The Education Crisis: Being in School Is Not the Same as Learning

              This post is a summary of the article published in January 2019 at  https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/immersive-story/2019/01/22/pass-or-fail-how-can-the-world-do-its-homework

              THE NAME OF THE DOG IS PUPPY. This seems like a simple sentence. But did know that in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, three out of four third grade students do not understand it? In rural India, nearly three-quarters of third graders ca not solve a two-digit subtraction problem such as 46 minus 17, and by grade five - half still can not do so. The world is facing a learning crisis. While countries have significantly increased access to education, being in school is not the same thing as learning. Worldwide, hundreds of millions of children reach young adulthood without even the most basic skills like calculating the correct change from a transaction, reading a doctor`s instructions or understanding a bus schedule, let alone building a fulfilling career or educating their children. Delivered well, education - along with the human capital it generates - benefits individuals and societies. For individuals, education raises self-esteem and furthers opportunities for employment and earnings. And for a country, it help strengthen institutions within societies, drives long-term economic growth, reduces poverty, and spurs innovation. Annette Dixon, Vice-President Human Development of World Bank, said, "It`s never too late for young people to have opportunities to learn. Our youth deserve to be equipped with the skills they need to thrive in a increasingly demanding job world. Given that today`s students will be tomorrow`s citizens and leaders, a good and relevant education is essential to turn aspirations into reality."  One big reason the learning crisis persist is that many education systems across the developing world have little information on who is learning and who is not. As a result, it is hard for them to do anything about it. A growing body of evidence suggest the learning crisis is, at its core, a teaching crisis. For students to learn, they need good teachers - but many education systems pay little attention to what teachers know, what they do in the classroom, and in some cases whether they even show up. Fortunately for many students, in every country, there are dedicated and enthusiastic teachers who, despite all challenges, enrich and transform their lives. They are heroes who defy the odds and make learning happen with passion, creativity and determination. One such hero works in the Ecoles Eddahab school in Kenitra, Morocco. In a colorful classroom that she painted herself, she uses creative tools to make sure that every child learns, participates, and has fun. But even heroes need help. We need to be sure that all teachers are motivated to do their best and that they are equipped with what they need to teach effectively.  Rapid technological change is raising the stakes. Technology is already playing a crucial role in providing support to teachers, students, and the learning process more broadly. It can help teachers better manage the classroom and offer different challenges to different students. And technology can allow principals, parents and students to interact seamlessly. Millions of students are benefiting from the effective use of technology, but millions more in the developing world are not. One of the most interesting, large scale educational technology efforts is being led by  EkStep , a philanthropic effort in India. It was created an open digital infrastructure which provides access to learning opportunities for 200 million children, as well as professional development opportunities for 12 million teachers. We know learning happens best when instruction is personalized to meet the needs and strengths of each child, individual progress is tracked, and prompt feedback provided. In a field that is developing at dizzying speeds, innovative solutions to educational challenges are springing up everywhere. Our challenge is to make technology a driver of equity and inclusion and nont a source of greater inequality. Successful education reforms require good policy design, strong political commitment, and effective implementation capacity. Many countries struggle to make efficient use of resources and very often increased education spending does not translate into more learning and improved human capital. Overcoming such challenges involves working at all levels of the system. Change is possible, public schools across Punjab in Pakistan have been part of major reforms over the past few years. Through improved school-level accountability by monitoring and limiting teacher and student absenteeism, and the introduction of a merit-based teacher recruitment system. No change can happen without data. government need to know what their education systems are missing - or what is being done right - to take the right steps to improve. By their nature, the payoffs from investing in education require patience and persistence. In fact, it will take a generation to realize the full benefits of high-quality teachers, effective use of technology, improved management of schools, and engaged and prepared learners. However, global experience shows us that countries that have rapidly accelerated development and prosperity all share the common characteristic of taking education seriously and investing appropriately. The schools of the future must be built today. These are schools where all teachers have the right competencies, where technology empowers them to deliver quality learning, and where all students learn fundamental skills, including socio-emotional, and digital skills. Governments, teachers, parents, and the international community must do their homework to realize the promise of education for all students, in every village, in every city, in every country.

