Focus on Financing for Development Negotiations
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- Written by Aldo Caliari/ Center of Concern
- Category: Analysis
The High Level Dialogue of ECOSOC with the Bretton Woods Institutions, the World Trade Organization and UNCTAD is held every year and it is one of the follow up tracks for the Financing for Development Conference. This year’s edition, held on April 14-15, 2014, took place at a significant juncture. Governments are deliberating on the features of a new generation of development goals that, as part of the “post-2015 development agenda,” will replace the Millennium Development Goals in 2015. Commitments to financing the new goals are expected to play an important role in those negotiations. At the same time, governments are in negotiations to define when the Third International Conference on Financing for Development will be held.
Some days ago in Kathmandu
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- Category: News
The European Commission's Private Sector Plan in Development Cooperation
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- Written by Maria Romero/Eurodad
- Category: Analysis
On Tuesday 13 May the European Commission (EC) released its promised communication on ‘a stronger role of the private sector in achieving inclusive and sustainable growth in developing countries.” It sets out a strategic framework that contains seven principles, six criteria and 12 actions, aimed at “harnessing the potential of the private sector as a financing partner, implementing agent, advisor or intermediary to achieve more effective and efficient delivery of EU support”. While it is widely stated that the private sector has a role to play in development, as both creator of decent jobs and driver or economic growth, its contribution to poverty reduction and the fight against inequality should not be seen as a given.
Read more: The European Commission's Private Sector Plan in Development Cooperation
Civil society protests against Melinda Gates at the World Health Assembly
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- Category: Analysis
We the undersigned organizations express our strong protest against the decision of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to invite Melinda Gates (of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – BMGF) as the keynote speaker at the 67th World Health Assembly, that begun in Geneva on 19th May. This is the third time in the last 10 years that someone from the BMGF and of the family has been an invited speaker at the WHA (Melinda Gates was preceded by her husband Bill Gates, in 2005 and 2011). Ms.Melinda Gates’ credentials as a leader in public health are unclear.
Read more: Civil society protests against Melinda Gates at the World Health Assembly
Corporatising agriculture
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- Written by Martin-Préval
- Category: Analysis
As an institution which aims to end extreme poverty, the World Bank should stand on the side of smallholder farmers, the primary producers of food and investors in the agriculture
sectors of developing countries. However, Alice Martin-Préval of the Oakland Institute argues that the Bank’s new project, Benchmarking the Business of Agriculture, is unlikely to benefit
smallholders but will instead further facilitate corporate grabbing of countries’ natural resources and land.
Inequality and Democracy
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- Written by Roberto Savio
- Category: Analysis
Not a day goes by without news on the growing inequality that is the telling indicator of the kind of economic model in which we have put ourselves, following the neoliberal binge unleashed by the Washington Consensus. The idea that economic growth is “a rising tide lifting all boats”, as the late Margaret Thatcher declared when she announced war on the welfare state, and its twin “capital will trickle down to everybody”, are now totally discredited. Facts, as it has been said, are stubborn.
How to Halve Poverty in Just One Day
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- Written by S. Dykstra, C. Kenny, J. Sandefur
- Category: Analysis
Researchers from the Center for Global Development discovered how to halve poverty in just one day: they used the new PPPs (purchase power parity), following the recent results from the Comparison programme: so now, poor countries are much richer than they were...
Read all about is
Building Another World: Re-Thinking Social Protection
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- Written by Francine Mestrum
- Category: Analysis
Global Social Justice is happy and proud to present a new book of Francine Mestrum: Building Another World: Re-thinking Social Protection.
It is a proposal for a new concept of social protection, which is particularly important at the moment that international organizations start to make their proposals for ‘social protection’. The ILO came out with its ‘social protection floors’, the World Bank completes its old proposal with ‘resilience’ and the European Commission switches from poverty reduction to ‘social protection’ in its cooperation policies.
While these proposals have to be welcomed and promoted, there is a real risk that they will not go beyond poverty reduction. They do have nevertheless a potential to do more: they are rights-based, they imply permanent mechanisms and they do take into account – finally! – the income dimension.
We think however that more is needed.
Read more: Building Another World: Re-Thinking Social Protection
Africa Rising? Inequalities and the role of Fair Taxation
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- Written by Tax Justice Africa/Christian Aid
- Category: Analysis
Economic growth in Africa has been important these last years.But who is benefiting? Where does the money go?
Read this latest report from Tax Justice Africa
The geographer David Harvey says fixing inequality will take more than tinkering
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- Written by Scott Carlson
- Category: Analysis
David Harvey would implore you to imagine life without capitalism—that is, if you can. Chances are, even if you’re puzzled by the manipulation of phantom money on Wall Street, troubled by society’s growing inequality, or disgusted with the platinum parachutes of corporate executives, you probably still conceive the world in terms of profits, private property, and free markets, the invisible hand always on the tiller.
Read more: The geographer David Harvey says fixing inequality will take more than tinkering
Huge Hole in Social Safety Nets
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- Written by Farangis Abdurazokzoda/IPS
- Category: Analysis
Social safety net programmes have expanded, yet 870 million of the world’s poorest people remain uncovered, says a new World Bank report released Tuesday.
Although over one billion people in 146 countries now participate in at least one of roughly 475 social safety net programmes, most of the extreme poor – those who live under 1.25 dollars a day – are not, says the report, The State of the Social Safety Nets 2014.
