Development

Analysis and Comment (21)

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Universities do have a role to play in helping developing countries. University image from www.shutterstock.com

Universities and the poorest billion

By Leszek Borysiewicz, University of Cambridge

The following is based on the Monash Richard Larkins Oration given by Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University last night in Melbourne. You can read and listen to our…
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Non-communicable diseases are the silent assassins in global health. Risk exposure begins in early childhood, and accumulates across the lifespan. michaelwhays

One year on, what has the UN meeting on non-communicable diseases achieved?

By Phillip Baker; Alessandro R Demaio, University of Copenhagen, and Rob Moodie, University of Melbourne

What causes two out of every three deaths in the world, has been described by the Director-General of the World Health Organisation as “a slow motion disaster” and by the Secretary-General of the UN a…
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It’s easy to find examples of good development in national parks – Cradle Mountain Lodge, for example – and examples of where it hasn’t worked. Michael Dawes

Is nature-based tourism development really what our national parks need?

By Sue Beeton, La Trobe University

You’d be hard pushed to find someone who doesn’t love national parks, either as visitors or as reasonably-minded bystanders. But can those parks be loved to death? And, if so, who should step in to help…
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Why is philanthropist Melinda Gates dedicating the rest of her life to improving women’s access to contraception? DFID UK Department for International Development

Contraception: best for women, babies and the planet

By Lois Salamonsen, Prince Henry's Institute and Gui-Ying Nie, Prince Henry's Institute

Melinda Gates’ vow to put the availability of contraception back on the global health agenda – even if it means going against the Pope – has provided a welcome voice for logic and compassion. Speaking…
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As many as one in four girls in the Pacific aged between 15 and 19 years are already mothers. Graham Crumb

Life saver: why Pacific women deserve contraceptive choice

By Elissa Kennedy, Burnet Institute

World leaders, international donors, government officials from developing countries and civil society organisations gathered at the London Summit on Family Planning overnight to support the right of women…
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We need to take a better look at the role women can play in the Millenium Devlopment Goals. AAP/EPA/Harish Tyagi

Challenge 11: How improving women’s status helps us all

By Mel Dunn and Danielle Logue, University of Technology, Sydney

In part 11 of the multi-disciplinary Millennium Project series, Danielle Logue and Mel Dunn note the striking absence of male voices in discussions of women’s empowerment, despite it being fundamental…
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Land of the snow gums: Australian forests are dynamic. Flickr/SplaTT

Australia’s vast and dynamic forest cover: a bird’s-eye view

By Rod Keenan, University of Melbourne

Forests spark emotional debates in Australia. Much of the rhetoric is about saving “the last of Tasmania’s wild forests” or how we must “stop logging in Australian native forests”. Australian forests…
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Facing tough questions: NSW’s planning review must grapple with competing visions of development. Flickr/Askew One

Under review: rival visions for people and communities

By Peter Sainsbury

Later this year Brad Hazzard, NSW Minister for Planning and Infrastructure, faces a difficult decision. Will he prepare new state planning legislation that prioritises a desired outcome: healthy, functional…
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Questions of planetary power: a mere 0.3% of transnational corporations control 40% of global revenue. Flickr/paul (dex)

Planet under Pressure 2012: here’s the wrap

By Roger Jones, Victoria University

The Planet Under Pressure 2012 Conference was held in London a fortnight back and released the first State of the Planet Declaration. The conference aim was to set out the science (in a broad sense) in…
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Will the UN recommendations pull people out of poverty and reduce pressure on the environment? The Advocacy Project

UN sustainability panel says put a price on the environment

By Paul Burke

A recent cartoon (below) extrapolates the use of the word “sustainable”. It predicts that in 50 years each sentence will on average contain the word at least once. The cartoon is clever, and “sustainable…
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Aung San Suu Kyi’s release from house arrest in November last year was a very significant step towards reform in Burma. EPA/Mizzima News

The world can do much more to help Burma change

By Trevor Wilson

Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd is cautious, but says we are seeing the first signs of change in Burma, but the government there still needs to do more for its people. He is correct in saying “It is in our…
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Women will be the key to dealing with the growth in population. Flickr/PhotograTree

Seven billion reasons to be a feminist

By Rob Brooks

SEVEN BILLION PEOPLE: I had better write fast. Sometime between my deadline to submit this story and the time it goes live, the estimated world population will exceed 7 billion for the first time ever…
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Developing smaller urban areas may mean better employment and living conditions for migrant workers. AFP

Why China’s mega-cities leave their citizens struggling

By Beatriz Carrillo Garcia

SEVEN BILLION PEOPLE: The world’s seven billionth person is likely to be born today. Beatriz Carrillo Garcia, lecturer in China Studies at the University of Sydney looks at effect a growing population…
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Environmental activists have targeted palm oil – an industry crucial to Indonesia’s development. AAP

Big NGOs should stop monkeying around and get tougher on the West

By Phillip Lawrence

In 1990 there were about 400 international environmental groups. Today, this number is more like 1.4 million. So why is the world apparently in a worse state now? Have environmental groups paid too much…
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Development agencies can’t ignore the impact of illicit drugs. AAP

Dependent on development: why we’re losing the war on drugs

By Nick Crofts, University of Melbourne

Around 6% of the world’s population aged 15 to 64 use illicit drugs – that’s 250 million people. It’s a rapidly changing population, with many different pathways to illicit drug use and new users constantly…
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Anti-US feelings run high after drone attacks in north-western Pakistan EPA.

US aid cuts won’t hit Pakistan where it hurts

By Claude Rakisits, Deakin University

Washington’s decision last week to suspend $800 million in military aid to Pakistan should not have come as a surprise to anyone who has been following recent developments in the US-Pakistan relationship…
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It’s time to begin preparing for the “tertiary effects”. AAP

What will a four-degree climate rise mean for world health?

By Colin Butler, University of Canberra

Public health experts have warned for more than two decades that climate change will harm human health. Initially their attention focused on “primary” health effects (e.g heat waves, bush fires and flooding…
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Australia’s foreign aid commitment falls far short of the level promised in 1970. AAP

Australia’s aid funding: does our performance match our promises?

By Harry Minas, University of Melbourne

In the foreword to the international development assistance component of this year’s Federal Budget, Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd gives cogent reasons for Australia’s position on foreign aid funding. He…

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