A Washington Post report that the Bush administration has decided to propose listing the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act is good news for Bangladeshis and hundreds of millions of other people in the developing world whose lives are threatened by global warming.
The passing last week of Saparmurat Niyazov, better know as Turkmanbashi, Father of the Turkmen, has brought his unfortunate country briefly into the limelight. Niyazov was the dictatorial leader of Turkmenistan for more than 20 years, maintaining his hold on power even as the Soviet Union dissolved. It is no secret that Niyazov oversaw the steady destruction of his country.
Five big stories from 2006, and perhaps one that didn't get many headlines, stand out as harbingers of what's ahead in 2007.
*This post is co-authored by Sheila Herrling and Sarah Rose.
Last week the MCC and Moldova signed a Threshold Program agreement for $24.7 million aimed at targeting corruption. Moldova began its own anti-corruption reforms at the end of 2004, and MCC money will go toward strengthening independent watchdogs like NGOs and the media as well as the government’s own internal anti-corruption agency in order to address persistent corruption in the judiciary, the health care system, the tax and customs agencies, and the police.
In the latest in a series of articles on diseases on the brink of eradication, the New York Times recently examined Kazakhstan's success in reducing mental retardation and childhood stunting through salt iodization programs and social marketing activities.
Once again, volatile demand for flu vaccine is giving everyone a headache. A mere two years ago supply fell badly short of demand, turning US seniors into "immunization tourists" to Canada, and putting President Bush on the defensive during the 2004 campaign. This year, demand is way off, and suppliers can barely give the vaccine away; they face the prospect of wasting valuable doses because the vaccine is developed specifically for this year's strain.
In the latest issue of Finance & Development, George Schieber, Lisa Fleisher and Pablo Gottret argue - correctly, in my view - that low government spending is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to financing basic health services and social protection in low-income countries: it's not just a question of "how much money," but also of who pays and how it's spent.
