Visit some of the specials spaces set aside for youth in a refugee camp in Darfur, where children of all ages can go to play, learn, and begin the healing process. [Scroll down to view video.]

Low levels of literacy make it difficult for families in Pakistan to access information on post-natal care, contraception and medical attention. With only two percent of its GDP allocated to education, the country risks achieving the Millennium Development Goals, says UNESCO.

An ICT project in Sri Lanka is enabling people with disabilities to avail opportunities and live in an inclusive society. The eNABLE project – with Braille-equipped computers, a software to convert text into speech, a group hearing system and host of other facilities – links them with others at global and national levels.

At a recent review meeting of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights held in Geneva after 17 years, India was adjudged a poor performer. A panel of observers found the progress in critical human development areas such as food, health, housing and education as ‘unsatisfactory’.

A photoessay including award-winning photographs depicts the lives of girls in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and Nepal who marry as children.

The Nand & Jeet Khemka Foundation invites applications for India’s Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2008. The Award seeks to recognise social entrepreneurs whose efforts and innovations have contributed towards achieving sustainable development.

Best practices in preventing and eliminating child labor through education by Child Rights Information Network helps users design and implement capacity-building activities for children in situations of child labour. The book documents experiences of over 80 NGOs and possibilities of change through educational interventions.

A new publication Data-Driven School Improvement by New York based Education Development centre emphasises use of data to improve classroom learning and teaching. The book examines the role of digital technologies in enhancing student performance.

Software giant Bill Gates has promised to provide students in Indonesia with low-cost computers and free software. This will greatly help the government seeking to introduce a million computers for educational purposes.

Freelance journalist and social activist Swagat Thorat in western India publishes a fortnightly called Sparshgyaan in local language for the visually impaired. In view of the limited availability of literature in Braille, this can be described as commendable effort.

Erive Community Radio is bringing a change in the lives of young girls in Maganja da Costa. The UNICEF-supported station has led to a rise in enrollment in primary schools through its programmes promoting girls’ education. The station is run in partnership with Mozambique’s Social Communication Institute.

Intel will work with Sheikh Muhammed Foundation to expand its Teach programme in Arab countries. Apart from training 2 million teachers by 2011, Intel also hopes to educate and develop the talent of Arab youth in the region.

FREE FM, a community radio meant for prisoners in Jamaica, is now available to anyone interested in listening to it from anywhere in the world. Launched in June 2007 by UNESCO, Canadian International Development Agency and others, it was meant to encourage rehabilitation and education of prisoners.

Environmental website kidsRgreen is in the final rounds for the prestigious Stockholm Challenge Award 2008. Promoting environmental awareness, this unique educational initiative by India based Centre for Environment Education takes young minds beyond classroom teaching by engaging them in various interesting learning tools.

The Department of Education in Andaman & Nicobar Islands, an Indian Union Territory, is introducing IT hobby centres in 24 schools during the summer vacation. The free of cost centres will encourage use of computers in the learning process.

Many members of parliament in the Indian capital woke up surprised to find groups of children knocking at their doors. The children aided by NGOs submitted a charter of demand to be passed on to Indian Prime Minister, reminding them to fulfill the government’s promise of education for all.

The Department of Education in Andaman & Nicobar Islands, an Indian Union Territory, is introducing IT hobby centres in 24 schools during the summer vacation. The free of cost centres will encourage use of computers in the learning process.

A comprehensive database, designed to track school-going children in Orissa in eastern India, has received the prestigious Prime Minister Award for Excellence in Public Administration for the year 2006-07. According to the state's Primary Education Project Authority, project ‘e-shishu’ will enable steps for universal education in the state.

In a country where millions of girls are deprived of learning opportunities, UNICEF along with Afghanistan Girls’ Education Initiative (AGEI) has roped in young people to advocate the cause of female education. Called the ‘Young Champions’, these men and women interact with communities to promote gender equality in schooling.

With BBC World Trust launching its most ambitious project 'English in Action’, Bangladeshis will soon be able to learn the global language through television and mobiles. This will help all sections of society acquire English language skills and increase their prospects in the job market.

With BBC World Trust launching its most ambitious project called ‘English in Action’, Bangladeshis will soon be able to learn a truly global language on television and mobiles. This will help all sections of society acquire English language skills and increase their prospects in the job market.

