One billion people worldwide live in slums and that figure is predicted to reach 2 billion by 2030. This new volume from UN-HABITAT unpacks the complex social and economic issues using the novel conceptual framework of the urban divide.
The State of the World's Children 2011: Adolescence - An Age of Opportunity examines the global state of adolescents; outlines the challenges they face in health, education, protection and participation; and explores the risks and vulnerabilities of this pivotal stage. The report highlights the singular opportunities that adolescence offers, both for adolescents themselves and for the societies they live in. The accumulated evidence demonstrates that investing in adolescents' second decade is our best hope of breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty and inequity and of laying the foundation for a more peaceful, tolerant and equitable world.
Over the last two years, Worldwatch's Nourishing the Planet team has travelled to 25 sub-Saharan African nations - the places where hunger is greatest - and uncovered a treasure trove of innovations from farmers groups, private voluntary organizations, universities, and even agribusiness companies. These innovations offer global benefits - from the continent's role in preventing disastrous climate change to the way urban farmers are feeding people in cities and why even determined locavores are sustained by the crop diversity preserved by farmers thousands of miles away. This book assesses the state of agricultural innovations from cropping methods to irrigation technology to agricultural policy with an emphasis on sustainability, diversity, and ecosystem health in the hope of guiding governments, foundations, and concerned citizens in their efforts to eradicate hunger and poverty. Published annually in 28 languages, State of the World is long established as the most authoritative and accessible annual guide to our progress towards a sustainable future. It is relied upon by national governments, UN agencies, development workers and law-makers for its up-to-the-minute analysis and information.
We think we understand environmental damage: pollution, water scarcity, a warming world. But these problems are just the tip of the iceberg. Food insecurity, financial assets drained of value, and a rapid rise in diseases of animal origin are among the underreported consequences of an unsustainable global system. In this volume, experts explore these hidden threats along with the central question of how we can develop resilience to these and other shocks.
Although common wisdom and much scholarship assume that "big government" gained its foothold in the United States under the auspices of the New Deal during the Great Depression, in fact it was the Second World War that accomplished this feat. Indeed, as the federal government mobilized for war it grew tenfold, quickly dwarfing the New Deal's welfare programs. Warfare State shows how the federal government vastly expanded its influence over American society during World War II. Equally important, it looks at how and why Americans adapted to this expansion of authority. Through mass participation in military service, war work, rationing, price control, income taxation, and the war bond program, ordinary Americans learned to live with the warfare state. They accepted these new obligations because the government encouraged all citizens to think of themselves as personally connected to the battle front, linking their every action to the fate of the combat soldier. As they worked for the American Soldier, Americans habituated themselves to the authority of the government. Citizens made their own counter-claims on the state-particularly in the case of industrial workers, women, African Americans, and most of all, the soldiers. Their demands for fuller citizenship offer important insights into the relationship between citizen morale, the uses of patriotism, and the legitimacy of the state in wartime. World War II forged a new bond between citizens, nation, and government. Warfare State tells the story of this dramatic transformation in American life.
In the 2012 edition of its flagship report, Worldwatch celebrates the twentieth anniversary of the 1992 Earth Summit with a far-reaching analysis of progress toward building sustainable economies. Written in clear language with easy-to-read charts, State of the World 2012 offers a new perspective on what changes and policies will be necessary to make sustainability a permanent feature of the world's economies. The Worldwatch Institute has been named one of the top three environmental think tanks in the world by the University of Pennsylvania's Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program.
Where jobs are plentiful and the cost of living is high, countries are seeing waves of migration from city centres to peri-urban areas where the cost of living may be lower but basic services and jobs may be in short supply. This report makes the case that with planning and the right investments in people now - to empower them to make choices that are not only good for themselves but for our global commons - our world of 7 billion can have thriving, sustainable cities, productive labour forces that can fuel economic growth, youth populations that contribute to the well-being of economies and societies, and a generation of older people who are healthy and actively engaged in the social and economic affairs of their communities. In many parts of the developing world, where population growth is outpacing economic growth, the need for reproductive health services, especially family planning, remains great. The attainment of a stable population is a sine qua non for accelerated, planned economic growth and development.Governments that are serious about eradicating poverty should also be serious about providing the services, supplies, information that women need to exercise their reproductive rights. This record population size can be viewed in many ways as a success for humanity: People are living longer, healthier lives. But not everyone has benefited from this achievement or the higher quality of life that this implies. Great disparities exist between and within countries. Disparities in rights and opportunities also exist between men and women, girls and boys. Charting a path now to development that promotes equality, rather than exacerbates or reinforces inequalities, is more important than ever. Everyone has a stake in the future of humanity. Every individual, every government, every business, is more interconnected and interdependent than ever, and the choices made today will impact on the future world.