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Jamie Drummond: In 2000, the UN laid out 8 goals to make the world better by reducing poverty and disease — with a deadline of 2015. As that deadline approaches, Jamie Drummond of ONE.org runs down the surprising successes of the 8 Millennium Development Goals, and suggests a crowdsourced reboot for the next 15 years.
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Sander Florian Tordoir: While IMF-World Bank Structural-Adjustment Programs are associated with higher inequality in the short-run, larger structural-adjustment seemingly decrease inequality in the long-run. Furthermore, growth during an SAP does not benefit the poor as much.
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Franco Pedroni: Civil society has long been or co-opted and appeased through the use of economic means. However, those means mean less today and global interconnectedness is higher than ever before. Are we seeing the emergence of the Underdogs as new global players? And where will the State-centric system end?
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Ambassador Philip Murphy: Afghanistan is headed in the right direction: violence is down, the Afghan Army is growing in capacity, and the signs of community development are already visible. This has been made possible by the international commitment, and the ISAF soldiers and ordinary Afghans working to rebuild the country deserve our continuing support.
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Ben John Baxter: Despite being a significant provider of aid and assistance to the developing world, China is not a part of the international aid decision-making process. Given its tremendous support for infrastructure projects in Africa, China deserves more recognition from the West for its development efforts.
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Shabana Basij-Rasikh and Matiullah Amin : Women will play a key role in the development of Afghan communities, despite a culture of patriarchy that has long rendered them politically and economically powerless. It is time for women to realize their agency as role models for the next generation of Afghan leaders.
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Natasha L Lamoreux: There is growing recognition that with the many challenges facing the planet, and the fact that women and girls suffer disproportionately, it is critical to include a gendered perspective in global affairs. However, we must avoid the instrumentalization of women’s empowerment.
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Memo 31: The West should secure a positive legacy to its Afghanistan mission before the transition of responsibility in 2014 by strengthening the rule of law, promoting female education, smarter energy solutions and solidifying Afghan sovereignty.
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Daniel Fiott: The West is troubled by Chinese business activities on the African continent, perceiving Chinese firms as satellites of the central state.This paper uses the case study of Kenya to compare the economic and developmental activities of the EU and China in order to address some common misperceptions.
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NATO: The Afghan Business Conference in Helmland aims to bring together local Afghan businessmen from throughout Helmland province with international contractors so that Afghans can bid directly for reconstruction projects.
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Owen Barder: The concept of natural selection should be applied to aid programs so that only the most effective ones continue to be used. An increase in transparency and information about aid programs will benefit both donors and recipients. The International Aid Transparency Initiative is an important step by donor governments.
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Lawrence Haddad: Fundamental issues need to be dealt with for aid to Africa to be improved. Donors need to address recipient accountability and allow for greater transparency. Western bodies should also better coordinate their efforts and talk more realistically about the successes and challenges of aid.
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Jay Thomas Chittooran: This paper focuses on the relationship between economic growth and income distribution. Previous attempts to study this relationship have ignored, for the most part, government social spending aimed at the redistribution of wealth.
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Marie Lall: The West continues to misunderstand Pakistani realities on the ground. It must alter its hawkish approach towards the region and embrace a deeper understanding of the views across Pakistan. A radical policy shift and investments to stabilize the economy must be made before Western involvement turns sour.
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Judith Richards: China’s grand strategy aims to enhance its trade and investment interests. Its rhetoric on peaceful attitudes is nothing more than a means to an end.
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Christiane Doerner: China has arrived in Namibia and with it a new form of colonialism has unfolded. Its effect on Namibia’s domestic industry as well as its employment rate is discernibly negative.
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Memo 9: Afghanistan needs a continued international commitment to ensure its security and assist in economic and social development. The US, EU and Germany must focus on training local authorities. Cooperating with Iran and the Taliban remains a point of debate.
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Finn E. Kydland: Six Nobel Peace Prize laureates asked themselves what the most effective way would be to spend $75 billion in order to make the world a better place. The ranking list they developed gives very different answers than those policymakers usually do.
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Hans F. Bellstedt: As a modern and economically booming city, Bangalore stands for the upside of globalization and offers a possible foretaste of what India will be like in the future. Yet Bangalore’s success story is still an exception in a country that suffers from deep-set structural problems.
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Memo 4: Members of the Atlantic Community are mostly optimistic about the future of Kosovo and conflict resolution in the Western Balkans. The EU has a key role in this region and policy is in the right track, but, of course, big challenges still lie ahead.
