In Liberia's post-conflict reconstruction process and for Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf's government, reaching the "completion point" under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative - the stage at which full and irrevocable debt relief is won - is a milestone.
Once upon a time, I hated the MDGs. I thought they were a cruel joke on poor countries, setting the entire developing world up for demoralizing failure. Let’s set impossibly high standards and demand that resource-strapped nations achieve them!
Earlier this month, a United Nations report estimated that 89% of primary school-aged children in the developing world were enrolled in school. Achieving universal primary education by 2015 goal number 2 of the Millennium Development Goals, which has galvanized international efforts to help the developing world reach this goal.
It’s easy to forget about measles. It has an effective vaccine, and it is one of the milder childhood diseases. That doesn’t mean we can ignore it, though. Measles only stays gone as long as we keep up the fight against it. 758 people have died from measles in Southern Africa this year.
In Europe, trafficking in humans is a 2.4 billion euro industry. This is according to a new report from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime:
At any one time, over 140,000 victims are trapped in this vicious cycle of violence, abuse and degradation across Europe with no clear sign of the overall number of victims decreasing. There is a high turnover of 50 per cent of trafficking victims in Europe with up to 70,000 additional victims being exploited every year.
Nick Kristof's column in the Sunday New York Times described how certain metals used in common electronic equipment like iPods and cell phones are fueling conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The New York Times reported today on the killing of a Congolese human rights activities. Floribert Chebeya Bahizire was found dead in his car on June 2nd, in the Mont Ngafula neighborhood of Kinshasa.
The UN Refugee Agency posts this harrowing video of people fleeing violence in southern Kyrgyzstan.
It seems that once again, UN run summer camps for Gaza children are being targeted by extremists: