The registration of crimes against women and children has increased exponentially. This increase is not due to deterioration in law and order but increased sensitivity towards such crimes post certain amendments in law. More people are coming forward to report crimes due to legal initiatives taken post the 2012 Nirbhya gang rape case. The police fearing stigma attached to the reporting of crimes against women and children has gradually weakened.

• 13,40,000 children below 5 die in a year, that is 3,671 under 5 child deaths per day
• Nearly half of all child deaths under 5 in India are attributed to undernutrition
• 1 in every 11 children in India is working, when they should be at school
• More than half (56%) of the under 5 deaths occur within the first 28 days of life, we work to prevent these lives
• India accounts for more than 3 out of 10 stunted children in the world
• 47% of the wom

The study conducted by Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, for the Bureau of Police Research and Development, concludes that treatment of woman complainants needs considerable improvement and that a poor do not get a fair shake. Police seems to be “overlooking” illiterate and poor people and 33% of their complaints were either registered as non cognizable offences and 25% as daily diary entries. They were not apprised of fate of their complaints either.

Women maintaining roads? As their job? Until recently, the idea was pretty much unfathomable in many countries. But in Peru, it isn’t. Since 2001, the Peruvian government and the World Bank have been working hand in hand to ensure female workers can play an active role in the routine maintenance of rural roads. This is part of a broader effort to reduce the gender gap in rural areas, and to improve women’s access to social and economic opportunities.

South Asia is booming. In 2018, GDP growth for the region as a whole is expected to accelerate to 6.9 percent, making it the fastest growing region in the world. However, fast GDP growth has not translated into fast employment growth. In fact, employment rates have declined across the region, with women accounting for most of this decline.

 Millions of small-scale farmers face significant challenges, including food and water insecurity, dependence on unpredictable rain, and increasing frequency of natural disasters. While a lot of progress has been made on sustainable agriculture, there is much work yet to be done to meet rising food and water demands in a resource finite world – in addition to improving the lives of small-scale farmers.