90th Birthday of Anne Frank

                  Almost one month ago, precisely on 12th June, the Jewish refugee Anne Frank would complete 90 years-old, so this post is a tribute to her. For her writings we can understand well the horror of injustice, the sadness from lack of freedom, and the consequences of abuse of power. Therefore when we learned about the horror of any authoritarian regime we started to realize how is important, essential and worth to fight for human rights, democracy, rule of law and justice. Sometimes the horror of systematic abuse of power and injustice can happen in democratic regime as well. And when this happens, we all should fight for justice and help the victims, because if not you can be the next victim. This post is a summary of three articles. The first was published at  https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/anne-frank-90th-birthday-diary-holocaust-hiding-nazis-second-world-war-teenager-a8946491.html. The second was published at  https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Anne-Franks-Diary-reading-to-honor-her-90th-birthday-in-Venices-Ghetto-592000. The third was published at https://www.annefrank.org/en/anne-frank/go-in-depth/anne-diarist-icon/

                  Anne Frank, the Jewish schoolgirl whose diaries of her time in hiding during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands stands as one of the most significant documents to arise from the Holocaust, would have celebrated her 90th birthday on 12 June. The Frank family had relocated to Amsterdam in 1943 to escape rising antisemitism in their native Frankfurt, part of a mass exodus that saw some 300,000 Jews flee Adolfo Hitler`s Germany between 1933 and 1939. Settling in an apartment, Otto and Edith Frank and their daughters Margot and Anne adjusted to their new surroundings relatively comfortably at first. Anne attended a Montessori school, learned Dutch and demonstrated a particular aptitude for reading and writing. Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Hitler`s Germany took the Netherlands on May 1940, the occupying government moving quickly to introduce the same prejudicial laws the Franks had already been subjected to in Frankfurt. When the state attempted to confiscate Otto`s business, he transferred his shares to a gentile friend, and resigned as director. Margot and Anne had meanwhile been removed from their respective schools and sent to the Jewish Lyceum. A month later, Margot received a letter from the Central Office ordering her to report to a labor camp. On July 1942, Otto moved the family into a secret annex he had furnished at the rear of his workplace. Until the Gestapo stormed the annex on August 1944, arresting the occupants, jailing their assistants and dispatching the Frank family to Auschwitz, Anne found solace in her diary. In her diary, she recorded her most intimate thoughts and feelings. Anne Frank would no doubt have been both delighted and stunned to learn of the publishing sensation her diary would become after it was salvaged by Miep Gies following her death from typhus at Bergen-Belsen in February 1945, aged just 15.

                 Had the Holocaust never happened, Anne Frank could have turned 90 on June 12. To honor the occasion, a marathon reading of her well-known diary will take place in Campo di Ghetto Novo, the main square of Venice`s Ghetto. Ninety people, as many as the years she would have celebrated, will take turns reading the whole volume in the Italian translation over several hours. All participants, including religious and political leaders, athletes, and artists, will each read five or six pages of the book. After the Nazis occupied the Netherlands, the Franks went into hiding. They were discovered and arrested in 1944, Anne, her sister Margot and their mother did not survive the death camps. The diary that she had kept from her 13th birthday to the day of her arrest was first published in 1947 and is considered one of the most powerful pieces of literature about the Holocaust. The event, "90 voices for Anne Frank," has been promoted by the Italian writer Matteo Corradini. The reading will be broadcast live by the Italian national public radio.

