Friday 8 July 2011

The week in review


It has been an eventful week in the world of progress with the UN releasing a progress report, the OECD holding a congress on welfare and the World Bank making headlines for open data. See a selection of highlights in this review, be sure to see the Wikiprogress Community Portal for all progress related news items and blog posts.

On progress
Rebuilding trust and relationships through local processes (World Bank Blog – podcast 06.07.2011)
Co-director of the World Bank’s 2011 World Development Report, Nigel Roberts, is interviewed on AusAid’s ODE Talks and speaks about the lack of progress in education and health over the last 25 years. This blog provides access to the podcast and transcripts.

See more on the World Development Report

On development
In recent years, an increasing number of countries around the world have begun using ICTs to increase public participation in decision making. The UNDP are working to ensure these efforts extend to the poor and marginalized; this blog explains the challenges met and accomplishments made.

See more on the E-Government Readiness Index (GREAT article Vera)

On data
Moments after the earthquake that devastated Haiti, the World Bank uploaded images of Port-au-Prince taken with their equipment; along with an invitation to help the World Bank assess the damage and figure out the best plan of action. This article explores the importance of the World Bank’s move to open data for public access.

See more on the World Bank

On gender equality
UN Women released Progress of the World’s Women on Wednesday, a report which has caused a flurry of excitement and sparked a wide range of media coverage. The report’s introduction quotes former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, saying: ‘The report highlights the practical barriers that women- particularly the poorest and most excluded- face.’ See the full report here


On child well-being
The UNDESA, UNICEF, UNESCO and UNDPI hosted a live webcast from Geneva on Monday to discuss education, human rights and conflict. The debate took place in support of the 2011 Education for All Global Monitoring Report released by UNESCO on the hidden crisis- armed conflict and education.

See more on education and child soldiers

On happiness

The 'Happiest' Emerging Nation (IPS 06.07.2011)
A happiness index used to compare BRIC countries shows that ‘the degree of life satisfaction’ is highest in Brazil. Over the last few years, Brazil has seen a significant reduction in social inequality, one of the key elements to nation wellbeing. 

See more on Brazil
  
Spotlight
In the spotlight on Wikiprogress this week: OECD Congress- New directions in Welfare

During the Congress, Wikiprogress ran a series of interviews, the first of which you can see here; Johannes Jütting, Senior Economist at the OECD Development Centre interviewed on the importance of measuring progress of developing countries.



That’s all for us this week. We hope to see you back here this time next week for another round up of weekly highlights from the week that was.

Yours in Progress,

Philippa Lysaght

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