all about greece

Greece HDI 0.926 so it rank 24th out of the 177 countries!!!
life expectancy 78.9 years old
Adult literacy rate 96%
combine primary,secondary and tertiary gross enrolment ratio 99%
GDP per capita23381 data from http://hdrstats.undp.org/countries/country_fact_sheets/cty_fs_GRC.html

A little intro on Greece
human population 11170957
Athens as the capital . one of its attraction would be mount olympus the highest mountains in Greece.it has a range of height of 2918m , once considered the throne of gods , it served as a popular climbing spot for hikers and climbers who see its height as a challenge.

National and Capodistrian University of Athens • National Technical University of Athens • University of Piraeus • University of Macedonia (in Thessaloniki) • University of Crete • Technical University of Crete • Athens University of Economics and Business • Aristotle University of Thessaloniki • University of the Aegean (across the Aegean Islands) • Democritus University of Thrace • University of Ioannina • University of Thessaly • Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences • University of Patras • Charokopeio University of Athens • Ionian University (across the Ionian Islands)anyone want to study in Greece? here a list of universities available .

Greece is considered as a developed countries one rank above Singapore<25th>.so anyone interested to migrate to Greece u can live up to 79years old.Anyone?????
done by ong wei zhi
4e2 group 4

Korea is a geographic area, civilization, and a former state situated on the Korean Peninsula in East Asia. Korea is currently divided into North Korea and South Korea.

Although the borders of historical Korean dynasties fluctuated, the peninsula today is defined as coterminous with the political borders of the two Koreas combined. Thus, the peninsula borders China to the northwest and Russia to the northeast, with Japan situated to the southeast across the Korea Strait.

The history of Korea began with the legendary founding of Gojoseon in 2333 BCE by Dangun. Limited linguistic evidence suggests probable Altaic origins of these people, whose northern Mongolian steppe culture absorbed migration and trade with the peoples of Manchuria and China. The adoption of the Chinese writing system ("hanja" in Korean) in the 2nd century BC, and Buddhism in the 4th century AD, had profound effects on the Three Kingdoms of Korea. Koreans later passed on a modified version of these cultural advances to Japan.Since the Goryeo Dynasty, Korea was ruled by a single government and maintained political and cultural independence until the nineteenth century, despite the Mongol invasions of the Goryeo Dynasty in the 13th century and Japanese invasions of the Joseon Dynasty in the 16th century. In 1377, Korea produced the Jikji, the world's oldest movable metal print document. In the 15th century, the turtle ships, possibly the world's first ironclad warships, were deployed, and King Sejong the Great promulgated the Korean alphabet han-geul to increase literacy among his people who could not read nor write hanja (Chinese characters).

During the latter part of the Joseon Dynasty, Korea's isolationist policy earned it the Western nickname the "Hermit Kingdom". By the late 19th century, the country became the object of the colonial designs of Japan and Europe. In 1910, Korea was forcibly annexed by Japan and remained occupied until the end of World War II in August 1945.

In 1945, the Soviet Union and the United States agreed on the surrender and disarming of Japanese troops in Korea; the Soviet Union accepting the surrender north of the 38th parallel and the United States taking the surrender south of it. This led to division of Korea by the two great powers, exacerbated by their inability to agree on the terms of Korean independence. The two Cold War rivals then established governments sympathetic to their own ideologies, leading to Korea's current division into two political entities: North Korea and South Korea.

Year 2005

Human development index value: 0.921

Life expectancy at birth: 77.9%

Adult literacy rate(aged 15 & above):97.9%

Combined gross enrolment ratio for primary,secondary and tertiary education:96.0

GDP per capital:(PPP US$):22,029

done by: mai zhen hui(19)

class: s4E2

Russia's Development

Population
-	2007 estimate	142,200,000 (9th)
-	2002 census	145,274,019
-	Density	8.3/km² (209th) 21.8/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2007 estimate
-	Total	$2.076 trillion[1] (7th)
-	Per capita	$14,600 (55th)
GDP (nominal)		2007 estimate
-	Total	$1.251 trillion[1] (9th)
-	Per capita	$8,850
Gini (2005)		40.5[1]
HDI (2005)		▲ 0.802 (high[2]) (67th)

Made - Ham™
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia

MALAYSIA.

Population -Dec 2007 estimate - 27,544,000
GDP -2007 estimate -$357.9 billion
GDP per Capita - $14,400
HDI (2007) - 0.811
Currency - Ringgit (RM)

Malaysia is a federation of 13 states and 3 federal territories in South East Asia with a total landmass of 329,847 km². The Capital City is Kuala Lumpur and the seat of the federal government is Putrajaya. The country is separated into 2 regions – Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysia Borneo by the South China Sea. Malaysia borders include Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines. As it located near the equator, Malaysia’s weather is characterized by Tropical Climate. Malaysia was once a colony of the United Kingdom and it gained its independence on 31/8/1957. The population of Malaysia is approximately 25 million.The Malays forms the majority of the population while there are sizable Chinese and Indian communities. Islam is the largest as well as the official religion of the federation. The Malay language is the official language of the country.

Education:

Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK) is one of the earliest boarding schools to be established in British Malaya.

