Group items tagged

'Conflict is an unavoidable aspect of human social systems. Given the central importance of water resources to all human communities, it is natural that conflicts arise with regard to access, allocation, development and management of the resource.'

'Growing demand for energy and natural resources has led many low-income, resource-rich countries to open remote areas to industrial development. Even as a financial crisis engulfed the global economy in 2008 and 2009, projects such as oil pipelines, roads, and mines continued to remain key development priorities.' Source: WRI

Transforming natural resource wealth into sustained growth and poverty reduction : a conceptual framework for Sub-Saharan African oil exporting countries

This report is one of the primary outputs of the Vulnerability Assessment of Freshwater Resources to Environmental Change project, and presents a situation analysis with regard to the vulnerability of water resources systems in South Asia. In addition to the more general issues addressed herein, this report considers three South Asian transboundary river basins as case studies: (i) Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM); (ii) Indus; and (iii) Helmand. Collectively, these basins provide South Asia with a variety of waterrelated challenges that encompass floods in the monsoon season; water shortages in the summer; sedimentation and erosion in the river and associated flood plains; drainage congestion in low-lying areas; and environmental and water quality problems.

This resource book on women's health needs and problems in Africa. Designed for use by health workers and others who provide information and counseling to women at the community level. It addresses reproduction and sexuality, pregnancy and childbirth, adolescent health, menopause, gender issues, and social and cultural determinants of women's health.

Water is essential to all life. And yet one in five Asians lacks access to safe drinking water and half the people living in the Asia Pacific do not have access to adequate sanitation. Conflicts over sharing of scarce water resources are increasing at an alarming rate. The Water Voices is a seven part documentary series featuring stories about people tackling the Asia Pacific's water problems. It recognizes the power of good examples and lessons learned to inspire "homegrown" solutions to water problems.

This 2007 report 'provides a framework for policy makers to use in establishing what sectors of the economy and society are the most strategically relevant to women's development goals. It will help them make informed decisions towards a vibrant and competitive national knowledge society, taking full advantage of a country's human resources. 'In order to achieve this, data are needed: data that provide the best and most useful information on gendered opportunities and challenges, data that will allow the best decisions to be made. The report aims to provide the framework for the necessary data analysis to achieve these goals.'

Water is a limited natural resource and fundamental for life and health. In 2000, the World Health Organization estimate that of the world's 6 billion people, at least 1.1 billion lack access to safe drinking-water and 2.4 billion persons live without access to sanitation systems. An estimated 14 to 30 thousand people, mostly young and elderly, die everyday from avoidable water-related diseases (e.g. diarrhoeal diseases). The lives of these people who are among the poorest on our planet are often devastated by this deprivation, which impedes the enjoyment of health and other human rights.

'Based on the collective inputs of UN agencies and convention Secretariats of UN-Water, this first Report offers a global overview of the state of the world's freshwater resources. It includes a large number of maps, figures, tables, and boxes illustrating the lessons learned all over the world. The report was officially released in English on World Water Day 2003, 22 March, during the 3rd World Water Forum in Japan. To know more about the report, users can access it online.'

'This paper argues that understanding the link between global capitalist crisis macrodynamics and water commodification trends requires a discussion of the crucial intervening public management strategy, namely the decentralisation of service delivery functions without decentralisation of sufficient resources. The crucial linkage between these processes emanates from core multilateral institutions, like the UN.'

By 2025, three billion people will live in water-stressed countries. Management of the world's limited water resources, especially for food production, remains one of the most pressing issues in development. As part of its mandate for innovation in capacity development, the World Bank Institute (WBI) has been building and implementing several creative tools to foster more effective water management. The WBI Water Program is using role plays, games and hands-on simulations, as well as multimedia, to help organizations increase their capacity and skills so they can implement effective management solutions, improve their economic growth, and deliver better water services. These inventive techniques can be used in various settings and can easily be scaled up through local organizations.

