Africa Has Entered A New Season of Planning and Long-Term Development Thinking
By Adebayo Olukoshi
This article, originally a background note for the “IDEP at 50” Conference, traces the history of economic planning in Africa and concludes that there is now a “new season” of planning and long-term development thinking in the region. This analysis is by the Director of the United Nations African Institute for Economic Development and Planning (IDEP).
G77 on Food and Agriculture: Subsidies of Rich Countries and Commodity Speculation Must Be Curbed
The G77 and China made a statement on SDGs and food security and sustainable agriculture as well as health, stressing the need for developed countries to cut rich countries’ agriculture subsidies and for curbing speculation in commodity markets that result in price volatility. Many developing countries that were self sufficient in or exporters of food now depend on imports. Below are excerpts of the statement presented by Ambassador Peter Thomson of Fiji, Chair of the G77 and China, on behalf of the Group, at the third session of the UN working group on SDGs, on 22 May 2013.
G77: Each SDG Must Include International Dimension
Below is the statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China by its Chairman, Ambassador Peter Thomson of Fiji, at the second session of the General Assembly Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (New York, 17 April 2013).
SDGs: Food security and sustainable agriculture
The attainment of food security and the move towards sustainable agriculture, including increased food production in developing countries, are among the most important issues in the SDGs.
SDGs: Poverty Eradication
This is a brief paper on conceptual aspects of poverty eradication as an issue for the SDGs.
In line with our overall approach to the SDGs, the issue of poverty eradication should have goals and targets for countries but also for the international dimension, which includes the Global Partnership for Development (that involves policies relating to global macro-economics, debt, trade, finance, and access to technology) and the means of implementation (i.e. finance and technology for developing countries).
SDGs: Overall Conceptual FrameworkDevelopment
This paper of the South Centre on the overall concept of the SDGs was presented by its Executive Director Martin Khor during the expert panel at the opening day of the first session of the UN’s open working group on SDGs held in the General Assembly hall on 14 March 2013. It had also been presented to a meeting of the G77 and China in New York as part of its preparation for the meetings of the UN working group on SDGs.
Post-2015 Development Agenda and Sustainable Development
By Yılmaz Akyüz
The United Nations’ Post-2015 Development Agenda should not simply extend MDGs, or reformulate the goals, but focus instead on global systemic reforms to remove main impediments to development and secure an accommodating international environment for sustainable development. This is a big, ambitious agenda which cannot be acted on overnight. An action plan for systemic reforms could be supplemented, but not substituted, by specific goals in some areas of economic and social development. This paper was presented to a brainstorming workshop of the G77 and China held in the UN in New York in February.
Serious threat to Asian economic model
By Martin Khor
The successful East Asian model of “state-driven capitalism” is being threatened by proposals in the TPPA trade agreement to remove possible advantages of state-owned enterprises.
Investment Agreements: A New Threat to Health and TRIPS Flexibilities?
By Carlos M. Correa
The bilateral investment treaties (BITs) may be a threat to access to medicines as shown by a recent legal suit by a drug multinational against Canada for invalidating a patent.
The man who saved millions with cheap medicines
By Martin Khor
His rivals called him a “pirate” but grateful millions whose lives were saved by his cheap generic medicines consider him a Robin Hood—Yusuf Hamied, leader of India’s giant company, Cipla.
The MDGs Beyond 2015
By Deepak Nayyar
The MDGs began life a decade ago. There were three dimensions to the significance of the MDGs. It was an explicit recognition of the reality that a large proportion of people in the world were deprived and poor.
Solar trade wars threaten the fight against climate change
By Martin Khor
Amidst the gloomy news in the deteriorating climate change situation, is this bright spark — the cost of solar energy has been going down dramatically.