                How did a diary, abandoned in a fragmentary state, become one of the world`s  most widely read books? And how did its author become a figure of international renown, despite having died two years before the book was first issued? As remarkable as Anne Frank`s diary is, the story of its publication and its engagement by millions of readers around the world over the past seven decades is equally powerful. The book was first issued in 1947 and translated in French and German in 1950 and English in 1952. Within a few years, a dramatization of Anne`s diary was staged on Broadway, then performed internationally and filmed in Hollywood. The Frank`s former hiding place became an museum, the Anne Frank House, in 1960. by then, Anne`s life story had become widely familiar around the world, establishing her as the most known victim of Nazi persecution. Today, when people read Anne`s diary or visit the building in which most of it was written, they not only encounter an extraordinary work, created during the Holocaust. They also discover that they are joining a vast international body of this book`s readers. there is much to learn from the story of this young woman amid the terrible times in which she lived and died. In addition, the wealth of responses that Anne Frank has inspired is itself instructive, revealing the many possibilities of finding meaning at this powerful confluence of remembrance and imagination.

100th Birthday of J.D.Salinger

                         A little more than seven months ago, precisely on 1st January, the writer J.D.Salinger would complete 100 years-old, so this is my tribute to this important writer. His books were the early influence of the called "counterculture movement". This movement wanted broaden popular culture with less censorship, hipocrisy and standards, a more spontaneous, real, natural and human existence.  This post is a summary of five articles. The first published at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._D._Salinger.The second was published at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/01/catcher-in-the-rye_n_4524045.html. The third was published at http://www.gradesaver.com/the-catcher-in-the-rye/study-guide/major. The fourth was published athttps://www.thedailybeast.com/jd-salinger-at-100-forever-young-forever-influential. The fifth was published at https://blog.gale.com/once-upon-an-author-j-d-salingers-100th-birthday/

             Jerome David Salinger ( 1919-2010 ) was an American writer raised in Manhattan and that began writing stories while in high school. After he went to study literature and writing at Columbia University.  In World War II, due to his proficiency in French and German he worked to a counter-intelligence division. After the war his writings started to be published in The New Yorker magazine. By the late 1940s, he become an avid follower of Zen Buddhism. In 1951, his novel  "The Catcher in the Rye" was an immediate popular success. His depiction of adolescent alienation and loss of innocence was influential. The novel remains widely read and controversial. The success of The Catcher in the Rye led to public attention and scrutiny. Salinger became reclusive. Another great success was the short story, "Franny and Zooey" published in 1961. He died at 91 years-old of natural causes on January 2010, at his home in New Hampshire state, USA. He left one son and one daughter. His energetic, realistically sparse dialogue, was revolutionary at the time were published. Salinger identified closely with his characters, and used techniques such as interior monologue and extended telephone calls. Salinger`s writings has influenced several prominent writers: Harold Brodkey, John Updike, Philip Roth and Richard Yates said about his influence. 

             The famous reclusive author, known for penning "The Catcher in the Rye" and  "Franny and Zooey", has been in the spotlight more than he probably would have liked this year, due to the release of a biography, and the leaking of three of his unpublished stories. We would like to revisit why, we cherish the memory of Salinger. Though his most famous work, "The Catcher in the Rye", is often shrugged off as relatable only to angsty, insufferable teens, it is withstood the test of time. Sure, it is the "great American high school novel." Here are five things this novel can teach you about life, even if your prom-going days are far behind you. 1) You are not alone in your frustations - Holden spends the bulk of the book complaining. Still, his frustations and grievances can help readers to understand that they are not the only one coping with problems.  2) Social niceties are not always phony - he feels he must act in accordance with social norms, that they exist for a reason. He does not have the best attitude about niceties, but he acknowledge that, at times, they can be important. 3) Excellent writing can transport you - Holden is a big reader, and he describe the pleasure he takes in reading in the book.  4) Growing up means channeling your frustations towards something productive - when Holden visits Mr.Antolini, he borrows this quote from Wihelm Stekel. "The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one."  5) Beauty is rare, and worth holding onto - though Holden often is unhappy with his interactions with others, he does cherish the company of his chosen mentors, his close friends and his family. He also values books and museums, and other means of preserving special  and beautiful moments.

