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New Prescription for Traumatic Times 2009-01
War and natural disasters have a huge impact on mental health. Now, a multi-country program points to recovery processes that begin with local communities and local traditions.
Update: Bolstering Science Journalism in the Developing World 2008-12
Godefroy Chabi, a young African science journalist, has gained credibility and regular work due to a mentoring program for science journalists in Africa and the Middle East. Chabi and others share their stories in this multimedia update on the SjCOOP program.
Impact of research on policy and practice 2008-12
It is difficult to feed research-based evidence into policy and practice. This article discusses which capacities need to be strengthened to increase the impact of research on policy.
Harnessing the Power of Enterprise to Reduce Poverty and Conflict 2008-11
Through an IDRC-supported cooperative, blacksmiths in war-torn Sudan have harnessed their enterprise capacity and gained respect in their communities.
Decentralization Fails Women in Sudan 2008-11
In Sudan, decentralization has had profound effects on the lives of women and girls.
New Insights on AIDS, Food, and Nutrition 2008-10
The global food crisis is putting more people at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, argue food security experts.
Salvaging Hope 2008-10
In an impoverished suburb of Dakar, Senegal, a team from Laval University’s school of architecture embarked on an urban planning experiment to help residents rethink the future of their neighbourhood.
Changing the Rules for Businesses 2008-09
As businesses in a smattering of Latin American cities now enjoy a streamlined registration process, a new body, the Business Regulation Evaluation Group, is evaluating the impact that simpler regulations have on development.
Breaking the Cycle of Urban Poverty 2008-09
Team members from the Focus Cities Research Initiative spent five days sharing their challenges and successes in tackling urban poverty and environmental decay in eight cities in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Through Children's Eyes 2008-09
How do children perceive environmental issues in their community? In this audio slideshow, former IDRC intern Sarah McCans describes the innovative project she undertook, working with children in Kampala, Uganda, as they communicated their experience through drawings.
The Advance of History: the Scholars Speak 2008-09
An interview with Ron Harpelle and Bruce Muirhead.
Finding Soul: Voice and Visibility for Youth 2008-08
Cândido Grzybowski, Director General of the Institute for Social and Economic Analysis, speaks with IDRC about a groundbreaking study of youth and democracy in Brazil.
Jargon-Busters Cut Through Thicket Around Food 2008-07
This new book guides readers through the complexities and controversies surrounding agriculture-related intellectual property rights.
Dakar's Mbeubeuss Landfill: More Than Meets the Eye 2008-06
A source of curiosity and the subject of much research, the Mbeubeuss landfill in Dakar, Senegal receives more than 1 300 tonnes of garbage per day. It is also home — and a source of income — for hundreds of people.
Africa: Mineral Resources, Environment, and Governance 2008-06
African countries abound in incredible wealth, but are unable to exercise sufficient control over the development of their resources. How can mining contribute to the sustainable development of African communities?
New Life for Old Computers 2008-06
An IDRC-supported initiative in Latin America and the Caribbean is tackling the environmental problem of e-waste disposal, providing computers for schools, and creating jobs at the same time.
Telecentre Pioneers Connect To Compare Notes 2008-04
As hundreds of citizens around Sri Lanka help spread the benefits of modern technology to small communities, 20 of them find inspiration on a study tour to India.
Fighting the Violet Vampire 2008-04
In the fields of sub-Saharan Africa, Alan Watson and McGill University’s Weed Research Group are battling devastating parasites — naturally.
Mercury Research Bears Fruit in the Amazon 2008-04
Women play a key role in protecting villagers from the mercury contaminating Brazil's Tapajós River. Now they are set to take on a new foe: Chagas disease.
Partnering for Accountability 2008-02
IDRC is partnering with the UK’s One World Trust to strengthen the accountability of research institutes.
Climbing the Health Learning Curve Together 2008-01
New capacity and fresh insights are among the goals of the Teasdale-Corti global health program that aims to expand the influence of research over a wide range of health issues.
Computers for Schools Kenya at Top of the Class 2008-01
Five years after retooling its first recycled computers and finding them a good home, Computers for Schools Kenya has won a coveted Africa-wide prize for its work.
