China: Reversing the Brain Drain
Brain drains rob developing countries of valuable human talent, as their best and brightest people go abroad to study and opt to stay in the developed world. For many years, the People's Republic of China has been no exception to this phenomenon.
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The EU Presidency Outlook for Development
As the Finns enter the final stretch of their EU Presidency, a review is in order of the achievements for development during the past six months as well as a look ahead with Germany in the starting blocks for its Presidency beginning in January.
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The Coherence Panel's Mixed Bag of Proposals
After less than nine months, the High-Level Panel on system-wide coherence commissioned by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has just delivered an attention-grabbing report. To what extent the panel's efforts will lead to genuine change, entirely depends on the political will of member states.
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Towards Heiligendamm: The German G-8 Agenda
At the G-8 summit, to be held from 6-8 June 2007 in Heiligendamm, the German government intends to focus on "shaping globalisation and helping Africa to develop". One can only agree. Yet the question is: How? On that point the agenda proves to be deeply flawed. It does not even mention the long overdue reform of the summit architecture itself.
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HDR: Power, Poverty and the Global Water Crisis
Focusing on the global water crisis, the Human Development Report 2006 takes up a subject which for several years has been widely and hotly debated. Thus, it is difficult to say something really new - but with its focus on equity issues the HDR is markedly different from comparable reports.
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EU: The New Financial Instrument for Development
After more than two years of negotiations, the European Union (EU) agreed on a Budgetary framework for 2007-2013. This framework, known as Financial Perspectives, is made up of a series of instruments. The instrument that covers EC financial assistance to developing countries is the Development Co-operation Instrument (DCI).
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Counterrevolution or Reform at the United Nations?
Although the American media generally depicted Kofi Annan’s end-of-term reform package for the United Nations as a failure, its achievements are by no means negligible. The cup is certainly more than half full.
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Around the World, Millions Stand Up for MDGs
In churches and schools, in slums and outside posh hotels, on Indian cricket fields and in Mexican football stadiums, close to 24 million people participated in the United Nations-led “Stand Up Against Poverty” initiative to remind world leaders of their promises to eliminate extreme poverty by 2015.
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Helsinki Meeting on EU Policy Coherence
Development experts discussed policy coherence for development at a meeting on 2 and 3 October in Helsinki. They concluded: Aid alone is not enough; also other policies must support the fight against poverty. However to find practical solutions to ensure policy coherence for development in the EU and Member State policies is no easy walk.
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The EU's Good Governance Agenda in Development
The European Commission's August 2006 communication on governance and development co-operation is a flawed approach, set in motion too quickly for reasons of the internal EC aid programming calendar and lacking thorough debate with stakeholders in developing countries.
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The World Bank Before Singapore: Continuing Crisis
The change from Wolfensohn to Wolfowitz put a great sense of urgency into the question of what course the world’s most influential financial adviser and financing institution would take. However, Wolfowitz’s first year brought no great surprises.
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Between Geneva, Singapore and Heiligendamm
With the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) in Geneva suspended, with the G8 summit in St Petersburg deeply flawed, with an irritating outlook for next year's Heiligendamm summit, and - last but not least - with the Bretton Woods twins IMF and World Bank in acute crisis, these days seem to form a perfect scenario for an anti-globaliser's summer festival. But ...
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'War on Terror' Will be Won at Home
Five years after the twin towers crumbled in a horrifying spectacle, our government’s foreign policy has done more to recruit terrorists and sympathizers than anything that Osama Bin Laden could have imagined. A comment from the US.
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A Development Agenda for Internet Governance
'Development agendas' in WTO and WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organisation) mark a new era in global policy spaces, whereby the rights of the South are being asserted. However, the governance of new information and communication technologies ICTs, chiefly the Internet, remains a nebulous zone, with practically no global policy frameworks.
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Coke/Pepsi and the 'Investment Climate' in India
The Bush administration is facing fierce criticism across India for backing the Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola companies in their fight with local authorities and consumer groups.
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Doha: What the South Was Asking For
The suspension of the Doha negotiations on 24 July 2006 is a chance for the industrial countries to rebuild trust with the developing world. A prerequisite for further talks would be to take serious the positions of the South. A documentation of these positions.
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Blow to Cold War Liberalism: Lieberman's Defeat
The defeat of Senator Joe Lieberman in recent Democratic primary in Connecticut is a historic event. It is because of his support for President Bush and the Iraq War. That is what matters. A comment.
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Fair Trade and Development: The EU's Non-Policy
More and more consumers buy Fair Trade products. However, the EU falls short of providing meaningful support to Fair Trade. A new report, adopted unanimously by the development committee of the European Parliament, addresses these shortcomings in a comprehensive manner.
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The World Economic Cycle at a Critical Juncture
For the third consecutive year the IMF issued an overall extremely positive appraisal of the world economic development. Yet the impression that the lessons of failed economic policy have been learned is deceptive.
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G77/China: The System Lacks Good Global Governance
The controversy on the future of the United Nations continues. On 29 May 2006 a special Ministerial meeting of the Group of 77 and China focussed on system wide coherence, secretariat and management reform, mandate review, and financial resources of the UN. The Ministers' Statement in full length.
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South: No WTO Deal Against Food Security
In a joint communication the G33, the African Group, the ACP and the LDCs warned that they cannot agree to any WTO deal in agriculture which does not meet their needs of food and livelihood security and rural development.
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