· November, 2012

Stories about Development from November, 2012

Trinidad & Tobago: Kublalsingh's Hunger Strike Continues; So Does the Debate

  29 November 2012

Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh's ongoing hunger strike to protest the proposed route of a highway in south-western Trinidad is raising questions of transparency, good governance and the approach to political debate. Some bloggers feel that the current administration is out of touch with the needs of the people and they are concerned about the way in which the government is dealing with dissident voices.

Developing Latin America Hackathon Draws Near!

  29 November 2012

We are only 2 days short of commencing the regional hackathon Developing Latin America 2012. Anca Matioc, who is in charge of organising the event, spoke with us about the preparations. She also answered some questions relating to the development of a hackathon like Developing Latin America.

A Glimpse of the Human Moment of Chinese Leaders

  28 November 2012

A Chinese micro-blogger, Wang Dongdong tweeted the above image on Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter on November 23, which has been retweeted over 103,000 times. The blogger [zh] said, I really like this picture. Why doesn’t our media give us more images of leaders like this one, instead of always making them look...

Trinidad & Tobago: Alternate Highway Proposal

  26 November 2012

Environmental activist Wayne Kublalsingh, who is currently on a hunger strike, explains the alternate proposal for the Debe to Mon Desir section of the San Fernando to Point Fortin Highway in a new video.

Indigenous Organization Denounces Brazil at the UN

  26 November 2012

The Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) denounces [pt] human rights abuses against the indigenous populations in an open-letter [pt] to the United Nations. Among several issues, APIB calls the attention to the Guarani-Kaiowa genocide, the mining projects on indigenous lands and the illegal constructions in the Amazon rainforest...

Bangladesh Protests Against Open Pit Coal Mining in Phulbari

  25 November 2012

In Phulbari, 350 kilometers northwest of the Bangladesh capital Dhaka, local communities have come together to raise their voices against the proposed Phulbari open pit coal mining project. If implemented, it will evict almost 100000 inhabitants from more than 100 villages within a 59 sq. km radius and will create a long term impact on the environment.

Bangladesh: Disappearing Playgrounds

  25 November 2012

The Bangladesh Capital Dhaka has seen one of the largest price-booms in the real estate sector which resulted in the decrease of the number of open fields in the city. Amader Kotha discusses the perils of the encroaching real estates, the concept of making a playground for children is gradually...

China: “Most Awesome Nail House” Stands In Middle Of Highway

  23 November 2012

The picture above is the screen capture of a TV report on a house, which stands in the middle of a highway near the railway station in Taizhou, Wenlin, Zhejiang province. As the relocation settlement is not enough for the reconstruction of his 5-story-building, the owner refused to move and...

Malaysian Residents Oppose Rare Earths Refinery

  21 November 2012

Malaysia is set to build the world's largest rare earths refinery after the High Court rejected petitions opposing the project. In response environment groups, residents, and concerned citizens have vowed to step up protests against the plant.

2012 Census is Undergoing in Bolivia

  21 November 2012

Bolivia holds today, November 21, the National Census of Population and Housing 2012. Citizens are restricted from leaving their homes until 23.59 hrs local time. Media, bloggers and netizens are commenting and reporting via Twitter using #Censo2012 and #CensoBo.

Brazilian Court Suspends Eviction Order of Indigenous Guarani-Kaiowá

  20 November 2012

The mass online mobilization that followed an appeal from the Guaraní-Kaiowá indigenous community of Pyelito Kue in Mato Grosso do Sul gave crucial support to their struggle to resist expulsion from their lands. In late October, the Brazilian courts decided to suspend their eviction order. However, the struggle continues until their lands are officially demarcated.

On World Toilet Day, Introducing the Crap Map Project

  19 November 2012

With both big technology players and local partners in Ghana, we’ll be hacking together our “crap map” using existing open source tools and software paired with meaningful offline facilitation around behavior change in sanitation. Molly Norris of Ideo.org explains the objective of the Crap Map project: “to stimulate collective action...

Coming out of the Water Closet: Haiti on World Toilet Day

  19 November 2012

Today is World Toilet Day. Of a global population of 7 billion, a staggering 2.5 billion people have no access to clean toilet facilities - that's about 1 in 3 people. Some of them live in the Caribbean; many of these live in Haiti - and the lack of this fundamental human right to sanitation continues to cause unnecessary disease and death.