International Civic Engagement

Lead India Campaign

The M Network's weekly segment on XM Radio (The M on XM) singled out The Times of India's Lead India campaign today as a model modern political campaign.  Here is a description on the Lead India web site:

On August 15, we embarked on an ambitious journey — a unique talent search which has the potential to make a huge difference to India. We began a hunt to identify new leaders for a new India, men and women with the vision and ability to empower India with the kind of political leadership that is so conspicuous by its absence.

The Lead India campaign stemmed from our belief — and overwhelming reader feedback — that even as India takes giant strides towards fulfilling its undoubted potential, it is doing so despite, not because of, its political leadership. ‘‘Good people don’t want to join politics’’ is an oft-heard lament. And yet, good governance is the cornerstone if India is to overcome the many hurdles that threaten to slow its journey to developed nation status.

And so, we decided to provide a platform to the good men and women out there who refuse to be daunted by the system, and struggle against massive odds to make life better for their fellow Indians. We invited them to come forward and use the Lead India programme as a springboard to public life.

The response was overwhelming. Applications flooded in as did messages of support and encouragement from readers. We were left with over 34,000 valid applications from all over India.

There were many more that we had to regretfully turn down as they did not meet the criteria.

[snip]

The national finals of Lead India will now move to television. Starting December 8, please block one hour — 8pm to 9pm — every Saturday evening for 10 weeks, and tune in to Star One. There’ll be heat, there’ll be passion, there’ll be drama as the finalists are put through a series of rigorous contests aimed at testing their leadership skills. You can help influence the choice of the person who will lead India. Make sure you watch and vote. Your vote could help create one of India’s next leaders.

Food Price Crisis Imperils 100 Million in Poor Countries, Zoellick Says

From the World Bank:

The surge in food prices could push 100 million people into deeper poverty, World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick said at the International Monetary Fund-World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington.

“Based on a very rough analysis, we estimate that a doubling of food prices over the last three years could potentially push 100 million people in low-income countries deeper into poverty,” Zoellick said.  “This is not just a question of short-term needs, as important as those are; this is ensuring that future generations don’t pay a price too.”

Zoellick spoke Sunday at the concluding press conference of the World Bank Group-International Monetary Fund’s Spring Meetings in Washington, DC.

He reiterated his call for a “New Deal for Global Food Policy” to meet the food price crisis, which  includes a call for US$500 million from donor governments to close an immediate gap identified by the UN’s World Food Program.  To date, about half of the half-billion-dollar target has been met, Zoellick said.

As part of the New Deal, the World Bank is providing conditional cash transfers, food-for-work programs, and is assisting with new plantings, he said.

The Development Committee of the World Bank Group and the IMF endorsed the New Deal at its meeting earlier Sunday, as well as other, longer-term food initiatives by the World Bank Group.

In his opening statement, Zoellick outlined priority actions to help meet immediate needs of developing countries, while also paving the way toward an inclusive and sustainable development. He emphasized the “One Percent Solution,” under which sovereign wealth funds would channel one percent of their US$3 trillion in investment potential to Sub-Saharan countries, where hundreds of millions of poor people are feeling the brunt of the soaring rise in food and other commodity prices.

He also reinforced the importance of the EITI++ initiative, which was launched to help countries manage and transform their natural resource wealth into long-term economic growth.

Robert Putnam Will Open Kansas City Public Library Truman Forum on April 6

Harvard University professor Robert D. Putnam will address community building within the diverse American population and the importance of centers for public engagement and dialogue at the grand opening of the Kansas City Public Library's Truman Forum on April 6.

Funded in part with a substantial grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the Truman Forum is a multi-purpose facility named for President Harry S Truman. The space is intended to serve as a catalyst for civic, political, literary, and intellectual engagement among the youth and adult populations of greater Kansas City.

Reservations to this event can be made online at http://www.kclibrary.org/rsvp/2008/truman_forum/#rsvp.

Dec. 18 Interview with Derek Byerlee on World Development Report 2008

The World Bank's World Development Report 2008: Agriculture for Development says that more needs to be spent on agriculture if international goals of halving extreme poverty and hunger by 2015 are to be realized. Given that 75 percent of the world's poor live in rural areas and depend heavily on agriculture for their livelihoods, the World Bank is advocating for scaled-up financing for the sector and a new agriculture-for-development agenda that can benefit an estimated 900 million rural people who live on less than $1 a day.

Derek Byerlee, co-director author of the report, will be available to take your questions on how agriculture can offer pathways out of poverty at 10 a.m. (EST) on December 18. You can submit your questions in advance.

