This webpage features a brief article exploring the connections between ICTs and development., particularly with regard to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Links to several useful reports on ICTs and the MDGs are also provided
The UNDP holds a comprehensive database about different areas relevant to describing the development of a country. This database includes indicators such as literacy, average age of death, child mortality etc and is relevant for all researchers and NGOs
The demand for statistics on human functioning and disability has greatly increased following the International year of disabled persons (1981), the adoption of the United Nations World programme of action concerning disabled persons (1982), and the release of the standard rules on the equalization of opportunities for persons with disabilities (1993). The world programme of action specifically requested that the United Nations develop systems for the regular collection and dissemination of information on disability.
In 2005 the United Nations statistics division will initiate a systematic and regular collection of basic statistics on human functioning and disability by introducing a disability statistics questionnaire to the existing demographic yearbook data collection system. The United Nations statistics division is currently testing the disability questionnaire and developing tabulation and dissemination plans.
This website is a statistical reference and guide to the standards and methods and available data on functioning and disability
This United Nations website provides information on the MDGs. It lists the goals, their status in 2004, and access to the Millennium Declaration. It includes a host of other MDG related materials as well
World Bank website providing information on each of the MDGs and the different regions and countries' work towards them. It lists each of the eight goals, their 18 targets and 48 indicators. It looks at the likelihood of achieving the goals and what is necessary if they are to be achieved. As each of the goals is measured using 48 quantitative indicators, there is a section that looks at building the capacity of countries to collect, interpret and monitor such information. The website also contains World Bank research and country reports related to the MDGs
Site commissioned by the UN Secretary General and the UN Development Group. It provides information on each of the specific Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and links to country reports, key MDG documents, the MDG indicators database and Chapter 2 of the World Development Report. There are also reports from each of the task forces set up to look at the eight MDGs
UN-NGLS website providing basic information about the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), as well as information on the UN's action, civil society's action, country/regional action, and links to handbooks about the MDGs and educational resources. There are also links to other MDG related websites and listservs
Data Query offers free access to a segment of the World Development Indicators (WDI) database, an extensive collection of data about development. This segment includes 54 timeseries indicators for 208 countries and 18 groups, spanning five years. Users can choose several ways of displaying the data: index, percentage change, and graphs, and can export the result in standard formats. Definitions and sources are also available
This is the website of the School Readiness Indicators Initiative. This is a US multi-state initiative that uses child well-being indicators to build a change agenda in states and local communities in order to improve school readiness and ensure early school success. The initiative objectives are: to create a set of measurable indicators related to and defining school readiness that can be tracked regularly over time at the state an local levels; to have states and local governments adopt this indicators-based definition of school readiness, fill in gaps in data availability, track data over time and report findings to their citizens; to stimulate policy, programme and other actions to improve the ability of all children to read at grade level by the end of the third grade. This resource contains key news, updates and critical information materials. Although the focus is on the US, research on indicators and lessons learned can be adapted for other contexts
"The information and links contained within this site aim to address malnutrition in the global context, offering online access to the latest worldwide developments in its prevention and management. It is hoped that a greater understanding of best practices, including new technologies and available resources, will encourage more people to tackle the intergenerational transmission of malnutrition, while also freely sharing information and experiences." The website also has a specific section for information about nutrition and malnutrition in India. It is aimed at the community at large with a section practitioners and programme managers
This website contains many resources relating to the inter-relationship between mental health, poverty and development. It contains useful resources, information sheets, publications, journal and conference databases, key organisations and contacts, press releases and media coverage of the issues
This resource highlights facts about disability globally and describes people with disabilities as the world’s largest minority. Key information is provided about education, employment and violence with respect to people with disabilities. It would be useful for people interested in learning about global disability issues
Disability Rights International aims to protect the rights of people with mental disabilities through awareness raising of living conditions for children and adults with disabilities and through advocating for legislation to protect their rights. This website would be useful to people with an interest in human rights, legal reform, disability and development
This video provides an overview of the global mental health situation with detailed information and statistics. It highlights the mental health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) which is an WHO initiative that advocates for proper care, psychosocial assistance, and medication in limited resource settings for the treatment of depression, schizophrenia, and epilepsy and for the prevention of suicide
"The Washington Group on Disability Statistics (WG) is a United Nations (UN) City Group commissioned to improve the quality and international comparability of disability measurement in Censuses and surveys." This website provides the WG's background, objectives, meetings, documents, and short set of questions. This website is useful to anyone interested in disability and statistics
The Global Health Observatory (GHO) provides access to WHO's global health-related statistics. The aim of the GHO is to: compile and verify major sources of health data; provide easy access to country data and metadata; present scientifically sound information in user-friendly formats. Specific areas are provided for theme pages, a data repository, reports, country statistics, a map gallery and standards
This area of the global health observatory (GHO) provides access to WHO's global non-communicable disease (NCD) statistics. It presents general NCD information, mortality and morbidity statistics, risk factors, and the health system’s response and capacity to address and respond to NCDs. Links are also provided to related NCD data products. This database is useful to anyone interested in NCD related statistics and data
"The WHO Global InfoBase is a data warehouse that collects, stores and displays information on chronic diseases and their risk factors for all WHO member states...The Infobase assembles, for the first time in one place, non-communicable disease (NCD) risk factor data collected from WHO Member States. NCD risk factor data are crucial for predicting the future burden of chronic diseases in populations and also for identifying potential interventions to reduce the future burden. The Infobase online dissemination tool provides not only data but also health information to help users understand health enquiries worldwide and improve the health of nations." NCD indicators, mortalities and country profiles are provided, displaying the information with user-friendly tools including graphs, maps and data tables. This database is useful to anyone interested in NCD related statistics and data
"The database provides easy access to country-specific human rights information emanating from international human rights mechanisms in the United Nations system: the Treaty Bodies, the Special Procedures and the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). This tool aims at raising awareness of the human rights recommendations coming from these mechanisms and assisting governments, civil society organizations, national human rights institutions, and United Nations partners with their implementation. The Index allows the user to find out about human rights issues worldwide, and to see how the legal interpretation of international human rights law has evolved over the past ten years"
DOTCOM is an online tool to map the progress made on a range of key instruments relevant to implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It is "constructed from a large database of information about national laws, policies, strategies and initiatives in the Member States of the European Union, its Candidate countries and other associated countries. For each of the 34 countries, and for the EU, it includes summary information on 43 selected policy instruments, organised in eight themes (more than 1,500 records). Each record includes descriptive text and web links to policy documents or sources of further information at the national level"
