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GLOBAL EVENTS
Conferences
28 June –
23 July 2010
UN Headquarters
Economic and Social
Council
Substantive Session 2010
The 54
members of ECOSOC will gather in New York for the Substantive
Session, and will participate in the High-level Segment, 28 June-2
July; the Coordination Segment 6-8 July; the Operational Activities
Segment, 9-13 July;, the Humanitarian Affairs Segment, 14-15 July;
the General Segment, 16-22 July.
12 – 30
July 2010, UN Headquarters
Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women, 46th session
12 – 23
July 2010, UN Headquarters
Preparatory Committee
for the United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty, first
session
19 – 21
July 2010, UN Headquarters
United Nations Board of
Auditors, sixty-fourth regular session
19 – 21
July 2010, UN Headquarters
Independent Audit
Advisory Committee, eleventh session
12 – 30
July 2010, Geneva
Human Rights Committee,
ninety-ninth session
5 July – 6
August 2010, Geneva
International Law
Commission, sixty-second session, second part
3 – 28 May 2010, UN Headquarters
2010 Review Conference
of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons (NPT)
The 2010 Review Conference
is expected to consider a number of key issues, including:
universality of the Treaty; nuclear disarmament, including specific
practical measures; nuclear non-proliferation, including the
promoting and strengthening of safeguards; measures to advance the
peaceful use of nuclear energy, safety and security; regional
disarmament and non-proliferation; implementation of the 1995
resolution on the Middle East; measures to address withdrawal from
the Treaty; measures to further strengthen the review process; and
ways to promote engagement with civil society in strengthening NPT
norms and in promoting disarmament education.
Past
Conferences, Meetings and Events
Meetings and Events
UN
Headquarters
General Assembly -
64th session
Plenary meetings, events,
and major thematic debates from the 64th session of the UN General
Assembly.
19 – 30 April 2010, UN Headquarters
Permanent Forum on
Indigenous Issues 9th session
The theme of this year's
session is Indigenous peoples: development with culture and
identity; articles 3 and 32 of the United Nations Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
26 April
– 7 May 2010, UN Headquarters
Committee on Information, 32nd
Session
In its
resolution 34/182
of 18 December 1979, the General Assembly decided to maintain
the Committee to Review UN Public Information Policies and
Activities, to be known as the Committee on Information.
3 – 14
May 2010, UN Headquarters
Commission
on Sustainable Development 18th Session
The 18th session of the
Commission will include a high-level segment, from 12-14 May 2010,
and parallel interactive round tables on 12 May, on “Sustainable
production and consumption patterns” and “Managing mining for
sustainable development”; and on 13 May, on “Meeting the challenge
of transportation needs in the twenty-first century” and “Strategies
for sustainable chemicals and waste management”.
17 – 19
May 2010, UN Headquarters
Preparatory Committee for
the UN Conference on Sustainable Development
On 24 December 2009 the UN
General Assembly adopted resolution
A/RES/64/236, agreeing to hold the UN Conference on Sustainable
Development in 2012 - also referred to as 'Rio+20' or 'Rio 20'. The
first meeting of the Preparatory Committee will discuss the
substantive themes of the Conference and pending procedural matters,
and will also elect the Bureau.
14 – 15
June 2010, UN Headquarters
Informal Interactive Hearings of the General Assembly with
Non-Governmental Organizations, Civil Society Organizations and the
Private Sector
On 20-22 September 2010,
the General Assembly will hold, in New York, a High-level Plenary
Meeting, also referred to as the "MDG Summit". As a part of the
process leading to the Summit, the General Assembly will also
convene interactive hearings with representatives of NGOs, civil
society and the private sector from 14-15 June 2010.
The Nobel Peace Prize for 2009
The
Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for
2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his
extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and
cooperation between peoples. The Committee has attached special
importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear
weapons.
Obama has as President created a new climate in international
politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position,
with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other
international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are
preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult
international conflicts. The vision of a world free from nuclear
arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control
negotiations. Thanks to Obama's initiative, the USA is now playing a
more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the
world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be
strengthened.
Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured
the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future.
His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead
the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are
shared by the majority of the world's population.