University of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus.
Education in Malaysia is monitored by the federal government Ministry of Education.[56]
Most Malaysian children start schooling between the ages of three to six, in kindergarten. Most kindergartens are run privately, but there are a few government-operated kindergartens.
Children begin primary schooling at the age of seven for a period of six years. There are two major types of government-operated or government-assisted primary schools. They are the national schools (Sekolah Kebangsaan) which use Malay as the medium of instruction, and the national-type schools (Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan) which use either Chinese or Tamil as the medium of instruction. Before progressing to the secondary level of education, students in Year 6 are required to sit for the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR), or Primary School Assessment Examination. An exam called Penilaian Tahap Satu (PTS), First Level Assessment, was used to measure the ability of bright students, and to allow them to move from Year 3 to 5, skipping Year 4.[57] This exam was removed in 2001.
Secondary education in government secondary schools last for five years. Government secondary schools use Malay as the main medium of instruction. The only exceptions are the Maths and Science subjects as well as languages other than Malay. At the end of the third year or Form Three, students sit for the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR), Lower Secondary Assessment. The combination of subjects available to Form 4 students vary from one school to another. In the last year (Form 5), students sit for Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), Malaysian Certificate of Education, which is equivalent to the British Ordinary or 'O' Levels (now referred to as GCSE). The oldest in Malaysia is Penang Free School. Penang Free School is also the oldest school in South East Asia.
Mathematics and Science subjects in government primary and secondary schools such as Biology, Physics, Chemistry are taught in English. The reasoning was that students would no longer be hindered by the language barrier during their tertiary education in fields such as medicine and engineering.
There are also 60 Chinese Independent High Schools in Malaysia, where most subjects are taught in Chinese. Chinese Independent High Schools are monitored and standardized by the United Chinese School Committees' Association of Malaysia (UCSCAM, more commonly referred to by its Chinese name, Dong Zong 董总), however, unlike government schools, every independent school is free to make its own decisions. Studying in independent schools takes 6 years to complete, divided into Junior Middle (3 years) and Senior Middle (3 years). Students sit for a standardised test by Dong Zong known as the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) in Junior Middle 3 (equivalent to PMR) and Senior Middle 3 (equivalent to AO level). A number of independent schools conduct classes in Malay and English in addition to Chinese, enabling the students to sit for the PMR and SPM as well.
Malaysia's secondary schools are grouped into a few types, namely national schools which include daily schools and religious schools, Chinese independent schools, technical schools, residential schools, Mara Junior Science College and private-funding schools such as religious schools, international schools and private schools.
Students who wish to enter public universities must complete one and a half more years of secondary schooling in Form Six and sit for the Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM), Malaysian Higher School Certificate; equivalent to the British Advanced or 'A' levels.
As for tertiary education, there are public universities such as University of Malaya, Universiti Sains Malaysia and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. In addition, five international reputable universities have set up their branch campuses in Malaysia since 1998. A branch campus can be seen as an ‘off-shore campus’ of the foreign university, which offers the same courses and awards as the main campus. Both local and international students can acquire these identical foreign qualifications in Malaysia for a cheaper price. The foreign university branch campuses in Malaysia are: Monash University Malaysia Campus, Curtin University of Technology Sarawak Campus, Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus and University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus.
Students also have the option of enrolling in private colleges after secondary studies. Most colleges have educational links with overseas universities especially in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. Malaysian students abroad study mostly in the UK, United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Singapore, and Japan.
In addition to the National Curriculum, Malaysia has many international schools. International schools offer students the opportunity to study the curriculum of another country. These schools mainly cater to the growing expatriate population in the country. International schools include: the Australian International School, Malaysia (Australian curriculum), The Alice Smith School (British Curriculum), Elc International School (British Curriculum), The Garden International School (British Curriculum), Lodge International School (British Curriculum), The International School of Kuala Lumpur (International Baccalaureate and American Curriculum), The Japanese School of Kuala Lumpur (Japanese Curriculum), The International School of Penang (International Baccalaureate and British Curriculum), Lycée Français de Kuala Lumpur (French Curriculum) amongst others.

Healthcare

Malaysian society places importance on the expansion and development of health care, putting 5% of the government social sector development budget into public health care—an increase of more than 47% over the previous figure. This has meant an overall increase of more than RM 2 billion. With a rising and aging population, the Government wishes to improve in many areas including the refurbishment of existing hospitals, building and equipping new hospitals, expansion of the number of polyclinics, and improvements in training and expansion of telehealth. Over the last couple of years they have increased their efforts to overhaul the systems and attract more foreign investment.
The Malaysian health care system requires doctors to perform a compulsory three years service with public hospitals to ensure the manpower of these hospitals is maintained. Recently foreign doctors have also been encouraged to take up employment here. There is still, however, a compound shortage of medical workforce, especially that of highly trained specialists resulting in certain medical care and treatment only available in large cities. Recent efforts to bring many facilities to other towns have been hampered by lack of expertise to run the available equipment made ready by investments.
The majority of private hospitals are in urban areas and, unlike many of the public hospitals, are equipped with the latest diagnostic and imaging facilities. Private hospitals have not generally been seen as an ideal investment—it has often taken up to ten years before companies have seen any profits. However, the situation has now changed and companies are now looking into this area again, particularly in view of the increasing interest by foreigners in coming to Malaysia for medical care and the recent government focus to develop the health tourism industry.

Economy

The Malay Peninsula and indeed Southeast Asia has been a centre of trade for centuries. Various items such as porcelain and spices were actively traded even before Malacca and Singapore rose to prominence.

Rubber latex.

