The Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls - Sabla - is likely to be launched in 200 select districts on November 14, celebrated as Children's Day in the country. The Scheme is aimed at addressing the multi-dimensional problems of adolescent girls between 11 and 18 years and would be implemented through the platform of Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) projects and anganwadi centres. Over one crore girls are expected...
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Is India Doing Enough for Its Children? by Nilanjana Bhowmick
Sharda, a 17-year-old mother, gave birth to her first child in February in a village in Noida, just a few hours' drive outside New Delhi. Though her son was born premature and weak, he received no treatment. In many parts of India, particularly in poor and marginalized communities, a woman is considered impure for a fortnight after giving birth. After labor, Sharda was relegated to a makeshift room outside her...
More »UN to award Bangladesh for reducing child mortality
Bangladesh is set to achieve a United Nations award this week for reducing child mortality rate nearly by two-thirds well ahead of the stipulated time-frame, UN officials said on Sunday. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will hand over the award to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during the UN summit on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in New York. Ban convened the summit of the MDGs on the sidelines of the United Nations 65th...
More »Rights group accuses India over maternal health
A leading rights group has accused India of hoodwinking the public over its claims of improving maternal health, as renewed efforts began at the United Nations to cut global poverty. Human Rights Watch said the government in New Delhi was wrong to focus on the number of women who give birth in health facilities as a measure of progress rather than how many survive the delivery and post-delivery period. The group's Asia...
More »Shifting to a green economy can hasten development, says new UN report
Intensifying investments in clean energy can accelerate the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the eight globally-agreed targets to slash poverty by 2015, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) says in a new publication. A “green economy” is one that “not only improves human well-being and lessens inequality but also reduces environmental risks and ecological scarcities,” the brief says, underscoring its importance in realizing the MDGs. In 2008 amidst the...
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