11th March 2010, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, (IPS) - Vietnamese parents think of day care centres and kindergartens as safe, happy places to leave their children in, given the pressures of work and harder times. But they are no longer so sure now, after a series of incidents about mistreatment of young children that has shocked the public. The latest wake-up call to parents and government officials alike was the death last month of 14-month-old Truong Thuy Vy, two days after he started going to the Mam Non (Young Buds) kindergarten in the southern province of Binh Duong.Left alone to use the toilet, he slipped on the slippery floor, fell into a basin of water and drowned.The incident prompt...

08th March 2010, New Delhi ― While Asia and the Pacific can take pride in the region’s vibrant economic transformation in recent decades, this has not translated into progress on gender equality.Discrimination and neglect are threatening women’s very survival in the Asia-Pacific region, where women suffer from some of the world’s lowest rates of political representation, employment and property ownership. Their lack of participation is also depressing economic growth. Those were some of the findings of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-sponsored 2010 Asia-Pacific Human Development Report launched today.“Empowering women is vital for achieving development goals overal...

17th February 2010, Manila (UN ESCAP Information Services) - A joint report by the United Nations and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) warns that the global economic crisis could trap an additional 21 million people in the Asia-Pacific region in extreme poverty, living on less than $1.25 a day. Achieving the Millennium Development Goals in an Era of Global Uncertainty: Asia-Pacific Regional Report 2009/10, launched today in Manila, examines the toll that the global economic crisis has taken on progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the Asia-Pacific region.  Produced by United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), ADB and the UN Develo...

February 2010, New Asia-Pacific Regional Report 2009/10 - 'Achieving the Millennium Development Goals in an Era of Global Uncertainty' - has been released.The Asia-Pacific region comprising the bulk of the world's poor, hungry and sick people presented a mixed and uneven picture in its progress toward MDG targets at the time of the last assessment. The onset of the global financial crisis and other threats to develoment such as food-fuel crises and climate change since 2007, have raised new challenges before the policy makers for achieving the Goals.In that context, this Report takes stock of the status of achievement of MDGs in the Asia-Pacific region and identifies some of the key challeng...