The Malaysian government Ministry of Finance building in Putrajaya.
In the 17th century, they were found in several Malay states. Later, as the British started to take over as administrators of Malaya, rubber and palm oil trees were introduced for commercial purposes. Over time, Malaya became the world's largest major producer of tin, rubber, and palm oil.[59] These three commodities, along with other raw materials, firmly set Malaysia's economic tempo well into the mid-20th century.
Instead of relying on the local Malays as a source of labour, the British brought in Chinese and Indians to work on the mines and plantations. Although many of them returned to their respective home countries after their agreed tenure ended, some remained in Malaysia and settled permanently.
As Malaya moved towards independence, the government began implementing economic five-year plans, beginning with the First Malayan Five Year Plan in 1955. Upon the establishment of Malaysia, the plans were re-titled and renumbered, beginning with the First Malaysia Plan in 1965.
In 1970s, Malaysia began to imitate Asian Tigers and committed itself to a transition from being reliant on mining and agriculture to an economy that depends more on manufacturing. With Japanese investment, heavy industries flourished and in a matter of years, Malaysian exports became the country's primary growth engine. Malaysia consistently achieved more than 7% GDP growth along with low inflation in the 1980s and the 1990s.[citation needed]
During the same period, the government tried to eradicate poverty with the controversial New Economic Policy (NEP), after the May 13 Incident of racial rioting in 1969.[34] Its main objective was the elimination of the association of race with economic function, and the first five-year plan to begin implementing the NEP was the Second Malaysia Plan. The success or failure of the NEP is the subject of much debate, although it was officially retired in 1990 and replaced by the National Development Policy (NDP). Recently much debate has surfaced once again with regards to the results and relevance of the NEP. Some have argued that the NEP has indeed successfully created a Middle/Upper Class of Malay businessmen and professionals. Despite some improvement in the economic power of Malays in general, the Malaysian government maintains a policy of discrimination that favors ethnic Malays over other races—including preferential treatment in employment, education, scholarships, business, access to cheaper housing and assisted savings. This special treatment has sparked envy and resentment between non-Malays and Malays. The Chinese control of the country's economy meanwhile, has been ceded largely in favour of the Bumiputras/Malays in many essential or strategic industries such as petroleum retailing, transportation, agriculture and etc. The minority of Indian descent has by and large been the most adversely affected by this policy. Indicators point to a higher incidence of crime and gang related activities among the Indians in recent years.
The rapid economic boom led to a variety of supply problems, however. Labour shortages soon resulted in an influx of millions of foreign workers, many illegal. Cash-rich PLCs and consortia of banks eager to benefit from increased and rapid development began large infrastructure projects. This all ended when the Asian Financial Crisis hit in the fall of 1997, delivering a massive shock to Malaysia's economy.
As with other countries affected by the crisis, there was speculative short-selling of the Malaysian currency, the ringgit. Foreign direct investment fell at an alarming rate and, as capital flowed out of the country, the value of the ringgit dropped from MYR 2.50 per USD to, at one point, MYR 4.80 per USD. The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange's composite index plummeted from approximately 1300 points to around 400 points in a matter of weeks. After the controversial sacking of finance minister Anwar Ibrahim, a National Economic Action Council was formed to deal with the monetary crisis. Bank Negara imposed capital controls and pegged the Malaysian ringgit at 3.80 to the US dollar. Malaysia refused economic aid packages from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, however, surprising many analysts.
In March 2005, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) published a paper on the sources and pace of Malaysia's recovery, written by Jomo K.S. of the applied economics department, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. The paper concluded that the controls imposed by Malaysia's government neither hurt nor helped recovery. The chief factor was an increase in electronics components exports, which was caused by a large increase in the demand for components in the United States, which was caused, in turn, by a fear of the effects of the arrival of the year 2000 (Y2K) upon older computers and other digital devices.
However, the post Y2K slump of 2001 did not affect Malaysia as much as other countries. This may have been clearer evidence that there are other causes and effects that can be more properly attributable for recovery. One possibility is that the currency speculators had run out of finance after failing in their attack on the Hong Kong dollar in August 1998 and after the Russian ruble collapsed. (See George Soros)
Regardless of cause/effect claims, rejuvenation of the economy also coincided with massive government spending and budget deficits in the years that followed the crisis. Later, Malaysia enjoyed faster economic recovery compared to its neighbours. In many ways, however, the country has yet to recover to the levels of the pre-crisis era.
While the pace of development today is not as rapid, it is seen to be more sustainable. Although the controls and economic housekeeping may not have been the principal reason for recovery, there is no doubt that the banking sector has become more resilient to external shocks. The current account has also settled into a structural surplus, providing a cushion to capital flight. Asset prices are now a fraction of their pre-crisis heights.
The fixed exchange rate was abandoned in July 2005 in favour of a managed floating system within an hour of China's announcing of the same move.[60] In the same week, the ringgit strengthened a percent against various major currencies and was expected to appreciate further. As of December 2005, however, expectations of further appreciation were muted as capital flight exceeded USD 10 billion.[61]
In September 2005, Sir Howard J. Davies, director of the London School of Economics, at a meeting in Kuala Lumpur, cautioned Malaysian officials that if they want a flexible capital market, they will have to lift the ban on short-selling put into effect during the crisis. In March 2006, Malaysia removed the ban on short selling.[62] Currently, Malaysia is considered a newly industrialized country.[10][11][63]

INFORMATION FROM : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia

DONE BY: JUSTIN LAU (25), GROUP 2, 4E1

COASTA RICA

Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica (Spanish: Costa Rica or República de Costa Rica, pronounced [reˈpuβlikaðeˈkostaˈrika]), is a republic in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the east-southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, and the Caribbean Sea to the east. Costa Rica was the first country in the world to constitutionally abolish its army.



Economy
According to the CIA World Factbook, Costa Rica's GDP per capita is US$12,500; however, this developing country still faces the second highest inflation rate in Latin America, lack of maintenance and new investment in infrastructure, over 740,000 (18%) people below the poverty line and just over 270,000 (6.6%) unemployed. The Costa Rican economy grew nearly 5% in 2006 after experiencing 4 years of slow economic growth.[8]
The central government offers tax exemptions for those who are willing to invest in the country. Several global high tech corporations have already started developing in the area exporting goods including chip manufacturer Intel, pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, and consumer products company Procter & Gamble. Trade with South East Asia and Russia has boomed during 2004 and 2005, and the country is expected to obtain full Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) membership by 2007 (the country became an observer in 2004).
For the fiscal year 2005, the country showed a government deficit of 2.1%, internal revenue increased an 18%, and exports increased a 12.8%. Revised economic figures released by the Central Bank indicate that economic growth stood at 5%, nevertheless the country faced high inflation (14%) and a trade deficit of 5.2%. As of 2006, Costa Rica's inflation rate stands at 11.5% and ranks 197 out of 227, Latin Americas 2nd highest inflation rate, after Venezuela.[9]
In recent times electronics, pharmaceuticals, financial outsourcing, software development, and ecotourism have become the prime industries in Costa Rica's economy. High levels of education among its residents make the country an attractive investing location.
The unit of currency is the colón (CRC), which trades around 503 [1] to the U.S. dollar; currently about 756 to the euro. On October 16, 2006, a new currency exchange system was introduced, allowing the value of the CRC colón to float between two bands as done previously by Chile. The idea is that by doing so the Central Bank will be able to better tackle inflation and discourage the use of US dollars. Since that time, the value of the colón against the dollar has stabilized.
Costa Rica's location provides easy access to American markets as it has the same time zone as the central part of the United States and direct ocean access to Europe and Asia. A country wide referendum has approved a free trade agreement with the United States.

