Stories about Development from October, 2010
Benin: Text Messages to Help Protect Children Against Violence: Lessons Learned
The Violence Against Children (VAC) project is an initiative co-implemented by PLAN and Save the Children in West Africa and takes place over 4 years in seven countries. The project explored the idea of setting up a text message based system that will collect and map out reports of violence against children. The following is a discussion about the impact and lessons learned on the implementation so far.
El Salvador: Demanding Local Food
Colleen O'Brien begins her post “Growing Local Food Demand” asking, “Local food in El Salvador? It certainly exists, even though farmers markets, CSAs and advocates don’t abound in this country.” She later writes, “Fresh food for the urbanites, steady incomes for the campesinos. Is it just a pipe dream? I...
Africa: Growth, Innovation and Transport
Stephen writes about growth, innovation and transport in the development of Sub Saharan Africa economies: “Many people recognize that access to adequate transport services is vital for development. Since 1987, the Sub-Saharan Africa Transport Policy Program (SSATP)—a partnership driven by 36 countries—has been working with governments and regional organizations to...
China: Life at the bottom of the society
Annie Lee writes a feature on the daily life (and pain) of the bottom of the society in China (via China Hush).
India: Village Health Issues
Brijesh Nair visited a village in the state of Tamil Nadu in India and found that the drinking water infrastructure in a “lower caste community” was in poor condition causing health issues among the village people.
China: Riot Against Land Acquisition in Guangxi
On 13 of October, a riot broke out in Longxu town in Guangxi province. Around one thousand villagers confronted armed police against forced land acquisition. Citizen reports on the riot were originally posted at local online forums within Guangxi, but quickly deleted by web censor authorities. In order to spread...
El Salvador: ‘There's no water’
For Blog Action Day, Linda writes: “Usually, no hay agua [meaning, “there is no water”] is a temporary condition, and the water returns. Yet as more and more demands are placed on our water systems, and less and less care is taken to preserve and recycle water well, no hay...
Bolivia: The Effects of Climate Change on Water
Pablo Rivero blogs at Purple Fire [es] for Blog Action Day: “Bolivia is a country with great nature reserves, among them, fresh water. However, in the last years, the effects of climate change have left notorious and dramatic footprints.” He provides various links for more information, including a blog dedicated...
Honduras: The Lack of Clean Water
Laurie says that statistics on water conditions are “too big to grasp! But here in the elbow of Central America, I get it. Water, or the lack of clean water, kills people. They get diarrhea, cholera or hepatitis. They lose their kids. Their hope. They stay in poverty.” Laurie knows...
Brazil: mobile data packages most expensive among developing nations, says study
The 2010 Information Economy Report from the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has revealed Brazil has one of the most expensive mobile data packages [pt] among developing countries, at around US $120 for 2.1 megabytes of data per month, according to Rede Brasil Atual [pt]. The report also found that digital technology and...
Africa: Write About Water in Africa for Blog Action Day
You are invited to blog about water in Africa for Blog Action Day: “Happy Blog Action Day everyone! The topic this year is WATER. Kabissa members are invited to blog about water in AFRICA. You can send in your posts via email to connect@groups.kabissa.org or post online to http://kabissa.org/group/connect (if...
Zimbabwe: A Few Facts About Water in Zimbabwe
Today is Blog Action Day today, and the theme this year is ‘Water’. Here are few facts about water in Zimbabwe: * Only one fifth of Zimbabwe’s population has access to clean water * 900 cases and 25 deaths have been recorded as a result of cholera in Zimbabwe in...
Caucasus: Women as a reflection of nationalism
Motherhood, Repatriation and other fictions comments on a recent event staged in Istanbul, Turkey, which women activists from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Russia attended. The blog particularly examines the role of nationalism and patriarchal societies in peace-building and cross-border initiatives in the South Caucasus.
Azerbaijan: Blog Action Day
Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines marks Blog Action Day by examining the situation in its native Azerbaijan. The blog says that while the country is rich in energy, it lags behind in providing its citizens with clean drinking water with the situation even worse outside of the capital, Baku.
Mexico: Blogosphere Previews United Nations Climate Change Conference- COP 16
The next United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 16) will take place from November 29 to December 10, 2010 in Cancun, Mexico. Bloggers are analyzing whether the conference will bring the usual disappointment about a lack of action, or if this time it will provide a new perspective and a new opportunity where failure is not an option.
Brazil: Research and Advances in Renewable Energy Sources
In recent decades, Brazil has received acclaim as a country of clean energy, with alternative and renewable sources playing a major role in the country’s energy mix. The inclusion of these sources, which has been made possible thanks to research conducted by various social players and to the government’s adoption, is being discussed in many Brazilian blogs.
China: Fujian villagers fight against forced demolition
The youtube video shows how villagers from Minhou county, Fujian province fight against forced demolition.
Mexico: Mexico City as Example for Making Latin American Cities More Livable
In Mexico Unmasked, Tim Johnson writes that, “Major cities in Latin America […] have become more livable, friendlier places,” because of “a revolution in urban governance.” He uses Mexico City as an example, describing what happens every Sunday when “Paseo de la Reforma [is] shut down to vehicle traffic and...
Paraguay: The Problems with Soy Production
In Hablemos claro…en serio Enrique Ramon Galeano says he is against massive soy production; he shares [es] an essay written by his friend Ben F. on Facebook.
Jamaica: (Wo)man of the Year
Active Voice explains why Diana McCaulay is her candidate for Man of the Year: “It takes balls for a single woman to go up against the state in the way [she] has…Diana McCaulay has almost singlehandedly been taking the fight to the authorities on the matter of the proposed transformation...
Bangladesh: Increase In Cost Of Living
An Ordinary Citizen wonders whether the Bangladesh government should “take necessary steps to keep the inflation controlled and to reduce the cost of living” to avoid loss of faith among common citizens.