Fostering Growth with Equity 2008
IDRC’s New Delhi-based Regional Director for South Asia and China, Stephen McGurk, reflects on both the positive and negative aspects of Asia's rapid growth on daily life, including environmental degradation, intensified urbanization, and the resulting strain on infrastructure.
West and Central Africa — Addressing New Challenges 2008
From his office in Dakar, Senegal, IDRC West and Central Africa Regional Director Gilles Forget has seen some aspects of life — particularly relating to trade — become easier.
Success is Relative — Wara Alderete 2007-11
Smoking prevention campaigns are a tough sell in Argentina, but Ethel “Wara” Alderete is diligently working to limit smoking and its impact in her country.
Advancing Regional Collaboration — IDRC Supporting Asia's Development 2007-11
IDRC’s Singapore-based Regional Director for Southeast and East Asia, Richard Fuchs, believes that people who want to understand how the world is changing should look to the wave of transformation that is sweeping across Asia.
Net Protectors Defend the Global Commons 2007-11
As states encroach on Internet governance around the world, IDRC is supporting a new initiative that will investigate the impacts of Internet censorship in Asia.
Africa and Climate Change: Adapt, Survive, Thrive? 2007-10
Because of a changing climate, projects to help Africans adapt are springing up across the continent.
From Green to Evergreen: Updating the Food Revolution 2007-10
Hunger can be eradicated “in my lifetime,” says the man known as the father of the Green Revolution in India. M.S. Swaminathan speaks about his values, his achievements, and his ambitions.
Farmers Have Their Say “Where the Water World Meets” 2007-10
During World Water Week, IDRC and the International Water Management Institute organized a workshop on pollution management in urban watersheds — with a creative twist. Panellists were asked to answer questions posed by farmers in Africa and Asia, who had been videotaped in the weeks running up to the meeting.
Competition Policy at the Service of Development 2007-09
Inefficiency and corruption collude to keep people poor. The solution: rules and regulations that force companies to compete fairly. IDRC hears from the experts.
Managing Opium: Policy choices for Afghanistan 2007-09
Income from illegal opium poppy cultivation helps sustain the livelihoods of millions of rural Afghans, but also provides significant revenues to criminals. IDRC recently joined with Aga Khan Foundation Canada to host a presentation by two counternarcotics experts on the political and economic implications of opium production in Afghanistan.
Facilitating Open Dialogue — IDRC Plays a Key Role in Latin America and the Caribbean 2007-09
The challenges that Latin America and the Caribbean face today have arisen, in large part, because of flaws in the way the region’s economies were reformed in the 1990s, says Federico Burone, IDRC’s Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean.
High Hopes for High Tech 2007-07
A profile of Michael Clarke, director of IDRC’s Information and Communication Technologies for Development program area.
A Nation Evolves 2007-07
From the empowerment of women to managing their health — information and communication technologies have changed the lives of thousands of Indian villagers.
Giving Back — IDRC Photo Contest Winner Shares Prize with Senegalese Colleagues 2007-06
Brendan Baker, a winner of IDRC’s 2006 "Expose Urban Solutions" photo contest, shared his CA $2 500 prize with the two people who made his photo possible.
The "e-green" Revolution in Uruguay's Classrooms 2007-05
Every primary school student attending public school in Uruguay will soon have access to an important new tool — a textbook-size laptop computer.
Palestinian Refugees: Challenges of Repatriation and Development 2007-04
McGill University political science professor, Rex Brynen, and Roula El-Rifai, senior program specialist for IDRC's Middle East Special Initiatives, talk about their new book that explores the complex issue of Palestinian refugee repatriation.
Agro-biodiversity in Nepal: Wise Insurance 2007-04
Working with researchers in the field, farmers in Nepal learned that conserving local crop varieties is wise “insurance” in case of a natural disaster, and that applying basic breeding practices can pay off in the short run.
Getting Back to Basics 2007-03
Profile of IDRC's Innovation, Policy and Science program area.
Heroes of Danajon Bank 2007-03
They are unlikely heroes — poor families who eke out a living fishing by lantern-light. Yet, they have been recognized internationally for their efforts to conserve the marine environment on the Danajon Bank in the Central Philippines.