             Perhaps the greatest theme of the novel involves the relationship between the pain of actual experiences and the equally devastating numbness that comes with shutting down emotions in order to avoid suffering. Holden, it seems, is in the throes of an existential crisis. Another theme is love and sex, Holden is a deep, sensitive soul, but he has this suspicion that every relationship he have eventually deteriorates. Even in the presence of a prostitute, he can not think only in sex, he want to have a conversation in the hope of feeling some glimmer of human affection with her. Loss of innocence is a theme when Holden realizes that maturity entails its loss, greater knowledge of oneself and others and the circumstances all comes with a price. Innocence goes with idealism and a certain inability or unwillingness to accept the harsher reality. Holden labels almost everyone a phony, in his eyes, is a person who embraces the superficial demands of the world and tries to make something out of nothing. Holden understand one of the most profound truths of life: superficial matters little because it will not last.
              New year`s Day 2019 would have been the 100th birthday of J.D.Salinger. It`s a milestone worth celebrating because Salinger`s literary voice remains young. Salinger is no longer as popular as he once was, but with the passage of time, his impact has become clearer. From Sylvia Plath`s The Bell Jar to Frank Conroy`s Stop Time.
                 January 2019, marked what would have been J.D.Salinger`s 100th birthday. Salinger died in 2010, having secured his place in literary history and American culture in 1951 with the publication of his novel The Catcher in the Rye. The work was a bestseller, and changed the way many young readers felt about literature. The book endures as a popular, commonly studied work of literature. The novel is still widely taught in high school classrooms. Though sales estimates vary, recent figures suggest that has sold over 68 million copies in its lifetime.

6º Anniversary of the Protests of June of 2013

                       Last Thursday, June 20th, the second biggest protest in Brazil history will complete six years. The reason why this protest is studied until now and other though bigger, like the one what happened in March 2016, for example, is not so much studied, it was its character totally spontaneous and unexpected. It was as, if suddenly, the Brazilian people realized that they deserve a much better governance, a better return for so many taxes the Brazilian people pay. Besides, we want respect for our most basic human rights and justice when they are violated, this meaning due compensation for any harm, humiliation, loss of freedom, death, persecution, etc. We want a country where goodness is exalted and evil, lies and hipocrisy combated.  We want a fair, transparent and inclusive electoral and political systems.  We want honesty, efficiency, productivity, solidarity and accountability from our politicians and authorities. In short, we want a country that really works for the progress, justice and happiness of its citizens. This post is a summary of a report. It was published at  https://www.gold.ac.uk/media/documents-by-section/departments/anthropology/Revolutions.pdf

