Suchergebnisse

Child malnutrition is the most pressing problem of the world, damaging to both children and nations. Malnutrition is costing poor countries up to 3 per cent of their yearly GDP. The pessimistic scenario suggests that child malnourishment will increase from 166 to 175 million children by 2020. Therefore, a detailed analysis of the plight of these children, and the root causes of malnutrition, are of paramount importance. The underlying causes of undernutrition vary from poverty, low levels of education and poor access to health services. The high levels of undernutrition in children and women in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa pose a major challenge for child survival and development. The examples of Thailand, Vietnam and China show that the problem of malnourishment is entirely preventable. Areas of intervention that will be most successful and the key policy priorities for each major developing region need to be identified.

Analyses of the likely changes to British foreign and European policies that a government under Gordon Brown will herald have been highly speculative: Although Brown's style of government is well-documented, the substance of his plans in this area remains somewhat shrouded in mystery. Today, the defining characteristic of Brown's agenda in this area prioritises tackling 'global problems', such as poverty, over European policy and modes of international action. Yet, given the growing constraints on the exercise of prime-ministerial power in Britain, this air of mystery appears increasingly unimportant: The greatest source of continuity and change in policy may not be Brown but rather the resurgent domestic actors which have increased their clout in the dying days of the last Blair government and whose preferences are well-documented. Brown's capacity to realise his priorities depends in no little part upon his capacity to change his style of government and outmanoeuvre these resurgent actors. (SWP Comments / SWP)

Religion and local politics have always weighed on secondary education in rural Saskatchewan but so have the brute facts of regional economic history. Isolation and near-poverty helped to ensure low completion rates in the 1950s, and especially in the south-western section of the province. In this memoir the author details educational practice just when prosperity was about to strike the system and the region in the 1960s and 1970s. ; La religion et les politiques locales ont toujours influencé l'éducation secondaire en Saskatchewan rurale. C'est ce qui ressort des données brutes de l'histoire économique régionale. L'isolement et la quasi-pauvreté contribuèrent au taux élevé d'abandon des études durant les années 1950, notamment dans le sud-ouest de la province. Dans ses souvenirs, l'auteur raconte dans le menu détail la pratique éducative au moment où la prospérité était sur le point d'atteindre le système et la région au cours des années 1960 et 1970.

State Formation and Radical Democracy in India analyzes one of the most important cases of developmental change in the twentieth century, namely, Kerala in southern India and begs the question of whether insurgency among the marginalized poor can use formal representative democracy to create better life chances. Going back to pre-independence, colonial India, Manali Desai takes a long historical view of Kerala and compares it with the state of West Bengal, which like Kerala has been ruled by leftists but has not had the same degree of success in raising equal access to welfare, literacy, and basic subsistence. This comparison brings the role of left party formation and its mode of insertion in civil society to the fore, raising the question of what kinds of parties can effect the most substantive anti-poverty reforms within a vibrant democracy. This book offers a new, historically based explanation for Kerala's post-independence political and economic direction.

On 9 May 2007 East Timor, or Timor-Leste, elected a new president. The winner is the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos-Horta. He defeated Francisco "Lu Olo" Guterres of the ruling Fretelin party, with 69% of the votes as compared to his rivals 31%. The new president inherits a country stricken by poverty & regional divisions which boiled over last year in deadly riots. The situation between Easterners & Westerners of Asia's poorest nation remains tense until today, but did not erupt into violence again. Main issues of the campaign were development & security. The two-round election was described as free & fair by international observers. The loss of Fretelin is a clear indication that its dominant position in the political landscape is in dispute. Against this background the author examines the implications of the current elections on the wider Timorese political system. References. Adapted from the source document.

The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program remains a promise unfulfilled to many who have toiled the fields for generations despite efforts of past and present administrations. For two cooperatives in Basilan, the gift of land was both a blessing and a curse. The Certificate of Land Ownership and Acquisition (CLOA) was not the end of their problems but quite the opposite. After enduring poverty and red tape the new land owners were faced with the enormous task of managing thousands of hectares of agricultural land without prior experience. Lacking financial stability and managerial expertise, the cooperatives appeared better off without the fruits of their struggle. Eventually they realized their weaknesses and found their strengths. Through favorable financing programs from government institutions and joint ventures with other organizations, the once vulnerable upstarts have grown into profitable, self-sustaining units. Now the cooperatives are development catalysts in their respective communities and a stable force in the thriving agricultural sector.