Finding India's Missing Middle 2007-02
An IDRC-sponsored workshop examined how research might be used to better shape labour markets to reduce poverty and inequality. In India’s case, it will likely mean addressing the lack of mid-sized firms.
Cutting Down Tobacco 2007-02
Tobacco is a crop as addictive to growers in the developing world as it is to any user. For them, dependency is economic rather than physical or psychological — but while ready cash is attractive, farmers are beginning to realize that growing tobacco is threatening the health of their families, their land, and their local ecosystems.
The Zimbabwe Exiles Forum: Campaigning for Freedom in the Homeland 2007-01
Once the "breadbasket of Africa," Zimbabwe today is wracked by hyperinflation and periodic shortages of foreign exchange, fuel, and food. The Zimbabwe Exiles Forum is working for political change in its homeland.
A Responsibility to Report — The Role of the Media in the Rwanda Genocide 2007-01
Veteran journalist and assistant professor at Carleton University's School of Journalism and Communications, Allan Thompson, has had Rwanda on his radar since the mid-1990s when he first visited the African nation. He has now edited a book exploring the role of the media in the Rwanda genocide.
Building Capacity and Transferring Knowledge: The Teasdale-Corti Global Health Research Partnership Program 2007-01
The Teasdale-Corti Global Health Research Partnership Program, developed by the founding partners of the Global Health Research Initiative, honours the legacy of Canadian surgeon Lucille Teasdale and her Italian husband, Dr Piero Corti.
Afghan Journalists Tour Canada to Share "Afghanistan's Story" 2006-12
To commemorate the 17th Jailed Journalists Support Day, IDRC and Reporters Without Borders Canada invited two Afghan journalists to tour five Canadian cities to speak about freedom of the press and the role of women in Afghanistan.
New Policy Challenges on a Changing Economic Landscape 2006-12
Profile of IDRC's Social and Economic Policy program area.
Evolving Approaches to Sustainable Development 2006-11
Profile of IDRC's Environment and Natural Resource Management (ENRM) program area.
Cooperating for Coastal and Community Survival 2006-11
To protect Cambodia's threatened mangrove stands — and to improve the lives and livelihoods of local people — it has been necessary to take a long-term look at social relations and the legacy of war.
Getting the Word Out: Boosting Science Reporting in Africa and the Middle East 2006-10
An innovative new mentoring program aims to strengthen science reporting in developing countries.
A Multipronged Approach to Ensuring Food Security 2006-10
IDRC believes that poverty alleviation, food security, and environmental sustainability go hand in hand. It also believes that effectively addressing these interlinked challenges requires working actively with the main actors, from farmers to researchers to government officials.
Rehabilitating Kenya's Judicial System 2006-10
"Corruption underdevelops a country. […] It cripples the whole machinery of government and society," says Justice Mary Ang'awa of Kenya's High Court. Ang'awa is a member of the Kenya Women Judges Association, which has been working to address two of Kenya's biggest problems – corruption within the judiciary, and gender violence.
HIV/AIDS and Food Insecurity: Double Jeopardy 2006-08
In 1989, while working at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Stuart Gillespie spent six months examining the connection between HIV/AIDS and food security. It quickly became clear to him that the epidemic's long-term impacts could have a devastating effect on hunger throughout the developing world.
Youth Take Aim Against AIDS 2006-08
An IDRC-supported project in Peru employs youthful creativity and advanced communication technology in the battle against HIV/AIDS.
And the Winner is ... An Interview With Brendan Baker 2006-08
IDRC interviews one of three winners of IDRC's "Expose Urban Solutions!" photo contest that was launched prior to the Third World Urban Forum.
Putting Children in the Economic Picture 2006-06
"Young Lives" Ethiopia is a 15-year research project concerned with how children have been affected by Ethiopia's poverty reduction strategy.
India's Missing Daughters 2006-05
A new study estimates that 10 million girls have gone “missing” from India’s population since 1985 because of the practice of selectively aborting female fetuses. Dr Prabhat Jha says the new calculation shows the need for a range of social policies to reverse a potentially disastrous future imbalance in the male/female ratio of India’s population.
