls to...
RIGHTS: U.N. Confident of New Agency for Women
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 7 (IPS) - As the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) concluded its two-week session in New York Friday, United Nations officials remain hopeful that the proposal for a new U.N. agency for women would become a reality. “I believe the process is now back on track,” said Assistant Secretary-General Rachel Mayanja, the U.N. special adviser on gender issues and...
WOMEN'S DAY-KENYA: Equal Pay in Theory, Not...
NAIROBI, Mar 7 (IPS) - On Mar. 8, a century ago, thousands took to the streets of New York in demonstrations aimed at improving life for women. Burning issues of the day included the need for better working conditions — higher pay, a shorter work day — and winning the right to vote. By Kwamboka Oyaro These protests, by women, led to Mar. 8 being named International Women’s Day...
RIGHTS-PAKISTAN: Women Push For Political Space...
PESHAWAR, Mar 7 (IPS) - Saeeda Anwar is a 38-year-old Pakistani schoolteacher. She works in a school here in the capital of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), but she is not allowed to exercise her franchise. By Ashfaq Yusufzai “My family is strictly against women voting. They don’t like us to vote. Although, I am allowed to work as a teacher because I give them all my salary,”...
World Development Report Launched
Agriculture is a vital development tool for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that call for halving extreme poverty and hunger by 2015, the World Development Report (WDR) launched in Accra yesterday said. Launched as part of the World Bank Development Dialogue Series, the Report titled Agriculture for Development is the 30th in the series and for the first time in 25 years focuses...
RIGHTS: Fund to Fight Gender Violence Puts Donors...
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 6 (IPS) - The U.N. “Trust Fund to End Violence against Women” has risen significantly over the last year: from 3.5 million dollars in 2006 to over 15 million dollars in 2007. The U.N. Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), which manages the Trust Fund on behalf of the U.N. system, has now set an ambitious goal: to raise about 100 million dollars a year by 2015. ...
RIGHTS: Global Poll Shows Strong Support for...
WASHINGTON, Mar 6 (IPS) - Large majorities of people around the world agree that women should enjoy full equality of rights compared to men, according to a survey of nearly 15,000 respondents in 16 developed and developing countries released here Thursday by WorldPublicOpinion.org (WPO). The poll, which was released on the eve of International Women’s Day Saturday, found little difference in...
Nigeria: 'Maternal, Infant Health Central to MDGs'
Wife of Kwara State governor, Mrs Oluwatoyin Saraki, has said Nigeria’s seriousness towards reduction of maternal and infant mortality would to a large extent, determine the country’s readiness at meeting the Millennium Development Goals.Speaking at a meeting with wives of government officials in Kwara State, Saraki said it was no longer acceptable that women should die at child birth...
Millennium Development Goals on track - PGMA
Calamba City, Laguna (3 March) — The Philippines is right on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) agreed upon by the countries of the world way before the target date of 2015, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said today. In her speech opening the Women’s Month celebration at the New Calamba City Hall here this morning, the President said the government’s...
MPs issue maternal deaths warning
Up to one million pregnant women worldwide die each year from largely avoidable causes, MPs have warned. A Commons international development committee report said there was a lack of political will to improve maternal health in developing countries. It warned that for every woman who dies in childbirth in the UK, up to 1,000 die in the poorest countries. The government said it would play a...
Integrate Culture Into MDG To Facilitate Its...
The chairman of the National Commission on Culture, Professor George Hagan, has stressed the need for policy makers to incorporate the positive dimensions of the country’s culture into national policies to facilitate the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). He said cultural practices of the people could have a significant effect on national policies and decisions either...
It can't wait
On Monday last, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched a multi-year global campaign bringing together the United Nations, governments and civil society to try to end violence against women, calling it an issue that “cannot wait.” This campaign, themed “Say No to Violence against Women”, runs until 2015, the same target year as the UN’s Millennium Development Goals....
February 2008
22 posts
Japan pledges extra funds to fight AIDS, TB,...
TOKYO: Japan on Friday pledged a fresh 184 million dollars to combat AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria ahead of hosting a Group of Eight summit set to focus on global health. The aid will be donated to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, established in 2002 by the Group of Eight major industrial countries. The diseases together kill six million people a year, mostly...
Sarkozy pledges 2.5 billion euros to create jobs...
French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced a 2.5 billion euro (3.8 billion dollar) initiative on Thursday to finance nearly 2,000 companies and create 300,000 jobs in Africa over the next five years. “I want France to contribute directly to the creation of African companies that will generate jobs,” he told a joint sitting of the South African parliament on the first leg of a two-day...
Rwanda: Bush Announces Multiple Initiatives
President Bush, on the third country stop of his five-nation Africa tour February 19, announced a $100 million peacekeeper training initiative for Darfur, signed a bilateral investment treaty with Rwanda and told Rwandans that the Peace Corps will be returning to their country for the first time since 1993.Bush made the announcements at a joint press availability with Rwandan President Paul Kagame...
