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 - 20/11/2007
The 2007 edition highlights the importance of advancing toward a social pact to overcome poverty and promote social cohesion as priority issues for public expenditure. It also provides the latest poverty estimates available for the region: 36.5% of Latin America's population (195 million people) were poor and 13.4% (71 million) were extremely poor.
DI - 19/11/2007
The Latinobarómetro poll of political and social attitudes in 18 Latin American countries surveys development of democracies, economies and societies applying attitudinal, opinion, and behavioral indicators (in Spanish).
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 recent report of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) states that due to the strong improvement of its terms of trade, Latin American export volumes for 2006-2007 will grow by 7-8%, similar to 2005 growth and second only to China. According to ECLAC, in terms of current dollars, regional exports and imports should increase by 20% and 17%, respectively, in 2006.
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
Latin America and the Caribbean will grow by around 5% this year, according to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). Despite substantial improvement over the last quarter-century, the region continues to show less dynamism than the rest of the developing world. Argentina, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela take the lead. (Executive summary and chapter I)
This document served as the basis for discusions at the Ibero-American Meeting on Migration and Development, which took place in Madrid from 18 to 19 July. It was presented by the Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Centre (CELADE) - Population Division of the ECLAC. The topics discussed at the meeting were the major issues on the migration agenda, including human rights. (Document in Spanish)
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 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 President of four remaining countries of the Andean Community of Nations (CAN) -Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia and Peru- met in Quito (Ecuador) to re-launch the regional cooperation and integration process after the announcement of Venezuela’s withdrawal of the Community. The Andean Council of Presidents reiterates its decision to start negotiations aimed at signing an Association Agreement with the European Union, as agreed on Vienna Summit
The Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Heads of Delegation of the Member States adopted this final declaration on the occasion of the 36th regular sessión of the OAS General Assembly in Santo Domingo (4 to 6 June 2006). The document states that “the development and equitable and universal access to the knowledge-based society constitutes a challenge and an opportunity that helps us to address the common social, economic, and political goals of the countries of the Americas
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
Conclusions of the fourth summit of European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean Heads of State and Government held in Vienna from 11 to 13 May 2006. The document picked up the common positions of both sides in key issues as bi-regional strategic association, democracy and human rights, multilateralism, terrorism, drugs and organised crime, environment, energy, association agreements and trade, growth and employment, fight against poverty, development cooperation, migration, and knowledge sharing
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
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of countries in the region will grow 4.6% in 2006, up slightly from last year (2005). For 2007, growth is expected to slow a little to around 4%. This is the projection from Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in its report published by Economic Projections Centre. (In Spanish)
In 2005, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to Latin America and the Caribbean (not including financial centres) reached over US$61.6 billion, similar to the level recorded in 2004. ECLAC report shows that Latin America and the Caribbean have not yet fulfilled their potential for attracting FDI and also face the challenge of increasing the quantity and improving the quality of these capital inflows, to expand their impact on the development of production in the region. The countries receiving the most FDI were Mexico (US$17.805 bn), Brazil (US$15.193 bn), Chile (US$7.208 bn), Argentina (US$4.662 bn) and Colombia (US$3.921 bn)
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
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”
According to the Inter-American Development Bank’s Multilateral Investment Fund (IDB-MIF), Latin American and Caribbean workers living abroad sent a record USD 53.6 billion in remittances to their homelands during 2005, up 17 percent from the previous year. This new estimates were presented at the seminar A Global Revolution in Banking: Remittances and Microfinance held ahead of the annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the IDB, which will take place here April 3-5
This report was presented to government delegates meeting at ECLAC's Thirty-first Session in Montevideo, this 20-24 March. Migration generates benefits from sending and receiving countries and the number of migrants in Latin America and the Caribbean rose to 25 million in 2005. This figure reveals the need to put forward orientation to deal with the challenges and opportunities for development posed by migration, from the perspective of the human rights of migrants and their families
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
The growth of GDP in Latin America in the last two years has been well above the average for the previous decade: 5.9 percent in 2004, and about 4.2 percent in 2005, compared with 2.4 percent over the period 1994-2003, and some 2.6 percent over the last quarter century. Moreover the projections for 2006 suggest a growth rate of some 4-4.1 percent in 2006. This would entail the first time since 1994 with above-average rates of growth for three consecutive years. Moreover, the trends are broadly in line with global developments, although somewhat below overall worldwide GDP growth in 2005-06.
