INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

'Get Ready for Development Cooperation in the Middle East'
By J. Brian Atwood* PARIS (IDN) - Spreading demand for change in the Middle East and North Africa has Western governments scrambling to calculate appropriate diplomatic responses. As happened when Central and Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union yielded to democratic forces, there will soon be demand from new and/or reforming governments for cooperation in political and economic institution building. Donor nations must be ready to respond.

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

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

 Exhibition: From a Culture of Violence to a Culture of Peace
- Transforming the Human Spirit 7 to 16 October 2011

Cameroon Diaspora Developmen Cooperative
First Registered Cooperative of the African Diaspora in Europe

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Pride and Prejudice in Reporting on Human Rights Violations:
Will South and North Ever Meet?

Some personalities who have been interviewed, have contributed their views or whose views have been incorporated in articles as part of this project are:

Japan Responding Creatively to Crisis

The human spirit has a truly remarkable capacity -the ability to generate hope from the most devastating of crises. This ability to create value can be seen in the response to the earthquake that struck Japan on March 11, writes Daisaku Ikeda, a Japanese Buddhist philosopher and peacebuilder and president of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI), in a column for IPS.

‘Abolish Nukes in the Middle East and Beyond’

As ‘people power’ topples one Arab regime after another, confronting the international community with an unprecedented volatile situation, an eminent Buddhist leader is urging the world's major powers not to lose sight of the compelling need to bring about a nuclear-weapons-free Middle East as one of the crucial steps towards nuclear abolition. Complete elimination of all atomic weapons -- and not just nuclear disarmament -- with the civil society playing a significant role, is the only absolute guarantee against the threat of nuclear weapons, according to Daisaku Ikeda, president of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI) Buddhist organisation. GERMAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF

Nuclear Disarmament Has a Future

The United Nations is keen to counter growing skepticism about nuclear disarmament really happening and culminating into a nuke free world. According to the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Sergio Duarte, the peoples and countries of the world are not willing to hang on to nuclear weapons and put at risk all that has been accomplished in building international interdependence. JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF

World Closer To Enforcing Treaty Outlawing Nuclear Explosions

Interview of Tibor Tóth, CTBTO Executive Secretary

Almost 190 countries around the world have reaffirmed the critical importance of enforcing the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1996. The treaty outlaws all atomic explosions in all environments, for military or civilian purpose. Though the CTBT has yet to enter into force, it has been ratified by 153 countries and enjoys almost universal membership of 182 signatory states. "Bringing the Treaty into force is the obvious and logical next step to take and with adequate political leadership such a step is virtually around the corner," says Ambassador Tibor Tóth of Hungary, who is Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO). [P] ARABIC TEXT VERSION  GERMAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | SPANISH | TURKISH

Two Cheers for New START

By Jayantha Dhanapala*
A modest bilateral nuclear disarmament treaty, concluded at an accelerated pace in the first 15 months of the Obama Administration with the Russian Federation, has now survived what departing Senator Arlen Specter calls the political "cannibalism" of his Republican Party, to be ratified in the U.S. Senate by 71 votes to 26. It climaxes a spurt of Congressional action in a lame duck session which saw Obama achieve the extension of the Bush II tax cuts, albeit with the rich benefiting too, and repealing the "Don't ask; Don't tell" Clinton policy regarding gays in the U.S. Military, inter alia.

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.

'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 | READ MORE-1 |  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 | 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

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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SOME UNDER REPORTED ISSUES

Recalling Hiroshima Encounters in Times of Fukushima Crisis

Alternative Laureates Want Nuclear Plants and Weapons Abolished

Why 'Peace Proposal 2011' is Significant

New Vienna Organisation to Spur Disarmament

Moving Away From the Nuclear Button

Peace Impulses from Okinawa

UN Disarmament Forum Embroiled in a Battle of Attrition

Considerable Progress Towards a Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty

IN MEMORIAM Winfried-Illo Graff Born 1936 in Köln Passed away on 10 March 2010 Looking Back