BANGLADESH - WORLD BANK, 2019
In the span of 30 years, Bangladesh went from a low-income country to an emblem of hope in the developing world. How? Family planning programs precipitated a sharp decline in high levels of fertility, resulting in a demographic transition, and key nutrition actions played an outsized role in Bangladesh’s human capital formation. What was unique about Bangladesh’s case? A consistent, multi-sectoral investment in women from creative reproductive health strategies, to social entrepreneurship and market opportunities, to a strong government commitment to female education, that has contributed to a dynamic environment in which women have flourished.

Excerpt from Population and Nutrition report on Bangladesh

SAUDI ARABIA - WORLD BANK, 2019
The story of fertility reduction in Saudi Arabia can be anchored squarely on the social and economic participation of women, which has transformed dramatically since the 1960s.  Modernization, technological advances, improvements in health outcomes, and the changing structure of the labor market have each contributed to a substantial shift in gender dynamics, namely, the role of women in the family structure and household decision-making, particularly with regard to family planning.

Excerpt from Population and Nutrition report on Saudi Arabia

CAMBODIA - WORLD BANK, 2019
Cambodia, a lower middle income country within reach of middle income status, has shown striking progress in reducing its stunting rate, which plunged from 58.6 percent in 1996 to 32.4 in 2014 – a stunning development.[1] While partially due to some economic progress, a marked drop in the poverty rate that was down to 22 percent by 2010 and gains in female education, breastfeeding has had a giant effect on the improved nutrition status of Cambodian children – unleashing a respite in the costly burdens of malnutrition in the country.[2] Indeed, “breastfeeding is one of the best buys in global health to save lives and improve health, social, and economic development of both individuals and for Cambodia as a nation.”[3] Improvements in Vitamin A supplementation and increased antenatal care have also played a role in positive nutrition outcomes.[4]

Excerpt from Population and Nutrition Report on Cambodia

TUNISIA - WORLD BANK, 2019
Since the 1950s, Tunisia’s groundbreaking political commitment to empowering women through seminal laws dealing with most matters from divorce to education to work place discrimination to reproductive health, and moving away from religious and cultural orthodoxy, set the stage for a well-supported family planning agenda that lowered fertility rates, thus, creating even more opportunities for women.

Excerpt from Population and Nutrition Report on Tunisia

SOUTH KOREA - WORLD BANK, 2019
From a poor, agrarian society traumatized by the Korean War to an Asian Tiger with the 12th largest economy globally in just a few decades,[1] South Korea’s transformation has been touted as an inspiration around the world. How was this achieved? By making a national family planning program to lower fertility rates a fundamental element in the country’s post-Korean War industrialization and economic development agenda. South Korea is a prime example of the benefits to be gained when fertility reduction, brought about by human capital investments such as nutrition improvement, acts as a catalyst for economic growth.[2]

Excerpt from Population and Nutrition Report on South Korea

VIETNAM - WORLD BANK, 2019
Vietnam went from one of the poorest countries in the world to a middle income country within 25 years.[1] Economic and political reforms launched in the mid 1980s – commonly referred to as Doi Moi – drove economic growth and development.[2] By 2011, the country had made crucial gains in human capital development resulting in “ [a] life expectancy increase by 3.2 years [and] the average number of years of education received over a lifetime by people aged 25 and older increased by 1 year.”[3] A central aspect of this success was the government’s decision to tie the nutritional well-being of its population to its development agenda through unswerving dedication and a multi-sectoral approach that has rapidly reduced the stunting rate while recognizing the need to tackle the double burden of rising obesity.

Excerpt from Population and Nutrition Report on Vietnam

SAVING A FAILING STATE
SOMALIA’S infamous image in the international media last year resulted from not only Somali-based piracy in the Indian Ocean, but the country’s poverty, endemic civil strife and the increasing influence of Al Qaeda in the Horn of Africa.

FORCE ALONE WON’T DEFEAT SOMALI PIRACY
On the morning of April 8, a United States-flagged cargo ship – the Maersk Alabama – carrying US government food aid destined for Africa was hijacked by Somali pirates 300 miles off Somalia’s coast. Eventually, the crew and the ship escaped to safety, while Captain Richard Phillips was taken hostage by the pirates who fled in a smaller boat. After a significant US naval deployment, the pirates were killed and the captain was rescued.

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