The world's poor are disproportionately affected by environmental degradation and lack of access to clean, affordable energy services. Climate change, loss of biodiversity and depletion of natural resources are both national and global issues requiring cooperation among all countries. UNDP works to strengthen national capacity to manage the environment in a sustainable manner while ensuring adequate protection for the poor, by identifying and sharing best practices, providing policy advice and forging partnerships.

Improving lives through the alleviation of poverty is central to the UNDP approach to development. Some 1.2 billion people around the world live on less than a dollar a day, while almost 850 million go hungry every night. Poverty is not just about money: lack of access to essential resources goes beyond financial hardship to affect people's health, education, security and opportunities for political participation. Solutions, then, need to address many dimensions while remaining targeted and measurable, and sensitive to the wider impact of poverty on women. At the same time, solutions must derive from local conditions and enhance local capacity to respond and adapt to new challenges.

'Women are often excluded from decision-making, from the household up to the highest levels of policymaking. Women.s equal participation in governance is, therefore, an important end in itself - a recognition of their right to speak and be heard. More broadly, it is a means to social transformation. Decisions made and policies implemented by governance institutions at global, national and local levels help to shape perceptions of the roles that women and men play in society, as well as determining their access to rights and resources. Involving women in defining these policies and processes, and in influencing the institutions that produce them, makes it more likely they will respond to the different needs and situations of both women and men, and contribute to gender equality.'(source:BRIDGE, April 2009,pdf:82 pages )

What is 'capacity-building'? Specifically, capacity building encompasses the country's human, scientific, technological, organizational, institutional and resource capabilities. A fundamental goal of capacity building is to enhance the ability to evaluate and address the crucial questions related to policy choices and modes of implementation among development options, based on an understanding of environment potentials and limits and of needs perceived by the people of the country concerned.

This report presents the public financial management and accountability assessment (PFMAA) for Pakistan's Sindh province. The assessment uses the public expenditure and financial accountability (PEFA) 20051 framework, which comprises 31 performance indicators to evaluate (i) the six core public financial management (PFM) dimensions (credibility of the budget; transparency and comprehensiveness; policy-based budgeting; predictability and control in budget execution; accounting, recording, and reporting; and external scrutiny), and (ii) the extent to which donor practices and the management of donor funds affect the PFM systems in the country. This assessment report highlights the likely impact of PFM weaknesses on budgetary outcomes, aggregate fiscal discipline, the strategic allocation of resources, and efficient service delivery.

'International humanitarian aid provides relief to tens of millions of people each year: in 2007 to more than 43 million people through UN humanitarian appeals alone. However, it is also often too little, too late, and unpredictable, or inappropriate to the needs of communities, including specific groups such as women and girls. The UN-led reforms since 2005 to improve humanitarian aid have begun - but only begun - to make a difference to this variable performance. Oxfam International published its analysis of the successes and challenges facing humanitarian action in a major report, The Right to Survive, in April 2009. This note now considers one specific recent reform: the development of 'pooled funds'. This reform has coincided with increased competition for humanitarian resources - at the same time as the need for humanitarian aid is growing.'

This guide is written for MFIs committed to managing and achieving their social mission, and the organisations that support them. Inside, you will find step-by-step guidance on integrating a social lens into your performance management systems. This practice guide draws upon experience and lessons learnt from over 45 MFIs and support organisations across the industry, detailing: - Different entry points into SPM - Case examples from the field - Key issues at each step of the process - Practical tips and clear guidance - Further resources and support Whatever your starting point, you can use this guide to strengthen the systems you use to deliberately balance your social and financial objectives.

This guide has been produced by the World Health Organization to assist countries with limited resources in their efforts to reduce neonatal mortality and to ensure care for newborn babies with problems due to complications of pregnancy and childbirth, such as asphyxia, sepsis, and low birth weight or preterm birth. The main section of this guide is arranged by clinical signs or findings, which facilitates early identification of illness, and provides up-to-date guidelines for clinical management. Use of these guidelines is essential in promoting and assessing the quality of health services and training providers and supporting quality services through supervision and feedback on performance.