School feeding programmes, which provide meals so that millions of children in poor countries can attend classes, can be broadened to reach even more pupils with the help of donors and partnerships, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said today as it called for increased international support. Nancy Walters, the chief of school feeding policy at WFP, told a New York forum on hunger that the programmes have many...

At a time political trade unions are struggling to get a foothold in the country’s mammoth unorganised sector, there’s a new entrant in the field: the Catholic Church. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) has launched a national labour union, the Workers’ India Federation (WIF), focusing on “unorganised” workers. The motto of the union, formed after a three-day workshop in Bangalore in May, is: “Secure Worker, Strong Nation.’’ The union is...

Eminent citizens have petitioned PM Manmohan Singh asking him to ban all forms of child labour for those under 14 years of age. Spearheaded by international child rights organisation `Save the Children', 45 eminent members of society have demanded that the Child Labour Act be amended to remove contradictions between the Child Labour Prevention and Regulation Act (CLPRA) and the Right to Education (RTE) Act that provides education as a...

Forty five signatures and one demand – end all forms of child labour to implement the Right to Education (RTE) Act in letter and spirit. This was the content of a petition addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The government should ensure that millions of children engaged in child labour were included in the implementation of the RTE Act. With this historic piece of legislation, the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation...

Development models that focus attention on the poor while expanding job opportunities, increased government spending on social services and aid flows from affluent nations are all successful strategies for alleviating global poverty, the United Nations says. Access to low carbon energy and mobilizing domestic capital by, for example, improving tax collection, are the other factors the UN Development Programme (UNDP) identifies in a new report as crucial factors for the...