Stories about Development from September, 2012
India: Build Your Own Map to Improve Your City
Transparent Chennai is a platform for citizen engagement to help the citizens of Chennai counter inaccurate or incomplete government data with crowdsourced maps, and make better claims on the government for their rights and entitlements.
35 Million Escape Poverty – But Can Brazil Overcome Inequality?
The United Nations campaign to end poverty in 2015 is finding results in Brazil, home to 194 million people. Some 35 million Brazilians have escaped poverty over the last decade, but questions are nevertheless being raised concerning the government's effort to overcome inequality.
New Caledonia: Political Tension Grows Over Rights to Nickel Mines
Claudine WERY writes [fr] that political tension grows between independentist and non-indenpendentist political parties in New Caledonia over the exploitation of Nickel mines. Non-independentists accuse the other party to strike deals with China and South Korea that they are not authorized to pursue. A referendum on gaining independence from France is scheduled...
Czech Republic: Roma Resist Evictions in Ostrava
This summer, Přednádraží, a small neighborhood in Ostrava, has been the site of an intense struggle against unlawful evictions of the predominantly Roma residents. Daniela Kantorova reports on the history of the area and ongoing struggle of its residents.
Chad: Challenges to Freedom of Expression as Social Protests Grow
The recent arrests in Chad of three union officers and the editor of an independent newspaper are symptomatic of a disintegration of freedom of expression in the country. These arrests have come after protest movements against the impoverishment of Chad’s population and the privatization of the country’s resources.
Peru: Activists Begin “Civic Crusade” in Defense of the Nanay River
In our first post in this tree-part series we briefly introduced some water-related issues in Iquitos, and later presented the controversy generated by the transnational Conoco Phillips and their exploration and search for hydrocarbons in the Nanay River basin. In this post we continue addressing the issue and discuss how organizations like the Water Committee are fighting this problem.
Will China Fall Prey to the ‘Skyscraper Curse'?
By 2022, the number of skyscrapers in China will reach 1,318 compared to 563 in the United States. But according to one theory, the world's tallest buildings often rise on the eve of economic downturns...
Guinea-Bissau: Impact of Tourism in the Bijagós Islands
Tourism doesn't always mean wealth and development for the Southern countries. The statement comes from a report [pt] on “Dynamics and impacts of the expansion of tourism in the Bijagós islands”, a protected sea area in Guinea Bissau. Cape Verdean blog Morabeza shares [pt] the study by CETRI (Centre Tricontinental)...
Bangladesh: Jibon Tari – A Floating Hospital for the Poor
Jibon Tari is a floating hospital in Bangladesh, which sails to remote regions within the country - taking medical services to the poor people in places where medical help is otherwise not easily accessible.
Russia: After the APEC Summit
The 2012 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vladivostok has come and gone. What remains is discussion of what APEC means to Russia’s Far East and the country as a whole. Bloggers' biggest issue, however, was President Putin's promise to send some APEC volunteers on a cruise to Japan, who went, and who did not.
China: Are Overloaded Vehicles to Blame for Harbin Bridge Collapse?
On August 24, a highway bridge in China's Harbin city suddenly collapsed, leaving three dead and five injured. Yesterday the investigation report came out which stated that the collapse was caused by overloaded vehicles, but netizens are not so sure this is correct.
Madagascar: How a Tiny Island Can Explain the Root of the Crisis
Lalatiana Pitchboule published a two-part detailed investigative report [fr] on what is at stakes when it comes to the appropriation of the tiny island of Juan de Nova (4.4 km2) off the west coast of Madagascar in the Mozambique Channel. In short, The legal fight over the possession of the Juan de Nova...
Kosovo: Venice Biennale “Newcomer”
Facebook page “Southeast Europe: People and Culture” notes that “Kosovo is one of this year's newcomers to the [Venice Biennale]”: The pavilion allows visitors to share their views on Kosovo's future design landscape. More on the Kosovo Pavilion – here.
China: Cancer Villages
Shelley Jiang from Tea Leaf Nation blogs about the painful cost of development in China – the increasing number of cancer villages all over the country: Officially and unofficially, the Chinese media have reported 459 “cancer villages” throughout China… Once a rare disease, cancer is now the biggest killer in...
Latin American Women as Key Development Partners
Moms, students, working professionals and women from all walks of life are the driving force behind a gender revolution that has made huge contributions to our region’s prosperity. In Americas Quarterly, João Pedro Azevedo and Louise J. Cord write about how Latin American women are driving the region's prosperity.
Serbia: Gastarbeiters’ Houses
Nothing Against Serbia posts photos of the migrant workers’ houses in Eastern Serbia and explains the “Gastarbajterske Kuće” phenomenon: […] the effort to make money in the West (under arduous circumstances) has to be showed off back home as a reward for the hassle! […] The houses itself are made...
Bangladesh: A Voice for the Challenged
Amader Kotha features the exemplary works of the award winning blogger Sabrina Sultana who is using blogs and other social media tools to improve the condition of the physically challenged in Bangladesh.
Should Uganda's Abortion Law Be Revised?
Ugandans are divided over the Center for Reproductive Rights and Development's campaign to revise the abortion law in Uganda. There are approximately 267,000 abortions carried out in Uganda every year, although the practice is currently illegal except where the life of the mother is in danger.
China: RMB 4 Trillion Stimulus Package Questioned
In the past few months, some online public opinion leaders have openly criticized the Chinese government's RMB 4 trillion stimulus package introduced in 2008 during the global financial crisis. But Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has stressed that the government "will not hesitate to use" the surplus in the upcoming budget year.
China: Traffic Jam
Chengdu Living blogs about the problems behind traffic jam in China: the rapidly increasing urban population, number of car owners, poor city planning because of corruption.
Zambia: Mining Proposal Threatens Lower Zambezi Ecosystem
Potential mining activity in Zambia’s Lower Zambezi National Park, part of a greater World Heritage Area, is threatening its ecosystem and that of the adjacent Mana Pools National Park in Zimbabwe.
