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| Picture credit: Insideafricanart.com |
UNFPA's recent report has warned that climate change will affect women more than men in developing countries. Women do most of the agricultural work in developing countries. As managers and caregivers of households, women have limited chance of moving around when floods or drought hit their region. Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, the executive director of UNFPA, calls for a new climate treaty to take into account women's struggle with the environment.
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The financial problems of the UN are mainly due to issues of politics, power structures and ideological division. This report raises the problem of political tensions between member states in the budget discussions. The G77 believe that the large states have too much power over the UN Secretariat. Some of the large contributors have a lack of voting power over budgetary questions in the UN and therefore are reluctant to fund activities that they do not control. This lack of trust between the Secretariat and member states impedes the overall efficiency of the UN.
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Tariq al-Hashemi, one of Iraq's two vice-presidents, has vetoed the recently passed election law. He stated that the law was unfair to displaced Iraqis living abroad. As a result of this decision, the electoral commission has suspended preparations for the vote. Al-Hashemi's veto has made it increasingly unlikely that Iraq's elections will take place in January, a delay which may well complicate US withdrawal.
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Expectations of all kinds arise as Copenhagen climate change summit nears. Pessimists believe that rich countries, which have not achieved significant carbon emission reduction since 1997, will continue to sacrifice the environment for business profits. A minority of optimists hope that Copenhagen will mark a turning point in climate policy. Although hopes for a binding international agreement have decreased, Copenhagen summit can still contribute to long term solutions.
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The World Food Summit in Rome ended with little outcome much to the regret of developing countries and the world’s one billion hungry. The governments agreed on neither financial targets nor concrete deadlines to eradicate hunger. Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi was the only G8 leader to attend. Rich countries apparently do not want to tackle hunger in a broad UN setting, preferring instead conservative venues such as the World Bank and the G8.
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A group of NGOs urges the US Assistant Secretary of State to "resynchronize" US dues to international organizations. Washington's late payments oblige the UN to borrow from its peacekeeping budget in order to meet its basic operating expenses. In addition, US delay in payments to the UN has a negative effect on other countries. The NGOs ask the US administration to pay an additional $1.3 billion to catch up on its outstanding dues to the UN and many other international organizations.
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The leader of the major Hutu militia, Ignace Murwanashyka, and his deputy, Straton M., have both lived freely in Germany for over 20 years. From here they maintained control over the Rwandan militia's destructive activities in Congo. After much petitioning by the Rwandan Government, the German authorities have finally reacted and arrested the two leaders.
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| Picture C\redit: UN |
Rights groups criticize targeted sanctions of violating human rights law. The controversy erodes the credibility of UN sanctions and highlights the need to reform current listing and delisting procedures. Here, a group of experts consider how to improve the handling of the lists and thus to increase the credibility and legality of the UN sanctions process.
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Ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon has opened a new era for the EU. The Union plans to bring two new figures into the international governance arena: a permanent European Council president and a foreign minister. But the current EU president, Fredrik Reinfeldt, is having a hard time naming a candidate on which member states can agree. The leading forces of the EU - Germany, France and the UK - prefer a figure with limited authority. The European Parliament shows its concern about the size of the new foreign ministry by calling it a "bureaucratic monster." But the new structures are potentially a major positive step towards European integration in the foreign policy filed.
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In 2008, food prices reached historically high levels, leaving millions of additional people in hunger. Policy makers and civil society have called for public food reserves in order to stabilize prices and mitigate the food emergency. International agricultural and trade policy have led to price instability, with devastating effects on developing countries. This paper calls for a discussion in which food reserves form part of a reformed trade system.
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| Picture Credit: FAO |
In Rome, the World Summit on Food Security has attracted only few leaders of rich countries. The summit reveals the wide gap between the rich and the poor countries' agriculture and trade policy. In addition, the summit has failed to fulfill expectations on aid and agriculture assistance. Change seems far away and leaders have expressed their concern that the conference will produce little of substance.