For 108 years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has sought to stimulate
precisely that international policy and those attitudes for which
Obama is now the world's leading spokesman. The Committee endorses
Obama's appeal that "Now is the time for all of us to take our share
of responsibility for a global response to global challenges."
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Oslo, October 9, 2009
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62nd Annual DPI/NGO Conference
Sep. 9-11
- in Mexico City on effective ways to contribute
to the advancement of disarmament, peace and development.

International Day of Peace 2009.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has
launched a multiplatform campaign under the slogan "WMD – We
Must Disarm" to mark the 100-day countdown leading up to the
International Day of Peace on 21 September 2009.
During the 100 days of the campaign, the United Nations will
raise awareness of the dangers and costs of nuclear weapons
by issuing a reason a day on why nuclear disarmament and
non-proliferation are so crucial, via Twitter and the social
networking sites Facebook and MySpace.

World Humanitarian Day, 19 August 2009.
International Day of the World's Indigenous People 2009.
The International Day of the World's
Indigenous People is observed each year on 9 August. The
date marks the day of the first meeting, in 1982, of the UN
Working Group on Indigenous Populations of the Subcommission
on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. This year,
the observance of the Day takes place Monday, 10 August
2009, at UN Headquarters, with the theme "Indigenous Peoples
and HIV/AIDS".
Millennium Development Goals Report 2009 -
The Report finds that more than
halfway to the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), major advances in the fight
against poverty and hunger have begun to slow or even
reverse as a result of the global economic and food crises,
and warns that, despite many successes, overall progress has
been too slow for most of the targets to be met by 2015.
The Economic Development in Africa Report 2009
- The Economic
Development in Africa Report 2009 focuses on ways of
strengthening regional economic integration for Africa´s
development. |
GLOBAL FINANCIAL COLLAPSE: Is the Future Argentina?
UN REMEMBRANCE OF SLAVE TRADE
The powerful sounds of musicians,
drummers and steel bands echoed through the United Nations complex in New York
today in a celebration of the world’s common humanity and in commemoration of
the victims of the African slave trade.
Read more

Drum Beating for International Slave Day opening ceremony
WHAT IS THAT WORLD WATER FORUM?
Activists from the People's Water
Forum, an alternative formation representing rural poor, the environment and
organized labor, slammed the official event as a non-inclusive, corporate-driven
fraud pushing for water privatization and called for a more open, democratic and
transparent forum. The forum, which is organized every three years by the
French-based World Water Council, is funded in large part by the water industry.
Read more
TROUBLED
WATERS HARD TO BRIDGE
The fifth World Water Forum ended with wide-ranging
differences among governments and groups with an interest in water. The forum
adopted a declaration calling for "new and adequate resources" for the water
sector. It also stressed the need for increased vigilance against corruption,
and for preparedness for climate change.
Read more
WATER - THE GLOBAL SECURITY FACTOR
Water -- whether saltwater, drinking water or freshwater -- is crucial for
global security because it is essential for the survival of human and other
forms of life. It covers 71 percent of the Earth's surface, mostly in oceans and
other large water bodies. Saltwater oceans hold 97 percent of surface water.
Read more
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Advisory
Board Members' View of the World |
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News from Global
Cooperation Council
Supporters of Global Cooperation
Council in Japan have set up
Council's Asia-Pacific Chapter in Tokyo.
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Former
UN Under-Secretary General
Joins Advisory Board:
Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, former
Under-Secretary-General and High
Representative of the United Nations has joined the Advisory Board
of Global Cooperation Council. Accepting the invitation, he writes:
"I
look forward to supporting and contributing to the efforts of the
Global Cooperation Council to promote genuine international
cooperation based on equality and fairness as essential elements of
an increasingly globalizing world."
#
UNCCD
Executive Ssecretary Joins GC COUNCIL Advisory BOARD
Mr.
Luc Gnacadja, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat
Desertification, has accepted the invitation of the Executive
Committee of the Global Cooperation Council to join the Council's Advisory
Board. UNCCD
is along with the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on
Biological Diversity (CBD) the outcome of the Earth Summit June 1992
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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Former
Prime Minister of Japan GC Council Advisor
Mr.
