2008 is a critical year for evaluating how aid is helping tackle global poverty and inequality. The Doha conference on Financing for Development at the end of the year will review how well the world has done in its global response to confronting the challenges of financing for development agreed in Monterrey in 2002. Donor credibility is on the line as the world waits to be convinced that they will deliver on their many promises made to both increase aid and make it more effective. Lucy Hayes reports
Aid is only one part of the package, but an important one particularly in the poorest countries. The numbers do not inspire much confidence. In 2007 ODA figures fell by over 8% and only five countries in the world have reached their target of spending 0.7% of GNI on development aid. Most countries are also way off target for reaching their commitments made at the Gleneagles G8 and the UN Millennium +5 summit in 2005 ... ... this article is published in Issue 3/May-Jun 2008 for subscribers only. For direct log in >>> click here.If you have no subscription >>> pick your option or >>>
The Superiority of the Financial Transaction Tax + Global Unemployment on Record Levels + New Beginning in European Development Policy? + Clean Development for the South
Global Economic Prospects for 2010 + Does Copenhagen Really Matter? + Quo Vadis, German Development Cooperation? + Mapping Social Protection in South Asia
The ITUC's Annual Survey of Trade Union Rights has documented a dramatic increase in the number of trade unionists murdered in 2009, with 101 killings - an increase of 30% over the previous year. The new Survey also reveals growing pressure on fundamental workers' rights around the world as the impact of the global economic crisis on employment deepened.
Barely in office, German development minister Dirk Niebel unambiguously mapped out the road: he wants to ensure that development cooperation once again focuses on German interests. This position provoked-probably intentionally-protest from the greater part of the German development community.
Latvia and Estonia show us what Greece may look forward to if it follows the advice it gets from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union. As noted previously, Latvia has experienced the worst two-year economic downturn on record, losing more than 25% of GDP, a recent study shows.
A group of economists has written an open letter to European policymakers criticising their collective failure to address the Greek crisis as a European crisis. It sets out the various causes of the Greek crisis, of which poor fiscal management by that country is only one, and points out the European dimension of the problems. It calls for decisive and coordinated policies by European and national actors to stem the crisis.
The evaluation of the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) of the World Bank's support for gender issues between 2002 and 2008 is of significant relevance in the light of the Beijing+15 review and the launching of gender mainstreaming as crucial strategy for all institutions and organizations.