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Elizabeth Pond: The EU and the UN can build on recent progress to resolve the last unfinished business from the 1990s’ Balkan wars. There is still a long way to go, though, to bring Kosovo under EU supervision and persuade Serbia to opt for a European future.
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Transparency International: ‘s Global Corruption Barometer reveals that corruption remains a constant presence in the lives of people around the world and that poor families are hit hardest by demands for bribes.
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Sylke Tempel: I look at the ever-present globalization bogeyman at the top of this year’s G8 protest agenda. But are concerns justified? Many of the more fuzzy arguments of globalization critics can be easily discarded.
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Guenther von Billerbeck: I advise that civil society organizations, and not just the new DRC government, may be the best partners to bring stability and peace to the Congo. The international community, particularly the UN, EU, and bilateral partners of the Congolese government, should partner with non-governmental actors to turn the country toward sustainable democracy and prosperity.
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Julianne Smith: I want the EU to take a stronger role in Afghanistan. The EU should act as a coordinating body for the reconstruction and development of the country. This would also strengthen Europe’s standing with its partners.
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Global Must Read Articles
The World Bank will become irrelevant if not reformed. ++ The US has traditionally appointed the World Bank president while Europe claims the IMF’s managing director. ++ This arrangement does not reflect the fact that emerging markets represent more than half of the global economy. ++ The World Bank presidency must be open to all qualified candidates, not just Americans. ++ The Bank should
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The US and Britain have just concluded weaponry deals to Saudi Arabia worth $53 billion. ++ These deals are a short term solution to ease their recession hit economies presented as an opportunity to promote stability in the Middle East. ++ The real dangers faced by Arab countries are domestic religious extremism and militant terrorism. ++ Allowing the free market to flourish, protecting
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The emergence of China as a global power has fundamentally changed the geo-political landscape of Southeast Asia. China, US and Japan are making significant efforts to cooperate and work in tandem with ASEAN to “maintain peace, stability and prosperity in the region”. As this report by the Institue for Security and Development illustrates, Southeast Asia represents, in many ways, a battleground
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Ukraine has come a long way from its Soviet legacy. Now, Kiev sets its sights on EU membership. ++ With an educated labor force and a “rich foundation in science and technology” along with its energy diversification capabilities and some of the world’s most fertile soil, Ukraine is positioned to play a prosperous role in the integrated European economy. ++ Kiev must still
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The sad truth of the matter is that global income distribution in the year 2010 looks not so very different from that under the Apartheid regime in South Africa. In spite of a myriad of development projects, there is still a great chasm between rich and poor countries. However, one tool has as yet been left untried in attempts to bridge the divide: labor mobility. Increased freedom for workers to
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Much progress has been made in the last decade in the area of international development, yet right now the developed world needs to re-affirm and strengthen its commitment to the Millenium Development Goals. ++ With enough effort, millions of people can be lifted out of poverty. ++ “The proportion of the world’s population living in poverty has fallen from a third to a quarter…This did
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“Poor but resource-rich countries tend to be underdeveloped not despite of their hydrocarbon and mineral riches but because of their resource wealth.” ++ Thus, oil, gold, diamonds and other natural resources make a country poorer. ++ Counterexamples to this rule, like Norway and the US, show the misery inducing consequences of natural resources can only be avoided by “democracy, transparency and
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In order to achieve the best returns for donor taxpayers and aid recipients, African aid should focus on infrastructure, regional integration, education and health. ++ Regional integration would help African countries compete in the global market - just as the EU helps the economies of its member states. ++ Africa needs to integrate its economies and open its borders internally. ++ Development
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Hugo Chavez continues to “demolish the democratic institutions” that enabled Venezuela its relative successes over the past 40 years. ++ Most worrying is his endorsement of the crippling view that reform and so-called “bourgeois” democracy cannot create social justice: his alternative “reeks of patronage” and has done little to develop the country. ++ As is
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The global economic crisis is in fact good news for aid-dependent Africa. ++ It is an opportunity for the continent to move towards the market-driven interventions which have enabled the rise of Brazil, India and China. ++ “Foreign aid has been the biggest single inhibitor of Africa’s growth,” fostering corruption, dependency and bureaucracy. ++ Focusing on the Chinese market
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The bilateral relation between the two states, fostered 30 years ago, is strengthened as it evolves to cover an increasing range of issues - from the war on terror to climate change - and to produce a global impact. ++ This impact is evident in the Asia-Pacific region where the US and China have worked to establish peace and development opportunities. ++ Closer ties will become a symbol of the