Toshiki Kaifu,
who
served as
Prime Minister of Japan from August 1989 to November 1991, has
accepted our invitation to join the Advisory Board of Global
Cooperation Council. Other members of the Board include Dr. Roberto Savio,
Chair World Social Forum's Commission
for Communication, President Emeritus of Inter Press Service - Italy,
and Dr. Inge Kaul who served at the UNDP from 1981 to 2005 in
different capacities.
Mr. Toshiki Kaifu,
assumed the office of the President of the World Federalist Movement
of Japan on April 6, 2010.
JAPAN: PRIDE AND CAUTION
NEWS - FEATURES - ANALYSES

on issues that impact the world
Corporate
Social Responsibility
Overcoming Hazards - Striving for greater Safety
Nowadays they are trucking hazardous
cargo. They carry fine chemicals and ethanols, imported by trading
companies, to client factories in Tokyo and surrounding five
prefectures, known as the Kanto area. But there is a long and
exciting human story behind todays Gosho Transportation Company. The
short of the long story is that before Yoshio Emori founded Gosho in
1969, its predecessor Emori Oil Co. Ltd was running 27 gas stations
in Saitama and Tokyo.
Trucking Safe with
Ecology in the Pouch
Like the kangaroo pouch
pocket that provides a place of shelter for the young after they are
born, the truckers of Tokyo’s legendary Nagai Transportation Company
move their cargo with great care. No surprise therefore that the
kangaroo is the logo of the company that celebrates “60 years of
good faith and gratitude”. Read in Japanese
at
http://www.polyglot.indepthnews.net
Redefine Japan-U.S.
Alliance for Global Denuclearization
By
Masayoshi Hamada* IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint TOKYO (IDN) – Japan is
serving in the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council in
April, ahead of the Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty
on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons scheduled for May 2010.
Amidst growing momentum toward a world free of nuclear weapons I
believe Japan has the moral responsibility to spread word about the
harrowing effect of nuclear weapons as the only sufferer of nuclear
attacks .
’Japan Has the Potential to
Be a Constructive Global Player'
TARO ICHIKAWA INTERVIEWS
NEW KOMEI PARTY CHIEF NATSUO YAMAGUCHI – Japan should play an active
role in supporting efforts toward a nuclear weapons free world,
without jeopardizing its close and trusted relations with the United
States, says Natsuo Yamaguchi, president of the New Komei Party, the
country's third largest political party that has promoted and
pursued initiatives to enhance peace and protect the vulnerable in
Japanese society since 1964. Against the backdrop of its close and
"vital" relations with the U.S. and growing understanding with
China, dating back to more than three decades, Japan has the
potential to act as a bridge between the United States and China as
the two countries move towards confidence-building, avers the
57-year old Yamaguchi.
Who Is Afraid of ‘Hunger Reports’?
Hunger is far from ‘sexy’ -- and yet it
is the central theme of two new reports published two days ahead of
the World Food Day Oct. 16 when conforming to the “same procedure as
every year” the well-fed of planet earth juggle statistics as if
these were crystal balls predicting ways toward a hunger-free world.

'Let Us Make Nuclear Abolition a Reality'
A world free of nuclear
weapons is no longer a utopia. There is more than one reason to
believe that it is a concrete possibility, says Daisaku Ikeda,
president of the Buddhist association, Soka Gokkai International (SGI).
"In recent years, we have seen important, groundbreaking examples of
humanitarian ideals surmounting military logic and narrowly defined
national interests to bring new disarmament accords into existence,"
says Ikeda explaining the rationale behind his optimism.
READ MORE
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ARABIC |
GERMAN |
SPANISH
Obama Seeks UN Backing for Nuke-Free World

When Barack Obama chaired a summit meeting of
the Security Council Sept. 24 - a historic first for a U.S.
president - his primary motive was to push for his ambitious,
long-term agenda for "a world without nuclear weapons".
A resolution adopted
unanimously by the 15 members of the U.N.'s most powerful political
body expressed grave concern about the threat of nuclear
proliferation and the need for international action to prevent it.
