Stories from Quick Reads and Development
Women in Moldova are better educated but earn less and marry earlier
Some National Bureau of Statistics of Moldova's data about women living in Moldova today
Mongolia turns to its dinosaurs in an attempt to attract more tourists
Out of 400 species of dinosaurs discovered so far, 80 came from southern Mongolia, where they lived in the Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic era.
Kyrgyzstan's highest court sides with a female activist and allows the use of the matronymic
People in Kyrgyzstan can now add an appendage to their first names that derive from their mothers’ names.
President Erdoğan's obsession with childbirth expands past Turkey's borders
Independent economists say under existing economic conditions and salaries, it is nearly impossible to support five children in Azerbaijan.
Negotiations for Moldova's accession to the EU could commence this year
The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, made an impactful statement suggesting that Moldova could potentially become an EU member despite the unresolved Transnistria conflict.
‘Films for Action’ Website Shares List of Top 100 Documentaries ‘We Can Use to Change the World’
After years of promotion and reviews of documentaries devoted to social change, the site Films for Action released a list of what they consider to be the 100 most influencial and provocative. From critiques to manistream media to the corporate world, passing through the ideas and solutions proposed in and by...
African Startups Win FinTech for Agriculture 2015 Competition
Two African startups have emerged winners of a regional competition organised by Village Capital: Village Capital today announced the first winners of its innovative program, East Africa: FinTech for Agriculture 2015. The program supports entrepreneurs in making financial services more affordable and accessible for smallholder farmers and other underbanked individuals...
How a Young Kenyan Doctor Fell in Love With Medicine
Dr. Claire Kinuthia, a Kenyan doctor and blogger, writes about how she fell in love with medicine: How it all began. Medicine found me when I was about 6 or 7 years old. I have a particularly vivid memory of hearing my dad get up in the middle of the...
#GirlsCan Campaign Kicks Off with FIFA Women's World Cup to Empower Girls in Sports
As the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada started kicked off on June 6, a number of organizations joined forces in launching the #GirlsCan advocacy campaign. Women Deliver, UNICEF, Right to Play, GAIN and One Goal are using the FIFA as a backdrop to raise awareness of how sports can positively influence...
After Citizen Uprising in Burkina Faso and Burundi, Are Niger and Togo Next?
20,000 Nigeriens took to the streets in Niamey, Niger on June, 6. There are multiple causes for the protests: endemic poverty, mediocre governance and restricted free speech are among the main grievances from Nigerien civil society. These protests come on the hill of similar uprisings in Burkina Faso, Burundi...
Can Africa Really Maintain Its Own African Centers for Disease Control?
Anna K. Mwaba discusses the future of the newly established African Center for Disease Control: The establishment of such a center in Africa is not a particularly new idea; talks on the need for more effective means to combat epidemics on the continent were held in July 2013 at the...
Angani: First Operational Cloud Service in East Africa
Last month, Angani launched first operational cloud service in East Africa: Angani, the first fully automated cloud infrastructure company in the region, today officially launched their cloud and hosting services. Angani also announced their partnership with local data center operators that will make it safe and cost effective to provision...
Colombia's Festival on the Value of Data in Development
The Cartagena Data Festival has just wrapped up in Cartagena, Colombia. The festival is an international event committed to discussing data deployment for human development and related topics, like open data, data journalism, big data, and other analysis tools. The festival, which ran from April 20 to April 22 and took place in...
Tracking Infrastructure Damage in the War in Yemen
Hundreds of people have been reportedly killed in fighting in Yemen since Saudi Arabia launched a military campaign against the country on March 26. Backed by its Gulf Arab allies, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco,and Sudan, Saudi Arabia started an airstrike operation, dubbed Decisive Storm, against Houthi fighters who took control of...
Mapping Vietnam's Socio-Economic Indicators
The World Bank has launched mapVIETNAM, an interactive map that shows various socio-economic indicators in Vietnam such as poverty rates, employment, and electricity connectivity. The photo above shows the number of households living on $2 dollars a day. Using the map, we can see that poverty rates are high in...
Documenting the Systematic Decline of Women's Rights in Macedonia
Although southeast European countries are progressive in many other ways, the decline of women's reproductive rights in some Western Balkan countries has been a worrying trend. In Macedonia, several small protests have been held in recent years to demonstrate people's opposition to government involvement in determining public sentiment on issues...
The Collapse of Civilisation Is Already a Reality for the Children of Ambovombe, Madagascar
A scientific publication in the Journal of Ecological Economics argues that “over-exploitation of either Labor or Nature will result in a societal collapse” if nothing is done to prevent it. Based on a mathematical model, the study explains (via The Guardian) that the convergence of ” the stretching of resources due...
Call for Urgent Climate Change Action After Cyclone Pam Devastates Vanuatu
Following the devastation of Pacific islands nation Vanuatu by Category 5 Cyclone Pam, John Englart (aka @Takvera) looks at links with climate change: Vanuatu has suffered its worst disaster on record with the impact of Category 5 Tropical Cyclone Pam, with the President of Vanuatu blaming climate change for extreme...
Why Students in Chad are Protesting and It's not Just About the Helmet Law
Police are violently repressing student protests in Chad since March 10. The official reason for the protest is the new safety regulation that require bikers to wear a helmet. Motorbikes are often used as taxis in the capital city, Ndjamena. However, the reason for protests are more profound than the new...
14 Open Source Products Based in Africa
Despite many problems facing the African continet, African open source innovators are not lagging behing. Here is a list of 14 open source projects coming out of the continent.
Fast-Growing City of El Alto Turns Thirty
Relatively young by Bolivian city standards, the city of El Alto celebrates its 30th anniversary on March 6th, 2015. What initially started as a small suburb of the city of La Paz, the seat of government located 4,070 meters above sea level, it became its own municipality in 1985. It...