Focusing on the vulnerability and resilience to economic shocks at the household level, this book draws on extensive research activities carried out in two Melanesia countries: the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. In particular, it identifies the household impacts of the recent food, fuel and economic crises. The contributors also examine resilience by identifying how households responded to these recent economic events in order to cope with their impacts. Findings indicate that households are vulnerable to a range of shocks and often struggle to cope with their impacts. Shocks are making it harder for households to meet their basic needs. Households in Melanesia are facing increasing demands for money, in particular for school fees, basic foodstuffs and customary obligations. Concurrently, there are limited domestic opportunities for formal employment. Traditional social support networks are strong and are an important form of resilience. However, there is evidence that they are disintegrating. Of particular focus are the gendered impacts. Women are found to bear a disproportionate share of the burden in adjusting to household shocks. The authors highlight key areas in which public policy and development programmes can reduce household vulnerability and increase their resilience to future economic shocks.

Focusing on the vulnerability and resilience to economic shocks at the household level, this book draws on extensive research activities carried out in two Melanesia countries: the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. In particular, it identifies the household impacts of the recent food, fuel and economic crises. The contributors also examine resilience by identifying how households responded to these recent economic events in order to cope with their impacts. Findings indicate that households are vulnerable to a range of shocks and often struggle to cope with their impacts. Shocks are making it harder for households to meet their basic needs. Households in Melanesia are facing increasing demands for money, in particular for school fees, basic foodstuffs and customary obligations. Concurrently, there are limited domestic opportunities for formal employment. Traditional social support networks are strong and are an important form of resilience. However, there is evidence that they are disintegrating. Of particular focus are the gendered impacts. Women are found to bear a disproportionate share of the burden in adjusting to household shocks. The authors highlight key areas in which public policy and development programmes can reduce household vulnerability and increase their resilience to future economic shocks.

In the year 2000, the international community agreed to a framework to address global poverty. This framework, known as the Millennium Development Goals, was time-bound with an end date of 2015. With this end now in sight, the international community is focusing on the achievement of these goals. However, it is also very important that consideration now turns to what will follow the MDGs after 2015. Millennium Development Goals: Looking Beyond 2015 provides a critical analysis of the MDGs and discusses a range of issues that must be considered by the international community in determining what poverty alleviation framework might replace the MDGs. This reflection is made even more imperative as the poverty landscape has shifted considerably since these original goals were made. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy.

This book examines how international aid donors and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) can assist countries in the Asia-Pacific region achieve the Millennium Development Goals. The book examines the progress countries have made towards the MDGs and highlights the need to tailor the goals to individual country circumstances.

This book provides important information regarding the Millennium Development Goals, adopted unanimously by the United Nations in 2000, setting explicit targets in terms of achieving progress in the developing world. This volume provides both a theoretical overview of the role of education in development and also illustrates this with various case studies (based on work of non-government organisations and other donors) in the Asia-Pacific region. The authors include a mix of development practitioners as well as academics engaged in research in this field. Thus, the theory is illustrated and extrapolated by case studies focussing on community development interventions.