Towards a vision for the post-2015 world
This week, the UN General Assembly (GA) will assess the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - their progress and gaps - and officially launch the intergovernmental discussion on a new, sustainable development agenda - perhaps to be encapsulated as sustainable development goals (SDGs).
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UNCTAD advocates new development strategies
Adjusting to the structural shifts in the world economy makes far-reaching changes in development strategies necessary. Against the background of a prolonged period of slow growth in developed countries, export-led development in the South is no longer viable, UNCTAD says.
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Statement on the results of the BRICS meeting
The emerging economies in the BRICS group - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - urged the G20 to boost global demand and ensure that any changes in monetary policy are well flagged to minimize any disruptive "spillovers" that may result. The appeal reflected the concerns among developing nations over the prospect that the Fed will scale back its ultra-loose monetary policy, and a view that Europe is not doing enough to promote a demand-driven recovery. The BRICS also agreed to contribute $100 billion to a joint currency reserve pool.
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Developmental regionalism and African enterprises
The Economic Development in Africa Report 2013, subtitled "Intra-African Trade: Unlocking Private Sector Dynamism", says that efforts to date to spur jointly reinforcing economic growth on the continent have relied on a "textbook" and "linear" approach to regional cooperation that does not fit with Africa's situation.
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Debunking the myths about the Tobin tax
The media attention for this tiny tax has been amazing, e.g. in the Wall Street Journal and in the Financial Times nearly every day last week. Those opposed to a financial transaction tax, or Tobin tax, have been pushing myths about in an attempt to discredit the tax.
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Mid-year economic update: Not out of the woods yet
Despite improved global financial conditions and reduced short-term risks, the world economy continues to expand at a subdued pace. According to the mid-year world economic update of the UN, growth will continue to be below potential and employment gains will remain weak.
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China, BRICS and Africa: Who really benefits?
The BRICS Summit in Durban on 26/27 March was another part of the new realities. South Africa for the first time hosted the five-member grouping. Having the world's 29th largest economy according to the IMF, South Africa punches above its weight with the new economic giants.
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BRICS seek to cement position in world landscape
Leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa - collectively known as the BRICS - formally announced their plans to launch a new development bank, in what analysts say is a move to reduce the group’s dependence on the Bretton Woods institutions. The two-day meet, held in Durban, South Africa, also raised issues such as the impact of developed country monetary policy on trade, and the importance of the next WTO chief being from a developing country.
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Post-2015: We do not want to be mainstreamed...
Some 120 civil society organisations (CSOs) from 80 countries met in Bonn 20-22 March, on the topic of "Advancing the post 2015 sustainable development agenda". The conference was one step in the two-track beyond-2015 process.
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The great global power transformation
The rise of the South is radically reshaping the world of the 21st century, with developing nations driving economic growth, lifting hundreds of millions of people from poverty, and propelling billions more into a new global middle class, according to the most recent Human Development Report.
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Chávez's legacy will live on
Hugo Chávez, who died last week, mourned by millions of Venezuelan citizens and people around the South American region, was a figure that was larger than life. During his 14 years as president of Venezuela, he managed to institute profound changes with effects on his country and the developing world long after his death.
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More and more trade within TNC value chains
Global trade is increasingly dominated by the complex and circuitous routes followed by goods and services as they are upgraded into finished products, a recent UNCTAD report says. And developing countries' share of value-added trade is growing rapidly.
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Prolong the transition period for LDCs under TRIPS
More than 370 civil society organisations from around the world concerned with access to medicines, to educational resources, to environmentally sound technologies (ESTs), and to other public goods and cultural creations and further concerned with farmers' rights, food security, human flourishing, sustainable and equitable technological and industrial development in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) have sent an Open letter to the WTO.
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Post-2015 debate: The need for a fresh start
The international aspects of the MDGs are set out in Goal 8 which seeks to develop a global partnership for development. The objectives enunciated in the MDGs are long on words. But it would seem that outcomes have been short on substance. Indeed, Goal 8 has turned out to be simply inadequate. In the international context, the focus of MDGs is much too narrow.
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A balance of the Euro-crisis
2012 was a dramatic year for the EU. The crisis could not be brought under control. It was just like with the Hydra in Greek mythology: once that one of the monster's heads had been decollated, another one was growing again.
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The Doha Gateway: Road to nowhere?
It was a nail biting finish on a non-ball game, this 18th conference of parties (COP) to the climate convention, which meets, once a year, to push towards action to cut greenhouse gas emissions - so intertwined with economic growth, that the world has been haggling for the past 20 years on who will cut and how much.
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Slovenia: Social protests and electoral apathy
On 2 December, Slovenians elected a new president, the former centre-left Prime Minister, Borut Pahor. The participation was extremely low and reached only 41.5%. Whereas the turnout at the elections hit a record low, participation in social protests has been very strong.
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Year of double opportunity - or double risk?
In 2013, the UN will convene a General-Assembly level meeting on a new, sustainable development agenda, with a view to deepening or substituting for the MDGs which were meant to be accomplished by 2015. And, by coincidence, in 2013, trade and investment issues, and part of the MDG agenda's goal 8, could re-enter the arena of development debates, albeit for a procedural reason: the lead posts at UNCTAD, the WTO and the ITC are all falling vacant next year.
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Climate Conference meets amid stark evidence
It's that time of the year again when the spotlight falls on climate change. The annual United Nations Climate Conference opens this week in Doha, Qatar, with 15,000 people expected to take part. Actions are more sorely needed than ever before. COP18 meets amid stark evidence of the damaging effects of climate change.
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Climate change: A new beginning in Doha?
Later this month, representatives of the world's nations will meet in Doha, Qatar, for the annual negotiations on the UN climate change treaty. This year's meeting may be the last chance to put forward a new vision and plan to reverse the current course, argues LDC's speaker.
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The new data on world hunger
There are fewer hungry people in the world than previously thought. But there are worrying trends in Africa and the Near East demonstrating the close links between hunger, food insecurity and conflict. These are main messages from the latest Report on "The State of Food Insecurity in the World".
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