The week in review

Welcome to the Wikiprogress week in review, a round-up of media highlights from the busy and eventful week that was. Be sure to see the Wikiprogress Community Portal for all news items and blog posts from the progress community.

On human development

Kudos to the UNDP for Arab empowerment  (Al Jazerra 26.09.2011)

The UNDP has been praised for their role in sowing some of the intellectual seeds of the Arab Spring. The UNDP’s Arab Human Development Report will celebrate its 10 ^th anniversary in 2012. Al Jazeera has hailed the report as helping lay the foundations of democratic civic society across the Arab World.

See more on the Human Development Index

On the environment

Global air pollution: what is the most polluted country and city in the world ? (The Guardian 26.09.2011)

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has released a database of outdoor air pollution figures from 1100 cities in 91 countries. When grouped, the figures for cities show an interesting insight into the data samples used by the WHO.

See more and contribute to the article on pollution

On gender equality

Saudi Arabia and Its Women  (NYtimes.com 26.09.2011)

While Saudi women now have the right to vote and run in municipal elections, the New York Times questions how much this will really empower women, as the right to vote will not be effective until 2015 (even though there is an election scheduled before then) and even then women will still need the approval of a male family member to exercise their right to vote.

See more and update the Wikigender special focus on Saudi women acquiring the right to vote

On child well-being

'No Pens' drive for pupils struggling with sentence  (BBC 28.09.2011)

Over 100 schools across England are taking part in a day without pens to support children with speech deficits. More than 50% of children in socially deprived areas start school without the ability to speak long sentences, which can lead to problems later in life.

See more and update news items on child well-being

Wikiprogress interviews: an interview with the Measures of Australia's Progress team at the Australian Bureau of Statstics.

In the Spotlight: Gallup Well-Being Index finds the majority of Germans are ‘struggling’

That’s all from us this week, be sure to tune in the same time next week for another round of highlights from the week that was.

That's all from us this week. We hope you can tune in the same time next week for another round up of weekly highlights.

Yours in Progress,

Philippa Lysaght