Addressing the Social Causes of Illness 2006-04
A recent panel discussion reveals the high expectations for a new World Health Organization Commission on the Social Determinants of Health.
Rural Women in the Wired World 2006-03
Women living in rural areas are at a particular disadvantage in the digital world — facing multiple barriers related both to gender and location. But there is hope. In 2005, for instance, the small grants fund GenARDIS received some 300 applications to fund projects aimed at breaking down barriers separating rural women from the benefits of ICTs.
Fighting Corruption: An Uphill Battle 2006-03
The anti-corruption movement has gained momentum in the last decade with countries around the globe making strides toward good governance. But John Githongo, one of Africa's most prominent advocates of governance reform, knows first-hand how tenacious corruption can be.
Pandora's Box: A New Model for Education in Asia 2006-01
In Asia, distance education using information and communication technologies is proving to be an efficient way of delivering high-quality education. And by making higher education affordable and accessible, it is helping to address equity issues.
WTO Accession: Tough Love or a Heavy Hand? 2005-12-13
Thirty-one countries from war-torn Afghanistan to Yemen are queued for membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO). The reasons officials give for staying in the queue range from improved market access for their exports to the positive signal — a seal of approval really — that WTO membership sends to the global trading and investment community.
Come Together: African Universities Collaborate to Improve Bandwidth 2005-12
African universities pay dramatically more for Internet access than comparable institutions on other continents. To help increase the flow of information, participants at the Conference on African Research and Education Networking and Infrastructure, held 14 and 15 November 2005 in Tunisia, developed a multifaceted approach for collaboration.
“How Will It Help Veronica?…” 2005-12
During my trip to Uganda, one individual stayed with me throughout my travels, so much so, that “How will it help Veronica?” became a mantra for the trip. — ICT4D Director, Richard Fuchs.
Onno the Liberator 2005-10-18
Onno Purbo has been described as an Internet activist, an information and communication technology (ICT) evangelist, and now liberator. His mission: to transform Indonesia into a knowledge-based society and its people into knowledge producers by tirelessly promoting low-cost, build-your-own, community-based ICT networks.
The Heredia Rules: A New Route for Protecting Privacy in Online Judicial Information 2005-10-06
What is a boon for many lawyers is also proving to be a liability for some individuals in Latin America. Judicial decisions are now being published, full-text on the Internet, making them easy to access and helping to open up the legal system in Latin America. The problem is that sensitive information about people’s private lives also ends up online. To address this issue, researchers, judges, and representatives from civil society as well as from the private sector met in Heredia, Costa Rica to develop voluntary guides for judicial bodies in the region to follow when putting information on the Internet. Known as the Heredia Rules, these guidelines are helping to strike a balance between judicial transparency and the protection of personal information.
Work in Progress — Rural Pondicherry's Wireless Internet 2005-10-06
An award winning project to provide high-speed wireless telephone and Internet access to villagers in southern India has also wrought social change in the past five years. As the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation is discovering, new information can change lives.
A Robin Hood for the Digital Age 2005-10-06
The Rede de informaçãoes para o terceiro setor (RITS), a nonprofit organization based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has been working since 1997 to make computer technology and its powerful communication tools available to the poorest sectors of the population. It also wants to modernize civil society organizations and enable them to share information widely. And it's doing just that using such means as a Web portal, a "webzine," and a directory of organizations.
Cultivating Research in a War-ravaged City 2005-09-12
The Kingtom Bomeh municipal dump site in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, is a post-apocalyptic landscape. But amid the skeletons of rusted-out cars and piles of burning trash Yebu Sesay is expanding her vegetable garden. Researchers supported by IDRC are now studying urban agriculture practices in Freetown. The goal: improve sustainability and productivity.
Reflections on Water: An Interview with Margaret Catley-Carlson 2005-08
In an effort to demystify the water "problem," IDRC Bulletin speaks with IDRC governor Margaret Catley-Carlson who has been working in the area of water for 20 years, most recently as Chair of the Global Water Partnership and member of the World Water Commission.
