Development Blogs.com

from Yahoo News New Zealand A new report issued by New Zealand government finds that 230,000 are effected by poverty. This story profiles the reaction. Dr Kiro said poverty had lifelong consequences for children, impacting on their health, education and future productivity."It also affects their self-esteem and view of society," she said.Initiatives such as improved primary health funding, educational initiatives, Working for Families and income-related housing had helped, but more firm commitments and targets for further reduction were needed," Dr Kiro said.The report, A Fair Go For Children -- Actions to Address Child Poverty in New Zealand , proposed remedies including extra support for benefit dependent and low-income families, reform to the benefit system, and expansion of health,...

from the New Zealand Herald The number of homeless people found in inner city Auckland is now at 91. The highest since this annual count started. - KaleBy Simon CollinsA team of social workers and volunteers found 74 men, seven women, and 10 whose gender couldn't be determined, sleeping in doorways, under bridges and in rough shelters around the city. A further 604 people were in the Airedale St night shelter, other hostels for the homeless and boarding houses within the 3km radius.The latest count, on the night of Sunday, June 22, compares with only 65 rough sleepers and 69 in other short-term accommodation last year. But that survey did not cover boarding houses.The leader of Auckland City Mission's crisis care team, Wilf Holt, said the increase might be because the counting team was...

Annotated Bibliography of New Zealand Literature on Migrant and Refugee Youth (NZ Department of Labour, 2008) [text] Housing, New Migration and Community Relations: A review of the evidence base (ICAR, 2008) [access] Multiculturalism, Citizenship and Identity: A policy and literature review prepared as part of ICAR’s Refugee Rights and Responsibilities project, funded by the Sigrid Rausing...

from the New Zealand Herald By Simon CollinsAbout 50,000 children have been lifted out of poverty in the past three years, thanks largely to higher family tax credits.The number of children living in homes with equivalent incomes per person below 60 per cent of the national average, after allowing for housing costs, has dropped from 288,000 in 2004 to 235,000 last year, or from 28 per cent to 22 per cent of all children.The reduction of about a fifth was mainly because of the Working for Families package, which phased in higher tax credits, accommodation subsidies and childcare subsidies during those three years.But the figures - the first official measure of the effect of Working for Families - have already been outdated by skyrocketing prices of food and petrol since last year.The...

from the National Business Review, New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters says New Zealanders have a "clear expectation" that Pacific Island nations will take up the development challenge and do the work needed to lift their citizens out of poverty.He announced today a Pacific Development Strategy that will deliver $2 billion in aid over eight years."This allows us to make a sustainable impact on improving health and education in the Pacific, to address infrastructure gaps and promote economic growth and to improve governance and leadership," he said."No one is saying this is going to be easy, nor that New Zealand has all the answers. The challenge is immense, complex and, most of all, long term."Mr Peters said there was a need to encourage policies and practices which fostered...

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from the Australian Broadcasting CorporationBy New Zealand correspondent Kerri RitchieDoctors in New Zealand say the level of child neglect has hit crisis point with a new report claiming 185,000 children are living in poverty.The report was released by the Child Poverty Action Group, an independent charity, which believes one in five New Zealand children are living in poverty.The report states that between 2000 and 2004 the number of children facing hardship jumped by a third to 26 per cent.Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Auckland, Dr Innes Asher, says it is a crisis."We now have double the rates of admissions to hospital for children with preventable diseases compared to the 1980s," Dr Asher said."It's a shocking situation."Dr Asher says children are not a priority in New...

from the Otago Daily TimesBy MARK PRICEA CUP of oats and water for breakfast; a cup of rice and lentils for tea; and virtually nothing in between. That is the diet a Dunedin man committed himself to while living for a month on just $1.49 a day.At the beginning of February, Jolyon White set (34) out to live for a month like the 1.2 billion people in the world who subsist at, or below, the poverty line.Three weeks down the track, he is hungry all the time, has lost weight and is lacking in energy. But he has survived after a fashion.From the shanty he has constructed from rubbish in the town belt, Mr White said he had 80c left from the New Zealand equivalent of $US30 at the start of the month. He had started out with the possessions he thought a person who had lived in poverty all their...

