“Ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education.” This is one of many important targets set by the United Nations General Assembly on September 27, 2015. How hard will it be to achieve this goal by 2030? Answering this question requires picking this target apart, as … [Read more...] about Ensuring Access to Quality Early Childhood Development: Anything but Child’s Play
Social Issues
What Digital Tools Should an Academic Researcher Use to "Connect" to the Net?
Unbeknownst to many people, academic researchers are subject to constant pressure and competition. From the time a student decides to apply for graduate study, a subtle and permanent state of alert begins to produce relevant publications, gain recognition among peers, increase the number of citations and references, and at the same time succeed, whenever possible, in having a … [Read more...] about What Digital Tools Should an Academic Researcher Use to "Connect" to the Net?
Universal Children’s Day: Should We Celebrate?
Photo Credit: UNICEF “The one thing all children have in common is their rights. Every child has the right to survive and thrive, to be educated, to be free from violence and abuse, to participate and to be heard." So spoke UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in preparation for Universal Children’s Day on November 20. But rights do not necessarily translate into reality. The … [Read more...] about Universal Children’s Day: Should We Celebrate?
Five Reasons Why Government Should Be Involved in Raising Kids
In recent years, advocates of limited government in both the developed and developing worlds have gained significant traction, arguing that large bureaucracies feed inefficiency and corruption, stifle initiative, and interfere with personal privacy. Yet, there is at least one area (likely more), in which that passion for limited government may well be misplaced: the need to … [Read more...] about Five Reasons Why Government Should Be Involved in Raising Kids
Too Much of a Good Thing? Grassroots Participation in Bolivian Social Policy
The gap between designing policies on paper and putting them in practice can be wide. So can the difference between the formal structure of power in a government and the way decisions are actually shaped. Latin America offers plenty of examples showing that what matters are not so much the technical aspects but the incentives, restrictions, and rules that politicians, civil … [Read more...] about Too Much of a Good Thing? Grassroots Participation in Bolivian Social Policy