Stories about Development from December, 2011
Brazil: Central Bus Station Reflects Precariousness of Human Rights
Emmanuel Rodrigues, writing for the Brazilian blog Eleições Hoje (Elections Today), comments on [pt] the precarious situation of homeless people and others who ramble around the central bus station of Brasilia, Brazil's capital. Rodrigues makes a comparison with the overall situation of the country and the denial of rights to...
Egypt: Using Twitter for a Healthier Life
Can Twitter be used to save people's lives or improve their health? Tarek Amr looks at a Twitter account, ran by a couple in Egypt, aimed at increasing health awareness in society, often touching on taboo topics, such as sex education.
Brazil: Journalist Threatened at Belo Monte Dam Construction Site
Brazilian journalist Ruy Sposati, in Altamira, Pará, denounces the death of yet another worker at the Belo Monte Dam construction site, another round of mass layoffs of workers on strike and a death threat against him for covering the stories in a series of tweets [all links in pt].
Brazil: Youth Demands for “Real Democracy Now”
Brazilian journalist and blogger Lucas Morais analyzes [pt] the revolutionary movements that have spread throughout the world in 2011 and says that “this youth has increasingly become more aware of the limits of capitalist democracy, and not for nothing, it is fighting for a ‘real democracy now'”.
Kenya: First World Problems in a Third World Country
Bankelele looks at first world problems in a third world country: “Ory (@kenyanpundit) reigned some of us with a recent comment that people are complaining on twitter about a lack of parking at the Junction Mall in Nairobi, while there are people near there who don't have enough food to...
Ghana: Ghana should not ban second-hand cars
The Ghanaian Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, says that legislation will be coming into Ghana to ban the importation of second -hand cars. Bello disagrees:”How are Ghanaians supposed to afford brand new cars? We don't have our own car manufacturing industry to drive costs down.”
Guatemalan Children Caught in the Cycle of Starvation
Guatemala Solidarity Network posts an article by Natasha Pizzey-Siegert entitled ‘The children of Guatemala are starving’ where she writes that, “a slow, deep hunger has been building in Guatemala for decades. And now it’s destroying a generation.”
China: A Guangdong Village on the Verge of a Brutal Crackdown
Illegal land acquisition has once again led to large-scale protests in Guangdong province, followed by a suspicious death and police crackdowns. One news commentator writes, "This is the first mass incident that has put forward a political agenda."
China, U.S.A: Housing Prices
Dan from China Law Blog compares the housing prices among cities in China and U.S.A.
Russia: Interview With an “Overseas Filipino Worker”
English Dad in Moscow interviews a woman from the Philippines who works as a cleaner and babysitter in Moscow: “I wanted to know how hard is to move here as an economic migrant, also known as a “OFW” (Overseas Filipino Worker) as I find it amazing that they move to...
China: Cloud Computing Turned into Real Estate Business
China Bubble Watch alerts the readers that a number of cloud computing centers in China are turning into real estate development projects.
Brazil: Referendum on the Separation of Pará State
Brazilian blogger João Villaverde writes [pt] about the coming referendum in the Amazonian state of Pará, that could divide the state into three new separate entities. This first-time people's ballot on a matter that had only been decided by politicians, will take place on Sunday, December 11.
Macedonia, China: Comparing Air Pollution in the Capitals
Anastas Vangeli, а Macedonian studying in Beijing, compared the levels of air pollution and policy measures between that city and his hometown Skopje.
Tanzania: Tanzania@50: What do we have to show for it?
Ahmed reflects on Tanzania at 50 by asking, “Tanzania at 50 what do we have to show for it?”: “We have immense challenges and, as the saying goes, do Tanzanians feel they are better off today than they were ten years ago, let alone 50 years ago? The answer is...
Brazil: Five Cities Without Mobile Phones
Although Brazil has, today, over 231 million mobile lines for a population of around 191 million people, there are still five isolated cities without any mobile signal for connection, reports [pt] the journalist Eduardo Marini.
Brazil: Video-debate on Belo Monte Dam
Brazilian journalist and blogger Lino Bocchini published [pt] the video of a debate on the construction of the Belo Monte Dam, in the Amazonia rain forest. Journalists and experts on the matter participated in the debate, which was livestreamed on the self-managed and participatory online channel #posTV [pt].
Africa/Caribbean: Vote for the YoBloCo Awards
Public evaluation is now open for the “Youth in Agriculture Blog Competition” (YoBloCo) : “We received more than 90 entries for the competition, among which we shortlisted a total of 36 blogs for the Individual Category and 16 blogs for the Institutional Category.”
Madagascar: Debating the Worth of Foreign Direct Investment
While Madagascar attempts to find a way out of a prolonged political crisis, Malagasy bloggers are discussing the value of foreign direct investments. Many Malagasy believe that Madagascar, like many other African countries is rich with natural resources but that the land has been plagued by poor governance and unfair trade deals.
Sri Lanka: Colombo Property Issues
Colombo Property developments are not well managed and the values are inconsistent, opines Indi.ca.
Colombia: Mixed Feelings About Ecotouristic Project
Cineaoloido points us to this documentary [es] on the social and economical impact that the people of Santa Elena near Medellin have experienced since the opening of a massive ecotouristic park in their community.
Latin American Hackathon Seeks to Create Web Apps to Solve Social Problems
On December 3 and 4, 2011, developers, designers, academics and other experts from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay, will participate in “Desarrollando América Latina” [es] (Developing Latin America), a 30 hour open data hackathon to develop web applications that help solve social problems related to education, public budgets,...
