Large-scale land deals are not a 'bubble' | New online interface Land Matrix

Today a new report and website provide important insight into the complex, global phenomenon of large-scale acquisition of land. They confirm this is a lasting trend and not a mere “bubble”. While the rush for land may have peaked in 2009, it continues. Analysis of international land investments for agriculture through over one thousand deals…

Development Partners to join in Busan HLF-4 for more Effectiveness

Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF-4) Busan, Korea, 29 November to 1 December 2011 At the fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness approximately 2000 delegates from 160 governments, parliaments, international organisations, civil society and the private sector will review global progress in improving the impact and value for money of development aid…

Workshop Report on Rural Microfinance and Savings | PlaNet Finance and the European Microfinance Platform

PlaNet Finance, in cooperation with the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP) has now published its latest Workshop Report on the topic of rural microfinance and savings. The report summarizes the results of the 6th “University Meets Microfinance” Workshop organized by the e- MFP Action group “University Meets Microfinance” in the fringe of the “Second European Research…

Green Economy is key catalyst for growth and poverty eradication, says UNEP-report

UNEP has launched a report entitled Towards a Green Economy, Pathways to a Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication, in advance of Rio 2012, that focuses on innovative ways to reduce poverty and promote sustainable development. The report aims to ”demystify” two myths about greening the global economy. First, sustainable development and economy go together. A…

AidWatch: Aid allocation increasingly driven by EU ‘self-interest’ – Eurostep

AidWatch: Aid allocation increasingly driven by EU ‘self-interest’ – Eurostep. The EU’s aid commitments are becoming increasingly determined by domestic political agendas as well as security, immigration and commercial interests, says a new report, launched on 19 May. According to this year’s AidWatch report, entitled “Challenging self-interests: Getting EU aid fit for the fight against…

OECD: Green and growth go together

OECD work on green growth. Governments must look to the green economy to find new sources of growth and jobs. They should put in place policies that tap into the innovation, investment and entrepreneurship driving the shift towards a greener economy. Green growth makes economic as well as environmental sense. In natural resource sectors alone,…

European Report on Development: Social protection is key to poverty eradication

The second European Report on Development (ERD) was launched at the European Development Days in Brussels with the message that social protection needs to be placed at the heart of EU development policy. ‘‘A number of African countries already have social protection programmes in place. It is increasingly on the policy agenda of African leaders…

UNCTAD Least Developed Countries Report

On Friday 26 November, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) launched its Least Developed Countries Report 2010, subtitled ‘Towards a new international development architecture for LDCs’. The report argues that the world’s 49 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) need ‘‘more and better-designed financing — rising from an estimated $4 billion to $17 billion…

Weitzenegger's Publication Review

New on entries Weitzenegger’s Publication Review http://www.weitzenegger.de/en/publications.html Agricultural Diversification for the Poor – Guidelines for Practitioners. http://tinyurl.com/2vs2wx8 This World Bank study treats diversification as a differentiated form of agricultural development and recognizes its role to spur sustainable growth in the rural sector. The principle purpose of this study is to outline practical ways for implementing…

Global report reveals poor transparency and accountability in government spending

The International Budget Partnership’s Open Budget Survey 2010 is the only independent, comparative, regular measure of budget transparency and accountability around the world. Produced every two years, the report reveals that 74 of the 94 countries assessed fail to meet basic standards of transparency and accountability with national budgets. This opens the door to abuse…

Much «clean» growth possible in developing world with existing technology, right strategy and incentives, UNCTAD Report says

The stress of the global financial crisis — as well as concerns about climate change and food prices — should be used by developing countries to shift towards ”clean” growth, a new UNCTAD report recommends. It says such progress is possible and affordable with existing technology, based on the right strategy and incentives. UNCTAD’s Trade…

WDR 2010: Development and climate protection can go together

Developing countries can shift to lower-carbon paths while promoting development and reducing poverty – if they receive financial and technical assistance from high-income countries. This is among the findings of the World Development Report (WDR) 2010, published by the World Bank. It is key, thus the report, that industrialised countries curb their carbon dioxide emissions…

New reports assess EU policy coherence for development

The European Commission published a progress report of the Policy Coherence for Development (PCD) approach launched in 2005 as part of the European Consensus on Development. The PCD review published in late September says that its framework ”allows for a systematic exploration of the effects that EU policies other than aid might have on development…

EU Commission report on European competitiveness

The European Commission issued its Annual Report on Competition Policy for 2008. The report provides a summary of the most important developments with regards to EU competition policy and focuses on major enforcement actions. Furthermore, the ways in which tools of competition policy have been applied to combat the financial crisis are outlined and the…

Bleak outlook for developing Asia, but region can cope with crisis, says ADB

Developing Asia’s economic growth will slow in 2009 to its most sluggish pace since the 1997/1998 Asian financial crisis, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) says in a new major report. The Asian Development Outlook 2009 forecasts economic growth in developing Asia will slide to just 3.4% in 2009, down from 6.3% last year and 9.5%…

How will developing countries be affected by the global financial crisis?

A new report from the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) looks at the impact of the global financial crisis on the developing world. Results show that developing countries cannot be treated as a homogenous block. Concerns vary significantly across countries, depending on their current economic situation, exposure to specific impacts and capacity to respond. Isolation…

UNCTAD: Economic Development in Africa 2008

The objective of this year’s report is to examine Africa’s export performance after trade liberalization in order to draw relevant lessons that could be used to craft future trade and development strategies. The main message is that the efforts made by African countries in terms of trade liberalization over the last twenty-five years have removed…

Annual report on EC aid reviews progress towards better delivery

The European Commission disbursed € 8.5 billion in aid during 2007, representing 9% of total Community expenditures, according to the recently released annual report on EC aid. Top regions for EC assistance were Sub-Saharan Africa (33%), Asia (17%), and Europe (16%); and 23% of aid was given through budget support. In its review of the…

Report shows EU imports from developing countries growing

The European Commission has presented to the European Parliament its regular report on the openness of the European market to imports from developing countries. The report sets out how the EU has continued in 2007 to use its trade policy to advance a pro-development agenda and analyses the relevant data for which the most recent…

Publications

A Billion to Gain? http://tinyurl.com/68lmym The reports of ING Microfinance Support systematically chart large global financial institutions’ activities and future plans in microfinance. This third edition in the ‘A Billion to Gain?’ series provides an update of the latest report and serves three main objectives: To update global financial institutions’ activities and future plans regarding…

UNEP calls for end to barriers on fast-growing green economy

A global ”green economy” is now emerging but governments must move fast to scrap the many barriers and fossil-fuel subsidies that hamper it, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said. Presenting an annual report, Year Book 2008, the Nairobi-based agency said investment in environmentally-friendly projects was rising fast and more and more corporations were driving to…

UNCTAD Information Economy Report 2007-2008

The Information Economy Report 2008 reveals that although most developing countries remain far behind industrialized nations in availability and use of information and communication technology (ICT), some are emerging as major global suppliers of ICT products and services. The report analyses the current – and potential – contribution of ICT to knowledge creation and diffusion.…