The II EU - Africa Summit -held in Lisbon (Portugal) on 8 and 9 December 2007- brought together representatives from the 80 countries that comprise this partnership, as well as heads of the regional institutions from both continents.
This year edition of the HDReport is focused on climate change and how it will create long-run low human development traps, pushing vulnerable people into a downward spiral of deprivation. The failure to respond to this challenge will stall and then reverse international efforts to reduce poverty. Also, there is useful information of the 2007/2008 Human Development Index rankings.
DI - 12/11/2007
The ninth edition of the Landmine Monitor reports on the global landmine situation and scrutinizes the implementation of and compliance with the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. According to this, many states are not on course to meet their Mine Ban Treaty mine clearance obligations.
DI - 31/10/2007
The fourth Global Environment Outlook: environment for development (GEO-4) warns about the major threats to the planet such as climate change, the rate of extinction of species and the challenge of feeding a growing population. The UNEP’s publication is a comprehensive and authoritative UN report on environment, prepared by about 390 experts. It identifies priorities for action and describes the changes since 1987, 20 years after the WCED produced its seminal report (Our Common Future).
The Department for International Development (DFID) launched its new White Paper on 13 July. The document sets our DFID’s priorities and explains how the department will work with the rest of the UK Government, partner governments, international organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), academics and the private sector to reduce world poverty over the next five years
The Millennium Development Goals Report is based on a master set of data that has been compiled by an Inter-Agency and Expert Group on MDG Indicators led by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the UN Secretariat. This year report presents the latest assessment on how far Member States have come, and how far they have to go in reaching the MDGs, in each of the world’s regions
The Euro-African Ministerial Conference on migration and development, proposed initially by Morocco and Spain with an active support of France, ended on 11 July in Rabat after adopting a final declaration and a plan of action advocating a partnership for an optimal management of migratory flows in a spirit of shared responsibility
The WESS is a publication of the UN Development Policy and Analysis Division (DPAD), which provides objective analysis of pressing long-term social and economic development issues, and discusses the positive and negative impact of corresponding policies. Diverging growth and development is the theme of 2006 report, which shows that in the industrialized world the income level over the last five decades has grown steadily. This has not occurred in many developing countries, thereby causing a rise in already high world inequality
The AIDS epidemic appears to be slowing down globally, but new infections are continuing to increase in certain regions and countries. The document also highlights the important progress in country AIDS responses, including increases in funding and access to treatment, and decreases in HIV prevalence among young people in some countries over the past five years
The World Bank (WB) GDF 2006 report says net private capital flows to developing countries reached a record high of US$491 billion in 2005, driven by privatizations, mergers and acquisitions, external debt refinancing, as well as strong investor interest in local-currency bond markets in Asia and Latin America. The document also shows that capital flows between developing countries are now growing faster than those between developed and developing countries particularly in FDI
This is an independent report –about the system of delivering aid- carried out by the University of Birmingham on behalf of more than thirty donor and partner countries. The joint evaluation looks at the use and effectiveness of the direct payments, also known as general budget support, by drawing on the experience of seven countries over five years: Burkina Faso, Malawi, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Rwanda, Uganda, and Vietnam
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the International LabourOffice (ILO) have jointly produced the first handbook to assist States in their efforts to develop new policy approaches, solutions, and practical measures for better management of labour migration in countries of origin and of destination. It was launched at the 14th OSCE Economic Forum in Prague
This Amnesty International Report -presented on 23 March in London- says that “2005 was defined by hope wrestling against the duplicity, double speak and failed promises of governments”. The document shows that 104 countries out of the 150 countries analysed have tortured or ill-treated people. Guantánamo prison camp, Darfur’s crisis, the “war on terror” and growing human rights deficit in Europe are also highlighted as key factors in 2005
The Resolution 1679 adopted by the Security Council –as its 5439th meeting on 16 May- calls for deployment on the ground of a joint UN – Africa Union (AU) team towards establishing a United Nations peacekeeping force in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region. This force would take over from the AU mission (AMIS) now monitoring the region
The Fund for Peace, an independent research organisation, and FOREIGN POLICY magazine have presented the second annual Failed States Index. Using 12 social, economic, political and military indicators, it ranks 148 states in order of their vulnerability to violent internal conflict and societal dysfunction
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report on human trafficking for sexual exploitation or forced labour. The document shows that people -most of them are women and children- are usually trafficked from poor countries to more affluent ones, and identifies 127 countries of origin, 98 transit countries and 137 destination countries. The report also stresses that global efforts to combat trafficking are being hampered by a lack of accurate data, reflecting the unwillingness of some countries to acknowledge that the problem affects them
This WHO Report contains an expert assessment of the current crisis in the global health workforce and ambitious proposals to tackle it over the next ten years, starting immediately. The report reveals an estimated shortage of almost 4.3 million doctors, midwives, nurses and support workers worldwide. The shortage is most severe in the poorest countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where health workers are most needed
