Every day, children over the world are molested, raped, abused, and killed. Who is responsible? We all are, as parents, teachers, prominent personalities, journalists, neighbors, politicians, religious figures, men and women of this world; we are all responsible, including and especially those of us who have decided to be silent observers of the horrible news we see in the media. ...
More than 1.5 billion people today reside in countries affected by violence and conflict, most - if not all - of which also suffer from inadequate and poor access to basic services. By 2030, it is estimated that about 40 percent of the world’s poor will be living in such environments, where each consecutive year of organized violence will ...
Kalpana Kochhar In our blog post last November, we discussed Pakistan’s decision to grant India most favored nation (MFN) status. We were hopeful about the gains from easier trade between the two, but noted the many stumbling blocks in between. In the past 20 weeks, both countries have made serious efforts to address these blocks. Things are looking good. Here is an update. read more
We've rounded up 24 Tweets, posts, links, and +1's on South Asia-related development news, innovation, and social good that caught our eye this week. Countries included: Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka. For regular #SouthAsiaDev updates, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
I can still remember making a speech about “Experience is the best teacher,” when I was 14 years old and didn't have much of experience about life and the world. I think the 168 hours or so that I spent in DC with fellow youth delegates were an enlightening and very powerful experience ...
A quiet revolution has been sweeping the Indian political landscape. Last year, the reservation (quota) for women in panchayats — rural local self-government — was increased to at least 50 percent, bringing women into the political fold in vast numbers. However, economic empowerment may not have kept pace with political empowerment. When it comes to female labor force participation, gender ...
House of Rabindra Maharjan, contract driver (with blue-framed doors and windows) It has been one week since a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal, its epicenter 75 km northwest of Kathmandu, and the toll is only beginning to be counted.
My learnings from the recently concluded World Bank-IMF Annual Meetings 2011 where I represented India as a youth delegate. I am compiling them all together as lessons I learnt and how it changed my life and rewrote my history and understanding. Forever. Lesson #1: The world has finally started taking the youth seriously. Over the past 10 days or so, ...
Nepal Poverty Map @World Bank While Kathmandu is steadily fighting to get back to some sense of normalcy, the situation is very different outside the capital where all districts around Kathmandu and between Kathmandu and the tourist town of Pokhara have been very severely affected. Relief supplies - food, water, shelter and medical aid, are slowly starting to move ...
Update: The particiants have been announced! Thank you so much for the overwhelming interest and applications that you've sent. If you were not selected, we will continue to work together on sharing the ideas in your essays that you've submitted over the next few months. Thanks again! Are you from a South ...
I work with street and slum girls and their mothers in India. Each day, as I walk through those dark lanes embroidered with brick and mortar, dungeons languish in abject obscurity and poverty, I cross many a road on which stand half naked women who stare at me with sad eyes. Most of them are mothers of the children I ...
"We have lost everything, without our homes we have nothing and now our houses are gone, broken and destroyed. Apa, what are we going to do? Do we sort out our utensils and belongings or buy food? All we have is our home and now we have nothing. No tin, no home, everything is flooded! “ - A flood-affected ...
South Asia is sometimes known as the land of extremes with opulence surrounded by poverty. How much social mobility is there in South Asia? The intuitive answer is: very little. South Asia is home to the biggest number of poor in the world and key development outcomes – from child mortality to malnutrition – suggest that poverty is entrenched. ...
Success Story from Nawalparasi District of Nepal Increasing indulgence of school staff in party politics, lack of transparency in managing school budgets and a lack of accountability of teachers and school management to communities they work in – these are well known underlying reasons for poor quality of education and exclusion in rural areas of Nepal. But can local ...
Security forces clearing the rubble at the historic Patan Durbar Square in Kathmandu Valley. Credits: Rajib Upadhya. World Bank It is Day Ten since the earthquake struck Nepal and the scale of the devastation is only just becoming evident. The official death toll has now crossed 7,000, of which 5,000 have been confirmed in remote rural areas. As many ...
The standard definition of political instability is the propensity of a government collapse either because of conflicts or rampant competition between various political parties. Also, the occurrence of a government change increases the likelihood of subsequent changes. Political instability tends to be persistent. Economic growth and political stability are deeply interconnected. On the one hand, the uncertainty associated ...
Afra Rahman Cho... “Jante Chai,” which means ‘want to know’ in Bengali – is a project that connects university students with underprivileged street children with the goal of mutually enriching their lives. My colleague Afra and I came up for the idea for the project when the South Asia Region of the ...
"Several mothers’ life is in danger due to placenta previa at child birth however either the village is too far flung to receive medical assistance or the family refuses to let the mother seek a specialist’s help,” the lady health worker said in response to my query regarding the past month’s performance in-field. Maternal Health Care remains a low priority ...
