Human Development | IDN-InDepthNews | Analysis That Matters

Mega Business Leads UN Road to Development

: An example of urban poverty in this slum in Jakarta, Indonesia | Credit: Wikimedia Commons By R. Nastranis | IDN-InDepth NewsReport

BERLIN / MONTEVIDEO (IDN) - All that glitters is not gold would appear to be the core of critique the Social Watch, a network of civil society organizations in over 80 countries, has launched against the United Nations High Level Panel's suggestions of new development goals to replace the MDGs.

In a document titled 'A New Global Partnership' the panel claims that, in preparing it, it "heard voices (...) from over 5000 civil society organizations working in about 120 countries" and "also consulted the chief executive officers of 250 companies in 30 countries, with annual revenues exceeding $8 trillion".

TRIPS Hang Over LDC Like A Sword Of Damocles

Image credit: EA WorldView By Jaya Ramachandran | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

BERLIN (IDN) - A modern-day Damocles' sword is hanging over 49 of the world's poorest and most vulnerable courtiers spanning across Asia-Pacific, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean. Unless the U.S. and the 27-nation European Union change their minds, the least developed countries (LDCs) will be forced to abide by the Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) – much to their detriment.

Bad News for Countries in Dire Need of Funds

Picture credit: IFAD By Jaya Ramachandran | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

PARIS (IDN) - Development aid that some of the world’s poorest countries are direly in need of declined for the second successive year in 2012, according to a new report. The reason, says the 34-nation Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), is the continuing financial crisis and euro zone turmoil, which has led several governments to tighten their budgets.

Experts Urge Overhaul of Global Aid Policies

Picture credit: IFAD By Ramesh Jaura* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

BERLIN (IDN) - Two former German policy-makers and practitioners of international development cooperation have decided to break taboos and call in a joint paper for an overhaul of national, European and international aid policies as a befitting response to rapid globalization that "has changed the world more than many in the field of development policy cooperation would like to believe". They also cast a rather critical look at the 0.7 percent aid target, generally considered as development community's 'holy cow'.

"The (present) global development structures and programs are lagging behind the new realities of economic and political needs. There is no longer a ‘North/South’ or ‘donor/recipient’ structure. Developmental paternalism that ‘donors’ continue to practice must therefore give way to genuine partnership and ownership by partners," say authors of the paper, Eckhard Deutscher and Erich Stather, made available to IDN.

Finland Should Spur Global Development

Photo credit: Kepa By Outi Hakkarainen* | IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint

HELSINKI (IDN) - Finland is a North European nation with its own socioeconomic challenges, but globally it belongs to well-off countries responsible for engaging in the global development agenda. The Finnish government wants to be an accountable member of the international community, but its political will to be so does not always materialise.

Finland has not, for example, been able to reach the 0.7 % target for its development funding. On the other hand Finland's current Development Policy Programme is positively founded on a rights-based approach. The challenge for Finnish civil society is to compel the government to improve its international performance.

The Longest War is the War on Global Poverty

Image credit: EuropeAid By Nimal Fernando* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

WASHINGTON DC (IDN) - The 'new year' is already over a month old and all pointers are that at least one very old global issue is only that much older.

There is much reference to the 'longest' wars of the fiery kind, but less, perhaps, to the often silent, near-Sisyphean struggle against global poverty. Many concerned voices would argue that 2013 could be among the worst years in which to even embark on any kind of lasting progress on this front.

Aid Should Focus on Sustainable Development

Botswana. Credit: Curt Caremark/World Bank By Jaya Ramachandran
IDN-InDepth NewsReport

BERLIN (IDN) - For the first time since 1997 the net official development assistance (ODA) to countries in dire need of funds declined by 2.7%, says the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), which comprises 24 industrialised states of the 34-nation Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Daunting Development Challenges Ahead

Image credit: World Bank By Richard Johnson | IDN-InDepth NewsReport

PARIS (IDN) - Despite development successes over the past 20 years and the progress of many emerging economies, inequality is increasing in all countries and 1.4 billion people still live in absolute poverty. This gloomy situation was acknowledged by development ministers from industrial and emerging economies, who met in London on December 4 and 5 for the High Level Meeting (HLM) of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), which comprises 24 of the 34-nation Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Hope For Young People in Rural Areas

Image: Cover photo of IFAD-ILO study By R. Nastranis
IDN-InDepth NewsReport

ROME (IDN) - Most of the 1.2 billion young women and men aged between 15 and 24 live in rural areas of developing countries. A new study shows that it's possible to achieve decent and productive employment for them.

The study by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the International Labour Office (ILO) makes several recommendations about generating decent employment opportunities for them and making better use of their potential to contribute to rural growth and transformation:

Concern Over Historic Drop in Development Aid

Credit: IFAD By R. Nastranis
IDN-InDepth NewsReport

PARIS (IDN) - Imagine a physician telling you to get a haircut to reduce your weight. This sort of a spurious argument has been apparently used by some of the major givers of official development assistance (ODA) which fell by nearly 3 percent in 2011 for the first time in 14 years.

Global Forum Strives to Make Aid Effective

About the Busan Forum By Taro Ichikawa
IDN-InDepth NewsReport

TOKYO (IDN) – Despite broad agreement that international development cooperation must become effective in order to achieve its objective of closing the rich-poor gap, the fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF-4), which kicked off on November 29 in Busan, South Korea, may fall short of marking a genuine "turning point" for the effectiveness agenda.