Technology and Language: Learning to Say Mouse in K’iche’ 2005-08
Thousands of children in Guatemala’s rural highlands are using computers to learn to read and write in their native Mayan language of K’iche', thanks to a local NGO’s support of intercultural/bilingual education and educational technology.
Greywater Turns to Gold: Treatment Units to Help Low-income Households in Jordan 2005-07
In Jordan, the demand for freshwater already exceeds the supply. With no new sources to tap, Jordanians must find ways to reduce their demand and make better use of existing supplies.
Learning Lessons from Traditional Leaders in Ghana 2005-06-06
In Ghana, traditional leaders are at the forefront in the struggle against HIV/AIDS. Chiefs and queen mothers are regaining their authority and assuming active roles as partners in development, working to alleviate the social, economic, and health consequences of AIDS in their communities.
Global Approaches to Urban Wastewater Use in Irrigated Agriculture 2005-05-27
Although a common and often ancient practice, the use of urban wastewater — often untreated or inadequately treated — in irrigated agriculture is receiving fresh attention because of the increasing scarcity of clean water resources and the growing volumes of urban wastewater in developing countries. It is estimated that more than 20 million hectares in 50 countries are currently irrigated with urban wastewater and up to one-tenth of the world’s population eats food produced using wastewater. A major concern raised by all contributors to a new book, Wastewater Use in Irrigated Agriculture: Confronting the Livelihood and Environmental Realities, is the need to balance the public health impacts on consumers with that of farmers to increase their livelihoods by using wastewater to grow crops. Case studies demonstrate the wide range of wastewater use practices.
Addressing Barriers to Empowering Women: A South Asian Perspective 2005-05-13
Ten years after the UN’s World Conference on Women in Beijing, women’s movements around the world have made progress in securing women’s basic human rights. However, notes Ratna Kapur, Director of the Centre for Feminist Legal Research in New Delhi, violence against women remains an enormous problem.
Building a Fisheries Research Network 2005-04-04
In the early 1980s, the fishing industry in many Southeast Asian countries was in serious trouble. At the same time, much of the scientific research being carried out on these issues was primarily biological in nature, even while people were starting to recognize that the real solutions were social, economic, political, and institutional in nature. The Asian Fisheries Social Science Research Network (AFSSRN) was launched to address this issue. As a result, nowadays social scientists and economists also study the fishers as well as the fish. Their recommendations are proving very useful to policymakers in Southeast Asia as they seek to ensure sustainable management of the regions fishing grounds.
Engendering Macroeconomic Policies 2005-03-07
Is macroeconomic analysis gender-neutral? Many economists and others think not. Nilufer Cagatay is helping to train senior economists to consider gender in their approach to macroeconomics and international economic policy.
Brain Drain and Capacity Building in Africa 2005-02-22
“In 25 years, Africa will be empty of brains.” That dire warning, from Dr Lalla Ben Barka of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), reflects the growing alarm over Africa’s increasing exodus of human capital. Data on brain drain in Africa is scarce and inconsistent; however, statistics show a continent losing the very people it needs most for economic, social, scientific, and technological progress.
Development Takes on a Face and an Address in the Philippines 2005-02-01
“Waiting for something,” reads the sign above the small waiting shed on the side of the dusty road that cuts through a baranguay (village) in the municipality of Coron on Busuanga Island, in the Philippine province of Palawan. “Waiting for nothing,” reads another a kilometre or so down the road. These two signs may well describe the feelings of many Palawanos, indeed of many Filipinos. Optimism, because of the national government’s commitment since the late 1980s to reduce poverty. Pessimism because, as Celia Reyes of the Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI) at De La Salle University says, “the performance of the Philippines with respect to poverty reduction has been very modest. While the incidence of poverty has declined over the past 15 years, the number of poor has actually increased.”
Colombia’s Laptop Warrior — Connectivity for Peace and Progress 2005-01-31
Vilma Almendra is part of a growing movement to use Internet communications as an antidote to violence against Indigenous peoples. She says that information and communication technologies (ICTs) are playing a key role in denouncing human rights abuses in Colombia.
