Contributions from the Column Facts and trends Basic education for all threatens to fail Technology alone cannot close the digital divide Deutsche Welle Academy: advanced training under one roof Germany promotes Israeli-Palestinian contacts Two-thirds of GTZ projects are successful Development budget: Ministry satisfied, NGOs disappointed Unexploded bombs Climate protection: poor countries get more attention Hunger in the world 1/2004   Hunger in the world is increasing again. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, 842 million people at the end of the1990s did not have enough to eat. That was fewer than 10 years ago, but the number has grown again since the mid-1990s. The greatest percentage increase was in the former Soviet republics and the Middle East, but in absolute terms the situation in sub-Saharan Africa worsened most markedly. The number dropped significantly in China, although 16 per cent of undernourished people worldwide (135 million) lives there. Only India, with almost 25 per cent, had a higher proportion (210 million). The FAO says that if the trend of recent years continues, the Millennium Goal of halving the number of world’s hungry by 2015 will be missed by a long way. (uke)