The Guardian online - Global Development Section

This section of The Guardian on-line newspaper is an excellent resources for all pupils, particularly A-level students. Have a look around it and save the site to your favourites as it will keep you informed of the latest news in terms of World Development. It has case studies of countries and how they're doing in terms of Millennium Development Goals, lots of data that can be searched and graphics to look at and plenty of videos and podcasts to watch and listen (click on image or title to be taken to the site)

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International Aid from the UK to increase

The Government has been cutting spending in an attempt to save money. But it announced that the amount of money being spent on aid for poorer countries will be increased by about 40%. This means that the UK will hit the UN target of 0.7% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) being given as aid within 3 years. Each country has this target, though only a handful have ever managed to meet it. However, aid to China and Russia will be stopped.

Click on the post title to watch a 2 minute clip from the BBC that looks at the issue and opinions.

Click here to read more about this story

Click here to watch a short and simple presentation from the BBC called "Beating Poverty"

United Nations calls for united front against hunger on World Food Day

With nearly one billion people still suffering from food shortages around the globe, the world must take a united stand against hunger, the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said.

World Food Day is celebrated every year around the world on October the 16th  in honour of the date of the founding of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) in 1945.


The Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving the proportion of hungry people in the world is a pillar for achieving all eight of the globally-agreed targets with a 2015 deadline, Ban said.
"When people are hungry, they cannot break the crippling chains of poverty, and are vulnerable to infectious diseases," the secretary-general said. "When children are hungry, they cannot grow, learn and develop."
This year alone, Ban said, millions have been pushed into hunger by the earthquake in Haiti, the drought in the Sahel and floods in Pakistan, while the twin food and financial crises continue to affect the world's most vulnerable.
He highlighted the need for global cooperation -- bringing together governments, intergovernmental organizations, regional and sub-regional bodies, business and civil society groups -- to combat hunger.
"Increasingly, their approach is comprehensive," Ban said, covering all aspects of food security, ranging from small farms to feeding schoolchildren.

For more information follow the links below:

Some progress made and some suggestions for the future - including an audio report on the issue

Hunger in Focus: India's Hungry Women and Children Remain a Major Problem

Report Says Hunger Costing Poor Countries Billions

UN Says Global Hunger Remains 'Unacceptably High'

Google news search results about hunger on world Food Day 2010 (search dated Oct 16th)

Ban Ki-Moon speech on World Food Day 2008

Interactive Atlas of the Millenium Development Goals

Have a look at this resource. It has been produced by the World Bank and shows how each country around the world fares against the Millenium Goals. This Online Atlas of the Millenium Development Goals takes each goal and resizes the world map to show the inequalities that currently exist.just click on one of the development goals on the right hand side of the screen, select a map and then resize it by clicking 'play'. The results are fascinating.