From 9 to 11 September 2008, delegations from Cambodia, Mongolia, Sri Lanka and Viet Nam, as well as participants from Nepal, acting as resource persons, will meet in Bangkok to review the needs assessment of their respective countries, discuss possible generic indicators for measuring gender equality in education and develop a national follow-up action plan.

The assessment of Education for All (EFA) in 2000 showed that while considerable progress had been made in improving access to primary more...

Antonio Tujan of Reality of Aid Network speaks at the Accra Forum ( courtesy Terra Viva website). 'Aid effectiveness must be understood in the broad framework of development effectiveness. The two are not mutually exclusive, contrary concepts, but are mutually reinforcing - there can be no aid effectiveness if aid does not fulfill the goals of addressing the objectives of development such as human rights, social justice and gender equality and sustainable development. Development effectiveness a more...

ACCRA, Sep 4 (IPS) - As the Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness drew to a close in the Ghanaian capital, gender activists reflected on the way ahead. Having successfully raised the visibility of gender equality and women's empowerment on the Accra Agenda, attention is now turning to the International Conference on Financing for Development to Review the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus in Doha, Qatar in November and the women are preparing to take forward their successes.

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The international debate on effective aid that is shaped by developing countries' needs rather than donors' priorities was resumed when ministers from over 100 countries, and members of development agencies, donor organisations and civil society gathered for the Third High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra Sep. 2-4. The Accra Forum reviewed progress in implementation of the 2005 Paris Declaration on aid effectiveness, and agreed on a new agenda to increase effectiveness of global develo more...

The Network for Women’s Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT), a coalition of women’s groups, held a forum for international women’s organisations in Accra, leading up to the High Level Forum. Birte Rodenberg, Policy Advisor of Action Against Aids in Germany, who participated in the forum, spoke to IPS (Terra Viva).

IPS: Coming from a developed country, what does effective aid mean to you?

BR: I am a taxpayer and want to know that the money my country gives out as aid goes to the poor it was m more...

Prativa Rana, a Nepalese MP from the National Democratic Party, has travelled a long way to be at the Accra forum. With the constitution of the Himalayan kingdom at the drafting stage, Rana hopes that the ideas generated at the forum will help Nepal along the path to greater democracy.
IPS (Terra Viva) Why are you attending the Third High Level Forum?

Prativa Rana: I am the only Asian MP at the High Level Forum. Being a parliamentarian, I thought I needed to be here as it is a very important more...

'The world has nearly two billion 10 to 24 year olds; of these, 86 percent live in developing countries. While much literature on young people's health focuses on the problems and risks they face, there is a great deal of evidence that most get through the transition to adulthood without significant behavioral, social, or emotional difficulties. In fact, among this age group, positive changes in overall health have clearly outweighed the negative changes. Society must harness the energies of you more...

The International Women's Tribune Centre (IWTC) is an international non-governmental organization established in l976 following the United Nations International Women's Year World Conference in Mexico City. With a commitment to empowering people and building communities, IWTC provides communication, information, education, and organizing support services to women's organizations and community groups working to improve the lives of women, particularly low-income women, in Africa, Asia and the Pac more...

Report of the Expert Group Meeting organized by
The Division for the Advancement of Women, hosted by the Government of Norway in Oslo, Norway 4-7 September 2007. The Expert Group Meeting explored the mechanisms of financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women, in particular in relation to follow-up to the Monterrey Consensus on financing for development, including macroeconomic policies; public finance, including gender-responsive
budgeting; mobilization of international resources more...

An annotated guide to those UN conferences and the associated outcome documents and follow-up meetings that make specific reference to the need
for increased financing for gender equality and/or to support a strong gender dimension in financing for development, 1995-2008.