Coherence of operational activities in development has been high on the reform agenda of the United Nations for a long time. At the Millennium+5 Summit member states requested the UN Secretary-General to present practical proposals towards this challenge. In the meantime, Kofi Annan has appointed a high-level panel which is to report back to him by this summer. Almost immediately, the effort has come in for considerable criticism. By Thomas Fues.
While sceptical voices see this as yet another ploy to bolster western dominance (>>> Frontal Attack on the UN), sympathetic observers consider it as the final opportunity for a meaningful role of the UN in the international development architecture. This article asks the G77 to reconsider their opposition ...
After decades of isolation - imposed by major OECD countries out of concern for the country's human rights violations - Myanmar is emerging as a new darling of the "West" - judging by the accelerating succession of visits by senior officials and gurus. New groups of investors are waiting to enter the country as soon as possible.
Persistent high unemployment, the euro area debt crisis and premature fiscal austerity have already slowed global growth and factor into the possibility of a new recession. Now the United Nations have downgraded significantly its forecasts for the world economy in the next year.
Eastern European states are in for a new round of the crisis. The external control of the banking sector and high reliance on external credit has landed the countries of Eastern Europe in a vulnerable position. Now, credit flows from Western banks are drying up again. Hungary has been the first country in the region to ask for IMF support again.
While the G20 efforts to manage global aggregate demand, exchange rate management and stronger regulation of the international financial sector have not worked out quite as planned, in Cannes the Group was further solidifying its role in directing the system of multilateral institutions.
In November 2011, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is celebrating its 50th anniversary.The new Minister, Dirk Niebel of the (neo)-liberal FDP has launched a 'radical change of course'. In the recent edition of the Reality of Aid shadow report the change is analyzed.