The D.I.Y. Foreign-Aid Revolution - NYTimes.com

The D.I.Y. Foreign-Aid Revolution - NYTimes.com:

"Like so many highly trained young women these days, Elizabeth Scharpf has choices. She could be working in a Manhattan office tower with her Harvard Business School classmates, soaring through the ranks as a banker or business executive and aspiring to become a senator or a C.E.O. someday."

The Art of Social Change - Campaigns against foot-binding and genital mutilation. - NYTimes.com

For the Participation, Power, and Social Change people out there:

The Art of Social Change - Campaigns against foot-binding and genital mutilation. - NYTimes.com:

"In 1929, the Church of Scotland Mission, which had a long and successful history of missionary work among the Kikuyu in colonial Kenya, began a campaign to eradicate the practice of female circumcision. The results were hardly what church members hoped for. Large numbers of Kikuyu left the church, and Kenya’s leading anticolonial political organization mounted a vigorous attack on the church’s policies. Female circumcision became a nationalist issue, and a custom that might have gradually disappeared grew further entrenched. Nearly 40 percent of Kenyan women today are estimated to have undergone some form of it."

Robert Fisk: The shaming of America - Robert Fisk, Commentators - The Independent

Robert Fisk: The shaming of America - Robert Fisk, Commentators - The Independent: "As usual, the Arabs knew. They knew all about the mass torture, the promiscuous shooting of civilians, the outrageous use of air power against family homes, the vicious American and British mercenaries, the cemeteries of the innocent dead. All of Iraq knew. Because they were the victims.

Only we could pretend we did not know. Only we in the West could counter every claim, every allegation against the Americans or British with some worthy general – the ghastly US military spokesman Mark Kimmitt and the awful chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Peter Pace, come to mind – to ring-fence us with lies. Find a man who'd been tortured and you'd be told it was terrorist propaganda; discover a house full of children killed by an American air strike and that, too, would be terrorist propaganda, or 'collateral damage', or a simple phrase: 'We have nothing on that.'"

Cholera claims almost 200 lives as Haiti suffers epidemic - Americas, World - The Independent

Cholera claims almost 200 lives as Haiti suffers epidemic - Americas, World - The Independent

Scenes of panic last seen in the aftermath of January's earthquake returned to Haiti yesterday as healthworkers confirmed that an epidemic of cholera that had struck the Artibonite and Central Plateau regions of the country had killed at least 194 people and infecting 2,364 more.

Hospitals in the mostly rural area, where tens of thousands of refugees are still living in camps after fleeing Port-au-Prince, are reported to be overwhelmed by patients suffering from acute diarrhoea, fever, and vomiting. Most of the dead are being killed by acute dehydration, sometimes a matter of hours after falling ill.

"I can confirm it is cholera," said Mr Preval, after the results of laboratory tests came through yesterday morning, adding that the highly-infectious disease could spread rapidly through ramshackle camps that house more than one million Haitians.

Forced abortions for Chinese women - Asia-Pacific - Al Jazeera English

Forced abortions for Chinese women - Asia-Pacific - Al Jazeera English

BBC News - South African porn film delivers 'safe sex' message

BBC News - South African porn film delivers 'safe sex' message: "The pornography industry in Los Angeles is on edge after an actor tested positive for HIV. Although the incident led to renewed calls for the use of condoms in porn films, this remains a rarity. But as Ian Brimacombe reports, one adult film producer in South Africa has decided to make his actors wear condoms to promote safe sex."

BBC News - France gets EU reprieve on Roma

BBC News - France gets EU reprieve on Roma: "The European Commission has lifted its threat of legal action against France, saying Paris has responded 'positively' to its concerns about expulsions of Roma (Gypsies).

The commission says it 'will now, for the time being, not pursue the infringement procedure against France'."

Clashes break out as French protests hit streets - Europe, World - The Independent

Clashes break out as French protests hit streets - Europe, World - The Independent:

"France's retirement protest strikes turned violent today as youths clashed with riot police in cities across the country.

Meanwhile flights were disrupted, public transport thrown into chaos and there was growing alarm among motorists over fuel shortages with hundreds of filling stations running dry."

Chinese bosses open fire on miners in Zambia - The Times of India

Chinese bosses open fire on miners in Zambia - The Times of India: "LUSAKA: Managers at a Chinese-run Collum Coal Mine in Zambia shot at and wounded 12 miners who were protesting against poor working conditions, police said on Saturday."

