Welcome to the Great Decisions 2008 Foreign Policy Blogs. Over the next year I’m going to be posting on global philanthropy. Although the primary purpose is to discuss the increasingly private nature of foreign aid, a full treatment of the subject has to include government Official Development Assistance (ODA). Foreign Aid is a broad topic […]
Insurance Losses , I've written about the insurance industry's concerns about climate change several times before , see "Insurance Industry" here for instance. See also the webpage on climate change for Lloyd's of London. Here's an article from "Forbes" that hits the point home further. "Natural disasters wrought by climate change have a staggering price […]
The war crimes trial for former Liberian President Charles Taylor resumed its second day of testimony Tuesday. The hybrid Special Court for Sierra Leone seated at The Hague, Netherlands, heard testimony from a pastor who witnessed some of the atrocities that occurred during Taylor's tenure as president during the 1991-2002 civil war in neighboring Sierra […]
The crisis in Darfur has been waging on for five years, and one would think that peace and stability would now be on the horizon, however the the situation appears to be getting worse. As we enter this new year, hope has begun to fade for many, especially the children. Despite efforts to send AID […]
The war crimes trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor resumed at the international court in The Hague, Netherlands Monday. The trial is the first such case involving charges brought against a then-acting head of an African government. Taylor is charged with 11 counts of crimes against humanity, war crimes, conscripting child soldiers and sexual […]
Some 1,000 African asylum-seekers detained in “harsh conditions”, including over 200 women and children, are being detained at Israel's Ktsiyot prison according to activists. Children are receiving little to no education, lack of heat and adequate facilities are beginning to take a toll on the children. “The women and children are still being held separately […]
Still pondering your New Years resolutions? Looking for ideas on how you can help a child in need this in 2008. You care about what is going on in this world and about what is happening to our children, and I know you are always asking yourself, “What can I do?”, and saying to yourself […]
It has been a month since the deadly cyclone hit Bangladesh, leaving families still searching and hoping for the return of the missing, which are estimated around 900 people still missing, mainly women and children. “The sea took my baby,” one young mother said, recalling in vivid detail how she clung to a tree holding […]
A Bosnian war crimes court indicted a former commander of the Bosnian Serb army for a 1995 missile strike that killed 71 people in the United Nations safe zone of Tuzla. It seems the commander, Novak Djukic, ordered a single artillery shell into western Tuzla hitting a group of boys , ranging from 3-years-old to […]
Here are some of the headlines from the last few weeks of December: According to a report entitled, Education Watch 2006, much needs to be done to close the gap between the rich and the poor in the primary educational level. “About 50 percent of primary and 80 percent of secondary level students drop out […]
Quick hitter: Try this podcast from the excellent folks at Renewable Energy Access. China's surge as a renewable energy equipment manufacturer and rapidly growing consumer is one of a number of upbeat insights here. Also, here's a story on the growth of investment activity internationally from "Business Week." From the article: "Around the world, investment in […]
It is a new year, and with this year comes new life, let us make this year the year in which we find sustainable solutions for the multitude of issues that face our children. If we truly put our heads together as an international community we can make a better life for the children born […]
Energy , The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy has a concise summary of the new energy legislation here. As I've said a number of times, there's a whole truckful of good stuff in this package. One big part of the pie is geothermal and the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) has a summary here […]
Raila Odinga with Kenya's opposition Orange Democratic Movement called the recent “alleged” political killings by the ruling government there “genocide on a grand scale.” Various reports out of Kenya have children piling up in morgues and I remember hearing reports from local priests this week (Tuesday maybe?) of children setting churches ablaze with scores of […]
Build-A-Bear Workshop is currently looking for child heroes for their 2008 Huggable Heroes. You can see the 2007 Huggable Heroes here. The 2007 Huggable Heroes where honored for their dedication to raising money and awareness for such issues as AIDS, Cancer, Poverty, and much more, each child hero is an inspiration to children and adults […]