UNESCO Courier articles from December 1998

UNESCO Courier archives from December 1998

Peace in Mozambique.(includes related article on Mozambique's civil war)
December 1, 1998... The question and the people Enigmatic questions and oracular responses in an imaginary dialogue between a stranger and an old man of the people After the troubles and the wars, what keeps the people moving? The people moves towards its...

War on drugs.(Editorial)
December 1, 1998... Drugs destroy, corrupt and kill. They must not be fought with half-hearted or short-term measures. We need to wage war on them - ne of the very few wars we must all be involved in. But let's be clear about the enemy. It's essential to strike at...

Overall, the multinationals' track record seems clean....(Pollution for Export?)
December 1, 1998... After tax havens . . . pollution havens? Are multinationals seeking to relocate in countries with low environmental standards? It all depends on how you look at it. In the search for new sources of capital, labour and raw materials are...

...But in mineral extraction and some other resource-seeking industries the picture is murky.(Pollution for Export?)(includes related article on the controversial port project in Maharashtra state, India)
December 1, 1998... In some resource seeking industries (e.g. minerals, fisheries and plantation crops), locational preference is deeply bound with environmental costs and access to natural resources. These are industries where small cuts in production costs can...

Sugarcoating empowerment.(includes related articles)
December 1, 1998... An educational programme in Cairo's 'garbage villages' attracts girls with promises of income while teaching literacy and self-esteem along the way The trick is to get them in the door. Only then can the learning and social change begin....

A weightless economy.(The Knowledge Economy: When Ideas are Capital)(includes related article on the elements of the new economy)
December 1, 1998... Information and communications technology is transforming the world and producing 'knowledge products' to which traditional economic principles do not apply The importance of the weightless economy can be assessed at three levels. We can...

The emperor's new clothes.(The Knowledge Economy: When Ideas are capital)(new economy)
December 1, 1998... Noted American economist Paul Krugman believes there may be less to the 'new economy' doctrine than meets the eye The "new economy" has arrived! An era of prosperity and social well-being has dawned for America, and hence the world. There...

Inclusion or exclusion?(The Knowledge Economy: When Ideas are Capital)(gap between rich and poor countries)
December 1, 1998... Will the networked economy widen or narrow the gap between developing and industrialized countries? As we move from the industrial to the information age, access to the global information infrastructure for economies, companies and...

Managing velocity.(Dell Computer Corp.)
December 1, 1998... Dell Computer gains time - and money - by using technology and information to blur traditional boundaries between a company and its customers How do you create an $18 billion company in just 14 years? Michael Dell began in 1984 with a...

The Indian Ocean's digital tiger.(information technology sector of Mauritius)
December 1, 1998... With its bold decision-makers, skilled labour force and ambitions for globalization, Mauritius stakes its claim to join the information economy For the past six years, the computer services company De Chazal Du Mee (DCDM) Consulting has...

Tight margins in Sri Lanka.(data processing sector)
December 1, 1998... An expanding data processing sector at the beck and call of middlemen "Ten years ago only a few companies in Sri Lanka dared to venture into the IT and data processing industry. But today we are in the midst of unprecedented growth in this...

Viet Nam: diving in at the deep end.(software industry)
December 1, 1998... The government has launched an ambitious project to develop information technology. But local conditions are not quite ready for it yet A stone's throw from the mausoleum of the late Ho Chi Minh is an ordinary-looking government building...

A philosophy on four wheels.(marketing of the smart car)
December 1, 1998... Even in a traditional sector like the automobile industry, the idea of selling a service - mobility - rather than the car to provide it, is gaining ground If you look at the advertisements of any car manufacturer, their most striking...

The art of advertising.(includes article on customized messages)(interview with Benetton art director Oliviero Toscani)(Interview)
December 1, 1998... Interview with Oliviero Toscani, Benetton art director and photographer How has advertising changed with the emergence of the immaterial economy? There is a crisis in advertising. The industry is lagging behind social trends, but it's...

The future of work.(includes related article on new technical divisions of labor)(advent of the intangible economy)
December 1, 1998... The advent of an 'intangible' economy does not mean the end of work. But it does mean the end of familiar routines and rhythms, of job security, of rigid hierarchies and career planning People are worried about the far-reaching...

Should prostitution be legal?(includes related articles)
December 1, 1998... Some women's groups consider prostitutes as victims; others regard them as 'sex workers' with rights "Ever since the Chinese declared 'To get rich is to be glorious,' women without connections, brain power or money have been using the only...

All hands on stage!(includes related article on the four kinds of Indian puppets)(Indian puppetry)
December 1, 1998... The media explosion left traditional Indian puppetry without a leg to stand on, but now a revival may be on the way Chalapathi Rao learnt how to handle puppets even before he learnt his alphabet. In the last five decades, he and his troupe...

Anatomy of the cybernaut.(includes related article on the Internet user population)
December 1, 1998... More and more people are using the Internet. Who are they? Where do they live? What do they want from cyberspace? Internet users are among the world's most closely observed specimens of humanity. Consultants and marketing experts...

Gloria Cuartas: Colombia's messenger of peace.(includes related articles)(Interview)
December 1, 1998... The former mayor of the Colombian city of Apartado, who has faced many threats to her life, appeals to social movements and the international community for support in overcoming violence and conflict Why did Apartado become an extremely...