For many years now, academics have debated whether regional trade agreements are ‘building blocks’ or ’stumbling blocks’ for development and free trade. Regionalism has recently returned to the forefront of attention, as the slow progress in the Doha Round of negotiations has led many countries to increasingly pursue regional agendas.
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For those of us who work in the humanitarian world, the dawn of the twenty-first century has dealt us a difficult hand. As the expert practitioners in the game of preparing and planning for sudden, unpredictable events, we at the World Food Programme, the world’s largest humanitarian agency, have become the recognised experts in emergency response.
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1. Twenty years ago, 22 members of the OECD/DAC accounted for 95% of total aid to developing countries. Today, aid to developing countries is delivered via more than 150 multilateral agencies, 33 bilateral members of the OECD/DAC, at least 10 non-DAC governments and a growing number of global Vertical Funds.
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In recent weeks, I have travelled literally around the globe meeting government officials, development experts and businessmen, as we seek generate momentum for a new kind of development strategy — Aid for Trade.
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Global Growth and Income Distribution between Countries:
Rapid Global Income Expansion Propelled by and Accruing to Developing Countries.
The global economy has been especially strong in recent years. World-wide per capita income is growing as rapidly as ever before.
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Development is a global notion that comes hand in hand with the establishment of the rule of law, respect for fundamental liberties and transparency in public sector governance. As early as 1999, French-speaking heads of state at Moncton announced that supporting the popularisation of the political society was the prerequisite for sustainable development. African leaders have admitted that there is an indisputable link between promoting the rule of law, democratic governance and economic development.
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Refusing the fate of underdevelopment for the twenty-first century, the international community has given itself a series of eight ambitious targets to meet by 2015. They range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education.
Two years have gone by since Aid for Trade was launched at the WTO. Pascal Lamy has just completed the ... 
The three contrasting initial perspectives from Kemal Dervis, Abdou Diouf, and Jean Michel Severino help highlight some of the big ... The three contrasting initial perspectives from Kemal Dervis, Abdou Diouf, and Jean Michel Severino help highlight some of the big ...