Disabled people in northern Uganda - many of whom were injured in the long conflict between the government and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) - are calling on the government to provide a more targeted HIV response. 'HIV awareness is being done, but people with disability are being left out,' said Simon Ongom, chairman of the Gulu District Disabled Persons Union.

'The report shows how the AIDS epidemic continues to affect children disproportionately and in many harmful ways, making them more vulnerable than other children, leaving many of them orphaned, and threatening their survival. Released by UNICEF, UNAIDS and PEPFAR (The US President's Emergency Program for AIDS Relief), the report contains new and improved research on orphans and vulnerable children, including what governments, NGOs, the private sector and the international community can do to bet more...

'Planting indigenous fruit and medicinal trees has changed the lives of tens of thousands of poor people in rural Africa. Women are feeding their families, sending their children to school and improving their status at home thanks to a successful IFAD-supported programme.'

'Improving ability of the health system to reach the poor/disadvantaged populations is important for health and essential to mitigate the income-erosion consequences of ill-health in Bangladesh. This study examined the health-seeking behaviour of some identified disadvantaged population groups, including the effect of poverty focused non-governmental development interventions.'

'Significant progress has been made on child and maternal mortality in Bangladesh, but it remains insufficient. The infant mortality rate in the country has seen a sharp and sustained decline since 1975. At the same time, the maternal mortality rate remains one of the highest in the world. The report To the MDGs and beyond: Accountability and Institutional Accountability in Bangladesh extrapolated recent trends on maternal mortality in Bangladesh. It is projected to reach a level of 227 deaths b more...

'This World Bank-IMF report warns that most countries will fall short on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of eight globally agreed development goals with a due date of 2015. The report also stresses the link between environment and development and calls for urgent action on climate change. To build on hard-won gains, developing countries need support to address the links between growth, development and environmental sustainability.

The central messages of the Global Monitoring more...

The main objectives of this report are:1. To illustrate that—despite efforts to emphasize the importance of environmental health to poverty reduction and sustainable development in partner countries— there has been limited success in countries placing environmental health issues that matter to the poor high on their development agendas.2. To provide practical guidance on how to raise the profile of environmental health issues important to the poor and integrate them more successfully in (a) more...

'Developing-country governments desperately need more long-term and predictable aid, given through their budgets, to finance the expansion of health care, education, and other vital social services. The European Commission (EC) is one of the biggest donors providing this kind of essential budget support, and has innovative plans to further improve and increase this aid. As stated in an Oxfam publication, European Union (EU) member states must support these ambitious plans. The EC in turn must do more...

'Some donors and governments propose that health insurance mechanisms can close health financing gaps and benefit poor people. Although beneficial for the people able to join, this method of financing health care has so far been unable to sufficiently fill financing gaps in health systems and improve access to quality health care for the poor. Donors and governments need to consider the evidence and scale up public resources for the health sector. Without adequate public funding and government s more...

Conservation through Poverty Alleviation International (CPALI) is a US- based non-profit organization that works to identify, develop and implement new means of income generation for poor farmers living in areas of high biodiversity or conservation value. CPALI's goal is to build broad-based partnerships among conservation and development organizations businesses, governments and local communities that work to introduce new ways that rural farmers can profit from sustainable use of natural resou more...