Poverty News and Research

RSS

U.N. report highlights concerns about population-related activities funding

Financial support for population-related activities worldwide has not significantly increased since 2008, according to a report (.pdf) from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the U.N. Commission on Population and Development (CPD), Inter Press Service reports. The CPD is meeting this week.

15 Apr 2011

Media report on additional FY11 budget details

Multiple news outlets examined the proposed reductions of the FY11 spending measure that was released on Tuesday.

15 Apr 2011

Opinions: Traditional aid groups' roles; 'smart power' foreign policy; funding for MDGs

In a post on the Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog," Joel Charny, vice president for humanitarian policy and practice at InterAction, highlights the role traditional aid groups play in disasters around the world, refuting the idea that the 2010 earthquake in Haiti showed that established groups "were becoming irrelevant in the face of a vast array of new aid providers, including corporations, celebrities, citizens groups and the military."

15 Apr 2011

Viewpoints: Dems vs. Ryan on entitlement cuts; defending planned parenthood

Every time Republicans have proposed serious entitlement reform, they've taken a beating. ... But it's far from clear the average voter appreciates what's at stake. Incredibly, 54 percent of those in a Wall Street Journal/NBC poll said they didn't believe Medicare cuts were essential to meaningfully trim the deficit. I'd say Republicans have a lot of work to do.

15 Apr 2011

Opinions: Budget talks, foreign aid; making drugs more accessible to poor

"If the federal government shuts down at midnight on Friday - which seems likely unless negotiations take a sudden turn toward rationality - it will not be because of disagreements over spending. It will be because Republicans are refusing to budge on these ideological demands," argues a New York Times editorial, highlighting issues such as "foreign aid to countries that might use the money for abortion or family planning ... aid to the United Nations Population Fund, which supports family-planning services."

11 Apr 2011

Viewpoints abound on impact of Ryan plan, government showdown

If the federal government shuts down at midnight on Friday — which seems likely unless negotiations take a sudden turn toward rationality — it will not be because of disagreements over spending. It will be because Republicans are refusing to budge on these ideological demands: No federal financing for Planned Parenthood. ... No local financing for abortion services in the District of Columbia. ... No funds for health care reform.

8 Apr 2011

Researchers test plants used in traditional African medicine against malaria

The malaria parasite has gradually developed resistance to the most commonly used medicines. To make matters worse, several mosquito species that host and transmit the parasite have become resistant to insecticides, making it difficult to eliminate them from populated areas.

8 Apr 2011

BIOTRONIK donates ICD and pacemaker to 75 cardiac patients in Trinidad & Tobago

BIOTRONIK SE Co. & KG, a leading manufacturer of implantable cardiac devices, has provided a donation of implantable cardiac defibrillators and pacemaker device implants to more than 75 low-income and impoverished patients in the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago as part of its collaboration with Heartbeat International Foundation Inc.

7 Apr 2011

Viewpoints: Major news organizations on Ryan plan: Solution or 'hypocrisy'?

Give House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan credit for finally putting Republicans' money where their mouths have been for years: His 2012 budget proposal, released Tuesday, would actually begin to produce the smaller government Republicans have always said they wanted, even as they were ramping up federal spending, creating a prescription drug benefit without paying for it, campaigning against efforts to curb Medicare, and turning budget surpluses into titanic deficits.

7 Apr 2011

CCF: New findings about diversity in American family life

For their annual conference, "Tipping Point? When Minority Families Become the Majority," the Council on Contemporary Families has collected some of the most important—though often under-reported—new findings about diversity in American family life.

6 Apr 2011

U.N. Secretary-General urges university leaders to prioritize women's empowerment

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday spoke about the role universities can play in empowering women worldwide during an address to students and academic leaders gathered in Philadelphia for the fifth Global Colloquium of University Presidents, the Associated Press reports (Matheson, 4/4).

6 Apr 2011

Opinions: Africa's agricultural sector; foreign aid funding

"There is no doubt that Africa is on the move … But if African countries are to achieve the new future within their grasp, then there needs to be a new focus on the daunting obstacles still to be overcome. … High among these challenges is the need to transform the continent's agriculture," former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan writes in a BusinessDay opinion piece reflecting on the challenges facing Africa's agricultural system and the opportunities to respond to the growing food demands.

5 Apr 2011

CAS-Carrera awarded $3.5M SIF grant from EMCF

The New York based Children's Aid Society Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program has been awarded a $3.5 million Social Innovation Fund grant from the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation to deepen the program's impact in New York City and replicate it nationally.

2 Apr 2011

Recent releases in Global Health

A Lancet Infectious Diseases editorial describes the growing public concerns over a global rise in antimicrobial resistance. "Bearing in mind that our objective is to contain antibiotic resistance rather than eradicate it, several policies could be adopted to help guarantee a future for antibiotics," the editorial states, adding, "We need reliable data to tackle antibiotic resistance.

2 Apr 2011

USAID Administrator testifies before State, Foreign Ops subcommittee about FY12 budget, expresses concerns about FY11 budget cuts

In a hearing regarding the FY12 budget before the House Appropriations State and Foreign Operations subcommittee earlier this week, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah highlighted the possible impact of the FY11 budget cuts currently being debated in Congress, Foreign Policy's "The Cable" blog reports.

1 Apr 2011

Viewpoints: The dangers of targeting the AARP; health reform in rural areas; prisoners faring better in Calif. than disabled

In hearings Friday, some of my former congressional colleagues are due to explore the operations of the AARP, the nation's oldest and largest organization representing Americans age 50 and older. Specifically, the hearing is to examine the group's tax status, evaluating it in view of its management structure and funding.

1 Apr 2011

African governments must commit more funds to health to meet previous commitments, WHO, UNFPA say

Ten years "since heads of state of African Union countries met in Abuja, Nigeria, and pledged to set a target of allocating 'at least 15%' of their annual budget to improve the health sector, only Rwanda and South Africa have reached the objective," according to a recent WHO report, BMJ News reports/

1 Apr 2011

USAID internal memo details personnel, organizational changes for feed the future

The Obama administration's Feed the Future program and "the bureau that runs it will be reorganized," according to an internal USAID memo from March 15, Agweek reports.

1 Apr 2011

Opinions: Foreign aid; Congressman's global war on abortion

The idea that wealthy countries have a moral obligation to provide aid to poor nations "persists in the face of overwhelming evidence that such 'aid' does the world's poor more harm than good," Marian Tupy, a senior fellow at the Legatum Institute in London, writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.

1 Apr 2011

Roundup: Minn. and Fla. weigh changes in programs for disabled, poor; Iowa lawmakers consider new abortion restrictions

Due to a shockingly large deficit, Gov. Rick Scott is planning to invoke his emergency powers and make deep cuts to the rates charged by group homes and case workers who help the developmentally disabled. Scott could announce a 15 percent rate cut as early as Thursday to close the $170 million budget gap in the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, according to lawmakers who were briefed Wednesday.

1 Apr 2011