U.N. Report Optimistic on Anti-Poverty Strides

Despite the ongoing financial crisis, global poverty rates are expected to fall by half in the next five years compared to 1990, according to the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Report 2010 launched on Wednesday by Secretary-General Ban Ki- Moon.

DEVELOPMENT-CONGO: Deforestation Threatens South With Famine

The trees are falling in Pool, and there are plenty of people to hear the sound. In a painful irony, the end of armed conflict in 2003, has signaled the wholesale devastation of forests in this southern region of the Republic of Congo.

Raising Water Productivity to Increase Food Security

With water shortages constraining food production growth, the world needs an effort to raise water productivity similar to the one that nearly tripled land productivity over the last half-century.

Argentine Province a Bastion of Opposition to Gender Quotas

Argentina was the first country in the world to adopt a national gender quota law to boost women's political participation. But nearly 20 years later, the legislation that inspired the rest of Latin America continues to run into resistance in one province.

Smaller Nations Fear Marginalisation by Elite G20

The 27-member Global Governance Group (3G) is challenging the politically and economically powerful G20 not to marginalise the interests of small and medium-sized countries or undermine the United Nations in key decision-making.

GUATEMALA: Giving Poor Women Entrepreneurs a Boost

Rosenda Gómez, a 53-year-old mother of five, knows all about challenges. To overcome them, she started a modest sausage business in Guatemala, and thanks to her leadership skills and training and other support she received, she is now an example of the economic empowerment of women.

HEALTH-NEPAL: Multiple Problems Mar Fight Against HIV/AIDS

To women who have lost their husbands to the killer AIDS disease, learning a skill to earn a living could be a matter of life and death.

BURMA: Public Education a Drain on Family Incomes

Once again, parents in military-ruled Burma are counting the cost of a primary education for their children in public schools. It is an annual ritual that comes with the beginning of a new school year, which coincides with the onset of the monsoon rains in June.

DEVELOPMENT: Cambodia Struggles to Reduce Maternal Deaths

For Chan Theary, a remote, mountainous stretch of land in western Cambodia encapsulates the uphill struggle this South-east Asian nation faces in reducing the alarming number of women who die during pregnancy.

HONDURAS: Miskito Women Fight on Nature’s Side

Seven years ago, in the isolated Honduran region of Mosquitia, on the Caribbean coast, a group of women, mostly single mothers, elderly or widowed, overcame their fear and timidity -- thanks in part to a waste recycling project.

ARGENTINA: Turning Wasteland into Woodland

In Santiago del Estero, one of the Argentine provinces hit hardest by deforestation and desertification, an oasis of native tree species is being created to restore the soil and entice back farmers who were forced to leave their land.

UNDP Unveils Agenda to Spur Anti-Poverty Goals

After an economic assessment of some 50 countries, the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) has come up with a "concrete action agenda" to accelerate progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

MEXICO: Extending the Reach of Safe Abortion

By 5:00 AM, dozens of women are already lined up outside of this clinic in the Mexican capital. Most come with their mothers, sisters, husbands, friends or boyfriends. A few show up alone.

EAST EUROPE: Healthcare Ails as Doctors, Nurses Emigrate

Senior medical figures in Eastern Europe have issued stark warnings that the region's healthcare sector is both unstable and unsustainable as health workers continue to leave in droves for jobs abroad.

Civil Society Pushes for Action Ahead of MDG Review

As a major high-level meeting on the Millennium Development Goals approaches at U.N. headquarters in September, anti- poverty and human rights activists are stepping up efforts to have their voices heard.

AFRICA: Renewing the Promise of Education for All

The World Cup is wreaking havoc with a key millennium development goal in South Africa: as the football tournament hit its stride, not a single child across the nation attended school.

ARGENTINA: Over 40 and Jobless? Click Here

Tired of being sidelined in the job market because he was over 40, an Argentine computer specialist created a labour exchange for people his age and older, which in just a few months grew to nearly 6,000 people.

CHILE: Maternity Leave – Longer, or for All Working Mothers?

"In Chile, women carry the entire burden of maternity," says teacher Fabiola Quiñones, who applauds the government's proposal to extend pre- and post- natal leave to six months -- but only if all new mothers who work can have that option.

HEALTH-ASIA: New Infectious Diseases a Challenge to MDG Success

While successful immunisation programmes worldwide have saved millions of lives, the threat of new infectious diseases and drug-resistant strains of existing diseases is posing a major challenge to governments, especially in developing regions like Asia, in meeting their commitment to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Keeping the Pressure on to Invest in Women’s Health

Men, women, NGOs, governments, the Gates Foundation. Everyone agrees – women are awesome. More importantly, protecting the health of the people that make up more than half of the human population and do far more than half of the work to sustain it should be everyone's priority.

ZIMBABWE: Learning to Survive the Mean Streets

Twelve-year-old Tapuwa Bakare* darts through the traffic as irate motorists hoot at him and the tyres of speeding vehicles screech to a halt to avoid hitting him. Miraculously, the box filled with sweets and chewing gum that he carries does not fall from his grasp.