Ghana has made considerable progress over the last 20 years in sustaining economic growth and reducing poverty. The Government of Ghana has declared its new development goal of reaching middle-income status by 2015. Achieving this goal will require Ghana to double its per capita income over the next decade. In this paper we explore the growth experiences of other developing countries that have successfully transformed their economies from situations similar to Ghana's today. Based on the past experiences of these fast growing countries, and using a dynamic general equilibrium model developed for Ghana, we evaluate sources of accelerated growth and their contributions to overall growth and transformation. The authors conclude that, for Ghana to reach middle-income status it will require careful coordination between increasingly complex macroeconomic, industrial and financial market policies, which also require the improvement of institutional capacity of the government to implement such complex policies. ; Non-PR ; IFPRI1; GSSP ; DSGD

This paper presents the findings of qualitative research on the use of mobile phones and home access to the Internet amongst some Australian welfare service users. It shows that a digital divide – the exclusion of some groups from information and communication technology – goes well beyond access to hardware. Phones are often unavailable and access to the Internet is contingent on infrastructure, technical support and individual interest. Access to the Internet at home is poor and, even when available, the way in which mobile phones and the Internet are used appears deeply affected by poverty, literacy and age. These findings present challenges for those concerned about vulnerable children's ongoing disadvantage. Welfare agencies wishing to use the potential advantages of information and communication technology with families need to address patterns of use and the many barriers to access.A glossary of ICT terms used in this article is presented at the end of the paper.

On 9 May 2007 East Timor, or Timor-Leste, elected a new president. The winner is the Nobel
Peace Prize laureate José Ramos-Horta. He defeated Francisco "Lu Olo" Guterres of the ruling
Fretelin party, with 69% of the votes as compared to his rival´s 31%. The new president inherits
a country stricken by poverty and regional divisions which boiled over last year in deadly riots.
The situation between Easterners and Westerners of Asia´s poorest nation remains tense until
today, but did not erupt into violence again. Main issues of the campaign were development and
security. The two-round election was described as free and fair by international observers. The loss
of Fretelin is a clear indication that its dominant position in the political landscape is in dispute.
Against this background the author examines the implications of the current elections on the wider
Timorese political system.

This article examines the conceptual structure of the Social City Program as it has been formulated in legislation and applied in practice. It raises serious questions as to the actual impact of the program as formulated, and suggests that conceptual clarity may help both to expose its flaws and to propose alternate positive potentials. The program has a complex intellectual underlay, and clarity in the concepts used can avoid some potential dangers in its implementation. More specifically, integration is not the opposite of exclusion, and inclusion is not the same as reducing poverty. Spatial clustering can either support or weaken solidarity. Enclaves and ghettos are not the same thing, although both reflect a clustering of population groups. Finally, emphasizing "social capital" can be a way of highlighting the strength of the oppressed or blaming them for their own oppression-and these distinctions are loaded with consequences for policy.

This article examines the effects of select social stressors on the quality of life among Black Americans. Specifically, the authors created a state-level Living While Black index, which includes the Black poverty level by state, the number of Black prisoners by state, the lack of access to health care per Black population, the Black infant mortality rate, the Black homicide rate, and dollars per Black population of Black businesses. Using multivariate statistical techniques, the authors carried out a first-order test of the influence of the living while Black measures on a quality of life index comprising the following measures: number of days per month 5 or more drinks, percentage of Blacks indicating they have mental health problems, suicide rates by state for Blacks, and years of life lost per state for Blacks. The article concludes by discussing the implications of the findings and directions for future research.

This article discusses soundscapes created by young people participating in The Beat of Boyle Street, an in-school recreation-based project that teaches inner-city, at-risk youth to make music using computers and audio production software. Participants are predominantly Aboriginal youth, ages 14 to 20, living in poverty and confronting other challenges, including disabilities, addictions, parenting issues, racism, homelessness, and the vicissitudes of life "on the streets." The soundscape compositions young people create tell stories that speak to the importance of what young people actually do with popular culture in their everyday lives, particularly with hip-hop music and style. Three soundscape examples provided indicate how young people (a) use and negotiate popular culture, (b) politically use and contest city spaces, and (c) act as "border crossers." These points call attention to the power of popular cultural practices as leisure and provide insights for working with young people in recreational contexts.

Brazilian street kids have been represented, with few exceptions, as victims of oppressed cultural forces that weaken the family and dilute social capital. To be sure, concentrated poverty, loss of extended family ties, low levels of education, and lack of governmental involvement have all given shape to a terribly strenuous childhood for many in the country. These kids, however, are more than victims. They are also active agents in the coconstruction of their social realities, and they struggle in brave ways to become fuller human beings. Using reconstructions from my ethnographic fieldwork on the streets of Campinas, Brazil, in which kids encounter Nike artifacts and the culture of consumption, the author attempts to show this struggle for humanization. In addition, a central purpose of this article is to present a slice of social science research written in a self-reflective manner about authorship, interpretation, and the interweaving of theory and fieldwork.