For more information on the report, please visit www.worldbank.org/wdr2008

Kansas City: The Animal Health Capital

In her Smart Communities blog posting yesterday, Suzanne Morse paid tribute to a regional initiative to develop an animal health corridor.  She writes:

A study done last year by a Dallas consultant found that the region has more than 120 businesses that serve the animal health market accounting for 27 percent of the $5 billion national market and 32 percent of the $15 billion international market.

Female Migration Increases and Spurs Development, Shows World Bank Research

Women make up almost half the migrant population in the world and their numbers are increasing, according to a new World Bank report.

"The fact that women now account for almost half the total migrant population is having enormous effects on development," says Andrew Morrison, lead economist at the World Bank's Gender Group. "Women are sending lots of money to their families back home, and evidence from rural Mexico shows that their migration leads to positive economic effects for the homes they leave behind."

Between 1960 and 2005, the percentage of international migrants who are women increased by almost 3 percentage points from 46.7 percent to 49.6 percent, to a total number of approximately 95 million women, according to the new World Bank volume, The International Migration of Women, edited by economists Andrew R. Morrison, Maurice Schiff, and Mirja Sjöblom.

The number of female migrants is larger than that of male migrants in the former Soviet Union (58 percent and rising), is about equal and rising in Europe, Oceania, and Latin America and the Caribbean, is equal and steady in North America, and is smaller in Africa (47 percent and rising) and Asia (43 percent and falling).

Fueling the New Creative Economy

Bob O'Neill, executive director of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), recently wrote an interesting column for Governing and the Government Innovators Network in which he identified eight insights learned from communities that have, or hope to, build diversified, successful economies:

1. Recognize worldwide competition
2. Play to existing strengths
3. Partner with initiators and accelerators to develop creativity
4. Support institutions such as workforce training centers and community colleges
5. Leverage connections to other regions and networked approaches
6. Employ social networking and marketing
7. Use basic infrastructures and regulatory flexibility to support creativity
8. Create sustainable, eco-friendly communities that attract creative companies and people

O'Neill's interest in this subject matter is significant, because local governments will play a critical role in providing support and a framework for a thriving creative economy.

Lectures on Social Capital and Economic Development

From Fabio Sabatini of Social Capital Gateway:

Dear All,

this is to let you know that a series of lectures on "Social Capital and Economic Development" will be held at the Faculty of Political Science of the University of Siena from November 28, 2007 to the end of January 2008. The Syllabus, downloadable suggested readings and other useful information are available at the address:

http://www.socialcapitalgateway.org/eng-sienalectures.html

Clinton and Energy Efficiency

Read:

• President Clinton Announces Major Partnerships to Retrofit Public and Private Buildings Nationwide (Clinton Foundation news release)
• Former President Bill Clinton Urges Cities to Boost Energy Efficiency (Government Technology)
• Green Initiative Finds a High-Profile Friend (Inside Higher Ed)

Nonprofit Community Playing Critical Role in Recovery

The Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana and the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government today released a report on the important role the nonprofit community has played in hurricane recovery efforts across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. GulfGov Reports: Response, Recovery, and the Role of the Nonprofit Community in the Two Years Since Katrina and Rita examines the role of the nonprofit sector in the recovery, what impact hurricanes Katrina and Rita have had on the work of these organizations, and what changes they already have made to handle the next disaster that strikes.

In contrast to the criticism that seems to accompany almost every aspect of the governmental recovery effort, the consensus among local officials, residents, and outside observers is that the nonprofit sector has responded to the rebuilding challenge beyond all expectation.

“The scope of the nonprofit community’s work in helping the Gulf Coast region rebuild has been unprecedented,” said Jim Brandt, president of PAR and co-principal investigator for the GulfGov Reports project. “It has included everything from national foundations investing millions of dollars in the recovery to out-of-town groups making frequent rebuilding trips to locally based groups lobbying for policy changes. There is no question that the nonprofit community is helping to push the recovery forward.”

Immediately after the storms, organizations that had never been involved in disaster relief and recovery work looked for ways to help. Small churches that really were not equipped to handle sizable numbers of evacuees opened their doors anyway, and their congregations responded. Normally staid foundations cut through paperwork and procedures to get money out quickly to organizations and agencies working directly in the affected areas. Well-established nonprofits performed double duty, taking in their counterparts from the devastated areas at the same time that their client loads increased.

As the immediate crisis passed and the affected communities settled in for the long recovery, the nonprofit sector moved with them. This study finds that nonprofit, community-based, and faith-based organizations remain more important than ever in the recovery efforts.