SOME MAJOR PUBLICATIONS ON DEVELOPMENT

I have come across a few more major publications that should be in the toolbox of development professionals.

World Resources 2002-2004: Decisions for the Earth: Balance, voice, and power
This year’s version of the annual report produced by the World Resources Institute. It “focuses on the importance of good environmental governance,” according to the website, and explores “how citizens, government managers, and business owners can foster better environmental decisions -- decisions that meet the needs of both ecosystems and people with equity and balance.”

State of World Population 2002: People, Poverty and Possibilities
From the Introduction: “Attacking poverty directly-as a matter of human rights, to accelerate development and to reduce inequality within and among nations-has become an urgent global priority. World leaders have agreed on a variety of new initiatives, including the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This year's State of World Population report is a contribution to the discussion and a guide to action. UNFPA, 2002.

World Development Report 2003: Sustainable Development in a Dynamic World: Transforming Institutions, Growth, and Quality of Life
The WDR is a major annual report of the World Bank. This year’s “Report examines, over a 50 year period, the relationship between competing policy objectives of reducing poverty, maintaining growth, improving social cohesion, and protecting the environment. The World Development Report 2003 emphasizes that many good policies have been identified but not implemented due to distributional issues and barriers to developing better institutions. The Report reviews institutional innovations that might help overcome these barriers and stresses that ensuring economic growth and improved management of the planet's ecosystem requires a reduction in poverty and inequality at all levels: local, national, and international. As in previous editions, the World Development Report 2003 contains an appendix of selected indicators from the World Development Indicators.”

World Disaster Report 2002
“Does development expose more people to disasters? What is the cost of failing to prepare? The tenth edition of the World Disasters Report argues that risk reduction is an essential condition for sustainable development. It examines preparedness and mitigation initiatives from disaster-prone countries across the globe. And it discusses who should take responsibility for protecting vulnerable populations from disaster, and how.” The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 2002.

The World's Water: 2002-2003
This Biennial Report on Freshwater Resources was written by Peter H. Gleick with William C.G. Burns, Elizabeth L. Chalecki, Michael Cohen, Katherine Kao Cushing, Amar S. Mann, Rachel Reyes, Gary H. Wolff, Arlene K. Wong. (Island Press, July 23 2002, Paper $32.50) The website provides an overview, the introduction, Chapter One and Chapter 5, as well as a "Water Brief".

Human Development Report 2003
Subtitled "Millennium Development Goals: A compact among nations to end human poverty", this is the most recent version of a major annual report by the United Nations Development Program.