Laura Bush's African AIDS Crusade
President and Mrs. Bush are traveling in Africa to visit a handful of countries receiving U.S. aid through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a five-year, $15 billion relief program launched in 2003 to provide HIV treatment in lower-income countries with high rates of infection. Since its inception, PEPFAR has distributed antiretroviral (ARV) AIDS drugs to 1.5 million...
Bush Touts Effort to Stop Malaria Deaths
By JENNIFER LOVEN and BEN FELLER ARUSHA, Tanzania (AP) — President Bush handed out hugs and bed nets to battle malaria in Tanzania’s rural north on Monday, saying the U.S. is part of an international effort to provide enough mosquito netting to protect every child under five in the east African nation. “The disease keeps sick workers home, schoolyards quiet, communities in...
Namibia: Reflect On Progress On MDGs - President
Anna Shilongo WindhoekPresident Hifikepunye Pohamba says governments should reflect on progress made regarding the attainment of the millennium development goals (MDGs).He made the remarks over the weekend, during the annual New Year’s greetings to the diplomatic corps in Namibia. GA_googleFillSlot("AllAfrica_Story_Inset"); Diplomats were also encouraged to work hard, in...
Uganda: Community ICTs Will Boost Govt Projects
Vernon Tugumizemu KampalaAt various State functions the president has vowed to elevate technology in Uganda come 2015. This though is a global initiative supported by the G8 nations under the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) package.Ugandans should be happy for all villages will now be able to access the Internet. This was said by Ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development official Mr...
Uganda: Infant, Maternal Deaths Still High
Irene Nabusoba KampalaMUCH as Uganda’s maternal and infants’ health have improved, medical professionals are worried that the country is still far from achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) come 2015.These include reducing infant mortality by two thirds and maternal mortality by three quarters. GA_googleFillSlot("AllAfrica_Story_Inset"); MDGs are the...
Wealth 'may not lead to health'
Economic growth does not necessarily translate into improvements in child mortality, major new research suggests. Every year 10 million children still die before their fifth birthday, 99% of them in the developing world, according to Save the Children. A study comparing economic performance with child mortality reveals that some countries have not translated wealth into improvements across...
Poverty still high in Nigeria - IMF
By Femi Ibirogba - 18.02.2008 THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) has declared that poverty remains high in Nigeria despite several years of solid growth. The executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) revealed this in an analysis of the Nigerian economy in the Article IV consultation. According to the board, despite the fact...
Ghana Still First In Development Goals
By Patrick Ampong-Baidoo The United Nation’s Development Program (UNDP) Human Development Report on Ghana, released on Wednesday, has commended government for making strides to achieve the Millennium Development Goal 1. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight goals to be achieved by 2015 that respond to the world’s main development challenges. The MDGs are drawn from the actions and...
UN chief: Bush's African tour is "very important"
WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) — UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said here on Friday U.S. President George W. Bush’s visit to Africa is “very important” while urging him to make more effort to help eradicate hunger and disease on the continent. Speaking to reporters after talks with Bush at the White House, Ban said he hoped that Bush is able to “discuss with African...
OECD calls for more aid for poor countries
Aid from the world’s richest nations to its poorest is increasing but remains below the level of agreed commitments and is failing to significantly reduce poverty in many countries, the OECD said Thursday. In a report, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said development aid for the least developed countries (LDCs) had risen from 57.8 billion dollars in 2002 to 77.8...
Rwanda: Japan's Nakata Arrives to Boost MDGs...
Edwin Musoni KigaliFormer Japanese international footballer Hidetoshi Nakata has arrived in Rwanda to help mobilize people on the importance of working towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).His visit comes just months ahead of the fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) scheduled between May 28 and 30. ...
U.N.-Backed Alliance Aims To Improve Technology In...
The organization wants to use information and communications technology to address social and economic problems in the region. By K.C. Jones, InformationWeek February 12, 2008 05:15 PM The United Nations has established a networked group of information and communication technology specialists to help countries in Latin America and the Caribbean use technology to fight poverty...
The state of the world's children
Efforts to improve the living conditions of children around the world are achieving success, but not fast enough to achieve the UN targets, an audience in Cambridge heard last week. Giving the Humanitarian Centre annual lecture at Emmanuel College, Alan Court, UNICEF’s Director of Programme Division, addressed the vital topics of child poverty, disease and mortality in the world, and...
DEVELOPMENT-NICARAGUA: Despite Efforts, MDGs...
MANAGUA, Feb 7 (IPS) - Despite the social plans implemented by the government of Daniel Ortega, Nicaragua has made little progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), say independent analysts. By José Adán Silva Ortega, who took office in January 2007, has launched programmes like Zero Hunger in rural areas, Zero Usury, which grants low interest loans to poor women, and an...