The 50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps

Looking at the Peace Corps and International volunteerism:

Esther Duflo and Randomized Control Trials

The �1 billion hostage trade - World Politics, World - The Independent

The �1 billion hostage trade - World Politics, World - The Independent:

"How kidnapping became a global industry. Esme McAvoy and David Randall investigate."

BBC News - Merkel says German multicultural society has failed

BBC News - Merkel says German multicultural society has failed:

"Attempts to build a multicultural society in Germany have 'utterly failed', Chancellor Angela Merkel says.

She said the so-called 'multikulti' concept - where people would 'live side-by-side' happily - did not work, and immigrants needed to do more to integrate - including learning German.

The comments come amid rising anti-immigration feeling in Germany."

BBC News - France hit by new wave of mass pension protests

BBC News - France hit by new wave of mass pension protests: "A fifth day of protests in France against proposed pension reforms brought 825,000 people on to the streets, police said, although unions put the figure at 2.5m to 3m.

The government wants to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 and the full state pension age from 65 to 67.

Most oil refineries have been hit by strike action, causing fuel shortages at some airports and filling stations.

A further day of strikes is scheduled for Tuesday."

Mugabe to scrap power-sharing - Africa, World - The Independent

Mugabe to scrap power-sharing - Africa, World - The Independent:

"Saturday, 16 October 2010
President Robert Mugabe vowed to call elections next year to 'bring an end' to the troubled coalition with his rival and said a vote would be held even if constitutional reforms are not completed, state radio has reported.

It was the latest sign of divisions within the shaky power-sharing deal with the Movement for Democratic Change, which is due to expire in February after two years. Mr Mugabe announced on Thursday that the coalition will not be extended by more than a few weeks."

Worse Than Crude: The Case Against Palm Oil : NPR

Worse Than Crude: The Case Against Palm Oil : NPR

BBC News - Nepal parliament urged to raise legal marriage age

BBC News - Nepal parliament urged to raise legal marriage age: "Parliament in Nepal is considering a bill raising the legal age of marriage from 18 to 20 which officials say would help improve maternal health.

Nepal has reduced its maternal mortality rate by half over the past 10 years but the number of women dying in childbirth is still very high."

Global Update - Africa - $130 Million From United States to Train Doctors in a Dozen Countries - NYTimes.com

Global Update - Africa - $130 Million From United States to Train Doctors in a Dozen Countries - NYTimes.com:

"The United States will donate $130 million to African medical schools to improve medical education on the continent, the Obama administration announced last week. The donations, to be made over five years, will go to about 30 medical schools and teaching hospitals in a dozen countries, and to about 20 American medical schools that have agreed to collaborate with them."

IMF annual meeting fails to halt slide to currency war | Business | The Guardian

IMF annual meeting fails to halt slide to currency war | Business | The Guardian:

"Washington talks could not secure a currency deal between the US and China or resolve imbalances in the world economy"

Meet the 40 Under 40 | 40 Under 40 Leaders in International Development — Washington, DC

Meet the 40 Under 40 | 40 Under 40 Leaders in International Development — Washington, DC

BBC News - UK seeks China aid partnership in Africa

BBC News - UK seeks China aid partnership in Africa:

"In recent years, China has become a formidable force in Africa, investing billions of dollars in exchange for trade and raw materials that China needs to fuel its own booming economy.

This has sparked intense debate as to whether China should be seen as a predatory neo-colonial influence that bypasses issues such as human rights, or a welcome help for hard-up Western governments struggling to meet their commitments to international aid.

Continue reading the main story
Related stories

China's Hu grants aid to Tanzania
China keen to continue Africa investment
China seeks broader Africa role
Now Britain's International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell has clearly said that China's involvement should be embraced."

BBC News - Haunted by Congo rape dilemma

BBC News - Haunted by Congo rape dilemma

By Anne Mawathe BBC News, Goma

''The rebel leader asked me two things: 'Do you want us to be your husbands? Or do you want us to rape you?'"

Congolese mother-of-eight Clementine speaks in a quiet and hesitant voice:

"I chose to be raped."

She explains: "I told myself, if I tell them that I want to be their wife, they will kill my husband. I didn't want my children growing up saying the one that made our father die is our mother."

