Welcome to Unpacking Development!
Welcome to Unpacking Development!Stop by on your travels through the web to hear more about international development, including:
- Listings and coverage of development events in and around Toronto
- Opinion pieces on international issues
- Links to interesting resources
- Critical discussions of charity, humanitarian aid, and recent development innovations
About the Authors:
Both Mel and I have a background in International Development and met while we were students at the University of Toronto, but both have different outlooks and interest (check out our bios here and here). We hope that Unpacking Development will reflect our diversity and help our readers to become more interested and engaged in development themselves.
What is ‘international development’?
Before we start posting, it might be a good idea to let you know what we’re actually talking about when we say ‘international development’.In a general sense, ‘development’ means the improvement of livelihoods and greater quality of life for humans. More specifically, ‘international development’ is a process undertaken to improve livelihoods and quality of life with the help of international actors (such as governments or non-governmental organizations).
Different from disaster relief or humanitarian aid, international development focuses on the long-term, within areas of governance, gender, health care, disaster prevention, infrastructure, economy, human rights and the environment.
Check out wikipedia’s entry on international development for more info.
Stay tuned!
We look forward to hearing your comments, feedback, and suggestions. Until then!