Putting Guatemala's Justice System on Trial 2004-12-03
Justice officials, human rights defenders, and experts from other Latin American countries are monitoring Guatemala’s criminal justice system for the "Justice Observatory," an IDRC-supported research project.
Palestinian Researchers Apply Evaluation Lessons to Land Use Project 2004-11-04
The Palestinian people face the triple challenge of negotiating a just peace, building a viable state, and laying the foundations for sustainable development — all under adverse conditions. Over the past two years, researchers from the Applied Research Institute-Jerusalem (ARIJ) have attended the International Program for Development Evaluation Training (IPDET) in Ottawa. The training has provided triple benefits, strengthening research in land use, building evaluation capacity within ARIJ, and planting the seeds for an evaluation network involving Middle Eastern countries.
Learning Online and On the Job in Mexico 2004-10-21
In 1993, the Mexican government embarked on an ambitious program to reform its public administration. The goal: to build a professional, stable, and nonpartisan public service. Part of its efforts is to offer training courses in good government, management, and technical areas to public servants. The courses will be delivered online, through a new portal — @Campus Mexico — launched on October 20. Canadian experience in Internet and Web-enabled technologies and online learning to improve public administration helped shape the new portal. The Institute for Connectivity in the Americas and Canada’s International Development Research Centre supported @Campus Mexico’s development.
Casting CurriculumNet Wider 2004-09-20
An Internet-based learning project in Uganda is bearing fruit — and may soon send new shoots south, to Rwanda. In March 2004, Kiddhu Makubuya, Uganda’s Minister for Education and Sports, and Professor Romain Murenzi, Rwanda’s Minister for Education, Science, Technology, and Scientific Research, headed a delegation to see the launch and demonstration of CurriculumNet’s content and materials at Uganda’s National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) in Kampala. CurriculumNet is using information and communication technologies (ICTs) to provide instructors with multi-media materials they can use to teach their classes.
Taming the Wounded Lion: Transforming Security Forces in West Africa 2004-09-07
Coups and conflict have been a sad part of life for millions of West Africans over the past four decades. With the arrival of fragile democracies, new civilian governments are replacing military rule but often the two parties do not know how to talk to each other. The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), a nongovernmental organization that aims to promote the values of democracy, peace, and human rights in Africa, has just published a 176-page handbook on security sector transformation. The Governance in the Security Sector Handbook is designed to provide military, government, and civil society throughout Africa with a holistic tool to analyze and choose alternatives.
Liquid Manna? Treating Urban Wastewater for Local Gardening 2004-08-13
Researchers in Senegal have been experimenting with a biological method of treating water that involves lagoons and pista stratiotes, otherwise known as water lettuce. The resulting water is safer to use for agriculture, flower growing, composting of household refuse, or for watering tree nurseries. It is proving to be “liquid manna” for urban farmers in two poor neighbourhoods on the outskirts of Dakar.
Trade Liberalization: Poverty’s friend or foe? 2004-07-30
Freer trade is supposed to be good for economic growth but does it do anything to reduce poverty? An eight-country study sheds light on the effects of liberalized trade on the poor and provides policymakers with a tool to help them extend the benefits from liberalized trade more broadly.
A Better Brew: Toward a sustainable coffee industry 2004-07-30
The global coffee industry is in freefall, imperilling the livelihoods of millions of farm families. An initiative to use market forces to make coffee supply chains more sustainable holds promise for small-scale coffee producers and other commodity markets.
A Business Case for Social Responsibility in Mining Operations 2004-07-09
The mining firm that wins the auction to develop the Las Bambas copper deposit in Peru (slated to be chosen on 23 July) had “better be prepared to show the families [living there], the community, the neighbouring communities, and the country that the net impact of that mine's life — from exploration to post-closure — is positive for them, for their environment, and for their economy,” warned Paul A. Warner, director of Community Relations and Institutional Affairs for giant Australian mining company BHP Billiton.
Making Mining Work: Bringing poverty-stricken, small-scale miners into the formal private sector 2004-07-09
Digging for precious minerals in precarious, often unhealthy conditions, without safety equipment, proper tools, or recognition from the state is a way of life for about 13 million of the world’s poorest people engaged in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM). Ten years ago, governments and multilateral institutions operated in the hope that ASM would disappear, but it is now painfully clear that ASM is a reality that must be faced head-on, according to Mining Policy Research Initiative (MPRI) director Cristina Echavarría.
