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What’s Behind West and Central Africa’s Youthful Demographics? High Desired Family Size
›May 11, 2015 // By Elizabeth Leahy MadsenSub-Saharan Africa is often characterized as an outlier in terms of population dynamics and reproductive health. While women are having fewer children around the world, even prompting some places to begin worrying about aging populations, the demographic transition is proceeding more slowly in Africa. Fertility rates in North and Southern Africa have declined to around three children per woman, but the three other sub-regions of the continent – East, Central, and West Africa – retain much higher fertility, between five and six children per woman. Whether, and how quickly, fertility rates decline in these regions over the next few decades will in large part determine the peak of world population. These regions’ demographic trajectories also have important implications for health, governance, food security, economic development, land use, climate vulnerability, and even security.
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Under Modi, India’s Climate Goals Tied to Clean Energy Development
›India occupies a precarious position in the global climate change order. It trails only China, the United States, and the European Union in total emissions, but per capita emissions are far lower. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi won the 2014 elections on a strong pro-development platform and continues to wave this flag at all levels, making energy security a major priority and pledging to expand the country’s coal mining industry. But he also insists he will work with the international community on mitigating climate change. During a recent visit to France, Germany, and Canada, he declared, “India will set the agenda for the upcoming Conference of Parties” in Paris this fall.
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Banning Garrett: Getting Urbanization Right Can “Solve a Lot of Big Problems”
›The world is changing quickly thanks to a convergence of megatrends, says Singularity University’s Banning Garrett in this week’s podcast, but urbanization could be the most critical. “If we get it right in cities, we can solve a lot of big problems,” he says.
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Katie Millar, Maternal Health Task Force
Global Experts Highlight Importance of Midwives to Maternal Health
›May 5 was the International Day of the Midwife, an opportunity for the global community to come together to recognize the incredible impact midwives have on maternal and newborn health and decreasing mortality. Want to know more about what global leaders are doing to strengthen midwifery?
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Roger-Mark De Souza Talks Global Population Dynamics on ‘Radio Times’
›From aging populations in East Asia, Europe, and the United States to youth in sub-Saharan Africa, changing demographics have implications for the entire global community, said Roger-Mark De Souza, director of population, environmental security, and resilience at the Wilson Center in an April 20 interview for WHYY’s Radio Times in Philadelphia.
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Measuring the SDGs: Investments in Mapping, Geospatial Data Collection Critical to Success
›To ensure no one is left behind by the next generation of global development goals, a comprehensive mix of robust data is needed to measure progress and guide investments. A recent report coordinated by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network estimates the world will need to spend roughly $1 billion a year to sustain and enhance the statistical systems supporting and evaluating progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the successors to the Millennium Development Goals expected to guide the development agenda for the next 15 years.
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In Kerry’s Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review, Climate and Conflict Are Focus
›April 29, 2015 // By Schuyler NullIt’s a bit late, but the second-ever Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR) is finally here. And it’s a good thing – it’d be a shame if this effort to present a coherent strategic narrative of U.S. diplomacy and development, which was started by Secretary of State Clinton in 2010, petered out.
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Blood Teak: Changing the Calculus of Myanmar’s Ethnic Conflicts
›On March 30, the government of Myanmar and an umbrella group of 16 ethnic minority groups agreed to a draft agreement for a “nationwide ceasefire” to end decades of conflict in the country’s northern reaches. But even as the latest ceasefire was being made, two armed groups, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), were in open conflict with the Burmese military. Fighting in Kokang and Kachin has led to casualties in the triple digits and displaced an estimated 100,000 civilians.
Showing posts from category development.