Ukraine in crisis: The EU's co-responsibility The EU purports to be part of the solution in Ukraine. Particularly, the EU continues to claim that the proposed Association Agreement will contribute to solving the economic problems of the country. EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Štefan Füle, even raised the possibility of eventually offering an EU membership to Ukraine. There are, however, strong indications that the EU approach creates more problems than it solves. >>> more
An alternative post-2015 development strategy (II) We commit ourselves to reduce the part of those suffering from hunger by half till 2015, our Heads of State and Government proclaimed in 2000 when they adopted objective no. 1 of the MDGs. At that time, there were some 850 million people suffering from that scourge. A 2012 United Nations report (A/67/257) recognizes that some 900 million people are still suffering from hunger. It adds that hunger and malnutrition remain the most critical global challenges. This shows that the international community is heading towards a flagrant and scandalous failure. >>> more
Development and social policy in South Asia South Asia is home to about 22% of the global population; about one third of the population is extremely poor, accounting for about 45% of the global poor living on less than the infamous US$1.25 per day. 70% of the South Asia population lives on less than US$2 per day. With Gini coefficients hovering around 0.35, poverty while omnipresent is less unequal than in many countries of Africa and Latin America. >>> more
At first glance, everyday life seems not to have changed in Istanbul. The streets are congested; people hurry to the ferry or the bus. For weeks, there has been no terror attack. Nevertheless, there are some visible changes. There are much more policemen in the streets. In some days, the Istiklal Caddesi, the main shopping street on the European side, seems to be under a state of siege. At every street corner, there is police van with the blue light switched on.
Recent disturbing trends in international finance have particularly problematic implications, especially for developing countries. The new United Nations report, World Economic Situation and Prospects 2017 (WESP 2017), is the only recent report of a multilateral inter-governmental organization to recognize these problems, especially as they are relevant to the financing requirements for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Trump government signals unequivocally the end of international US hegemony. An international hegemon is able to define rules that find relatively broad acceptance internationally and plays a role in safeguarding international economic stability. The Trump government announced measures that go against the present economic rules while not proposing new ones.
The global deficit in quality jobs and deteriorating economic conditions in a number of regions threatens to undo decades of progress in poverty reduction, warns a new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO), the World Employment and Social Outlook (WESO) 2016.
Weakening of workers' rights in most regions is being aggravated by severe crackdowns on freedom of speech and assembly, according to the 2016 Global Rights Index. Restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly, including severe crackdowns in some countries, increased by 22%, with 50 out of 141 countries surveyed recording restrictions.