                The June Revolution that shook Brazil in 2013 took everybody by surprise. It started in Sao Paulo as a small gathering protesting a looming rise in the cost of public transport, and in two weeks it spread across 400 cities and towns, bringing millions of people into the streets and forcing President Dilma Roussef to start a process of constitutional reform. For many political observers this "movement of movement" was essential a new form of working-class articulation of diverse social forces including the urban poor, workers and the middle class. The June revolution started when the Free Fare Movement (Movimento Passe Livre) led a demonstration against the impending rise in public transport fares. The MPL emerged from the student movement in 2000s. The small protest by a few thousand demonstrators quickly escalated. This led to a second phase of the struggle, which reached its apex between June 17 and 20 when the movement counted hundreds of thousands people. By now the demands had widened and included health and education and opposition to PEC 37, which would restrict the attorney general's power to carry out independent investigations, de facto eliminating an important anticorruption tool. For Saad Filho, the movement was "out of control" and captured by a strong anti-left middle class. Another view holds that this was a moment of convergence between the "old and "new" left. More generally, the popular discontent seemed to stem from the contradictions of neo-developmentalism in its combination of income distribution, labor deregulation, and cuts in public spending. The Roussef government responded swiftly to the mounting criticism against the government. Already at the end of June, the president had proposed a national "pact" to reduce corruption and to expand public services, to be funded in part by the sovereign oil fund.  Later, Roussefproposed to call a plebiscite to reform the electoral and party legislations and boost basic health services. But how did a brooding political discontent become a full-fledged urban revolution? So, was "the movement of the movement" led by the middle class or by precariat? The answer is not straightforward because the political and economic threshold beween precariat and the middle class is fuzzy. For instance, their main common enemies are inflation and corruption. At the beginning of 2013, the 10% increase in prices hit the working class hard. By the time of the demonstrations, a vociferous anti-inflation movement, bringing together middle calss and working class, had emerged. People lamented the astronomical price of durables and high-tech goods, due to protective duties and high corporation taxes. Singer' analysisof the June demonstratiros' socioeconomic profile confirms the porosity between the middle class and the precariat in Brazil The majority of the demonstrators were young. That is to say, 80% were under the age of 39. Moreover, participamts had high levels of education. In most cities, no less than 43% of demonstrators had a university degree (against a national average of 8%). Cities nest within themselves different scales of political economy, each of them with different temporal dynamics. Such experiential disconnect between economy and life in the urban context makes it difficult to develop class solidarity and sustained political action. As much as economics is an ideological construction, politics does not exist in a vacuum. The focus on rents and incomes associated with the abstract logics of finance and services is only one aspect of it. Invisible labor labor infrastructures and grassroots economies, informal trade, small and illegal production, street markets, need to be unveiled too. In spite of the damaging effect of the events in june 2013, Roussef was re-elected a year later. But a recent investigation in the kickback schemes of Petrobras, Brazil's mighty state-run oil company, is triggering a new wave of mass protests against the president. How can the events of June 2013 be reassessed in the light of these contemporary developments? 

220th Birthday of Honoré de Balzac

  Almost two weeks ago, precisely on May twentieth, the French writer Balzac, one of the founders of the literary movement called Realism would complete 220 years old, so this post is a tribute to him. When I was doing my graduation, I read and analysed his masterpiece, "Lost Illusions," This post is a summary of four articles. The first was published http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor%C3%A9_de_Balzac.  The second was published at http://books.google.com.br/booksid=JcFC4oiDmpgC&pg=PA63&lpg=PA63&dq=impact+of+balzac%60s+realism+on+poli.Thirdmuse.jhu.edu/loginauth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/french_f. The fourth was published at http://www.artcasaverde.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/BAaronsonBalzacLecture.pdf

             Honoré de Balzac ( 1799-1850 ) was a French writer, which novels collectively entitled, "La Comédie Humaine."  Which presents a panorama of French life in the XIX Century. Due to his keen observation of detail and unfiltered representation of society, Balzac is regard as one of the founders of realism in literature. Balzac was born into a family which had struggled nobly to achieve respectability. His father Bernard François was one of eleven children from a poor family in the south of France. At age ten Balzac was sent to a school in Vendôme, where he studied for seven years. His father, sought to instill the same hardscrabble work ethic which him had been raised. He studied at Sorbonne and worked in a law office for three years. He always was an enthusiastic reader and independent thinker. "Eugenie Grandet," was his first best-selling novel. The writing was simple, yet the individuals are dynamic and complex. "Old Father Goriot,"  was his next success, in which Balzac transposes the story of King Lear to 1820s in Paris in order to rage at a society bereft of all love save the love of money. Balzac`s work habits are legendary, he toiled with an incredible focus and dedication. He would often work for fifteen hours at a stretch, fueled by innumerable cups of coffee. Some critics consider Balzac`s writing exemplary of naturalism, a more pessimistic and analytical form of realism. Balzac said, "the streets of Paris possess human qualities and we can not shake off the impressions they make upon our minds." This is key to Balzac`s legacy as a realist. His keen insight regarding working-class conditions earned him the esteem of many socialists. Engels said that him was his favorite writer. Marx`s work, "The Capital," also makes constant reference to the works of Balzac. Balzac influenced many writers of his time and beyond. Critic Richard Lehan says that, "Balzac was the bridge between the realism of Dickens and the naturalism of Zola." Gustave Flaubert was also influenced by Balzac, and Marcel Proust studied his works carefully. Perhaps the author most affected by Balzac was Henry James. Both authors used the realist novel to probe the machinations of society and the myriad motives of human behavior. Balzac`s vision of a society in which class, money and personal ambition are the major players has been endorsed by critics of all political tendencies. Engels wrote, " I have learned more from Balzac than from all historians and economists together."