At the 35th General Assembly of the Organization of American States, the U.S. proposed that the OAS create a “mechanism” to strengthen democracy. In the months since, observers have begun to debate whether the meeting signaled a turning point in the history of the 57-year-old OAS. Some argue that the democracy debate has breathed new life into the much-maligned hemispheric organization; critics say that the wrangling further demonstrated its weakness and irrelevance. This paper examines the context for the U.S. proposal and the regional reaction. It argues that, in part, the assembly illustrated in stark relief the limits of U.S. power and influence in Latin America and the Caribbean. But more significantly, the assembly opened a window of opportunity for the OAS to become a more credible force to strengthen democracy in the hemisphere
In 2004-2005 the international economy has been influenced by two phenomena that have been taking shape for a number of years now. The first is a new geography of international trade and financial flows, one of whose most salient features is China’s greater presence in the world economy and financial system. The second has been the United States economy’s strong reactivation in 2004, which has made the global economy’s growth pattern more dependent on this country. These two factors, which go a long way towards accounting for the robust expansion of the international economy and trade flows in 2004 and 2005, have both direct and indirect effects on the Latin American and Caribbean economies, given how important the United States and China are to the region as trading partners. The nature of these effects is largely determined by these two economies’ particular modalities of growth, as well as the structure of their trade and financial ties. The impact is also shaped, however, by the specific ways in which the region is linked to these two economies and by the profile of its trade and financial relations with the global economy.
The economy of Latin America and the Caribbean grew around 6% in 2004; it will increase to over 4% in 2005 and is estimated to grow to a rate near 4% in 2006. Based on these forecasts, a four-year period of economic growth with an important recovery of GDP per capita would be completed. As occurred in 2004, ECLAC expects growth in 2005 to be widespread, including all countries in the region
The purpose of this inform is to clarify the method used to identify and quantify the progress made by the Latin American and Caribbean region and the challenges that remain to be met. The analysis also looks at the differences across countries in terms of their chances of attaining the Millennium Development Goals, and, wherever possible, the differences between trends in various segments of the population (classified by gender, ethnic group, age group, place of residence and income stratum) as a means of helping to pinpoint the areas in which efforts must be redoubled in order to ensure that advances are of benefit to all. This is supplemented by an integrated analysis of macroeconomic (including fiscal) factors as they relate to the Goal of eradicating poverty.
“The Organization of American States should continue building on the ideals and commitments of the OAS Charter and the Inter-American Democratic Charter, working together to advance shared political and economic values to make this a Hemisphere of democratic, stable, and prosperous nations. The Secretary General shall be entrusted with presenting to the Permanent Council, in the near future, a report for its consideration and analysis that describes the manner in which the Inter-American Democratic Charter has been implemented since its entry into force in 2001.” (General Assembly of the OAS, 7 June 2005)
For most of the 20th century, Central America was plagued by civil war, social strife, and violent conflict. Today, it is a region of fragile democracies seeking a closer economic partnership with the United States. As the elected presidents of Central America and the Dominican Republic have explained in cities across the United States, CAFTA matters most to them because it will strengthen the foundations of democracy by promoting growth and cutting poverty, creating equality of opportunity, and reducing corruption. From a strategic perspective, it is also the smart thing to do for the United States. Economic growth, more equitable income distribution, and opening opportunity are keys to resolving the security problems that menace North and Central America today.
The 2004 edition of the Statistical Yearbook for Latin America and the Caribbean contains an updated selection of the main statistical series available on economic and social trends in Latin America and the Caribbean. It represents an effort by the ECLAC Statistics and Economic Projections Division to harmonize the figures and make them internationally comparable. The electronic version of the Yearbook permits to download annual series from 1980 onwards in Excel format.