Demographics
According to the CIA World Factbook, Costa Rica has a population of 4,133,884 of which 94% are Mestizo or white, 3% black, 1% Amerindian, 1% Chinese and 1% other.[26] The exact amount, however, is not known because the Costa Rican census combines mestizos and whites in one category. The white population is primarily of Spanish ancestry[27] with significant numbers of Costa Ricans of Italian, German, Jewish and Polish descent. In contrast to its neighboring countries' populations, less mixing of the Spanish settlers and the indigenous populations occurred. Therefore, a vast majority of Costa Ricans are either of Spanish or of mixed mestizo heritage
Just under 3% of the population is of black African descent. The majority of the afro Costa Ricans are Creole English-speaking descendants of nineteenth century black Jamaican immigrant workers, as well as slaves who were brought during the Atlantic slave trade.
The indigenous or Amerindian population numbers around 1%, or over 41,000 individuals. In the Guanacaste Province a significant portion of the population descends from a bi-racial mix of local Amerindians and Spaniards. There is also an expatriate community of people of all ages from the United States, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Britain, and other countries, especially in the Central Valley city of Escazú.
Costa Rica hosts many refugees, mainly from Colombia and Nicaragua. As a result, an estimated 10% to 15% of the Costa Rican population is made up of Nicaraguans,[28] most of whom migrate for seasonal work opportunities and then return to their country. There is also a growing number of Peruvian refugees. Moreover, Costa Rica took in many refugees from a range of other Latin American countries fleeing civil wars and dictatorships during the 1970s and 80s - notably from Chile and Argentina, as well as those from El Salvador who fled from guerrillas and government death squads.[29]

Name:Lim Shang Pei(29)

Class:4e1(group4)

Date:15-2-2008

Turkey

Country: TURKEY

THE GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT AND GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT III. QUARTER: JULY, AUGUST, SEPTEMBER/2006



The third quarter growth rate of gross national product in 2006 compared to the same quarter of previous year has increased 3.0% in constant prices.


The third quarter growth rate of gross national product in 2006 has increased by 17.4% to 175 427 million New Turkish Liras in current prices when gross national product has increased by 5.7% to 117 713 million USA dollar.


The third quarter growth rate of gross national product in 2006 has increased by 3.0% to 46.6 million New Turkish Liras in constant prices.


The 9 months growth rate of gross national product in 2006 has increased by 17.7% to 416 005 million New Turkish Liras in current prices and 5.7% to 115.5 million New Turkish Liras in constant prices when gross national product has increased by 10.3% to 290 103 million USA dollar.


The third quarter growth rate of gross domestic product in 2006 compared to the same quarter of previous year has increased 3.4% in constant prices.


The third quarter growth rate of gross domestic product in 2006 has increased by 17.5% to 175 577 million New Turkish Liras in current prices when gross domestic product has increased by 5.8% to 117 819 million USA dollar.


The third quarter growth rate of gross domestic product in 2006 has increased by 3.4% to 47 million New Turkish Liras in constant prices.


The 9 months growth rate of gross domestic product in 2006 has increased by 17.4% to 416 072 million New Turkish Liras in current prices and 5.6% to 116.4 million New Turkish Liras in constant prices when gross national product has increased by 10.1% to 290 149 million USA dollar.


The third quarter growth rate of private final consumption expenditure in 2006 has increased 1.3%, government final consumption expenditure 15.4%, gross fixed capital formation 9.4%, exports of goods and services 5.7%, imports of goods and services 1.7% in constant prices.

1994 EMPLOYMENT AND WAGE STRUCTURE SURVEYPOVISIONAL RESULTS

According to the results of 1994 Employment and Salary survey covering establishments in mining, quarrying, electricity, gas and water sectors and manufacturing industry with more than 10 employees, the average gross monthly salary per capita is determined to be 14.589.000 TL. Average gross annual earnings in 1994 was 171.752.000 TL.

Employment, average salary and earnings by economic activity

Done by :Lam Jiong Le (13)

Class:4E2

Date:14/02/2008

MONGOLIA

MONGOLIA FLAG

MONGOLIA MAP

DESCRIPTION:

Mongolia (pronounced /mɒŋˈɡoʊliə/) (Mongolian: Монгол улс, ) is a country in East-Central Asia.The landlocked country borders Russia to the north and China to the south. The capital and largest city is Ulan Bator. Mongolia's political system is a parliamentary republic.
At 1,564,116 square kilometres, Mongolia is the nineteenth largest, and the least densely populated independent country in the world with a population of around 2.9 million people. It is also the world's second-largest landlocked country after Kazakhstan. The country contains very little arable land, as much of its area is covered by arid and unproductive steppes, with mountains to the north and west and the Gobi Desert to the south. Approximately thirty percent of the country's 2.9 million people are nomadic or semi-nomadic. The predominant religion in Mongolia is Tibetan Buddhism, and the majority of the state's citizens are of the Mongol ethnicity, though Kazakhs, Tuvans, and other minorities also live in the country, especially in the west. About 38% of the population lives in Ulan Bator.

HISTORY:

One of the greatest advances in human culture is the nomadic pastoralism , the adaptation by nomadic people to survival on the world's grassland by raising livestock rather than crops which are unsuitable to the terrain. Nomads currently surviving on the Tibetan Plateau and in the Himalayas are the remainders of nomadic practices once widespread in Asia and Africa.
The area of Mongolia was part of various steppe empires like those of the Hsiung-nu, Göktürks, Uighurs, and others. Mongolia became the center of the Mongol Empire in the thirteenth century. After the empire collapsed, Mongolia returned to the old patterns of internal strife, until the Khalkha nobles submitted to the Manchu in 1691. The country was then part of the Qing empire until 1911, when an independent Mongolian government was formed under the Bogd Khan. The Mongolian People's Republic was proclaimed in 1924, leading to the adoption of communist policies and a very close alignment to the Soviet Union. After the fall of communism in Mongolia in 1990, Mongolia adopted a new constitution which was ratified in 1992. This officially marked the transition of Mongolia to a multi-party political system.

ECONOMY:

Mongolia's economy is centered on agriculture and mining. Mongolia has rich mineral resources, and copper, coal, molybdenum, tin, tungsten, and gold account for a large part of industrial production.
There are currently over 30,000 independent businesses in Mongolia, chiefly centered around the capital city[citation needed]. The majority of the population outside urban areas participate in subsistence herding; livestock typically consists of sheep, goats, cattle, horses, and Bactrian camels. Agricultural crops include wheat, barley, vegetables, tomato, watermelon, sea-buckthorn and fodder crops. GDP per capita in 2006 was $2,100. Although GDP has risen steadily since 2002 at the rate of 7.5% in an official 2006 estimate, the state is still working to overcome a sizable trade deficit. A massive ($11 billion) foreign debt to Russia was settled by the Mongolian government in 2004 with a $250 million payment. Despite growth, the proportion of the population below the poverty line is estimated to be 35.6% in 1998, 36.1% in 2002-2003, 32.2% in 2006,and both the unemployment rate and inflation rate are relatively high at 3.2% and 6.0%, respectively (in 2006)The Mongolian Stock Exchange, established in 1991 in Ulan Bator, is the world's smallest stock exchange by market capitalisation.