WASHINGTON, Apr 24 (OneWorld) - Recording artist Shakira and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown joined forces this week with millions of students and teachers around the globe calling for redoubled efforts to allow children to attend school.

Even as UNESCO’s latest report pans India for lagging behind in the race for achieving education for all by 2015, experts gathered in the capital weigh up the nationally sponsored Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. Exclusion and discrimination remain core challenges as millions of children remain outside its fold, is the verdict.

UNESCO’s Global Monitoring Report: Education for All by 2015? Will we make it? provides a mid-term assessment of where the world stands on its commitment to provide basic education for all. The report stresses on the need to make education more inclusive through adequately financed and targeted measures.

UNESCO’s month-long online discussion on the theme of inclusive education is currently on. A DVD related to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is also being launched today at its headquarters as part of series of events marking the Global Action Week 2008.

Last week policymakers from South Asia gathered at Bangladeshi capital to discuss social protection strategies for children on health and basic education. Government representatives, international NGOs, researchers and experts shared initiatives and identified methods to secure the future of children.

A community radio show by college students in Chennai in southern India is bringing alive characters from neighbouring slums to help women deal with issues of health and education. The use of local Tamil dialect is just one of the ways to reach out to its audience in the slums.

NEW YORK, Apr 18 (OneWorld) - A nonprofit environmental group is calling on one of the country's largest textbook publishers to correct a school book that it says contains a discussion of global warming "so biased and misleading it would humble a tobacco industry PR man."

Project Gutenberg (PG), an online source of books is a unique initiative to combine traditional printing with digital technology. Gregory Newby, the CEO, PG and Michael Hart, the founder-editor of the project highlight their new ventures and overall management of e-Books.

In a landmark judgment, India’s Supreme Court has upheld the law that provides reservation in admissions in central government educational institutions to backward castes. With this the share of reserved seats will be close to 50%. However, the affluent sections from the disadvantaged groups will not be able to gain the preferential treatment.

An Indian IT giant NIIT and Confederation of Indian Industries will together create information communication technology infrastructure in Africa to foster software talent in the continent. As per an agreement, the former will provide high quality educational resources and the latter will facilitate internship with Indian industry.

Using Edu-tainment for Distance Education in Community Work is a guide to creating distance education radio, TV and internet programmes in the Edu-tainment format. Clear and concise, the book is a valuable resource for NGOs, donors, programme managers, writers and producers working in developing countries.

‘English for Fun’ radio programme recently started in Bihar, one of the most impoverished states in India, has become extremely popular among kids. Covering nearly six million primary school students, the programme is helping them learn the language that provides a competitive edge in modern India.

An Indian NGO has tied up with educational institutes for a postgraduate diploma in gender, sexuality and human rights with a view to enhance understanding on these vital subjects. The idea for a separate course came after a survey revealed poor awareness among college youth.

The state government in Bihar in eastern India plans to set up FM radio stations in schools to make education more effective. Apart from airing phone-in programmes on career counseling, quizzes and guest lectures, the channels would also educate students on community development, health and disaster management.

The state government in Bihar in eastern India plans to set up FM radio stations in schools to make education more effective. Apart from airing phone-in programmes on career counseling, quizzes and guest lectures, the channels would also educate students on community development, health and disaster management.

Under its World Ahead Programme, Intel Corporation will supply a thousand personal computers to schools across 64 districts in Bangladesh. Ensuring cost-effective Internet connectivity with the help of other agencies is also one of the objectives of the programme.

The Jan Haq Yatra, covering 16 Indian states, was recently organised to sensitise people on pressing social and economic issues. Faisal Anurag and Eknath Awad, spokespersons of NAFRE spoke to OneWorld South Asia in New Delhi and shared their viewpoints on the need and objectives of the people’s march.

A young village girl from Rajasthan has become a role model for her community by protesting against her own marriage as a child, a tradition generally accepted as norm in rural India. For her act of heroic defiance, Congress Kanwar was given the National Bravery Award on the Indian Republic Day on January 26.

Young students in Afghanistan unable to afford rentals and other expenses are forced to work on illicit poppy fields to earn some money. Not only do their studies suffer due to grueling work, but they also get exposed to the dangerous addiction of drugs.

Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, was in Mumbai, India to launch his new commercial venture ‘Wikia’. Here he shared his desire to increase local Indian language contributions on the site and the need to challenge spam content.

A Kenyan company has launched a project called Digital Village Constituency Cluster geared to expand the country’s ICT reach to connect the rural population. Each cluster will have minimum of eight digital units serving commercial, developmental and educational activities within a 15 km radius.

