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U.N. food agencies welcome Pope Francis's commitment to helping poor, hungry

"United Nations officials [on Tuesday] welcomed Pope Francis' public commitment to support those who live in poverty and suffer from hunger, and expressed their readiness to work with the new leader of the Catholic Church on these issues," the U.N. News Centre reports (3/19).

21 Mar 2013

U.S. foreign aid system needs 'overhaul' to better foster development

"In practice, the foreign aid system, and in particular, the U.S. Agency for International Development, work very well in accomplishing what Washington politicians want them to do," Charles Kenny, a fellow at the Center for Global Development and the New America Foundation, writes in Bloomberg Businessweek's "Small World" blog.

21 Mar 2013

USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah publishes annual letter

USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah on Tuesday published his 2013 annual letter. "Today, I am pleased to share with you our third annual letter about the work our Agency does around the world to help answer President Obama's call," he writes in the letter, available on the USAID webpage.

21 Mar 2013

IRIN examines issues surrounding implementation of national drought policies

"There is quite a leap to be made between a country's declared intent to draw up a drought policy and actually making it happen on the ground," according to "several participants at the recent High-Level Meeting on National Drought Policy in Geneva," IRIN reports.

21 Mar 2013

Blog examines survival of Feed the Future initiative under sequestration

"While the [Feed the Future] program took a few years to get off the ground, and is probably not all that well known to the public, it is a favorite of USAID Administrator Raj Shah -- and also a go-to program budget hawks now want to cut back," development blogger Tom Murphy writes in the Humanosphere blog, noting the "House Budget Committee recommended to cut Feed the Future entirely last year."

21 Mar 2013

India's federal cabinet approves food security bill; Parliament to debate proposal

"India approved changes to a bill that grants the nation's poor the right to buy food grains at subsidized rates, meeting a pledge by the ruling Congress party to spread the benefits of growth before elections due next year," Bloomberg reports (Parija/Mishra, 3/20).

21 Mar 2013

Researchers develop dune infiltration system to treat coastal stormwater runoff for fecal bacteria

When it rains, untreated stormwater can sweep pollutants into coastal waters, potentially endangering public health. Now researchers from North Carolina State University have developed low-cost filtration systems that are concealed beneath sand dunes and filter out most of the bacteria that can lead to beach closures.

21 Mar 2013

Report says 75% of Asia-Pacific emerging economies facing water crises

"About 75 percent of emerging economies in the Asia-Pacific region suffer from low levels of water security, with millions still living without safe water supplies and sanitation facilities, according to a study" published last week, SciDev.Net reports.

20 Mar 2013

Michelle Bachelet steps down as head of U.N. Women

"Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, who became head of the U.N. agency promoting women's equality in July 2010, said Friday night that she is giving up the post and returning home, an announcement that comes amid widespread speculation she plans to run for president again this year," the Associated Press/Washington Post writes.

19 Mar 2013

U.K. showing 'moral leadership' through development aid

"I have been following the debate over the [British] government's decision to protect foreign aid from budget cuts," Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation writes in a Daily Mail opinion piece, adding, "To me, your country's steadfast decision to stick with an investment that saves more children's lives than any other possibly could is the very definition of morality."

19 Mar 2013

Climate change could worsen global hunger; Upcoming conference to explore links

"The links between climate, hunger and poor nutrition are becoming increasingly clear: a recent report for the Committee on World Food Security warned that climate change could significantly change the amount and quality of food consumed -- with potentially devastating consequences for those most at risk of hunger," Irish Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore; Mary Robinson, president of the Mary Robinson Foundation Climate Justice; Ertharin Cousin, executive director of the World Food Programme; and Frank Rijsberman, CEO of the CGIAR Consortium, write in the CGIAR blog.

19 Mar 2013

New York Times examines Muslim Brotherhood's objections to CSW declaration; U.N. members continue to push for compromise

"Now, with a leader of the [Muslim] Brotherhood's political arm in Egypt's presidential palace and its members dominating Parliament, some deeply patriarchal views the organization has long taught its members are spilling into public view," the New York Times reports, noting a statement released this week by the Brotherhood objecting to "a proposed United Nations declaration to condemn violence against women."

16 Mar 2013

NIOSH, MSHA to develop new safety devices for miners

A new National Academy of Sciences report identifies tools that would help miners devise their own means of escape when trapped underground.

16 Mar 2013

Food security, development strategies must make empowering women 'a priority'

"Development actors may agree on the need to empower women, but it is hard to mobilize resources, and to target these resources, when the goal in question is so broad and diffuse," Olivier de Schutter, the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to food, states in an opinion piece in the Guardian's "Global Development Professionals Network."

15 Mar 2013

International conference examines critical link between urbanization and food security

Food Security in a Rapidly Urbanizing World, the first international conference examining the critical link between urbanization and food security, will be held at the University of Pennsylvania from Wednesday, March 13, through Friday, March 15, 2013.

14 Mar 2013

CEOs of 27 companies write open letter urging British PM to keep foreign aid commitment

"Chief executives of 27 [of the] biggest companies in the U.K., including BP and Vodafone, [on Monday] joined the boss of English football's Premier League in appealing to Prime Minister David Cameron to keep his commitment to devote 0.7 percent of national income on international aid," the Press Trust of India/Business Standard reports (3/11).

13 Mar 2013

New York Times reports on controversy surrounding Syrian aid; WFP to feed 2.5M people in Syria by April

The New York Times examines the controversy surrounding humanitarian aid to Syria, writing, "The United States and other international donors are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on humanitarian aid for Syrians afflicted by the civil war. But here in the rebel-controlled north, where the deprivation is most acute, that money has bought mostly anger and resentment: the vast majority of aid is going to territory controlled by President Bashar al-Assad, and the small amount reaching opposition-held areas is all but invisible."

13 Mar 2013

Global food prices held steady in February, FAO food index shows

"Global food prices held steady in February as falling wheat prices offset higher oils and dairy prices, the United Nations' food agency said on Thursday, forecasting increased wheat output in 2013," Reuters reports, noting, "The FAO Food Price Index, which measures monthly price changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar, averaged 210 points in February, unchanged from January."

11 Mar 2013

Indian researchers use plants for herbal defluoridation of drinking water

Researchers in India have developed a filter system based on a medicinal herb, which they say can quickly and easily remove "fluoride" from drinking water.

7 Mar 2013

Reform in food aid distribution could lead to more lives saved, study suggests

"International development agencies may be able to save the lives of a greater number of undernourished children by changing how they allocate food aid in developing countries, suggests a study published [Monday] in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences," SciDev.Net reports.

6 Mar 2013