Youth unemployment and underemployment are among the main barriers to development in West Africa, say experts. Not only does the exclusion of young people from the labour force perpetuate generational cycles of poverty, it also breaks down social cohesion and can be associated with higher levels of crime and violence among idle youth.
Author: WHES
IMF director cites dangerous increase in inequality in many countries including India and US
Citing countries like the US and India, the two largest democratic countries, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde has said that income inequality is increasing dangerously globally.”In India, the net worth of the billionaire community increased twelve-fold in 15 years, enough to eliminate absolute poverty in this country twice over,” said Lagarde delivering the Richard Dimbleby Lecture in London, according to the copy of the speech made available by the IMF.
Farm bill on verge of passage after a long three years of haggling in Congress
Congress is on the verge of dramatically overhauling federal farm and nutrition policies affecting a broad range of issues, from how food is packaged and sold to how the government helps poor people pay for their groceries.
Energy shortages force Pakistanis to scavenge for wood, threatening tree canopy
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Ramesh Iqbal lives in one of the Pakistani capital’s middle-class neighborhoods and attends college. But on a recent day, he and two friends emerged from a wooded area, their arms full of the logs and branches they had gathered to warm their homes
Severe drought has western US fearing worst
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Obesity found to gain its hold in earliest years
For many obese adults, the die was cast by the time they were 5 years old. A major new study of more than 7,000 children has found that a third of children who were overweight in kindergarten were obese by eighth grade. And almost every child who was very obese remained that way.
The 2014 farm bill nutrition title includes bipartisan improvements to SNAP while excluding harsh House provisions
The nutrition title of the farm bill that House and Senate negotiators unveiled last week represents a solid outcome after a difficult two-year congressional effort. While it unfortunately doesn’t make progress in addressing hunger and poverty by investing new resources in SNAP (or by reinvesting the SNAP savings that it generates), it includes sound reforms that should strengthen SNAP over time. Most important, it rejects the harsh eligibility cuts in the House-passed version of the farm bill
Obama to raise minimum wage for government contract workers
President Obama will announce in the State of the Union address Tuesday that he will use his executive power to increase the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour for workers on new government contracts, fulfilling a top demand by liberal lawmakers and groups, according to a White House document.
The new face of food stamps: working-age Americans. As US wages stagnate, food stamp use growing fastest among workers with some college training.
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a first, working-age people now make up the majority in U.S. households that rely on food stamps — a switch from a few years ago, when children and the elderly were the main recipients.
Farm bill compromise will change programs and reduce spending. Bill must now be voted on by both House and Senate.
WASHINGTON — House and Senate negotiators on Monday agreed on a new five-year farm bill that will eliminate or consolidate dozens of agriculture subsidy programs, expand government-subsidized crop insurance and cut about $8 billion from the food stamp program over the next decade.
