The global financial crisis and the high cost of food mean different things in different places. In those parts of the world where hunger is on the march, their impact can be measured in empty stomachs and blighted lives. That is why, during my recent visit to India, I traveled to a remote district called Chhatarpur in the central state of Madhya Pradesh (MP). I went there because I wanted to see for myself the plight of people in India's hunger heartland. I particularly wanted to listen to the experiences of the local women. As always in such situations, the women are the ones in the front line of the war against hunger.

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The debate was initiated at the European Development Days 2008 in Strasbourg and the discussion continues. Rendez-vous in Stockholm for the 2009's edition, and until then "To your keyboards"!

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Although the United Nations always has crises to solve, delegates at this year's UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York seemed to have an exceptional number on their plates. With America's financial turmoil creating a bleak backdrop, the gathering seemed to hum with palpable angst about the future. One world leader after another strode to the podium to tell how high food and fuel prices were devastating the poor in their countries - and threatening to reverse economic growth and the significant gains we have made in fighting poverty. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that the world is facing a "development crisis", and worried that wealthy nations would fall further behind in their commitments to the poor. Many delegates and leaders I met echoed those fears.

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Images of the Beijing sky-line, seemingly bathed in a soup of smog and haze have been never far from the world's TV screens over recent days and weeks.

International reporters with hand-held air pollution detectors have been popping up on street corners checking the levels of soot and dust.

Everyone seems keen to prove that the city's air will be a decisive and debilitating factor for one of the world's most high profile sporting events.

Without doubt Beijing is facing a huge challenge. There are real and understandable concerns for the health of competitors, especially those in endurance and long distance events such as cycling and the marathon.

But the current frenzied focus is marked by a modicum of amnesia-air pollution was a major concern in Los Angeles 24 years ago.

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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?

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Last month, I spoke to a group of British parliamentarians who sit on something called the International Development Committee. Their role is to scrutinise the work of the Department for International Development. "DFID" - as it is known - is the arm of the British government concerned with promoting development, supporting the alleviation of poverty across the globe, and funding multilateral organisations like the UN World Food Programme.Members of the International Development Committee asked me to travel to London to speak to them as part of their inquiry into the work of the World Food Programme (WFP) and the support it receives from DFID. As part of the inquiry, an open invitation was issued to any organisation or individual with an interest in global food security to contribute written evidence.

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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.

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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?

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I come back from Kenya. AFD and other donors including the World Bank and EIB are financing a large-scale public geothermal investment program that will supply most of Kenya's future power generating capacity. The power generation mix that will fuel Kenya's rapidly growing economy over the next decade will be carbon-poor.

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