Op-Ed Columnist - Third Party Rising - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Columnist - Third Party Rising - NYTimes.com:

A friend in the U.S. military sent me an e-mail last week with a quote from the historian Lewis Mumford’s book, “The Condition of Man,” about the development of civilization. Mumford was describing Rome’s decline: “Everyone aimed at security: no one accepted responsibility. What was plainly lacking, long before the barbarian invasions had done their work, long before economic dislocations became serious, was an inner go. Rome’s life was now an imitation of life: a mere holding on. Security was the watchword — as if life knew any other stability than through constant change, or any form of security except through a constant willingness to take risks.”

It was one of those history passages that echo so loudly in the present that it sends a shiver down my spine — way, way too close for comfort.

Op-Ed Columnist - Fear and Favor - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Columnist - Fear and Favor - NYTimes.com:

"As Politico recently pointed out, every major contender for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination who isn’t currently holding office and isn’t named Mitt Romney is now a paid contributor to Fox News. Now, media moguls have often promoted the careers and campaigns of politicians they believe will serve their interests. But directly cutting checks to political favorites takes it to a whole new level of blatancy.

Arguably, this shouldn’t be surprising. Modern American conservatism is, in large part, a movement shaped by billionaires and their bank accounts, and assured paychecks for the ideologically loyal are an important part of the system. Scientists willing to deny the existence of man-made climate change, economists willing to declare that tax cuts for the rich are essential to growth, strategic thinkers willing to provide rationales for wars of choice, lawyers willing to provide defenses of torture, all can count on support from a network of organizations that may seem independent on the surface but are largely financed by a handful of ultrawealthy families."

Frenzy of Rape in Congo Reveals U.N. Weakness - NYTimes.com

Frenzy of Rape in Congo Reveals U.N. Weakness - NYTimes.com:

"Despite more than 10 years of experience and billions of dollars, the peacekeeping force still seems to be failing at its most elemental task: protecting civilians.

The United Nations’ blue-helmets are considered the last line of defense in eastern Congo, given that the nation’s own army has a long history of abuses, that the police are often invisible or drunk and that the hills are teeming with rebels."

BBC News - Africa democratic rights advances reversed, says report

BBC News - Africa democratic rights advances reversed, says report:

"Africa is developing economically but some democratic advances have been reversed, an annual index suggests.

The Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance ranks 53 African countries according to 88 indicators, ranging from corruption to education.

Mauritius is at the top of the list while Somalia is at the bottom.

The index suggests that across Africa, economic and health gains are being undermined by declines in political rights, security and the rule of law."

Measuring global poverty: Whose problem now? | The Economist

Measuring global poverty: Whose problem now? | The Economist:

"POOR people—the destitute, disease ridden and malnourished “bottom billion”—live in poor countries. That has been the central operating assumption of the aid business for a decade.

The thesis was true in 1990: then, over 90% of the world’s poor lived in the world’s poorest places. But it looks out of date now. Andy Sumner of Britain’s Institute of Development Studies* reckons that almost three-quarters of the 1.3 billion-odd people existing below the $1.25 a day poverty line now live in middle-income countries. Only a quarter live in the poorest states (mostly in Africa)."

Park51 drawings prove how far 'Ground Zero mosque' claims are from truth | World news | The Guardian

Park51 drawings prove how far 'Ground Zero mosque' claims are from truth | World news | The Guardian:

"Judging by the criticism thrown at the Muslim centre planned for downtown Manhattan, you would think developers intended to build an Islamic citadel right on top of Ground Zero with 'sponsored by al-Qaida' written on its front.

In fact, the proposed scheme for the much-slated 'Ground Zero mosque' is neither a mosque nor at Ground Zero – it is a multifaith community centre with an Islamic prayer area, two blocks north of the site where the twin towers once stood. Now, conceptual drawings of the building have been released, revealing a planned structure that is strikingly modern and in keeping with the spirit of New York's most cutting-edge design."

Annexed by China – for good or ill - Africa, World - The Independent

Annexed by China – for good or ill - Africa, World - The Independent:

"Monika Thakur, an analyst with the South African Institute of International Affairs, has been monitoring this surge: 'With China as a new player in geopolitics, Africa has overnight become an area of interest for global powers, drawing in the US and EU to engage more directly with the continent. Intentions and impact aside, China must be given credit for this – making the world re-engage with the continent.'"