Week in Review

Welcome to this Week in Review. Below is a selection of news articles and a video that caught our eye from our Media Review, Facebook and Twitter accounts.  We hope you enjoy the read. 

Can 'happiness economics' provide a new framework for development? (Guardian 03.09.2013)

Measuring wellbeing shows quality of life and helps explain its determinants. But can it be useful in post-MDGs policy? Christian Kroll’s new study reveals that three very important development goals, namely income, health and education, for people's life satisfaction varies significantly across nations.

Science Times Special Section: Learning What Works (New York Times)

A varied selection of informative articles on education.

Stats and the city (OECD Insights Blog 02.09.2013)

The Metropolitan Explorer is a nifty tool from the OECD that lets you explore statistics for 268 metropolitan areas in OECD countries.

Video

Salman Khan: Let's use video to reinvent education

10 commandments for new teachers (Guardian 03.09.2013)

From the power of Google to ditching the monotone, secondary teacher Lulu Kuper shares her proven tips on how NQTs can get the best from their students.

When life means school again (Education Today blog 02.09.2013)

Children are starting school at an ever younger age, OECD’s recent Education at a Glance 2013 shows that in 2011 on average over 84% of all four year-old children were enrolled in some form of formal education, which is 5% more than in 2005.

Wikigender’s online discussion on “How do discriminatory social norms relate to the gender dynamics of international migration?” is now open! We invite you to join the discussion, to read and leave your comment.  Here is the link: http://bit.ly/16TdlNJ and the hashtag used in Twitter is #migration. 

This month Wikiprogress and networks will focus on Education and Skill.

Wikiprogress Team

Environment Week in Review

Hi everyone and welcome to another Week in Review. This month we are focusing Environment so today’s WIR includes a look back at World Environment Day, UNEP’s new report on food waste and a World Bank article on global sustainability. This article will also introduce Wikichild’s upcoming online consultation, partnered by the World Health Organization and Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children, on how child well-being should be measured in view of future development frameworks such as the Post-2015 agenda.

World Environment Day is an annual event that is aimed at being the biggest and most widely celebrated global day for positive environmental action. This year’s celebration, hosted by Mongolia, had the theme of ‘Think. Eat. Save. Reduce your Footprint’.  According to UNEP’s Reducing Food Loss and Waste report, which was launched on W.E.D, an estimated one third, or 1.3 billion tonnes, of all food produced ends up in the garbage of farmers, transporters, retailers and consumers alike. Make sure you look out for more environment awareness days this month including Global Wind Day and World Ocean’s Day.

This week the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction welcomed the emphasis that the Post-2015 committee is putting on combatting climate change. The Head of UNISDR, Margareta Wahlström referenced the recently published Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk, which highlights the economic and social costs of disasters and the impact they can have on the global population, particularly the poor.

This Saturday The governments of the UK and Brazil, and the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) will co-host a high-level international meeting, Nutrition for Growth: Beating Hunger through Business and Science on 8 June in central London. The event will bring together business leaders, scientists, governments and civil society to make ambitious financial and political commitments in a bid to reach millions of pregnant women and infants with the right nutrition at the right time, and reduce cases of stunting and deaths from severe acute malnutrition. The whole day will be webcast live from 8.30am to 5.30pm on Saturday 8 June 2013 on this website.

This week the World Bank published the ANS indicator for more than 200 countries in the Little Green Data Book, the World Bank’s annual compilation of environment data. Click here to access highlights from the report.

The Living Planet Index is one of the longest-running measures of the trends in the state of global biodiversity and reflects changes in the health of the planet’s ecosystems by tracking trends in populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians. Last year’s report provides a comprehensive overview of the cumulative pressure we’re putting on the planet, and the consequent decline in the health of the forests, rivers and oceans that make our lives possible.

Finally, between the 19^th of June and the 2^nd of July, Wikichild, HBSC and the W.H.O are running an online consultation on how child well-being should be measured in view of future development frameworks. The discussion will be launched at HBSC’s 30^th anniversary conference so make sure you tune in and add your comment to what should be a fascinating conversation! Follow #childwellbeing on Twitter for updates.  

We hope you have enjoyed this Week in Review and look forward to bringing you more Environment updates in the coming weeks.

Robbie Lawrence,

Wikichild Coordinator 

Week in Review

Hello Wikiprogress followers and welcome to this Week in Review! This week’s highlights include a UN report on human rights in the context of the post-2015 agenda, an update from UNICEF on global progress on sanitation and drinking water and an Oxfam report on risk and poverty reduction.

Released this week, the UN’s Who will be Accountable? – Human Rights and the Post-2015 Development Agenda – calls on countries to ensure that the post-2015 development agenda focuses on equality, social protection and accountability, noting that one billion people around the world are still living in poverty. 

“The rise of inequality has severely undermined the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals, or MDGs,” UN Spokesman, 21^st May 2013

Public sector innovation and e-government Egypt

The “OECD E-Government Review of Egypt” assesses Egyptian e-government policies and implementation, and makes recommendations for future actions. The report highlights Egypt’s progress and proposes that to enhance the use of ICTs in the public sector Egypt should undertake a number of measures. Find out more!

No Accident - Resilience and the Inequality of Risk – This report from Oxfam stipulates that governing bodies and aid agencies must challenge the politics and power at the heart of the increasing effects of climate change, growing inequality and people’s vulnerability to disasters. Oxfam highlights the increasing threat of various major external risks and points out that the majority of these are actively dumped on poor people, with women bearing the brunt because of their social, political and economic status. 

