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Land Law Advocacy for Farmers in China

XiaoHui Wu's picture

Photo Credit: Landesa.orgEven though Chinese law offers farmers protection from land grabs, readjustments, and other confiscations, news reports paint a different picture of embattled farmers defending their land from local officials working in concert with developers. In fact, every year 3-4 million farmers lose their property to land readjustments and other forms of compulsory forfeiture in China.

Many of these farmers do not know their legal rights. According to independent surveys, fewer than 30% of farmers have heard of China’s Property Law, the most important law governing properties, and land rights. As a result fewer than 10% of Chinese farmers ever appeal to administrative and judicial institutions when their land rights are violated.

2012 Social Media as a Tool for Citizen Feedback

Victoire Ngounoue's picture

Un Forum I-Social pour la Promotion de la Santé et la Bonne Gouvernance au Cameroun.More often than not, “we” criticize the “system” for being corrupt; yet it is simply a reflection of what we make of it. For example, what would happen if “we” decided never to collect bribes from users in our health service system? Or if we implemented and respected the rule of ‘first come, first served’ instead of paying or collecting bribes for faster service delivery? What would happen when it is brought to our knowledge that there are irregular practices operating within our health centers?

These questions are for everyone, particularly for authorities in health centers. These kinds of questions are being answered by winners of the Cameroon 2011 Development Marketplace competition. Nowadays, advances in ICT tools and social media channels provide us with various ways to monitor and expose corrupt practices. When I first visited the website of I Paid a Bribe by the Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, I was amazed by the innovation, frightened by testimonies, and thankful to those who had the courage to report irregular practices. My next move while browsing the website was to check if Cameroon was amongst those countries participating on this platform. Unfortunately not!

“I am going to be the leader of my country.”

Anita Ayers Henderlight's picture

A U.S. congresswoman from Arizona was shot. The Hollywood Foreign Press was handing out Golden Globes to the entertainment industry. The White House was preparing for a visit from China’s president. The people of Southern Sudan were announcing preliminary results of a vote for independence from their Northern counterpart.

 All of these headline events are worthy of attention. One event that did not make a headline is the one that will forever be embedded in my memory. It’s a development worker’s dream come true. After years of advocating for the rights of young women and girls, of fundraising to make education accessible to females in a traditionally patriarchal society, and of dreaming about a world where girls feel free from oppression to express their opinions and beliefs with confidence, I received an important phone call.

Innovation Happens When Traditional Markets Fail

Aleem Walji's picture

Conversations after "Innovations in Development" PanelInnovations in development happen where traditional markets fail.  The open discussion that followed the presentation I made on Monday to nearly 100 colleagues inside and outside the World Bank Group spurred the first of what I hope are many conversations on the role the World Bank Group and others can play in supporting social entrepreneurs in the developing world

Hero Rats Are Making News Around the World!

Kirsten Spainhower's picture

Check out the story CNN is featuring on Hero Rats today. In the early days of the project Bart Weetjens of Apopo, the Dutch Company that implements Hero Rats, said that initially “Every where I went to apply for funding, we were just laughed at.” But in 2003 the Development Marketplace took his idea seriously and funded his project. Now Hero Rats are making news around the world.

From the Conflict Blog: Addressing violent conflict, one innovation at a time

Nicholas van Praag's picture

by Nicholas van PraagWorld Bank Conflict Blog

"The best thing about my job is the amazing people I meet—and last week was better than most.  I was in Cape Town for a meeting of social entrepreneurs and peace-builders.  They were gathered under the banner of the World Bank Institute’s Innovation Fair to surface new ways of addressing conflict and delivering services to poor people in fragile states..."

Continue reading on the Conflict Blog

 

Innovation Fair Kicks off in Cape Town and Online

Edith Wilson's picture

Innovation Fair Ning SiteRight now in Cape Town, the Development Marketplace is holding the first of a new generation of DM activities -- an Innovation Fair on Moving Beyond Conflict tied to the 2011 World Development Report  and drawing on a pool of innovative solutions discovered during an on-line competition  (the new innovation "radar") last month which registered 2,000 users, producing 223 projects from 40 countries. 

You can follow the action and join the event virtually through this website hosted by our local partner:
http://innovationfair.ning.com/

Innovation Fair: What Happened, What Happens Next...

Here's an update on the new Innovation Fair: The on-line competition which has been running for the last 3 weeks officially closed at midnight on Sunday March 7. The response received, especially given the short time, surpassed our expectations with over 1900 registered users and 223 submitted projects from over 40 countries. Ideas ranged  from innovative uses of crowdsourcing to map peace in Kenya to tools that can improve governance in Haiti in post-earthquake recovery. The participation has been a truly global one with entries from conflict-affected countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and Burundi, and those from countries that, per se, are not considered conflict-affected but still experience some of the same issues such as youth violence. What impressed me most was the dialogue that sprang up among many of the users -- exchanging ideas on how to replicate one project in a different context, how to improve an idea based on experience and in same cases, simply words of encouragement.

It was this same crowd of users that through their votes selected the proposals that were passed on to be now reviewed by a panel of experts composed by World Bank and International Finance Corporation staff, academics and practitioners. All proposals that received 8 votes and up made it to the second stage this time and are now being reviewed by the panel of experts that will select the 30 projects that will make it to the Fair in South Africa. The list of 30 selected projects will be posted on the innovation radar platform next Wednesday, March 17. Thanks to everyone who's contributed and for the great ideas you send in -- this is a pilot and we are already learning how to do this even better next time!
 

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