NEW TOOL TACKLES INDIA'S SILENT MATERNAL MORTALITY CRISIS

14 October 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) calls it a silent tragedy. Silent, because many maternal deaths happen in a woman’s home or while the mother is traveling to a medical facility, and deaths go unreported. The Indian Government, UNICEF avers, “estimates that 301 women die annually for every 100,000 live births. In some states the maternal mortality ratio is higher – 358 in Orissa, 371 in Bihar, and 379 in Madhya Pradesh.” This estimate clearly shows that a tragedy is taking place. But a new tool, called the Maternal and Perinatal Death Inquiry and Response (MAPEDIR), can eliminate the silence of this tragedy and consequently save lives; this tool analyzes the medical and social reasons for maternal deaths. “The main goal is a maternal surveillance system,” Dr. Jorge Caravotta, Health Specialist at UNICEF’s Delhi office, told MediaGlobal. MAPEDIR will analyze the cases of 1,600 women. A solution can only be found when there is an understanding of the problem. “Using MAPEDIR, we can know if the deaths are due to delays in decision-making at household level or lack of transport or a delay at the facility or a combination of all three factors,” Dr. S.P. Yadav, Director of Medical and Health Services in Rajasthan, said. It is not only being used by health experts and policymakers, but by communities in six Indian states – Bihar, Jharkand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, and West Bengal – as well. “It is beginning to mobilize community awareness on the causes of maternal death,” Dr. Caravotta said. Furthermore, the resulting information from MAPEDIR will help communities understand the causes of these deaths so that they can, in a statement from UNICEF, “take effective, local action and advocate for improved services to prevent future deaths.”

IMMEDIATE ADOPTION OF POLICIES NEEDED FOR EARTH SUSTAINABILITY

10 October 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: At a meeting in early October, nine scientific experts on global climate change met in Barcelona, at a conference sponsored by the Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF), and called for a Scientific and Technological Revolution to ensure that future development takes into account the need for global environmental sustainability. The product of the meeting, called the Declaration of Barcelona 2008: Challenges and Pathways to Earth Sustainability, urged four key changes to be adopted. First, it called for an immediate change to non-carbon emitting energy systems; in this, it is important for leading developed countries to take charge while simultaneously granting technology transfer to developing countries. Second, it urged for changes in natural capital to be included in measures of a country’s economic performance to include the full cost of environmental degradation to society. Third, adaptive measures need to begin immediately in all scales of development planning, by institutions, organizations, and governments, to deal with environmental change. Finally, the Declaration calls for empowering developing countries, in the forms of investments in infrastructure and human capacity, to be more prominent forces in global solutions. CREAF Representative Joseph Peñuelas told MediaGlobal this week, “The claim is for investment from ‘rich countries’ and international organizations,” as well as from the developing countries to increase education and regional research infrastructure. The conference was held in celebration of CREAF’s 20th anniversary.

HIGH COST OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE CONTINUES TO HINDER LANDLOCKED DEVELOPING COUNTRIES’ ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

9 October 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: When the High-level Plenary Mid-term Review of the Almaty Programme of Action was held in the General Assembly at the United Nations this week, participants were well aware of the constraints Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDC’s) – there are a total of 31 – are in. For these LLDC’s, doing trade is expensive, which hinders their economic development. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) would greatly help LLDC’s escape from this situation, but unfortunately, although FDI has more than tripled over the last five years, it had primarily gone to a few resource-rich and economically more advanced LLDCs, Cheick Sidi Diarra, Under-Secretary General, Special Adviser on Africa and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, said during a press conference this week. The Special Adviser underscored the priorities, including improving policies on customs and bureaucracy fees, infrastructure, improving trading opportunities, and increasing technical and financial assistance. While these challenges remain, he pointed to a few successes. While Asian countries had agreed to construct an Asian highway, Africa is moving towards integrated infrastructure development and trade facilitation, Diarra said. The importance of cooperation between LLDCs and their neighboring countries – called transit countries – cannot be understated. One reason for the long transit time of the delivery of goods from LLDCs is the inefficiency of transit transport. With Asian and African countries on a development curve, both LLDCs and transit countries can benefit. “Transit countries are major stakeholders in the development strategy to support the LLDCs,” Diarra told MediaGlobal. “They are involved in any negotiation of documents related to addressing the needs of the LLDCs.”

INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR AGRICULTURE DEVELOPMENT SIGNS LOAN AGREEMENT WITH SENEGAL TO ASSIST SMALL FARMERS

8 October 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: A loan agreement was signed Wednesday to help the Republic of Senegal fight rising poverty in the “groundnut basin.” Small, poly-active family-run farms dominate agriculture in Senegal, but they are currently faced with problems such as scattered rainfall, declining soil fertility, poor access to quality seeds, weak support services, and inadequate infrastructure such as roads. There are new opportunities opening up for farmers to produce millet, cowpeas, sesame, bissap, and farmyard chicken, but these markets are highly competitive and difficult to access. The government is helping small farmers gain access to such markets by promoting programs designed to reach 36,000 family-run farms. International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) representative Sylvie Marzin told MediaGlobal that the board of directors of IFAD approved in September this year the new agriculture project, to which IFAD will loan $14.8 million and grant $433,000. The project is designed to give special attention to the inclusion of extremely vulnerable rural families, who have limited labour and land, poor soil, and limited production capacity, the inclusion of women and women’s groups, and the inclusion of under and unemployed rural youths. It hopes to facilitate farmers’ entry into new markets to increase their income; to do so, it aims to help small farmers with contractual agreements and dialogue with stakeholders to give them more say in the decisions affecting them. The agreement was signed in Rome by Ambassador of the Republic of Senegal to Italy, Papa Cheikh Saadibou Fall, and IFAD President Lennart Båge.