The first International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action was observed on 4 April to alert the society as to the growing danger of land mines at the same time that is accomplished a United Nations declaration. Launched by the Mine Action Service of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, this office has also compiled the concrete steps being taken to eliminate the threat of landmines and explosive remnants of war and to meet pertinent treaty obligations in the 9th Portfolio of Mine Action Projects
The number of people on HIV antiretroviral treatment (ART) in low- and middle-income countries more than tripled to 1.3 million in December 2005 from 400 000 in December 2003, according to World Health Organization (WHO) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) report. Sub-Saharan Africa, the region most severely impacted, led the treatment scale-up effort, with the number of people receiving HIV treatment there increasing more than eight-fold to 810 000 from 100 000 between 2003 and 2005. By the end of 2005, more than half of all people receiving HIV treatment in low- and middle-income countries resided in this continent, up from one-quarter two years earlier
The Resolution 1667 (2006) adopted by the Security Council -as its 5406th meeting on 31 March 2006- extends the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) until 30 September 2006. This reaffirms intention to authorize Secretary-General to redeploy troops between UN Mission in Liberia and Operation in the Ivory Coast as needed. The Council also prolonged the temporary increase in UNMIL’s staffing ceiling to a total of 15,250 military personnel until that same date to ensure that the support provided to the special court trying war crimes in Sierra Leone did not reduce UNMIL’s strength in Liberia during its critical transition period following a long and brutal civil war
Final statement of the Third International Conference on Early Warning which took place in Bonn, Germany from 27 to 29 March under the auspices of the United Nations. Guided by the slogan "From concept to action", the Conference strongly emphasized the role of local communities in effective early warning. The Conference and its preparations resulted in the following documents: “Compendium of Early Warning Projects” and “Developing Early Warning Systems: A Key Checklist”
The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on 21 March. European institutions -such as Council of Europe’s European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), the European Union’s European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC), and the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) - make a joint statement on this occasion
This report uniquely focuses on this issue of national reporting of sex disaggregated statistics in such areas as demographics, health, education, work, violence against women, poverty, human rights and decision-making. This is the fourth World’s Women report since 1991. The previous three focused on statistical trends in the situation of women. Five years ago, the World’s Women report emphasized that there was a lack of sex disaggregated data and that the improvement of national statistical capacity – the ability to provide timely and reliable statistics – are essential for improving gender statistics
The GEO Year Book 2006 is the third annual survey of the changing global environment produced by the United Nations Environment Programme, in collaboration with many world experts in environmental research and action. The Year Book includes global and regional overviews. It highlights the linkages between environmental well-being, vulnerability and poverty; records recent findings on the value of ecosystem services; and describes new research findings on polar and ocean changes that may prove a turning point in the urgency of our awareness and response to global change
Sudan is a ‘failed state’ that, as a result of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between North and South in January 2005, has been given an opportunity to re-invent itself. But the odds against it doing so successfully remain high while large parts of the country are still mired in conflict. Violence continues in the west of the country in Darfur and the situation is also tense in Eastern Sudan. This Research Paper describes the current situation in Sudan. It also surveys the challenges of reconstruction and reflects on some possible implications of Sudan for the emerging legal norm known as the ‘Responsibility to Protect’.
Acting under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, on 18 September 2004 the Security Council adopted resolution 1564 requesting, inter alia, that the Secretary-General 'rapidly establish an international commission of inquiry in order immediately to investigate reports of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law in Darfur by all parties, to determine also whether or not acts of genocide have occurred, and to identify the perpetrators or such violations with a view to ensuring that those responsible are held accountable'. The Commission submitted a full report on its findings to the Secretary-General on 25 January 2005
In assessing the potencial risks from climate change and the costs of averting it, however, researchers and policy-makers encounter pervasive uncertainty. That uncertainty contributes to great differences of opinion as to the appropiate policy response, with some experts seeing little or no threat and others finding cause for immediate, extensive action. Policymakers are thus confronted with a wide range of recommendations about how to address the risks posed by a changing climate (A CBO Paper)
As representatives of a number of a major human rights organizations, we urge you to take further immediate steps to address the crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan. Resolution 1564, adopted on September 18, 2004, does not contain adequate measures to bring security to civilian populations in Darfur and to end the ongoing violations of internationa human rights and humanitarian law. It is essential that the Security Council quickly establish an effective force to protect civilian populations by passing a resolution extending and strengthening the mandate of the existing African Union monitoring force
The World Economic Outlook presents IMF staff's analysis and projections of economic developments at the global level, in major country groups (classified by region, stage of development, etc.), and in many individual countries. It focuses on major economic policy issues as well as on the analysis of economic developments and prospects
Transparency International provides an overview of the state of corruption around the world. This year the Global Corruption Report focuses on political corruption