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This week marks 30 years since China put into place measures to increase economic and political freedoms. ++ The latter have not been realized. ++ On the contrary, China’s judicial system in the years since has been “corrupt and ineffective,” with regular curtailment of civil and human rights and detention of activists and protestors. ++ It is crucial that China redress this,
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Many governments in Southeast Asia are hoping for better energy security and appreciable increases in public revenue through a number of dam construction projects along the Mekong River. Yet the projected dams do not only produce electricity, inject the empty state treasuries with money from international development programs, or promise long term gains through energy exports. They also reduce
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China’s growth is especially generated in the cities. Their contribution to the GDP is around 75 percent. In 2025, there should be a billion Chinese living in urban areas, 350 million more than today. They could then be responsible for 95 percent of the Chinese GDP. For Chinese as well as international companies, this advancing urbanization of China holds huge promises. At the same time,
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The rise in food prices threatens the success of poverty reduction in Asia. ++ Rather than subsidies, price control, and export caps, governments should focus on targeted income and cash support measures as short-term remedies. ++ This will give better coverage to those in need, and allow governments greater flexibility in boosting agricultural investment, creating incentives for increased
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Googlers from around the world are exchanging ideas and intentions on how to combat climate change on the Earth Day-specific mashup map. ++ The “nifty map” is part of the initiative “go green with Google” which provides ideas, energy saver gadgets, and a database of NGOs focusing on environmental sustainability. ++ The map is an inspiring platform to raise awareness and
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Political pressures are preventing the structural problems of the aid system from being solved rapidly. ++ Achieving the development goals set for 2015 requires immediate action, the political will of official donors, and the contribution of non-profit organizations. ++ Even if aid is in short supply, a system which coordinates donors, projects and priorities can deliver quality assistance.
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Despite progress on climate change, there is an imminent threat on food security. ++ Decreased rainfalls and the rush to grow biofuels in an unsustainable manner is causing food prices to soar and putting the world at risk of a food crisis. ++ Expected growth of the population and increasing wealth in developing nations will exacerbate the problem by exerting added pressure on food and energy
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India’s infrastructure is obstructing economic growth. Just the terrible state of the roads and the endless traffic jams cause economic losses amounting to 6 billion US dollars per year. The cities in particular are struggling with increasing traffic chaos and power cuts. At the same time, the number of inhabitants in the cities will increase by 20% over the next seven years. The Indian
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Europe is well on the way to fall short of the ambitiously formulated targets of the Lisbon Agenda of 2002. We remember: all EU member states wanted to increase R&D expenditure from an average 1,8% of GDP in the late 1990s to 3% of GDP by 2010. Two thirds of this was to be funded by the business sector while the rest was to be funded by governments. However last year, the total expenditure
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Apart from hosting international sporting events in the near future, Delhi and Beijing have a lot in common at the moment, according to Narayani Ganesh of the Times of India: both face increasingly serious environmental challenges.
However these common issues offer opportunities for scientific cooperation, as shown by a memorandum on environmental collaboration signed during PM Manohan
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A new rating of 22 developed countries (and the EC) puts the United States at 16th on Humanitarian Aid. The new Humanitarian Response Index (HRI), carried out by a Spain-based NGO called DARA, focuses less on total funding and more on how well aid dollars reach their target.
Sweden gets top marks for quickly delivering funds in cash, and consistently following up. The US on the other hand
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An opinion poll commissioned by the BBC indicates that 54% of Afghans think things are going in the right direction, while 70% described their living conditions as good or very good. According to the poll of 1377 people from all 34 provinces of Afghanistan, 67% support or strongly support the presence of NATO forces.
Most striking was the apparent unpopularity of the Taliban – only 5% of
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After the UN oil-for-food scandal, it seemed UN aid programs couldn’t possibly sink lower in public opinion. Enter North Korea which, according to the Chicago Tribune, has taken $150 million in hard currency from the UN Development Program in Pyongyang. UN officials now promise a full audit, but the fact that this “development aid” was used during the period when the North Korean nuclear weapons
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Globalization has come full circle, says Deutsche Welle. 10 years ago, Germany set the tone of its economic relationship with India. German companies outsourced parts of their production to India and attempted to lure Indian IT-Specialists into the country. Now, Indian companies are opening up subsidiaries in Germany, employing Germans, and an Indian steel giant is making bids to buy its
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