NATO STEPS FORWARD TO PROTECT SOMALI FOOD SHIPS FROM PIRATES

8 October 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Due to increasing threats from the pirates terrorizing the ship routes off Somalia, the United Nations Security Council announced a joint resolution with the Secretary-General calling on nations to step forward and provide naval escorts to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) ships. “In Somalia, 3 million people are in danger of starving,” Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon said at a press conference. “Nearly 90 percent of the food that feeds them arrives from the sea aboard WFP ships.” WFP Spokesperson Marcus Prior told MediaGlobal of the situation, “Conditions in Somalia are only getting more difficult. Insecurity, drought, a succession of poor or failed harvest, the weakness of the Somali shilling against the dollar coupled with high food and fuel prices are deepening the suffering of millions of people in Somalia and pushing hundreds of thousands into destitution.” In response to this resolution, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has stepped forward to take over for Canada, which will be providing naval support through 23 October. “The WFP continues to operate in Somalia and plans to deliver a further 150,000 metric tons of food before the end of the year – enough to feed 1.5 million people for six months,” Prior added. “We are very pleased to hear that NATO plans to send ships to help in securing the safe passage of food to Somalia.”

USAID DECISION TO CUT US-FUNDED CONTRACEPTIVES WILL CAUSE THE DEATH OF AFRICAN WOMEN AND GIRLS

8 October 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Acting on suspicions about family planning organization Marie Stopes International’s (MSI) involvement with the Chinese Government, which the US State Department accuses of “coercive abortion and involuntary sterilizations,” the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has stopped the provision of US-funded contraceptive commodities to MSI. However, Dana Hovig, Chief Executive of MSI, vehemently denies this allegation. “MSI is one of the few organizations that has worked over the past decade to increase the availability of voluntary, client-centered family planning services in China,” he said. He went on to say that this USAID move was “purely political and dangerous to the lives of women.” MSI says that the organization has helped prevent 5 to 7 million unwanted pregnancies in 2007, which has in turn stopped 1 to 1.5 million abortions. But with the USAID decision, six African countries – Ghana, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe – will be affected. Without contraceptives, women will consider the only option they have left: abortion. “In most of the countries affected, abortion is illegal. The real cost of illegal providers carrying out abortions is that it can cause death,” Diana Thomas, Spokesperson at MSI, told MediaGlobal. If it’s not illegal providers who are hired for the job, then it’s the women themselves who make an attempt to implement an abortion, Thomas added. This, too, can cause death.

UNESCO REPORT SHOWS INCREASE IN WORLD LITERACY RATES, EXCEPT IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA, WEST AND SOUTH ASIA

6 OCTOBER 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) released a mid-decade review report for the UN Literacy Decade (2003-2012). The report finds that literacy rates are rising worldwide: 871 million people to 774 million people (2000-2006), pushing the global adult literacy rate up from 76 percent to 83.6 percent. The largest increase occurred in developing countries, where rates jumped from 68 percent to 79 percent. At this pace, world literacy will reach 87 percent in 2015. This information is hopeful, but does not show regional disparities. Sub-Saharan Africa, West and South Asia are slow in increasing literacy and were described with “concern” in the report. More than 75 percent of the 774 million illiterate adults live in 15 countries located in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Instead of steadily decreasing, the number of illiterate adults in certain sub-Saharan countries has increased: 133 to 163 million. If this rate continues, three quarters of the 127 countries projected to halve illiteracy rates by 2015 will fail. Sue Williams, of Editorial, Press Relations and UNESCO Courier, explained solutions proposed by the Report to MediaGlobal, “At the international level, funding is insufficient. It is estimated that at least $2.5 billion would be required annually to meet adult literacy needs, involving investment by national governments and donor organizations.” Among the Report’s recommendations is the need to improve the delivery of literacy programmes, notably by adapting teaching methods to diverse contexts and demands. It also suggests increasing funds allocated to adult literacy and dedicating at least 3 percent of national education budgets to this end.

UNCDF, UNIFEM, UNDP COLLABORATE TO IMPROVE GENDER EQUABILITY AT LOCAL LEVEL

6 October 2008: [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) jointly signed onto the Gender Equitable Local Development (GELD) programme with the UN Development Programme (UNDP). This partnership between UNCDF, UNIFEM, and UNDP was forged in support of improving women’s access to resources and services at the local level through gender-responsive planning, programming, and budgeting. Henriette Keijzers, UNCDF Deputy Executive Secretary, stated that the collaboration between the three agencies “brings together their complementary areas of expertise to achieve gender-equitable local development.” “The GELD program will build the capacity of local governments to mainstream a gender perspective in planning and budgeting processes and facilitate participation of women and community organizations in those processes,” Chiara Pace, Business Development ad Communications Officer at UNCD, told MediaGlobal. GELD seeks to encourage women’s participation in local government, in turn making local governments accountable in securing women’s equal access to public services and productive assets. The program has an estimated budget of US$88 million from 2008-2011. It will be rolled out in local governments in Mozambique, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania.