This report summarizes global levels and trends in the population of concern to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR): refugees, asylum-seekers and others of concern. The data, reported by UNHCR country offices, generally reflect the view of the host country. The statistics contained in this note should be considered provisional and subject to change
Benefits from good trade policy may be attenuated or even undermined if governments pursue deficient policies in other areas of economic activity, according to the 2004 World Trade Report published by the WTO Secretariat. This year’s World Trade Report, the flagship publication of the WTO, is the second report in a new series “designed to deepen public understanding of trade and trade-related policy issues and to contribute to more informed consideration of the options facing governments” writes WTO Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi
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
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 biggest transnational election of all times has just taken place. Nearly 360 million voters from 25 Member States were invited to elect their representatives to the European Parliament between 10 and 13 June. On the day after the opening session, the new assembly will consist of no fewer than 732 MEP as against 626 in 1999. The results of this election call for three major observations: Very high abstention that prompts some to refer to a real democratic breakdown; strong mobilisation of Euroscepticism in certain Member States; Protest vote with regard to certain Governments in national office
A very clear majority of citizens declared they were in favour of the adoption of a Constitution by the European Union (79%). This proportion has risen slightly since January 2004 (+2 points). Respondents of the fifteen pre-enlargement Member States seem more often to be “rather favourable” to this proposal, whereas the responses in the new Member States stagnated. The rate of acceptance of this proposal varies significantly from one Member State to another –from 50% in Sweden and 51% in the United Kingdom to more than 90% in Hungary, Spain and Italy
The prospect of membership has been the EU's single most effective foreign policy tool. In their desire to join the EU, countries across the European continent have consolidated democracy, opened up their economies, strengthened their public administrations, and improved relations with their neighbours. The accession process has worked wonders in Central and Eastern Europe, helping these countries to move from chaotic post-Communism to orderly EU membership in a decade and a half. The EU could do the same for Turkey, provided it stops dragging its feet
The International Religious Freedom Report for 2004 is submitted to the Congress by the Department of State in compliance with Section 102(b) of the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998. The law provides that the Secretary of State shall transmit to Congress each year "an Annual Report on International Religious Freedom supplementing the most recent Human Rights Reports by providing additional detailed information with respect to matters involving international religious freedom." This Annual Report includes individual country chapters on the status of religious freedom worldwide
The Iraq Index is a statistical compilation of economic and security data made by The Brookings Institution. This resource will provide updated information on various criteria, including crime, telephone and water service, troop fatalities, unemployment, Iraqi security forces, oil production, and coalition troop strength
Are Islam and Democracy compatible? And are Islamists willing to accept a democratic order and work within it? Debate has swirled around these two grand questions for decades and has produced a broad variety of responses, often quite polarized. This essay argues that democracy and political Islam are potentially quite compatible in principle, and the record indicates as much
Owing to the EU-Turkish customs union, there is already a considerable degree of convergence between Turkey and the EU in the area of trade. In fact, Turkey is the only candidate country that has a customs union with the EU. At least with respect to the trade in goods, Turkey is almost part of the Single Market. The challenge of enhancing the present state of trade integration could be approached in two ways. First, the customs union could be deepened by refining the arrangements and addressing its shortcomings. Secondly, the degree of trade integration could be enhanced by incorporating areas such as services and agriculture – thus widening the customs union – which is also explored in detail. The paper concludes that the Turkish-EU customs union has been a technical success overall and functioned on a sound basis.
After the intense debates and disagreements of the past three years, the transatlantic community is divided. While Americans and Europeans have similar threat perceptions, they differ markedly on how best to deal with these threats and under what aegis. One result of this division is that many Europeans, while wanting to cooperate with the United States, also want to play a more independent role in the world. By contrast, Americans seek a closer partnership with a strong European Union even if it would not always agree with US perceptions or prescriptions
Countries are making real progress in carrying out a bold global action plan that links poverty alleviation to women's rights and universal access to reproductive health. Ten years into the new era opened by the 1994 International Conference in Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, the quality and reach of family planning programmes have improved, safe motherhood and HIV prevention efforts are being scaled up, and governments embrace the ICPD Programme of Action as an essential blueprint for realizing development goals
The average level of real income in the richest countries is 50 times that of the poorest. The richest tenth of South African population enjoy levels of consumption per person almost 70 times those of the poorest tenth. Citizens of the world also experience profound differences in influence, access to legal systems, power and social status, whether at the level of individuals, between men and women, or between groups. This WDR will explore the relationship between equity and development strategy
