Articles by theme: Policies and Politics

The Norwegian Programme for Development, Research and Education (NUFU) has adopted a targeted approach to gender issues. A growing number of supported projects now have gender-specific topics at the core of their research and education activities.

An interview with Noam Chomsky

Norway-Tibet collaboration 10 years on

There is a social premium that comes with Fair Trade. The customer pays a higher price and the producer gets a higher return.

Palestinian professor Kamal Abdulfattah

Public-private collaboration in the pharmaceutical industry

Ensuring intellectual property rights

It is not that anybody deliberately tries to exploit the poor, Pogge says. It is just that the poor have no representatives at the negotiating table, so they are not even thought about.

Aid for Trade seemed like such a great idea. Leave the classical aid schemes behind and instead open Western markets to commodities from developing countries. Move from passive recipients to active participants.

Fresh educational initiative in Pakistan

Goolam Mohamedbhai, secretary-general of the Association of African Universities, explains why the challenges facing his continent’s higher education sector must be taken on board internationally, and on Africa’s own terms.

– På lang sikt er det forventa at Bologna-prosessen vil føra til ein oppgang i studentmobiliteten

Brain drain from South to North alarming

General secretary of the AAU, Akilagpa Sawyerr

A research project in India looks at how biofuel can enhance food security.

Expanding opportunities for Norad fellows

“Nutrition is far better in families with dairy goats than in families without goats. Their quality of life definitely improves,” says George Kifaro, professor at the Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA).

In 1989, as civil war raged throughout southern Sudan, the Senate of Juba University arrived at a controversial decision. In a few short weeks, staff and students abandoned their campus in Juba and travelled 1,600 kilometres north to Khartoum, the capital of an increasingly divided country. “We...

It is believed that as much as 25 per cent of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas resources are to be found in the High North.

Når finanskrisen er over, vil de som har investert i kreativitet og nyskapning ligge foran, ifølge Ján Figel’, EUs kommissær for utdanning, kultur og ungdom.

Sri Lankan academics exmine the cease-fire

Students are leading Georgia’s efforts to seek closer integration with Europe.

Land in South-Africa

“Human capacity, energy and climate change are our main areas of focus,” says Dr. Andy Greenshaw, vice-chairman of the University of the Arctic, an academic network committed to higher education and research in the north.

“As donors, we have neglected secondary and tertiary education,” says Norad’s new Director-General Poul Engberg-Pedersen. But he will not promise greater support for higher education and research.

The master’s degree programme in energy management jointly offered by “Russia’s Harvard” and Bodø University College provides students with high-quality education that is hailed by Russians.

Editorial by Teresa Grøtan.

“The idea is that every orphan in the district should have a goat of his own. Having your own goat means basic financial security in addition to daily access to free milk all year round.”

Advin Maingu is one of 670 students enrolled at the Mlangarini Secondary School. The bashful 17-year-old, dressed in the red-and-white school uniform, no longer lives at home with her family; she has come to stay at the girl’s hostel, built with money from the Kiliflora development fund.

Editorial by Teresa Grøtan

Pogge, an acclaimed professor of philosophy and international affairs at Yale University (USA), is not at all surprised that the WTO negotiations broke down in the spring of 2008.

Andrei Mineev is doing research on Russian companies from Norway – a perfect combination for future participation in the coming oil and gas adventure in North Russia.

Interview with Minister of Education Naledi Pandor

In a recent evaluation Norwegian development research was found to be too closely linked with its sources of funding as well as to Norwegian official policy.

New research initiative in Sudan

In a new UN report, 400 scientists conclude that we need to shift away from large-scale industrial agriculture in order to feed the world’s hungry.

Today, the crucial importance of higher education in the progress towards political and economic independence in developing countries is widely acknowledged.

The recently ratified UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples provides for collective rights unprecedented in human rights law, according to a researcher.

– Europa har ei utruleg rik historie når det gjeld utdanning og akademisk virke, men likevel er dei mest kjende universiteta i verda stort sett amerikanske. Bologna-prosessen moderniserer Europas tradisjonsrike universitet, meiner EU-kommissær Ján Figel’.

Can a military coup be justified?

Dr. Douglas Murray is co-director at the Centre for Fair and Alternative Trade Studies at Colorado State University, USA. He has conducted numerous studies on Fair Trade and social change, especially in Latin America.

“Our long-term goal is to strengthen Russia’s expertise in petroleum research and education. In 20 years, Arkhangelsk could evolve into Russia’s undisputed oil capital.”

"Investments derived from microfinance, for instance in the form of opening a small kiosk, raising a few chickens, or buying a sewing machine, may well stabilize income streams for the borrower and raise them above a poverty threshold level."

Scientist Vandana Shiva has been at the forefront in the battle for sustainable agriculture for three decades. Global Knowledge met her in New Dehli.

Pharmaceutical company vs. the Indian state

A professor argues the term "indigenous" is racist, while an IWGIA chairperson says it serves its political purpose.

Interview with Assistant Professor Fatima Abu Salem on how violence and sectarianism add to the difficulties faced by academics in Lebanon.

Coffee is the primary source of income for 403 000 Mexican coffee producers, including Maya Vinic’s 400 members. Since its inception in 1999, Fair Trade has provided this cooperative with a friendly alternative to regular production.

Editorial by Teresa Grøtan

Geopolitical tension between the countries in the Nile Basin is being countered by a research project that aims to promote cooperation in the region.

Interview with Chancellor Bethwell A. Ogot on how the disputed elections affected Kenya’s university environment.

Would the world have become a better place if the Doha Round had been concluded?

Rigoberta Menchú Tum won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992, for representing and fighting for the rights of the indigenous people of war-torn Guatemala. However, this decision was later to be questioned, especially by the American anthropologist David Stoll.

Editorial by Torgeir Norling

Even though the Sami and the San have a lot in common, their worlds are totally different.