Progress on Sanitation and Drinking Water - 2013 Update – UNICEF’s annual report card presents country, regional and global estimates on improvements (or lack of them) in access to drinking water and sanitation. According to the publication, the world will not meet the MDG sanitation target of 75% and if current trends continue, it is set to miss the target by more than half a billion. To find out more about sanitation inequality, read our recent Progblog article on the subject.  

The right poverty measure for post-2015 – is part of a series of blogs that debate how a post-2015 framework ought to measure poverty. This article by Stephan Klasen, Professor of development economics and empirical economic research at the University of Göttingen, puts forward a proposal for internationally coordinated national poverty measurement. 

Thanks for checking in - we are pleased to inform you that our theme of the month in June will be Environment so we look forward to bringing you articles, blogs and Week in Reviews related to the subject in the coming weeks!

The Wikiprogress Team

Highlights of the week: Governance and more!

Welcome to another Week in Review! This week’s post includes a ‘Resource Governance Index’, a ‘World Health Statistics’ report and World Telecommunication & Information Society Day.

State of Civil Society Report 2013 by CIVICUS calls for an enabling environment for civil society, it includes nearly 50 contributions from experts and civil society leaders from around the world.  These experts highlighted good practices and challenges on the horizon for citizens and civil society globally. 

"57% of the world’s population live in countries where basic civil liberties and political freedoms are curtailed" State of Civil Society Report 2013

The 2013 Resource Governance Index Report measures the quality of governance in the oil, gas and mining sector of 58 countries. The RGI scores and ranks the countries, relying on a detailed questionnaire completed by researchers with expertise in the extractive industries. According to this year’s study there is a major governance deficit in natural resources around the world, and the deficit is largest in the most resource- dependent countries, where nearly half a billion people live in poverty despite that resource wealth.

Wikigender Special Focus: Women and Elections – As part of our focus on Governance, Wikigender is currently spotlighting the critical role that women have to play in elections to have their voice heard, both as voters and elected representatives. This ‘Special Focus’ looks at the role of women in elections, drawing on articles from various situations around the world.

World Health Statistics 2013 – this report contains WHO’s annual compilation of health-related data for its 194 Member States, and includes a summary of the progress made towards achieving the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and associated targets.  

World Telecommunication and Information Society Day  (WTISD) is on 17 May - The purpose of  WTISD is to help raise awareness of the possibilities that the use of the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICT) can bring to societies and economies, as well as of ways to bridge the digital divide. Make sure you follow the #WTISD for updates!

Finally, don't miss World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development - The day provides us with an opportunity to deepen our understanding of the values of cultural diversity and raise awareness about the importance of intercultural dialogue, diversity and inclusion.

We look forward to checking in next week to bring you more highlights from the world of well-being and progress.

Robbie Lawrence

The Wikiprogress Team
Wikiprogress, Wikgender and Wikichild

Governance Week in Review

This Week in Review by Robbie Lawrence is part of the Wikiprogress Governance Series

‘Good governance is the foundation on which a society is built, and thus it is indispensable for the development of a country.’ Dirk Niebel, German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development

As you all know we are focusing on Governance this month, so today’s Week in Review will provide you with an insight into a number of key reports (and a video!) related to the subject. The article includes overviews of the current Wikichild Spotlight, UN Habitat’s State of the Field in Youth-Led Development, UNDP’s Global Consultation on Governance and the Post 2015 framework and Beth Noveck’s Ted Talk, ‘Demand a more open-source government’.  

First published in Nairobi last year, UN-HABITAT’s State of the Field in Youth Development sheds light on how youth are positively impacting communities around the world. As part of wider series, this particular report stresses how young people can be beneficial to communities, and how local, national and international governments can implement, engage and support youth and youth led initiatives. ‘State of the Field’ then goes further and identifies youth led organizations that need more support, financial and otherwise, that could in the future make the most difference. This framework of initiatives was first put in place at the World Youth Congress in October 1999 and since then has expanded to a global form of youth led participation.

Developed by UNICEF and Save the Children, Children's Rights andBusiness Principles provides a comprehensive framework for understanding and addressing the impact of business on the rights and well-being of children. While most businesses are aware that 'children are our future,' the voices of young people are often ostracized when it comes to the corporate sustainability movement. The Children’s Rights and Business Principles are built on existing standards and practices and help to explain the opportunities for business of investing in children.  

The UNDP is currently running a global thematic consultation on governance in the lead up to the post-2015 framework. Similar to Wikiprogress, Wikigender and Wikichild online discussions, this is an open forum for individuals, policy makers, NGOs, UN staff and other stakeholders to discuss how governance can be used to tackle the most pressing issues (inequality etc) facing the post-2015 panel.  Make your voice heard!

The Human Development Report 2013 examines the noticeable transition in global dynamics catalysed by the fast-rising new powers of the developing world and its long-term implications for human development. The report series provides an overview of health, education and basic living standards across the world so that governments and decision makers can make more accurate and comprehensive decisions to boost progress.

What can governments learn from the open-data revolution? In this striking talk (below), Beth Noveck, the former deputy CTO at the White House, shares a vision of practical openness - connecting bureaucracies to citizens, sharing data and creating a truly participatory democracy.

We look forward to bringing you more Governance related articles in the coming weeks!

The Wikiprogress Team