from the New Zealand HeraldIt was another typical grey, rainy morning as I crawled through traffic to work. Ahead was a day filled with endless meetings and email overload. You know the one, where you wonder exactly why you're happy passing your life away with the monotony of windscreen wipers in the rain.For years I'd toyed with the idea of charity work in a foreign country and, recently single, I had few ties to stop me from making a real change. A quick check on the internet and I found GVN (Global Volunteer Network) based in New Zealand placing volunteers from all around the world in a variety of projects. Their programmes ranged from setting turtles free in Costa Rica to helping the environment in Alaska. I chose to challenge myself with a month in the orphanages of Nepal. The...

from StuffSick children are the product of poverty, and doctors can only treat what the whole community needs to help prevent, says Palmerston North paediatrician Jeff Brown.Yesterdays' release by the national Paediatric Society of a report into children's health in New Zealand shows high rates of childhood skin infections, bronchiolitis, exposure to smoking and abuse."A lot of these are preventable things, and those in deprived households are the ones suffering."Parents smoking around their children has been blamed for 500 babies under 2 being admitted to hospital each year, 15,000 episodes of childhood asthma, 27,000 GP visits and 1500 glue ear operations."In decile one and two schools, over 60 percent of Year 10 students live with parents who smoke."That's partly a health issue, but...

from StuffIs a weekly trip to McDonald's a big treat or do you eat at your favourite French restaurant and sip champagne on a regular basis?A Massey researcher wants to find out what New Zealanders' perceptions of poverty really are in an era when cheap consumer goods abound and yet social agencies and commentators report a growing gap between the rich and poor.Auckland-based doctoral student Sheryl Bourke is seeking participants from a range of backgrounds and income brackets to share their views on poverty.She was inspired to tackle the topic because of the hardship she witnessed through her husband's work with an emergency housing agency in south Auckland.She intends to ask participants what circumstances they think a person would be in to be considered poor in New Zealand, how much...

New Zealand electricity producers face a 10-year moratorium on all new gas- or coal-fired power plants to help the country reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The nation’s Prime Minister also commits to 90% renewable electricity by 2025. Electricity producers in New Zealand are now barred from constructing any new fossil fuel power plants for the next ten years, according to Bloomberg.com. New Zealand already produces about 70 percent of its power from non-polluting and renewable energy sources, including wind, hydro-electric and geothermal generators. New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Helen Clarke, recently announced intention to commit to 90% renewable electricity by 2025 and the government is blocking construction of new gas-fired power plants to speed investment in wind and...

from The International Herald TriubuneWELLINGTON, New Zealand: Political unrest, violence and pockets of absolute poverty are major features of the South Pacific landscape and there are "no quick fixes" for these problems, New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters warned Tuesday.Political unrest and violence "remain significant features of the Pacific landscape," Peters said in the Netherlands as the annual summit of South Pacific leaders opened in Tonga. There was a coup in Fiji and riots in both Solomon Islands and Tonga last year.Internal volatility, land conflicts, population pressures, and ethnic tensions are driving down living standards, he told the Netherlands Institute of International Relations in The Hague."In parts of the Pacific, pockets of absolute poverty are growing. The...

from ScoopKiwis to Take a Stand in UN Fight Against PovertyNew Zealanders will join millions around the world in a massive United Nations Millennium Campaign (UNMC) event on October 17 to Stand Up & Speak Out against poverty.Lunchtime events are being held in Auckland's Myers Park, Wellington's Civic Square, and Christchurch's City Mall, allowing ordinary New Zealanders to remind our leaders to honour international efforts to eradicate poverty.The campaign supports the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of eight time-bound targets to which world leaders committed themselves. When achieved, they would end extreme poverty worldwide by 2015. The goals are: 1) eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; 2) achieving universal primary education; 3) promoting gender equality and empowering...

from The New Zealand HeraldTomorrow, 4000 voters will elect a government for the world's smallest island republic, Nauru. No country has seen a more rapid reversal of its fortunes than the tiny Pacific Island state in Micronesia.Until the early 1990s it rubbed shoulders with the United States, Japan and Germany, matching their per capita incomes. Its population of about 10,000 was among the wealthiest in the world. But in less than a decade it found itself on the verge of ruin and today is almost completely dependent on foreign aid to pay its bills.Nauru's legendary wealth came from its rich phosphate deposits - formed by bird droppings over centuries - that have been mined since the early 1900s. The mining companies - mainly from New Zealand, Australia and Britain - paid Nauru royalties...

