Pambazuka News 398: Primary health care: the global orphan?

On 26 September, a “pledging meeting” takes place at the World Bank in Washington to encourage donors to channel resources to the World Bank Climate Investment Funds (CIFs). The meeting has been promoted by the UK, and several European governments are planning to attend. The UK and Sweden have already made announcements to channel funds to the CIFs. France and the Netherlands are also likely to pledge money to these funds. And Germany is still considering.

At least 69 children have died from malnutrition and sickness after floods washed away crops in isolated villages in southeast Sudan in recent weeks, U.N. agencies said on Thursday. Blocked roads and a lack of air transport are preventing the supply of emergency rations to parts of the region, the agencies added.

The Rwandan constitution, ratified in May 2003, states that 30 per cent of decision-making positions are to be reserved for women. This clause has seen Rwandan women make remarkable gains in elective politics. In the last parliament, Rwanda had the highest percentage of women in parliament in the world.

As the General Assembly meets to consider Africa’s development needs, gender experts are coming together at a United Nations-backed forum spotlighting the continent’s women, who are a vital part of efforts to achieve the global anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). “For millions of African women, hunger, violence, exclusion and discrimination are their everyday realities,” the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) – the lead agency for the forum – said in a n...read more

Open source software (OSS) has now become a well recognised and utilised brand. A brand that, if we were to get a broad sweeping perception poll on, would generally stand for free, fair and cost effective. However, despite this growth, the battle between open source and traditional software still rages on whereby the pros and cons for each can be endlessly debated.

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