ENVIRONMENT: Fighting for the Right to Fish

"When my belly is crying I must fill it. I can sit on the side of the road and beg for bread, but there is the bread right there," says Hahn Goliath, a fisherman in the small village of Doring Bay on South Africa's West Coast, as he points furiously at the Atlantic Ocean.

Q&A: How to Break the Cycle of ‘‘Endless Philanthropy''

Dr Ramon E Daubon not only believes in democratising development but takes umbrage at the ‘‘cult of tangible results'' in development assistance.

ZAMBIA: Corruption in Water Sector Makes Clean Water A Pipedream

In his address to the National Assembly on Jan. 30, Zambia's finance and national planning minister, Situmbeko Musokotwene, allocated additional resources to the water sector, with the specific aim of preventing the spread of waterborne diseases. But Zambians have heard such promises before.

PAKISTAN: Fatal Polio Thrives on Conflict Along Porous Border

The battle to eradicate polio in Pakistan has become more complicated.

HEALTH-BOTSWANA: HIV Prevalence Remains High

Despite significant financial investments in both prevention and treatment, Botswana has been experiencing only a modest decline in HIV prevalence, especially among women.

HEALTH: Warmer Climate Gives Malaria New Hunting Grounds

Climate change is bringing malaria to regions of Africa where the disease was previously unknown, researchers report from the conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago this week.

DEVELOPMENT: U.N. Seeks a Green Revolution in Food

The food crisis that spilled over from last year could take a turn for the worse in the next decade if there are no explicit answers to a rash of growing new problems, including declining agricultural production, a faltering distribution network and a deteriorating environment worldwide.

PHILIPPINES: Media Has Key Role in Fighting Corruption

When administrative officer Bryan Baylon discovered irregularities in the state-run hospital that employed him he first tried resolving them by informing his supervisors and proposing measures to curb corrupt practices.

HEALTH-BRAZIL: Older Women at Higher Risk from AIDS

The HIV infection rate in women over 50 in Brazil has more than tripled since 1996, making this population group the prime target of the government's HIV/AIDS prevention campaign during the carnival festivities.

Q&A: 'Move Beyond Goodwill To Action'

Efforts to free fiscal resources for social spending over the past few years have started to pay off in Zambia, where government is reporting a positive trend of poverty alleviation and social development. But progress is uneven.

INDIA/PAKISTAN: Peaceful Pink Panties to Tame Right-Wing Goons

Outraged by an attack by right-wing Hindu militants on women emerging from a pub in Mangalore, Karnataka state, activists in India have initiated a ‘Pink Chaddi’ (underwear) campaign in which they are sending pink panties to members of the Sri Ram Sena (Army of Lord Ram) on Valentines’ Day.

Q&A: Development Cooperation Needs Greater Equity

As the economic meltdown spreads to the far corners of the world, developing nations are increasingly strengthening their social and economic ties, bolstering the growing new concept of South-South cooperation - in trade, investment, transport, health care, education, climate change, communications and disaster reduction.

VENEZUELA: Social Issues Played Down in Referendum Campaign

A mob seized a man suspected of rape in El Valle, a populous district in the southwest of the Venezuelan capital, beat him to death, and then burned his corpse - twice over, so that the press could film and photograph the scene. In spite of the horrifying images, few public figures mentioned the case.

DEVELOPMENT: Swiss Aid Growing Despite Depression

The global economic and financial crisis has raised questions about whether the level of official development aid from the rich world will be maintained in future, at a time when the needs of the developing and emerging countries are growing as a result of the crisis.

HEALTH: Privatised Care More Placebo than Panacea

Rich countries and the World Bank should stop pushing privatised health care in poor countries, Oxfam International said Wednesday.

ECONOMY-SOUTH AFRICA: 'We Need Interventions'

The markets will be hanging on Trevor Manuel's every word when South Africa's minister of finance delivers his thirteenth Budget Speech on February 11. Expectation is even greater among poor communities, the unemployed and workers as the world's longest serving finance minister signals his government's economic plans in the face of the global economic crisis.


HEALTH-ARGENTINA: No End to Chagas Disease

After two years of the government health programme "Argentina justa, Argentina sin Chagas" (Fair Argentina, Chagas-Free Argentina) the fight against the endemic disease of that name is weakening, according to experts.

POVERTY: Cash Transfers Transform Lives of Malawi’s Poor

Malawi has taken major strides towards reducing poverty and hunger in the country. Government’s cash transfer scheme has managed to reach many of those usually unable to access grants due to lengthy and complicated bureaucratic processes and assessments.

Q&A: "Sanitation Is Becoming a Social Movement"

While 2008 - declared by the U.N. as the "International Year of Sanitation" - came and went with 2.6 billion people, including almost one billion children, still living without basic facilities, UNICEF's sanitation and hygiene senior advisor, Therese Dooley, says there is reason for hope.

Q&A: ‘Development Must Adapt to Water Resources We Have’

Environmental experts warn that one of the first effects of climate change will be scarcity of water, especially throughout the African continent. Already depleted water resources will become even more scarce.

EDUCATION-ZAMBIA: Communities Doing it For Themselves

"My mother has no job and she cannot afford the cost of educating me and my sister at the government school," says 12-year-old Muyunda Nyamba. But the little boy is one of 37,000 children from Zambia's poorest neighbourhoods beginning the new school year calendar at community-run schools.