July/August edition

Letters to the editor

Readers’ feedback to articles on reproductive health workers in Central Asia, on Peru’s new president and the IMF’s new managing director.

Everything is true

D+C/E+Z 2011/7-8, p. 289 ff., Aigul Azimova and Nazgul Abazbekova: “Saving women’s lives”

With great interest, I read your article. Everything written is true! The article states that ‘E-learning can be a useful instrument to overcome this situation’ – this is exactly what I’ve concluded after five years of work in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, where I have been involved in the project “Services to the People” funded by the Dutch Foreign Ministry. Currently, in cooperation with a Dutch and a US-American university, we are looking for possibilities to create E-learning facilities for reproductive health providers in the region.

Olga de Haan, project director, Central Asia Safe Motherhood, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Lots of French leaders

D+C/E+Z 2011/7-8, p. 307, Hans Dembowski: “Less than perfect candidate”

I was asking myself the same question: Does the IMF always have to be run by French government ministers? And I observe that the current Head of the European Central Bank is also a Frenchman! Why is Germany, by far the largest economy in Europe, so in­visible in international financial institutions?

Karim Okanala, lecturer, Houdegbe North American University, Benin

Editor’s note: Jean-Claude Trichet’s term as ECB president ended in October, his successor is Mario Draghi from Italy.

Governance

Achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals will require good governance – from the local to the global level.

Sustainability

The UN Sustainable Development Goals aim to transform economies in an environmentally sound manner, leaving no one behind.