Poverty Matters: Blood bricks, Ebola spending and Julia Gillard on education

Blood bricks, Ebola spending and Julia Gillard on education We meet the children making bricks in Nepal, and hear from the former Australian prime minister on why the world must focus on quality schooling If you are viewing this on the web and would prefer to get it in your inbox every two weeks, register for the email edition theguardian.com, Tuesday 17 February 2015 11.57 EST ‘I don’t know what will happen, I’m already broken,’ says 16-year-old Bishal who, with his brothers, begins making bricks at 1.45am each day. Photograph:guardian.co.uk Children as young as eight are working 15-hour days making bricks used in international development projects in Nepal, a Guardian investigation has found. The “blood bricks” have been used in construction projects funded by international donors including the UN, UK and the Asian Development Bank. See what life is like for the children trapped in bonded labour in our video and see what Nepal is doing to reform its brick industry. Elsewhere on the site What will it take to stop Isis using rape as a weapon of war? Money from Malawi ‘Cashgate’ scandal allegedly funded electoral campaigns Ebola spending: will lack of a positive legacy turn dollars to dolour? Julia Gillard: the world must target quality education for all children Teenage girls in Burma find their voices to defend their rights Yaoundé’s last waiting room: caring for the terminally ill in Cameroon On the blog Jonathan Glennie argued it’s not just Greece and Spain that need their debt restructured; poorer countries have been experiencing crippling debt problems for decades. To mark international day of zero tolerance for female genital mutilation, Miriam Jerotich explained how her mother’s refusal to undergo FGMhad given her licence to dream. Meanwhile, Alex Evans asked who was going to step up to finance global poverty targets at July’s financing for development summit in Ethiopia. Multimedia Video: Photoclub Mogadishu: children in Somalia offer a snapshot of lives overshadowed by war Podcast: How middle-income countries became fat Gallery: GuardianWitness: Climate change on Valentine’s Day – in pictures Take part As the deadline for the millennium development goals draws near, much has been discussed about the goals that should replace them. We want to know what students think about the proposed 17 sustainable development goals. Do you think the number is about right, or too many? Or do you think we should do away with goals and targets all together? Submit a response of 250 words or fewer, and we’ll publish a selection of the best ones as part of our Students Speak series. Submissions close at 6pm GMT on 16 March. What you said: top reader comment On the piece – My mother’s refusal to undergo FGM has given me licence to dream Ladi Ladebo wrote: As a researcher and producer of social sensitisation advocacy programmes in west Africa, I have come to accept that one vital strategy to eradicate female circumcision in the short and long run is mass education. It is instructive to notice how moving pictures do lead to behavioural changes among human beings. Opinions can be conveniently changed in viewers of dramatised documented film images especially among the very young adolescents, male and female, in any culture, and globally. The secret is that viewers are exposed to such sensitisation film programmes and are able to start conversations and debates which help individuals form opinions on taboo issues which young people are forbidden to discuss with their parents or guardians. Highlight from the blogosphere Triple Crisis: Is all growth good? The case of China And finally … Poverty matters will return in two weeks with another roundup of the latest news and comment. In the meantime, keep up to date on the Global development website. Follow @gdndevelopment and the team – @swajones,@LizFordGuardian, @MarkC_Anderson and @CarlaOkai – on Twitter, and joinGuardian Global development on Facebook. Sign up for the Guardian Today Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. Sign up for the daily email