EDUCATION:

During the state socialist period, education was one of the areas of significant achievement in Mongolia. Illiteracy was virtually eliminated, in part through the use of seasonal boarding schools for children of nomadic families. Funding to these boarding schools was cut in the 1990s, contributing to slightly increased illiteracy.
Primary and secondary education formerly lasted ten years, but has been expanded to eleven years recently and is set to be expanded further to twelve years.
Mongolian national universities are all spin-offs from the National University of Mongolia and the Mongolian University of Science and Technology.
The broad liberalization of the 1990s led to a boom in private institutions of higher education, although many of these establishments have difficulty living up to their name of "college" or "university".

HEALTH:

Health care in Mongolia is rapidly improving[citation needed], leading to a higher life expectancy and a drop in infant and child mortality.
Average childbirth (fertility rate) is around 2.25- 1.87per woman (2007) and average life expectancy is 67-68years. Infant mortality is at 1.9%-4% and child mortality is at 4.3%.
The health sector comprises 17 specialized hospitals and centers, 4 regional diagnostic and treatment centers, 9 district and 21 aimag general hospitals, 323 soum hospitals, 18 feldsher posts, 233 family group practices, and 536 private hospitals and 57 drug supply companies/pharmacies. In 2002 the total number of health workers was 33273, of which 6823 were doctors, 788 pharmacists, 7802-nurses and 14091 mid-level personnel. At present, there are 27.7 physicians and 75.7 hospital beds per 10.000 population overall.
GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE:

At 1,564,116 km²(603,909 mi²), Mongolia is the world's nineteenth-largest country (after Iran). It is significantly larger than the next-largest country, Peru.
The geography of Mongolia is varied with the Gobi desert to the south and with cold and mountainous regions to the north and west. Mongolia consists of relatively flat steppes. The highest point in Mongolia is the Khüiten Peak in the Tavan bogd massif in the far west at 4,374 m (14,350 feet). The basin of the lake Uvs Nuur, shared with Tuva Republic in Russia, is a natural World Heritage Site.
Most of the country is hot in the summer and extremely cold in the winter, with January averages dropping as low as -30°C (-22°F). The country is also subject to occasional harsh climatic conditions known as zud. Ulan Bator has the coldest average temperature of any national capital in the world. Mongolia is high, cold, and windy. It has an extreme continental climate with long, cold winters and short summers, during which most of its annual precipitation falls. The country averages 257 cloudless days a year, and it is usually at the center of a region of high atmospheric pressure. Precipitation is highest in the north (average of 20 to 35 centimeters per year) and lowest in the south, which receives 10 to 20 centimeters annually. The extreme south is the Gobi, some regions of which receive no precipitation at all in most years.
The name "Gobi" is a Mongol term for a desert steppe, which usually refers to a category of arid rangeland with insufficient vegetation to support marmots but with enough to support camels. Mongols distinguish Gobi from desert proper, although the distinction is not always apparent to outsiders unfamiliar with the Mongolian landscape. Gobi rangelands are fragile and are easily destroyed by overgrazing, which results in expansion of the true desert, a stony waste where not even Bactrian camels can survive.
VITAL INFORMATION:

CAPITAL AND LARGEST CITY:ULAN BATOR

OFFICIAL LANGUAGE:MONGOLIAN

TOTAL AREA:1,564,116KM

POPULATION:2,951,786

DENSITY:1.7/KM

GDP:TOTAL-$5.56BILLION

PER CAPITA-$2175

HDI:0.700(114TH)

CURRENCY:Tögrög (MNT)

TIME ZONE:(UTC+7 to +8)

CALLING CODE:+976

BILBOGRAPHY:WIKIPEDIA
DONE BY:KEITH TAN JUN JIE(21)
4E1

*****Sierra Leone *****

This is a flag of my country Sierra Leone:

The map of Sierra Leone :

Some Background Knowledge about Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone was one of the first areas in West Africa to have contact with Europeans and it quickly became a hub for the slave trade.

Slaves were taken mainly to plantations in South Carolina and Georgia in the US, where they were sought after for their knowledge of rice farming.

In 1787, the British helped freed slaves from Nova Scotia, Canada and Britain return to Sierra Leone, then called Province of Freedom.

Despite threats from disease and local tribes, by 1792, more returnees had arrived and the city of Freetown was established as the first British colony in West Africa.

It became a base for fighting the slave trade and the British patrolled the coastal shores of Freetown for illegal slave ships.

The British expanded their territory, despite heavy resistance by indigenous tribes, and by 1896 Britain declared a protectorate over the country.

Sierra Leone gained independence in 1961, opting for British parliamentary-style rule with a prime minister as head of state.

The first elections were held the following year and Sir Milton Margai won but died mid-term and was replaced by his half-brother.

The elections of 1967 were marred by contested polls and violence, and after three successive coups Siaka Stevens became prime minister in 1968.

He made the country a republic in 1971 and amended the constitution in 1978 to ban all parties except his own, the All Peoples Congress (APC).

In 1985 Stevens stepped down and chose his own successor, General Joseph Momoh, who ruled with an increasingly firm hand.

In 1991 the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) began attacking villages near the Liberian border in the south, taking over diamond mines in the Kono district and destabilising the country.

The rebels sold diamonds illegally to buy weapons and became notorious for chopping off the limbs of their victims.

A military coup in 1992 sent Momoh into exile and brought Captain Valentine Strasser to power.

He hired mercenaries to repel the RUF who had taken over much of the country.

A brief return to civilian rule in 1996 was quickly interrupted by another coup that was eventually repelled by the West African peacekeeping force, ECOMOG, led by troops from Nigeria.

The RUF continued its brutal advance and fighting reached Freetown before a peace agreement was signed in 1999, incorporating RUF leaders into the government.

That year, the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) arrived but the RUF took members of the mission hostage and confiscated their arms and ammunition.

