There are good and bad information. But just to point out few things, WHO informs:

- by 2010, child death had been reduced to 7.6 mln. It is rather big improvement comparing to 9.6 mln children under age 5 who died in 2010

- ‘in 2010, an estimated total of 2.7 million people were newly infected with HIV – 15% less than the 3.1 million people newly infected in 2001.’ Unfortunately, WHO estimates that app. 70% of them accounts for  sub-Saharan Africa

- ‘about half the world’s population is at risk of malaria, and an estimated 216 million cases in 2010 led to approximately 655 000 deaths – 86% of these in children under the age of five.’

- certainly worrying is increase of overweight people. By 2008, 10% of man and 14% of women in the world were obese. The amount has doubled comparing to data from 1980. Terrifying data comes from WHO’s Region of the Americas where 62% of people is overweight and 26% obese.

More statistics available here.

]]> http://www.magdawos.com/by-2008-half-a-billion-people-in-the-world-were-obese/feed/ 0 http://www.magdawos.com/161/ http://www.magdawos.com/161/#comments Thu, 10 May 2012 15:33:25 +0000 magdawos http://www.magdawos.com/?p=161

Few days ago, the Economist published an interesting map. The chart presents how many people in each African country use mobile services to pay bills or send/receive money. The data are not very surprising, but still worth attention.

As The Economist writes: ‘According to a new survey of financial habits by the Gates Foundation, the World Bank and Gallup, in 20 countries more than 10% of adults said that they had used mobile money at some point in the previous 12 months; 15 of those countries were in Africa. For the most part, mobile phones are a substitute for traditional banks, enabling people who live miles from a branch or ATM to use financial services. This is especially important in a country like Somalia (…) where 34% of adults use mobile money.’

Very interesting talk by Mark Graham on “Digital Divides – The Potential of the Internet for Development”.

As he describes his talk: ‘ despite a rapid growth in internet access for much of the world, most people on our planet are still entirely disconnected…The Internet is a network that enables selective connections between people and information. And it is a network that is characterised by highly uneven geographies that have in many ways simply reinforced global patterns of visibility, representation and voice that we’re used to in the offline world. The issue isn’t just that some people in the developing world are disconnected, but also that many of the benefits of the Internet don’t automatically arrive into the developing world once Internet connections do.’

Last year, McKinsey & Company announced the Social Innovation Video Contest. People from around the world were encouraged to take a camera or a phone and film a short video explaining and showing how their innovation addresses any kind of social challenge e.g. sanitation. McKinsey & Company received 150 movies from around the world, and after while announced winners of the contest:

1. Embrace – ‘a social enterprise that aims to help millions of vulnerable babies through a low cost infant warmer.’

2. Apopo: HeroRATS – rats: a way to fight with TB.

3. sOccket – a mini generator in the form of a ball.

After success of the contest, McKinsey & Company decided to partner with Link TV’s ViewChange.org project and produced a half an hour documentary movie about Social Innovation. The movie was broadcasted few days ago but you can also see it here.

Most of us use a phone, a computer or other electronics on a daily basis. Once a phone is broken we throw it away. But what is really happening with electronic waste (e -Waste) ? And how to handle it?

The Economist published a map of countries which Hillary Clinton visited during last 3 years. The list of her visits is certainly impressive. It might be perhaps more interesting to see, relations with which countries are important for US. Hillary Clinton visited twice or more China, Brazil, India and Russia – BRICS countries (with exception of South Africa).

Prize-winning documentary ‘Afrikaner Blood’ by Ilvy Njiokiktjien and Elles van Gelder

The movies shows how ‘extreme right-wing group is teaching young white South Africans to defend themselves against crime in South Africa and that black South Africans are their enemy. He tells them they are firstly Afrikaners and should deny their South African identity.’  Ilvy Njiokiktjien and Elles van Gelder follows ‘them on one of the camps, where in nine days boys who once carried a budding belief in South Africa’s unity become toughened men with racist ideas.’

Everyone is currently commenting on a recently released video about LRA’s leader. Instead of reposting the ‘famous’ video or commenting on it, I am posting a film made by Simon Rawles for the Guardian last year. Interested what Lords Resistance Army is doing now in the Democratic Republic of Congo?