                       Le Dernier Chouan (1829) was the first work Balzac signed with his own name. The novel follows Walter Scott in its treatment of history, and earned the praise of Georg Lukacs in, The Historical Novel, as did Balzac work as a whole, which for Lukacs epitomized the best realistic fiction in its ability to present society as an interconnected totality and individual characters as the products of larger historical forces. Balzac discovered his vocation as social historian, and created a method of description and analysis that later used in his works devoted to contemporary history. While honing his novelistic skills, Balzac was also active as a contributor to journals. In 1830 alone, he published more than a hundred articles. 

                    The question of Balzac`s scientific vision is not new. It is an issue which has been studied in its own right, and also in relation to more purely literary concerns. In a sense, it is no in fact possible to separate Balzac`s scientific vision from his literary style. He seems to combine a "romantic" vision with a "realist" style. Balzac conceived the outline of his novel-cycle at a time of fundamental epistemological re-organization. "Science" was undergoing a divorce from "Philosophy" the better to establish itself as an independent type of knowledge. The mark of the scientific approach was its objective empirical method; and conversely, the distinguishing mark of the philosophical approach was its association with the subjective consciousness. Of course, these two approaches did not absolutely have to be antagonist: it was possible to study a phenomenon initially in a empirical way, before passing on to a more intuitive way. This is precisely what Balzac aimed to do with his chosen phenomenon: the social being.

                 In France the history of novel begins with medieval epics. But it is in the 19th century that the novel is going to blossom to meet its fullest expression during the 20th century. The French revolution in 1789 broke with the past in many ways. After the revolution there are two Frances. The novel is the new locus where conflicts and resolution between the old world and the new world take place. The novel becomes the instrument of modernity. As Balzac said in the prevace of his Lost Illusions. " The writer is the voice of his century." Another important facet of the French novel is its political dimension. Balzac wrote what he saw and heard. He wrote about the forgotten history, the one that historians prefer to avoid. He wanted to show society as it is and the reasons of societal changes, because society carries within itself the reasons of its movements.  Around six months after got married, Balzac died in Paris in 1850. He had three goals: First, to reproduce all the political and social events between 1789 and 1848. He wanted to write the history of his time, to be the witness of an era. Second, to give life to all professional "milieux" and social classes. His intellectual curiosity propelled him into studying all social classes. His books are a microcosm of French society. Third, to study all social and psychological phenomena. Balzac started what we call now as Human Sciences. However, he does not establish theories because theories incarcerate people. Yet, Balzac is inspired by the scientific theories of Geoffroy Hilaire. Balzac once wrote, "man is neither good, nor bad. He is born with instincts and aptitudes. Society does not deprave him, society perfects him better at what he does. It is greed that develops his bad tendencies."

World Press Freedom Day 2019

               This post is a summary of three articles. The first was published at  https://www.un.org/en/events/pressfreedomday/.  The second was published on May 1, 2019 at  https://www.forbes.com/sites/ewelinaochab/2019/05/01/for-the-world-press-freedom-day-and-beyond-defend-media-freedom/#6144a37d5b9e. The third was published in September 2018 at  https://rsf.org/en/news/brazils-protection-human-rights-defenders-extended-journalists-0

              The 26th celebration of World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) is jointly organized by UNESCO, the African Union Commission and the government of Ethiopia. This year's theme "Media for Democracy: Journalism and Elections in Times of Disinformation," discusses current challenges faced by media in elections, along with the media's potential in supporting  reconciliation processes.

