Yearly Archives: 2017

Building the foundation for better early childhood care and education in Sri Lanka

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­The Little Rose preschool is situated at the base of a fifty-foot high landfill in Cofor-better-early-childhood-care-and-education-in-sri-lankalombo’s Kolonnawa Division. Despite being next to one of Sri Lanka’s largest waste sites, the one room preschool is spotless. Inside, 23 children from ages 3 to 5 sit on colorful plastic chairs, dressed immaculately in ‘Little Rose’ uniforms.

Running a preschool in one of Colombo’s biggest slums isn’t easy, but head teacher R. A. Shalika Sajeevani exudes positivity. “The children don’t always bring snacks, so once a week, I make lunch for all of them at my home. It’s not a big deal – I cook for my own two sons anyway, I just put in a little extra for them,” she says.

Imagining infrastructure services in 2017

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<!– <!– /sites/all/themes/blogs/templates/header/js/jquery-1.4.4.min.js –>One of my favorite songs when I was growing up was John Lennon’s “Imagine.” A few months ago, UNICEF created a project around it to highlight the plight of millions of refugee children. Now, as the year draws to a close, I couldn’t help but imagine a world with high-quality, affordable, sustainable, well-maintained, infrastructure services for everyone.

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Year in Review: 2016 in 12 Charts (and a video)

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Between the social, political, and economic upheavals affecting our lives, and the violence and forced displacement making headlines, you’d be forgiven for feeling gloomy about 2016. A look at the data reveals some of the challenges we face but also the progress we’ve made toward a more peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable future. Here are 12 charts that help tell the stories of the year.

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Small Agribusinesses in Mexico Benefit from Online Procurement Platform

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Mexico is at the forefront of climate-friendly solutions in various productive sectors.

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In line with the policies of Mexico’s Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA), actions have been taken to promote the use of renewable sources of energy in the agricultural sector to decrease the negative impacts on the environment.

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Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive: Opportunities of EU accession

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Deadline: 23-Jan-2017 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.)waste water treament

The objective of this study is to assess specific issues in Danube Basin region regarding: (i) implementation, (ii) outcomes; and (iii) sustainability (mostly from the point of view of affordability) of the UWWTD in the Danube Region. While the study will primarily base its assessment in the experience of current EU members countries within the Danube River Basin in the directive implementation, the work is expected to also benefit EU candidates and potential candidate countries from the region (meaning almost all other countries of the region). In this first stage, the study will not seek to answer all of those questions conclusively, but rather to provide sufficient elements needed to initiate an in depth discussion on achievement and appropriateness of UWWT directive implementation in DRB. In parallel, the study will also seek to document specific good practices that might show how to improve implementation efficiency.

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12 moments for water in 2016

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2016 has become the year for water. From the World Economic Forum, COP22, to thewater Budapest Water Summit, water has been widely acknowledged as a key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, and essential to the climate change solution.

Here are the defining moments of 2016 that put water security and sustainability on the global agenda like never before:

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