Exchange with the members of the blog, live from the 3rd edition of the European Development Days, Europe’s first meeting of development cooperation practitioners and decision-makers that will take place in Strasbourg on the 15-17 November. On this occasion, laptop computer will be available on the French Presidency stand so you will be able to participate to the debate. The members present in Strasbourg will come to the stand to react in live to your comments. Come and share your thoughts on the topic.

Read more…

The failure to reach an agreement in Geneva has severely weakened the Doha round. What could be the consequences of a collapse of the Doha negotiation from the perspective of developing nations?

Read more…

These few lines came to my mind after one of our Board of Directors’ meetings devoted, among other things, to a new participation in an important microfinance institution in Morocco - a country famous for its involvement in the sector. I have, for a long time, been an avid supporter of microfinance. And I am particularly proud of the important increase in the amount of investments made in this sector by my organization, AFD, over the past 20 years: through 60 projects and nearly 300 million euros invested, we have helped more than 1.5 million people make their way out of poverty. We now want to go further, encouraged in this by GCAP’s very positive evaluation of our involvement. I see microfinance as a powerful tool against exclusion; it allows people who have been traditionally excluded from the financial systems to have access to credit. Great tribute must be paid to the pioneers of this revolutionary approach.

Read more…

Is it fair to ask developing countries companies to follow the rules of Corporate Social Responsibility considering that our countries have developed themselves without such constraints? Would you consider CSR as a form of protectionism?

Read more…