In southern India, Kanavu is a dream school for Wayanad’s tribal children. Started by a writer-turned activist 15 years ago with an idea of tapping the hidden genius of the community, it is now run by the first batch of its students.

HARARE, Mar 14 (OneWorld) - Members of once esteemed professions in Zimbabwe -- teachers, nurses, and doctors -- have gone on strike over the paltry purchasing power of their wages.

WASHINGTON, Mar 13 (OneWorld) - Activists working to improve lives and livelihoods around the world gathered in the United States capital Wednesday to launch a new initiative to bring water and sanitation facilities to schools that currently lack them.

The Borderless World Foundation, a Pune-based NGO, has a mission to provide shelter for young girls orphaned by violence in the north Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. In these baseras or homes, they find much-needed affection and care, which they have been bereft of.

A budgetary allocation for the welfare of minorities in the union budget for the financial year 2008-09 is far short of expectations, say Muslim organisations, who recently held a demonstration in the Indian capital to demand a better deal from the government.

It was not easy to convince a Muslim dominant district in underdeveloped Bihar to allow teenage girls to attend classes on reproductive and sexual healthcare at the local madarsa. Azad India Foundation (AIF)’s efforts have however earned support even from the local clerics.

Illiteracy among women will only worsen the already serious problem of digital divide, says Women’s Literacy and Information and Communication Technologies: Lessons that Experience has Taught Us, a book by Commonwealth of Learning. The study highlights policy as well as implementation strategies in the use of ICTs for women’s literacy.

Development agencies lack funds for successful reintegration, says UN Under-Secretary-General Radhika Coomaraswamy. Rehabilitation of child soldiers goes beyond the act of demobilisation from armies. Faith organisations and education can help communities receive these children back into their fold, says she.

Higher and technical education has been accorded primacy in India’s Eleventh Five Year Plan, says the latest Economic Survey. The survey, however, is silent on the manpower crisis that advanced learning is facing.

Teachers working in remote villages of West Bengal will soon be provided with critical academic aid through a first-of-its-kind phone based service in India. Using an innovative mix of telephony and internet, LifeLines Education seeks to answer queries on pedagogy, classroom management and administration, while linking teachers with a network of educational experts.

Experts are of the opinion that partial increase in expenditure in this year’s union budget on health and education is far short of expectations. If India has to achieve universal education and provide affordable health facilities to all its citizens, much more is needed to be done.

There was a clear absence of vision in the union budget presented to Indian Parliament on February 29, says Wada Na Todo Abhiyan – a national campaign by civil society organisations. It says that the government has once again sidestepped the crucial issues of health and education.

Linguistic and cultural diversity is an important asset of sustainable development, says a new Talking Point series: Linguistic Diversity and the Preservation of Endangered Languages (2007). Author Mark Turin draws attention of policymakers to step up efforts for language revival programmes in the Himalayan region.

To boost its corporate social responsibility work, GAIL India Ltd has launched an e-Shiksha programme for rural children at some of its plants in north and central India. Started with an investment of INR 6.3 million, the mobile centres will have buses equipped with laptops to teach children computer basics in local languages.

Decades of warring guns may have turned Afghanistan into a ‘collapsed state’, but the country is now on the road to recovery, says Ehsan Zia, the Afghan Minister of Rural Rehabilitation and Development. Community Development Councils help villagers decide their own projects while microfinance initiatives have benefited women in rural areas.

Villagers in India’s north-eastern state of Tripura lack basic civic amenities like water, hospital, school, etc. and yet are content with their voter identity cards issued by the government. Poverty inhibits them from demanding even their basic rights.

Dayamani Barla reports on the concerns of rural people in Jharkhand. She feels that dominance of journalists with middle class background in Indian media industry makes it difficult for them to relate to the issues of the poor.

Several programmes have been implemented in recent years for capacity building of teachers in the use and integration of information and communication technology. UNESCO’s recent publication: ICT in Teacher Education: Case Studies from the Asia-Pacific Region contains a collection of examples of ICT in Teacher Education programmes.

Several programmes have been implemented in recent years for capacity building of teachers in the use and integration of information and communication technology. UNESCO’s recent publication: ICT in Teacher Education: Case Studies from the Asia-Pacific Region contains a collection of examples of ICT in Teacher Education programmes.

