Stories about Development from October, 2009
Cuba: Contemplating Change
“I think that for Cuba to transition to an open society from a society ‘with some emergency exits’, some of the people now occupying positions of power in the government could take a long vacation…”: Octavo Cerco contemplates what's needed for meaningful change in Cuba.
Videos on how Maternal Mortality Affects Communities
When a woman dies during pregnancy, childbirth or due to complications after delivery, it affects not only the family, but also the whole community.
India: Climate Policy
“India’s climate policy must be founded on the development needs of the majority of its population and the needs of India’s future development,” opines Prabir Purkayastha at Roger reports.
China's Dark Satanic Mills
On Oct. 14th, Chinese photographer Lu Guang won this year's $30,000 W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography for his photos on China’s environment. The Fund’s website posts the following paragraph describing Lu Guang’s project: Lu Guang has been documenting the ecological disasters in China resulting from the rapid growth...
India: Poor Performance In Hunger Index
CyberGandhi analyzes the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2009 and the India State Hunger Index (ISHI). The blogger is appalled at the poor performance of India in those indexes.
Hong Kong: Property market bubbles burst into public outrage
Earlier in October, an apartment in Hong Kong was sold for USD$57 million, a recording breaking price, locally and globally. The 6,158 square foot duplex apartment is in a building called “Conduit Road 39″ located at the western mid-levels of Hong Kong Island. The unidentified buyer is from Mainland China....
Bahrain: Bahraini Inventors
Bahraini inventors? Mahmood Al Yousif finds them in this post.
Morocco: Education Under Bloggers’ Scrutiny
Torn between insistent calls for modernization and a powerful conservative drive; caught in an excruciating debate over which languages to include in its programs; overburdened by an opaque and centralized administration, the Moroccan education system has long been the target of passionate critiques, not least among bloggers.
Online Tools to Monitor Climate Change
Leading up to the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (COP15) in December 2009, here is a sample of online tools to monitor climate change.
Trinidad & Tobago: Truth or Dare
“We are a society that publicly cries corruption but privately upload mega-project photos on Flickr with misguided pride”: This Beach Called Life uncovers “the hidden truth” about Trinidad and Tobago.
Armenia: Oligarch's staff allegedly implicated in animal cruelty scandal
Facebook users today posted links to a video shot at what is alleged to be the private zoo of a local oligarch and MP. No stranger to controversy, the latest scandal reportedly linked to members of his entourage saw the light of day via Twitter.
Ghana: Blog Action Day ’09
On Blog Action Day, Ghanaians interrogated world leaders, took issue with World Bank papers, introduced new web sites and wondered why there was so little discussion about climate change in the country—while acknowledging that there are certain things countries like Ghana are doing right.
Japan: Urban renaissance
Joe Jones from Mutantfrog introduces the idea and history of urban renaissance in Japan.
Guadeloupe: The Water Days
In The French-speaking Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, also dubbed “the Island with Beautiful Waters”, water is vital. Bloggers share their thoughts on the recently concluded les Journées de l'Eau en Guadeloupe (Water Days in Guadeloupe) conference.
Reading the world on Blog Action Day
More than 9000 bloggers are devoting a post to climate change today as part of Blog Action Day, an annual initiative started by Change.org to unite the world's bloggers in reaching their millions of readers.
Georgia: New Media Forum
Following last year's Caucasus Bar Camp in Tbilisi, Georgia, came this week's New Media Forum. It also gave Global Voices Online's Caucasus Editor the opportunity to interview three of the country's most prominent and prolific new media advocates.
Anguilla: Construction Transparency
Inspired by a speech from the Chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago chapter of Transparency International, Corruption-free Anguilla is concerned that “fair play, transparency, and accountability will continue to be unknown in the Anguillian public sector construction sector.”
India: High Maternal Mortality
Ben Piven at World Focus interviewed Aruna Kashyap, researcher for the Women’s Rights Division of Human Rights Watch and the writer of the report on maternal health care in India titled “No Tally Of The Anguish“. In this interview Aruna discusses why the maternal mortality in India is still exceptionally...
India: Interviewing The TED Fellows
Renowned Indian Blogger Kiruba Shankar has launched an initiative called the ‘TED Fellows project’. The plan is to assign 15 Indian bloggers to interview the TED India Fellows with a view to know them better as there is not much information available on them. Kiruba posts his first interview –...
China: Vist to North Korea
Alice Liu translated Rose Luqiu Luwei (闾丘露薇)'s blog post on her trip to North Korea to report on Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit. Luqiu Luwei is an executive news editor for Hong Kong's Phoenix Satellite Television.
Mongolia: Agriculture Initiative Changes People's Lives
How could Mongolian nomadic herders find a new living in capital city Ulaanbaatar? Ariungerel, citizen journalist of Nomad Green, interviewed Ms. Baytskhandai and told us her story of how she manages to change lives of poor and disabled people and be environmental-friendly by teaching them agricultural skills.
