Our world is on the brink of change – change for the better. New policies, new ideas and new technology bring us ever closer to the end of poverty, disease and hunger each day. But with these rapid changes comes a deluge of information. So, beginning in 2012, we at the THP Blog will bring you a weekly/bi-weekly wrap up of the world wide web of international development. Check out this week’s hot topics and let us know what news we missed.
For a complete reading list of online news, visit our StumbleUpon page.
Who’s Who?
| January 1, 2012 | Send in questions for Melinda Gates via Nicholas KristofNew York Times Reporter and author of Half the Sky, Nicholas Kristof, takes readers’ questions for Gates Foundation co-founder, Melinda Gates, to be answered during her upcoming trip to Bangladesh. Read the questions and ask your own. |
| January 2, 2012 | Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai a film by Lisa Merton and Alan DaterProfessor Wangari Muta Maathai, Nobel Peace Laureate, founder of the Green Belt Movement, and former THP Africa Prize Laureate, passed away on September 26, 2011. This film, airing on PBS for the next week, explains how the simple act of planting trees led one woman to lead an environmental revolution. Learn more and find a local listing. |
| January 3, 2012 | New Food and Agriculture Organisation Chief Pledges to Prioritise Africa by Mark Tran at the Guardian Global Development BlogNew FAO chief, José Graziano da Silva, outlines his vision of ‘one FAO’ acting at the country level as he sets out a reformist agenda. He’s cutting expenses and reprioritizing from the bottom up. Read the rest of his plan for the FAO. |
| January 4, 2012 | World Food Program Director Stepping Down. Who Will Obama Select to Head WFP? by Mark Leon Goldberg at UN DispatchJosette Sheeran, Executive Director of the last five years, is leaving the WFP for the World Economic Forum. Who is her likely replacement? Read full article. |
Looking Back
| December 30, 20133 | United Nations Year in Review: Looking back at major events of 2011 by UN WebcastIn 2011 our global population swelled to 7 billion yet nearly 1 billion remain hungry. In 2011 famine swept the Horn of Africa and countries around the world sought a new definition of freedom. In 2011, women and girls took center stage. What do you remember about 2011? Watch this UN video review of the last year. |
Looking Forward
| December 7, 2011 | Glimpsing the Future on Climate Change by Joe DeCapua at Voice of America(From early last month but worth the read) Between Durban and Rio, one of 2012’s hottest topics will undoubtedly be climate change. Listen and read as DeCapua recaps the latest research and sums up the experts’ environmental projections. Listen now. |
| December 30, 2011 | 12 Trends That Will Drive the Global Agenda in 2012 by Mark Leon Goldberg at UN DispatchHunger related trends account for 3 of the 12 expected trends for 2012. What will drive 2012? |
| January 3, 2012 | World Food Prices Will Probably Decline This Year, UN Says by Rudy Ruitenberg at Blooberg Businessweek“We’re expecting that prices will not be growing,” New FAO chief, José Graziano da Silva, 62, said at a press conference in Rome. Read his reasoning for this expectation. |
photo via UN Dispatch