Four different beds in four different days, but I’m finally back “home” in Banda Aceh. Changing countries has become a certain ritual. First I change the time zones in my watch, phone and computer (my body is still lagging a little this time). Then I change my SIM card. Then the cash in my wallet [...]...

from The New Zealand HeraldPoverty in the Asia-Pacific region will directly threaten companies in Australia, according to a report by the Allen Consulting Group.The report said global poverty was a direct threat to the prosperity of a range of Australian businesses through the loss of potential markets, damage to foreign affiliates and a greater risk of regional instability.It urged Australian companies to do more to fight poverty in the Asia-Pacific and deepen their understanding of how they source materials and services.,span class="fullpost">The report was commissioned by ANZ Bank, Grey Global Group, IAG, Pfizer and Visy Industries, who have formed the Business for Poverty Relief Alliance which is being facilitated by World Vision.The alliance aims to have Australian companies put the...

from The Gisbourne Heraldby Nicola BrennanNEW Zealand has been placed at the bottom of a list of 25 developed countries for keeping its children safe, and in the bottom third when it comes to many child welfare indicators — something seen at its worst on many counts in this district.A joint Unicef/Innocenti Research Centre report, released yesterday, rates New Zealand last out of 25 OECD nations in its child safety record, with poorer countries like Poland and Hungary receiving better rankings.The Government is defending itself against the report, saying it draws on 2001 data and that things have changed since then.The report has left child advocate groups irritated, with calls for the Government to do more.Child Poverty Action Group health spokeswoman Dr Nikki Turner told NZPA there...

from StuffVERNON SMALL - The Dominion Post National Party leader John Key will call for policies to tackle a growing underclass in society that has "lost hope" when he delivers his first main speech of the year in Burnside, Christchurch, tomorrow."A major theme will be tackling the growing emergence of an economic underclass," Mr Key said yesterday."I think it's a very important issue which affects all New Zealanders, either directly or indirectly."Party strategists said some solutions would be included in the lunchtime speech but it would also set out a work programme for the party to develop policy in what have traditionally been areas of Labour Party strength.It would show that National did not see the state as the only answer, but also saw a role for the private sector and voluntary...

On the day before the conference was a workshop on Participatory Methodology run by Robert Chambers. I had the benefit to come into the workshop unaware of Robert Chamber’s celebrity status in development circles. He certainly was an interesting man. Although he was at least 70, he went jogging each morning (and was impressed by the [...]...

There were a number of interesting sessions during the conference. Although there were a great deal of speakers who talked about a variety of development/poverty/aid topics, these are the session which I attended AND remember 3 weeks on from the conference: Stephen Haslett, a statistician, gave an interesting talk on small scale estimation of poverty. The [...]...

The highlight of the conference was meeting people in the development sector, and the conversations we had. Robert Chamber’s Workshop presented some really interesting ideas, which flavoured the conference, and stimulated some interesting thoughts for me. Being in a conference environment, surrounded by academic types, absorbing new information, really inspired me to do more study [...]...

These are links which I have collected from a number of hand outs from the conference. Some of the summaries have been copied from the hand outs. DevNet The Aotearoa New Zealand International Development Studies Network, the organisers of the conference. www.devnet.org.nz Dev-Zone A New Zealand based development resource centre. www.dev-zone.org Volunteer Service Abroad (VSA) VSA were out in force at [...]...

After being away from New Zealand for 6 months and working in 3 different countries, it was time to come home for summer. After traveling for 2 ½ days I finally reached. Scott and my parents were a little unimpressed with the 2 hour wait, and even less impressed with my cornrows. I think my sister [...]...