Uganda: Canada Firm to Give SMEs Loans
SMALL and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are to receive start-up loans worth euros 5,000 (sh12.8m) each from MyC4, a Canadian-based firm.The loans are aimed at eradicating poverty in order to support the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals by 2015. GA_googleFillSlot("AllAfrica_Story_Inset"); MyC4 company, whose roots are in Denmark, was founded in 2006 by investors to...
Dying to be a mother
Odinarily, falling pregnant should be a joyous experience for every woman. And with just eight years to go before the 2015 target for achieving the Millennium Development Goals one would expect to hear accounts of how motherhood is increasingly becoming a safer experience for women as countries strive to fulfil the fifth development goal of “improving maternal health”. Sadly, this is not the case...
2008 International Year of Sanitation a crucial...
Washington, Feb 5 (ANI): The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) in Sweden has said that UN’s “2008 - International Year of Sanitation”, will be a crucial time for the world to take action on the issue. According to a report in ENN, the UN General Assembly declared the year 2008 the International Year of Sanitation, to put the spotlight on this subject. The goal is to raise awareness...
Nigeria: Youths Advised on MDGs, Needs
LagosNigerian youths have been charged to familiarise themselves with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the objectives of the National Economic Empowerment Development Strategies (NEEDS) so that their future would be impacted positively.The pioneer boss of the National Agency for Control of AIDS and a former Senior Special Assistant to the President on HIV/AIDS, Prof Ibironke Akinsete...
Islamic world plans $10bn campaign to fight... →
TOP officials will meet in Bahrain tomorrow to map out a $10 billion (BD3.78bn) campaign to combat poverty throughout the Islamic world. The high-level advisory panel for the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD) will meet at the Gulf Hotel. ISFD was established within the Saudi-based Islamic Development Bank following a decision of the third extraordinary meeting of the Islamic Summit,...
January 2008
21 posts
Nigeria: Country Can Achieve MDG's
By: Kunle Aderinokun And Damilola Oyedele Abuja, This Day, January 31 The United Nations Under-Secretary, Mr Ad Melkert, has said that Nigeria can achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) by 2020 if the government makes more commitment in the area of health, education and provision of infrastructure.During an inspection tour of the Millennium Village in Pampaida, Ikara LGA of Kaduna...
India to host India-Africa summit in April
NEW DELHI: With an aim of bolstering its relations with Africa, India will host the Summit of African countries here to enhance the “true partnership” to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma, who is attending the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, announced that India will hold the Summit of India-Africa Forum in New...
Senegal's health workers urged to take up the...
Senegalese health minister, Safiétou Thiam, on Tuesday called on all health workers to work towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the health sector. Mrs Thiam, who was speaking in Dakar during the opening ceremony of the joint annual national health development plan (PNDS), said the results of the 4th Demographic and Health Survey (DHS IV) presented during the...
No 10 seeks new drive on millennium goals
By David Charter Gordon Brown has challenged business leaders to play their part with politicians and aid agencies to prevent the dismal failure of international anti-poverty efforts. The Prime Minister invited executives at Davos to a Downing Street summit in May at which companies will be asked to come up with resources and ideas to help to meet the Millennium Development Goals, eight key...
Millennium development goals elusive
By Francis Matthew, Editor at Large Davos: A determined international effort to put the Millennium Development Goals back on track was launched yesterday in Davos by Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations. The goals, MDGs, were adopted in 2000, and aim to halve extreme poverty, boosting health and education and further empowering women by 2015 across the developing world in Africa,...
World Economic Forum Calls for Speedy...
By Barry Wood , Davos, 25 January 2008 The World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland has called for renewed commitment to the U.N. Millennium Development Goals, MGDs, aimed at halving extreme poverty, boosting health and education and further empowering women across the developing world by 2015. VOA’s Barry Wood reports from Davos. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says the...
MDGs: Yar’Adua proposes way forward to 2015
Written by Chioma Obinna, Tuesday January 29. PRESIDENT Umaru Yar’adua has identified the urgent need to map the way forward in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) target by 2015. He spoke at the 39th Annual Scientific Conference of the Paediatric Association of Nigeria (PAN) in Lagos last week, noting that the country’s health system has undergone tremendous change for the...
“Prime Bells Magazine to focus on MDGs
By Hassan Zaggi
A magazine that is aimed...”
– Prime Bells Magazine to focus on MDGs
IOC, UN confer on potential positive impact of...
BEIJING, Jan. 23 United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Jacques Rogge conferred on the potential positive impact of this summer’s Beijing Olympics as the two leaders met at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne on Tuesday. In his first official visit to the IOC, Ban extended his full cooperation and support for Beijing...