The situation continued to deteriorate and violence resumed.Fighting did not end until 2002 with the aid of international forces, including 200 British troops, who helped to disarm rebels. An estimated 50,000 people died during the war.

The country is now trying to rebuild itself.

The UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone and a Truth and Reconciliation Commission were set up in 2002 to consolidate peace.The Special Court has indicted several of those allegedly involved in the civil war on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including former Liberian president Charles Taylor, who is accused of backing rebel groups, and RUF leader Foday Sankoh, who died of a heart attack in custody.

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HDI ( Human Development Index )

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Sierra Leone is ranked 176 out of 177 countries evaluated to compare poverty, life expectancy, literacy, education, and other factors. [The UN HDI (Human Development Index) 2005]

The average life span of a Sierra Leonean adult is 37 years for men and 40 years for women [WHO website]

Sierra Leone has one of the world’s lowest adult literacy rates at 30% (UNICEF, 2006 )

Only approximately 36% of people have access to medical care.

There are an estimated 340,000 orphans in Sierra Leone. (UNICEF, 2006 )

Sierra Leone has the highest childbirth mortality rate in the world. The most recent figures show that about 1 in 6 women are at risk of dying during childbirth, compared to approximately 1 in 29,800 in Sweden. [WHO MMR report 2000]

Sierra Leone has the world's worst infant mortality rate - 28% of all children (or roughly 1 in 4) die before they turn 5 years old. Many die from preventable causes such as dehydration or malnutrition. [UNICEF website]

United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) estimates that 29% of all under-five deaths in Sierra Leone are caused by diarrhea.

Sierra Leone is 60% Muslim, 30% indigenous religions, 10% Christian.
Young girls are under great pressure to conform to social “norms.” Female genital mutilation is still as high as 90%. Many young girls also become pregnant before their skeletons are fully formed.

Although the official rate of HIV/AIDS sufferers is 3% of the population, real figures may be much higher, and lack of education could mean that these statistics rise in coming years.

The UN estimates that there are over 500,000 children in Sierra Leone who do not have access to basic education.

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Dates Of The History Of Sierra Leone

ca. 2500 B.C.
Beginnings of agriculture, settled life, pottery making.

ca. 600 A.D.
Introduction of iron making.

ca. 1450-1700
Mande migrations into Sierra Leone.

1462
Portuguese navigator visits the coast, names the peninsula "Serra Lyoa" (Lion Mountain)

ca. 1540
Mane Invasion.

1727
Futa Jallon Jihad. Expansion of Islam.

1787
Province of Freedom established.

1789
Koya Temne destroy colony.

1792
Freetown established.Arrival of the Nova Scotians.

1800
Arrival of the Maroons

1808
British declare the Crown Colony of Sierra Leone.Recaptive slaves begin to arrive.

1827
Fourah Bay Institution established.

1845
CMS Grammar School established. First secondary school in West Africa.

1863
New constitution adopted. John Ezzidio becomes first African elected to the Legislative Council.

1876
Fourah Bay College affiliated with Durham University.

1884
Samori invasions begin in northern interior.

1896
British declare the Sierra Leone Protectorate.

1898
The 1898 Rebellion ("Hut Tax War") (begins in the South on April 27).

1906
Bo School opens for "the sons and nominees of chiefs."

1908
Railway reaches Pendembu.

1914-1918
World War ISierra Leonean troops fight in Cameroon.

1924
New constitution adopted.Chiefs sit for the first time in the Legislative Council.

1937
Native Administration system established.

1939-1945
World War IISierra Leonean troops fight in Burma.

1946
District Councils and Protectorate Assembly established.

1951
New constitution adopted.Unified governmental system.Protectorate representatives in the majority.

1961
Sierra Leone achieves independence (April 27).Sir Milton Margai — 1st Prime Minister.

1964
Sir Albert Margai — 2nd Prime Minister.

1967
Siaka Stevens appointed Prime Minister. Military coup.

1968
Siaka Stevens — 3rd Prime Minister.

1971
Sierra Leone becomes a republic.Siaka Stevens - 1st Executive President.

1978
Sierra Leone becomes a one-party state under the banner of the All People's Congress.

1985
Major-General J. S. Momoh - 2nd Executive President.

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Historical reason for Sierra Leone's present state

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The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (“TRC” or “the Commission” was established in 2000 )has identified four distinct phases in the historical evolution of Sierra Leone, which it regards as crucial to understanding the roots of the conflict and some of the challenges that the country still faces today. These four phases are analysed below in the following order:
1) The Colony and the Protectorate. Rather than constructing a unified Sierra Leonean state, the colonial government effectively created two nations in the same land. The divide between the entities known as the ‘Colony’ and the ‘Protectorate’ had far-reaching implications for issues such as citizenship, land tenure rights and conflict of laws.
2) The Era of Party Politics (1951-1961). After the 1947 Constitution had amalgamated Sierra Leone’s ‘two nations’ in preparation for independence, party politics became the greatest obstacle to national cohesion and identity. Party allegiance proved just as divisive as ethnicity, class or regional prejudice in the battle over who should succeed the British. On the cusp of independence in 1961, the ten-year-old Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) was joined in the political arena by the All People’s Congress (APC), which would become its main rival in contesting elections.
3) The Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) in Power. The euphoria and perceived unity of the immediate post‑colonial period appear with hindsight to have been artificial. The first independent government, formed by the majority SLPP party, served to polarise public opinion in the country, introduced notions of cronyism in many state institutions and laid the foundation for military involvement in politics. This period had terrible, albeit foreseeable consequences on the unity of the young state and served to deepen existing cleavages.
4) The 1967 Elections and their Aftermath. The elections of 1967 were scarred by bitter power struggles based on ethnicity, personality and party affiliation. Although the APC won the most seats, the leadership of the SLPP stoutly refused to concede defeat. The resultant standoff signalled a watershed in the political fortunes of the country and ultimately led to the destruction of the multi-party system.

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Physical Reasons of Sierra Leone

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Presence of raw materials in Sierra Leone

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Sierra Leone, with its fertile land and plentiful mines, contains ample fishery, agricultural and mineral resources. It is most well-known for its diamonds, which comprise half of the country's exports. After mining, its major exports are rutile, cocoa, coffee and fish. Sierra Leone's major import/export partner is Germany, followed by the Cote D'Ivoire, the UK and the US.