READ
MORE |
SPANISH
WHY SHOULD WE ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Hiromichi Umebayashi, Founder and Special Advisor of Peace Depot,
Inc. Japan writes in this column that in Japan there is a
deep-rooted desire for nuclear abolition that derives from its
first-hand experience of the appalling damage caused by nuclear
weapons. Yet this does not seem to be enough to constitute a
successful argument for "a world free of nuclear weapons". The
effort to bring about a nuclear abolition must be indivisibly and
essentially integrated with the challenge of creating a more
equitable, just, and humane global society.
READ MORE |
ITALIAN
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SPANISH
Nuclear Weapons Free
World by 2020?
If
Tadatoshi Akiba, the mayor of Hiroshima, had his way, the special UN
Security Council session to be chaired by U.S. President Barack
Obama on Sep. 24 would decide to achieve a world free of nuclear
weapons by 2020 -- a year that would mark the seventy-fifth
anniversary of the terrible destruction caused by U.S. atom bombs on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
READ MORE
LATIN AMERICA:
'The More Guns, the More Violence'
Traffic in light weapons and small arms is one
of Latin America's major disarmament concerns, because they fuel
urban violence, especially in countries like Mexico, Guatemala and
Brazil. This was one of the issues on the agenda of the 62nd Annual
Conference for Non-Governmental Organisations associated with the
United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI/NGO), under the
banner "For Peace and Development: Disarm Now!"
READ MORE |
ARABIC |
SPANISH
SGI President Issues Five-Point Plan toward
Nuclear Abolition
Daisaku Ikeda, president of the Soka Gakkai
International (SGI) Buddhist association, issued a proposal Sept. 8
outlining concrete steps toward the abolition of nuclear weapons. A
vocal opponent of these inhumane weapons for more than 50 years, he
stresses that we now have a unique opportunity to build grassroots
solidarity, propel political processes and break out of the
stagnation which has dogged nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation
efforts.
SUMMARY |
FULL TEXT
UN Conference Mulls Over Nuclear Abolition
If a
world without nuclear weapons is not to remain distant and just a
dream, the nuclear haves must demonstrate political will, leadership
and flexibility at the landmark Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT)
Review Conference slated for May next year in New York.
READ MORE
Stalemate Stalls UN Conference on Disarmament
The UN Conference on
Disarmament (CD) is faced with a deadlock again, only three months
after it ended 12 years of stalemate. The Conference adopted a
consensus document on May 29 that contains a work plan in run up to
the crucial nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference
next year.
Africa Becomes World's Largest Nuclear Free Continent
Africa, the world's
second-largest and second most-populous continent after Asia has now
become the world's largest nuclear free zone comprising 53 countries
with about one billion people.
Egypt Rejects U.S. Nuclear Umbrella
A spectre haunted the
U.S.-Egyptian summit -- the spectre of a U.S. nuclear umbrella for
the Middle East. In run-up to President Hosni Mubarak's first
Washington visit in five years, both the Egyptian leader and his
senior aides categorically rejected an undeclared U.S. offer to
guarantee defence of the region against atomic weapons as part of a
comprehensive Middle East peace plan.
TOWARD A NUCLEAR FREE WORLD
The
third preparatory committee (PrepCom) meeting for the 2010 Review
Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) took place
at the UN in New York May 4-15 against a background of increasing
calls for progress on nuclear disarmament and measures to strengthen
the Treaty. The NPT was concluded in 1968 and entered into force on
March 5, 1970. It is the founding document of multilateral non
proliferation endeavours.
VISIT
www.nuclearabolition.net for articles about this and related
issues.
U.S. Army troops in Kunar province.
Yet Another 'Enduring Freedom’ Fraud IN AFGHANISTAN?
‘Enduring Freedom’ is
how the U.S. names its invasion and occupation of countries. ‘Fraud’
is the most recurrent single word in relation to U.S.-sponsored
elections in those countries. ‘Fraud’ was suspected in some U.S.
presidential elections: John F. Kennedy's in 1960 -- when also dead
people allegedly ‘voted’ -- and George W Bush's in 2000, with its
controversial vote count.

Survivors of Cyclone Nargis in the
aftermath of the disaster.
Rising Attacks on UN Humanitarian Aid Workers
Six years ago, the UN
offices in Baghdad were blown up by a truck bomb. Twenty-two
humanitarian workers and dedicated professionals lost their lives,
among them Sergio Vieira de Mello, a lifelong humanitarian who had
saved lives and reduced suffering in some of the toughest places on
earth.
