Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Nuclear Accident Action Plan Proposed

An environmental organization in Argentina has proposed a citizen action plan in the event of a nuclear accident for use in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay.

DEVELOPMENT: Women Leading Bangladesh Away from the LDC Tag | LDC-IV

“In the garments sector we have a revolution," Nasreen Awal Mintoo, president of the Women Entrepreneurs Association of Bangladesh, told IPS. A women-led revolution, she says, that will help uplift the entire country. Sanjay Suri reports from the fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries in Istanbul, Turkey. ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=55656

DEVELOPMENT: Chinese Step In, Efficiently | LDC-IV

For Jany Chen, CEO of Shanghai Environmental Group, concern often raised in Europe and North America about the Chinese invasion of Africa is a lot of wasteful talk that deserves to be flushed down the toilet. Sanjay Suri reports from the fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries in Istanbul, Turkey. ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=55652

Expectations Build for Obama Mideast Policy Speech

With Jordan's King Abdullah and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu coming to Washington next week, anticipation of a major Middle East policy speech by President Barack Obama set for Thursday is growing rapidly.

DEVELOPMENT: New Action Programme, and New Name for the Poorest

A new 10-year blueprint for assisting the poorest countries on the planet to join the league of the more fortunate ones was approved Friday at the closing of the Fourth U.N. Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC-IV) held May 9- 13 here.

SOUTH UNITES FOR LDCs, Sanjay Suri reports for IPS from LDC-IV in Istanbul

Within the broad failure of the weeklong Fourth U.N. Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC-IV) in Istanbul that concluded Friday, many delegates are taking heart in a strengthening South-South front that has emerged. “We would like to push for greater South-South cooperation because in our opinion it's one way for LDCs to have more political autonomy to design their own policies and formulate their own priorities, and to implement policies that are in the best interests of their citizens.” ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=55629

PAKISTAN: More Attacks Feared as Militants Avenge Osama

Officials of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in north-western Pakistan want the federal government to send in the army, following a suicide attack that killed some 80 paramilitary police trainees at Shabqadar Fort in Charsadda town north of Peshawar Friday morning.

Pakistanis Indifferent to Anti-U.S Rallies

Two of the country’s main religious-political groups have been calling on Pakistanis to come out and protest the killing of Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, but the public response has been lukewarm.

BIZARRE BAZAAR: Market Forces Rise Above Declarations | LDC-IV

At the Fourth U.N. Conference on the Least Developed Countries in Istanbul, a battery of Turkish companies set up stalls at a bazaar, eager to sell to businesses from the LDCs. Sanjay Suri reports on this “private sector track” of the conference that ran parallel to the meetings' gabfest.

SIERRA LEONE: First Fruit Juice Company Adding Value to Farming

Crate loads of lush ripe mangos are stacked up, a sweet fragrance filling the air. Factory workers wait for their instructions, decked out in protective coats, rubber boots and hairnets. As they see each other kitted out for the first time, they break into giggles. This is a big week for Sierra Leone as its first fruit- processing plant goes into production.

DEVELOPMENT: Civil Society Rejects ‘Toothless’ Istanbul Plan of Action

Civil society groups have vowed to mobilise citizens of the world’s poorest nations to take to the streets, rejecting the Istanbul Programme of Action agreed today by the Fourth U.N. Conference on the Least Developed Countries.

LDCs CANNOT CONTINUE TO WAIT FOR WTO DEAL, Sanjay Suri from IPS speaks with Valentine Rugwabiza of the WTO.

We are not at the origins of this impasse, we are not the ones preventing the round from progressing, but we are the ones who are going to pay the highest cost,” Rugwabiza told IPS. LDCs are seeking a mini trade deal ahead of any worldwide agreement under the Doha Round of trade negotiations. The talks - underway since 2001 - have slowed to almost a halt, and the rise of emerging Southern economies has made the donor-client rhetoric of many players in the talks increasingly irrelevant. ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=55590

BENIN: Skills Upgrade for Midwives Saves Lives

Training of midwives in the active management of the third stage of labour targets one of the most common causes of maternal deaths: bleeding after delivery.

Seed Proteins May Help Plants Weather Drought

British researchers are working on techniques to improve seeds chances of surviving drought by tapping the potential of little-known proteins that regulate water intake.

DEVELOPMENT: Women Demand Access to Water and Energy

"Women in LDCs bear the brunt of economic and social hardships," said Wubitu Hailu, managing director of an Ethiopian NGO, the Kulich Youth Reproductive Health and Development Organisation. The failure to provide access to basic services like clean water and electricity is a major factor preventing women from realising their full potential.

SOUTH AFRICA: Do More Women Politicians Mean Better Politics?

The Democratic Alliance (DA) election posters, which feature party leader Helen Zille, Cape Town mayoral candidate Patricia de Lille and party spokeswoman Lindiwe Mazibuko, do not necessarily mean that a vote for the party is a vote for women, analysts say.

A lack of funds in Mozambique is hampering access to medicines in the southern African country.

A lack of funds in Mozambique is hampering access to medicines in the southern African country. IPS reporter Johannes Myburgh speaks to Mozambique's health ministry about shortages at public health institutions.

Malawi Lays Out Its Agenda at U.N. Development Conference

Escalating fuel prices, climate change and the impact of the global financial crisis are the challenges currently compromising development in Malawi. The Southern African country wants to see a bold plan of action addressing these problems agreed upon at the Fourth U.N. Conference on Least Developed Countries (LDC-IV) currently taking place in Istanbul, Turkey.

POPULATION: Promise Rises With a Problem | LDC-IV

ISTANBUL, May 10, 2011 (IPS) - On the face of it, a rapidly rising population among the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) spells the usual doom about adequate resource distribution. But the least developed are also among the youngest in the world - and well channelled, they can be a valuable asset, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) head Babatunde Osotimehin told IPS.

INDIA: Water Efficient Methods Revolutionise Sugarcane Growing

When their sugarcane crops failed to deliver a good yield three years ago, Kantabai Chavan and her husband Baban decided to try a new strategy.

WORLD: Better Global and Local Governance Keys for LDCs

The world’s poorest citizens must struggle for more democratic governance and demand that their leaders fulfill their duties and responsibilities if their countries are to graduate from the group of 48 least developed countries, say civil society representatives.