[ Food security ]
Ways out of the silent tsunami
Three years ago, the number of people categorised as extremely poor fell below the one-billion threshold for the first time. We were on our way to cutting hunger and poverty in half, and basic prerequisites, such as growth in most developing nations or investments in Africa, were progressing promisingly. In many parts of the world, peace and democracy were stable. We have to state, however,annother trend calling progress into question. Food prices have risen so dramatically that the UN World Food Programme (WFP) is raising alarm: millions of people who did not suffer acute hunger six months ago are doing so now. [ By Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul ]
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[ The rule of law]
Many women are unaware of their rights
Three distinct judicial systems are in force in Afghanistan: the official courts, the traditional jirgas and Islamic scholarship. The country’s constitution stresses the importance of international standards such as the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, while jirgas and religious leaders largely ignore them. The people however are more likely to respect traditional authorities than to trust government institutions.
[ By Michael Nienhaus ]
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[ AIDS prevention ]
Safe sex subsidy
In an interesting experiment, the World Bank plans to use conditional cash transfers to keep HIV/AIDS in check. A pilot project is to be launched in southern Tanzania this year.
[ By Eleonore von Bothmer ]
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