The East Tops in Free Flow of Goods
East Asian economies --
Singapore and Hong Kong SAR –- occupy the top two positions among
countries that facilitate the free flow of goods across national
borders and to destination. They are followed by Switzerland,
Denmark and Sweden in the Enabling Trade Index (ETI) ranking;
Canada, Norway, Finland, Austria and the Netherlands complete the
top-10 list, according to a new report by the World Economic Forum.
No 'Divine Rights' of the Industrial Rich
"What we're talking
about is a profound change of industrial civilisation. It would be
surprising if there weren't stumbling blocks," said Sweden's lead
climate negotiator and chairman of the EU working group, Anders
Turesson, wrapping up the latest round of informal negotiations in
Bonn.

G20: WHERE IS THE MONEY, AND
WHO IS THE MONEYLENDER
LONDON - It seemed like a lot of money at the time. The
leaders of the group of eight richest countries, the G8, met
in Gleneagles in Scotland and announced 50 billion dollars
in new aid, half of that for Africa and half for the rest of
the world. That was 2005, the word recession was buried in a
dictionary somewhere, governments and companies were on a
high, with many of the financial figures inflated by
financial jugglery that no one then had seen through, and by
a debt that would repay itself because how could this club
of wealth and power ever go wrong.
Read more
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The Honourable Barack Obama, President of the United States of America.
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G20: LAUDABLE,
YET GENUINE TRANSPARENCY REQUIRED BERLIN (IDN) - The decision of the Group of 20 (G20) leading
industrial and emerging economies to prioritise transparency
as a means to curb systemic risks in the global financial
and economic system and to provide a stimulus that also
extends to the developing world is welcome, says
Transparency International (TI).
Read more
PROSPERITY IS INDIVISIBLE LONDON SUMMIT – Leaders’ Statement, 2 APRIL 2009 We start from the belief that prosperity is indivisible;
that growth, to be sustained, has to be shared; and that our
global plan for recovery must have at its heart the needs
and jobs of hard-working families, not just in developed
countries but in emerging markets and the poorest countries
of the world too; and must reflect the interests, not just
of today’s population, but of future generations too. We
believe that the only sure foundation for sustainable
globalisation and rising prosperity for all is an open world
economy based on market principles, effective regulation,
and strong global institutions.
Read more
DECLARATION ON
STRENGTHENING THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM LONDON, 2 APRIL 2009
We, the Leaders of the G20, have taken, and will continue to
take, action to strengthen regulation and supervision in
line with the commitments we made in Washington to reform
the regulation of the financial sector. Our principles are
strengthening transparency and accountability, enhancing
sound regulation, promoting integrity in financial markets
and reinforcing international cooperation. The material in
this declaration expands and provides further detail on the
commitments in our statement. We published today a full
progress report against each of the 47 actions set out in
the Washington Action Plan. In particular, we have agreed
the following major reforms.
Read more
DECLARATION ON
DELIVERING RESOURCES THROUGH THE INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL
INSTITUTIONS – LONDON, 2 APRIL 2009
We, the leaders of the Group of Twenty, are
committed to ensuring that capital continues to flow to
emerging market and developing countries to protect their
economies and support world growth. To this end, we have
agreed to increase very substantially the resources
available through the international financial institutions
and to ensure that the institutions have the facilities
needed to address the crisis in a coordinated and
comprehensive manner.
Read more
G20: ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL
LONDON - There is on the face of it a fairness in the
language hanging over the G20 summit that is quite
seductive. "A global crisis requires a global solution,"
everyone who matters seems to be saying, at least towards
the richer end of the G20 spectrum. Such talk is getting
louder by the day as heads of state and government head for
a meeting in London Thursday to address the global economic
crisis.
Read more
G20: 'USE CRISIS AS OPPORTUNITY TO FIX
INEQUITY'
ADDIS ABABA - The daunting task of making Africa the centre
of attention awaits Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Meles Zenawi
when the Group of 20 (G20) rich and emerging economies meet
in London April 1.
Read more
G20: NEXT TIME, PERHAPS ...
