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352. The State and the Maoist Challenge in India (L'Etat face au défi maoïste en Inde)
- Author:
- Christophe Jaffrelot
- Publication Date:
- 06-2011
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales
- Abstract:
- The Maoist movement in India began to develop in the late 1960s, taking advantage of the political space provided when the Communist Party of India (Marxist) abandoned its revolutionary fight. In the early 1970s the Maoist, also called Naxalistes, were the victims of intense factionalism and severe repression which led the militants to retreat to the tribal zones of Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, their two pockets of resistance during the 1980s. This strategy explains not only the transformation of the Indian Maoist sociology (which was led originally by intellectuals but became increasingly plebian) but also its return to power in the late 1990s. That decade, notable for economic liberalization, witnessed the exploitation of mineral resources in the tribal regions to the detriment of the interests of the inhabitants. The growth in Maoism during the 2000s can be explained also by a reunification under the banner of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) which was created in 2004. The reaction of the government in New Delhi to this phenomenon which affects half the Indian states has been to impose repressive measures. In contrast the Maoists see themselves as the defenders of a State of rights and justice.
- Topic:
- Politics, Poverty, Terrorism, War, History, Natural Resources, and State
- Political Geography:
- South Asia and India
353. A Case Study from Ghana: Understanding the Links between Sexual and Reproductive Health, Gender Equality and Poverty Reduction
- Author:
- Akosua K. Darkwah
- Publication Date:
- 01-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Institute for the Study of International Development, McGill University
- Abstract:
- Ghana is an interesting case study for this project for two reasons. First, it has an anomalous reproductive health profile. The country has the lowest Total Fertility Rate (TFR) in West Africa and one of the lowest in the sub-region. As at 2008, the TFR for the country was 4.0, for urban areas it was 3.1 and for the Greater Accra area, the most urbanized part of the country, it was 2.5 (GDHS 2008). This is a quite rapid decline from a TFR of 6.4 children per woman as at 1988. Even more interesting is the fact that the Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) stood at a low 24% in 2008. Some scholars such as Grey and Blanc (2002) argue that abortion rates help explain the gap between the CPR one should expect given the low TFR and what actually pertains as measured by the GDHS. Abortion in Ghana, however, inspite of a liberal law, accounts for between 13% (Sedgh 2010) and 25% (Baiden 2009) of maternal mortality cases in the country. In other words, in Ghana if the assertions of Grey and Blanc (2002) are valid, a low TFR has been achieved at the peril of women’s lives, quite contrary to what one would expect if reproductive health concerns were addressed systematically in the country. Second, the country exhibits quite some discord between its policies and its practices. Over the years, Ghana has been influenced and positively impacted by the global regimes in first Family Planning and later Reproductive Health. It joined the UN system of Population Censuses in 1960 and was an African Pioneer in the development of official Population Policy. It has an illustrious son, Fred Sai who is well known in international circles for his work on Reproductive Health. Fred Sai was the president of the International Planned Parenthood Association during the International Conference on Population Development (ICPD) held in Cairo in 1994 at which the conceptual shift from a narrow emphasis on family planning to the much broader notion of Reproductive Health was made. As president of such a key institution, he was instrumental in the processes that led to this effort and worked tirelessly to ensure that the Ghanaian State in its policies and practices reflected the conceptual shifts from Population Control to Reproductive Health. Two years after ICPD, the Ghanaian Reproductive Health Service Policy and Standards were developed and revised in 2003 to incorporate sexual health and gender based violence.
- Topic:
- Development, Gender Issues, Poverty, and Reproductive Health
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Ghana
354. The Impact of the Global Economic Crisis on the Pacific Region
- Author:
- Simon Feeny
- Publication Date:
- 02-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- At a macroeconomic level, the Global Economic Crisis (GEC) has had less impact on many Pacific countries than on most other developing countries across the world. However, this does not imply that Pacific country economies are performing well. Economic growth rates for most countries in the Pacific region are expected to be low for 2009 and 2010 and the majority of economies are likely to contract on a per capita basis in these years.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Economics, Poverty, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Australia/Pacific
355. Technologies, Rules, and Progress: The Case for Charter Cities
- Author:
- Paul Romer
- Publication Date:
- 03-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development
- Abstract:
- Non-resident fellow Paul Romer argues that the principal constraint to raising living standards in this century will come neither from scarce resources nor limited technologies. Rather it will come from our limited capacity to discover and implement new rules—new ideas about how to structure interactions among people, such as land titles, patents, and social norms. The central task of reducing global poverty is to find ways for developing countries to adopt new rules that are known to work better than the ones they have. Economists who advise leaders on policy have often overlooked why some good rules get adopted and others do not. But a better understanding of rules-that-change-rules could lead to breakthrough thinking about development policy. The special rules of China's Special Economic Zones, where new cities like Shenzhen could grow up, created small laboratories through which rules from Hong Kong spread to the mainland, helping unleash the largest and fastest reduction of poverty on record. Romer concludes that a new type of development policy would be to voluntarily charter new cities for the purpose of changing rules, using a range of new legal and political structures analogous to the ones that made Hong Kong and Shenzhen possible. The essay is adapted from a talk presented in Mexico City on October 2009, at the conference, “Challenges and Strategies for Promoting Economic Growth,” organized by Banco de México.