Mining

Sierra Leone's government recently rehabilitated the bauxite and rutile industries, adding two burgeoning industries to the country's rich extraction potential. Rutile is a titanium ore used in paint and welding. Sierra Leone has one of the largest deposits of rutile in the world. An example of the high earnings rutile exports garnished was in 1990, when $75 million, or 88,000 tons of the ore, was exported.
Sierra Leone is also contains a wealth of titanium ore, iron ore, bauxite, gold and chromite mines. It has long been known for its high number of diamond mines. The diamond mining industry is increasingly subject to regulation and improved standards of work. Initiatives include a USAID-sponsored move to label diamonds that come from local, sustainable sources.
In 2000, Sierra Leone diamonds began going through an export certification system approved by the UN. As a result, legal exports increased. One year later, the government founded a community development fund that funnels a percentage of diamond export taxes back to mining communities, raising their stake in the diamond trade.

Manufacturing

Raw materials processing and manufacturing are a growing industry in Sierra Leone. Raw materials processed include foodstuffs such as palm kernels and rice. Products manufactured include footwear, beverages, salt, cement and textiles for domestic consumption.

Agriculture

52.5% of the Sierra Leonean population engage in subsistence agriculture (US Department of State). In 2000, agriculture comprised roughly half of the country's GDP. Mainstays include rice and millet, with tomatoes, yams, cassava, peanuts, pineapples, coconut and pepper as additional staples. Coffee, cocoa and palm kernel are major exports. 30% of Sierra Leone's land is potentially arable. It is also rich in forests and fresh water.
Agriculture is a focal point for redevelopment. The national government is assisting this recovery through efforts to increase cash and food crop production as well as teaching farmers updated skills. It is also involved with outside donors in agricultural and rural development projects, leading to an improved food supply.

Fisheries

Sierra Leone has a large natural harbor that can accommodate cruise ships, cargo ships and private vessels. It is known for its abundant inshore and offshore fishing, which includes shrimp, tuna, snapper, lobster, crab and mackerel. Domestic, or artisanal fishing occurs mostly at inshore estuaries, lakes and rivers, while larger (often foreign-owned) vessels trawl for shrimp, a main export, and other catches offshore.

Construction

Cement mills and other sources of materials are helping residences and commercial real estate spring up all over the country. There are several real estate developers in Sierra Leone. Together with engineering consultants, they are overseeing reconstruction. Other initiatives include an affordable housing industry and machinery manufacturers. In 2005, the World Bank approved completion of the Bumbuna Hydroelectric Project (BHP), a hydroelectric power plant projected to help stabilize the country's power supply by the end of 2007.

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Climate in Sierra Leone

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The climate is tropical and is characterized by the alternation of the rainy and dry seasons. Conditions are generally hot and humid. Mean monthly temperatures range from 77° F (25° C) to 83° F (28° C) in low-lying coastal areas; inland the range may be from 73° F (23° C) to 82° F (28° C). In the northeast, where extremes of temperature are greater, mean daily minimums fall to 56° F (13° C) in January, and mean daily maximums rise to 90° F (32° C) in March. During the rainy season, from May to October, humid air masses from the Atlantic dominate. The sky is cloudy, the winds are southwesterly, sunshine is minimal, and rain falls almost daily, especially during July and August. Precipitation is greater on the coast than inland; as much as 200 inches (5,080 millimetres) of rain falls annually on the Peninsula Mountains, while the northeast receives about 80 inches a year.

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Economic Reason for unequal development in Sierra Leone

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Economy - overview:
Sierra Leone is an extremely poor African nation with tremendous inequality in income distribution. While it possesses substantial mineral, agricultural, and fishery resources, its economic and social infrastructure is not well developed, and serious social disorders continue to hamper economic development. About two-thirds of the working-age population engages in subsistence agriculture. Manufacturing consists mainly of the processing of raw materials and of light manufacturing for the domestic market. Plans to reopen bauxite and rutile mines shut down during an 11 year civil war have not been implemented due to lack of foreign investment. Alluvial diamond mining remains the major source of hard currency earnings. The fate of the economy depends upon the maintenance of domestic peace and the continued receipt of substantial aid from abroad, which is essential to offset the severe trade imbalance and supplement government revenues. International financial institutions contributed over $600 million in development aid and budgetary support in 2003.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$3.335 billion (2004 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
6% (2004 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $600 (2004 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 49% industry: 30% services: 21% (2001 est.)

Labor force:
1.369 million (1981 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture NA, industry NA, services NA

Unemployment rate:
NA

Population below poverty line:
68% (1989 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 0.5% highest 10%: 43.6% (1989)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
62.9 (1989)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
1% (2002 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $96 million expenditures: $351 million, including capital expenditures of NA (2000 est.)

Agriculture- products:
rice, coffee, cocoa, palm kernels, palm oil, peanuts; poultry, cattle, sheep, pigs; fish

Industries:
diamonds mining; small-scale manufacturing (beverages, textiles, cigarettes, footwear); petroleum refining, small commercial ship repair

Industrial production growth rate:
NA

Electricity - production:
255.3 million kWh (2002)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)

Electricity - consumption:
237.4 million kWh (2002)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2002)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2002)

Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:
6,500 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA

Oil - imports:
NA

Exports:
$49 million f.o.b. (2002 est.)

Exports - commodities:
diamonds, rutile, cocoa, coffee, fish (1999)

Exports - partners:
Belgium 61.6%, Germany 11.8%, US 5.4% (2004)

Imports:
$264 million f.o.b. (2002 est.)

Imports - commodities:
foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, fuels and lubricants, chemicals (1995)

Imports - partners:
Germany 14%, Cote d'Ivoire 10.7%, UK 9.1%, US 8.4%, China 5.6%, Netherlands 5%, South Africa 4.1% (2004)

Debt - external:
$1.5 billion (2002 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
$103 million (2001 est.)

Currency (code):
leone (SLL)

Currency code:
SLL

Exchange rates:
leones per US dollar - 2,701.3 (2004), 2,347.9 (2003), 2,099 (2002), 1,986.2 (2001), 2,092.1 (2000)

Fiscal year:
calendar year

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Social Reasons for unequal develpopment in Sierra Leone

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Education ( Adult Literacy Rate )

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SANAA, 21 January 2007 (IRIN) - Specialists say that Yemen’s illiteracy rate is set to decrease substantially in the coming years, particularly because the number of adults attending literacy classes has risen over the past few years.

