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Summary: There has been an increasing “informalization” and “feminization” of the labor force in developing countries over the past few decades. One aspect of these twin phenomena is the growth of subcontracted homework in manufacturing. Homework has a dual and contradictory character: It can be the source of exploitation of workers, but under some conditions, it can foster human development and the emergence of microenterprises and promote local development. This paper draws on surveys carried out in two low-income South Asian countries—India and Pakistan—where homework is widespread. It examines the social protection needs of these women workers, and also argues for public action to promote such work as a possible new labor-intensive growth strategy in developing countries. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In 1990, a target of universal access to basic education by the year 2000 was set by two global conferences. Ten years later, however, it was clear that the target had not been met. Too many countries had made insufficient progress, and although many of the reasons for this inadequate progress were country-specific, one factor stood out in virtually all countries: inadequate public finance for primary education. In 2000, the Millennium Summit set a new target date for achieving ‘education for all’ of 2015. This article updates the global and regional cost estimates for reaching that target. The estimates are based on the most recent country-by-country data on budgetary expenditure, population and enrolment trends, and unit cost. The annual additional cost of achieving ‘education for all’ in developing countries by 2015 is estimated at US$ 9.1 billion. Although this is affordable at the global level, individual countries will need considerably more resources than are currently available. However, official development assistance (ODA) has been declining, and the share of ODA allocated to basic education has changed little over the past decade. Therefore, although affordable, the target of universal basic education by 2015 is likely to be missed, just as it was in 2000, without a major change both in ODA and national budgets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the improvement of health service delivery in developing countries. Factors affecting quality of health services; Role of grass-root organizations with non-governmental organizations in increasing resource for public services; Effectiveness of allocating resources in the lower end of the health pyramid systems.