LONDON - If the draft declaration of the G20 meeting in
London is anything to go by, the most specific outcome of
this summit is that there will be another one later in the
year. Several governments have begun to lobby already to
host the next G20, in apparent confidence that this one is
not going to take care of the problems that the leaders are
gathering to address, if not resolve.
Read more
G20:
JAPAN CARRIES AFRICAN CONCERNS TO LONDON
BERLIN (IDN) - Japan, the world's second largest economy,
is calling for global initiatives to reactivate financial flows to Africa,
including government grants, concessional loans and lines of credit.
Read more
G20:
POOR COUNTRIES IN DIRE NEED OF FUNDS
BERLIN (IDN) - There is no longer a question that
developing countries are being hit severely by the global crisis. Instead, there
is the very distinct possibility that they end up as the worst-hit victims,
while already being the most vulnerable, said Eckhard Deutscher, Chair of OECDs
Development Assistance Committee (DAC) March 30.
Read more
CONSENSUS GROWING OVER NEED FOR ACTION, DECLARES
BROWN IN NEW YORK
The communiqué from the London Summit of world leaders on
2 April will show a 'determination to do what is necessary' to restore economic
growth, mend the financial markets and tighten regulation,
Gordon Brown said in New York.
He was speaking on the second day of a global tour to meet world leaders ahead
of the Summit that takes in Brazil and Chile.
THE LONDON SUMMIT 2009 > Visit
http://www.londonsummit.gov.uk/en/ for news and background.
ECONOMIC CRISIS THREATENS CHINA’S RURAL STRATEGY
China should speed up investment
in rural services and infrastructure and create jobs in non-agricultural sectors
for returning migrants, according to a new OECD report. This will help offset
the fast-rising impact of the economic slowdown on the rural economy.
OECD Rural Policy Review: China says that the country’s rural development strategy is on the right track and the
impact on rural areas of broader economic reforms positive. But the recent
increase in return migration and subsequent fall in remittances could threaten
the important progress made in raising rural living standards.
Read more
PRISON OF NATIONS
The EU “government" is exposed as
worse than useless, a rubber stamp for this Thatcherite mania, fooling Europeans
into thinking there was someone controlling the private chaos. Riots swept across Eastern Europe
this winter. In Latvia 100 were arrested when they attacked the Finance Ministry
with cobblestones from the quaintly restored tourist area protesting
unemployment, budget and wage cuts. In Lithuania, riot police fired
rubber-bullets and tear gas on a trade union march. A demonstration in the
Bulgarian capital turned violent leading to the arrest of 150 protesters. These
three states are all members of the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM2), the euro’s
pre-detention cell. They must join.
Read more
MIDDLDE EAST: A CONVENIENT WAR
This
modest attempt to quickly analyze the first apparent consequences of the Israeli
war on Gaza departs from a personal sad conclusion that human kind is walking
too speedily, too steadily, and too far away from all known principles of
rationality. Rather, it seems that such principles have never been rooted nor
were they born from natural-instinctive conviction. Otherwise no war would ever
take place; no weapons would be produced, nor sold or used.
Read more
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INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

DEVELOPMENT WATCH
TOWARD A
NUCLEAR FREE WORLD
Confronting the Bliss of Ignorance about Africa
Somalia
hit the top of the chart for the third consecutive year when the
2010 Failed States Index was recently unveiled by Foreign Policy
magazine and the Fund for Peace. Several African states followed
Somalia in the first 20 listed. They are considered the worst
failures. The index was compiled on the basis of 12 criteria:
demographics, refugees, illegitimate governance, brain drain, public
services, inequality, group grievances, human rights, economic
decline, security forces, factionalised elites, and external
intervention.
Rendezvous with Planet Earth
2010 is
the International Year of Biodiversity. And we all have a rendezvous
with Planet Earth this year. In order that as many of us as possible
feel encouraged to make it to the venue at the right point in time,
the United Nations has launched some of the most innovative
initiatives.
The
Brave New World of Robert Zoellick
Thirty-three years after
the World Bank president Robert McNamara proposed the establishment
of an international commission to break the deadlock in North-South
relations, his successor Robert B. Zoellick has proclaimed that in
the new system triggered by a multi-polar world, North and South are
only points on a compass, not economic destinies.