- Topic:
- Development, Poverty, and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- China, Asia, Mexico, Hong Kong, and Shenzhen
356. Who Are the MDG Trailblazers? A New MDG Progress Index
- Author:
- Benjamin Lee and Julia Barmeier
- Publication Date:
- 08-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development
- Abstract:
- In September, world leaders will assemble in New York to review progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Ahead of the ensuing discussions, we examine how individual countries are faring towards achieving the highly ambitious MDG targets. We outline a new MDG Progress Index, which compares country performance against the core MDG targets on poverty, hunger, gender equality, education, child mortality, health, and water. Overall, we find evidence of dramatic achievements by many poor countries such as Honduras, Laos, Ethiopia, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Nepal, Cambodia, and Ghana. In fact, these countries' performance suggests that they may achieve most of the highly ambitious MDGs. Moreover, sub-Saharan Africa accounts for many of the star MDG performers. Interestingly, poor countries perform nearly on par with middle-income countries. Not surprisingly, the list of laggards largely consists of countries devastated by conflict over the last few decades, such as Afghanistan, Burundi, the DRC, and Guinea-Bissau. Most countries fall somewhere in between, demonstrating solid progress on some indicators and little on others.
- Topic:
- Development, Human Welfare, Poverty, Third World, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- Uganda, Africa, New York, Cambodia, Nepal, United Nations, and Ethiopia
357. Halving Hunger: Still Possible? Building a rescue package to set the MDGs back on track
- Publication Date:
- 09-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- Ten years after the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) agreed by world leaders became the greatest-ever commitment for a 'more peaceful, prosperous and just future', progress is slow and many hard-won achievements have been undone after the global food, fuel and economic crises. Unless an urgent rescue package is developed to accelerate fulfillment of all the MDGs, we are likely to witness the greatest collective failure in history.
- Topic:
- Development, Human Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, and Poverty
- Political Geography:
- United Nations
358. Improving the Governance of the Food Aid Convention: Which Way Forward?
- Author:
- Jennifer Clapp and C. Stuart Clark
- Publication Date:
- 09-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- Informal talks began in mid-2010 on renegotiating the FAC with a view to adopting a new agreement by June 2011. The FAC is an international agreement that sets out the rules and minimum commitments for member countries which donate international food aid to feed hungry people in developing countries. The existing Convention is dated and requires revision on a number of fronts (Clay 2010; Hoddinott, Cohen and Barrett 2008; Barrett and Maxwell 2006), particularly in the current context of high food insecurity and volatile world food markets (FAO 2009a; FAO 2010). The effectiveness of the FAC as a mechanism to provide appropriate and predictable minimum levels of food aid to those in need has been diminishing to the point of virtual invisibility in the midst of the recent food price crisis — a clear illustration of its fading legitimacy.
- Topic:
- Security, Humanitarian Aid, Poverty, and Food
359. A Gender Perspective on 21st Century Welfare Reform
- Author:
- Janet Veitch
- Publication Date:
- 10-2010
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- This response to the Coalition Government's proposals on working age benefits and tax credits in its consultation paper, 21st-Century Welfare, takes a gender lens to the reforms. It is written in the context of Oxfam's work against poverty in the UK and its longstanding concern with the poverty and inequality of women. The response below follows the same structure as the consultation document.
- Topic:
- Development, Gender Issues, and Poverty
- Political Geography:
- United Kingdom
360. The Making of a Seoul Development: Consensus The essential development agenda for the G20
- Author:
- Jasmine Burnley and Elizabeth Stuart
- Publication Date:
- 10-2010
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Oxfam Publishing
- Abstract:
- When the G20 meets in Seoul in November 2010, it has a big choice to make. It can either retreat into a narrow focus on its own interests, or it can prove it is capable of genuine global leadership in the face of the interlinked economic, food, and climate change crises. The G20 must adopt a Seoul 'development consensus' that confronts the challenges of the 21st century: reducing inequality and tackling global poverty through sustainable, equitable growth that gives poor women and men, and their governments, the tools they need to overcome poverty.
- Topic:
- Development, Poverty, and Food
- Political Geography:
- Israel, Asia, and South Korea