“The rate of illiteracy has decreased from 56 percent in 1994 to 45.7 percent in 2004,” said Ahmed Abdullah, head of the Department for Erasing Illiteracy at the Ministry of Education. “In 2006, there were 128,080 people attending literacy classes nationwide, while in 2001 the number was only 66, 151.”

The study period at the literacy centres is two years, which is equivalent to reaching grade four at primary school. Students can also study for a third year, after which they can immediately join grade seven at school, according to Abdullah.

Abdullah also said that efforts were being made to fight illiteracy by improving literacy programmes, increasing the number of schools nationwide and spreading awareness about literacy through the media.

Education specialists say illiteracy is most rife in Yemen’s rural areas, where 75 percent of the population live. “These [rural] areas suffer from a lack of basic services, especially schools, which makes it difficult for some to receive education,” said Dr Arwa al-Deram, executive director of SOUL, an NGO dealing with education.

“Poverty also plays a big role in this regard as many poor families cannot afford to send their children to school,” she added.

Official statistics show that women are more illiterate than men in Yemen. The Department of Erasing Illiteracy said that the illiteracy rate stands at 29.8 percent for men and 62.1 percent for women.

“In rural areas, families prefer to send only boys to school, while girls remain at home to help their mothers,” said al-Deram adding that the traditions of Yemeni society do not encourage women to get an education, especially in rural areas. Yemeni men prefer women to stay at home rather than go out to work, al-Deram said.

A study carried out by SOUL found that girls often opted out of school and that a high percentage of parents did not want their daughters to continue their education. The unavailability of female teachers in villages, too, lead to girls dropping out of school.

Al-Deram said her organisation will begin educating illiterate women by using computers – a new method in Yemen - which will be provided for free to the students. This, she said, would encourage more illiterate women to study. “Literacy is rising among women more than men,” she added.

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Population growth rate in Sierra Leone

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Population (2002 est., no census since 1989): 4.9 million

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Polictical Reasons

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Poictical Conflict
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Since 1991, the civil war between the Sierra Leone government and the Liberia- backed rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) has crippled the country. In July 1999 the warring parties signed the Lomé Peace Agreement. The UN Security Council established the Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) in October 1999 to help implement the Lomé Agreement but despite UNAMSIL’s presence fighting continued. In May 2000 the crisis peaked as the RUF took 500 UN peacekeepers hostages.

The civil war in neighboring Liberia complicates the Sierra Leone conflict. In 2000 the UN officially accused President Charles Taylor of Liberia of being involved in RUF’s illegal trade of diamonds, arms, and timber. In May 2001, the Security Council imposed “smart” sanctions on Liberia. France’s interests shaped the sanctions in a way that allowed Taylor to continue the timber exports, which finance his regime and the RUF.

In January 2001 the Guinea-backed rebel group LURD (Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy) invaded the north of Liberia. The expansion of the conflict thus engulfed all three state-parties to the 1980 Manu River Union treaty. Taylor’s government continues to fight the LURD without a real desire to enter into a peace process.

The May 2002 democratic elections brought only a relative political stability to Sierra Leone. Occasional RUF incursions and flows of refugees, fleeing the civil war in Liberia, pose a threat to the peace in Sierra Leone and undermine UNAMSIL’s efforts to disarm, demobilize, and reintegrate the RUF.

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Leadership in Sierra Leone
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After 45 years of independence, Sierra Leone faces challenges of an unprecedented scale, complexity, and importance. Sierra Leone officially ended its 11-year brutal civil war four years ago, and has since benefited from substantial international investment. But its leaders and people must deal with popular dissatisfaction with a public service operating in an environment bedeviled by a culture of corruption, fraud, financial mismanagement, scandals, and civil service apathy; environmental degradation; an underdeveloped financial system; an inadequate health care system; a marginalized rural population; urbanization on a massive scale; and deep social inequality. All of these problems, of course, had existed during the 24 years of poor governance under one-party rule before its brutal civil war that started in March 1991; but four years after its war officially ended in 2002, thanks to the United Nations peacekeeping force, the current government has still not shown the ability to manage needed reforms.

Focusing on any "snapshots" of the isolated parts of these problems would make it hard for them to be solved. A systems approach is required to deal with the interconnectedness of these problems at once. Because the national character is known to be apathetic with minimal popular participation, success depends on the energy and ideas of its leaders. Strong and visionary leadership can be trusted to determine what cultures are conducive to better management practices and what represents a threat to basic public administration, because any civil service reform cannot be disengaged from the issues of improved governance as they affect accountability, rule of laws, and transparency.

Yet the current government has no system in place to attract, develop, and retain talent. There are no appropriate organizational structures, processes, resources, and management styles that would make it possible for its workforce to perform to the best of their talents and skills. Graduates from the country's universities are not appropriately trained to deal with the country's problems. What is not also there is the capacity to train in technical areas such as surveying, draftsmanship, architecture, mechanical engineering, accounting, and medicine to meet its needs in these technical areas. A United Nations Development Program study group recently reported that the country's principle training institute — I.P.A.M. (Institute for Public Administration and Management) — "is claiming to have the capacity to meet 90 percent of the training requirements of the public source despite the fact that there is no factual information on the magnitude of training requirements since there has been no training needs assessment done for the public service." What is clear, the ability of the universities and I.P.A.M. to meet national training needs is limited due to resource constraints.

Moreover, most talented Sierra Leoneans are instead choosing to pursue careers abroad where there are opportunities for them. Due to low salaries, poor working conditions, and to some extent, political interference with the professionalism of the public service, senior experienced civil servants have left the civil service for the private sector, international organizations, and greener pastures in other countries. Worse, many Sierra Leoneans who remain, and the few returning home after many years abroad to accept government or political appointments, become corrupt, eroding the government's effectiveness and feeding popular discontent with the system.
Of all Sierra Leone's challenges, none is more critical — or more daunting — than that of nurturing a new generation of leaders who are skilled, honest, committed to public service, and accountable to the people as a whole. Unless Sierra Leone manages to produce or attract such leaders, any government in power will fail to meet the country's challenges and its public promises of a more prosperous and democratic future will remain unfulfilled.

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By: Tan Jia Han(36)

Class: 4E2

Group: 5

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