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| Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Lecture, Oslo, December 10, 2006 (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2006/yunus-lecture-en.html) . |
| “Poverty is a Threat to Peace” |
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| Current Hot Topics / Features _________________________________________________________________ Physical and Psychological Implications of Risky Child Labor: A Study in Sylhet City, Bangladesh In this new Working Paper (No. 8 of the Bangladesh Development Research Working Paper Series), Mohammad Nashir Uddin, Mohammad Hamiduzzaman and Bernhard G. Gunter provide a review of the most recent child labor literature and analyze then — based on a survey undertaken in Sylhet city — to what extent risky child labor causes physical and mental discomfort. LEARN MORE ---> _________________________________________________________________________________________ Development assistance for health does not always go to countries that need it most A comprehensive study tracking development assistance for health shows that Bangladesh received only $1 billion in health funding between 2002 and 2007 even though Bangladesh has the seventh highest burden of disease among countries receiving development assistance. On the other hand, Uganda received $1.4 billion during the same time period, even though it has a far lower (19th highest) disease burden. See: Nirmala Ravishankar, Paul Gubbins, Rebecca J. Cooley, Katherine Leach-Kemon, Catherine M. Michaud, Dean T. Jamison, and Christopher J. L. Murray (2009) “Financing of global health: tracking development assistance for health from 1990 to 2007”, The Lancet, Vol. 373, No. 9681 (June 20), pp. 2113-2124. LEARN MORE ---> _________________________________________________________________________________________ Bangladesh expects its economy to grow at 6 percent in FY 2009/2010 Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith told Reuters on June 9, 2009 that Bangladesh expects its economy to grow by 6 percent in the next fiscal year (FY) despite the global downturn. He also said that Bangladesh will announce a bigger fiscal budget for FY 2009/10, relying on a robust farming sector and hoping for higher aid and investment. LEARN MORE ---> _________________________________________________________________________________________ June 5, 2009: World Environment Day Recognizing World Environment Day 2009, the BDRC provides (1) an updated annotated bibliography on “Climate Change and Bangladesh” (jointly with Bangladesh’s Climate Change Cell) and (2) a list of recent publications related to environment and Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> (1) annotated bibliography (2) list of recent publications _________________________________________________________________________________________ People’s Participation in Health Services: A Study of Bangladesh’s Rural Health Complex In this new Working Paper (No. 7 of the Bangladesh Development Research Working Paper Series), Mohammad Shafiqul Islam and Mohammad Woli Ullah focus on Bangladesh’s rural health complex. They show that a large number of Bangladesh’s people, particularly in rural areas, remain with no or little access to health care facilities. The study reveals that financial and technical support is very helpful to ensure health service among village people. It also shows that the Government’s allocation and technical support are not sufficient in the rural health complex and that the people’s participation is far from being satisfactory. The paper concludes with a variety of recommendations. LEARN MORE ---> _________________________________________________________________________________________ The Impact of Development and Growth on CO2 Emissions A new study uses the example of Bangladesh to illustrate the impact of low-income countries’ economic growth on global CO2 emissions in 2050 by using a set of alternative assumptions for GDP growth and improvements in energy efficiency. The study will be presented at the 5th bi-annual conference of the United States Society for Ecological Economics (USSEE) in Washington, DC, on June 1, 2009. LEARN MORE ---> (pdf) _________________________________________________________________________________________ Cyclone Aila kills nearly 200 in Bangladesh and India Reuters: Nearly 200 people have been killed by a cyclone that ripped through Bangladesh and eastern India, while millions remained marooned by floodwater or forced to live in shelters. The death toll in Bangladesh rose to more than 130 following the recovery of dozens of bodies on Tuesday, while Indian officials said at least 64 people had died in West Bengal state. Cyclone Aila slammed into parts of coastal Bangladesh and eastern India on Monday, May 25, 2009. LEARN MORE ---> _________________________________________________________________________________________ May 18, 2009: Human Rights Watch releases report on executions and torture in Bangladesh For many years soldiers, paramilitary forces, and police officers have committed grave human rights violations with impunity. While thousands of people have been extra-judicially killed, tortured, and arbitrarily detained, very few perpetrators have ever been investigated, charged, convicted, and sentenced for their crimes. The report, entitled “Ignoring Executions and Torture: Impunity for Bangladesh’s Security Forces” shows that despite repeated promises to end the culture of impunity, the failure of successive governments to prosecute those responsible has been constant. The government of Bangladesh should live up to its international human rights obligations by ensuring that all allegations of abuse are thoroughly and impartially investigated and that those implicated by the evidence are prosecuted. LEARN MORE ---> _________________________________________________________________________________________ An Analysis of SAFTA in the Context of Bangladesh In this new Working Paper (No. 6 of the Bangladesh Development Research Working Paper Series), Md. Joynal Abdin focuses on a review of the progress made with SAFTA, what Bangladesh’s prospects are in SAFTA, and how SAFTA can be made more active. It provides the historical background about the various initiatives within South Asia, reviews the actual trade data, and reviews the main trade restrictions within SAFTA. It also provides a set of recommendations based on this analysis. LEARN MORE ---> _________________________________________________________________________________________ Critical Factors of Women Entrepreneurship Development in Rural Bangladesh In this new Working Paper (No. 5 of the Bangladesh Development Research Working Paper Series), Ms. Faraha Nawaz analyzes the critical factors of women entrepreneurship development in rural Bangladesh. The analysis is based on recent theoretical ideas that have been supported by empirical research findings. The paper depicts an analytical framework based on institutional theory, which focuses on three kinds of factors: regulative, normative, and cognitive. Based on the analysis of these factors, the paper provides many significant policy implications on how to improve women entrepreneurship development in rural Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> _________________________________________________________________________________________ May 3, 2009: World Press Freedom Day Recognizing May 3, 2009 as World Press Freedom Day the BDRC provides three recent publications related to press freedom and Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> _________________________________________________________________________________________ Syeda Rizwana Hasan wins the 2009 Goldman Environmental Prize The BDRC congratulates Syeda Rizwana Hasan for winning the Goldman Environmental Prize 2009 for Asia for her work on reducing the impact of Bangladesh’s exploitative and environmentally-devastating ship breaking industry. She led a legal battle resulting in increased government regulation and heightened public awareness about the dangers of ship breaking. LEARN MORE ---> _________________________________________________________________________________________ April 25, 2009: World Malaria Day Recognizing World Malaria Day the BDRC provides a list of recent publications related to malaria in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> _________________________________________________________________________________________ April 22, 2009: Bangladesh faces diarrhoea epidemic The latest data support that Bangladesh is in the grip of what doctors are calling a diarrhoea epidemic. LEARN MORE ---> (Reuters video) _________________________________________________________________________________________ April 19, 2009: Bangladesh economy has exhibited resilience so far Based on the World Bank’s latest update, Bangladesh has exhibited resilience so far and maintained an impressive growth rate of 5.5 percent in fiscal year 2009, in spite of the global economic downturn. However there are indications that the global economic recession is beginning to impact the Bangladesh economy. But how is the changing external and domestic economic environment affecting us? And what should be some of our policy responses to this looming crisis? The World Bank’s Bangladesh Semi-Annual Economic Update – April 2009, discusses the state of economy, provides insight into the changing global and domestic economic environment and outlines policy responses to the global financial crisis. LEARN MORE ---> (pdf) _________________________________________________________________________________________ April 7, 2009: World Health Day Recognizing World Health Day, the BDRC provides a list of recent developmental publications related to health issues in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> _________________________________________________________________________________________ April 2, 2009: Updated Poverty Maps for Bangladesh The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and the World Bank, in collaboration with the World Food Programme (WFP), updated the Poverty Maps for Bangladesh. Poverty mapping is an important statistical instrument that can estimate the poverty incidence at Upazila levels. The new poverty maps released yesterday is based on the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) of 2005 and the Population Census of 2001. Bangladesh has experienced significant poverty reduction over the past two decades. The poverty incidence declined from 57 percent at the beginning of the 1990s to 40 percent in 2005. However, a closer look to the recent reduction in the national poverty rate shows uneven progress amongst different areas and communities. In fact, there remain many areas where the incidence of poverty is far larger than the national figures would suggest. LEARN MORE ---> _________________________________________________________________________________________ March 22, 2009: World Water Day Recognizing World Water Day, the BDRC provides a list of recent developmental publications related to water issues in Bangladesh. Click here for the official website of World Water Day 2009. LEARN MORE ---> _________________________________________________________________________________________ World Bank Seeks to Improve Higher Education in Bangladesh March 17, 2009: The BDRC congratulates the World Bank for approving a US$81 million IDA credit to Bangladesh, designed to improve the quality and relevance of teaching and research in the country’s higher education institutions. Among others, the project also aims to integrate Bangladesh’s universities in the globalized world of knowledge, i.e., aims at establishing a Bangladesh Research and Education Network (BdREN), a high performance Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) network providing connectivity among education and research institutions in both public and private sectors to enable academics, scientists, and researchers to communicate with their peers within the country and globally. LEARN MORE ---> _________________________________________________________________________________________ Breakthrough solutions for transitioning Bangladesh to the 21st century Bangladesh Development Initiative (BDI), Democracy and Development in Bangladesh Forum (DDBF), and The Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the John F. Kennedy School of Government are partnering to organize a two-day international conference (October 9-10, 2009) to examine the development challenges facing Bangladesh and to foster a culture of innovation geared towards addressing those challenges. The goal of the conference is to generate creative ideas that would result in breakthrough solutions for transitioning Bangladesh to the 21st century. LEARN MORE ---> (pdf) _________________________________________________________________________________________ Previous Hot Topics / Features |
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