Towards transformational change: UNDP’s work in environment and sustainable development 2008-2012.

Posted on: 13 May 2013
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The UN Development Programme’s (UNDP) Environment and Energy Group (EEG) has released a report which features a collection of stories from around the world in four strategic areas: mainstreaming environment and energy; mobilizing environmental finance; promoting adaptation to climate change; and expanding access to environmental and energy services for the poor.

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Global Housing Strategy framework document

Posted on: 30 April 2013
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The UN-Habitat Global Housing Strategy is a collaborative global movement towards adequate housing for all and improving access to housing in general and the living conditions of slum dwellers in particular. Its main objective is to assist member States in working towards the realization of the right to adequate housing. One of the main objectives of the Strategy is for member States to develop national housing strategies. A national housing strategy, as a pillar of national urban policy, comprises agreed sets of activities formalized in Strategy documents and their updates. It guides polices, planning and programming of investment, management and maintenance activities in the areas of housing, slum upgrading and slum prevention. The expected outcomes of the UN-Habitat Global Housing Strategy will (re)position housing within the global contemporary debate on economically viable, environmentally and culturally sustainable and socially inclusive cities.

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Learning from the city: British Red Cross Urban Learning Project Scoping Study

Posted on: 23 April 2013
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This study looks at the evolving nature of risk and vulnerability in urban settings and assesses the operational implications of these trends and challenges for the British Red Cross, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and the wider humanitarian sector. It highlights five ways forward for the British Red Cross and others. While drawing lessons from humanitarian programmes across the globe, the study focuses principally on evidence from five British Red Cross operational contexts: Haiti (Port-au-Prince), Uganda (Kampala and other cities), Djibouti (Djibouti-ville), Mongolia (Ulaanbataar) and Nepal (Kathmandu).

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Minimum standards for embedding disaster resilience

Posted on: 23 April 2013
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The Department for International Development (DFID) Business Plan for 2012-2015 commits DFID to embed disaster resilience in all DFID Country Offices by 2015. This document sets out the minimum standards a country office should reach. The Department for International Development has also published a series of briefings highlighting recommendations for building resilience in Nepal, Kenya, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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Global Monitoring Report 2013: Rural-Urban Dynamics and the Millennium Development Goals

Posted on: 19 April 2013
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The Global Monitoring Report (GMR), jointly produced by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), is an annual report card on the world’s progress toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Now in its 10th edition, the GMR also outlines prospects for the attainment of the MDGs and assesses the support of the international community. Each annual report has a thematic focus, an aspect of the development agenda on which the GMR provides a more in-depth assessment. The theme of GMR 2013 is rural-urban disparities in development and ways urbanization can better help achieve the MDGs.

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Post-2015: Global action for an inclusive and sustainable future

Posted on: 11 April 2013
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The European Report on Development (ERD) is the main output of the ‘Mobilising European Research for Development Policies’ initiative, supported by the European Commission and seven Member States (Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom). The ERD 2013 was prepared by a consortium of three independent research centres: the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM ), the German Development Institute (DIE), and the Overseas Development Institute (ODI). There is considerable debate in establishing a post-2015 global framework to succeed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and guide global collective action on development. This report aims to provide an independent contribution to the post-2015 debate by focusing on how best global collective action can support the efforts of developing countries to achieve development.

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Making slums history: A global challenge for 2020. Rabat, Morocco, 26-29 November 2012

Posted on: 11 April 2013
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This event provided an opportunity to share best practices on policies and the implementation of slum upgrading, eradication and prevention programmes by local and national the world. The specific objectives of the conference were to: develop specific recommendations and guidelines for slum improvement policies and the development of well-adapted housing alternatives to prevent new slum formation (the Rabat Declaration); devise the strategy required to revise Target 7-D of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and adjust it more closely to the diversity of national conditions and circumstances; share successful experiences, methodologies and evaluation methods with regard to slum reduction; broaden the scope of experience-sharing within the Conference to bring in Least Performing Countries (and African countries in particular), to help them implement effective slum reduction policies; strengthen partnerships between Morocco and other African countries. A report of the conference and videos are available online.

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2012 International Development Conference. Auckland, New Zealand, 2-5 December 2012

Posted on: 11 April 2013
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This event provided an international forum for development scholars, researchers, policy makers and practitioners to explore the linkages between the three areas that constitute international development work: the integration of research, policy and practice in development. Presentations and papers are available online.

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Transportation in Indian cities

Posted on: 10 April 2013
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Henrik Valeur, an architect-urbanist in Copenhagen, has written three articles on transport issues in Indian cities. The first looks at health problems caused by motorised transportation in India’s cities; the second reports on a visit to Bangalore to see how researchers at the Indian Institute of Science are integrating bicycle sharing and electric vehicles on campus, a potential prototype for urban transit systems across India’s cities; and a third looks at plans to create a car-free neighbourhood in Chandigarh.. See the end of the article for links to other two articles.

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The rise of the South: human progress in a diverse world

Posted on: 8 April 2013
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Since 1990, the UN’s Human Development Reports (HDR) have attempted to go beyond simple ‘blunt’ measures of progress and development, such as income, favouring instead measures that assess people’s long-term well-being, particularly of those living in the global south. The latest report is concerned with the extraordinary growth taking place in the leading economies of the global south, the impact this growth is having and what this means for the future. It is thus primarily dealing with the economic, social and political global situation and makes no direct attempt to deal with the questions of the future ecological sustainability of the phenomenon of the Rise of the South.

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