El IDRC Informa

La revista en-linea del IDRC's que ofrece artículos, comentarios e historias sobre los temas del desarrollo internacional.

Putting Guatemala’s Justice System on Trial

2004-12-03 Two years ago, Isabel's husband killed their maid in a drunken fury. He confessed in the morning, but the police had already accused his wife. Isabel was sentenced to 25 years. The lawyer preferred not to appeal in fear that the sentence would be increased.

This is one of the cases that has been documented by researchers from the Instituto de Estudios Comparados en Ciencias Penales de Guatemala (ICCPG — Institute for the Comparative Study of Criminal Law in Guatemala). Catalysts for civil-society monitoring of justice sector change in Guatemala, researchers are bringing together justice officials — judges, defence lawyers, and prosecutors —, human rights defenders, and experts from other Latin American countries to monitor Guatemala's criminal justice system.

Researcher Profile: Breeding New Respect for Farmers in Cuba

2005-01-19 When Soviet trade and assistance ceased after the collapse of the communist regime in 1989, the impact on large-scale, industrial agriculture in Cuba was devastating. Imported fertilizers, petroleum, and other agricultural inputs to improve yields became impossible to come by. Cuban plant breeders and farmers faced a seeming paradox — to try to grow more and better produce with fewer modern inputs. Humberto Ríos was pivotal in trail-blazing a new approach to agriculture in Cuba that helped to address this challenge. It’s an approach that draws upon the knowledge of small-scale farmers and focuses on low-input organic agriculture.

Acacia Partner Garners Two Major ICT Prizes

2005-01-19 A leading-edge Senegalese business that provides local farmers with up-to-the-minute market prices for their crops through their portable telephones has just won two major African information and communication technology (ICT) awards.

Manobi-Senegal was named Most Innovative Company and was also selected the overall organizational winner at the African ICT Achievers Awards ceremony held in November in Johannesburg, South Africa. The awards are rated among sponsors and recipients as the African ICT sector's analogue to Hollywood's movie Oscars.

From Evidence to Action — Bridging Gaps in East Africa

2004-12-17 Senior health experts from Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya agreed to set up a new Eastern African regional centre to translate health research into government action at a meeting in Bagamoyo, Tanzania, December 8. The new centre should help decode sometimes-arcane research results and translate them into formats that policymakers can use to make informed choices.

“We want to close the gap between research and the policies we create,” said the Permanent Secretary of Tanzania’s Ministry of Health, Mariam J. Mwaffisi. “We are going to think big, start small, and act now.”