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Russia aims to prevent speculative currency traders from bidding up the ruble exchange rate. Moscow plans to accomplish this by applying a tax on cross-border currency transactions. Brazil and Indonesia also support this idea, as they consider speculative money inflows a threat to their exporters. Brazil has already put into effect a tax on Brazilian stocks traded in US markets. Alexei Ulyukayev, Chairman of the Russian Central Bank, favors the new tax and he thinks enactment of the measure is likely.
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| Picture Credit: NY Times |
The oil-rich Niger Delta region has suffered from environmental degradation and social unrest as a result of transnational corporations' activities. Because of the importance of the oil industry, the Nigerian government has been unwilling to meet its obligation to respect and protect the local population's rights. In the absence of recourse in local courts, Nigerians have resorted to the Alien Tort Claim Act, which provides a framework for foreign nationals to institute law suits in the US. This, however, should not eclipse the need to establish an international legal regime addressing the nature of corporations as actors in the human rights field.
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| Picture Credit: Guardian |
Colombian farmers have sued BP, one of the world's biggest oil companies. BP built a 450-mile (720km) pipeline through the country, which has caused severe harm to the soil and groundwater system. Environmental damages threaten the livelihood of many farmers, who now are claiming legal compensation. BP has not agreed to a settlement and the firm is fighting the case in UK courts, where the farmers are at a big disadvantage.
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Lax laws in the US allow arms traffickers, drug smugglers and money launderers to use US companies to hide their illicit activities from investigators. Government officials cite the case of the "merchant of death" Viktor Bout, a Russian businessman accused of selling weapons to countries torn by civil war in Latin America, the Middle East and Asia. Bout used shell companies around the world to carry his business, including a dozen US corporations.
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| Picture Credit: Amnesty |
For many years, the Kimberley Process (KP) has covered 99 percent of the global trade in rough diamonds, but this is no longer the case, says the spokesman for the KP International Civil Society Coalition. Although the KP has made progress in cleaning up the trade in rough diamonds since its creation 10 years ago, today between 4% and 5% of the global diamond trade is either circumventing or defrauding KP channels. The KP possesses the tools necessary to address these challenges, but often lacks the political will and capacity to use them. The recent KP plenary meeting provided an occasion to assess the ways in which the process should be reformed.
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"Branding" and "marketing" are concepts not often associated with the ideals and aims of humanitarian work. However, due to the large number of humanitarian organizations, these NGOs compete intensely for media attention and donor funds. The organizations must maintain public trust and credibility, "protect their brand" from media scandals, and distinguish themselves from their competitors in the media marketplace.
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As the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor continues this week, Liberians remain divided in their opinions of the ICC's accusations. Whilst some will be content with any guilty verdict, others are discontent with the ICC's sole focus on Sierra Leone (they claim this ignores the suffering caused by Taylor during the 10 year war in Liberia). Further, some Liberians still remain unconvinced of Taylor's guilt and claim the court's accusations are merely an example international bias against African leaders.
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Uppsala University has published a scathing assessment of the International Energy Agency's annual world Energy Outlook, just a few days after two insiders revealed that the agency was downplaying the potential for future oil scarcity. The study warns of the IEA's increased politicization, describing the report as a "political document" developed for consumer countries with a vested interest in low prices. In order to meet the agency's predictions, oil would have to be extracted at a pace never seen before.
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UN sanctions have been unsuccessful in persuading the Iranian Government to halt uranium enrichment plans. Yet, for civilians in post election Iran, the situation is changing. Many Iranians are demanding civil rights and protesting against fundamentalist policies. This article urges the UN to pay attention to internal changes so that policies support civilians and prospective sanctions only target core governmental structures, not the nation as a whole.
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The Treaty of Lisbon states that the EU's development cooperation policy will primarily focus on the reduction and the eradication of poverty. But NGO leader Mirjam Van Reisen says that the EU has been systematically violating the policy. Action Aid also criticizes EU aid policies. But many believe that the Treaty of Lisbon will increase the EU's role in fighting poverty by helping smallholder farmers have access to European markets.
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