http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/archive/6668 en_GB http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/157216/1/6668 Food crisis in Afghanistan is deepening by the day. Afghan government has expressed its inability to tackle the food insecurity on its own and has appealed together with the UN for US $ 80 million assistance to avert this humanitarian tragedy. http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/150927/1/6668 Hinting at increasing economic disparity in South Asia, despite rapid economic growth, the annual Millennium Development Goals (MDG) report by the UN says that a massive 30 per cent of the population still lives on a dollar a day in the Indian sub continent. http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/143909/1/6668 Indian NGO Housing and Land Rights Network has alleged that two years after the tsunami, nearly 60 per cent of the survivors in south India are living in temporary shelters due to government apathy and poorly-constructed dwellings by both the government and non governmental organisations (NGOs). http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/143907/1/6668 A World Bank report - Global Economic Prospects 2007: Managing the Next Wave of Globalization - released on Friday in Indian capital New Delhi warns that globalization could spur faster growth in developing countries but could be accompanied by growing income inequality and potentially severe environmental pressures. http://southasia.oneworld.net/link/gotolink/addhit/76093 With only 11 per cent of the earth’s surface considered prime land for feeding a global population expected to reach 8.2 billion by 2020, early warning systems for climate change are crucial in fighting land degradation that already affects 250 million people and threatens 1 billion more, the United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has warned. http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/141619/1/6668 Radio experts and communicators working on community radio have urged the World Congress on Communication for Development (WCCD) to give community radio its rightful place as a development tool in the communications debate. Radio specialists are dismayed that the global meet has overlooked the vital role of community radio in empowering people and strengthening democracy in many regions, including, conflict places. OneWorld's Rahul Kumar reports from the congress in Rome. http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/141485/1/6668 The first World Congress on Communication for Development (WCCD) took off in Rome with introspection deep in the minds of development professionals and communication experts, on where does communication stand in the development sector, and whether communication strategies can be given credit for successful development programmes. OneWorld's Rahul Kumar writes from Rome. http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/140127/1/6668 A new report by the UN says that India has enough food to feed its population of one billion though hunger and food insecurity have increased since the mid-1990s. http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/140012/1/6668 An Indian activist has alleged that Indian enforcement agencies are not being able to stem the disappearances of millions of children all over the country. He fears that missing children are being pushed into begging or forced work. http://southasia.oneworld.net/link/gotolink/addhit/74529 A three-week yatra (protest rally) by NGOs in north Indian towns seeks to assert community rights over water resources. The rally specifically targets MNC soft drink giants Coca-Cola and PepsiCo over their exploitation of water. http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/138236/1/6668 The situation in the Narmada valley today is nothing unexpected yet the most shocking. The Sardar Sarovar Dam, with the height raised, has silently killed the Adivasi communities in the Nandurbar district of Maharashtra, Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh and many in Badwani and Dhar districts of Madhya Pradesh too. These generations' old Adivasis in the Satpura and Vindhya have lost their main sources of livelihood, land, to the sea that the roaring river water is converted to. http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/137995/1/6668 Social activists in India want the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to include achieving social equity and curbing human rights violations against certain communities. Many communities like tribals, Dalits and minorities have been denied their social, economic and cultural rights and are therefore languishing in poverty. http://southasia.oneworld.net/link/gotolink/addhit/73117 Vancouver, Canada: Mayors from around the world gathering at the World Urban Forum pledged to use their power, influence and voice to mobilize the political will needed to meet the globally agreed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of eight concrete goals aimed at reversing the worst aspects of global poverty by 2015. http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/135384/1/6668 Community leaders from Mehdiganj in north India began a hunger strike to demand the closure of the Coca-Cola bottling plant. The leaders have accused the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Mehdiganj of creating severe water shortages affecting over twenty villages, polluting agricultural land and groundwater, illegally occupying land, evading taxes and treating workers unfairly. http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/135383/1/6668 South African women living in squatter settlements build new homes, about 18,000 of them. Tens of thousands of new homes and many new police stations are coming up in Bombay slums. Neither is the result of a government programme, or of some kindly NGO. At both places local people have combined with government agencies in bold new ways to improve their homes and their lives.