Analysis

Some 2.9 per cent or 20,800 students have dropped out of general educational schools for various reasons in the 2004-2005 school year, including 17,100 out of primary education. This is indicated by data from a survey conducted by Vitosha Research within the framework of an Education Ministry-UNICEF project for the reasons of students dropping out of school. (continue)

Press Release by Amnesty International and Anti-Slavery International (continue)

Existing arms controls are powerless to protect innocent civilians, according to three reports on the human cost of arms transfers to Haiti, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sierra Leone launched today by the Control Arms Campaign. (continue)

Much is said about adult poverty, and yet in the European Union, it is children that are most at risk of poverty. According to Eurostat figures (2005), 20% of dependent under 16 in the EU were living in poverty, compared to 16% of adults. Poverty is not only a denial of children’s fundamental rights, it also mortgages the future wellbeing of European society. For example, numerous studies show that: (continue)

A new watchdog report monitoring promises made by governments and the United Nations to ensure that information technology is used to benefit millions of people, will be launched in Geneva on May 22. (continue)

The EU finance ministers recommended that Bulgaria seek a greater effectiveness of public spending, in particular through a reform in the health care system, Bulgarian Finance Minister Plamen Oresharski told a news conference here on Wednesday in connection with the Convergence Programme of Bulgaria on which the EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) adopted an opinion in Brussels on March 27. (continue)

International Women’s Day (IWD) each year is an opportunity for global women to raise their voices, raise awareness of injustice, and to note the achievements that have passed and those that are yet to come. Yet some that have raised their voices on IWD 2007 have ceremoniously announced that Northern feminism is dead, and that IWD has been ’hijacked’ by spice workshops, yoga and capitalism. Author: Rochelle Jones, AWID (continue)

More than 18 per cent of the Roma are illiterate and if the current trend continues half of the Roma will not be able to read or write in 15 years, experts claim. (continue)

Bulgarians are the least happy and most negatively-minded of all citizens of the European Union, according to a survey commissioned by the European Commission, whose results were made public earlier in February. In Bulgaria, the mood is that things got worse over the past five years and although things will not get better they will also not get worse. (continue)

A review of the report by the United Nations Special Representative for Human Rights Defenders submitted to the UN Human Rights Council. Author: Kathambi Kinoti, AWID (continue)

How do countries measure up in comparison to one another when it comes to addressing the gap between men and women in terms of economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. With data from 115 countries, and using a new methodology based on relative measures of empowerment to capture the size of the gap, the Gender Gap report provides a comprehensive guide to he current global situation. (continue)