Aid
Beyond Prejudice and Pride
By Eckhard Deutscher*
IDN-InDepth NewsSpecial – Part 1 PARIS (IDN) – "Africa is drowning
in aid money." "Too much aid goes to the private pockets of corrupt
regimes and towards a bloated development industry, when much more
should be spent on the private sector." "Aid is a useless
distraction given the impact of issues like trade, investment etc on
development." "Aid is not nearly growing quickly enough." These are
some examples of arguments put forward in a critical political and
public debate of development co-operation that has intensified as we
approach the reference date for substantial aid commitments and get
closer to the deadline for the Millennium Development Goals in 2015.
You
Don't 'Do' or 'Deliver' Development
By Eckhard Deutscher*
IDN-InDepth NewsSpecial – Part 2 PARIS (IDN) – The ‘aid
effectiveness agenda’ provides a framework for 'donors' and
developing countries to work together in the most effective way
possible. There are essentially two dimensions to do so. First, the
donor-recipient dimension.
‘Climate Change Kills People in Drylands’
-
UN Assistant Secretary General Luc Gnacadja
(IDN) - “Enhancing
soils anywhere enhances life everywhere,” says UN’s top official Luc
Gnacadja, who is tasked with combating land degradation and drought
– not only in Africa, the most vulnerable continent, but all along
the drylands belt running from Latin America through Sahel and Asia.
Read more

‘Agriculture Key To Food Security And Climate Change’ -
IFAD President
Kanayo F Nwanze. “Agriculture is the vital link between the two
burning issues of feeding a growing population and preserving the
planet we live on.” says IFAD president Kanayo F Nwanze. It is
crucial, therefore, that the deal expected to emerge from the
landmark climate change conference in Copenhagen recognises that
connect, Nwanze says in an e-mail interview with
IDN-InDepthNews
and
Global Perspectives – a journal for international cooperation.
Parliamentarians Urge Greater Efforts on Land Degradation
BY UWE HOLTZ -
IDN-InDepthNews |
Global Perspectives

TOWARD A NEW DEVELOPMENT AGENDA Beyond the headlines about
the agreement among most developed G20 countries on growth-friendly
plans to reduce deficits, though at different speeds in different
countries, the Toronto Summit Declaration contains what could become
a new development agenda, focusing on support for growth in low
income countries. This means that there is much work to do before
the G-20 summit in Seoul in November.
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GOOD AND BAD NEWS FROM AFRICA
Africa is taking a growing
role in the world, its population is increasing fast and so too is
its need for finance to build for the future. To achieve the United
Nations’ Millennium Development Goals and close the gap between its
infrastructure and the rest of the world’s, the continent requires
an annual investment of $93 billion over the next decade, says a
landmark new study.
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EMERGING POWER EQUATIONS
Two acronyms in the
alphabet soup of world affairs received heightened attention in
mid-April when IBSA and BRIC met in Brasilia to review past
performance, assess present needs, and work out their plans for the
future. These two important events for the ‘Global South’ will have
great resonance for the future shape of South-South cooperation and
help bring about new power equations.
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INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' RIGHTS
While preparations begin
for a midterm review of the Second International Decade of the
World's Indigenous People (2005-2014), a critical evaluation of
human rights initiatives, including the 2007 Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples has begun. A two-day gathering of
Asia-Pacific parliamentarians in Manila, provided an opportunity to
cast a close look at what has been achieved and what still needs to
be done.
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THE U.S. NUCLEAR POSTURE
Nearly two decades after
the Cold War ended, the Barack Obama administration is carrying out
the third subsequent assessment of the roles and missions for the
U.S. nuclear forces and the associated production and maintenance
infrastructure. It is viewed by many as an opportunity for
significant progress on nuclear disarmament, energized by President
Obama's joint commitment with his Russian counterpart, President
Dmitriy Medvedev, to work toward a "nuclear-free world".
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FROM COPENHAGEN TO BONN & MEXICO
Big expectations on the
climate change conference last month in Copenhagen were belied. Will
the forthcoming meeting in June in Bonn and the global conference
end of the year in Mexico lead to legally binding agreements? UN's
top climate official Yvo de Boer prefers not to commit himself.
