In The News

How Globalization Train is Overrunning Nigeria

Etim Imisim January 27, 2005
A member of the World Trade Organization for the past ten years, Nigeria should be well-situated to reap the benefits of free trade. Yet thanks to a set of domestic and international factors, the country may even be sliding backwards. In an interview with Nigerian newspaper This Day, development expert Bankole Olubamise argues gloomily that much has gone afoul in Africa's most populous...

Preparing for a New Global Threat – Part I

David Heymann January 26, 2005
From the historic Spanish Flu to the recent SARS outbreak, communicable diseases have periodically challenged the world community. SARS was caused by a new strain of coronvirus that was identified and stopped. But the latest threat comes from avian influenza virus of the type that could mutate and pass on to humans. Due to their genetic instability and swift multiplication, influenza viruses are...

Poverty Breeds Insecurity

January 19, 2005
At the United Nations Millennium Summit in September 2000, world leaders placed development at the heart of the global agenda by adopting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which set clear targets for reducing poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation, and discrimination against women by 2015. To devise a plan for implementation and recommend strategies for developing...

How to Help Africa Escape Poverty Trap

Martin Wolf January 12, 2005
With rampant disease and widespread poverty, sub-Saharan Africa is truly in crisis. The region is in a bind, as several reports indicate a troubling pattern: Poverty begets poverty. And despite critics' claims to the contrary, writes Martin Wolf, those outside the beleaguered continent can and must help. Beyond a moral obligation to end the strife of others, the rest of the world has...

For Honduras and Iran, World's Aid Evaporated

Ginger Thompson January 11, 2005
As international relief agencies rush to tsunami-devastated areas and the UN prepares to coordinate rebuilding efforts, many observers can't help but wonder how long the outpouring of goodwill will last. Six years ago, the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch seemed remarkably similar: World leaders pledged long-term relief, and aid workers populated storm-ravaged areas of Honduras. But now,...

When Tragedy Trumps Borders

Ramesh Thakur January 10, 2005
The United Nations, throughout its 60 years, has never seen a tragedy on par with the South Asian tsunami. This astonishing display of nature's furor rendered political borders insignificant, and the overwhelmingly sympathetic international response has revealed the strength of global interconnectedness. At the January 6 Jakarta summit, the UN officially assumed the helm of relief effort...

Rethinking Science Aid

Keith Bezanson January 10, 2005
As the UN prepares to revisit its Millennium Development Goals in September, the topic of international development is on the minds of many. According to this SciDev.Net opinion piece, science and technology aid can play a crucial role in economic development - if used wisely. The authors push for an approach that encourages public-private partnerships that foster innovation, tailoring aid...