Stories about Development from March, 2013
Majority Religion In A Country Is A Curse
Sri Lankan blogger Patta Pal Boru opines that the majority religion in a country is a curse as the simple weight of the established religion (inertia) gets people thinking about the wrongs rather than the rights favoring the fringe or the other religions.
African Cinema Honored at Film Festival
Boukari Ouédraogo wrote [fr] about the 23rd Pan-African Film Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO, Festival Panafricain du Cinéma de Ouagadougou). The festival took place from February 23 to March 2, 2013: What I did notice is that African filmmakers are true messengers, real educators, historians, storytellers, etc. They speak directly to...
Brazilian Military Enters Indigenous Lands
On March 22, the Brazilian Government deployed [pt] 60 forces of the police and army to the lands of the Munduruku indigenous people, at the Tapajós river basin. Activists and bloggers believe that the mission is to ensure the realization of studies of impact of the construction of yet another...
Charity on a Subway
[G]iving to beggars is a straightforward opportunity to practice generosity in my daily life. So why the resistance to giving? At the time my friend pointed out that I had probably been targeted, I felt ashamed and tried to defend myself. I argued that I would rather risk being tricked by...
‘Thinking Big': Gambian IT Teacher Talks Moving the Classroom Online
Ousman Faal, a young computer instructor and IT professional from The Gambia, has traded the classroom for a blog. Global Voices recently caught up with Faal, the man behind Faal Academy, a website that offers video lectures, presentations, and tips on various computer programs.
Film Exposes Madagascar's Child Sex Trade
The journeyman.tv published on March 25 a detailed investigation using undercover filming to expose the booming child sex trade in Madagascar: One mother in the film testifies: My daughter was at school, I had no money and no job so she decided to become a prostitute. I finally decided not...
Exploring New Approaches For Poverty Reduction
The quest is on for solutions to poverty reduction with the approach of the 2015 deadline for the UN Millenium Development Goals (MDG). Many organizations are exploring new avenues for answers.
Global Voices at OECD Global Forum on Development
Global Voices bloggers have been commissioned to liveblog the OECD Global Forum on Development in Paris on April 4-5, 2013. Leading up to the meeting, our team is submitting posts that help serve as weekly online discussion topics.
China's Dead Pigs Expose Illegal Farms
Barry van Wyk from DANWEI highlights a local report that shed lights on the floating dead pigs in Shanghai river by investigating into the problem of illegal pig farms in Hubei province.
No Ghost Cities in China
China Law Blog has a guest post by Dirk Chilcote who had lived in Zhenzhou for 3 years. He is skeptical of western media's report on China's ghost cities: In my three years living and working in the neighborhood 60 Minutes decided to use for its doomsday exemplar, the most...
The Highest Money Transfer Fees in the World Are in Sub-Saharan Africa
Babylas Serge de Souza wrote [fr] on his blog: Sub-Saharan Africa is the most expensive destination in the world for money transfer: the average cost of transfer from abroad reached 12.4% in 2012. The average cost of money transfers to Africa as a whole is around 12%, which is higher than...
Can India Win The Fight Against Tuberculosis?
24th March is observed as World Tuberculosis Day and this year, the various stakeholders dedicated to fight tuberculosis - government agencies, the medical community, NGOs and health activists, took time out to take stock of how India was faring in it's fight against the dreaded disease.
Digital Freedom: Principles and Concepts
The Egyptian Institute for Freedom of Thought and Expression issued its first statement on digital freedom, a simplified research paper to propose definitions for digital rights and related principles which the paper summarised as: universal access, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to privacy, and the right to creativity, development and innovation.
Fixing Taps to Save Water In India
Author and painter Aabid Surti may have won awards for his writing and art, but he has also made a mark in another field: water conservation. For the last seven years, the 77-year-old has spent his Sundays going to apartments in Mumbai, and volunteering to fix leaking taps.
Colombia's Indigenous Set Development Goals
1) the protection of indigenous territory; 2) indigenous self-government; 3) the self-development of indigenous communities on the basis of equilibrium and harmony; 4) free, prior and informed consent as a condition for developments on indigenous land; and 5) the ‘institutional redesign’ of the state in its relations with indigenous peoples....
Panama Bids Farewell to ‘Red Devil’ Buses
Panama says goodbye to its traditional transportation system and the buses known as "red devils." Nevertheless, the transition process is traumatic and complicated for hundreds of riders.
Tokyo Smog Stokes Fears of China's Spreading Pollution
Alarm is growing in Japan that neighboring China's jaw-dropping levels of air pollution may be wafting over the island nation.
China's $20 Billion Pledge to Africa
Deborah Brautigam from China in Africa: The Real Story looks into the nature of China's pledge of $20 Billion to Africa at the fifth ministerial meeting of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation held in Beijing last summer: I went back to examine the Chinese discussion around this $20 billion....