             The theme for this year's "Media for Democracy: Journalism and Elections in Times of Disinformation." The concept note for the celebration states: "Today, the contribution of free, pluralistic, independent journalism to democracy is under unprecedent stress. Also, election outcomes and their aftermath are critically affected by political discourse and communications, including the role of the media in relation to the polling process. Many societies have falling trust in established political parties and in news outlets themselves. This is often accompanied by polarizing political discourse that theatens peaceful elections as well as press freedom." Ensuring the safety of journalists is the primary way by which we can foster the independence and freedom of the press, as crucial for democracy. Such a goal is also vital to ensure public access to information. And indeed the threat is real. According to the International Federation of Journalists, in 2018 alone, at least 94 journalists were killed. The most dangerous countries for journalists in 2018 were Afghanistan with 16 fatalities and Mexico with 11, Followed by Yemen with 9, Syria with 8 and India with 7. The data, presented by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), identifies slightly lower numbers of fatalities at 80. The RSF report further confirms that three journalists were reported missing, 60 held hostage and 348 detained. Despite the difference in figures, both agree that 2018 witnessed an increase in such fatalities and the level of threat to journalists. The serious threat to journalists' safety is characteristic of conflict areas. However, the mentioned reports feature many countries without reputations for active armed conflicts. Places like Mexico, U.S. or India. In the U.S. for example, four journalists employed by the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland were killed on June 28th, 2018, when a man walked in and opened fire. Recent years have shown that even strong and stable European countries do not escape violence against journalists. For example, in October 2017, Daphne Galizia, a Maltese journalist exposing government corruption by Maltese politicians was murdered in a car bomb attack. 19 months later, investigators are still no closer to expose those responsible for the act. In February 2018, Slovak investigative journalist Ján Kuciak, who had been investigating corruption allegations linking Slovak Businessman and politicians to Italian organized crime, was murdered alongside his fiancée Martina Kusnirova. Investigative journalism on the subject of corruption also calimed the life of Bulgarian journalist Victoria Marinova in October 2018. Aside from concerning fatality rates, it is crucial to emphasize the high numbers of journalists being detained because of their work. According to RSF, in 2017, more than half of the world's imprisoned journalists are being held in just five countries: China, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran. To respond to some of the identified challenges, only a few weeks before the World Press Freedom Day, British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland launched a joint initiative "Defend Media Freedom" that aims to shine a spotlight on media abuse and address the trend of violence against journalists. On July 10-11, 2019, the U.K. and Canada will host the International Conference on Media Freedom to further the aims of the joint campaign. Another initiative that needs to be mentioned is TrialWatch launched by the Clooney Foundation for Justice in cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Columbia Law School and Microsoft. Among others, the initiative will monitor trials of journalists around the world to ensurer that the judicial system is not used to silence journalists and curtail freedom of speech.

                  Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and other press freedom NGOs met this week in Brasilia with the staff of Brasil's mechanism for the protection of human rights defenders, which will now also be available to journalists in danger. RSF welcomes the decision to extend the range of those covered by the mechanism. It is intended to permanently reinforce the protection available to journalists and is fully justified by the violence to which many of them are exposed in Brazil. The protection provided by the mechanism, which was created in 2004 and is attached to the Ministry of Human Rights, was extended on 4 September 2018 to Comunicadores, a term that in Brazil covers not only staff journalists but also freelancers, non-professional journalists and bloggers. An expansiom of the mechanism's scope has long been one of RSF's main recommendations in Brazil and its realization now is the result of a rapprochement between the MDH and the press freedom groups in the National Human Rights Council. During the meeting in Brasilia on 10 September, RSF shared its experise, helped define the types of threats and the profile of victims, and assisted MDH staff, whose initial goal from now until the end of the year is to publicize the extension of the mechanism's protection. Exactly how it will be implemented and the criteria for determining who benefits in practice have yet to be determined.