With some notable exceptions, hopes for a fully free and independent press throughout the hemisphere appear to be dimming, according to a report issued by the Inter American Press Association, as several governments have turned openly hostile to media critics, and violence against journalists remains real, as five have been killed in the last six months. Greatest concern continues to emanate from Venezuela. The presidents of Argentina and Ecuador also have shown obvious antagonism toward the media in those countries and, in the case of Argentina, a willingness to discriminate against critics. In addition, there are concerns about steps taken by authorities in the United States threatening journalists with jail and fines if they refuse to reveal the identities of some sources
The 1980s were described as a lost decade for Latin America and led to a spate of reform programs being introduced across the region at the start of the 1990s. In spite of this, the 1990s, too, were a decade of disappointment. Most countries grew at rates well below their potential, making poverty reduction as elusive as ever. There were capital account and currency crises in several countries. This study is an attempt to analyze what went wrong and why, and to draw lessons for the future. Why have growth rates been so low? Why did so many countries in the region fail to maintain the confidence of the international financial markets? And what are the economic policy implications of the failures of the 1990s?
Cuba is nearing the end of the Castro era. When that end arrives, the government that succeeds Fidel Castro –as well as the Cuban people themselves- will arrive at a decisive crossroads in the island’s tumultuous history. They will need answers to the following questions: How is the legacy of Castro’s 44-plus-year rule likely to affect Cuba after Castro is gone? What are the political, social, and economic challenges that a post-Castro Cuba will have to confront? What are the impediments that will need to be surmounted if Cuba is to develop economically and embark upon a democratic transition?
The 2004 edition of the social Panorama of Latin America analyses the major demographic changes that have occurred in the region over the past few decades, examines the socioeconomic status of Latin American youth, looks at institutional and programmatic guidelines for youth policies and describes how household structures and family roles have changed. As in past years, recent trends in poverty and income distribution in the Latin America countries are also reviewed
This is an article written by Agustín G. Cartens, Daniel C. Hardy and Ceyla Pazarbasioglu for the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Julio María Sanguinetti, they argue, former Uruguayan president (1985-95), once commented that “the banking system will never take you to paradise, but it can bury you in hell in an afternoon”. His words continue to echo in Latin America, which has been struggling to find ways to make financial systems more resilient and to avoid or minimize the cost of crises that do occur
When the end of the Castro era arrives, the successor government and the Cuban people will need to answer certain questions: How is Castro’s more than four-decade rule likely to affect a post-Castro Cuba? What will be the political, social, and economic challenges Cuba will confront? What are the impediments to Cuba’s economic development and democratic transition? The authors, from the RAND Corporation, examine Castro’s political legacies, Cuba’s generational and racial divisions, its demographic predicament, the legacy of a centralized economy, and the need for industrial restructuring.
A report by the European Commission issued on occasion of the Third Summit of Governments and Heads of State of Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union which provides full information on the state of relations between Latin America and the EU and prospects for the future.
A report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on the state of democracy in Latin America. Among other worrying data that indicate how fragile democracy is in the region is the fact that 54.7% of Latin Americans would be willing to sacrifice democratic government if the result were to be greater social and economic progress. The main risk factors for democracy are considered to be the influence of pressure groups on the presidential authorities, drug trafficking and the media, which according to local leaders of civil society are limiting the power of political institutions
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
In addition to drug trafficking and the activities of the guerilla groups operating in Colombia's border areas -which have serious repercussions on the Andean region-, there is a further issue which has drawn the attention of analysts of the Colombian conflict: the smuggling of small arms and light weaponry. The latter has increased enormously in the area and has become one of the main problems faced by the country. The US-based RAND Corporation has issued a study, released in late 2003, which makes a thorough analysis of this phenomenon and its consequences for both Colombia and its neighbours.
January 1, 2004 was the 10th anniversary of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA, or TLCAN in Spanish –Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte–), by which the Governments of Canada, the US and Mexico created the world's largest free trade area. To mark the occasion, the Carnegie Endowment for Internacional Peace –a renowned US think-tank– has published a report that examines NAFTA's impact on the region over these past ten years.
