Leaders throughout the Arab world who seek to avoid the fate of Hosni Mubarak and Tunisia's Ben Ali would be wise to take heed to the recommendations of the 2009 Arab Human Development Report.
I recently caught up with Millennium Promise CEO John McArthur. We spoke about what was accomplished at last September's MDG summit at the UN; what to expect from the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland; and discuss his new project: MDG Pledges.
The UN is out with a new report showing that natural disasters cost about $109 billion in economic damage in 2010. That's compared to about $35 billion in 2009.
Reports are coming in fast via twitter that the US Geological Survey is confirming that a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck Pakistan. The apparent epicenter was in Southwest Pakistan, near the Afghan border.
I think that things will get better this year. Disaster recovery is slow. The volume of money donated to Haiti had everyone thinking that reconstruction would be quick. However, the obstacles to Haiti recovery were larger than a lack of money