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TOWARDS A GREEN ECONOMY
Several initiatives are under way to
move toward a global green economy, most of these associated with
the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and supported, among
others, by Germany and the EU Commission. But private investors from
industrialized and emerging economies are also actively involved.
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more
SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION
Developing
nations are faced with huge economic and financial problems and need
funds and technical cooperation from Europe and the United States.
But this is only one aspect of reality. They have meanwhile acquired
a high profile in world economy and in global decision-making -
thanks due to increasing South-South cooperation.
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WALK THE DEVELOPMENT TALK
A new report
finds that Germany's overall commitment to development is fair to
middling. Europe's economic powerhouse ranks 12th among the 22 'donor
nations' in the Commitment to Development Index (CDI) 2009, authored
by the Washington-based 'Center for Global Development'. The Index
is designed to encourage donor countries to adopt policies that are
more likely to promote development across a broad range of issues,
which define their relationships with poor countries.
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CLOSER TO NUCLEAR ABOLITION
Since U.S. President
Barack Obama pledged to usher in a nuclear free world this April in
Prague, the movement for abolishing atomic weapons has gathered
momentum. The UN Security Council's special session on Sep. 24 is
not only historic but also a milestone on the long road toward the
ambitious goal.
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COUNTDOWN TO COPENHAGEN
Whether Europe and the
United States like it or not, negotiations in run up to the UN
climate change conference this December in Copenhagen leave no doubt
that the only global deal developing countries are prepared to
consider must include commitments from developed nations to
immediate emissions mitigation, more financial assistance, and to
giving developing nations greater control of global climate
institutions.
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more
GOOD BYE, U.S. DOLLAR?
Brazil, China, India and
Russia -- backed by France -- have all questioned the dollar's
future as a global reserve currency, a status it has enjoyed since
inheriting it from sterling last century. China's central bank
earlier this year laid out an alternative to the dollar in the form
of a special international reserve currency administered by the
International Monetary Fund. However, most experts believe it will
take years for the dollar to be eclipsed.
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more
FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT
Has the 'unachievable'
been achieved at the
UN Conference on the World
Financial and Economic Crisis and Its Impact on Development
June 24-26 at the
headquarters of the world organisation? Ask the General Assembly
President Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann. His reply is: "Definitely yes".
Is a global organisation like the UN really an appropriate body to
solve the economic crisis the world is confronting now? Ask the
German Economic Cooperation and Development Minister Heidemarie
Wieczorek-Zeul. Her reply is: "I would say, yes." However, going by
reactions of non-governmental organisations and other development
policy activists and experts, not everybody would agree with
D’Escoto or Wieczorek-Zeul.
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THE DEVELOPING COUNTRY DEBT
The financial crisis
threatens a new debt crisis in many developing countries. However,
this issue is not high on the EU's agenda, the European Network on
Debt and Development (Eurodad) says. This is indicated by the
outcome of the development ministers' meeting at the EU's General
Affairs and External Relations Council on May 18.
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WANTED 2ND 'DELIVERING AS ONE' INITIATIVE
The
international discourse on foreign aid has in recent years been dominated by the
theme of harmonization and coordination of aid efforts sometimes also referred
to as 'Delivering as One'.
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TOWARD A BRIGHTER FUTURE
In a globalized
world undergoing rapid transformation, transatlantic relations are of central
importance. However, the transatlantic cooperation needs to be renewed and the
common agenda reformulated in the light of current global challenges, write
Gunilla Carlson and Jim Kolbe, Co-Chairs of the Transatlantic Taskforce on
Development.
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THE GLOBAL GREEN NEW DEAL
When UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for a Green New Deal at the United Nations
Climate Change Conference in Poznañ last December, the uninitiated thought he
was presenting a new concept that would work for all nations, rich as well as
poor, in the face of both climate change and the global economy.
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RENEWABLES
GO GLOBAL
Renewables have indeed gone
global. The newlyfounded world-organisation International Renewable Energy
Agency (IRENA) already represents over two and a half billion people, over a
third of the global population. After India joined IRENA as its 76th member, the
number of people living in its member states and thus directly impacted by the
agency rose to more than 2.5 billion.
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