A UNESCO publication titled: CR: A user’s guide to the Technology is an excellent manual for potential community radio operators. With Indian government planning to set up 4,000 stations, the manual is a handy reference for starting a radio station in the country.

A documentary filled with the message of hope and courage, follows a young South African HIV/AIDS activist as she crosses linguistic and cultural barriers to reach HIV positive women living in the city of Mumbai in India. The documentary is due to be shown on Indian television this year.

When it comes to investing in girls, actions must speak louder than words. A new report Why Girls Count says governments and multilateral agencies in developing countries must invest in the welfare of girls for better social and economic outcomes; countries that do not do so risk perpetuating poverty.

In a region where education for girls meant only deen ki taleem or religious studies, Vinod Kumar Kanathia had to struggle to teach the girls jeene ka saleeka (way of life). Starting with 25 students and five teachers, he now runs 95 educational centres for Muslim girls in Mewat region in north India.

About 30% of schools in India are without permanent structures, about 14% have no drinking water facility and about 60% have no separate toilets for girls, according to the latest official figures. It is obvious that lack of infrastructure has impact on quality of education.

A Dalit-centric policy framework can help the disadvantaged community to have a greater say in local and national programmes and their implementation, says a report released this month by the people’s campaign Wada Na Todo Abhiyan.

For parents grappling with poverty, sending kids to school is difficult; for teachers it is hard to keep them at school when they are always hungry. Nepal is faced with a problem of children either not enrolling or dropping out due to widespread hunger.

An initiative to boost computer literacy in southern India’s Kerala has achieved a new milestone under an ambitious scheme that has provided a software to 15,000 primary school children in their mother tongue. Learning computer skills in one’s own language greatly enhances the grasping power.

An initiative to boost computer literacy in Kerala in southern India has achieved a new milestone under an ambitious scheme that provides a software to 15,000 primary school children in their mother tongue. Learning computer skills in one’s own language will greatly enhance the grasping power of these children.

A comprehensive data pool on gender issues was launched by the SAARC Secretary General at the inaugural of the recent Sixth South Asian Regional Ministerial Conference by UNIFEM at New Delhi. The Gender Database will provide records on violence against women and trafficking in the South Asia region, and on women’s health and HIV/AIDS.

Young children are forced into labour to produce unbaked bricks at nearly 6,000 brick kilns in Pakistan. Despite laws banning forced labour, the country has over 1.7 million bonded labourers, many of them children, says the International Labour Organisation.

The Socio Economic Development Trust has succeeded in bringing thousands of dropouts in villages of western India back to school. Bal Panchayats or village-level children's organisations have played a prominent role not only in mobilising kids and their parents, but also teachers and officials to be responsive to their needs.

The designers of the "$100 Laptop" are driving modern technologies to be more accessible and relevant to the vast billions who previously lacked access.

Critical of its existing policies, the Afghan government is now trying to transform its religious schools by widening their syllabus. The move is seen as an attempt to regain its past historic glory as students will be taught history, geography, science, languages - and computer studies, apart the teachings of Islam.

Providing free midday meals to all primary school children is one of the most ambitious initiatives in India. Despite the complaints of gaps in delivery and shortfall in supply, the midday meal scheme in Rajasthan has succeeded in improving nutritional status of school going children and enhanced school attendance and enrolment.

Child soldiers returning to their homes in Nepal face difficulties in rehabilitating themselves, say local NGOs. Fears of torture and abductions by Maoist rebels and government forces continue to haunt these children, who are in dire need of psycho-social support from their communities.

Patriarchal attitudes towards female literacy are hostile in many traditional societies, including that of Pakistan. Breaking the shackles of tradition, women are now seeking ways to educate themselves and their daughters.

The story of Anuradha, a medical student, who fought her disability to pursue her dream caught the jury’s attention at Canada’s first international film festival on disability. Girl Stars, supported by UNICEF, is a series of films that document the stories of young women and girls in India who have changed their lives, and those of others, by going to school.

Only a fraction of the millions of children with disabilities in Bangladesh are able to get basic education, owing to government’s apparent indifference in ensuring their educational rights. However, the country's social welfare secretary says all that may change soon.

Dalit and tribal children from across Madhya Pradesh in central India face discrimination at the hands of fellow students and teachers. This was revealed at a public hearing organised by ActionAid partner in Dewas district that exposed major shortcomings in implementing government education policy in the state, and sought a way forward.