Happiness and Progress: Measuring Human Wellbeing in Bhutan and Canada 2004-06-17
The country of Bhutan wants to safeguard its social values by entrenching them in terms that the wider world can understand and respect, that is to say, in new measures of progress. The country is following through on the 1972 declaration made by His Majesty King Jigme Singye Wangchuck: “Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross National Product.” To this end, the Bhutanese are striving to develop a comprehensive set of social, environmental, and health indicators that can accurately represent human wellbeing.
Solving the Water Crisis: Increase Supplies or Improve Management? 2004-06-03
Large-scale, centralized water management has gone about as far as it can in many regions. There are no more big rivers to dam; aquifers are being mined to exhaustion; vast irrigation schemes have reached their limits. The second option — better managing existing supplies — holds greater promise. Thirty years of research shows that community-based or local water management could play a large role in efforts to supply clean water to all.
Using Video to Settle Land Disputes in Lebanon 2004-04-30
In Lebanon’s sparsely settled highlands, a long-time Arab method for settling disputes has taken a decidedly technological twist, as video cameras help the traditional majlis council structure do its work. The cameras helped facilitate dialogue between groups embroiled in a longstanding land dispute in Arsaal — an important step for developing a workable approach to managing the region’s fragile natural resources.
The Challenge of Achieving Health Equity in Africa 2004-04-07
Equity in health implies addressing differences in health status that are unnecessary, avoidable, and unfair, says the Regional Network for Equity in Health in Southern Africa (EQUINET). The network addresses three dimensions of equity: in access to health resources, access to social and economic resources, and access to power. It does so by sharing information and by carrying out research. The goal is to build regional capacity and foster equitable health policies. This work is crucial, says EQUINET coordinator Dr Rene Loewenson, as inequities are increasing in Africa.
Applying Lessons in Evaluation 2004-02-26
IDRC sponsored 11 people from organizations in Palestine, Jamaica, Senegal, Mexico, Ecuador, and Uruguay to attend the third annual International Program for Development Evaluation Training (IPDET) in Ottawa. Researchers are now applying the skills they learned to their work in the field. Hosted by the World Bank’s Operations Evaluation Department and Carleton University’s Faculty of Public Affairs and Management, IPDET attracted 187 participants from 57 developed and developing countries — an increase of 15% from the previous year.
Biodiversity and Health: Are we killing the plants that can cure? 2004-02-13
In October 2003, scientists, researchers, pharmacists, traditional healers, policymakers, and representatives of the academic and business worlds met in Ottawa, Canada, to take part in an International Symposium on Biodiversity and Health. It was the first time such a disparate group from both North and South came together to examine issues surrounding the use and conservation of medicinal plants and the practice of traditional medicine. What follows is a summary of the presentations and discussions at the three-day symposium.
Kenyan Farmers Discover the Internet 2004-01-29
A project called DrumNet in Kenya brings hope to rural farmers who have long been exploited by brokers and resellers. The smallholder producers can now depend on DrumNet's services to track market prices and make better-informed decisions about the sale of their produce. Additional services are planned to help improve farmers' productivity and incomes.
Urban Agriculture Reaches New Heights Through Rooftop Gardening 2004-01-22
A form of urban gardening increasingly practiced by some of the world’s poorest farmers is being adapted to the rooftops of Montreal. The Canadian development organization Alternatives, working with Mexican and Moroccan researchers, is developing a simplified hydroponics system, using recycled materials, organic inputs, and manual labour to produce crops. The technique uses as little as 10% of the water needed for conventional gardening, helps clean air and groundwater, and saves energy normally used to transport food from rural to urban areas.
India Mainstreams Medicinal Plants 2004-01-08
A new Indian government program to bring medicinal plants into the country’s medical and livelihood mainstreams should put money into the pockets of the villagers who collect them, while making the plants safer to use. The effort marks a shift away from viewing India’s forests as timber stock, to seeing them as sources for a medicinal plant industry.
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