GDP Growth 2018

               This post is a summary of the book with the title of,"World Economic Outlook -  Growth Slowdown, Precarious Recovery." Published in April 2019 at  https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2019/03/28/world-economic-outlook-april-2019                               

               One year ago economic activity was accelerating in almost all regions of the world and global economy was projected to grow at 3.9% in 2018 and 2019. One year later, much has changed: the escalation of US-China trade tensions, macroeconomic stress in Argentina and Turkey, disruptions to the auto sector in Germany, tigher credit policies in China, and financial tightening policy in the larger advanced economies have all contributed to a significantly weakened global expansion, especially in the second half of 2018. With this weakness expected to persist into the first half of 2019, the WEO projects a decline in growth in 2019 for 70% of the global economy. Global growth, which peaked at close 4% in 2017, softened to 3.6% in 2018, and is projected to decline further to 3.3% in 2019. While 2019 started out on a weak footing, a pickup is supported by significant policy accomodation by major economies, made possible by the absence of inflationary pressure despite closing output gal. U.S. Federal Reserve, in response to rising global risks, paused interest rate increases and signaled no increases for the rest of the year. The European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan, and the Bank of England have all shifted to a more accomodative stance. These policy responses have helped reverse the tigtening of financial conditions to varying degrees across countries. Emerging markets have experienced a resumption in portfolio flows, a decline in sovereign borrowing costs, and a strengthening of their currencies relative to the dollar. In Latin America, growth is projected to recovery over the next two years, to 1.4% in 2019 and 2.4% in 2020. In Brazil, growth is projected to strengthen from 1.1% in 2018 to 2.1% in 2019 and 2.5% in 2020. For emerging markets and developing 4.8% over the medium term. The medium-term growth forecast for developing economies reflects important diferences across regions. In emerging Asia, growth is expected to remain above 6% through the forecast. In Brazil, the main priority is to contain rising public debt while ensuring that needed social spending remain intact. The spending cap introduced in 2016, which envisages a 0.5% 0f GDP a year improvement in the primary fiscal balance, is a step in the right direction towards facilitating fiscal consolidation. With inflation still close to target, monetary policy can stay accomodative to support aggregate demand as needed. Building on recent reforms to labor and subsidized credit markets, efforts to improve infrastructure and the efficiency of financial intermediation would help lift productivity and boost medium-term growth prospects. Below the GDP growth in 2018 from the greatest growth to the lowest of each list. The first list is for countries in the Americas and the other is for the rest of the world.

GDP 2018 in PanAmerican countries                                 Rest of the World

Bolivia   4.3%                                                                       Libya   17.9%          

Peru  4.0%                                                                           Ethiopia   7.7%

Chile   4.0%                                                                         Vietnam   7.1%

Panama   3.9%                                                                    India  7.1%

Paraguay   3.7%                                                                  China   6.6%

Honduras   3.7%                                                                   Ireland    6.6%

Guatemala   3.1%                                                                 New Zealand   3.0%

U.S.A.    2.9%                                                                      Australia    2.8%

Colombia   2.7%                                                                   South Korea   2.7%

Uruguay   2.1%                                                                    Spain   2.5%

Mexico   2.0%                                                                      Sweden   2.3%

Canada    1.8%                                                                    Portugal    2.1%

Ecuador    1.1%                                                                    Germany   1.5%

Brazil    1.1%                                                                        France    1.5% 

Argentina    -2.5%                                                                 U.K.   1.4%

Nicaragua   -4.0%                                                                 Italy   0.9%

Venezuela    -18%                                                                 Japan   0.8%